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Matt Jones
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 timeout against hate. Visit stand uptoallhate.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 Lemon
Thursday Night Football is on and it's only on Prime Video. Breaking the tackle touchdown this week. Keep the holiday celebration going as the Seattle Seahawks take on the Chicago Bears.
Drew Franklin
You're gonna love this.
Ryan Lemon
Coverage begins with TNF tonight. Not a Prime member. Sign up for a 30 day free trial to stream the game. It's the Seahawks and Bears Thursday only on Prime Video. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com amazonprime for details. Holiday magic is in the air and DSW's got all the shoes to make your season extra merry. Believe you've got parties to attend and list to check twice. So DSW is taking care of the details like gifts to make their eyes all aglow. Styles that bring joy to your world. Brands everyone wants like Ugg, Nike, Birkenstock and more and deals to make your budget bright. Find the perfect shoes for you and yours at a DSW store near you or dsw.com now. @t mobile get four 5G phones on us and four lines for $25 a line per month when you switch with eligible trade ins, all on America's largest 5G network. Minimum of 4 lines for 25 per line per month with autopay discount using debit or bank account. $5 more per line without autopay plus.
Matt Jones
Taxes and fees and $10 device connection. Charge phones via 24 monthly bill credits.
Ryan Lemon
For well qualified customers. Contact us before canceling entire account to.
Matt Jones
Continue bill credits or credit stop and balance on a required finance agreement due.
Ryan Lemon
Bill credits end if you pay off devices early.
Matt Jones
CT mobile.com Comedy Off Broadway in Lexington welcomes Derek Stroup December 19th through the 21st.
Ryan Lemon
Then catch Lexington native Lee Kimbrell for two hilarious shows on New Year's Eve and don't miss Brian Bates January 3rd and 4th.
Matt Jones
Comedy Off Broadway opened in downtown Lexington in 1987 and they're still bringing the best in.
Ryan Lemon
Stand up comedy to the area 37 years later.
Matt Jones
Call 859-271-joke or visit comedyoffbroadway.com comedy off Broadway.
Ryan Lemon
Welcome everyone. It is Kentucky Sports Radio Friday, December 20th on another rainy, nasty day. Been a nasty week in terms of weather. Supposed to snow tonight, snow tonight, playoff games tomorrow and tonight just absolute chaos of weather. And you can give a shout. The Clark's Puppet Shop phone line. That's 859-280-2287. A Vision Auto Glass text machine is 772-774-5254. In this edition, sponsored by the T.J. smith Law Office. Call T.J. he'll make them pay. We are here at KS Bar Grill. Already a good group of people here. I'm just kind of feeling like there's going to be a bunch of people here today. You got Indiana, Notre Dame tonight in the snow in South Bend. Have you seen?
Matt Jones
It's already snowing, already snowing up there to South Bend.
Ryan Lemon
Yeah. Tickets going $400 just to get in on a snowy day in South Bend. It looks like they're even going to be doing morning. They're going to be doing college game day at 3:30 outside in the snow. They said I don't think they've ever done college game day. They've done it in the rain, but they've never done it in the snow. And there's a good chance this afternoon, Drew, it's going to be in the snow.
Drew Franklin
Oh, yeah. I'm very looking forward to that game, all the playoff games, even though I've tried to block college football out of my mind with the last, how Kentucky season went. I'm really looking forward to tonight seeing that.
Ryan Lemon
I'm, I'm excited about the playoff. I, you know, the games this week, the games this weekend, we're going to, we'll talk about them and pick them later. But they're, they're all big spreads. But just the idea of being in the home stadium, I think except for that environment at Penn State, the rest of the environment is going to be great. I think tomorrow night, that Tennessee, Ohio State game, that's going to be an amazing environment. Could be snowing during that as well.
Matt Jones
Yeah.
Ryan Lemon
So I think it's going to be really good.
Matt Jones
I think that's the one everybody's kind of anxious to see. Can Tennessee actually sneak a lot of fans into the game and overtake the stadium a little bit? Has, has Ohio State kind of checked out? Has Michigan kind of going to beat him twice? You know, if they, if you've Checked.
Ryan Lemon
Out for the playoff, then that's on you. If you can't even get excited about the playoff. But so that all that will be fun. I think you can make an argument that tomorrow is one of the great days of sports of all time. I mean, think about what all. I mean, let's just say here in Kentucky, but everywhere. Kentucky obviously plays at 5:30 against Ohio State, but you have three College Football Playoff games and you have two really good NFL games. You got Chiefs and Texans and Steelers and Ravens. And then in the middle of that Kentucky basketball. If you ever wanted a Saturday to tell your. Your husband or your wife, I leaving, I'm not getting out tomorrow. Is he one of them said right here. I'm not leaving tomorrow. You know what? You can come sit also. You could sit at that barstool right there and not have to leave the whole day. Tomorrow Drew would be that day.
Drew Franklin
Oh yeah. If we didn't the pregame show at 3, there might be a chance. I don't take 20 steps tomorrow around my house. I mean, I'm going to be sunk into that couch the entire day, maybe even starting tonight might sleep there for all the football we have coming in the Kentucky.
Ryan Lemon
Now, I do have a question for this woman right here who's with you, sir. She still. Yes. She still has her back to us. You just don't even want to see us for. It was a whole discussion. You need to turn around. I can't look at your back the whole time. It makes me feel. It makes me feel like you don't like me. Like you. I mean, imagine like if you just come into a room, if you were to go watch, you know, a comedy show and you just sat on the fourth row with your back to the person. There you go. Now see isn't that bad. There we go.
Drew Franklin
I think he was worried about same siding in the booth. But you can do that in this.
Ryan Lemon
Oh, you all. It's okay. It's. It's a beautiful thing. Don't worry about it. 859280, 2287. The Cats last night Ryan went to Hamilton.
Matt Jones
Yes.
Ryan Lemon
On Broadway in New York. They were brought up on stage. They got to meet the. The. The crew and the staff, I guess. Mark Pope, if you remember, said that he. He. Hamilton was like his favorite thing. So they probably dragged him there. But I want to. Can I give you something I noticed last night in the picture.
