2025-12-17 BBI

Craig Skinner & Eva Hudson on prepping for the volleyball Final Four; (12:00) Jaland Lowe on matching the effort vs IU on Saturday against St. John's; Jon Sumrall donates a big chunk to Tulane on his way to Florida; (19:00) Carolina Makauskas of the Herald-Leader talks UK volleyball & football; (39:00) Unforgettable guard Sean Woods on the win over the Hoosiers; (58:00) West End Bureau Chief Gary Moore and sometimes, you just gotta dance.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Big Blue Insider. Dick Abriell with you
on a Wednesday, and it is match week, not just
game week, but match week for the volleyball Wildcats, as
you know, in the final four. They will play in
Kansas City tomorrow night at around nine o'clock against Wisconsin.
We'll talk a lot of volleyball tonight. I am in
Kansas City as we speak. Now, this was media day.

(00:23):
We do pre record, so I was actually in the
air when all the interviews were happening, but we did
have a chance to talk volleyball before the Wildcats left
with Eva Hudson, the SEC player of the Year, Craig
Skinner as well the head coach. Those comments will be
coming up in just a moment. And of course you've
got to look ahead to Kentucky basketball for the men.
They take on Saint John's with Rick Bettino at the

(00:46):
Helm on Saturday. We'll get a chance to see if
the progress that Kentucky showed against Indiana is that a
real thing? Can they take it one step further? Can
they take on a really talented, well coached Saint John's
team down in Atlanta, a game you'll hear right here.
Of course, the UK women will play against Wright State

(01:08):
at historic Memorial Coliseum. It's at six thirty on Friday.
Darren Hedgriicks got the call with the pregame at six
point fifteen in election in Kentucky and Wright State. But
let's talk volleyball shall we Kentucky back to the final
four for the second time in school history? You know
what happened the first time, as the Wildcats won the

(01:29):
national championship, fighting off Texas in the finale. Texas did
not make it. We thought Kentucky Texas would be the
semi final matchup, but Wisconsin pulled the upset. So now
it's the Badgers against the Wildcats, which you know, Wisconsin
maybe is good or better than Texas. But I just

(01:50):
we talked last night with Molly Breswich, I guess it
was Monday night, and she said, that's just an opinion
or something like that. No, it's tough. It is tough
to be a team three times for a number of reasons.
You don't have to worry about it now though. So
it's a Kentucky team that is playing its best volleyball

(02:10):
right now, coming in off sweeps against cal Poly. Really
good team Creighton A great team, but Kentucky playing its
best volleyball right now. Eva Hudson, SEC Player of the Year,
Newcomer the Year, the leading candidate one of them, at
least for Player of the Year, said with UK it

(02:30):
comes back to chemistry.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
I think it's just the connection we have off the core.
We absolutely love one another. We all of us live together,
so we're together twenty four to seven. But this stream
honestly started in January and we had one goal throughout
the whole season and the SEC tournament and wins are
all great, but we have one goal and that's win

(02:53):
a national championship. So it's really cool that we're one
step closer, but we have more work to do.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
Earlier this year Kentucky he was winning and on the
way to a ninth straight SEC title. I have to
admit I wondered, could this team get much better? I
talked to Hunter Mitchell about this. He covers the team
as well, and we both agreed that back then we
thought maybe they had plateaued a little bit, but clearly
they haven't. Hudson talked about the fact that this team

(03:18):
is better now than it was midyear.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
And why the middle of the year is probably the
most important part. It's when kind of the excitement of
starting volleyball wears off, and that's when the real teams
are made and when you can come into each practice
and have a goal and get better every single day.
And that's something this team has really taken pride in
and you can see it in the way we grid
out each set.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
Eva Hudson, along with Lizzie Carr, transferred in from Purdue
in the Big Ten. They have played the Big Ten style.
They have faced Wisconsin before. Hudson said she enjoyed playing
against them and the Big Ten is looking forward to
doing it again.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
They're a really good team. They're a really big, physical
team and being in the Big Ten, I loved playing them.
I had so much fun playing them. But yeah, it'll
be great volleyball at.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
Seva Hudson she'll lead the Wildcats on Thursday for Craig Skinner,
who also talked about why he believes his team is
ready to go when it comes to the Final four.

Speaker 3 (04:20):
Talent is the starting line, you know when you talk about,
you know, winning championships, and then it becomes all the
little things, the intangible things, the standard that you play
to each and every day, the way you celebrate teammate
success as well as your own and just kind of
give yourself to the team. I think that when teams
basically surrender whatever stats or whatever you know good, they

(04:42):
make it out of an individually for the betterment of
the people around them, then you have a chance. And
this team has done that all year long, and we'll
fight to the bitter end.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
If you follow Kentucky volleyball at all, you know they
have played, particularly this year, but almost every year, a
brutally tough schedule set up by Craig Skinner, and he talked,
he has talked really in the postseason quite a bit
about how playing that schedule teams in conference and out
has helped prepare his ball club for the postseason.

Speaker 3 (05:11):
I think just the experiences of playing different styles, you know,
different ways of scoring from different teams has put in
some position where there shouldn't be much we're surprised about.
You know, I think Wisconsin will play in a style
that's air free and physical and all of those things,
and so they'll play away that might be slightly different
some of those teams. But there's just not a whole

(05:32):
lot of situations we haven't been in so you know,
we've been able to create some balance, different ways to
scoring all the you know, the volleyball pieces, but you know,
the feeling of being in different situations. I think we've
been there, but you know, Thursday I'll provide a whole
new feeling because we haven't played in the Final four yet.

Speaker 1 (05:49):
Before we wrapped up, I asked Craig about the fact
that back in the day when Kentucky was first getting
den SA tournaments, and it was exciting, and then you'd
see a Big ten team when Kentucky was hosting a
Big ten team coming to Lexington, and you go, oh man,
because you knew they were going to be big and
strong and physical. And sure enough, the Big ten team

(06:10):
usually came from the lectioningon regional Well, not so much anymore.
And I asked Craig about what used to be this
great chasm between first West Coast volleyball and then volleyball
on this side of the country and then Big ten
volleyball and say the SEC and others, and that divide
has all but disappeared.

Speaker 3 (06:30):
Really, you know, it's a good question, Dick. I think
you know, when I got to Kentucky, you know, the
aspiration was to get to Florida's level, and then you
know it was also to close the gap between the
SEC and the Big Ten. And you know, I think
that as a collective group, our coaches in the league
have really taken a lot of pride and being competitive
across the country and and you know, I think our

(06:51):
league has shown this year that were as good as anybody.

Speaker 1 (06:56):
Obviously, the Big Blue Nation is hoping for another run
of six US that had had last weekend when volleyball won,
Kentucky beats Indiana and men's basketball and then grinds out
and win over Belmont on Sunday down in Nashville. So
maybe the Wildcats went on Thursday, then on Friday, the
UK women pull off a win over Wright State. On Saturday,

(07:20):
you gotta wait on your volleyball now. Saturday is men's
basketball day with Saint John's Sunday volleyball and also more
UK women's basketball. When the Wildcats taken on Hofstra, It's
gonna be tough to beat this Saint John's team, no
question about that. You know, Patinos team's gonna play hard,
as teams almost always do. Sometimes they don't. Kentucky played

(07:43):
its butt off against Indiana, needs to do that again,
and that has to come from within. Quite frankly, I
go back to what our main Anthony White said a
long time ago, by football, but it holds for everything.
Anthony White one said, if a coach has to tell
me why it's important to get excited to play on Saturday,
I need to hang on my helmet. And he's right

(08:04):
about that. So we'll see if the Wildcats can dig
in once again the way they did against Indiana. Now,
when it comes to being motivated by your coach, this
day and age, players are just different than they were
when Patino was here at Kentucky. Calipari had a great
comment about players and how they sometimes react to being

(08:28):
coached a certain way.

Speaker 4 (08:30):
I called one guy in and I said, listen, when
I tell you to run faster or be rougher, you
seem to get sad.

Speaker 5 (08:39):
You get sad.

Speaker 6 (08:42):
Instead of running faster or playing tougher.

Speaker 4 (08:45):
Now, if you think professionally that will work, I'm here
to tell you if a coach tells you to run
faster and you just don't, you're done because they're paying
you to do what they're asking you to do. So
when I tell you to run faster, go do it.
I'm not going to look out there and see you
go the same. I mean, that's part of what we

(09:07):
all have to do because these kids, with what they're
going through, this social media stuff. People in the air
transfer transfer transfer so I can make money. Okay, doesn't
always work out all of a sudden, these kids have
the weight of the world. Well, that's our job to
deal with that and help them walk through that.

