2025-10-17 BBI

Mark Pope previews the Blue-White scrimmage, Mark Stoops on UK-Texas; (11:00) Reed Sheppard has a huge night; (20:00)Jack Givens on what he wants to see in the Blue White game; (39:00) Walt Wells and the Colonels hit the road this weekend; (44:00) Ryan Duffy of UK Sports Video, who put together the great intro piece for Big Blue Madness; (57:00) Billy Rutledge with his weekly NFL picks + (1:12:00) Heroes, Fools and Flakes.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Big Blue Insider. Dick Gabriel with you
on a Friday edition of our program. It is basically
the middle of October and we are at the height
of overlap. Just locally, You've got Kentucky basketball tonight, Blue
White exhibition in Memorial Coliseum. No radio tonight, but there
is TV on CC Plus tomorrow. You've got Kentucky Texas football,

(00:23):
You've got Keenland this weekend, and of course nationally, all
kinds of stuff going on, involving at times former Wildcats.
So yeah, it's a good time to be a sports fan.
And as I mentioned, the Blue White game this evening
will give us one more look at the Wildcats before
they begin exhibition games with both Purdue and Georgetown. So

(00:45):
it should be fun. Got to see them on Pro Day,
I got to go to practice. Mark Pope has talked
about it before. This is potentially a special group. Now.
He loved last year's team. When you think about what
they did in such a short amount of time, starting
with Pope being hired, pulling a staff together, pulling a
team together, and they're ups and downs, all the injuries,

(01:06):
the big wins and a sweet sixteen run. Of course,
that team will always remain special to him. This team,
in terms of what it can accomplish on the court,
could do even more.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
The attachment to that group in my heart will never
go away. I love those guys, and so I felt
like they managed all of that in a brilliant way,
and I think that this year we're capable of doing
it even better. I actually think, you know, that's not
just the only part of this depth. You know, when
I was here, we had nine players go play in

(01:39):
the NBA from my team, and so practices were so brutal,
they were so competitive. It was it was, you know,
you got to the games and it felt easier. And
I don't know if we're gonna have nine players go
to the league from this team or not, but it
feels so familiar to me where I'm kind of like,
you know what, I got to get these guys off
the floor because they're going to kill you.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
Know, when you look at his championship team, the one
the Pope was a part of a ninety six, the
first thing that I think about is there's no Antoine
Walker on this year's team. There's no matchup nightmare, at
least that we know of yet. But as a group,
this could be a matchup nightmare. There is a lot
of talent and a lot of different types and styles

(02:21):
of player. You know you're gonna see a lot of
that tonight in Blue White, because you know, these are
the guys who have been killing each other in practice,
as Mark said, ever since they got together. But you'll
see it even more when they take on the likes
of Purdue, which some say is the top team in
the country, and a Georgetown University team that is supposed

(02:42):
to be pretty good as well. So it's gonna be fun,
and it begins tonight in the coliseum. It's gonna That's
another thing that I'm gonna love because again, when I
came to school here, that's where the varsity played, and
I have never been to a game at Duke, and
I know that that place holds about seven thousand. The

(03:03):
ceiling is low, the crowd is right on top of you,
but similar to Memorial Coliseum back in the day, and
opposing players talked about the fact that because the crowd
was so close to the court, it felt like it
was closing in on you. And when they first opened
upp aerena, to be frank that's the first thing I
noticed is the ceiling is so high because the building

(03:23):
is so big, that a lot of the noise gets
trapped upstairs and it's not nearly as loud downstairs. But
also it's hard to sustain that kind of energy and
noise to make it feel like it's closing in on you. Now,
Kentucky has done that through the years. At times it
was just easier to do for lack of a better term,

(03:45):
at the Coliseum. I suspect it's going to be noisy
there tonight, and we will talk about that, of course,
all next week. But that's not the only game in
town this week, as you know, it's the Wildcats and
the Texas Long Orange. Kentucky a double digit underdog at home. Know,
everybody's down on this football team. Everybody's down on Marx Tubs,
everybody's down on Mitch Barnhardt. Of course, I saw one

(04:07):
tweet that called him the enemy, Mitch Barnart the enemy.
You know. Now, the same person who tweeted that, I
promise you, has tweeted about how excited he is to
have Mark Pope at Kentucky. Well, who hired Mark Pope?
That would be Mitch Barnart. Over the objections of thousands
of people, both in the Big Blue Nation and across
the country. How has that worked out? Look, he doesn't

(04:30):
need me to carry his water. Dismiss it because I'm
a part of the UK network. I'm just saying, be
consistent if you would. You know, Mark Stoups was the
hottest coaching property in America when Texas, A and M
came after him. This last couple of teams not so good.
And again Jimmy's and Joe's versus X's and O's. I
believe their talent level is dropped off. It's not near

(04:50):
what Texas has. Wildcats should be a double digit dog,
not impossible for them to win, but it's going to
be tough even at home. Mark Pope was asked this
week Earlier this week about how the identity of this
team is shaping up.

Speaker 3 (05:07):
What I love about him is they do have a
very much of a steady mindset. They're working hard every day.
You know, I think it's a hard working group. You know,
I don't know that's for you to put it, you know,
I don't. I mean, you know, what we want our
football teams to look like. What I want them to
look like. Each and every year. I feel like this

(05:27):
team very much is very united and working extremely hard
and very very much passionate about getting better each and
every day. And if we stay that way, then you know,
we'll see the results eventually.

Speaker 1 (05:40):
They are playing hard, and you couldn't say the same
about last year's team. About midway through the year, some
injuries cut off, some attitudes caught up, and that team
kind of folded its tent. Not kind of it did
fold its tent. This team, and I can see this
on the sidelines. That's one of the things I can
see and know. People say I've got the best seat,
and has I do not because it's hard to see

(06:01):
the other side of the field, the other end of
the field, But it's much easier obviously to see the
bench area, to see the plays right in front of me,
and to get a feel for what it's like down there,
and whether they're playing hard or not, whether there's any
for lack of a better term, spirit, and there is
still with this team. They are playing hard, they are
giving effort. It's going to take every bit of effort

(06:22):
to win tomorrow night. One of the things this team
has going forward, of course, is offensive continuity. Bush Ham
down in the second year. We've all talked about the
woes that Stoops has had keeping offensive coordinators. I was
talking to somebody on the inside just the other day
who told me it was laughable, the people who believe

(06:43):
that Mark Stoops calls the plays on this team. They said,
at no time has he ever called plays and wants
no part of it, and he's aware of what's going on.
But they said, just the notion that Mark Stoops is
drawing up the offense and calling plays is ridiculus. But
he does have an OC for the second year in

(07:04):
a row, and he believes those Stoops that that continuity
is taking hold.

Speaker 3 (07:08):
I really do. I feel like we've worked hard to
try to you know, again not so much. Look at
a plan may look good on a grease spoort, but
we can execute and we could have some success. And
I do feel like we're getting better. I know, you know,
some people would pull up stats or numbers or whatever
throw them right back in my face. But I know
what goes on in the building, you know, and I

(07:29):
know the guys are working hard and trying to put
a good plan together to help us, you know, achieve
our goal.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
Win in some games, two things have to happen tomorrow.
A lot of things, but two major things I believe
have to happen tomorrow night. If Kentucky's gonna have a chance.
Number One, don't let arch Manning look like a Heisman
Trophy candidate. And that's easier said than done. Look, he's
a great athlete, he's got a great arm, made big
plays against Oklahoma, has really good feet, he's fast. You

(07:57):
cannot let him become a really good dual threat quarterback.
And we've seen what dual threat qbs can do to
the Wildcats. Got to contain him, got to figure it out.
That's where Kentucky, in my opinion, is lacking right now.
In the second level of defense. The linebackers have been inconsistent.
Alex Safari's had a good year, but he can't do

(08:20):
it all by himself, and he's undersized as a linebacker.
So whoever else is out there in that rotation, they
have to play their best game of the year, I believe,
in order to contain you can't stop him, but contain
Arch Manning and therefore the rest of the Texas offense,

(08:40):
which by the way, once again has an offensive line
which is freaking huge so watch for that. The other
thing is Cutter Bowley has to take another step forward.
I thought he took a big step forward last week
against Georgia, and that's what kind of amazed me. All
the people flapping about the offense and bush ham Dan
he's going to be fired midweek, which is crap. Hey,

(09:02):
he's still here, right, But they tweaked the offense and
they went to quicker drops, quicker releases for Cutter Bully,
and the offensive linemen did their job a little bit better.
Wide receivers held on to the football. They missed some
deep dread opportunities, but still Cutter Bully I think was
sacked just once maybe and was able to work out
of trouble. He's got to do that tomorrow against the

(09:25):
Texas team that somehow lost at Florida to a team
where a coach is hanging on to his job by
a thread reportedly, and jumped up and beat the Longhorns.
But then Texas turned around and beats Oklahoma, which was
favored to win that one. So now they come in
full of themselves, very confident and looking like the team