Matt Jones
Okay.
Ryan Lemon
That I just thought was cool.
Matt Jones
All right.
Ryan Lemon
All right. You've been around your kids in high school, right?
Matt Jones
Yes.
Ryan Lemon
Senior If I'm correct, last one's a senior. Has he picked where he's going to college?
Matt Jones
Not yet. Nope.
Ryan Lemon
When's the decision we have to make.
Matt Jones
Our college visits after the holidays.
Ryan Lemon
I thought you already went to like five places.
Matt Jones
Those were game day visits. They had to go visit the campus and they take you and talk to.
Ryan Lemon
You about your couldn't have seen the campus the same time you were there for the game.
Matt Jones
We did a little bit, but they, you know, they show you the dorm rooms and they, they sit you down, financial aid people, and try to, you know, win you over. So that's coming up after the holidays period.
Drew Franklin
Coming up where you can't do that.
Matt Jones
That's true.
Drew Franklin
Then you'll be on the count.
Ryan Lemon
So. So anyway, I was looking at the picture, and if you're listening at home, you should pull up the picture of them with the Hamilton crew. And here's what I noticed, and I have not noticed this for a long time for any group of people, especially guys that age in the picture. If you look at it, every single player on the UK basketball team is smiling. Like, not just smiling like cheesy smiling, like a huge smile on their face. And you're around people that age. Can you ever think of getting a group of guys that age together and they all smile?
Matt Jones
No, because the trend is you got to look like a tough guy. You don't smile in photos.
Ryan Lemon
We took a picture of my Georgetown class. I think I'm the only person smiling. You remember the Louisville basketball picture. Pat Kelsey is the only person smiling. It looked like, to me, our group, our team is like the happiest team. And if you think about it, they're all older. They're all like 21, 22, 23 years old. And it was something. I know this is a little thing, right? But it looks like a group of guys that are very happy. And I think that translates to why our fans like this group so much. I think they're older. They seem like a group that is enjoying the experience of being at uk, that appreciates it. And I think part of the reason we've fallen in love with this team, we obviously love Pope, we love the style of play. But I think some of it is this group of young men seem like guys you just want be happy to be around.
Matt Jones
I think you hit it. I think you're right. This group of players enjoy and appreciate this opportunity to have to play for UK basketball. And I think it's reflective in not just at Hamilton, but on the court, you know, they're very supportive of everybody on the court.
Ryan Lemon
I mean, you could see a scenario where Mark Pope says, hey, guys, it's Thursday night in New York City. We're going to a play, a long play. And you could see that there'd be some, maybe some players go, are you kidding me? Like, because this is the b. You know, this, this is like the best weekend to go to New York.
Drew Franklin
Oh, yeah.
Ryan Lemon
If you go to New York, for fans who are going the game, this is the best weekend. There's Christmas. It's, it's the, the tree and, and, and, and lights, Santa. There's all, there's all this stuff going on. This is the best weekend. And then the guy. And then your coach goes, we're going to a play. You might not like it, but even they seem even happy with that.
Drew Franklin
Yeah, I mean, they've got three guys from the area, probably lots of friends to see. But no, we're going to the Richard Rogers Theater where I knowing Richard Rogers Hamilton, big fan. But I, I know Amari Williams did not fit in that seat very well. For three hours he was smiling. But I'm sure the, we all, we all know about the, the Pope New York connection where Mark and Leanne started dating there, and they love it so much. So I'm not surprised to see that they're taking the team on a tour around Manhattan. Probably a lot more of that's come today.
Ryan Lemon
Now, if Kentucky were to win tomorrow and the spread is not out yet, I think it's going to be, like I said, 8, 9, 10, something like that for Kentucky. If Kentucky were to win, that means they would have gone through this. What we thought at the beginning of the year would be a gauntlet. Ohio State is ended up not being quite as good, but, you know, Duke, Gonzaga, Clemson, Louisville and Ohio State. When the season started, we said we hope they'd go three and two. Right. And that most of us thought they'd probably go 2 and 3.
Matt Jones
I did. I said 2 and 3.
Ryan Lemon
But we hope they'd go 3 and 2. If they beat Ohio State, that means they're going to have gone through that gauntlet four and one. That has to be considered if we win. Ryan, a massive success going into conference play.
Matt Jones
Yeah, we go back just, what, two months ago. I think that we do. We will be very, very excited if they could somehow just squeak out three wins to beat Duke and Gonzaga like they did convincingly. I think the shows that just.
Ryan Lemon
Well, they weren't convincing. We won both of them right at the end, but they did win.
Matt Jones
Yeah. Show some toughness and battle back. I think that just the best basketball, I still believe, is yet to come for this team.
Ryan Lemon
You think so?
Matt Jones
I think so.
Ryan Lemon
You think there's going to be better basketball than beating Duke and Gonzaga. Gonzaga on the road because, you know.
Matt Jones
They'Re still not shooting the ball as great as we all thought they could. So I think it's coming. When they put it all together, this team is going to be a superstar team.
Drew Franklin
I just think going back to April, even Mitch Barnhart, who was like the one person that wanted Mark Pope in the moment, even he couldn't have dreamed it could have gone this well. No. No one would have believed this in April that you'd be. You'd have one win at this point. You would have already signed Moreno and Jasper Johnson already in the top of the recruiting rankings. He's literally outside of losing to Clemson, which none of us really care about at this point. It has been a perfect, whatever, seven months for Mark Pope.
Ryan Lemon
There's a guy on. On social media, he has a website. I don't know his last name, so I'm sorry to him for getting his last name wrong. His name is like Evan Min Kayawa or something. So whatever it is. So he. He does like sort of nerd stuff on. On sports. That's his thing. He basically does nerd numbers and nerd stats. And he had this video yesterday that I thought was fascinating. He went back and looked at the. The teams from last that were in the top are in the top 75 of the Kim Pom. And he looked to see how many of them had the biggest roster turnover and how many of them had the smallest roster turnover. Basically how many of them had returning players. And they did. And he went through the 15 teams who had the biggest roster turnover. And he said of the 15 teams with the biggest roster turnover, 13 of them have performed below expectations so far this year. Thirteen of them basically have done less with the roster than what it looked like they would do before. Whereas the 15 with the most people returning, 12 of them have outperformed expectations. And his thesis was that in today's portal world, having people return is huge for success. But then he said there's one exception, which is Kentucky. He said Kentucky has outperformed expectation per player more than any other team in the top 75. And you go look at the other teams that have underperformed Louisville, Arkansas, and he. And he goes through them. And then there's Kentucky, who's the one that has outperformed expectations more than almost any other team. I think that what makes what Mark Pope has done Ryan even more impressive, the fact that like we've done this with no returning players.