Speaker 1 (09:30):
People in their air means agents so I can make money. Yeah,
transfer go get more nil so I can make money,
And agents are taking a huge chunk of that compared
to Jefpard. Crawl told me that in the major leagues,
and of course he worked with the Reds for twenty
five years. He said, agents basically get three percent. They
get a cut of mercher, you know, endorsements and stuff
like that. But he said, now he's hearing from other

(09:54):
agents that kids representing quote unquote some of these college
kids are taking ten to fifteen percent, which is a joke,
but that's what's happening. So Caliperry makes a great point.
But what he talks about telling a kid to run faster,
it's interesting that he immediately goes to you want to
do this in the NBA, and like it or not,

(10:19):
that was a motivation for the best teams he had
here at Kentucky. People talk about that all the time.
And remember when things were going well Eric Kentucky. He
had top three top recruiting classes in America, guys that
were going on to the NBA. Sure, but on the
way they were winning games for Kentucky. Should have won more,

(10:39):
should have won one or two more titles. Yes, and
stunk it up at the end, but it always comes
back to talent. We'll talk more about that on the
other side of the break at the bottom of the hour.
Caroline mccoskis from the Herold Leader. She covers football, basketball,
and volleyball for the newspaper. A little bit later on

(10:59):
It's Wednesday, that means Western Bureau Chief Gary Moore and
Unforgettable Guard Sean Woods here on six thirty WLAP Welcome
back to the Big Bloonsider. Coming up in a few minutes.
Caroline mkowskis from their own Leader, will talk volleyball, football, basketball,
and then Shawn Wood's the Unforgettable Guard. Also Gary Moore
are Western Bureau Chief as he joins us each and

(11:21):
every Wednesday, Saturday, it's Kentucky Saint John's at twelve thirty
on CBS and Cats. As you know, coming off that
big win over Indiana, they look like the team that
Kentucky fans expected to see. And there will be a
lot of Kentucky fans in Atlanta, far more than Saint John's.

(11:42):
There will be some loud rambunch of Saint John's fans.
But I think now with the Wildcats looking better as
they did against Indiana, folks who might have been on
the fence are gonna make their way to Atlanta for
this game, you know, for no other reason to boo
Rick Patino, though that has fallen off great deal because
Mark Pope is one of his guys, and I think

(12:04):
when Patino wrapped his arm around the hiring of Mark
Pope that brought a lot of Kentucky fans back to
the Rick Patino side of the street. But now he'll
do everything he can to beat Mark Pope's rear end,
you know that, and it'll be drilled into his players
just how to do it well. Dalen Lowe talked after

(12:27):
the game with the Guys on Field of sixty eight
dot com about the fact that the fans lifted the
Wildcats against Indiana, and they're gonna need to play just
as well, just as hard against Saint John's coming up Saturday.

Speaker 7 (12:43):
Yeah, I mean, we know the expectations here and uh,
you know.

Speaker 6 (12:46):
We we go out there every day and we.

Speaker 7 (12:48):
Know that our fans are kind of disappointed in the
way that we're playing. But you know, when we have
high expectations, you got to you gotta bring it every
single day, no matter what. And when you know you
have highest spectations like that, it holds everybody else to
another standard, and everybody's got a rise to that standard.

Speaker 6 (13:04):
If not, we're.

Speaker 7 (13:05):
Gonna get pummeled. But you know that's not the group
of guys we have. We got a lot of fighters
that are going to keep fighting.

Speaker 6 (13:12):
After the Gonzaga loss, I had like an eighty year
old guy come up to me and Kentucky fan forever,
and he says to me, he goes, listen, I can
watch him if they're just not good enough, but they
play hard. He said. The hardest part was watching you
guys that that night, thinking that you guys weren't playing hard.
I thought in the second half to night, I thought

(13:34):
this was a completely different Kentucky team. You guys played
the way Kentucky fans want to see you play. Wasn't
pretty offensively all the time, But you know what you
guys showed toughness.

Speaker 7 (13:48):
Yeah, for sure. I mean that's what that's that's what
it's going to take in order to win. And I
think our guys know that now. We got to taste
of that about time. We got a taste of that.
So I think going forward, you know, we're gonna hold
ourselves to that standard. And that's gonna have to be
every single game going forward, no matter no matter who
it is. We know the expectations and how hard we
got to play.

Speaker 2 (14:06):
Day in and day out.

Speaker 6 (14:07):
Well, listen, Jaylaen, congratulations on the wind you We know
you you played through a little bit of pain there.

Speaker 8 (14:13):
You're also podcasting through, you know, shoulder industry holding up
that phone on your own.

Speaker 9 (14:17):
So put the phone down and the lights up.

Speaker 5 (14:19):
That shoulder.

Speaker 6 (14:20):
Get healthy. You guys got Saint John's on Saturday.

Speaker 1 (14:23):
That's good advice, doesn't it Keep that shoulder healthy. Because
as long as his shoulder is healthy, as long as
Jalen Lowe is in the lineup, I think Kentucky has
a chance to win against basically anybody they've got in
their schedule from here on, you got to keep Diabata
healthy and eventually you got to get Jane Quainton's back well.
If and when they do again, they'll be the team

(14:45):
that you and I both thought they would be when
we saw the roster that was constructed. It's gonna be
tough even if Jalen Lowe stays healthy, even if they
all stay healthy, because they've got a tough schedule, and
I think Quaintons gets into the lineman, assuming he does
gets into the lineup, it'll take a little more adjustment there,

(15:07):
but I think that'll happen pretty quickly and they just
could be something special. But they've got to play hard regardless,
and they got to make people proud. And you know,
he was proud and has been proud of the Wildcat
was a guy who had his issues here at Kentucky
when he was playing, although he's you know, he's got
issues with everybody, every coach he's ever had, and that's

(15:27):
Rajon Rondo and Dick Vital talked to Rondo via FaceTime
prior to the Kentucky Indiana broadcast, and Rondo talked about
what it means to him today, the field of love
from UK fans.

Speaker 9 (15:42):
You know, people forget about it, but a lot of
guys will come up to me. They'll see I played
in the NBA, but there was nothing like putting on
that uniform in Indiana or Kentucky. Do you feel that way.

Speaker 6 (15:54):
I was waging?

Speaker 5 (15:57):
You know some of the most story.

Speaker 1 (15:58):
Trig has a history to go outcast to the Lakers
and the Celtics over me with a lot.

Speaker 3 (16:03):
Of fan bases unbelievable even to this day.

Speaker 10 (16:06):
I'm four years old in a couple of months.

Speaker 8 (16:08):
And here to the state.

Speaker 11 (16:09):
People love me and they showed me so much respect.

Speaker 8 (16:11):
So it's been a pleasure gonna be in a well game.

Speaker 1 (16:14):
If you couldn't quite understand, he talked about playing for
the Lakers, playing for the Celtics, but basically, Kentucky fans
lead the way when it comes to appreciation once you're gone.
Sean Woods is coming up and I'm gonna ask him
about this because you might recall while he was coaching
the team that was in the Basketball Tournament tvt and
with me on the air, he talked about what it

(16:35):
meant to him to share with those players what he
already knows, and that's the love from the Big Blue
Nation after the fact, and the guys who all came
back saying, I wish I had appreciated it more. We
all say that about, you know, when we were young,
and Rondo now appreciates even more the time he had
here back in the day. Gosh, that was thirty years ago,

(16:58):
wasn't it so a kid playing ball in the eighth grade. Now,
speaking of looking back, John Sumraw wants to look back
on his time at Tulane with pride and affection. That's
why he and his wife announced with his new contract
at Florida, he's donating one hundred grand to the NIL

(17:18):
Fund at Tulane.

Speaker 12 (17:21):
So my wife and I back two months ago, made
the decision to do this. So I was doing this
if I stayed. And then when I decided in twenty
twenty six, I'm going to be the coach at a
different school, one of the things we talked about was like, hey,
we still want to do this. I'll be honest with you.
I told the administrationaer I still wanted to do that.

(17:42):
Bar and the hired a coach that I've approved of.
If the hired some schmuck, I probably wouldn't have kept
doing it, but they hired Will Hall, who I have
great respect for. Will has been on our staff the
last year. Have coached against Will a long time, and
so I want to see Will have continued success. And
I would say this too. This place, the university, the
city has meant the world to me and my family.

(18:06):
I always will and so for us, the fact that
we're not going to be here next year doesn't change
that we're two Lane fans. We're New Orleanians like this
is home in a lot of ways. My two oldest
kids were born here.

Speaker 1 (18:19):
John Sumral is a good man. Caroline mcowskis next on
six thirty wlap Welcome back to the Big Ones. Sider
Joining us now is Caroline mccawskis from the Herold leader
who covers a little bit of everything. Whatever needs doing,
she'll do it. Baseball, football, basketball, volleyball. How much fun
has this been, Caroline? Because it's just something different, yet

(18:41):
it seems like the entire community is fired up about it.