(09:46):
that a lot of people predicted would challenge for the
national championship. And it still might. It's got to run
the table though, and they know they cannot afford a
loss on the road to Kentucky to anybody really, so
it's going to be to We will have it for
you right here seven o'clock kickoff. Five o'clock we begin
our pregame coverage with Christy Logan and Ricky and then

(10:07):
Tom Jeff and I will have it for you here
on six thirty WLAP when we come back. So much
going on, including a huge win by the Bengals and
another heartbreaking loss for the UK women basketball team. Back
in a minute here on six thirty WLAP. Welcome back
to the Big Blue Insider coming up at the bottom
of the hover, Jack Gibbons of the UK Sports Network.
Of course, Jack the All American who led the Wildcats

(10:29):
to the nineteen seventy eight NCAA Championship. He'll join us
to preview tonight's Blue White action. No radio on tonight's game,
but there will be TV on SEC Plus, so check
out the Blue White if you can't get in. And
it's not going to be a big crowd. Coliseum doesn't
hold a big crowd anymore, but it should be interesting
and we'll hear from Jack talking about what he expects

(10:50):
from this team tonight and for the rest of the year.
A little bit later on, we're going to talk to
the guy who created the UK Madness intro video that
has been sweeping through the BBN. If you were at
Madness or you're tuned in, you know what I'm talking about.
Kind of an old time feel as today's players were

(11:10):
exploring and examining. Would look like a little room tucked
away in the coliseum full of UK memento's artifacts and
souvenirs and also the requisite clip video clips from great
moment to the past. But it was just a real
well done piece, and we'll talk to Ryan Duffy from
UK Sports Video. He put that together and in our

(11:33):
second hour, Billy Rutledge we'll set us up for the
NFL weekend with his picks. He's done fairly well this year,
so you're not going to miss that. I've got to
mention the fact that I missed this yesterday right out
of time. But this is tough from the UK women's
basketball team. You don't know her name very well yet
because she didn't play last year. Dominica Perova. She missed

(11:55):
last year with a torn acl She did it again
earlier this week, so likely we'll be out for the
entire season. And not only did she suffer the similar
injury last year. According to the UK, it's believed to
have been the same torn ligament. She will have three
years of eligibility remaining. But your heart just breaks for her.

(12:16):
I don't know where, I've never met her. I understand
she's a good player and Kenny Brooks was so excited
to have her back this season because she's a good player.
Might have been a starter last year, but she'll miss
this year. So your heart goes out to her. While
we're talking women's sports, the UK women's soccer team got
a big win last night, upset South Carolina, ranked eighth

(12:39):
in the country. It was the first conference loss for
the game Cocks. This was the final match at the
Bell Soccer Complex this season as the Wildcats run their
SEC record of four to two and two ten to
four and two overall. They wonted three to two with
three goals in the first half, and the Cats now
have three wins over top twenty five teams this season.

(13:02):
That's the most for the program since that sixteen won
the SEC tournament that was a team that had a
poor regular season but jumped up and won the SEC tournament,
but that was way back in twenty six. It is
also the biggest win for the UK women under fourth
year head coach Troy Fabiano. They had previously beaten number

(13:24):
nine Alabama in twenty twenty three to beat number nine
UCLA in twenty twenty four. By the way, I should
have mentioned this when I was talking about Stoops. But
everybody's upset about the fact that there's a huge buyout
which might preclude UK from firing him when everybody wants
to fire him. And Gary Moore and I talked about
the huge bias for coaches last year. Win Will it end?

(13:45):
Where's it going? And then Indiana turns around and signs
Kurt Signetti to a new eight year contract. And those
of you upset with UK, with Mitch Barnert, with Mark Stoops,
ask yourself a question. If your coach, and this is
what happened with Indiana made the playoffs and your coach
was named National Coach of the Year, wouldn't you want

(14:08):
to lock him up with a contract. Well the answer
is yes, probably yes. Now his buyout not as big
as Stoop, so I think it's fifteen million, but he's
being paid more. He's the third highest paid coach in
America now, the coach at Indiana eleven point six million
per year for eight years. And once again Indiana is

(14:29):
rolling this year, just coming off of an upset win
over Oregon. But this is what happens. This is how
it happens. Andiana is seventeen and two under Signetti, eleven
and one against Big ten opponents. And last year they
didn't play Penn State or Oregon. This year they won

(14:49):
at Oregon. I know, it's weird. That's a Big ten game.
So you wonder where will it all end. Well, it's
not gonna end anytime soon. And I'm not saying Signetti
doesn't it in terms of marketplace, Yeah he does. But
that's how it happens. And you know what, he can
end up with a couple back to back losing years
down the road and fans will won him gone. That's

(15:10):
just the way it works. Let me steer you back
to basketball for a moment and the NBA, because Reed
Sheppard had a game for the Ages. It was an
exhibition game, the Rockets playing in Atlanta, and Houston only
dressed eight so everybody got shots, everybody got minutes, and
Reed made the most of it. Twenty nine points, six rebounds,

(15:33):
six assists, four steals, three blocks in only twenty nine minutes.
Twelve of twenty two and while he's on the floor
plus minus if you're into that was eleven. And by
the way, the Rockets won the game. After the game,
Reid talked to Vanessa richardson the Rockets TV reporter and

(15:54):
he is just an absolute machine when it comes to
standard quotes.

Speaker 4 (16:00):
I mean, it was just fun. You know, we had
a lot of guys sitting out. Uh, so it was
just fun to be able to come out and play.
Does have fun with this one, So it was a
lot of fun. Only eight guys dressed tonight, seven of
y'all were in double figures.

Speaker 5 (16:11):
What did you like the most.

Speaker 6 (16:12):
About that collective effort?

Speaker 4 (16:13):
Yeah, just go out and play free. Uh, you know,
just have have as much fun with us on you know,
last preseason game.

Speaker 1 (16:19):
So you know, everybody played.

Speaker 4 (16:21):
Everybody played really good, so you know, you could tell
everybody was just having fun sharing the ball.

Speaker 6 (16:25):
You went pound for pound with Trey Young tonight.

Speaker 7 (16:27):
That is not an easy task.

Speaker 6 (16:29):
How much are you looking forward to those matchups, those
big matchups, particularly your second year in the league.

Speaker 1 (16:34):
Yeah, you know what I mean.

Speaker 4 (16:34):
Trey is a great player, you know, with those matchups,
that's why you That's all you want since you've been
a little kid. So you know, being able to do
that this year, after learning as much as I did
last year, I'm really looking forward to it.

Speaker 6 (16:46):
As you now prepare for the regular season.

Speaker 4 (16:47):
What are you looking forward to the most with this
Rockets team?

Speaker 7 (16:50):
Man, Just getting out there and competing.

Speaker 4 (16:52):
You know, I think these last four games I learned
a lot, So just just going out and just competing
and getting this thing rolling.

Speaker 1 (17:00):
Sheppard courtesy of the Houston Rockets Network. Last night in
the National Football League, the Bengals beat the Steelers, came
from behind to do it in the Icy Hot Bowl.
The two oldest quarterbacks in the league, Aaron Rodgers versus
Joe Flacco, and it was Flacco getting the best of them,
Steelers losing thirty three to thirty one as the Bengals

(17:22):
marched down the field for a last second field goal
to overcome a good night by Aaron Rodgers two hundred
and fifty yards passing four touchdowns, but the Steeler defense
didn't get it done, and it was Joe Flacco looking
like the same guy who led the Ravens to a
Super Bowl title back in the day Aaron Rodgers with

(17:45):
won super Bowl title for the Packers in his hip pocket,
but lost four NFC Conference championship games, missed opportunities to
get back to the super Bowl. He might get back
there with the Steelers, been not with a defense that
played like it did last night. And it was a
rough night for Rogers as well, because after he threw

(18:08):
a touchdown pass, one of his own linemen accidentally tackled
him as they went to the sideline they were celebrating
and Broderick Jones jumped on him and he ended up
crashing to the ground and Rogers got up popped him
in the chess like, man, don't ever do that to me.
It was a weird moment and a weird night in
the jungle up there in Cincinnati. But a big night.

(18:29):
And now the Bengals are three and four in conference play.
They're back in it. They're back in the race for
the AFC North. Steelers still leaded, but thanks to Joe
Flacco and Mike Common ticked off that the Browns traded
him to the Bengals, but hey, do better. Jack Evans
is next six thirty wlap Welcome back to the Big
Blue Sider, Blue White Game tonight. There's no radio, but

(18:51):
Jack Gibvans will be alongside just to check out the Wildcats.
After a day of fun at Keenland, there was a
book signing and Jack people are still coming up to
buy books to get autographs, just as they were Kyle
Macy's book signing last month. And I guess I shouldn't
be amazed because that team was so popular, but it
didn't happen just yesterday. Are you surprised that the folks

(19:12):
are still showing up?