Matt Jones
Do you think part of it is Pope was able to just get the right guys like he did?
Ryan Lemon
Well, these other teams did too. I mean these other teams did the exact same thing. They picked who they wanted. I just think he's been able to get more out of this group than he would than anybody would have thought.
Drew Franklin
Probably one of the only ones on the list that doesn't have a returning coaching staff either. Although that might be helpful in this scenario. It might be why he's standing out the coaching change there. But it is remarkable that they have brand new across the board. I guess you can count Travis Perry was committed, but other than that none of these guys but didn't play here. Yeah. As far as last March they weren't even thinking that.
Ryan Lemon
Yeah. So you know, we'll see what happens in Converse play. We went over that schedule the other day and Mario posted the video of our picks. Most criticism, especially from the old angry people on Facebook was that we picked too many losses. I can't win with these people, Mario. I pick us nine wins in football, then I'm way too optimistic. Pick six losses in basketball. I'm way too pessimistic. I don't know what these numbers are that people want us to pick. But going into it, the non conference, let's assume we win tomorrow and again we could lose but let's assume we win. Got to be an A to A plus, right?
Matt Jones
No doubt about it. Yeah. The way they played and beat these teams. We talked about it. Is it definitely a high?
Drew Franklin
Yeah, A plus. I mean you could have beaten Clemson. But really does. I mean you want to win that but does anyone really care that they lost? Is that pulling any of your opinion down and Mark Pope whatsoever?
Ryan Lemon
No, no.
Drew Franklin
I mean I go A plus. It would be fun to be Clemson. That's the one.
Ryan Lemon
Yeah. I think I go A plus doesn't.
Drew Franklin
Change my opinion of anything.
Ryan Lemon
You tell me. I beat Duke, Louisville, Gonzaga in a non conference unless I've lost to Brown. I'm take given that an A plus I don't know how you can.
Matt Jones
Even if they lose to Ohio State tomorrow, I think I'm still giving them an A for their non conference.
Ryan Lemon
I don't know but Ohio State's not good. I might, I might go down to A minus if they were to lose.
Matt Jones
A minus.
Ryan Lemon
Yeah. By the way everybody join me today is Shannon's birthday. Happy birthday to Shannon the dude.
Shannon the Dude
Oh, thank you. It's actually tomorrow, but I'll take an early birthday.
Ryan Lemon
Oh, is it tomorrow? Yeah, yeah, whatever.
Drew Franklin
Ryan lman tweeted it was today.
Ryan Lemon
Yeah, everybody said it was today so that they're lying to you.
Matt Jones
Somebody today cu. He's off for the next, like month after today.
Ryan Lemon
So, Shannon, is that true? How much are you off?
Shannon the Dude
I'm off till January 3rd. That's two weeks.
Ryan Lemon
You're off till January 3rd.
Shannon the Dude
Listen, Mr. 10 Week Vacation, I don't want to hear about my.
Ryan Lemon
He's off till January 3rd.
Shannon the Dude
That's two weeks.
Ryan Lemon
Two ounce. Must be nice. Yeah, must be nice. Off till January 3rd of a birthday party. Okay, so how old are you?
Shannon the Dude
Do we really have to say? I mean. Yes, I really don't want to talk about.
Ryan Lemon
Yeah, but come on, you're not 90. Like, you're what?
Shannon the Dude
I'll be 42.
Ryan Lemon
He's gonna be 42 years old. Are you. Are you doing anything for your birthday? Because you have that terrible birthday where people just get you one present because it's easier.
Shannon the Dude
That and it's the shortest day of the entire year, so.
Ryan Lemon
Oh, yeah, tomorrow is the shortest day.
Shannon the Dude
Gloomy. But yeah. I mean, usually I get one present. This is your Christmas and your birthday wrapped into one.
Ryan Lemon
Well, well, Happy, happy birthday to Shannon. He's. He. A lot of people don't. Will forget has been on the show longer than Ryan Andrew.
Matt Jones
Yes, he has.
Ryan Lemon
Shannon is actually the. Shannon is actually the second person on the show. A lot of people forget that.
Shannon the Dude
March of 2011, I think March of.
Ryan Lemon
2011, we had only. I did six months with seven months with Zach and then he was gone. And then Shannon came in March of.
Matt Jones
2011 and I started May of 2011. So, yeah, he had a couple months on me.
Ryan Lemon
Yeah. 859-280-2287. Text machine 772-774-5254. We're going to take a break and be right back. Mark Pope weighed in on the sit versus stand controversy yesterday. Sort of. We'll be right back. This is ksr.
Unknown
Congratulations to Easterseals Southern California on their first place win for innovation in customer service at this year's unconventional awards by T Mobile for business. Easterseals has used T Mobile 5G to create immersive VR development tools that aid people with autism in addressing transportation barriers. These tools are shaping the way safe and personalized skill building is delivered. And for that, T Mobile congratulates Easterseals Southern California for their unconventional thinking.
Ryan Lemon
Welcome back it is Kentucky Sports radio here live. KS Bar, 859-280-2287. You could come in today. Still time to pick the Indiana Notre Dame game for our money thing. So it's like tomorrow, everybody that comes in will pick the other games, but Indiana Notre Dame kicks off tonight, so that your best chance of winning the money is probably coming in today and picking the Indiana Notre Dame game.
Matt Jones
Yeah. This is a heck of a contest we've got going on. That's a lot of money Country Roads is putting up.