Speaker 13 (18:46):
I think that's true. I really think that's true. I
have had such a blast these past few weeks covering
this volleyball team, and it's it's something.

Speaker 14 (18:56):
That we all kind of talk about in.

Speaker 13 (19:00):
The media, availabilities, and at the matches there's just an
excitement in the air because this team has such great
personality and they're effective, they're talented, they're multi dimensional, and.

Speaker 14 (19:17):
It's been a pleasure.

Speaker 13 (19:18):
And I'm not surprised that the community is rallying around
this program because they're really firing on all cylinders. I
was going to say at the perfect time, but it's
kind of been doing that all year.

Speaker 1 (19:31):
Yeah, they really have. There's so much fun to watch
and you get to know some of the athletes a
little bit better, don't you. Just seems like there's, like
you said, there's a bit more accessibility, you know, And
I realize they have to put up these walls around
you know, the football and basketball teams. But it's interesting
getting to know these young women, isn't it.

Speaker 13 (19:52):
Yeah, it's been really cool, and you know, they're they're
so everyone in that program is excited to tell their stories,
talk about each other, talk about the strategy. I think
Craig Skinner is really good at breaking down his vision
for this program, what he sees on the floor, and he,

(20:13):
I mean, every coach understands the game that they're coaching,
but the way that he sees it and the way
that he can make it accessible for others who are
outside of the doors.

Speaker 14 (20:24):
I think it's really interesting.

Speaker 1 (20:26):
I like the way he calls upon other sports to describe.
I mean, calling a set or a quarterback's pretty easy,
but he he makes all kinds of correlations to other sports,
which I think is kind of fun, isn't it.

Speaker 14 (20:39):
Definitely?

Speaker 13 (20:39):
Definitely, And he's you know, and he's been here a
lot longer than I've been in Lexington, and he just
has a really good sense of the department and the
administration and how everything works together. So it's cool and
he'll throw out a reference to something and knows that
people will get it.

Speaker 1 (20:57):
But this was a first this year when he jumped
up and I think you were probably there at the
football news conference, you cover almost all of them. When
he jumped up on the table and then he goes
to the top of upp Arena and jumps in the
water and now is in a fighter jet. I mean,
I don't know what he's going to do this week,
but that's kind of new. But it's been an interesting addition,
hasn't it.

Speaker 10 (21:19):
Yeah?

Speaker 14 (21:19):
Absolutely?

Speaker 13 (21:20):
And I thought it was cool that last week he said,
this is a team that motivates me to try to
get fans out to support as much as I can,
and you know, he's willing to go the distance literally

(21:41):
in order to show people, Hey, you should be paying
attention to Yes.

Speaker 1 (21:46):
Yeah, you have an interesting background in that you're from
the Midwest but went to college at the University of
Texas and volleyball really started to sprout east of the
of the West Coast in Illinois, and now Texas is
one of although it's the Longhorns shockingly aren't going to
be in Kansas City, but the Aggies are. I hate

(22:07):
that for you, you're a Longhorn. But it's just been
interesting to catalog the growth of this sport. And I
keep bringing this up, but this is where I first
noticed volleyball was. And I'm a little bit older than
you are, but in nineteen eighty three when the Final
four was in the coliseum in Lexing it and all

(22:28):
four schools were from the West Coast, but I just
thought it was great, and eventually it began to blossom
thanks to Kathy de Boor and others, and now Craig
Skinner's taking it to the very top. So watching the
sport grow to me has been fascinating.

Speaker 13 (22:43):
You know, absolutely absolutely. Now I'm going to take this time.
You mentioned the importance of the volleyball presence in the
state of Illinois. I'd be remiss not to mention the
great peg co Pack at Saint Francis High School in Wheaton, Illinois.

Speaker 14 (23:04):
That's where I went to high school. Wow, and for.

Speaker 13 (23:07):
A long long time peg Kopek. She's no longer leading
the program. She since retired, but I mean she was
one of the great. She had our small private school
consistently among one of the most talented teams in the
country of a school of eight hundred. She is a legend,

(23:28):
and there are several Saint Francis putans around USA volleyball,
both times and women. So I got to give her,
give her the shout out, because that's just it was
really cool to watch.

Speaker 1 (23:39):
You're not that far removed as well from UT was
volleyball as big back then because now they're new to
the SEC. But I don't remember how big they were
in the Big twelve, and then I don't even know
if there was volleyball in the old Southwest Conference much
to speak of.

Speaker 13 (23:56):
That was a program that everyone was really excited about.
I gotta tell y'all, you know, when I think about
my time in Austin, which was twenty sixteen through December
twenty nineteen, people really cared about the volleyball program. There
was just such an excitement about it. They recently announced
a new facility.

Speaker 14 (24:16):
That they're going to build, but they play in the greg.

Speaker 13 (24:19):
And it's old and you feel the history and you're
right up on the floor, and it's such a cool
environment to go see a match, and you know, that's
a program, as you mentioned, that's been on the national
stage for a long time now, and you can just
feel that excitement. So I think I can recall more

(24:42):
times there where it was packed them back in the
old drum for men's basketball or women's basketball, even though
women's basketball was very good still when I was in college.
But people really care about volleyball at UT.

Speaker 1 (25:00):
And when Kentucky went down there and swept, I was stunned.
And then when Kentucky beat Texas in a reverse sweep, again,
I was stunned because that's it's Texas Texas volleyball. But
in the way you describe the Texas home matches, that's
what Kentucky's matches began to feel like to me when
they had a good crowd on hand, especially with at

(25:22):
a tournament. And again I go back aways, but my
first two or three years at UK men's varsity and
women's basketball happened in Memorial Coliseum, and especially with the
men's games eleven thousand, they packed it every night and
it was, like you said, just intimate and the crowds
went crazy. So there's a lot to be said for

(25:42):
facilities like.

Speaker 13 (25:43):
That, you know, absolutely, And you bring up the Memorial
Coliseum war like. I was sitting there last week and
I was saying, I need to buy earplugs. It's just
so loud.

Speaker 14 (25:58):
It's uncomfortably loud.

Speaker 13 (25:59):
But I really I don't remember which coach it was,
it might have been the cal Poly coach Caroline Walters,
but she made a comment about how they just had
a can taking an extra player on the floor, with
how big a deal that crowd was, how instrumental they
were and shifting the momentum and it was so much

(26:23):
fun to see.

Speaker 1 (26:24):
Yeah that I really enjoyed her seth believe though. That
was her comment and I really thought she represented her
school well. And again when they swept cal Poly. I
was amazed because that's a good school, but a good team.
But here they are. We're talking with Caroline mcowskis as
a herod leader. We'll come back and talking football and
basketball on the other side of the break here on
six thirty WLAP Welcome back. We're chatting with Caroline Macawskis

(26:48):
as the hero leader. She covers whatever needs covering for
the hero leader, football, basketball, volleyball, women's basketball. You, as
I mentioned, you're at the football news conferences and here
you have been in election in for a short amount
of time. You've already covered a coach on a hot
seat who's basically shown the door with gratitude, and basically

(27:10):
on the same day Caroline, they named the new coach.
Things don't happen like that very often, do they. They
don't happen that quickly. What did you make of all that?

Speaker 13 (27:21):
They definitely don't happen that quickly. I mean, we're looking
at some of these other coaching searches Michigan.

Speaker 14 (27:27):
Going on right now.

Speaker 13 (27:29):
Penn State felt like it took about three seasons to
kind of find a head coach. But this was about
as quick a turnaround as you know, I remember talking
to Mark's story about it as he can remember. Yeah,
at Upay, certainly under Mitch Barnhardt. But when there are

(27:53):
so many open jobs like there were this season, like
there are this season, there's going to be a lot
of Domino's moving. And I think in a situation like that,
especially when you have these big time jobs that are
highly coveted open Florida, LSU, somewhat, Penn State, somewhat you know,

(28:14):
Arkansas or Auburn, there are a lot of great coaches
out there who may consider other jobs a higher priority
than yours.

Speaker 14 (28:24):
But what's really cool about this is.

Speaker 13 (28:27):
You can find people who maybe they're a coordinator, maybe
they're retired, maybe they've been elsewhere, whatever.

Speaker 14 (28:35):
And I think will Stein was.

Speaker 13 (28:37):
A cool cross section of all of these things happening
at the same time. A guy who obviously is from
the state, cares about the state, and I think could make.

Speaker 14 (28:50):
A big difference here.

Speaker 13 (28:51):
It's been neat to see all of the changes going
on while he's still preparing for a college football playoff.

Speaker 1 (28:59):
Runt, young guy. Are you surprised they went for someone
so young?

Speaker 13 (29:04):
Less surprised more, Wow, that's crazy that this guy is
not even ten years older than I am. Yeah. With
full respect to all the coaches that I've covered or
do cover, I have looked at them and they've been
I don't know, the same ages as my parents, or

(29:25):
a little younger or a little older. And I'm looking
at this guy and I'm saying, he is really not
much older than I am. It's kind of funny.