Speaker 5 (19:14):
No, it happened at least a couple of weeks ago,
you know, Gabe. But yeah, I am really amazed that
folks still come out to visit with us. We make
an announcement and people come out. I think it's uh,
it's just amazing. Of course, back in the days when

(19:36):
we played, we were here four years and which I
think Davis is the way the fans really like it,
so they can get to know the players, get to
spend time with us. We traveled the state, so we
have a really good base of folks who remember us.
So yeah, we can go pretty much anywhere in the

(19:59):
state and it's going to be a lot of folks
that come out. I will throw this in since you
brought up the book signing, uh that we had today,
Jay Schandler, Jay of course wrote the Blonde Bomber, and uh,
Jay and I will be up in Indianapolis, believe it

(20:21):
or not. We'll be up there for the Midwest I
think it is University of Kentucky Alumni Association and for
the for game watch party when Kentucky goes down to
Auburn and plays Auburn. Jay Shadler and I'll be up there, man,
and I think we're going to have a bunch of folks.
We'll be autographing books. At halftime, we'll talk Kentucky basketball.

(20:46):
We'll have a lot of giveaways, uh even tickets to
a game or two. So so it's gonna be a
really really nice event. Uh. Rick Roby, as you know,
Rick Roby, cow Mathy and I came out with our
Kentucky Legends bourbon four or five years ago, so we'll
have a bottle of that to give away. People can

(21:07):
buy tickets for that, and I'll draw one out of
the hat. So it's going to be it's going to
be a lot of fun up in Indianapolis, actually in
Carmel at a place called Bubba Louis, which is a
sports bar there and a really nice place. It's owned
by my friend David Barker, and I'm looking forward to

(21:27):
that November. First.

Speaker 1 (21:29):
Well, Jay's book is doing well, but especially back in
the area of his hometown up in Illinois, where he
is still considered one of, if not the best athlete
ever to come out of that area. So you're going
to get a crowd for both of you, guys. And
Jay's book and your book were so much fun to read,
just because and I've known both of you guys since
we were all in school together, and yet I learned

(21:51):
things about you an Jay, that I never knew. That's
what's kind of fun about these reads, you know.

Speaker 5 (21:56):
Yeah. Yeah, And just to give one, the guy who
might have been the might be have been the best
player on the men's team, Dan Isle, is coming out
with his book here soon. I yeah, well, nobody really
knows that except those are insiders, the guys who since

(22:21):
since I talked to Dan pretty regularly. But but the
other reason. The main reason I know is because he's
working with Doug Brounk, the guy who helped me and
co authored my book. So so Doug Brunk is now
working with Dan isl And just think about when he
and I and Jay and Cale Masey get together around

(22:44):
the state for some book signings, which we will do
here soon. That's going to be really neat to be
a part of.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
I smell a Christmas event pre Christmas event coming up.
But you know, what do I know? But I whenever
that happens, I will you there. Well, speaking of being
there at the Blue White game in the coliseum where
you played, I still I've told you this before, but
I've told current players you know, the varsity used to
play here, and they look around, like what But I said,

(23:13):
it was a lot different back then. But this is
going to be special, just like back when you guys.
But well, you know Pro Day was there. It's always
fun to work in the coliseum and see a game there,
isn't it.

Speaker 5 (23:25):
Yeah? And you know, I think five years ago, if
you told the current team that we played in Memorial Coliseum,
they would would really look around and say, what do
you mean? This is where they played? But the fact
the matter is now Historical Memorial Coliseum is really nice.
I mean it's gorgeous in there, man, So it wouldn't

(23:48):
be a real stretch to uh to see us playing
in that building in the state that's in now, because
it's really nice. But yeah, it's going to be a
special night. It's gonna be fun, It's gonna be h.
I mean, I just think people are anxious to see
how good this team can be, see what this team

(24:11):
is really made of. I think the competition level is
such that people will enjoy watching this team play. So yeah,
I'm looking forward to seeing here tonight what these guys
are going to be be be about. I've seen them
in practice, so I know a lot. But it's gonna
be a really good team and I'm ready to get started.

(24:34):
I know you are, oh.

Speaker 1 (24:35):
Yeah, well and being fortunate enough to work the pro
day event on TV. So I'm at practice the day
before and you were there, and I've told more than
one person. I said, Jack Evans really likes this team,
and I said, at one point he was absolutely giddy
about what this team could accomplish. So you got to
stay healthy. We all know this. Sadly, the UK women

(24:57):
just lost a key player again, one of the same
women it was injured last year, but we know what
happened with injuries last year. Now, this team is deeper,
but still if it stays intact, Jack, this is going
to be one difficult team to beat, isn't it? Because
I really believe they can get things done on both
ends of the floor.

Speaker 5 (25:17):
Oh, I don't think there's any question about it, Gave,
And you're right, we saw last year what an injury
or two can do to the team. I mean, just
think if we had the team together at the end
of the year that we had when we played Duke Florida.
You know, but I think I do think this team
is deeper, but you never want to see injuries. I

(25:40):
think this team is probably better athletes overall, not necessarily
basketball players, but quicker, stronger, jump higher, all of those
kind of things that you look for in the basketball team.
This team certainly has has a little bit of everything.

(26:00):
And Yeah, the thing that marvels me the most as
I watched Kentucky practice nowadays, it's just amazing how many
different combinations Mark can put on the floor, you know
what I mean. I mean, he can mix and match
and go big, he can go small, he can have

(26:20):
five shooters out there. I mean a lot of different
things he can do. So that's the reason why I'm
really excited. But a lot of talent on this team.

Speaker 1 (26:32):
Yeah, and as you said, there are different types of players.
But yeah, they are really really athletic. And again not
a knock on last year's team. If you're playing d
you want basketball, you're athletic. But Pope had more time
and to put a team together, of course, and players
from around the country got a chance to look in

(26:53):
on what was happening at Kentucky, and yet they still
jack to a man say, you know, we wanted to
be a part of what happens at Kentucky. We wanted
to be a part of Kentucky basketball. You know, you
had one of the players last year saying they're gonna
have to take this jersey from me. As a guy
who lived it the way you grew up here, that

(27:16):
has to make you feel really good.

Speaker 5 (27:19):
Yeah, it does, because there have been teams who didn't
voice their real desire to be here. They kind of
you kind of got the feeling that they were just
planned to get to the next level. Most of the
players on this on our team last year going into

(27:44):
the season, didn't think they had an opportunity to play
in the NBA, or didn't believe they have had an opportunity.
They hoped, of course, but but man, just think about
how it all developed, and the guys had to make
that decision starting from scratch, not one player coming back.

(28:05):
They made the decision. They wanted to be a part
of it. And then the thing I think that feel
of them more than anything is their desire to that
I'm supposed to be here. They were wanting to prove
everybody wrong, the naysayers, who second guest Mark picking these guys,

(28:27):
and you know, Mark took a lot of time because
he had a lot of options on players to bring in,
but they all wanted to be here. They all wanted
to prove themselves and that's what really made that special,
having that team special.

Speaker 1 (28:43):
He is Jack Gibbs, the UK All American of course,
the MP from the nineteen seventy eight National Championship Tournament
and Welcome back and talk more with Jack on Blue
White Night here on six thirty WLAP Welcome back with
chatting with Jack Gibbons with the UK Sports Network and
on the game tonight is not going to be on
the radio. It is on SEC Plus, so Jack will
basically just be observing as the wily veteran that he

(29:06):
is at the coliseum tonight. And Jack, there was a
report out recently that the NIL figure for this team
is upwards of twenty two million dollars. That's that's another
one of the big changes from when you played. So
you know, let's let's not get it twisted. Yeah, the
players here they like the check, but as we said earlier,

(29:28):
you know, they like being a part of Mark Pope's team.
And I've talked with a couple of other former players
mark Pope's coaching style, and I know you can't really
you got to be yourself and there's no coach you
can successfully coach with nil figures in his mind. But

(29:50):
you played for a guy who was loud and extremely
demanding in Joe B. Hall. Mark Pope's a different style
of coach. What do you make of that? And how
successful can at this level coaching the way he does.

Speaker 5 (30:05):
Well? It just kind of proves that there's more than
one way to skin the cat, as you and you know,
I know, I just I just and frankly Gabe, I'm
still trying to figure out mark system, to tell you
the truth, because he had to change because of injuries.