Ryan Lemon
Thank you very much for Country Road Spirits for. For doing that. Okay, let's go to the text machine. One person writes. Matt is someone that's been in New York over 10 times. This is the worst weekend to go. It's all tourists. It's insane. Yes. But I'm telling tourists to go. Of course it's a big weekend for tourists. That's why I'm saying tourists. This is the weekend to go. Like, if you have sort of a dream of what New York looks like that you don't want to go in July, it's hot. This is exactly like the kind of New York people envision.
Drew Franklin
Yeah. I mean, I don't think you're gonna get a better New York experience than right now. No, there's gonna be crowds.
Ryan Lemon
Gonna be a lot of crowds.
Drew Franklin
Having been around that being expensive this year, it is unbelievable how many people try to get around that tree. You cannot move. Other than that. It's still pretty awesome.
Ryan Lemon
Still very.
Drew Franklin
Whatever part of the city you're in, there's something festive around.
Ryan Lemon
And by the way, if you're going to the game, Jack Dempsey's is having, like, a massive UK party before and after the game. That bar, which is a big bar, it'll be filled to the brim with Kentucky fans before and after the game. If you're going, it's like two or three blocks from Madison Square Garden. Maybe four or something like that. It's very, very cool. There'll be Kentucky fans everywhere.
Matt Jones
You said yesterday on the show you have a little FOMO missing out of the.
Ryan Lemon
Yeah, I'm bummed. I'm not going. I just can't. I can't pull it off with all the stuff I got to do. And I may have to go to London first week of January, and so I just. I'm not going to be able to do it. I'm going to do the show from London if I go. Unlike Shannon, I don't just take vacations.
Shannon the Dude
Oh, yeah.
Ryan Lemon
Yeah.
Shannon the Dude
How many times did you do the show.
Ryan Lemon
I mean, I was gone for 10. But you know what? That's different.
Shannon the Dude
Oh, it's different.
Ryan Lemon
That's different. So it was different. It was. That was Christmas. That was a relaxation trip. That's different than vacation. One person writes, matt, my wife and I have one big pet peeve of the show.
Matt Jones
Oh.
Ryan Lemon
There's a two words that Ryan uses interchangeably that don't mean what he thinks he does. He says anxious and eager as if they're the same word, and they're not. Will you get him to define anxious and eager? What does anxious mean?
Matt Jones
Anxious means you're a little, you know, you're a little concerned. You know, you're a little worried about something. You're. You know, there's a situation coming up if you're. Anxious means like, oh, you know, I've got a tiptoe into that situation.
Ryan Lemon
Is that the dictionary definition?
Matt Jones
So, yeah, I think they use tiptoe.
Drew Franklin
Tiptoeing into a situation.
Ryan Lemon
And do they go, ooh, when they is in the debt in the dictionary?
Matt Jones
Yeah.
Ryan Lemon
Okay, so what's eager?
Matt Jones
Eager means I'm really excited about something. Like, I'm. I'm eager for the game tomorrow. I'm excited to sit down and watch the game tomorrow.
Ryan Lemon
But you. So do you think you use them correctly?
Matt Jones
I have not used the word eager in 50 years. I don't know what those. That person's talking about.
Ryan Lemon
50 years? At least 50 years. Do you use anxious, though, to mean excited?
Matt Jones
Probably.
Ryan Lemon
Yeah. So maybe switch anxious.
Matt Jones
Yeah.
Ryan Lemon
To eager.
Matt Jones
Yeah, that's probably what they're talking about.
Ryan Lemon
Yeah.
Matt Jones
Yeah.
Ryan Lemon
All right, well, you'll try. You'll keep that in your mind?
Matt Jones
I'm gonna work on that.
Ryan Lemon
Will you see if. If at some point before the end of the show, you can use the word eager correctly?
Matt Jones
Okay. Eager or anxious? Because I'm using anxious wrong.
Ryan Lemon
You. You can use eager if you haven't said it in 50 years, Drew, now is a good time to do it.
Drew Franklin
Don't be putting eager in his mouth. He has not said that to this point.
Ryan Lemon
All right, well, we'll see how. If he does it correctly. They asked Mark Pope yesterday if he had a view on the sit versus stand thing, and he said, it's the only time I felt like he's ever been evasive. He said, oh, I'm not aware of that. It's hard for me to believe he's not aware of that, but he basically gave a kumbaya. Everyone should do what they want to do. Sit or stand is fine. We Want to make this special. I think he was going to say, stand up. Stop whining about people standing up. But he was. He said, I don't want to get in trouble. So I think he's on our side. Drew, what do you think?
Drew Franklin
He caught himself. He was like, ooh, I really want to comment, but before I do, I need to get all the details even looked over at Deb Moore.
Ryan Lemon
And he wanted to say stand.
Drew Franklin
He did bite his tongue. He's like, I better get all the details on this before I put out an official comment. That's what gets me in trouble. But I think he was gonna be team stand for sure. We know Pope's in his enthusiasm.
Matt Jones
You know, as the coach, he wants the fans, the stand to be excited and support his team and make it loud, make it a good home court advantage. Of course that's what he wants to say.
Ryan Lemon
This is dominated talk all week. What was the kid's name?
Matt Jones
Caleb.
Ryan Lemon
Caleb. Caleb has certainly led a. A revolution. Whether or not he'll have troops behind him, I guess we'll see at the Brown game. But there's no doubt. It's interesting, though. Most of the online sentiment is for him saying stand up. But people started trying to make me feel guilty, Drew, And I'm going to say they did. They kind of knew how to make me feel guilty. You want to know what? I probably had 10 people over the last few days. You know what they wrote me said, matt, how would you feel if you took Larry to the game and someone stood in front of him the whole time?
Matt Jones
You'd have to ask that gentleman and sending up.
Ryan Lemon
And I, you know, yeah, I thought about it, and I was like, well, I wouldn't like that because Larry wouldn't be able to stand the whole game. So, yeah, I don't know. I'm still four standing. But when they put it in that real world thing, because I try to take Larry to, like, one game a year, and he wouldn't be able to stand the whole game. And if one kid that was kind of drunk was standing there, standing just to stand, I wouldn't love that. So I. They did put it in words that I could understand. Drew. I mean, what do you think about that? You like Larry, too? Unless you're going to say otherwise.