Speaker 1 (29:34):
And yet has the Big Blue Nation amped up and excited,
doesn't he?

Speaker 13 (29:40):
Yeah? And I think for good reason. He has studied
under talented coaches. He's been a part of staff that
I think has shown him the importance of in house development,
shown like at UTSA, shown him how to recruit with

(30:03):
a competitive edge, get people in the door, build these relationships.
You could see that, you know during his time even
we had some overlaugh at Texas when he worked under
Charlie Strong. Those weren't great years, but you know, you
learn a lot from these staffs, and of course from
Dan Lanning at Oregon, who's one of the most effective

(30:24):
recruiters in the game right now. I think there are
a lot of things for fans to be excited about,
and he seems to have a lot of energy, and
I think the number one thing that stuck out to
me from his introductory press conference was when he spoke
about a lot of people complain about the state of
college football right now, all the transfer portal stuff, nil,

(30:48):
whatever it is, revenue share, and he says, it's time
we're here. This is what college football is. We're not
going to complain, We're not going to hang our heads,
We're not going to be worried about what or it's
not how it used to be. We're taking advantage of it.
And I think that's showing both in his attitude right
now who he's been able to flip or get to

(31:10):
sign with Kentucky and then the staff that he's been
building as well.

Speaker 1 (31:15):
And yet they just released the schedule and it's brutal.
But it will be from here on, won't it.

Speaker 13 (31:22):
Yes, Yeah, I think it's just one of those things.
I was looking at the Arkansas football schedule brutal. I
think the Texas football schedule next year is brutal, and
Kentucky's is no different. I mean, I've got it pulled
up right now. Week two is Alabama. That's crazy Alabama,

(31:46):
Texas A and M. A couple of weeks later, you
got You're at South Carolina, LSU at Oklahoma, Sanderbilt at Tennessee,
Florida at MISSOO Louisville.

Speaker 14 (31:57):
That's a crazy run.

Speaker 1 (31:59):
Yeah, pick out a winnable game, quote unquote. That's a
favorite word, isn't it. Yeah, Yeah, it's going to be interesting.
Let me in a few minutes we have left. Let
me shift you over to basketball. I know you covered
the men, but the women as well. They're off on
a good start and a tough road win. I hope
that's not forgotten among all the good stuff that happened

(32:20):
over the weekend for Kentucky fans. But they ground out
a win at Belmont. I mean, this SEC schedule is
going to be interesting upcoming, isn't it.

Speaker 14 (32:32):
I think it is.

Speaker 13 (32:33):
And I was thinking about that game yesterday and I
rewatched it, and I found myself having a lot of
unanswered questions about this team and how they're going to
consistently win down the stretch, because there are concerns that
were there with last year's team around this time last season,

(32:57):
and there are also concerns that weren't there. Obviously, having
Georgia Amore and Dejah Lawrence, they were the ultimate band
aid for so many things and if they play the
way they did against Belmont yesterday down the stretch, there
are going to be a lot of games that they lose.

(33:21):
Of course, it's just one game, and Belmont is not
an easy matchup, despite the fact that they've been struggling
with inconsistencies this season and dropped a bunch of games
to really great teams and also McNee. But I think
it was a good lesson. I think it's going to

(33:41):
give them a lot of film to watch. But watching
someone like Amelia Hassett really zone in and knocked down
five to three pointers, that's exactly the kind of stuff
that they need. Oh yeah, double doubles from her, double
double from Jordan Obie, who I think is just going

(34:03):
to be such a difference maker when they get into
conference play, that is really important.

Speaker 1 (34:10):
Yeah, and then of course Clara Strak, who right now
is averaging a double double. It's early, but also fifteen
and ten plus two and a half blocks a game,
one and a half steals per game, the only player
in either men's or women's college basketball to be averaging
those numbers. You can't expect them to stay well, maybe
you can at those levels, but I was really wondering

(34:33):
what she would do for an encore.

Speaker 13 (34:34):
You know, yeah, absolutely, and she's super talented. But what
we're watching her deal with right now is being double
triple team for so much of these games. And I
think the games against Siffer competition where maybe she's not

(34:54):
delivering a double double or she signs herself in foul
trouble or whatever. She's still figuring out.

Speaker 14 (35:02):
How to navigate that.

Speaker 13 (35:04):
Yeah, and that's going to be a big piece of
the puzzle going forward. But she's getting doubled in triple
teams near the end of things last year too, Yeah,
and she figured it out. So I think she's on
a good trajectory and there is a lot of reasons
to be hopeful with her future going forward for the
rest of the season for Pans.

Speaker 1 (35:26):
And I think as long as Tony Key is contributing,
I think, you know, she'll be okay. It's like the
Butcher Sundance of that team. Look it up, kids, look
up the reference before I let you go. You also
cover men's basketball. How surprised were you at what happened
with that Kentucky Indiana game? I have to admit I
wasn't shocked that they won I thought they could, but

(35:46):
the way they were kind of blew me away. What
did you see?

Speaker 14 (35:50):
Yeah, I was surprised by that. I really was. That
was a game that they needed to win.

Speaker 13 (35:57):
But as second time they dropped this, as Mark's story
put it, you know that North Carolina was also a
game that they needed to win. Gonzaga was also a
game that they needed to win. But I think this
team is We've seen them really struggle to put it
together in a way that maybe to a much lesser extent,

(36:22):
the Kentucky women's basketball team may have had similar struggles
in the event that they had played a similar slate
from the non conference, but it's good to see guys
like Babate and Low come off the bench and be

(36:42):
able to impact against power competition. Those are two guys
who there were question marks. Can it be consistent, can
they be healthy? Can they play it?

Speaker 14 (36:56):
I was happy with what I.

Speaker 13 (36:57):
Saw from them as someone who who is going to
be watching the rest of these games for the rest
of the year, because they need that depth and they
need that ability to connect, and they've really laughed chemistry, hustle,
and communication in a lot of these high level contests.

Speaker 1 (37:17):
YEP and it's been painfully evident, but took a big
step forward. Can they take another one? Because now they're
all big steps with as you said, with Patino's team
coming up and with the SEC should be interesting whatever happens.
Caroline Makowskis will cover it, whatever the sport for the
hero leader. You can follow her on Twitter at c

(37:37):
m akau sk as Caroline with an e thank you
so much and we'll see you down the road.

Speaker 14 (37:44):
Thank you. Have a good one.

Speaker 1 (37:46):
I remember one of the books I renumber two coming
up with our Western Bureau Chief Gary Moore and unforgettable
Guard Sean Woods, an Indiana native who looks back on
UK Indiana. That's next one six thirty WLAP.

Speaker 15 (38:01):
In any type set such stattat.

Speaker 1 (38:49):
Can welcome back to the Big Blue Sider. It is Wednesday.

(39:52):
That means we are joined by the unforgettable Guard Sean Woods.
His jersey hangs in the rafters of U and before
we look ahead, Shawn Saint John's and the fighting Patinos.
That guy you know pretty well against your alma mater.
Tell me a little bit about Indiana, your home state.
You're another Hoosier who came south to play for the
Wildcats along with Macy and Master Jerry Hill. And it

(40:15):
was not entirely a tale or two halves, but it
really was, was it not. And I know what you're
gonna say first, right, Jalen Lowe, Jayalen.

Speaker 8 (40:23):
Lowe, jaylen Low, Jayleen Low, Jaylen Low fifteen. Hey, G fifteen, baby,
G fifteen, jeep fifteen. Yeah, that's what I'm calling me,
G fifteen. That's his nickname from here on now. G
fifteen Yeah, guard number fifteen.

Speaker 1 (40:41):
Yeah, tell me just from what you saw. I know
you've talked to me for weeks and weeks about the
point guard, but specifically what he did against Indiana.

Speaker 8 (40:55):
Well, when you when you're at Kentucky or any high
major school, nine times out of teen you got one
of the best point guards in the country. And by
having that, that gives you an advantage. And it starts
with that. And what Jalen low does for Kentucky is
he played. He's a tremendous on ball defender, which puts

(41:17):
pressure on the other team's guard. Offensively, he breaks you
down unlike any other person on the team and creates
easier easy shots for others. And when you have that,
when your you know your offensive systems or whatever breaks down.
You have a guy that can go, get go, make
something happen, and it creates easier situations for you know,

(41:43):
other guy's big so on and so forth, because he
sets the table. And that's what happened the other day.
You know, I thought that he was the catalyst in
that victory just because he they got point guard play.
You know, you ever ever start a season or even
when you're recruiting not having a point guard. So they

(42:05):
had one. Unfortunately they didn't have two, but you you
start with that, and when you don't have that, it
creates problems. And that's those other problems that we have
had here at UK not having a point guard. But
you see when he came in and start playing significant minutes,
that second half just turned completely around because you know,

(42:28):
we had we had the best guard on the court.
And hopefully he could continue to be the best guard
on the court, you know what I'm saying moving forward,
because he's going to be challenged physically going against Saint
John's on Saturday, because they're just so tough and rugged.
I hope he can last without getting you know, getting
banged up, you know, being ran off screens, or bump,
hitting that shower, so on and so forth. But he

(42:49):
gives us a chance, Dick, and that's all we want
is a chance, and we're.

