2024-12-2 - KSR - Hour 2

Summary

KSR Podcast Episode Summary: Hour 2 (December 2, 2024)

Podcast Information:

• Title: KSR
• Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts and Sports Talk 790 (WKRD-AM)
• Description: Matt Jones and the KSR crew bring you the latest in UK news and views Monday through Friday from 10 AM to noon.
• Episode: 2024-12-2 - KSR - Hour 2
• Release Date: December 2, 2024

---

1. Kentucky Sports Radio Road Trip to Pizza Ranch, Iowa City

Setting the Scene: Matt Jones kicks off Hour 2 of the Kentucky Sports Radio (KSR) podcast from Pizza Ranch in Iowa City. The crew is joined by six enthusiastic Kentucky fans sporting various team apparel, including a Mark Pope shirt and Kentucky gear, highlighting the strong fanbase following the team on the road.

Fan Interactions:

• Matt Jones: "Six good Kentucky fans have come here. Looking forward to taking the picture with the group as we go. One of them's got a Mark Pope shirt. You gotta like that." [01:30]
• Ryan Lemond: "And we're partying in the party room here at the Pizza Ranch." [02:00]

The atmosphere is lively, with the crew engaging in playful banter and enjoying the camaraderie with fans. The crew's interactions showcase the supportive and spirited Kentucky sports community.

---

2. Highlights from the Kentucky Basketball Game

Record Attendance and Player Interactions: The team recently secured a significant victory against Georgia State, winning by 30 points. Matt praises Mark Pope's influence on the basketball program, noting, "If you want to see the hold Mark Pope has on this basketball program..." [05:00]. The game also featured one of the largest November crowds the crew has experienced, surpassing even previous high-attendance games in December.

Clash Peters Incident: A pivotal moment in the game involved Clash Peters, whose aggressive actions ignited a brawl, altering the game's dynamics:

• Matt Jones: "Clash Peters... started a brawl." [07:03]
• Mario: "His mother was the lead singer... named him Clash after the band." [08:10]

The incident led to a dramatic shift, with Matt noting, "We were up six and we ended up winning by 30." [07:10]. The crew discusses the impact of Peters' actions on team morale and the overall game outcome, emphasizing the importance of player conduct.

Mark Pope's Outreach: Post-game, Mark Pope made headlines by generously buying ice cream for the crowd:

• Drew Franklin: "Vince Merrow... took care of everyone." [09:28]
• Matt Jones: "It was just on fire... he goes, the soft serve comb free." [09:02]

The gesture was well-received, with Matt highlighting the overwhelming support and the positive response from fans, especially the younger attendees during the holiday season.

---

3. Interview with Vince Merrow on Football Team's Performance and Future

Addressing Rumors and Team Performance: Vince Merrow, referred to as "Shannon The Dude," joins the show to discuss the football team's challenging 4-8 season. He addresses circulating rumors about his potential move to Louisville, stating, "Unless you take a job or you put out that you're taking a job, it's just rumors." [13:26]

Analyzing the Season's Shortcomings: Merrow delves into the factors contributing to the disappointing record:

• Team Culture: "Maybe it is lip. ... you start losing, it becomes A bigger issue because now you don't have no culture." [17:11]
• Transfer Portal Impact: "We are already on some guys in a portal that we doing a good job to say, okay, these are guys we gonna bring in here." [20:05]
• Recruiting Challenges: Merrow discusses the recent decommitments and his strategies to bolster the recruiting class, emphasizing thorough background checks and maintaining team culture.

Optimism for the Future: Despite the setbacks, Merrow maintains a positive outlook:

• Support from Administration: "You got from the top, Dr. Tabalu, Dr. Eric Monday, Mitch Marchiel, all the way on down." [18:31]
• Commitment to Improvement: "We just got to go get the right players. We will get this fix." [19:46]

He reassures listeners that with the right recruitment and organizational support, the team is poised for a turnaround in the upcoming seasons.

Cultural Rebuilding: Merrow emphasizes the importance of rebuilding team culture through disciplined recruitment and fostering leadership within the team:

• Background Checks: "You have to do your homework. You have to bring in the right guys and mix them in with the guys we recruited from high school who are guys that know what our culture is." [16:07]
• Leadership and Character: "High character, guys that also can play. I think that's a big combination of everything." [16:07]

---

4. Staff and Crew Dynamics During the Road Trip

Road Trip Anecdotes: The crew shares humorous and light-hearted moments from their road trip, including interactions with other team members and navigating challenging conditions like unexpected snowfall:

• Matt Jones: "Why don't they make it less expensive?" [24:46]
• Mario: "Better get used to it now." [32:38]

Building Team Camaraderie: Highlights include bonding moments between crew members, such as Mario and Shannon becoming closer through shared experiences:

• Matt Jones: "Like, these two, they don't... becoming fast buddies." [35:53]
• Ryan Lemond: "Romance is blossoming right in front of our eyes right here." [35:59]

These segments add a personal touch to the podcast, showcasing the team's off-air relationships and the lighter side of sports broadcasting.

---

5. Addressing Listener Concerns and Questions

Objectivity and Personal Bias: Matt Jones addresses listener questions regarding his objectivity, especially concerning his friendship with Vince Merrow:

• Matt Jones: "If you want to look at it through that thing, I get it. You should... But for everybody else, like, you know, I don't know these people." [39:19]

He clarifies that while he maintains personal friendships, his professional commentary remains unbiased:

• Matt Jones: "I freely acknowledge that when you hear me talk about specifically Vince, if you want to read it through that thing, that's Matt's friend. I get it." [39:19]

Criticism and Accountability: The crew discusses the importance of holding team members accountable, regardless of personal relationships:

• Drew Franklin: "If you don't want to be my promoter. So get that. That next match ready soon." [22:36]
• Matt Jones: "Do note, I can say Cal's a great guy. People would be like, you just hate California." [41:14]

This segment underscores the podcast's commitment to honest and constructive analysis, even when it involves friends or close contacts.

---

6. Promotions and Advertisements

Sponsored Segments: Throughout the episode, the crew promotes various sponsors, including Stockton Mortgage and Red State Barbecue:

• Ryan Lemond: "Stockton Mortgage... they have over 70,000 5 star reviews..." [01:42]
• Matt Jones: "Red State Barbecue... better than Big Cat barbecue..." [11:06]

While these segments are integral to the podcast's structure, they are designed to inform listeners about beneficial services and products relevant to the audience.