Drew Franklin
No, no, I'm not saying that. But when we made the initial case for standing, there was the caveat. If someone's older and is unable behind you, that's a different scenario. So I think Larry would fall into that. I think they're Using your own words against you here to get you on team sit.
Ryan Lemon
I'm not on team sit team stand.
Drew Franklin
99 times out of 100. But if so, do you think the.
Ryan Lemon
Caleb's of the world, if they were standing in front of a Larry, do you think they would sit down?
Drew Franklin
A big, big detail in the Caleb story is the people directly behind him said they're okay with it. And I think if the two people who have to stare at your rear end the whole night are okay with it, everybody else can do Ryan.
Matt Jones
So when you said that I put my dad in the same scenario. If I was sitting by my dad, there were some people standing in front of him, I would want that person to sit down. So my dad or would you have.
Ryan Lemon
Told him to sit down?
Matt Jones
I would have asked him, said, hey.
Ryan Lemon
Man, would you have called the security over?
Matt Jones
No, I don't know if I'd called security but I probably would have had a conversation.
Ryan Lemon
You'd have been a vigilante and took it in your own hands.
Matt Jones
Be respectful.
Ryan Lemon
All right. Well they did make me at least think about it right? Slightly.
Matt Jones
You're right.
Ryan Lemon
We'll take a break. Be right back. SKSR.
Shannon the Dude
Now more of Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Here's Matt Jones.
Ryan Lemon
Welcome back Kentucky Sports Radio here at KS Bar and Grill. Come on out, have lunch. We'll be around this early this afternoon and then we'll have Notre Dame Indiana tonight if you're ready to rock. Let's talk for a minute about a non before we go the phones. A non sports thing that I found bizarre yesterday. So the Luigi guy, I thought we weren't going to think about him until his trial probably a year and a half from now. But then yesterday they decided to, they extradited him to New York and I don't know what they were doing. Did you see the video of them basically giving him his like perp walk? Did you see that? So they let him off the plane. First of all, they have like 40 people there and they are in tactical gear. They walk him out like he's a Batman villain. It was literally like they were walking the joker out of the thing. There are it looks like military people around and here's what I don't understand. They all have bulletproof vests and helmets on. And what I found bizarre is he doesn't seem to have a bulletproof vest on. He to me in that scenario is the one most likely to potentially be like shot like, like Jack Ruby. Right. And he doesn't, he's just wearing this orange hook. So that was weird to me that you're. You're almost mythologizing this. This guy by making him look like this super criminal, but then also the mayor of New York. Are we. What's wrong? The battery's flashing. Did you not plug it in? Mario set it up? Yeah. Look at that. Just throwing Mario under the bus.
Shannon the Dude
Inconsistency again.
Ryan Lemon
Did you just see him just throw Mario under the bus?
Drew Franklin
Yep.
Shannon the Dude
Some days he plugs it in. Some days he does.
Ryan Lemon
Unbelievable. What? He just threw Mario under the bus. Shannon, that was. Are. You should be ashamed. Ryan Lemon, your job is to set this up. You're just gonna throw Mario under the bus?
Matt Jones
He set it up this morning, and we just had a little battery thing. I didn't want it to go off during your.
Ryan Lemon
Why did you have to say he set it up?
Matt Jones
Because he did set it up. I'm not lying.
Drew Franklin
Do you remember a few weeks ago when something happened, and even though we made fun of Billy, he wouldn't bring anyone else into a mess that was made?
Ryan Lemon
That is true. That is true.
Drew Franklin
But he said, I'm a team player.
Ryan Lemon
And so guess who's not a team player?
Matt Jones
I will. I will apologize, but not take responsibility.
Ryan Lemon
All right, so. So back to Luigi, then. Also, in the group of people walking Luigi, the mayor of New York came to walk with them. All right, that's ridiculous. The mayor of New York has no reason to be there. He's not law enforcement. I know he used to be law enforcement, but he's not now. They asked him why, and he said, I wanted him to look me in the eye and see that he can't do such things. Shut up. Like. Like, seriously, he already did it. He. Yeah, he already did it. And do you think all those dudes in tactical gear didn't teach him anything? But he was like, oh, no. The mayor of New York standing here. I must maybe shouldn't have done it. I. I thought the whole scene was ridiculous.
Drew Franklin
It did look like a villain in a. In a Batman movie. I saw someone even did a side by side of a movie where it almost looks identical of a fictional character being walked in way over the top. I even saw one of the. One of the guys escorting him had on, like, these really exclusive Jordans that are. So.
Ryan Lemon
There was a dude wearing. It was a dude wearing Jordans that are, like, Jordan fives that are worth, like, $5,000. There was a guy wearing them that was on the police department. Now, I don't know what the police make, and they should spend Their money on whatever they want. But if you're walking around in five thousand dollar Jordans and you're a police officer, there is a question of like, hey, dude, where'd you get those? Like, isn't that kind of just where you got them?
Drew Franklin
But it's like you knew this was the photo.
Matt Jones
Oh yeah. This was my.
Drew Franklin
I'm wearing my Jordan's Day. I assume he doesn't wear those every day.
Ryan Lemon
I wouldn't think so.
Drew Franklin
There's one big photo.
Matt Jones
It took exactly what it was.
Shannon the Dude
People acting like this guy is a hero. There are people going out and getting tattoos of this.
Ryan Lemon
Totally agree. And see, that's where I think it's actually. I, I've talked about the people sort of making this dude a hero. I think that's a. I think that is a shame. And I actually think it's a really terrible statement about society. But if you don't want to make him a hero, don't give him the, the Joker wall.
Matt Jones
Yeah, right.
Ryan Lemon
Like bring him in the back door. You're making him more of a hero. Now. People are all, you know there's going to be. People get a tattoo of that scene there. It's like they're doing everything they can to make this guy even more famous.
Drew Franklin
On a more serious note, I mean, someone sitting at home that has issues and crazy thoughts sees I can become this big.
Ryan Lemon
Exactly.
Drew Franklin
That everyone looks to. You don't want anyone trying to copycat because they see what it can turn into.