Speaker 1 (42:52):
Gonna come back to that. But but looking at that
Indiana game, and there are tangibles and then there are intangibles.
And I felt like when he made a diving attempt
and scared the crap out of the BBN as coaches
teammates with that shoulder, but made that diving attempt to
corral that loose ball slid down the floor for about
ten feet, I felt like that was an intangible that

(43:15):
became contagious if it already was was not contagerous, you
know what I mean.

Speaker 8 (43:20):
It's just like the quarterback either making a block or
taking a big hit to take that to make that
touchdown like John Away did when he when he took
that heat hit and made him do a three sixty,
but he got into the end zone.

Speaker 1 (43:32):
I knows.

Speaker 8 (43:35):
Yeah, it's the same scenario. It's the same situation, you know,
and when your guard you knowing it's hurt and he's
putting his body on the line and his career for
that part that you know what I'm saying. For the
most part.

Speaker 14 (43:49):
What else? What can your teammates do?

Speaker 8 (43:51):
But you know what I'm saying, appreciate that, Yeah saying
if he can do it, shoot, we can do it.
And you know, I thought, you know Garrison and you
know what I'm saying, came to play a little bit.
His character was challenged, and I thought he stepped up
to the plate from energy and efforts standpoint. And then
when that happens, now your team's starting to jail. Now

(44:13):
that now appreciation starts to become part of your DNA
in your clubhouse.

Speaker 1 (44:18):
I thought Diabat was a big part of that too,
didn't you. I thought he repay his ways.

Speaker 8 (44:23):
Yeah, he's not selling for jump shots. He went in
there and got offensive rebounds and put back kept you know,
kept balls alive.

Speaker 14 (44:29):
So you know it.

Speaker 8 (44:32):
But I'm just telling you they can say whatever they want.
Diabate Garrison and your point guard comes back. Makes everybody
feel much better.

Speaker 1 (44:41):
Sean Woods, the advocate for point guards nationwide, no matter
what level they're playing. Uh And now, as a coach,
I know you're watching the game differently, but uh, I
do wonder and you've talked to me before about all
the different lineups, the combinations Uh, Pope's not doing that
for fun. He was desperately trying to find combinations minus
three of his best players that we're going to work

(45:03):
for now. But if Diabate and Low stick around until
JQ gets here, do you see him changing the way
he plays rotations, the way he subs things like that.

Speaker 8 (45:17):
Oh yeah, because now you getting another one, you're better player.
So now you know we're playing with guys right now
that we have to play with, not guys that we
want to play with. You know what I'm saying. It's
just it is what it is. And you know now
you know the pieces are starting to come into play,
and you know, guys are starting to get off the

(45:37):
injury bug, you know what I'm saying. And you know
you got a point guard and now things are starting
to get to normal. You know, now you can coach
the way you thought you can coach, and this team
is starting to, you know, form the way you envision
it when you recruited these guys.

Speaker 1 (45:51):
Right, And so it's not that he doesn't want to
play guys, but like you said, if he has to
play a guy not seven or eight minutes, but eighteen
or two twenty five minutes You're kind of handcuffed, aren't you.

Speaker 8 (46:03):
You are handcuffed and you're going to get what they bring.
And it's not good enough right now, you know what
I'm saying. Role Players are role players. Starters are starters, right,
and when you have to play more role players than
you do starters, you know, that kind of makes it
difficult for a coach.

Speaker 1 (46:18):
Yeah, it must, and now they can move forward. How
much Sean is a player? How much is a coach?
Do you lean on the last game and what got
you there? You got to look forward always, But how
do you handle how did you handle like this? Of
course she didn't have any choice with Patino, But I'm

(46:39):
wondering about what kind of lasting effect that Indiana effort
is going to have on this team. I guess we'll
find out Saturday, won't we.

Speaker 8 (46:47):
We are, you know, and I'm I'm not too keen
on Indiana. I thought, you know that. I think Indiana
is small. I thought we did a great job of
a really exploiting their size and attacking the offensive glass
and getting the ball to the rim. I think we

(47:08):
got to continue to do that from a physicality standpoint,
and we're going to be tested against Saint John's from
a physical standpoint, because you know, coach Patino's gonna mark
it up, he's gonna isole, he's gonna find mismatches, and
his main thing is to beat you up and try to,
you know what I'm saying, dominate the stat line, which
is offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds for its turnovers, yeah, and

(47:31):
those type of things. So you know, we got to
be on our p's and q's. We got to be
strong with a ball. We got to really be physical
blocking out, keeping those guys off the glass, and we
got to guard, especially in one on one situations from
the top because his two post players can really take
you off the bounds.

Speaker 1 (47:49):
And you guys were big and you charted them. And
I think he still does on deflections which don't show
up in the box score but have everything to do
with defense. I really like.

Speaker 8 (47:59):
That all hustle stats. Yeah, and coaches big on that.
And he can tell at halftime what type of effort
you get in just by looking at that deflection stack.

Speaker 1 (48:08):
Yeah. Yeah. And it's so disruptive, man, if you can
ring up those deflection you know, I remember postgame press
conferences that might have been the first thing out of
his mouth looking at the way the game broke down
because he had the deflections that we didn't on the
stat sheet, and he'd always say, hey, we had forty
five deflections or something like that. And I guess they

(48:30):
hammered it home every day in practice, didn't they. His
model is.

Speaker 8 (48:35):
You you You, you get thirty seven, thirty nine deflections
a game, you win ninety percent?

Speaker 1 (48:40):
Again, is that right?

Speaker 12 (48:42):
Wow?

Speaker 1 (48:43):
Wow? Well there's a lot to be said for that,
and we will talk more about other coaches when we
come back. We're talking to Sean Woods, head coach at
Scott County High and his jersey hangs in the rafters
of rup wan to come on six thirty WLAP Welcome back.
We're chatting with Sean Woods. He is the head coach
at Scott High, the unforgettable guard. You shared something with

(49:03):
me off of Twitter. It was a clip that made
the rounds. Dick by Tal doing a FaceTime chat with
Rajon Rondo, another former Kentucky point guard like yourself, and
Rondo says he never misses a game, either on TV
or in person, and he said playing in great franchise
is like the Celtics and the Lakers still don't top

(49:23):
playing at Kentucky. And when I saw this, Sean, you know,
Rajon and Tubby sometimes didn't get along. Rajon had a
hard time getting along with every coach he ever had.
But he has grown up, he has matured. And it
reminded me, Sean of what you said about the guys
who played for you in TBT, how once they're away

(49:45):
from Kentucky they appreciated so much more. Is that what
it reminded you.

Speaker 8 (49:49):
Of, No doubt about it. But you got to remember
rage I grew up here. He grew up in Loo
oh yeah, so it's a little different from him. He's
seeing it from a different land then say Aaron Harrison
or Andrew Harrison or you know these other guys. Rayjeon
grew up in Louisville, so he understood the dynamics of

(50:11):
Kentucky basketball and Louisville basketball. And he had an opportunity
to choose between Louisville Kentucky, and he chose Kentucky. So
you know, it resonated in him. And when he went
to the NBA, he still paid attention to the to
the Cats. You don't you do not not pay attention
to the cat I don't care where you go. You

(50:33):
just don't, you know what I'm saying, because you know
that that's what it is, and you know the expectations,
you know what you went through here, and you know
what Big Blue Nation is all about, and so it
spikes your interest no matter what. You know. Even when
I was coaching somewhere else, I still paid attention. Not
as much, but I still paid attention. I knew who's

(50:54):
who on the team. Didn't know him very well, but
I knew who was who on the team. But you know,
it's it's a given. You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 14 (51:01):
I don't.

Speaker 8 (51:01):
I don't know too many Wildcats that don't know what's
going on at Kentucky.

Speaker 1 (51:05):
His ownership involved, no doubt about it. They're all standing
on your shoulders.

Speaker 8 (51:11):
Yes, yes, yeah, yes, that said.

Speaker 1 (51:15):
Uh Bob Knight. We all know what he meant to basketball.
We all know what what his legacy is or was.
And one of the great comments that will live forever
from the late Bob Knight was his comment I played
it on the show last night about it's amazing how
much rolling, in paraphrasing the bench plays in motivating. He said,

(51:37):
it is the best motivator. Asked to the bench sends
a message to the brain, brain, to the rest of
the body, et cetera. As a coach, I know, as
a player you didn't have to worry about it that much.
You didn't spend that much time on a bench. But
as a coach, I know you can endorse that. Right.