(30:27):
He's had to change so many things up last year.
I mean, and the good thing is it's fun trying
to figure it out. I mean, there are guys who
get coaches, who get paid big money to figure those
kind of things out, and they haven't. So I don't
feel all that bad about have not figured it all out.
But I don't want to figure it out because I

(30:47):
want Mark to keep changing. This game evolves as so,
so I just like his style. I had a little
bit of a screamer, uh in college. I had a
big time screamer in the NBA with Hubie Brown, you know,

(31:08):
when Hubie Hubee screamed and used some words that I
don't know that Joe B had in this vocabulary, you know.
I just know that style didn't work for me, particularly
in the pros. It did uh in college. But but
I think Mark is different. I have heard Mark raise

(31:32):
his voice and a few times, you know, and the
few times he has done it, man, you should hear
the gym. I mean, it gets early quiet, nobody is
doing anything except focusing on what he is saying, and
then they go out in their attitude or or their

(31:53):
their their plane has it changes. So when he does
get really loud and verbal, he gets the attention and
the guys adjust accordingly to what he says. So he
will get loud, but that's not his ideal way to

(32:13):
do it.

Speaker 1 (32:14):
I understand. Let's talk about the personnel in a few minutes.
We have left with Jack Gibbons watching the Blue White
game tonight. Anything in particular you are going to be
looking for, because you know the combinations I think are
going to be really interesting.

Speaker 5 (32:29):
Well, you know a lot of times these Blue White
games are you know, go down and score and go dunk,
and you know, I'm not gonna play defense if you
don't play defense, and it's usually one of those kind
of things, particularly this Blue White game, where you you
you just kind of get through it. But the fact

(32:51):
is that this team has been so competitive, I mean, Gabe,
they work so hard every day. The coaches had to
back them off of each other, calm down, you know
kind of thing, and so I expected to be a
very competitive scrimmage tonight. I expect the guys to go

(33:15):
at it. I think they're going to do two twenty
minute halves with a running clock, so we'll have plenty
of time to see the guys play. But I just
want to see how competitive they're going to be, how
much they go at each other, because they have really
been aggressive, gave the thing this time of the year,

(33:35):
and this is the same with this team. Man, I'm
ready to see some other faces. Man, I'm tired of
I'm tired of going against James Lee every day and
Lebon Williams, man, Lebron beating up on me, and you know,
Marion Haskins coming at me. I'm tired of that. Man,
Give me somebody else to go against them. That's where

(33:55):
these guys are right now.

Speaker 1 (33:57):
I'm glad you gave Levin and Mary and some well
because they were underrated. I know they weren't underappreciated by
you all, but they were by the fans. And uh,
you need guys like that on your team. And those
guys could have gone anywhere, and they came to Kentucky,
and uh, you know, Levon was was a real enforcer,
wasn't he.

Speaker 5 (34:16):
Yeah. I mean I tell people that I became the
player I am partly because I had to go against
Marion Hatskins for three years in practice because Marion, You're right,
he was underappreciated, but man, he could stick people.

Speaker 1 (34:34):
Yep.

Speaker 5 (34:34):
I mean if he got on you, which he did
every day in practice for two years, you're not going
to score without working. And then levonn. Williams came in.
And Levin was six eight and he wahed about two
twenty two twenty five, and he was all muscled, and

(34:55):
he would beat me up, and uh, he would be
on me, and Coach Hall would tell him, if you
let him score, you're running, and Levin didn't want to
do any extra running. So scoring was very difficult for
me in a different way than it was when Marion Haskins.
He guarded me with finesse and with quickness, and he

(35:19):
was long, his arms were long. So that's how I played.

Speaker 1 (35:22):
Now.

Speaker 5 (35:22):
The guy I wanted to play against every day as
much as possible and practice, the guy I wanted on
me was James Lee because yeah, because James and I
had had an agreement, and at that agreement was Goose.

(35:42):
You know, you guarden me. I guard you, but Goose
don't guard me because I'm not going to guard you. Okay.
It's one of those things. We had been together so long,
playing with and against each other, that we knew how
to guard each other. Make it like we were guarding
each other without really guarding each other. And so that's

(36:05):
why I like James James onory Man. He and I
understood each other and how we wanted to guard each other.

Speaker 1 (36:11):
I know Joe b wasn't happy about that, but a
couple of minutes left, but I got to ask you, Reed.
Shepherd went off last night in the last exhibition game,
and again it was an exhibition and the Rockets only
had eight players, so everybody scored in doubles, but he
had twenty nine points. Crazy stats. But I've talked this
summer about what the Rockets have said about what they

(36:32):
need to see from Reid and you and I've talked
about him before in terms of better defense, and they
do guard in the NBA. Are you optimistic about his
opportunities this year?

Speaker 6 (36:43):
Oh?

Speaker 5 (36:43):
Absolutely, absolutely read. He's a player man. And the thing
that I've always liked about Reid is that he has
always given the teams he's been on exactly what they
needed to be successful. Watched them in high school and
when he had to take over a game, you know

(37:05):
he of course he could do whatever he wanted, but
he did a good job of getting his other guys
involved in the game. If you when he was here,
when we needed a bucket, he got your bucket. Yeah,
and when you needed to stop, his hands were quick,
so he could he could he could make the big

(37:25):
plays on defense as well, and that's all elevated and
Kyle in the pros because he's obviously playing against better
competition every night. So I have every confidence that Read's
going to be fine.

Speaker 1 (37:38):
Just got to work in that on ball defense. But
you know, if he's willing to do the work, it's
going to happen, right, Oh.

Speaker 5 (37:45):
Yeah, yeah. He The good thing about Reid is he's
so dag on smart man, and he anticipates very very well,
so he reads situations and sometimes that gets them in
trouble because these guys on that level they can read
what the defense is going to do, and if they
see you hedging one way, they're going to go the other.

(38:08):
So that is tough. But yeah, I think he's he's
going to continue to improve, and that's why they are
giving him the range and turning it over to him.
So let's hope he continues to improve.

Speaker 1 (38:24):
He is Jack Gibbings. Listen for him as he and
Tom Leach call the games this year. The exhibitions are
coming up. No radio tonight, but Tom and Jack will
be behind the mics for what could be a really
special season. Thank you, sir, and we will see you
at Historic Memorial Coliseum.

Speaker 5 (38:39):
Thanks Gabe.

Speaker 1 (38:40):
Coming up in our number two, we're going to talk
to the guy who was the creative genius behind the
video that really wild people at Madness and it's been
all over the internet as well about Kentucky basketball. Also,
we'll talk with Billy Rutledge. He's got our NFL picture
the week that's ahead in our number two here on
six thirty WLAPT.

Speaker 7 (39:10):
Tact can.

Speaker 1 (39:54):
Backt Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider. Coming up

(40:43):
here an hour number two, we're gonna hear from Ryan Duffy.
He is the young man who put together the intro
video for Big Blue Madness. It is making the rounds,
as I said earlier on social media, and if you
haven't seen it yet, you gotta find it. Just google it,
it'll come up. It's a terrific piece of work. And
we'll talk with him about his creative process. Also, coming
up as our man Billy Rutledge, who of course will

(41:06):
help us make some NFL picks this week. So we
do need to talk more college football, but we're going
to talk about EKU football. The Colonels have a big
one coming up. They're coming off an upset win at
home under fifteenth rank Austin p. Now they hit the
road once again. They'll be in Florence, Alabama to take
on the Lions of North Alabama Saturday, seven pm. Tomorrow night,

(41:30):
seven pm Eastern time. That's a United Athletic Conference game.
You can see it on ESPN plus, you can hear
it on the EKU Sports Network with Greg Stodommeyer, Jim Tyree,
and West Chandler. Colonels three and three on the air,
two of those losses to Division I schools, and yeah,
they've got to capitalize on what they did against Austin

(41:53):
p no question about that. But it starts with their defense.
They are tied for the most defensive touchdowns in one
DOUAA football fcs this year. They scored four times on defense.
Veto Tisdale, used to be a Kentucky Wildcat, leads EKU
now and his first type for first in the country
with four interceptions, two of them pick sixes. Eku was

(42:16):
ninth in the country in FCS football. When it comes
to average turnover margin one point one seven per game.
That's huge. And then offensively, Brady Hensley his last couple
of games, has gained nearly two hundred and forty yards.
He's averaging almost eleven yards per carry. Had a touchdown
last week against Austin p Quarterback Miles Burkett also ran

(42:39):
for a touchdown. Eku scored on a kickoff return and
Veto Tuesdale had to pick six, so they scored in
all three phases of the game. So now, what's the
take to win on the road the way they won
at Roy Kidds Stadium. Walt Well says the head coach,
It's all about the preparation.

Speaker 8 (42:58):
It's how do you prepared? Okay, I said it in
my press conference last week. I thought we had a
great open week. I thought we had a great week
of practice and we performed that a way against a
really good football team. And make no mistake, that quarterback
is one of the best quarterbacks you'll see an FCS
and that football team is a good football team. I

(43:20):
think our players because of their work ethic, because of
their toughness, because of what they've bought into with this
football team. You know, it paid all for him on
Saturday night. It won't pay off to this Saturday if
we don't come back and have a great week of practice.