---

7. Closing Remarks and Future Plans

Upcoming Segments and Live Shows: Matt announces potential live shows on TikTok and YouTube, encouraging listeners to stay engaged:

• Matt Jones: "We may go live. We were prepared last night in the bar if I got a text..." [05:00]

Continuing the Road Trip: The episode concludes with the crew preparing to continue their road trip to Kearney, Nebraska, maintaining an upbeat and forward-looking tone:

• Matt Jones: "Thank you all you seven folks here. Thank you all very much. We will, will see you in Kearney, Nebraska, tomorrow." [38:02]

---

Notable Quotes:

• Matt Jones: "Clash Peters started a brawl... It was a dirty play. He could have hurt him." [07:10]
• Vince Merrow: "Mark is in the right place how he's starting this thing. And I feel really good where it's going to go." [14:18]
• Vince Merrow: "You have to do your homework. You have to bring in the right guys and mix them in with the guys we recruited from high school." [16:07]
• Merrow on Team Future: "You got the administration behind us... We just got to go get the right players. We will get this fix." [19:46]
• Matt Jones on Objectivity: "I freely acknowledge that when you hear me talk about specifically Vince, if you want to read it through that thing, that's Matt's friend." [39:19]

---

Conclusion

This episode of KSR's Hour 2 offers an in-depth analysis of Kentucky's sports landscape, blending critical discussions with engaging road trip anecdotes. Through interviews with key figures like Vince Merrow and authentic interactions with fans, the podcast provides listeners with a comprehensive view of the team's current challenges and future prospects. Notable incidents, such as the Clash Peters brawl and Mark Pope's fan outreach, are examined thoughtfully, offering insights into team dynamics and leadership. The episode successfully balances serious sports analysis with light-hearted moments, ensuring a rich and engaging listening experience for both regular followers and new audiences.

Transcript

[Doug Gottlieb]

This is Doug Gottlieb from All Ball with Doug Gottlieb. Listen, I'm gonna get serious for a minute. The hate in our country is getting out of control. In fact, it's sadly at an all time high. But it's gonna take all of us to stop it. I mean we're all on the same team in this country. So let's take a break from our hate so our team can regroup. We need to take a time out against hate. Visit standuptoallhate.org to help and join me in calling for timeout against hate by following at what's up with Hate or posting the blue square emoji.

[Ryan Lemond]

Looking for a mortgage bank to help you make your next major mortgage move? Whether it's a refi or home purchase, Regardless of whether it's your first one or one of many, consider our friends at Stockton Mortgage. But don't just take our word for it. Stockton mortgage has over 70,000 5 star reviews and counting. Just like this review from Joshua who says this about his experience with Stockton. They were super professional, always answered my questions I had and streamlined the process. I could not ask for better people to help me and my family get our first house. I feel blessed to be able to go through them, be like Joshua or the 69,999 others just like him. And get started with Stockton Mortgage today by going to Stockton.com and get started. I've even used Stockton Mortgage myself on my own home loan for your home loan needs. Stockton.com and click get started. Stockton Mortgage NMLS 8259 equal housing lender nmlsconsumeraccess.org welcome back.

[Matt Jones]

Hour number two Kentucky Sports Radio here at the Pizza Ranch in Iowa City. Six good Kentucky fans have come here. Looking forward to taking the picture with the group as we go. One of them's got a Mark Pope shirt. You gotta like that.

[Ryan Lemond]

That's very cool.

[Matt Jones]

That is very cool. Said he said somebody bought it for you for Christmas but that would he wasn't here yet. Your birthday. Okay, gotcha. So that's. That's good. They've got a wolf shirt there as well with the power K head Iowa basketball shirt and a lot of Kentucky gear. Ryan, Nice to have all these folks.

[Ryan Lemond]

And we're partying in the party room here at the Pizza Ranch.

[Drew Franklin]

Woo woo woo woo.

[Ryan Lemond]

Trying to wake us up here.

[Shannon The Dude]

Woo woo woo woo woo.

[Matt Jones]

That's right.

[Drew Franklin]

Just did a lap outside the party room. Pizza aroma's in the air.

[Mario]

It's gonna be Ready.

[Drew Franklin]

Right.

[Mario]

One more hour.

[Matt Jones]

Hey, Shannon, you roomed last night with Mario.

[Mario]

Yeah. He's a great roommate.

[Matt Jones]

He is. Although he say at, what was it, 11 o'clock at night? Hey, you want to go get some wings?

[Mario]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

It's 11:00 on a Sunday night in Iowa City. He just thinks wings are available everywhere.

[Mario]

Well, I mean, we looked it up. One place was available, it was open. We went there, they said, the kitchen's closed. And I realized at that moment we went into a college bar and I was the old man in the bar. And I've never. I've never had that feeling before until last night. I go, this is weird. Like we, we shouldn't be here. We should leave.

[Matt Jones]

Well, you know, I mean, I don't know what we'll encounter in Kearney tonight. We are so everywhere we go. I'm trying to look up like unique places for us to go. In Iowa City, they have the world's largest wooden nickel.

[Drew Franklin]

What a gimmick.

[Matt Jones]

Which is. I like that. The world's largest wooden nickel.

[Max Duffy]

Yeah. It hasn't been stolen yet.

[Matt Jones]

I don't think you could get it.

[Max Duffy]

No. What was the first one that you gave us yesterday?

[Matt Jones]

There was a statue that's 110 tons and the guy built it and he decided it's like on the side of the road. And he decided, I don't like it on this side of the road. So then he moved it to the other side of the road and it's 110. I can't remember what it's called, but it's 110 ton statue that crossed the road. I think he did it because he wanted to tell the joke. He says, how did the statue cross the road?

[Mario]

I mean, you could just say that it moved without actually moving it. Nobody would really know the difference. You know, I just. I just hope it's more impressive than Devil's Tower because that was landmark of all time.

[Matt Jones]

Landmark. By the way, there are. Mario, if you follow him, has a lot of various content out. We're all doing different stuff on the trip and some of it's on our various personal accounts. But also you should, you should subscribe on TikTok, KSR, the show. As football news comes out this week, we may go live. We were prepared last night in the bar if I got a text that said Vince was going to Louisville. We were prepared to go live from the bar last night. Thankfully, we didn't have to do it.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, you put us on notice. We may have to do a live show here. On TikTok or YouTube or something. So everybody get ready.

[Matt Jones]

So everybody get ready. So make sure you're following my Instagram, KY Sports radio or the TikTok KSR the show. Here is the Gus Johnson clip after the interview. Here is his voice when it maybe got a little weak after they were able to go. Warren looking and it's intercepted at the goal line. Unbelievable. Wow. Jack Sawyer. That is one of the great.

[Mario]

Like, he sounds like a Muppet.