Speaker 8 (51:54):
Hey, as a player, I was scared of that bench.
Made get me on that bench, right so I know
what that bitch can do. And it ain't no fun
sitting over there, you know.

Speaker 12 (52:07):
And I I.

Speaker 8 (52:10):
Say this all the time to myself. You know, I
give myself reasons why I didn't make to the NBA,
you know. And I'm just saying. God knew that I
was going to be a role player in the NBA
and I will probably play five to ten minutes a game,
and he knew I wouldn't be able to stand that,
so he gave me a better quality life from a
mental standpoint of not sitting a bench for somebody or
doing something else. But I would have done it just

(52:33):
for for the money, for sure, I said, for anybody
who's been for five ten million dollars. But anyway, it
doesn't the message. You know, everybody wants to play. But
when you sit in that bench, you know, like Garrison.

Speaker 1 (52:45):
It worked, Oh yeah, yeah, it worked.

Speaker 8 (52:49):
You know, people want to play. And when that coach
looks at you and says sit damn, now, you get
worried a little bit, like I need to straighten up
and fly right. That's exactly what happened in this situation. Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 (53:00):
Yeah. I also had a comment from John Calipari talking
about and this one again made the rounds when he
talked about how when he brought a player into his
office and said, when I basically get on you, you
seem sad. He was talking about motivation. And you've talked
to me for a week, really for a couple of
years now on the show about what it's like coaching

(53:22):
players today. Is it rare anymore sean to see a
guy respond and react the way you hope or is
there too many players now getting sad if you try
to get on them, because now no one's gonna get
on anybody the way Patino got on you guys anymore.
That's you know, rare anymore. But I know you can

(53:44):
relate to what Cali Perry was saying, right.

Speaker 8 (53:46):
No doubt about it, And they do get sad, you
know what I'm saying. Then you get on them and
then you realize, okay, they're sad. Now you've got to
pump them up. Yeah, you know, there's no fight, there's
no bite like I'm approved of you coaching.

Speaker 14 (53:58):
I'm just that.

Speaker 8 (53:58):
And the third you know, uh, then they go home
and they tell their parents or whoever it is. You
know what I'm saying. And now you got now that
you had that ass misery to the equation. But you
know at that kid saying, hey, you know whatever he's saying,
and you know he wants to play. But every then

(54:20):
you're not doing what you need to do.

Speaker 1 (54:21):
But you know, what this reminds me of is what
your mom told you when you wanted to quit Kentucky
and transfer. I think some of this is a kid.
Some of this has got to be the parents that
you've talked to me about parents. But your mom is
kind of to me a role model for telling you
what she told you about get your butt back to Kentucky.
You're not quitting.

Speaker 8 (54:43):
Exactly she said. This is you know, it is your
first time of facing major adversity as a young man,
then you need to face it and and and and
and and and and and embrace it. And that's exactly
what I did when I knew I had nowhere.

Speaker 14 (54:55):
Else to go.

Speaker 8 (54:57):
But Kentucky is really where I wanted to be, just
not under those circumstances, you know. And you know, she's like,
you know, this has been your dream. You know this
is where you wanted to go. Don't let you know
some things like that. Yeah, you may not be able
to get to an NCY double that tournament because you
know what happened, but you're still playing at the Universe
of Kentucky. But as a young person, you're not visualizing that.

(55:19):
You know, you're looking at trying to get win the
National Championship. You see your other friends who you play
with gifts in high school and things like that, and
they're playing in the NC double A, going to the
final four, so on and so forth, and you never
got a chance. You're not getting a chance. You know,
it works with you a little bit. But like my
mom always, she was always right about everything. I never
would have had left a legacy anywhere else under those

(55:43):
circumstances like I was able to hear at the University
of Kentucky. So it all worked out.

Speaker 1 (55:46):
The way it was supposed to work, your jersey wouldn't
be hanging. You might have had a nice career elsewhere.
But I doubt with all due respect that your jersey right.
But you also, and I loved when you guys got
together when Pelle came back. So had that memory and
that those relationships with those three guys the other Unforgett
and Reggie for the rest of your lives. And that's

(56:08):
that's just as important or more important, isn't it.

Speaker 8 (56:11):
It's way more important. You know, we're older now, you
know what I'm saying, and we have each other, Dick,
and we lean on each other, you know what I'm saying.
And you know we were the first three people that
Pale called when his wife found out that she had cancer.
You know, He's like, I don't have anybody else you guys.
I need to let you guys know what's going on
because I need you. And there's not never a day

(56:34):
and I'm tearing up right now because there's never a
day where I called Darn if I need him, if
I call Richie if I need him, if I call
Pelle if I need him, and vice versa. Is because
we went through something that I don't care. I mean,
everybody is going through the versy Kentucky, but I beg
to differ if anyone went through what.

Speaker 1 (56:56):
We went through. Bottom.

Speaker 8 (57:00):
Yeah, you've been around longer than me, but I don't
see anybody going through what we had to go through,
absolutely to get to where we were and to where
this program is to.

Speaker 1 (57:12):
Absolutely, I could not agree more. That's a good place
to leave it. Although next time we're together, I'm going
to have you tell me the story about when Richie
actually quit and Patino want to get him and Richie
kind of leaned on your shoulder a little bit there.
That's a great story you've told me before. But it's
been a while and we'll come back to that. But Coach,
thank you so much. We'll talk to you next week,

(57:32):
the holiday week, but until then, have a good one.

Speaker 8 (57:35):
Looking forward to a dick you know it.

Speaker 1 (57:37):
Western Bureau Chief Gary Moore up next on six thirty
WLAP Welcome back to the Big Moon Insider on a
chili not quite as frigid as it's been. Wednesday, we
will heat things up with our Western Bureau Chief Gary Moore,
always something on his mind. Two guys in a six pack,
what's up you and me, brother.

Speaker 10 (57:53):
We got six things to talk about and a lot
of football here today. No need to cue the Andy
Williams song for the eight zillion time for US football fans.
This is the time of the year. Do you realize,
Dick Gabriel, We are now soaking? We are soaking in
twenty three consecutive days with at least one football game
on televisionody be they NFL games, CFP games, Bowl games,

(58:18):
or fcs AKA one double A playoff games. I love
every minute of it, well most every minute of it.
We'll get to that in a second Tomorrow night. The
best NFL game of the week in my biased opinion
eleven and three Rams. At my eleven and three Seahawks.
Rams are a one point favorite at this point, and
since I obviously stink at Thursday night predictions, thank you

(58:38):
very much Tampa Bay last week, I'll just predict that
I'll be one of the twelves cheering on Seattle. However,
I will put an addendum to that and say, if
Seattle lets the Rams dominate both lines as they did
the Colts, Seattle will lose by a couple of touchdowns
because the Rams are way better than the Colts now

(58:58):
heads up before Sunday Monday game. We've got two two
on Saturday, including your nine, four and one Packers ten
and four Chicago. Maybe you think that's an even better game.
We'll see the Packs a one and a half point
favorite at this point, and that's going to be after
the Philly Washington game at five o'clock. Both of those
on Fox, by the way, on Sunday, how about these
for you? How about the Jags at the Broncos, Steelers

(59:20):
at the Lions, got the Patriots at the Ravens, and
Monday Night Niners at the Colts. You tell me, did
Gabriel being a stockholder of the Packers, what's going to
happen Saturday night in snowy Chicago.

Speaker 1 (59:31):
Well? I always like us against the Bears because we
always beat the Bears. But my faith has been rattled
a little bit now. It was rattled by Denver, which
I knew going in had a really good defense. That
is why they will beat the Jags. I hate to
say that I root for the Jags now for obvious
UK connections. Excuse me, but in Denver is my son's team.

(59:52):
But we we don't kind of lord it over each other.
Until they play each other, and his team beat mine
last week. Packers have some issues, not the least of
which is Michael Parson's going down. Yeah, and Matthew Golden
going down. So we got some problem. We got issues.
So I wouldn't be surprised if we end up dropping
that one and giving Bears fans some kind of false hope.

Speaker 10 (01:00:14):
Because they'll find a way to screw it up at
the end. Right, Okay, our second swig. On Friday, the
college football playoffs begin. We've talked about that. The ninth
seed Bama at eight seed Oklahoma Norman is going to
be rocking for this one. I'm gonna take the Sooners
to win, even though Bama is a one point favorite
at this point. Saturday, the other six CFP first round

(01:00:35):
teams are going to be squaring off at noon noon
on Saturday, Miami at A and m Tulane at Ole
Miss at three thirty, and then at seven thirty James
Madison at Oregon. ABC has got Miami and A and
m T and T will have the other two. By
the way, I'd love to see Miami and Tulane pull
the upsets, but I think it's going to be A
and m old Mess and the Ducks advancing. Also on

(01:00:58):
Saturday twelve thirty, UK basketball well Catlanta the Place taking
on Rick Patino's Saint John's Red Storm, which I think
you will probably be able to watch. I think if
UK plays in the volleyball championship game on Sunday, I
said if I didn't want to jinx.