Speaker 1 (43:37):
So I guess we'll find out tomorrow if that indeed
happened and if it pays off. We mentioned Burke at
the quarterback. He talked about the young guys on the
team as they learn to win, that helps them build confidence.

Speaker 9 (43:50):
You know, you have a lot of guys who their
confidence can be based on results, and that's not because
you know they have a lack of you know, emotional
capability to handle some of those things. But that's just
but you know, inexperienced young players go through they got
to see it happen to get that confidence. So wins
like this, especially wins against really really good teams, it
lets you know that these things are possible, and it

(44:10):
gives those guys that confidence that you know, when we
come out, we execute, we play physical, we play tough
for four quarters.

Speaker 7 (44:16):
You know, we can hang with anybody and we can
beat anybody.

Speaker 1 (44:19):
So jahiem Ward is a defensive back for the Colonels,
who actually played his first three years in college football
at Austin Pete and transferred last year to Eastern Kentucky.
He has been a real fixture in the Colonel's defense,
of course, and a senior leader. And he talked about
taking that confidence when you went at home on the
road with you.

Speaker 7 (44:40):
I can say, honestly what it was.

Speaker 10 (44:42):
Confident is just like we know how much we really
can play because we really go ahead and at practice
each and every day, so we know our real potential
and how much fight we really got and us that
give us a lot of motivation.

Speaker 1 (44:57):
Seven o'clock kickoff for the Colonels tomorrow night, looking for
their second conference win. Got to mention the baseball playoffs.
We don't talk a lot of baseball here because well,
you know, the Reds are out of it and you
all just aren't huge baseball fans much anymore. But Dodgers
are rolling once again. A lot of you out there
are Dodger fans, and they are up now on Milwaukee

(45:18):
three nothing. That series resumes tonight in LA eight thirty eight.
First pitch you can see it on the TBS. Shohio
Tani pitching for the Dodgers. That's worth tuning in Seattle Toronto. Seattle,
Toronto in the ALCS Game five series tied to two
a piece. That one resumes in Seattle tonight. And I

(45:40):
was kind of rooting for the Blue Jays, but I
think I'm rooting now for the Mariners. And it could
be an all the West Coast World Series. But it's
football season anyway, And I know a lot of you
don't care much about, like I said, about baseball anymore,
but you got to pay attention, don't you in the postseason?
I would think so. All right, when we come back,
Ryan Duffy will tell us how and why he put

(46:01):
together the intro video for Madness, which has swept through
BBN back in a minute a little bit later on
Billy Rutledge plus Heroes, Fools and Flakes on six thirty WLAP,
Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider, joining us down
our celebrity hotline. As a guy you might not know
his name, well you probably will from here on because
Ryan Duffy is the director of Creative Sports Video for

(46:25):
uk UK Athletics, and his video that he put together
for Madness just I think, swept through the Big Blue Nation.
If you haven't seen it, find it online. It's terrific. Ryan,
Welcome and congratulations man, because everybody loved it.

Speaker 11 (46:42):
Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 5 (46:43):
Ed.

Speaker 12 (46:44):
Definitely, I was had some high hopes for it when
we're planning it, shooting it and making it, but I
think it surpassed even what I thought it could be.

Speaker 1 (46:53):
You have been with sports video, started as a student
five or six years ago and worked your way up,
and which impresses me even more because it had such,
for lack of a better term, an old timey feel.
I assume that's what you were going for. Tell me why.

Speaker 12 (47:08):
Yeah. So it's kind of every year doing the Madness feature,
been trying to. It's usually just kind.

Speaker 11 (47:16):
Of a hype video, you know.

Speaker 12 (47:19):
The first one I did was the teenage Wastelam bab
O'Reilly won in like twenty twenty one, and every time
you try to have some sort of messaging and it
comes across, but like this one. I you know, I
always am like just trolling the depths of YouTube looking
for kind of artists and like people who mix music

(47:42):
that you know, people don't generally find. I found this
mix from this uh Brazilian artist, and I heard it
and I just thought this could be something perfect because,
like you know, Mark Pope and you know the team,
they very clear and that the messages they only want
a National chairchampionship and last year was kind of a

(48:03):
whirlwind and so obviously they weren't able to attain that,
but you know, the messaging still of like searching for more,
still haven't find what I'm looking for. It just seemed
kind of perfect.

Speaker 1 (48:13):
Yeah, And by the way, if you want to see
it and you're haven't, you just google UK. Just google
Madness Sports video. It'll come up UK Sports video. Madness
actually is the best way and it comes up. But
first of all, where did you shoot this?

Speaker 12 (48:31):
So this the video itself. I had a couple different
ideas for things that didn't end up panning out because
like dates got changed or shoots. So I actually ended
up shooting it under the bleachers in Memorial Helseum, which
is like one of the only untouched spots that really
wasn't affected by anything. And then also, you know, we

(48:53):
could take it a couple of days to set up
and like leave it and not be interrupting you know,
normal operations. But yeah, that once I found that spot
kind of had the idea of you know, I saw
something that Bears did in twenty nineteen for their one
hundred years, where's a bunch of frame pictures on a
brick wall. And so I actually brought that idea to

(49:15):
my girlfriend, Megan Williams, who used to work for athletics,
and she was like, she took it one step further
and truly like helped kind of build the set. She
brought it more from just an idea of like old pictures,
and together we kind of developed this idea that like,
you know, initially we were going to have the trophies

(49:37):
down there, like the actual trophies and that type of thing,
but we thought it'd be cooler that this was. You know,
you're stumbling upon some forty year employee at UK's little
Shrine and Historic Memorial Coliseum that you know hasn't been touched.
It's just stuff he collects, so just kind of like
different nick knacks like photos, magazines and you know, kind

(49:59):
of designings. Yeah, yeah, and like kind of having the
intention that the team stumbled upon it and all these
new guys are learning about Kentucky's history through that.

Speaker 1 (50:09):
I love that. I mean, I went to school here
in the seventies and all but two years have been
here ever since. So I recognized basically all of that,
all of the items, the jerseys, the clippings, the photos.
But I love that you have the current players with
a sense of reverence going through this room. They were
good actors, weren't they. They weren't really acting really.

Speaker 5 (50:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 12 (50:32):
I mean every guy that came down there, because you know,
we had to put you know, neon tape and like
safety lights, so none of them hit their heads. But
every guy that came through there, they were confused at
first and what they're walking into, and then they saw
it and everyone was just kind of blown away with
kind of how cool it was.

Speaker 1 (50:48):
No kidding. And one of them is holding up a bibblehead?
Was that the Tubby Smith bobbleheads?

Speaker 2 (50:55):
Yeah?

Speaker 12 (50:55):
Yeah, So all the the props and stuff or either
stuff from my office, our people in our communications and
marketing office. I literally went around with like a wagon
and just kind of asked people, Hey, this is cool,
you know this would fit this.

Speaker 11 (51:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 12 (51:12):
The bobbleheads are all Tim Asher's bobbleheads that I go
a lot of his office. The bench actually, uh that
they're sitting on is an actual Uh, it's an original
bench from Alumni gym.

Speaker 1 (51:24):
No way that.

Speaker 12 (51:26):
One of our ac PR people, Tim Letcher, let us borrow.
So that was just like a cool little extra thing.

Speaker 1 (51:33):
That's so great. I didn't I never would have known that.
Why did he have a bench from from alumni?

Speaker 12 (51:41):
He said it was a gift from his late wife
a couple of years back.

Speaker 1 (51:46):
Wow.

Speaker 12 (51:47):
Yeah, and so that it meant even more that he was,
you know, willing to let us use that given not
just the historical significance but sentimental for him.

Speaker 1 (51:55):
Yeah, no doubt. We're talking to Ryan Duffy from UK
Sports video he produced in I assumed did you do
all the editing as well for the Madness video?

Speaker 11 (52:04):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (52:04):
That is And as someone who spent a lot of
time in an edit bay through my ears and TV,
I can tell you that it is a labor of love,
but is a laborer And uh, you end up watching
these things over and over and I'm guessing I'm guessing
you were pleased with it, but I'm sure there were
some things towards the end you would have liked to
have tweaked. But we're never satisfied, are we.

Speaker 5 (52:25):
Yeah?

Speaker 12 (52:26):
No, I mean that's there's I don't think there's ever
been a project where like there's been ones I you know,
have fun editing too, and never gets old. Yeah, but
there's always things that I, you know, wish I could
tweak if I have more time, like kind of some
of the pacing towards the middle end part with like
the montage. But I mean that's even like the dream

(52:47):
on video is something you know, I made almost two
three years ago now, but every year it gets updated
and tweaked and new ribbons get made for it, and
you've never satisfied.