Ryan Lemon
I mean, the mayor being there. I've decided the mayor of New York has to be one of the bigger clowns in office. I mean, he's. He got indicted because he's like flying to Turkey and getting upgrades. And then he comes out and he walks there. Come on, man.
Matt Jones
Total. Like Drew said, that's a total photo op.
Ryan Lemon
And you're right.
Matt Jones
It's a sad depiction in our society where. Why didn't they take him out the back door like normal people? You gotta parade him out there like he's a superhero.
Ryan Lemon
Yeah. I mean, they On a helicopter. Come on. I, I just found it ridiculous. Who's up next?
Shannon the Dude
Let's go to Nate.
Ryan Lemon
Nate, go ahead, Nate.
Caller
Hey, what's up, Matt? Yeah, so I was. I made the trip out to climbing Pleasure in also. And you know, this has been. I've been thinking about this all week because this happened to me out there. It's happened to me before at Ruck too. You know, people have actually sit down. I've kind of been like, you know, I want to cheer for my team, you know, so the same thing happened to me. There some Gonzaga fans behind us, you know. Anyway, sir, could. Can you sit down? Didn't he. I didn't even actually say sir. They're just like, can you sit down? I'm like, I'm going to cheer for my team. It's when we're coming back, right? Well, this guy did not like me saying that and exploited Kentucky fans is what he said. And I just turned back around and I'm like, just kind of looked at him, just kept flapping and standing up. Well, it wasn't. About 10 minutes later, my buddy goes to the bathroom. Guy I'm out there with, who's from Issaquah, which is really close, right? He goes to the bathroom. While he's in the bathroom, three people come and get me and come to talk to me and I'm like, oh, okay. Well, I expect this.
Ryan Lemon
So what happened? You're gonna have to go a little faster. What happened?
Caller
They kicked me out, man. They took me out. I.
Ryan Lemon
They kicked you out of the game for standing? Well, did you curse at, did you curse at anyone?
Caller
I did not curse at anyone. No, I didn't. They did say I was threatening, though. That's the funniest thing. They were like, you were threatening and you did not apologize? That's exactly what they told me while they kicked me out.
Ryan Lemon
Well, you can't. Well, that we don't have jurisdiction over Washington, but I'm sorry that happened to you. I appreciate the call. When you're on the road, you're going to get less of a leeway than at home in terms of standing in that stuff. So I, I understand. I mean, they shouldn't have done that. But you're going to get more hassle on the road. The question is, are our fans here going to get hassle? And like I said, we'll find out at the Brown game.
Drew Franklin
He's actually pretty good. We got a little bit about a two week break between rep games. Section 15 needs to cool off a little bit. They need to not see each other for a while because I worried if they'd played again four days later, you might have those groups button heads again.
Ryan Lemon
And also remember the first SEC game is Florida at 11am yes. You picked a loss in that game, Ryan. I'm a little worried about that game. Florida's undefeated, but Also, you know, 11:00am We've never played that I know of at 11:00am For a home game ever. Do you think our, do you think our crowd for that game will get there in time and we'll make that the atmosphere it needs to be.
Matt Jones
This is going to be the challenge for the fan base. Yeah. Because the students aren't back yet. Right. So the, for the fans are.
Ryan Lemon
The students will not be back.
Matt Jones
I don't think they're back yet for that game.
Ryan Lemon
Okay.
Matt Jones
I may be wrong about that, but I don't think they're back yet. So it's a challenge. Be a challenge for our fan base. Okay. You've showed up for every game. You're gonna show up for an 11:00 sec opener game.
Ryan Lemon
Not just showed up like you need to be loud because I mean that's going to be. If you look at the rankings, that's like our third or fourth hardest game in the season is that game.
Drew Franklin
It really is their top team. Outside of blowing a big lead against North Carolina, they still won the game in the four or five games for that. They are just absolutely drilling teams. I mean, they're beating teams by 30.
Ryan Lemon
And they have size, which they're not as fizz. They're not physical like some of the teams, but they have size. Like, you know, they, I, I still don't understand why we're playing that game at 11:00am but the game is at 11:00am we're going to have to be ready to play.
Drew Franklin
No kidding. I mean, Pope's pretty good at bringing juice and energy at all times. But we've seen slow starts in the Duke game, the Gonzaga game, the Clemson game. Kentucky will need to come out of the Gator. Florida really take advantage of this.
Ryan Lemon
We all talk about the halftime adjustments. Are you at all worried about the. That the first halves haven't been great in a lot of these big games? I mean, going back, bad first half against Duke, bad first half against Gonzaga, bad first half against Clemson, bad first half against Louisville. Like, does that bother you at all?
Drew Franklin
It's a little concerning that against Duke and Gonzaga, the two elite teams. I mean, we can all agree. Matt, you're even getting criticized for first half tweets. But minutes into that game, everyone thought, my goodness, it doesn't look like we belong on the floor with this team. Now, to their credit, obviously they made adjustments and went on to win. But they got to start starting off.
Ryan Lemon
A little bit better.
Drew Franklin
Better in these games and not have to rely on a second half comeback.
Matt Jones
You know, good coaches, Mark few guy Duke, I mean, they're good coaches, man, they were ready for this Kentucky team coming in to play him.
Ryan Lemon
Who's up next?
Shannon the Dude
Doug.
Ryan Lemon
Doug. Go ahead, Doug.
Doug
Hey guys, it's Doug out in Spokane talking about that North Dakota, Alabama game you guys were talking about yesterday. My son actually goes to the University of North Dakota and that game was kind of a big deal around there. They were all talking about it, but obviously they're not a basketball school. They are a hockey school. They are UK of the hockey world. They are eight time national champions out there. But that game was a, was a big deal around campus. He actually got to go to that game.
Ryan Lemon
Well, of course it was. I mean, you get a, you get an essay team coming to your small school like that. I would think it would be a lot of fun for them. I'm sure that was amazing. Yeah. Well, I appreciate the comments. Go ahead.
Doug
Just one thing. At the, at the Gonzaga game, I was there and I think you just got to be aware of what's going on around you. Kind of like the situation with Larry. You know, there were two girls sitting behind me at that game. Even if they had stood, if I was standing, they weren't seeing over me. So I, I stood out the aisle some. I sat down some just, just to kind of, you know, I knew they weren't going to be able to see. So just to be a little courteous.