[Matt Jones]

That was Grover.

[Ryan Lemond]

You can tell there's a little pause there where, you know, he probably tried to swallow really hard to get his voice back.

[Matt Jones]

It was not coming out. No.

[Drew Franklin]

Kind of sounds like he's in a chokehold. There's, like moments of like, is he breathing? Is he okay?

[Matt Jones]

It was one of my favorite things I've heard.

[Mario]

That's one of my favorite calls of all time.

[Matt Jones]

That's right. Let's talk about basketball for a minute, because we did play Friday night. It feels like it's been a long time ago. Beat Georgia State by 30. If you want to see the hold Mark Pope has on this basketball program. How about the crowd at that game? That's the largest November crowd for like a non. Well, I mean, even when we used to play North Carolina and stuff, those were in December. That may be the largest November crowd that I can remember Drew in since the first couple of Cal years, don't you think?

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, I go to every game and for years, and I'm not blaming anyone. It's just how it's been. You know, you go to these November games against teams like this, and there are entire sections of an end zone. They're just completely empty. You know, maybe students don't fill the student section all the way. There's always empty rows you can find in Rupp arena this part of the year, not the other night. And everybody was there early. I usually leave our pregame show. I'm pretty early to Rupp Arenas. Hour and a half early. I can get food, no problem. There's never a line. Every concession stand, every little side shop, there's lines everywhere. There's people already in their seats. This is all an hour before the game. And it was just on fire. We sit pretty high up now in the media row, and we're up there in the bleachers and there are people going crazy. When Clash Peters kind of started.

[Matt Jones]

Okay, so let's talk about Clash.

[Drew Franklin]

There's a guy next to me, I swear I thought he was going to go over the railing and try to fight for. I mean, he's 70 something years old. It felt like old school stories you hear about of just people piling in.

[Matt Jones]

Let's talk about Clash Peters. What do we think, Shannon of Clash Peters? The.

[Mario]

I love his name.

[Matt Jones]

First of all, the bandana wearing, fighting mom in a punk band, Cherokee Parks, nephew, player, that started a brawl with.

[Mario]

Kentucky and the game was close until that moment. And then it just made Kentucky mad and they just went off and it was completely different game from that moment forward.

[Matt Jones]

It was that. I mean, we were up six and we ended up winning by 30. Yeah, like, I mean, that change.

[Mario]

It all turned on a dumb.

[Max Duffy]

I love it because, you know, you think of Mark Pope and you know, he talks about gratitude and analytics and sports psychology and all that. So maybe your team thinks they could take us down by just putting their country guy out there that's just going to beat us up. No, no, we'll beat straight back. I loved it.

[Matt Jones]

What's crazy is we just talked about his mom the other day. I mean, I didn't even know that was his mother, but I was. When I talked about Cherokee Parks, I said, I believe his sister was the lead singer of a band whose name I can't mention on the radio. The Nashville P. We'll just leave it at the P. And I was like, I think that's right. And then. That's his mother.

[Ryan Lemond]

No idea. We all obviously had no idea.

[Mario]

Wait, his mother's in the band.

[Matt Jones]

His mother was the lead singer.

[Mario]

Talked about her.

[Matt Jones]

Like, do you remember when we were talking about Cherokee Parks and I said Cherokee Parks had a sister. That was Clash Peters, mom.

[Mario]

I didn't know that.

[Matt Jones]

Yes. Wow.

[Ryan Lemond]

Apparently. Apparently Shannon's. She named him Clash after the band. That was why his first name.

[Matt Jones]

Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, she named him Clash after the band. So that band, Nashville P. Yeah, that was. His mom was the leading singer and they played in Lexington at line as. And I have multiple friends that went.

[Mario]

Wow.

[Shannon The Dude]

Number seven.

[Ryan Lemond]

All right.

[Drew Franklin]

About Ryan on the pregame show, too. She's calling him his favorite player.

[Matt Jones]

Yes. And Ryan on the pregame show, you missed this. Said, my favorite player on Georgia State is Clash Peters, who then tried to fight. First of all, that was a dirty play.

[Ryan Lemond]

It was a dirty.

[Matt Jones]

That was a dirty play. He could have hurt him.

[Ryan Lemond]

That's why it was kind of cool to see our other players come to his rescue. Man, I bet, you know, they're on the floor to meet it. We got your brothers. We got your back. Pope was out there kind of trying.

[Max Duffy]

To help did we get a receipt from Mark Pope for how much he ended up paying in ice cream? Because it looked like there was a.

[Matt Jones]

Lot of the ice cream thing. He gets up there and he goes, the soft serve comb free. I gave the credit card. I don't know what the amount is, but I found out that the ice creams are $7. Okay, $7 each. Looked to me like 600, maybe to a thousand people in line. That's a pretty big. That's a pretty big ice cream bill.

[Drew Franklin]

Before he even made the ice cream announcement, you know, we were there. We're talking about this might be the biggest post game radio crowd we've seen in several years. And this is before we even knew he was gonna buy ice cream. So we're just talking about how many people are there. And then he makes the comment, leanne swiped the credit card. Get your ice cream on the way out. It's just unbelievable, the rush of people and how, I mean, he did that so late at night after a game and took care of everyone. And there were so many kids there. Being holidays, both the, both the games last week had a. Felt like a lot more kids in there. It was very cool of him to do that. And I don't know if he knew the crowd was gonna be that big, but he took care of all of them.

[Matt Jones]

All right, I'm going to take an early break here. We just got word Vince Merrow is going to join us here on the show. So I'm going to take an early break so that we can have a full half segment with him. So let's do that right now, Rick. We'll take an early break. By the way, I need to do some ads. I don't think I've done one ad. So let me do Red State. Red State Barbecue. They are better than Big Cat barbecue. Here's the late. They are at Kroger location, Kentucky, southern Ohio and southern Indiana. Same thing at the Liquor Barn in Danville and E Town. They're at Jungle gyms in Fairfield and Cincinnati, Critchfield on Southland Drive, and now the Publix in Louisville. And you can go to redstatebq.com for all the sauces, rubs, gift cards and more. The best barbecue sauce, the best place to eat for the holidays. Redstatebq.com check it out. Red State Barbecue. And we will have a smokin new year. We'll take a break. Vince Merrill when we return. This is ksr. Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio. Oh, wait, Rick, I forgot to send you the number Sorry, there's a lot of stuff going on. Shannon, do you.

[Mario]

I don't know if I got his number.

[Matt Jones]

Rick, does anybody have your number here?

[Mario]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Rick's number.