Speaker 1 (52:59):
I've got the clips from all the big moments, and
there isn't as much video out there, of course from
back then as there is now. You know what, when
you discover or stumble onto a treasure trove of video.
I've been the same way with documentaries. I producer. I've
seen video and I'm thinking, where did they get that?
I want that? That kind of thing. I assume you

(53:20):
go through the same thing.

Speaker 12 (53:23):
Yeah, it's it's funny. So because I'm from Chicago, both
my sisters on here. So I went here and I
started working in my first full time job here was
as the men's basketball producer. And so that first summer
our server and archive were kind of not super organized,
so I thought the best way to kind of learn
about the team is to go through all of our

(53:45):
historical digitized footage. Greg Gorman is the one who digitizes
all that. I can't do that, but kind of reorganize it.
See what's all there, so I know exactly where everything is.
I watched the one hundred years of Kentucky basketball from
the early two thousands to kind of familiarize myself, and then,
like I said, I anytime I'm like, I always bounce

(54:05):
ideas off Greg because he is as much of a
Kentucky basketball fan historian as anyone, and so I'm like,
what is this missing? What's a huge play that like,
or a shot or a player that people would be
like kind of the deeper knowledge fans with seeing it
like kind of like a little easter egg type thing.

Speaker 1 (54:25):
Well, Greg is another name that people don't know, probably,
but they know his work to be sure. And I'm
proud to say I actually hired him when I was
at WKYT. It might have been his first full time job.
It was definitely his first job in TV, left us
for another station, moved up to the UK. Now he
hires guys like you, but you always learn from a
guy like Greg, don't you.

Speaker 12 (54:46):
Yeah, I mean our department, you know, ever since he
took over in like twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, and he's
you know, bumped up more. It's truly kind of changed
under his leadership because he always has the he's all
always pushing everyone to be better, do better, be more intentional,
more you know, detail oriented and our edits and our

(55:08):
shooting and everything. But then also, as you know, a
great eye for talent and you can see that too
developed on our live side and our video board through
the past two three years as he pushed for more
new director and producer roles, and we brought in some
really great people, and so all across the board, you know,
our sports video has kind of just the quality from live,

(55:33):
the broadcast, the creative has just exponentially gotten better. And
that's mainly attributed to him.

Speaker 1 (55:39):
What people need to understand is that you are all
are basically a victim of your own successes because you
produce these great hype videos for football and basketball, and
then other coaches I know have seen him from around
campus say hey, we want one of those for our team,
and they don't just come together. You know, you got
to shoot the video and then you got a head
for the edit base. So I know there's there's never

(56:01):
a moment when somebody is not beating down your door
for some sort of video.

Speaker 12 (56:05):
Right, Yeah, I mean Liston's you know, social media kind
of picked up and there's always just been this arms
race of content recruiting. It's you know, you know, five
ten years ago, it was you know, the revenue generating
sports like obviously got the most content. But like we
only have a staff of you know, five, like on

(56:25):
our creative five full time employees and then like ten
to fifteen students, and there's twenty three varsity sports, and
now every sport wants they see you know what basketball, football,
other sports get and they go, hey, I want that,
but you know, don't we don't have twenty dedicated staff members.
So it's hard, and you know, the demand has kind

(56:46):
of grown, but it's worth Like today, I'm shooting there's
some softball alumni in town, so I'm shooting some good
interview testimonials for them for recruiting pieces. But yeah, and
the other thing we kind of pride ourselves on is, yeah,
every other school you look at their football, their basketball,
their main tentful teams, and their their content. Everyone's content

(57:08):
is amazing. But I think what separates us is we
have the same level of dedication resources, camera shooters, edits
to every sport even down to you know, tennis, soccer, rifle,
all these things, and that's something I think kind of
separates us from other schools.

Speaker 1 (57:30):
Yeah, and you also have a bank when it comes
to basketball of the championship videos and celebrations that yeah,
a few other schools can match, if any, So that
that helps make it special, of course.

Speaker 12 (57:44):
Yeah, it's definitely. It's it's a blessing and a curse
because you have it's easy to make cool videos like
the dream on or searching for more for men's basketball
because you have you have that built in brand, that radition,
that success.

Speaker 11 (58:01):
But the hard part.

Speaker 12 (58:02):
Comes in of when you're making those videos, who do
you put in? Who do you keep out? You know,
it's it's the amount of cuts and decisions and like
just kind of sprang in guys to make sure everyone's
in there every play.

Speaker 1 (58:18):
It's difficult what ends up on the cutting room floors.
That's the tough job for an editor. But you're doing
a great job. I appreciate your time, and I'll let
you go with this, and I already know the answer.
How did the players feel about the finished product? I
know how the fans felt about it?

Speaker 5 (58:33):
Good.

Speaker 12 (58:34):
I know. I saw our men's basketball producer, now Davis Kirk,
was shooting behind the scenes at Madness and got some
of the reactions and they all seem like.

Speaker 1 (58:42):
They love it.

Speaker 12 (58:43):
So I'm just happy with it and happy with the
way everything's going. And also shout out to Davis. He's
got a long, big blue Madness recaps like ten minutes
coming out at some point soon, but he's been killing
it in this first year here. You know, our whole team,

(59:03):
Tim Layton, Ian Whitlow, Zach Ringers, and all of our students.
They we couldn't do it without them.

Speaker 1 (59:09):
Absolutely, And those same students are working on the SEC
Plus broadcast that I'm a part of. So shout out
to all of the Especially when baseball cranks up and
the weather's kind of nasty and somebody stuck out there
on the center field camera. We always try to mention
them because that's the lonely outpost, but they do a
great job. Ryan Duffy thank you so much. And again,

(59:31):
if you haven't seen the video, and you are in
a minority, because most UK fans have by now, just
google UK Sports video Madness. It'll pop right up and
it'll take you back. Ryan. Congrats, Thanks again and we'll
see you down the road. Thank you, And up next,
Billy Rutledge with NFL picks for the week Back in
a minute, a six thirty wlap. Welcome back to the

(59:53):
Big Blue Cider. It is Friday. That means we're gonna
find out what happens with NFL football this weekend. Billy
Rutledge on the line. Billy, what a great game last night.
If you're a Bengals fan, not so much of your
Steelers fan. We didn't predict that one. But I didn't
see that coming, did.

Speaker 6 (01:00:07):
You, No, not at all. I mean, if you are
a man of a certain age, you've got to be
thrilled with those four year olds and throwing for about
six hundred yards and seven touchdowns. That was incredible. Yeah,
and kind of goes into back Mike Tomlin calling out
the Browns for trading Joe Flacco to them in division
and now you see why they've got some good game

(01:00:28):
left in him.

Speaker 1 (01:00:28):
How about that? Well, a couple of big rivalry games
coming up this week, and let's start with the Raiders
in Kansas City. The Chiefs are twelve and a half
point favorite. Ashton genty is a fifth in the league
in rushing with three yards per carry. But you know
the Chiefs are desperate to stay alive. What do you

(01:00:48):
see there?

Speaker 5 (01:00:49):
Yeah?

Speaker 6 (01:00:49):
You know, historically this is a game that the Raiders
always play close.

Speaker 1 (01:00:52):
Ye.

Speaker 6 (01:00:53):
I mean you look in the last five years or so,
Kansas City has had issues with the Raiders. I just
don't know if it's going to be like that this year.
You know, Las Vegas was able to beat Tennessee last week,
but who hasn't, right, And then at the same time
it feels like Kansas City is starting to hit their stride.
They get Rashid Rice back this week. If you're worthy,
it's striving and really shows you how valuable he is

(01:01:14):
when he's back in the lineup. The Chiefs are starting
to look like their old self again. So I think
even with all those points, I got to go Kansas City.

Speaker 1 (01:01:22):
Well, I tell you what. The Raiders, to your point,
are four and ohero against the spread since twenty twenty
two has double digit dogs and they've covered three straight
against the Chiefs. So I'm going with science, I'm going
with the numbers, and I'm going to go with the
Raiders on this one. I'll be rooting for the Chiefs.

(01:01:43):
The Commanders are in Dallas. Billy Washington is giving a
point and a half to the home standing Cowboys, and
this is the third straight game in which they'll be
favored for the first time in forever. What do you
make of that?

Speaker 11 (01:02:00):
Interesting?

Speaker 6 (01:02:00):
I mean that Dallas defense is bad, really bad. Yeah,
and that's why dak is having an MVP like season.
But yet Cowboys have if not a fifty to fifty
record or a losing record with that tie along in there,
it's just hasn't been great years. But you know, Ceedee
Lamb is looking to play again in this one. George
Pickens has been really good offensively for Dallas.

Speaker 11 (01:02:22):
Meanwhile, the Commanders.

Speaker 6 (01:02:23):
Lose a heartbreaker to the Bears, and you know that
was that was a tough loss. But I think the
Bears are starting to bring it together. Ben Johnson seems
like a capable coach, So I think I'm gonna go
Commanders here. Dick I cannot bet on the Cowboys. You know,
every time I do, they just show that they can
lose to anybody. I mean Russell Wilson for four hundred

(01:02:44):
something yards against him and then was benched the next week. Right,
So yeah, you know, Jayden Daniel is starting to to
get healthy again. I'm going to go to Washington here.