Ryan Lemon
Yeah, no, I understand. I appreciate the call. I mean, I do think courtesy is part of it. Now. In that other game, they had the guy flipping him off. He didn't look necessarily to be the most courteous person himself.
Matt Jones
So I asked you during the commercial break, do you think people will stand at the Brown game just out of spite?
Ryan Lemon
Yes, there will be. People do it. Yeah. I mean that's, that's, that's our, you know, that's our society in some ways now as people. I think people do stuff sometimes now just to get the reaction. They're not even. It's not because they really want to do it. They want to make the other person mad. And I, you know, I hope that doesn't happen, but we'll see. Stop over paying for sunglasses. Check out Shady Rays, an independent American owned company right here in Kentucky. Whether you need shades for running, fishing, biking, golfing. Shady Rays is the best offers the best protection program and the best sunglasses. Over 300,000. Five star reviews. One in Lexington, one in Louisville. Shadyrays.com if you're looking for a gift this weekend, right before Christmas, a stocking stuffer, try our good friends at Shady Rays. We'll take a break, be right back here at KS Bar with a ton of Kentucky fans. Let everybody hear from you out here. There you go. We'll be right back. It's Kentucky Sports Radio.
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Congratulations to Easterseals Southern California on their first place win for innovation in customer service at this year's unconventional awards by T Mobile for business. Easterseals has used T Mobile 5G to create immersive VR development tools that aid people with autism in addressing transportation barriers. These tools are shaping the way safe and personalized skill building is delivered. And for that, T mobile congratulates Easterseals Southern California for their unconventional thinking.
Ryan Lemon
Welcome back. It is Kentucky sports Radio here live at the KS Bar and Grill. 859-280-2287. One person writes on the text machine. 772-774-5254. Ryan was very quick to throw Mario under the bus. I don't think you would have done that to anyone except Ryan. Does everyone pick on Ryan because he picks on everyone else?
Matt Jones
No.
Ryan Lemon
I don't know. Sounds like it.
Matt Jones
It was just, you know, we were about, our battery's about to die. I needed to.
Ryan Lemon
I understand. But the, but the. Immediately it was Mario.
Matt Jones
Well, you, you said I put the equipment together and I, I didn't.
Drew Franklin
Today just showed some character.
Ryan Lemon
Showed some character. Comes out in stressful moments. We know that. Speaking the truth, we know that. 859-280-2287. By the way, the, the get in price for the Florida game right now, it's pretty expensive. So that may suggest that Even though it's 11 o'clock, a lot of people are really, a lot of people are going to be there.
Drew Franklin
Mark Pope's first SEC game. I'm not surprised that one will be rowdy. You can put it at 9am and I think it'd be the exact same experience.
Ryan Lemon
Yeah, I think that would. Yeah. No, exactly right.
Drew Franklin
One person fired up.
Ryan Lemon
One person writes, matt, you shouldn't give Luigi airtime if you don't want him to be popular. Yeah, I'm the one that's giving him airtime. He wasn't on every news show in the country and every social media. It is it us that is give. No, I mean it is the story. But you didn't have to give him that moment of glory.
Drew Franklin
When I put my phone down last night, I actually thought, I can't look at another picture of this guy because it was Instagram, Twitter, Tick tock tv. It was on every screen I own.
Matt Jones
The guy's a murderer. He murdered somebody's husband, somebody's dad.
Ryan Lemon
Yes.
Matt Jones
Shouldn't celebrate.
Ryan Lemon
One person writes, matt, do you ever think the Mayor of New York looks a little bit like Pat Adams. It's actually not a bad. They're both last name Adams.
Matt Jones
I didn't thought about that. But now that he says that.
Ryan Lemon
Now that you say that, you can see there's a year's a little bit. I can see that. Pat Adams, by the way, had another big controversial game the other night. He stopped the game, made a speech. It was exactly like the Kentucky Louisville game. I'm starting to wonder if Pat Adams is going to get the become like Teddy Valentine and like Higgins, he becomes the America's least favorite official.
Drew Franklin
Pat's got a brand. I'm glad he's staying connected, consistent with it. So, Ryan, you could learn from that. But I mean, that's. That's what Pat does.
Ryan Lemon
One of our listeners just brought us this. They call it, I guess, Christmas crack, which is like the little Chex mix with. With sugar on it, which made me think I saw they're putting a donut place right over here next door. Drew, we're gonna. You and I are gonna. You and I are both addicted to donuts. We're gonna have to make a pact to make it to where we don't eat there every day or you and I will both get fat. Like you're gonna. We. We have to watch with each other that it's going right over there next to first watch.
Drew Franklin
I'm very good at. When I go to the grocery, I don't buy unhealthy things. Once they're in the house, they don't last a second. I also don't seek out donuts in town. I don't go across town to find one of the many great donut places in Lexington. I'm good at avoiding it, but when it's near me, in front of me.
Ryan Lemon
I mean, it's right there. It's called Jeff's. They have that in Louisville. And for people who listen in Louisville, you know, it's really, really good. And it's going in right there.
Drew Franklin
Five or six mornings a week. We're in this. In this building.
Ryan Lemon
We have to watch out for each other. Yeah. Who's up next?
Shannon the Dude
Kentucky Joe.
Ryan Lemon
Kentucky Joe. All right. Merry Christmas, Kentucky Joe. How are you? Yes. I'm gonna say Merry Christmas to y'all. Thank you. So I got a couple comments. I think they li thing it's a sad story. It's like you say it's state of the fairs today. It's craziness. All right, but what's your other comment? Well, my other comment is, is that Probably. Probably. I mean, I imagine that guy was standing. Standing in front of me. I. I would have. I would have sang, thanked him and had Stone Cold Will dancing same time I sang. I don't know what that means.
Shannon the Dude
At the game, you're talking about. Somebody was standing in front of him. He was.
Ryan Lemon
Yeah, I'm talking about the game. Okay.
Shannon the Dude
That make me want to leave.