[Matt Jones]

Okay, Rick's number. Send that number to Rick. And then Rick, you're gonna call this. You're gonna call vids. Okay?

[Ryan Lemond]

Sure thing.

[Matt Jones]

All right. Sorry about that. Just today, Rick, not every day got a little bit taken back there. 859-280-2287. By the way, it is Cyber Monday.

[Ryan Lemond]

It is Cyber Monday.

[Matt Jones]

And our KSR gear on Kentuckybranded.com is 25% off all day. And we have new stuff. People have asked, can we get new hoodies, can we get new hats, can we get new shirts? It is all there today. They just. They're debuting some new stuff today on KentuckyBranded.com first time in a few years we've gotten some new KSR gear. So you can do it and give it as a gift on this Cyber Monday.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, time to load up right now today. Get a good deal. Get some good stuff for Christmas.

[Matt Jones]

That's right. You let me know, Rick, when we have. When we have. I don't know. I guess always am used to Shannon being ready to rock on there.

[Mario]

I forgot to send you the number.

[Matt Jones]

Rick, do you have the phone number now? Sure do.

[Ryan Lemond]

I'm working on it.

[Matt Jones]

Right. Good deal. All right, go ahead. Rick's on it. Let's go back for a second before we get back to the. To the football. Kentucky plays Clemson tomorrow night, esp. Andrew actually has Clemson as the favorite. That's not the betting favorite, but they have 50.6% for Clemson, 49.4 for Kentucky. What do you think about that?

[Drew Franklin]

I mean, on a neutral floor, I would feel very good about Kentucky, but I think it's all about the atmosphere. Even though Kentucky's an experienced veteran team, they've seen atmospheres like this before. This will be their first trip this year into it. And I. I've never been to Little John Coliseum, but I can only imagine that place will be on fire for a game like this that they probably didn't think they'd ever have come to town.

[Matt Jones]

Now they got name is Little John.

[Mario]

Little John.

[Matt Jones]

Little John. It's great.

[Drew Franklin]

You think he'll be there?

[Matt Jones]

If I was Clemson, I would get him there.

[Drew Franklin]

Definitely bring him out. But I chance you. I think it's all just about being in their first away game of the year.

[Matt Jones]

I think it's a great test. We'll talk about it in a minute. All Right now we do have Vince Marrow on the phone. Vince, thank you very much for your time. I guess I'll start with this. You know, there were clearly rumors last night from the Louisville side and then a little bit from the Kentucky side of you potentially going to Louisville. Are those, we're now hearing, are those rumors untrue?

[Shannon The Dude]

Well, I'm not going to even comment on that because it's like, you know, when you hear rumors, unless you, you know, you take a job or you put out that you're taking a job, it's just rumors. And, you know, I'm here. We were working all day yesterday, all through the night. You know, usually on after the season is over, you know, you go home and you may just come in office for a couple hours. I mean, we were in there till about 9 or 10 o'clock, you know, Stoops and everybody just getting this roster together and it's kind of like getting ready for the NFL draft coming up, you know, with signing day and the portal. So just making sure we doing the right things and doing good background checks on people that we gonna go after. So that's what we were doing all day yesterday.

[Matt Jones]

If you look back at this season and it's four and eight is the ultimate final record, where do you think it went sort of wrong and then how do you fix it?

[Shannon The Dude]

Well, that's, that's, that's, that's a good question, Matt. That's a good question. Hold on. That's a good question. You know, I think like anything else, first of all, I'm saying, you know, even about Mark Stoops is this. I mean, we had, you know, a straight bowl games turning this thing around. We first got here 2013. Did we want to have this season? No. There's nobody in that building excited from Mitch on down, but the support is there and we gonna get that back on the right track. But I mean, we have, we have one bad season out of the last eight and you know, nobody, nobody is happy about that. And so I think we get back on the right track of, you know, regrouping. You know, we had a come to Jesus meeting yesterday with the whole staff. We sat down and talked about personnel, talked about coaching, talked about support staff. And I think, you know, Mark is in the right place how he's starting this thing. And I feel really good where it's going to go.

[Matt Jones]

Do you. I mean, we saw some things during the game Saturday that, you know, with some players, etc. That maybe were frustrating to fans. I mean, do you Think there was an issue with maybe people getting a little bit off track in the locker room. And if so, how do you change that?

[Shannon The Dude]

Well, I think that's another good question is that, man, this is a big organization. You got about 120 players. You got, you know, you got a lot of support staff. I think when you. With this new portal era, you got to treat it like the NFL. You can't just go in the NFL. They just don't just go and draft a guy without doing background checks, sitting, you know, investigators in to see who this kid is and what type of his makeup is. And I just think, you know, this is the most people we took in the portal last year, and I think we learned it from this. I know this is gonna be a thorough, you know, background search and knowing who we getting and seeing anybody had connections to this kid. It just ain't gonna be a free fall that, hey, you got some guys in this portal, you just bringing them in, because it ain't just us. I mean, I can look at other schools who brought in more guys in the portal, and it killed their culture. And I just. This is just me talking. And, like, I just think you have to do your homework. You have to bring in the right guys and mix them in with the guys we recruited from high school who are guys that know what our culture is. And you bring in leaders, you know, whether it's guys that's already in our program or guys that you see in the NFL that they bring in high character, guys that also can play. I think that's a big combination of everything.

[Matt Jones]

Do you. I mean, do you mention culture? Do you think there was a culture issue this year at all?

[Shannon The Dude]

Man, that's kind of. It's kind of funny when you're losing. Everything is under a microscope. I think, you know, Mark will be the first one to tell you. I mean, if you stop learning, then to me, you're not going to be a good head coach. You're not going to be a good position coach. You always learn from what's going on and how things are going. I think Mark will say, at first he said, you know, he let something slip. I thought he was saying a little too much of that, because I think you got to have just the right players in here, too. And to answer your question, maybe it is lip. I mean, there's some things that probably transpired that, you know, people see from outside that it's like, hey, you know, that's something very small. But then you say, hey, you start losing, it becomes A bigger issue because now you don't have no culture. Now you don't have the right guys. Now you got bad coaches. I just think, man, it was one year. One thing I do know about Mark Stoops, he's a Youngstown guy. This will not stay the same way it is. I can promise you that.

[Matt Jones]

So. So looking forward, you know, I listen, you know, I talked to a lot of fans, and there are a lot of fans that are down and not just about what happened, but even kind of pessimistic. If you were to say to fans, okay, here's why you should be optimistic about the future, what would you say?