Speaker 1 (01:02:53):
Here's what bothers men again. You know how much I
dislike the Cowboys, But against the Commanders, Dak Prescott is
eleven and two over the last thirteen games. He's thrown
twenty seven touchdowns with only five picks. At home. He's
six and zero over his last six games against Washington,
with seventeen touchdowns and no picks. But that said, I

(01:03:20):
just can't stand the Cowboys. So I'm gonna go with
you on Washington, and chiefly because this isn't the same
Washington type of team the Dack has loaded up on
in the past. So I'm gonna lay the point and
a half to the home team. That's nuts. The Colts
are on the road. They are laying a point and

(01:03:40):
a half to the Chargers, which I find bizarre. And
both teams are playing well. Both teams have quarterbacks who
are playing Although the Chargers QB. I believe in I
believe in him a lot more than I do Daniel Jones.
But you got to give credit to Jones, don't you.

Speaker 5 (01:03:58):
Yeah, you do.

Speaker 1 (01:04:00):
You know.

Speaker 6 (01:04:00):
I think he's reached a spot where he can be
a game manager and honestly hand the ball off to
Jonathan Taylor when they go and gets tough. And I
don't think you could always say that in New York
it was a lot of eyeballs and a lot.

Speaker 11 (01:04:12):
Of expectations being such a high draft pick.

Speaker 6 (01:04:14):
He really seems to have found the home with Shane Stiken, and.

Speaker 11 (01:04:18):
They look good.

Speaker 6 (01:04:18):
They look really good, not only offensively where you have
guys like Josh Doawn's playing well and Michael Pittman, but
even defensively. So there's a lot to like about both teams.
This one's in Los Angeles, so not much of a
home crowd. I do feel bad for the Chargers players
every time I see the home field, But this is tough.
This is definitely gonna be one of the games of
the week, you know, with Kansas City resurging, I think

(01:04:41):
there's a sense of urgency for the Chargers to win
games now so they can keep that division lead.

Speaker 11 (01:04:46):
But I don't know.

Speaker 6 (01:04:47):
I feel like I'm picking road games this week, Dick.
I'm going with Indy.

Speaker 1 (01:04:51):
Yeah, I'm gonna stick with the Chargers, Billy, because that
comeback last week and again it's a bad Miami team,
but just watching the Chargers moved down the field get
that win. And by the way, they're sixteen and seven
against the spread dating back to this time last year.
They are tied with the Lions for the best mark

(01:05:13):
against the spread in the same period of time. So
I'm going to go against you. I'm going to take
the Chargers and I will take the one and a
half at home. But as you said, there is very
little home field advantage, and I'm like you, they should
have stayed in San Diego.

Speaker 6 (01:05:28):
They should have stayed. And I do want to say
about Justin Herbert. Since he's been in the league, he
has the second most game winning drive fourth quarter. The
first is Patrick Mahomes.

Speaker 1 (01:05:37):
Wow.

Speaker 6 (01:05:37):
So as somebody that's been overshadowed maybe in years past,
Justin Herbert and Jim Harbaugh, who's decided to just pass
the ball a million times this year is really starting
to click. So hopefully they can stay healthy enough for
a good playoff.

Speaker 1 (01:05:51):
Ron I would love that. All right, let's go to
the Falcons at the forty nine ers. The Niners are
two and a half point favorite against the Falcons, team
that leads the league Billy in yards per game given up.
Their defense is only given up two hundred and fifty
three yards per game. This is going to match the
two most productive ball carriers in the league in McCaffrey,

(01:06:14):
who has gone for seven hundred and eighty scrimmage yards
versus Bijeon, who's gone for eight hundred and twenty two
yards from scrimmage. They're the top two in the league.
And guess what they trained together in the offseason. This
is really fascinating.

Speaker 6 (01:06:32):
Yeah, these are, like you said, two great back in
a Falcon team that looked really good on Monday Night
versus Buffalo. Surprising that Buffalo has played so four lay
this year. Yeah, but Bijon looked good. And this is
an Atlanta team that lost thirty to zero to Carolina
earlier this year, so they needed to see some signs
of life, especially with Tampa doing everything that they're doing

(01:06:52):
in the NFC South. Last week, Tampa beat the forty
nine ers, a depleted Tampa team beating a depleted forty
nine Ers that got even more depleted when they lost
Fred Werner for.

Speaker 11 (01:07:02):
The the year.

Speaker 6 (01:07:03):
Yeah, and then you know, Matt Jones finally had a
game where he didn't look like a capable starter. And
you know, I don't know where even we're at with
Rock Purty, but I do know George Kittle is coming back.

Speaker 11 (01:07:14):
That is going to be huge for the forty nine Ers.

Speaker 6 (01:07:16):
Yep, but I still think they're reeling a little bit
this one.

Speaker 11 (01:07:20):
I'm going to take take Atlanta here, Dad, I'm.

Speaker 1 (01:07:23):
Gonna go with you on that. I'm going to take
the two and a half against the Niners in San Francisco.
But I think the Niners are out of the Falcons
are figuring out who they are. I'm still amazed, like
you that they lost that game to Carolina, but they
have not looked anything like that team. Michael Pennix is
starting to look like the quarterback I thought he would
be when they drafted him. He's learning how to use pitch,

(01:07:47):
use the tight end a lot better. I mean, I
just yeah, I like what I see, and Atlanta playing
with a lot of attitude right now. So let's get
to our teams. My beloved Packers are in Arizona. They're
giving six and a half, which is not a surprise.
I don't know where the Cardinals are on their starting
QB right now. I know my guy Jordan Love has

(01:08:07):
fifteen multi touchdown games Billy where he's not thrown a pick,
which is huge. Of course, Arizona is zero and three
against the spread this year at home, so obviously I
gotta go for my guys. Although my Packers average eight
yards per play on passing plays right Arizona's pass defense

(01:08:31):
has only given up six yards per play. I haven't
tracked all their games. I'm not sure what that means,
but I still like my guys laying almost a touchdown.
What do you say?

Speaker 6 (01:08:41):
Yeah, you know, Arizona with Jacoby Burssette last week played
Indianapolis really well. It did, and you know there was
probably some motivation on Versette's part being a former Colts player.
But six and a half is that what you said?

Speaker 1 (01:08:55):
The line wasn't the point?

Speaker 11 (01:08:56):
And I think that's a little too much.

Speaker 6 (01:08:57):
I mean, I've seen Green Bay play down to their
competition a little bit this year.

Speaker 1 (01:09:01):
Yep.

Speaker 6 (01:09:01):
Obviously with the loss to Cleveland and this one being
in Arizona. You know, sometimes, Dick, you know, we can
act like we know what we're talking about, and then
the NFL will just show that, you know, parody.

Speaker 11 (01:09:12):
Is a thing.

Speaker 6 (01:09:12):
And that's even like any given Sunday, they play these
games for a reason because you know, more times than less,
and there's gonna be an upset and a surprising result.
And I think this is maybe a little bit of
a shocker. I'm gonna take Arizona to couple of those.

Speaker 1 (01:09:26):
Yeah, this could again be a game where the Packers
win it, but the Cardinals cover, and uh yeah, no
matter who you are, six and a half is a
lot in the NFL. But then you see a blowout
occur that you don't see coming. So your beloved Buccaneers,
they've got a tough one now. They're in Detroit. Lions
are laying five and a half. H they are eleven

(01:09:47):
and zero against the spread after a loss, and they're
coming off a loss. Billy, how much does that concern you.
It's got to concern you a little bit.

Speaker 6 (01:09:55):
Yeah, it's funny you brought that up. That is what
I was going to mention them losing to Kansas City
last week. Dan Campbell's just one of those guys that
can get a team galvanized and ready to go after
a demoralizing loss like that. Meanwhile, you know, I'm thrilled
of everything that Tampa's doing. I just don't know how
much longer they can do it for, you know, losing
all these players, that is good to see Mike Evans

(01:10:17):
putting the shoulder pads back on. He might be back
this year or this week. But they're still missing the
entire right side of their offensive line. But Irving is
still out. You still have injuries on defense as well.
It's been tough flooding. But Baker, I think, spend the
story of the NFL. Yeah, you know, he's playing at
an MVP caliber. He's second in the odds on DraftKings
to win the MVP, and Tampa's become a darling of

(01:10:39):
the media. Everybody loves to talk about Baker in Tampa now, so.

Speaker 11 (01:10:41):
It's been fun for a change.

Speaker 6 (01:10:44):
But this is a primetime Monday night game in Detroit.

Speaker 11 (01:10:47):
I think the line gets best of them.