Ryan Lemon
It would make me want to leave. Joe, Merry Christmas. Okay. Merry Christmas. Yeah. Yeah. And Happy New Year, y'all. Happy New Year. One person writes in Drew, I'll let you answer this. Mark Pope, John Caliperi. Over the next three years now, having seen both of them in their new things, who goes farther in the tournament over the next three years combined, Pope or Cal Perry?
Drew Franklin
Pope. I don't even think Cal's got three years in Fayetteville. Just watching from.
Ryan Lemon
Really? You think he just will do like a year or two?
Drew Franklin
We'll see how it goes.
Ryan Lemon
I mean, he's got a good recruiting class coming.
Drew Franklin
He does. It's also Fayetteville, Arkansas. I don't know how much. The man's got the tank there. So I'll go Pope.
Matt Jones
Since Cal has not been to the second round of the NCAA tournament since, what, 2019, I'm going pope with the second round.
Ryan Lemon
Once we were lost to Kansas State that year in Greensboro.
Matt Jones
That's right. Second weekend, I meant to say. Yeah, the second weekend since 2019. I'm going pope.
Ryan Lemon
Yeah, I'm going to say Pope. I probably would have said Cal before this season started, even though I still thought it was the right decision to make a move. But I think. I mean, just look at this year. Do you see. I mean, do you see that Arkansas team? How do you think they're going to handle SEC play? You think. You think the Arkansas team goes above 500 in the SEC?
Drew Franklin
I don't know their exact schedule. They're getting a little better now that Ada is healthy. I mean, they had games to their credit. They'd win them. But kind of like Kentucky had problems, they'd go down really early, and you'd think, man, they just don't have it this year. But then they get.
Ryan Lemon
So what do you think they do in the sec? I mean, look, the schedule. There's some easier than others, but they're going to be playing everybody.
Drew Franklin
Good, too. I'll say they're over 500.
Ryan Lemon
All right, so let's say you think they go 10 and 8.
Drew Franklin
Actually, you know what? I'm going 9 and 9, 500 even. And they're on the bubble.
Ryan Lemon
See, I think they're 500 as well. By the way, I think any team that goes 500 in the SEC this year is in the NCAA tournament. Yes, any team that goes 500 is in. And maybe even if you go like 8 and 10, depending on what your non conference was, this is if I'm an SEC school that's not Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky teams going for the title, my goal as a coach would be go 500 because now because the non conference, how all these teams have wins. I genuinely think any team that goes 500 Ryan, is in the NCAA.
Matt Jones
And that's what we're talking about. Arkansas, they may beat an Auburn team, but then they'll lose.
Ryan Lemon
They'll Arkansas could go 500 and be like an 8 or 9 seed in the tournament.
Drew Franklin
Ken Palm has them going 8 and 10 with the antics.
Ryan Lemon
So we'll take a break.
KSR Podcast Episode Summary: "Hour 1" (December 20, 2024)
Hosted by Matt Jones and the KSR crew from iHeartPodcasts and Sports Talk 790 (WKRD-AM), this episode of Kentucky Sports Radio (KSR) delves into a variety of sports-related topics, including weather impacts on upcoming games, in-depth analysis of the UK basketball team, fan behavior controversies, and listener interactions. Below is a comprehensive summary capturing all key discussions, insights, and notable quotes.
The episode begins with Matt Jones and Ryan Lemon discussing the severe weather conditions expected to affect several sports events. Snow is forecasted for playoff games scheduled for the evening and the following day, creating potential chaos and challenges for teams and fans alike.
The hosts highlight specific games impacted by the weather, such as the Seattle Seahawks versus the Chicago Bears and the Indiana vs. Notre Dame matchup in South Bend. They discuss high ticket prices despite the inclement weather and the unprecedented attempt to host a college game day amid snowfall.
A significant portion of the discussion centers around the University of Kentucky (UK) basketball team's performance under Coach Mark Pope. The hosts analyze the team's ability to outperform expectations despite not having returning players, attributing this success to effective coaching and a positive team environment.
They reference a listener's analysis that highlights Kentucky's success compared to other top teams with significant roster turnover, emphasizing that Kentucky has "outperformed expectations per player more than any other team in the top 75."
A heated topic discussed is the controversy surrounding fan behavior at games, specifically whether fans should sit or stand during the events. This debate gained traction after Coach Mark Pope's comments, which were perceived as evasive.
Listeners shared their experiences and frustrations, with some expressing discomfort when fans stand in front of them, obstructing their view and causing inconvenience. The hosts explore the balance between fan enthusiasm and courtesy, debating the best approach to ensure an enjoyable experience for all attendees.
The episode features several listener calls and text messages, providing personal anecdotes and opinions on various topics:
These interactions underscore the community-driven nature of the podcast, allowing listeners to voice their concerns and share their stories.
The hosts briefly touch upon a local news story involving Luigi, where the handling of his extradition and public portrayal raises questions about law enforcement and media practices.
The conversation critiques the over-the-top media portrayal of Luigi, comparing it to fictional villain depictions and questioning the role of public officials in such narratives.
Throughout the episode, various promotions for local businesses and sponsors are mentioned, including shout-outs to DSW for holiday shoe deals, T-Mobile for its 5G offers, and Country Road Spirits for contest sponsorships.
These segments provide listeners with information on local deals and events, integrating community support into the show.
Towards the end of the episode, the hosts compare the coaching trajectories of Mark Pope (UK) and John Caliperi (presumably from another program or team), predicting future tournament success.
The discussion reflects confidence in Coach Pope's leadership and the potential success of the UK basketball team in upcoming NCAA tournaments, while expressing skepticism about Coach Caliperi's future achievements.
The December 20th episode of KSR's Hour 1 provides an engaging mix of sports analysis, particularly focusing on the UK basketball team's impressive performance, while addressing ongoing fan behavior debates influenced by Coach Mark Pope's remarks. Through listener interactions and community stories, the podcast emphasizes the importance of respectful and enthusiastic support at sporting events. Additionally, off-topic discussions and holiday promotions add depth and local flavor to the episode, making it a comprehensive listen for sports enthusiasts and community members alike.