[Shannon The Dude]

Well, I'll say two things. I mean, you hired the right guy that's, you know, leading this program. Secondly, with the transfer portal as we seen, you know, if I'm being honest, I think we were so not surprised. You know, when you play South Carolina, you play Vandy and you like, man, how you knew the roster you were going against and being. It's like, hey, they get some guys that come in from the portal and you like, man, these guys are pretty good. He's like, man, I mean, you take that quarterback off of Vanny. And I'm just being honest. They. It ain't. That kid made them go. And so if I was to talk to our fans, you got our. We got the administration behind us. You got from the top, Dr. Tabalu, Dr. Eric Monday, Mitch Marchiel, all the way on down. You've got the support. You got, you know, Joe and Kelly Craft and a lot of supporters who give to this program. They all behind it. So now we just got to go get the right players. We will get this fix. And I'm not concerned at all. You know, that taste in our mouth is going to last for a couple, you know, a couple of months until we go back out there and play. I really feel good. Where we going to go and we gonna have the right players in here and we will get the. This, this damn thing going.

[Matt Jones]

Let's talk about the recruiting class. You had a couple guys decommit and go to other schools yesterday. That happens at the end. Do you feel like this recruiting class will stay solid in the last few days? And do you feel like to whatever extent you may lose people, you can make it up somewhere else?

[Shannon The Dude]

Yeah, I think. And I'm not saying, Jesus Christ, anything like that. I think when stuff started leaking about me leaving and, you know, sometimes schools do stuff like that. I'm not saying Louisville. I got a great relationship with Jeff Brown. Played with him really good, dude. But I think sometimes there can be another school to put stuff out there to try to mess with your recruiting class and mess with the guys that we got committed, you know, And I'm on the phone now, you know, talking to different parents, because they did. Nothing was said. And it was like everybody thought I was leaving. So there's no doubt my mind, you know, we don't get this thing right. The class, even with the class. And the second part of this is we are already on some guys in a portal that we doing a good job to say, okay, these are guys we gonna bring in here. So, no, I'm not. I'm not worried about that at all. You know, man, I. I take recruiting very serious, actually. It's kind of perked me up. And I will say this, you know, I know the one school taking. Taking a lot of shots, but signing day is Wednesday, so we will see. You still got some time, so we'll see what's going to happen.

[Matt Jones]

I do like that. So it's not. It's not rocket science that one of the problems was offensive line. Do you expect that to be addressed?

[Shannon The Dude]

100%? Yes. Very, very 100%, yes.

[Matt Jones]

Okay.

[Shannon The Dude]

And we got some guys. I mean, you can't just overhaul. You got. We got some guys already in the boat. What I'm saying, like with Jagger, Burton, and a lot of these guys that are here, I mean, there's some solid pieces. We just got to replace two tackles in the center.

[Matt Jones]

Do you. I mean, I do think it's. I just wanted to make sure everybody's clear. You expect to be in Lexington next year?

[Shannon The Dude]

Yes. Yep. Yes.

[Matt Jones]

Okay. All right, last thing. Signing day coming up at the end of the week. Do you think there will be any new additions between now and then beyond the people already committed?

[Shannon The Dude]

Yes. All right.

[Matt Jones]

Well, there you go. He's keeping his cards close to the best. Oh, Max has a question. Go ahead, coach.

[Max Duffy]

Love you. Love that you stay in, by the way. I just want to know one thing. There was a. There was a person on this panel maybe named Drew. I've seen you in the ring with him before. He hypothesized that if you went to Louisville, he was maybe going to call you Little Dog. How long till it was going to be rematch number two when you get him back in, Vince.

[Matt Jones]

He said if he went to Louisville, he would call you Little Dog.

[Drew Franklin]

It was going to hurt me, Vince, but it was going to have to be done.

[Shannon The Dude]

Hey, hey, Max. You know, you might do so you Won't be my promoter. So get that. That next match ready soon. I'm a little pissed that he said that.

[Matt Jones]

No, listen, he didn't just say that. He said this is what he would do when your name came up.

[Drew Franklin]

Oh, you're gonna do it.

[Matt Jones]

No, you're gonna do it.

[Drew Franklin]

No, he's staying. I don't have to do it. It was just a little whimper, bark, but you're staying. So we keep the big dog.

[Max Duffy]

Coach. We struggled with the Australian this year. I look forward to that trip. Me and you jump on a plane, we'll get out there, we'll do some recruiting.

[Shannon The Dude]

Yes, let's do that. And you know, again, Matt, like, man, it's one year and I know there's been a lot of talk about it's going this way, going that way. I can promise you Mark Stews is very motivated in the staff. There's a lot of rumors going around about this staff. I'm telling you right now, everybody was in the office yesterday working. Is Mark probably going? Would it be a change here and there? That's. That's Mark Stoops. He had to answer that. It could be, but I know the main core of this is still together.

[Matt Jones]

All right, Vince, thank you very much. We appreciate it. Vince Merrill. We will take a break and be right back here in Iowa City at the Pizza Ranch. This is ksr. Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio. This segment sponsored by Estate Renovations. Estate Renovations is a full interior renovations company family owned and founded by KSR listeners out of their family cabinet shop. Estate Renovations can renovate your kitchen, bath, basement, or even your whole home remodel. We were there, just that, just recently. Great top tier quality craftsmanship. They give you 3D previews of how to look daily progress reports. They guarantee their fixed quote. It's all there. Estate Renovations turn your house into the home you always wanted. With Estate Renovations. I was looking at houses this weekend, Ryan. You know, if I, If I. When I get one, I'm gonna. I'm gonna need to renovate it and make it look like myself. Give me shoe closets. The people that. These houses in Lexington are expensive.

[Ryan Lemond]

They are very expensive.

[Matt Jones]

Why are they doing that? Like, why don't they make it less expensive?

[Ryan Lemond]

You know?

[Matt Jones]

I mean, you're a realtor. Can you fix that?

[Ryan Lemond]

No. The higher the cost, the more commission I make. So, yeah, I like it when those.

[Matt Jones]

Prices keep going up.

[Mario]

He's not on your side.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, he's not. I mean, look, I'm going to use you. I'm already Questioning your math. Most of the time you clearly don't know song lyrics. And now you're telling me you want the price to be higher. You're supposed to get me the price lower.

[Shannon The Dude]

Oh, I will.

[Ryan Lemond]

I won't negotiate you a good price, but I don't want the overall market prices to stay high. I don't want them to drop down.

[Drew Franklin]

When I used him, we put in an offer and the number was higher. I was like, that's not what we offered Ryan. He's like, yeah, but I get more commission for this.

[Matt Jones]

Did you say that?

[Ryan Lemond]

No, I didn't say that.