Speaker 1 (01:01:14):
It, that's true. Wherever I am, I will watch that
game if I'm still in Kansas City or if I'm
back home going back to football. I actually like Alabama,
believe it or not, over Oklahoma, but I think that'll
be a grinder that could be last team with the
football wins it. I think you're right on the other ones.
I think A and M kind of exposes Miami a
little bit. But I would love to see Ole Miss

(01:01:37):
pull that upset.

Speaker 11 (01:01:38):
I mean a Tulane Yeah, pull that upset when you Yeah, absolutely,
and I think jam you will make a game of it.

Speaker 10 (01:01:45):
They could, They could very well. What is What's old Miss?
Old Miss is a seventeen and a half point favorite,
Oregon's a twenty one and a half point favorite. There
might be some lines coming on that. Yeah, a lot
of betting money. Third Swig here, Dick, I'll never be
mistake for a math major. But I can count up
to forty two. That's the number of bowl games we
have again this season. We had two over the weekend,

(01:02:07):
the Celebration Bowl and the soon to be defunct LA Bowl,
which definitely should go away for good. Last night was
the Salute to Veterans Bowl, Montgomery, Alabama. It's always a
worthy idea. And today and tonight we have two the
Cure Bowl in Orlando, nine and three Old Dominion against
nine and three South Florida. That should be a pretty
good game. It also raises millions for cancer research, which

(01:02:29):
of course is now more important than ever. We have
a Waco administration. It's hostile to research money, it seems,
so the Cure Game is the Cure bowls on now.
Perhaps this is the year we can also come up
with cures for meaningless bulls rewarding mediocrity, like the bowl
game after this Cure Bowl, the sixty eight Ventures Bowl
in Mobile, Alabama, featuring six and six Louisiana and six

(01:02:52):
and six Delaware. Bowl is named after real estate development
from down there in Alabama, South Alabama. But with two
crummy six and six teams, I think they should rename
it the Come On Man Bowl.

Speaker 1 (01:03:06):
Really, oh look.

Speaker 10 (01:03:08):
An upgrade tomorrow night though, the Xbox Bowl in Frisco.
We have a team with a winning record seven and
five Miszoo State. They can six and six Arkansas State, Dick.
ESPN two is gonna attempt an audience for these silly games?

Speaker 6 (01:03:22):
Now?

Speaker 10 (01:03:23):
How much longer can they keep funding this? Can't they
just like maybe lop off six or eight or four
or even one of these bowls?

Speaker 1 (01:03:30):
As always the answer to your questions money. You know
you've got programming needs by ESPN, you've got to think
they could find some worthy basketball games to plug in.
But the college football ratings don't lie. College football's never
been more popular on television. Now, how do you apply
that to these ball games? I don't know. Do they
draw audiences? They certainly draw gambling dollars. That's another big

(01:03:54):
issue right now. And they don't like to admit. Nobody
likes to admit that they're in bed with the gambling operations.
But I mean, but they are. However, two ideas. Number One,
if they don't sell x amount of tickets, let's say
fifty percent, and I mean, butts in the seats get
rid of them. They should be disqualified. But the other
thing is they should bunch fans so they're on the

(01:04:15):
opposite side of the TV camera, so at least it
looks better like the old mandate way kids, way back
in the sixties, when the CBS owned the New York Yankee.
CBS the Columbia Broadcasting System back then, and the director
of the Yankee broadcast was under orders to never show

(01:04:36):
empty seats. He could only show camera people, could only
get cutaway shots of fans, never anything to show the
stadium was half empty or back then mostly empty because
the Yankee sucked. So I would like to see that happen,
which ain't gonna happen either. ESPN rules all.

Speaker 10 (01:04:54):
Forth, Swig and the six Pack and the wake of
Diego Pavia's profane nut job posts after Fernan Mendoza deservedly
won the Heisman, I think this was my favorite tweet
from somebody out there named Texas Fancy Boots on X
quote the quickness, the quickness with which this dude went
from scrappy underdog to nauseating scumbag is truly something to behold.

Speaker 1 (01:05:17):
Unquote.

Speaker 10 (01:05:18):
The Heisman voting was even close Mendoza got six hundred
and forty three first place votes to Mini Mitos one
hundred and eighty nine. I believe it was that's almost
that's more than three times as many povious Sense apologize
obviously for the post, but it raised a valid question
for the next level of the NFL. You and I

(01:05:38):
have seen how conservative pro football owners and gms operate
in this day and age. See also Shadur Sanders twenty
twenty five draft drama. If you're a GM and you're
in dire need of, say a mobile quarterback where the
height is listed at six feet allegedly, are you seriously
looking at the shrimp? Or or is someone six feet

(01:05:59):
for certain with a more mature brain.

Speaker 1 (01:06:03):
Let's go backwards on this. If you're an NFL organization
and you think this guy can win games for you,
you will draft him or at least sign him to
a free agent contract, although if that's the case, he
won't get much of a shot in camp. But if
you do draft him, it's because you think you can
win games and winning Trump's all we know this, but

(01:06:26):
I think yeah, he hurt himself, but differently than Sanders.
Sanders made too many demands and proclamations when it came
to who he talked to, how he would be drafted.
All that stuff pavea hurt himself in terms of pr
and you know, the quickness with which he tumbled, it
was matched only about how quickly somebody came up with

(01:06:47):
something for him to tweet. I doubt if he wrote
that whatever his quote unquote apology was, and somebody I'm
sure shook him and said, do you realize what you
just did to yourself? And that will never I'll never
watch that stink off himself. I don't know. I don't
care how long it takes. It'll fade a little bit.
But man, that was amazing. He went from Destiny's darling

(01:07:09):
to Destiny's dumbass.

Speaker 10 (01:07:12):
When you say f all the Heisman voters, you don't
come off as the same eloquent type who knows the
follow up on that dude.

Speaker 1 (01:07:18):
And I voted for him for one of the other
quarterback awards. I'm a Football Writers Association voter. I don't
have a Heisman vote. I did vote for him. Now
I'm kind of wondering should I.

Speaker 10 (01:07:28):
Have fitswig in the six pack? You know, when I
lived in the Los Angeles area. Friends and relatives who'd
never been to California would sometimes ask, well, where's the
best place to come out and visit besides La. I'd
always say, for sheer beauty, go to the ocean and
then go up to Carmel Pebble Beach area, especially if
you play golf. Now there's another reason to love Carmel.

(01:07:49):
They hate pickleball. Last month, Carmel became the first California
city to ban the national nuisance that is pickleball after
years of complaints from residents. Laguna Beach down to the
south now has an ordinance require pickle heads to switch
to quieter paddles or face a citation. Other cities are
trying to find ways to quiet or completely eliminate the

(01:08:10):
annoying plastic against paddle pops that reaches sometimes twenty decibels
louder than the loudest tennis racket. There's an irony word
for you, loudest tennis racket strike, according to the La Times.
In fact, the Times reported this past week a pickleball
match can reach a peak of eighty five decibels. An
extended exposure to eighty decibels can cause hearing damage. Well,

(01:08:34):
here's hoping that this good health idea from the Golden
State another one sweeps across the country. In a paraphrase,
the former mayor of Carmel, Clint Eastwood, go ahead, make
my day quieter.

Speaker 1 (01:08:48):
Good. You know, it's amazing to me about pickleball so much.
I had no idea it was that noisy. I always
felt like tennis would be noisier just because of the
relentless grunting by specifically more of the women players. But
now everybody's doing that thing now. But listen, my ex
wife came from a tennis family, I mean, trophy after trophy.

(01:09:11):
You know, she played, you know, she played collegiately, her sister,
her brother d one now and she married a guy
who didn't like tennis. That's me. But I've not been
exposed to pickleball yet. But now I'm finding out from
my kids that my ex is playing pickleball. That's a
huge switch, buddy. And if she's won over, I don't

(01:09:34):
know what the world's coming to. But I'm gonna have
to ask her about this noise ordinance thing.