Speaker 1 (01:10:49):
Who is the lead candidate now for MVP. According to DraftKings,
it's Mahomes.

Speaker 6 (01:10:55):
Okay, Holmes was number one, and then Baker and I
believe Josh Allen ti.

Speaker 1 (01:11:00):
To two Mahomes for a three and three team, and
he is still commanding that kind of respect. So I'm sorry,
tell me again, you like the Bucks of the Lions?

Speaker 6 (01:11:09):
Here the Lions, Dick. I hate to say it, but
I got to win either way, you know, either I
win my.

Speaker 11 (01:11:15):
Pick hopefully, or the Bucks win. So I think I'm
gonna take Detroit here.

Speaker 1 (01:11:19):
I'm going with you on this, but there's some weird
numbers for the Lions. Three of the last six games
they've given up twenty four points per game as Detroit,
very unlionlike under Dan Campbell. But they have scored thirty
or more points in five straight home games, so they
feel good about themselves playing up there in Michigan, and

(01:11:43):
why not. They're a good team. So it's gonna be
a tough day for Baker Mayfield. I can't imagine him,
not right now, being the front runner for the MVP.
But you know, Mahomes, he is a darling. There's no question.

Speaker 6 (01:11:56):
By the way, Yeah, go ahead. I was going to
say this is a huge NFC playoff seating game. I
feel like I've said that the last three weeks with Tampa, though,
but look, I mean, you played Philadelphia, you play San Francisco,
you played Detroit. You test yourself early, you see where
you're at and if you can win your NFC South
teams and still win a fifth straight division title.

Speaker 11 (01:12:16):
But you know, big game. I'm looking forward to that one,
no doubt.

Speaker 1 (01:12:18):
Oh yeah, we jumped right into our picks. We did
not look at last week where you went four and two.
In week six, I went two and four. I took
the Bills. You took the points against Atlanta and you
won that one. We both lost on Brown Steelers. We
laid the we took the five and I'm sorry we
laid the five and a half. We both won on

(01:12:41):
Patriots Saints, we laid the five and a half. Saints
aren any good. We took your bucks against the Niners
and we won that one. We split on Bengals and
my Packers. You took the fourteen and a half. You
said it was too much, and you turned out to
be right. So my guys win the game, but we
lose when it comes to the picking. And then at

(01:13:03):
Lions Chiefs games, Billy, the Chiefs were one and a
half point favorite. We both were bullish on Detroit and
the Chiefs made them look silly, didn't they.

Speaker 6 (01:13:12):
Yeah, Kansas City looks like they're back. And you mentioned
New England Drake may as somebody that could be top five,
top ten in the MVP voting. He's been really good.
I may put the whole bank roll on New England
to beat Tennessee this week. With the return of Mike
Rabel and Tennessee fireing their coach. There may be no
blood bank guarantee better than that one.

Speaker 5 (01:13:31):
You know.

Speaker 1 (01:13:31):
Somebody posted the stats from Will Levis last year at
the same point in the season versus cam Ward, Will
Levis had better numbers, you know, and whoever tweeted that
maybe it wasn't the quarterback. Yeah, I mean, look, this
guy's playing behind a terrible offensive line, just like Will Levis.
And I don't know what happens with Will, but I

(01:13:52):
sure hope he gets another shot with a team that
has a defensive or an offensive front that can protect him.

Speaker 11 (01:13:58):
You know, yeah, quickly.

Speaker 6 (01:14:00):
You know, the last four quarterbacks taking number one overall
have seen their head coach fired during their rookie year.
That's Trevor Lawrence with Urban Meyer, Bryce Young with Frank Wright,
Caleb Williams with eber Flus and cam Ward with Callahan.
So are we really setting these good draft picks up
for success when things like that happened.

Speaker 1 (01:14:17):
That's one of the craziest stats I have ever heard, literally,
But it also underscores the fact that they're rushing these
young quarterbacks because they're paying him so much money, you know,
and they never get the chance now to learn and
sit like Aaron Rodgers did, like Brett Farve did, like
a lot of guys did. Now they got to carry
the mail right away. And if you're drafted highly, you're

(01:14:38):
going to a terrible team, right.

Speaker 6 (01:14:40):
Yeah, And look at Baker Mayfield. Yeah, successfully he is now.
I mean Cleveland was out on the guy after. I
mean he even had a couple of good seasons there, so,
but they still moved on and he was able to
find his yeah, you know, his career elsewhere. And it's
just there's not a lot of patience when you draft
somebody that high.

Speaker 11 (01:14:58):
Expected Winston.

Speaker 1 (01:15:00):
I always go back as well to the Bengals and
Carson Palmer. He sat for the entire year, almost red
shirted and ended up having a really good career. Would
have been better if you hadn't been injured, but they
sat him for a year and it worked out. Billy
Rutledge appears, Oh I know, Billy Religi appears on this
very radio station at the nine am billion the dude
following the leads report. Thank you brother, have a great weekend.

Speaker 11 (01:15:22):
Enjoyed it, Dick, Thank you, and up next.

Speaker 1 (01:15:24):
Heroes, fools and Flakes here on six thirty wlap Welcome
back to the Big Blue and cider time for heroes,
fools and Flakes and our hero tonight you got to
go with the Bengals and Joe Flacco. And this was
such an amazing win for the Bengals. And by the way,
they got sixteen catches from Jamar Chase. If you had
him on your fantasy team, man, you are living large.

(01:15:46):
But this was Flacco's first game winning drive against the
Steelers in ten years, and all the while Bengals fans
were serenading the postgame a chance of thank you Cleveland
for trading him to the Bengals. This is after this game.
Next game, if they lose, you know what happens. But
for now, Joe Flacco a real hero and by the way,

(01:16:07):
he has not always had success in that stadium at
pay Court stadium or whatever it was called back when
he's played there through the years. He made ten starts
in that stadium as a Raven. He was three and
seven with eight touchdown passes and fifteen interceptions. I was
back when Marvin Lewis was the head coach, great defensive coach,

(01:16:28):
had a couple of good dcs as well. Joe Flacco
was the man last night, and he made Jamar Chase
his favorite target last night, and they ripped the Steelers'
heart out in the closing seconds. Our fool is anybody
who believes that the huge coaching contracts are going to
go away anytime soon. They're nuts. They're crazy, of course.

(01:16:50):
But we talked about it earlier. Indiana lockdown Kurt Signetti
eight year deal, ninety three million dollars, and this was expedited,
rumor has it by Penn State's interest after firing James Franklin,
who just got his shoes buyout. Penn State was ready
to pony up and poach Kurt Signetti from Bloomington. But

(01:17:16):
Signetti signs on. He's going to remain a Hoosier at
least until somebody else comes up with even more money.
And don't bet against that while we're throwing dollars away.
Our flake tonight is the BYU Utah rivalry which pops
up this week. Why well, because it is as an
intense a rivalry as any there are in college football.

(01:17:41):
In fact, at one point, former UK coach turned ESPN
analyst Bill Curry worked that game and said, I think
people from the South and the Midwest ought to see this.
This is a big time football rivalry, and to me,
it sort of parallels UKU of L football rivalry. I
don't know what it's like for basketball, but I do

(01:18:03):
know U taught BYU just like UKU L is not
a conference games, but it matches neighbors, friends, relatives. And
here's the thing. UK and U of L the campuses
are about seventy five eighty miles apart. Utah and Brigham
Young forty eight miles less than that hour drive from

(01:18:25):
each other. Now you think about that, Michigan, Ohio state
the campus is probably the greatest football rivalry one hundred
and ninety miles apart, nearly a four hour drive. Auburn,
Alabama one hundred and fifty seven miles, Oklahoma, Texas three
hundred and seventy one miles. Although they usually play in
Dallas at a quote unquote neutral site. Army Navy two

(01:18:46):
hundred and sixty two miles away and USC Notre Dame
used to be one of the great rivalries. It really
isn't anymore. But the other two thousand miles apart, but
TV brought them together. Here's another great one, Nebraska, Oklahoma
four hundred and twenty seven miles apart. You can go
on and on like that. Callan Stanford are only forty
seven miles apart, but not much of a rivalry there

(01:19:07):
unless the band's on the field. UCLA USC twelve miles apart.
Nobody really cares. But apparently Brigham Young Utah is so
intense that church leaders have been begging people to keep
the peace this weekend. So we'll keep an eye on
that for you, the Utes and the Cougars. To get

(01:19:29):
Mark pok to win on this. That's going to do it.
Thanks again to Jack Gibbons, Ryan Duffy and Billy Rutlegetsa
a good night from the garage. In the election Une.

Speaker 8 (01:19:38):
Sixty nine offense, he's giving him the.

Speaker 13 (01:19:41):
Business take contacting.

Speaker 7 (01:20:36):
The back tact too oft like tip

Speaker 13 (01:21:15):
And it don't donating to the