[Drew Franklin]

Ryan was a great realtor. I'm messing with him.

[Matt Jones]

Okay.

[Shannon The Dude]

All right.

[Drew Franklin]

As my endorsement.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

Well, there's a funny story. When Drew and I were showing houses, we had to take our shoes off. Went into a house. My sock was completely ripped that morning. My toes were hanging out.

[Matt Jones]

Toes were hanging out.

[Drew Franklin]

The sweet woman was like, here's my.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

You walked around with your greasy toes.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yes. Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

So you didn't think you might have to take out your shoes? Let me wear full socks.

[Ryan Lemond]

No.

[Matt Jones]

Why don't you throw? Socks are not that expensive. Throw them away if they have holes in them.

[Ryan Lemond]

My socket ripped putting it on this morning. I'm like, I'm not.

[Matt Jones]

It ripped putting it on?

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, you just.

[Matt Jones]

You. You put it on so tight that it ripped.

[Mario]

Ryan's the reason there's more socks than chairs in this world, because he won't throw this away.

[Drew Franklin]

She's showing off her new finished kitchen, and I can see three of Ryan's toes walking across her new floor.

[Ryan Lemond]

See what you have to look forward to.

[Matt Jones]

Don't touch me, please. 280-2287. One person writes, Matt, there are all kinds of rumors out there about Stoops and Purdue. What have you heard about that? I haven't heard anything. I mean, I've just seen the comments. I don't know if that's, like, just random people. I haven't seen anybody that is a reporter that has connected, that I've seen random people connected, but I haven't seen anybody that's, like, connected to Purdue or Kentucky say it. So I'm skeptical. I know there are some reports from Iowa people that if there's a potential that the Iowa job may come open, that Kirk Ference may retire, it would be very funny if we were here. If that were to happen today and we were here in Iowa City, Max, that would be interesting.

[Max Duffy]

Yeah. And if we see Mark walking around the streets, maybe getting a tour at the Same time as us. We'll get, we'll let you guys know.

[Matt Jones]

He's in the basketball facility. That's gonna be a little, a little nerve wracking. So Vince says he's going to be here. He wasn't his usual rah rah self but he also, he also, he also said though we're going to do it. He was. But it wasn't the usual that we Howard Dean s scream that we normally.

[Mario]

But he did say he's going to get the right guys and if he does stay here at Kentucky, I have full confidence that he can get the right guys.

[Matt Jones]

One thing I'm never worried about with this staff, there are things I am worried about. One thing I've never worried about is getting players max. Now they might get guys that aren't a good fit. I think that happened this year. But in terms of talent, there was a ton of talent on the team this year. Like I'm not. Talent is usually not the thing I'm concerned about.

[Max Duffy]

One thing he talked about which I loved and we mentioned it in pregame show on our KSR football podcast was he said there was going to be a massive emphasis this time in looking into not only the talent of the player but the background check and the quality of the person. And I think maybe he admitted that's something that they brushed over. Let's just get the most talented guy that can run the 43 that can, you know, jump on someone's head and catch a ball. He really seemed to emphasize, hey, we're going to put a lot of, lot of time into working out what kind of person this is.

[Matt Jones]

And they had dudes that I think were ruining the locker room. Ryan, who also didn't play right. Like, I think everybody tends to focus. I think. Look, do I think Barrion Brown worked as hard as he should have this year? No. Do I think he gave 100% effort all year? No. Do I think there were issues there? Yes. Do I think he is the problem of what I talk about with culture? My answer is actually no. I think that, you know, he could have been better and he knows it. So could Deion Walker. But for me, the culture problem were dudes who played a little or barely played at all. But that can still ruin your locker room.

[Ryan Lemond]

And I wonder if that's the guys that Coach Stoops is talking about. They have to have a conversation with buy pack your bags, we don't want you here anymore. There may be some of that. Some of those guys you're talking about.

[Max Duffy]

Right There we had a moment against Missouri, maybe 2020, and Stoops made it a point. On the Monday meeting, we had a goal line stand and everyone basically on the sideline besides the two guys that were waiting to get in were just sitting on the bench staying warm. And he was like, this isn't acceptable. And that's where one thing where you can have guys that aren't playing, they can bring everyone else down because they want a pout. They're not playing. You know, if you're not playing, work harder, get better, and then you'll play.

[Drew Franklin]

I was just thinking with the guys that come in, one thing that Vince did, you know, I'm with you. That didn't give me a lot of confidence. But him acknowledging that we dropped the ball a little bit was just some of the attitudes, personalities. If I didn't get any bit of confidence in what Vince said, them focusing more on that because we all know how different it's been, wouldn't it? I think TV Williams, an old receiver, he tweeted a story about, you know, he's one of Stoop's first recruits. He was even. He was talking about how they weren't even allowed to wear sleeves. He couldn't sit on the heated bench. It just sounded like there was so much more coaching and discipline when he was here back in the early days. And I'm hopeful that since we've seen it get so bad and hearing Vince kind of acknowledge a little bit of fault there, that at least they're focused on trying to clean that up.

[Matt Jones]

It's a tough balance to be a coach who's a player's coach and who sort of lets the player be himself and then also not have players at the concession stand at halftime. I do wonder if we're going to look back in the video of Mincy at the concession stand. Shannon is one that we kind of remember this season from. I mean, I think that's going to be, you know, I mean, that made national news. That was on. That was on Barstool, that was on espn, that was on House of Highlights, like. And it was just a fan, I think, who took the video. That's going to be one that'll stick with them a little bit.

[Mario]

There's a big difference, though, between allowing a player to be themselves, express themselves and allow them to go get a hot dog. I mean, you've got to have some rules in place. And if you're just letting the guys just wander off at halftime, then clearly it's just a free for all. It's the Wild West. You got to have at least a baseline of discipline.

[Max Duffy]

One of coach's favorite sayings used to be pain of discipline or pain or regret. I think there's going to be a lot of pain of discipline coming up.

[Drew Franklin]

I don't want to just keep dumping on him for going to get his hot dog, as funny as it is.

[Matt Jones]

But I think we should dump on it.

[Drew Franklin]

But I think it being him specifically says a lot, too.

[Matt Jones]

Well, he was.

[Drew Franklin]

That's a guy you went out, probably paid a lot of money for to.

[Matt Jones]

Confirm he was at that. Look, he. I mean, I'm not putting it all on him, but Ryan, he was definitely a big part of it.

[Ryan Lemond]

He. A huge part of it. You know, they missed out on a couple freshmen offensive line recruits. They went and got these transfer portal offensive linemen missed out on a couple of those guys. So this let me stay where. Where I am. I'm gonna ask you what you.