Speaker 10 (01:09:39):
It's so annoying. Sixth and final swigger in the six
pack for you and anyone else headed to Kansas City.
I personally wouldn't know if they still have some crazy
little women there as the song goes, But they do
have a must visit museum, especially if you're any kind
of a baseball fan. Of course, you know I'm talking
about the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. It has preserved and

(01:10:00):
celebrates now the rich history of African American baseball. They've
got artifacts, they've got photos, film exhibits, nothing short of fantastic.
In fact, for fans of the legendary power trio band
called Rush, bass player and vocalist and ginormous baseball fan,
Getty Lee, has donated and dedicated four hundred Negro League

(01:10:21):
autograph baseball to the museums. Autograph Baseball's to the museum,
It's right, including Well Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Josh Gibson,
among so many hundreds of others. In fact, Getty's got
a new book called seventy two Stories. It's about his
incredible collection of autograph baseballs and memorabilia. You don't have
to be a baseball fan to visit and enjoy the museum,
by the way, just somebody who cares about American history basically.

Speaker 1 (01:10:45):
Didn't Getty Lee from Canada. He is he is. That
makes it even more amazing. He's more amazing that I
knew that mister rock and roll DJ. How about that.

Speaker 10 (01:10:54):
Yeah, he's a huge baseball he's obviously he was a
Toronto Blue Jays fan. He was in all the games
in LA and there. But he's had quite the collection
of autograph baseballs and he donated them several years ago
to the museum.

Speaker 1 (01:11:06):
There are so many links between showbiz and music, people
and music, or rather pro sports. In fact, that Michael
Keaton was on with Manning Brothers on Monday Night, the
Manning Cast. It was so funny. They were trying to
ask him questions and have fun. He just wanted to
watch the game. He wouldn't answer a quick hang on,
let me see what they do here, you know that
kind of stuff. So I love that, and I love

(01:11:28):
the fact that that Geedty Lee is that deeply involved.
And I am going to make it since I'm here
in Kansas City right now, I'm going to make it
a point to try to get to that museum. Although
it will break my heart to see and a lot
of these guys who never got a chance to play
in the bigs and should have. He is Gary Moore,
our Western bureau chief and pickleball hater. And we'll come

(01:11:49):
back and talk more. A couple of hot reids on
the way on six point thirty wlap, Welcome back. We're
chatting with Gary Moore, our Western bureau chief. We've for
two guys in a six pack. Now time to throw
a couple of hot reds and see how well he scrambles. Gary.
I'm a big Joel Klatt fan. He is the lead
color analyst on college football for Fox Sports. I was

(01:12:09):
a fan of his before Fox really blew up. But
he's taking a step back in a big way because
he was on the air the other night and said
when he was talking about the football playoffs, but he
ran a parallel with basketball. He said, we don't want Cinderella's,
we want the best teams playing each other at the end.

(01:12:30):
The NSA basketball tournament is a joke. It's the dumbest
tournament and the least fair tournament in all of sports. Gary,
what's more fair than hand the head competition? I ask you,
and how much did this set him back in your mind?
A lot? A lot?

Speaker 10 (01:12:48):
You know that it is one of those Herb Street
moments like you know, let Layton Kiffin put your emotions aside,
you know one of those moments. Now, I can only
take them when they're doing the game. Great analysts, both
of them, but I don't want to hear their opinions
on anything anymore. Same with Joel kat Klatt. I just
don't care about it, especially that's that's wrong on a

(01:13:08):
number of different levels. You and I have both been
basketball fans, me growing up in Murray or Murray State.
You know, one of those teams that can be on
the super underdog list and has always fought to try
and get up with the big boys, and that sort
of thing. Terrible, a terrible take, Joel, And yes we do.
America loves Cinderella's whether you like it or not, that's

(01:13:29):
his opinion. But I think he's way out of touch
with that, especially on the basketball and even the football too.

Speaker 1 (01:13:34):
Yeah. Now, I will admit that we love Cinderella's only
so much. We love it in the first weekend, right,
although the numbers say TV numbers which don't lie, huh,
But go back to the Final four when when George
Mason made it along with the UCLA which has a
tiny national following, and there was another Cinderella that year,

(01:13:55):
but it might have been LSU. The TV rantings were
a bit so we only like our Cinderellas up to
a point. But that aside his comments about how unfair
the tournament is, I mean, what are they complaining about
with regard to the playoff structure? Now, hey, head to head,
all to count, Well, it counts in the tournament, right,

(01:14:18):
it does. It's universally accepted as as the greatest of
all the tournaments pro or college. And they're still trying
to screw it up.

Speaker 10 (01:14:27):
Well, I remember you went to talking about Cinderella's let's
go to Boise State and Oklahoma? Yeah, which was which
was what twenty How long ago?

Speaker 14 (01:14:35):
Was that?

Speaker 1 (01:14:35):
Probably twenty years ago? But yeah, I mean that's why
that's America's favorite upset. Our second high read for Gary
takes us back to college football. Joel klast sport and
I'm sure he's opposed to this stuff. But TJ. Finley
a name that we all should know from when he
signed with LSU but then played for Auburn, Texas, State,

(01:14:56):
Western Kentucky. My brother was with Tulane and the the
spring of twenty five was with Georgia State in the
fall of twenty five. He's trying to get a seventh
school to take him for a seventh year of eligibility,
and in his tweet, he thanked God for carrying him
through the storm and allowing him to put everything behind
him as he moves forward to twenty twenty six. I

(01:15:18):
don't even though if God had this in mind for
college football players. I gotta think Joe Klatz opposed his
nonsense as well.

Speaker 10 (01:15:27):
TJ. Finley, the guy who on his podcast wasn't pressed
to say that, well, you know Alabama, who they're going
to play in their opening game the first year without
seeing but they're not the same Alabama. A lot of
people are going to think that this isn't the same
kind of Alabama team. They may be in for a surprise.

Speaker 1 (01:15:44):
Oh really, that was the guy.

Speaker 10 (01:15:46):
Here's the surprise. Sixty three to nothing, you got two interceptions,
So he popped off. All the Alabama players saw those words,
and they said, well, it wasn't really the motivator, but
it didn't hurt. And they were, if you recall, really
whopping it up a little bit extra once they got
into the fifties. And then They hit sixty three in
that game, and then Findley went down with an injury.

(01:16:06):
A guy by the name of Caden of Veldtcamp came
in from Bowling Green led them to seven and one
record the rest of the way, and that was the
name of that of that year. And he never came back.
He was in a reserve rest of the way.

Speaker 1 (01:16:21):
There is quite the movement to get back to some sanity.
Coaches are talking about. Mark Pope has talked about five
for five. What about going back to four for five?
You have five years to play four. That gives you
a year if you're hurt, you know, to absorb that.
The COVID years are gone. I don't understand why this
keeps happening. I don't know what committee, what gathering of

(01:16:44):
school administrators, academicians, whatever, who decides such things to allow
this to keep happening. I don't get it. Are they
Are they that afraid of a lawyer somewhere filing an injunction?
They shouldn't be right.

Speaker 10 (01:16:59):
I agree with you wholeheartedly. Why not be good enough
that you don't have to keep going to to be
transferred from school to school to school.

Speaker 1 (01:17:07):
I can understand a kid wanting to do this to
remain on scholarship as long as you can, especially if
he's getting nil money in lieu of the real world,
because we know any kid who's looking for a seventh,
sixth year whatever probably ain't gonna make the NFL, right.
We wouldn't even make the CFL, right, So stay on
scholarship the rest of your life if you can. Right,

(01:17:28):
good luck to him.

Speaker 10 (01:17:29):
I mean, if it's like the old question, is he
worth that money? Well, if he can get it, he is.

Speaker 1 (01:17:34):
Yeah, you're right, You're right. It's whatever someone's willing to
pay you, and we pay thanks to Gary Moore every week.
He is our west End bureau chief. You can find
him if you so desire. On extra Twitter at.

Speaker 10 (01:17:45):
Well, while you're scrolling, hit nine to five to five Gary,
and see what happens. Same same thing we do with you.
We're scrolling, we go to.

Speaker 1 (01:17:51):
You gotta be doom scrolling, right, I just learned what
that is, doom scrolling to go to Big Bloomsider one,
Thank you brother.

Speaker 11 (01:17:58):
Thank you go lady. That's volleyball and that is the
team of the hour.

Speaker 1 (01:18:03):
At least it will be in about roughly twenty five
hours because Kentucky takes on Wisconsin tomorrow night here in
Kansas City. First, it's going to be Texas A and
M and Pittsburgh. A and M is one of the
giant killers. Wisconsin is the other. Pittsburgh A team that,
as you know by now, swept Kentucky earlier this year.

(01:18:24):
Pitt is still looking for its first NCAA championship. It's
a great team, but hey, so's Kentucky. ESPN has it.
There's no local radio on it. And if they win,
of course they play Sunday on ABC. That's a good
night not from the garage, but from Kansas City.

Speaker 7 (01:18:41):
If you're blue and you don't know where to go to,
why don't you go where fashion.

Speaker 5 (01:18:46):
Sits sat out, tact, sat.

Speaker 15 (01:19:38):
Down, anything one can back out. Su Saint don't have to.

(01:20:15):
The tension in connecting to the