[Max Duffy]

How.

[Ryan Lemond]

Where you are. If Stoops does flirt with Purdue or another team, to me, it gives inception. He's got one foot out the door. He's looking.

[Matt Jones]

We don't know that he's flirting with him. I think you gotta be careful with that. If we know that he talks to him, then I think it's even harder to win over, win back.

[Drew Franklin]

Right now, a lot of fans are wishful thinking and they're seeing an opening and trying to force him into an interview there. Yeah, the ones that want him gone.

[Matt Jones]

All right, I want to switch gears for a second. Mario, who's been on the trip. Mario, this is your first time on the road with ksr. We're one day in. What are your thoughts so far?

[H]

A lot of fun. Getting. Getting to see a little bit of the country. A little bit.

[Matt Jones]

This is the farthest west you've ever been.

[H]

Farthest west.

[Drew Franklin]

Very cold.

[H]

A lot of snow. A lot more than I expected.

[Matt Jones]

You don't like snow?

[H]

I actually don't like snow.

[Matt Jones]

Why not?

[H]

I like it for, like, the first day, just seeing it, but once I see it on a consistent basis, it's not going anywhere.

[Mario]

Better get used to it now.

[Matt Jones]

You. You could. Couldn't walk up my driveway. Why do you. Why do you struggle so much trying to get up a hill?

[H]

I don't know. What was that about? If it was my Jordans that I had on or if it was like the bag. The bag was so heavy that it was kind of making me a little bit off balanced. I don't know. I felt twice.

[Mario]

We gotta get you Some snow boots.

[H]

Yeah, we definitely got to get me something like that.

[Matt Jones]

Now what. What happened at the bar? Why were you were taking all these shots? Did you. Do you think you maybe came out a little. A little strong for. I mean, this is a nine day trip and you were forced fireball shots deep 30 minutes into the trip.

[H]

Yeah, some wonderful fans, KSR fans, gave us, you know, some fireballs. And then Max Duffy, he said cheers. And then I was like, hey, why not cheers? And I opened my fireball up and then.

[Matt Jones]

And then he didn't drink it.

[H]

You didn't drink? Yeah, I guess.

[Drew Franklin]

Did you drink it, Max Drake is. Yeah, they all drink.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, but you know, we used to say that. We used to say that. Two mimosa, Billy. Are you like 1.1 mimosa, Mario?

[H]

No, usually that doesn't happen. The fireball thing, that usually does not happen.

[Matt Jones]

You usually don't like almost throw up on.

[H]

Yeah, that's why I was so surprised that when it happened it like I was just.

[Drew Franklin]

If I could defend Mario. One fireball over two mimosas is a lot more aggressive. And it was morning. We haven't had breakfast.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, we hadn't eaten. We hadn't eaten yet. That's part of it. Now what's it like? You're in the backseat with Shannon and you're rooming with Shannon. You two are a little bit like the odd couple. A little bit. How's that work?

[H]

Why the odd couple?

[Mario]

We get along great, actually. He's a perfect roommate. He says. He doesn't say a word. He just sits like he's barely.

[Matt Jones]

You don't say a word either.

[Mario]

Oh, what are you talking about? No, I'm talking about in the room. In the room or in the back? No, I'm preoccupied. I'm doing my thing back there.

[H]

Yeah, he does his thing in the back.

[Mario]

Yeah, you can't hear me up there in the front anyway, I need a megaphone so you can hear me.

[Ryan Lemond]

But no, we talk.

[Matt Jones]

We have conversations. What did you all talk about?

[H]

What? In the hotel room?

[Matt Jones]

Just whenever. Tell me a conversation you two have had.

[H]

Talk about food. We talk about.

[Matt Jones]

Give me what happened.

[Mario]

Talk about women.

[Matt Jones]

Are you talking about love? You all had a conversation about love? What was your conversation about? Love.

[H]

What was our conversation about?

[Matt Jones]

I don't know.

[Mario]

I was two beers in. Don't ask me these questions.

[Matt Jones]

So it sounds like you two really connected in the first 24 hours.

[Mario]

Yeah, yeah, we're pals. He ate. He ate my little Korean snacks that I brought about.

[Matt Jones]

That For a second. Shannon, your. Your girlfriend?

[Mario]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

So what is she? What's she subscribed to?

[Mario]

I don't know what it's called, but there's a website. Some of you listening may be familiar with this. There's a website you can subscribe to. And then every. I think it's every month, they send you food from different countries all over the world. So, you know, this month, it may be Korean and maybe Australian the month after that. So this was Korean snacks that they sent. And they.

[Matt Jones]

Every month, you get a package.

[Mario]

What food?

[Matt Jones]

Is it all from the same country?

[Mario]

For that month? Yes.

[Matt Jones]

So you get. It's like a taste of the world.

[Mario]

Yeah. Like, you know, two months from now, it could be Russia. Then whatever. Whatever it is. And then you get to taste like their version of our Doritos.

[Matt Jones]

And you like that?

[Mario]

Yeah, it's kind of cool.

[Matt Jones]

You gave us. It was, like, Korean chocolate Cheetos.

[Mario]

Yes. And they. They were brown Cheetos, so you can use your imagination what that may look like, but it tasted much better than it looked.

[Matt Jones]

Well, I think you two becoming friends is a really not. Don't you think, Ryan? This is a nice part.

[Mario]

Yes.

[Matt Jones]

Like, these two, they don't.

[H]

Because they don't get to see each other.

[Matt Jones]

Mario's in Lexington, Shannon's in Louisville, and now they're becoming fast buddies.

[Ryan Lemond]

Romance is blossoming right in front of our eyes right here.

[Mario]

We went out late last night while you guys were sleeping.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah.

[Mario]

We went out for chicken wings. The kitchen was closed.

[H]

Yeah, it was closed. So we just. He got a beer, and then I brought.

[Drew Franklin]

I want to pay Mario a compliment. I had one concern about this road trip, and it was just the amount of people in the luggage in our vehicle, and I was just worried about being cramped up. This is. Of all the ones we've done, this is one of the more aggressive drivings. But Mario was in charge of booking our.

[Matt Jones]

We got a great car. Cheap wagon, All Enterprise.

[Drew Franklin]

We're calling it DJ Wagon.

[Matt Jones]

DJ Wagoneer.

[Drew Franklin]

But the moment I got to your house at 7am and saw the vehicle Mario, it got me. So we got plenty of room.

[Matt Jones]

Enterprise rental car. That's your former place. Enterprise loves you. I went in there, and they go. They didn't look at me and go, that's Matt from ksr. Oh, that's the guy on the radio. They went, you're Mario's friend. Like, that's how good. That's how good you are. So that is love.

[H]

That is love.

[Matt Jones]

That's right. All right, well, Tell everybody about Stockton Mortgage.

[Ryan Lemond]

Stockton Mortgage, you know, say if you're looking to buy your. This massive house that's got maybe a little overpriced, Stockton Mortgage can help you. Stockton Mortgage can hold your hand every step of the way. And I've already told him now when Matt does decide to buy, he's going to need a lot of patience. You're going to have to just be patient.

[Matt Jones]

Why do I have to be patient?

[Ryan Lemond]

Because the mortgage process, it can be a hassle. They're always going to want something from you. Tax returns.

[Matt Jones]

I don't have any of that.

[Ryan Lemond]

Well, they're going to need it. Well, that's why they're going to be very.

[Mario]

I could tell you.

[Ryan Lemond]

But you know what, Stockton Mortgage is very. They'll have to help them get it.

[Matt Jones]

Where is it?

[Ryan Lemond]

Your accountant, your tax person.

[Matt Jones]

I got a big book of stuff. Can I just give them that?

[Ryan Lemond]

Yes, you definitely want to give them that. So they can help you as well. Give them a call or go [e-mail] MLS NMLS 8259 equal housing lender.

[Matt Jones]

You can't screw it up. I don't want to end up like, like you. Like you. I can't come back in like five years and they're like, oh, you don't, you didn't have a mortgage.

[Ryan Lemond]

Not why Stockton Mortgage can't help buy.

[Mario]

A house without a mortgage unless you paying cash for the whole thing.

[Matt Jones]

We'll take a break. We are here in Iowa city. We are 13 minutes from pizza Ranch. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio, 859-280227. I don't know why I keep saying the number. I think it's just natural because we're not, we're not taking, we will take tomorrow from Kearney, Nebraska. So hopefully we will see you all. I'll tweet out where we are. If you, if you think you can come text me on the text machine. 772-7745-2541. A lot of people have written on the text machine, sorry, we haven't gotten to it. We've been doing a lot of stuff but one person writes and I get this in a lot of forms so I do want to address it. One person writes, matt, I know you're friends with Mark and Vince. How do you. Do you think your comments about both of them and the whole staff are reflective of your friendship or what you actually think? Do you think you're objective on it? It's a fair question. I'VE said this for a long time. There have only been since I've been doing this take staff, coaches, media, outside of these guys, and then, like, the people that worked at iHeart, like Vanetti and Nick Coffey and Terry Miners. I'm not really friends with anyone that does this. I get along with people, and I like people. But I've intentionally. Well, either intentionally or just because I don't need any. I don't want any more new friends. I don't really.

[Mario]

I'm not tapped out.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, I'm tapped out. You know, that's plenty right there. But there have been two that I consider my friends. Dwayne Peavey, who's now at DePaul, and Vince. And so it does make it hard with them. I freely acknowledge that. Like, you know, I mean, last night when I got the text that maybe there were rumors about him going to Louisville, like, I was. You know, I can't stand Louisville and the idea that he could end up there. I'm like, what are you gonna do? But he's still gonna be my friend, and I'm not gonna apologize for someone that is my friend. If he were your friend, you would be the same way. I think people think Mark and I are friends. I get along with Mark. I like Mark, but we're not friends. I mean, I don't. You know, we went to Vince's wedding. I haven't. I don't know that I've ever even been to Mark's house. So, like, it's not like he and I are friends. I feel like when it comes to Mark and I was. To give you an example, I was much closer to Cal than I was to Mark. And, you know, you heard, when I thought it was time to criticize him, I did. And I do the same with Mark. I freely acknowledge Vince is tougher for me because he is my friend. So when you hear me talk about specifically Vince, if you want to read it through the. That's Matt's friend. I get it. Like, you should. You should. You. You should. But for everybody else, like, you know, I don't know these people. I have far fewer friends than most people. Than most people on this show because I'm tend to kind of be. By my eyes, can. To be a loner. But if you. When it comes to Vince specifically I, You. That's just. He's my friend, and he's. I probably will never make another UK sports friend because I do think it makes it difficult. But, Ryan, I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna not be a guy's friend because they didn't have a good game. You know, like, that's not what friendship is to me.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, I think we've gotten a lot of that this year. That we weren't as hard on the football team as we should.

[Matt Jones]

I just don't think that's fair. I know. I mean, if you want to say that, you can say it, but, like, go listen to my post game show Drew, and tell me I'm not hard on them. I mean, I was pretty brutal to him on the post game show.

[Drew Franklin]

Well, I saw a lot of that after the loss to Louisville, hating on us.

[Matt Jones]

You. But that's what happened last year.

[Drew Franklin]

I remember, though, about a week ago, before losing to Louisville, you kind of snapped a little bit on Stoops. You were like, grow up. Like, shouting during a morning show. And I'm thinking, man, he's being harsh on him right now. And then on Saturday, it's like the cow thing.

[Matt Jones]

It doesn't matter what you do. There are going to be people who get angry. Like, it doesn't, you know, it does not matter what I say. I can say Cal's a great guy. People would be like, you just hate California. And I can say, stoops, grow up. And they go, oh, you just love Stoops. Like, there's nothing I can say. The only two people I've ever been friends with at the school are Dwayne Events. That's just what it is. And if you want to look at it through that thing, I get it. You should. I'm friends with these guys. I'm probably not going to be as harsh on Shannon because I'm his friend.

[Mario]

And I'm not leaving either.

[Drew Franklin]

So you're not going to Louisville?

[Mario]

No, I'm not going to Louisville.

[Matt Jones]

Court.com. k O R T com. If you need physical therapy, go to court.com. they'll make you feel better. They'll make you to where you don't have pain. You got like a month left. If you've already used your deductible, you could go almost for free. They take all the insurance. How many locations around the state?

[Ryan Lemond]

60. I know. Did you say 60?

[Matt Jones]

It's 70. Around 70.

[Ryan Lemond]

I was 10 short. They've got one.

[Drew Franklin]

They're growing.

[Ryan Lemond]

They've already.

[Matt Jones]

Apple spoils the bunch, girl. No common court physical therapy. You won't be spoiled. It's kort.com.

[Mario]

Let'S go eat some Iowa City.

[Matt Jones]

Thank you all you seven folks here. Thank you all very much. We will, will see you in Kearney, Nebraska, tomorrow. And we might even be online doing stuff tonight thanks to Rick. We'll see you later. This is the KSR road trip sponsored by me.