2025-03-25- KSR - Hour 1

Summary

Podcast Summary: KSR - Hour 1 (March 25, 2025)

Host: Matt Jones
Guests: Shannon "The Dude," Drew Franklin, Ryan Lemond
Release Date: March 25, 2025
Duration: Approximately 41 minutes

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1. Recent Experiences and Fan Engagement

Matt Jones shares a heartwarming story about receiving a generous gesture from a listener named Jeff. After a show in Merrillville, Indiana, Jeff drove all the way from Chicago to deliver donuts and coffee to the KSR crew. This unexpected visit not only provided delicious treats but also reinforced the strong bond between the crew and their listeners.

Matt Jones [02:32]: "I would have hated if he had all these donuts and couldn't use them. But still, it was very, very nice."

Drew Franklin adds to the story, highlighting Jeff's dedication to supporting the show.

Drew Franklin [02:18]: "He drove from Chicago to say hello and bring donuts. Perfect timing. Really appreciate him doing that."

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2. Ticket Market and Fan Attendance

The hosts discuss the current state of the ticket market for upcoming Sweet 16 games, noting the exorbitant prices being charged by resellers. They express hope that prices will stabilize as demand fluctuates.

Matt Jones [03:59]: "But I do expect Indianapolis… I know at least one group of people that are going to Indianapolis, not even to go to the game. They just want to be there for the environment pre and post-game."

Ryan Lemond comments on the pricing dynamics, suggesting that some resellers exploit the high demand.

Ryan Lemond [04:16]: "Amount of people going… they're trying to make a buck because… the prices people are charging are insane."

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3. Fan Culture and Engagement

The conversation shifts to the evolving fan culture in Lexington. Matt reminisces about the vibrant and unique fan activities of the past, such as the "John Wall dance" and "Enos T-shirts," contrasting them with the current obsession with Weetabix cereal.

Matt Jones [05:25]: "There’s a sense of joy and excitement… We haven't had this since 2019…"

He further explores the recent surge in Weetabix sales, highlighting how it has become a popular item among fans, even becoming the number one selling cereal in the U.S. on Amazon.

Matt Jones [07:02]: "Weetabix was the number one selling cereal in the United States on Amazon."

Drew Franklin reflects on the community's enthusiasm and the return of fan engagement.

Drew Franklin [08:03]: "There are folks who have mailed it to the bar, so I assume we'll have it later in the week."

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4. Upcoming Sweet 16 Game vs. Tennessee

A significant portion of the discussion centers around the upcoming Sweet 16 matchup against Tennessee, a major rival. The hosts delve into the historical context of the rivalry, the pressures on Tennessee, and the high stakes involved.

Matt Jones [09:42]: "This is against arguably your second biggest rival. Right, Tennessee is probably second to Louisville."

They analyze the implications of a win or loss for both teams, emphasizing the potential end of Coach Rick Barnes' era should Tennessee fail to reach the Final Four.

Matt Jones [11:30]: "If Rick Barnes leaves without a Final Four, that era is over."

Ryan Lemond adds perspective on the emotional investment fans have in the team's performance.

Ryan Lemond [12:07]: "This is also a beloved team with a lot of guys who have been there a long time… this is their last ride."

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5. Coaching and Team Performance

The hosts discuss Coach Mark Pope's impact on the team, praising his ability to rejuvenate the squad and instill a sense of excitement among fans.

Matt Jones [19:57]: "Pope has done an amazing job for a handful of people…"

They also touch upon the team's defensive improvements, particularly in their game against Illinois, attributing the success to strategic coaching and player hustle.

Drew Franklin [30:14]: "It's actually the difference for us… we're not scared of athletes because we played against them all year."

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6. SEC Teams' Athleticism and Kentucky's Defense

A discussion ensues about the overall athleticism of SEC teams and how Kentucky's team leverages this against their opponents. The hosts highlight Kentucky's defensive strategies, such as the "Paja Cut," which have been pivotal in their recent victories.

Matt Jones [31:12]: "They shut down every single option they're switching. It is beautiful to watch."

Ryan Lemond commends the players' adaptability and the influence of Coach Pope's strategies.

Ryan Lemond [31:38]: "That team defense was something we had never seen before."

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7. Listener Interactions

The podcast features interactions with listeners, including Devin, Jay and Lyndon, and Joe Bob, who share their support and perspectives on the team's performance and the tournament.

Jay and Lyndon [29:05]: "The SEC has been so good in the tournament because we've always had the best athleticism…"

Joe Bob expresses his unwavering support for Kentucky, likening Danny Hurley to a historically disliked coach.

Joe Bob [42:11]: "Danny Hurley is terrible… I never thought I'd reach a point that somebody was more dislikable than Bobby Knight was."

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8. Media Interaction and Danny Hurley Discussion

A heated debate arises around Coach Danny Hurley, focusing on his interactions with the media and controversial behavior. The hosts criticize Hurley's actions and discuss the NCAA's response to media reporting on his behavior.

Matt Jones [39:32]: "Danny Hurley clearly wants to be this dude… he's the heel. He wants to be the bad guy."

Ryan Lemond shares personal experiences with NCAA threats to delete content, highlighting perceived hypocrisy in their actions.

Ryan Lemond [38:58]: "I was on my computer in Indianapolis… I pulled up my Twitter… delete that. I'm not deleting that."

Drew Franklin criticizes the NCAA for attempting to control media narratives.

Drew Franklin [40:15]: "It reflects that arrogant, egotistical attitude that the NCAA or UConn have…"

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9. Conclusion

The hosts wrap up the episode by reinforcing the renewed excitement among fans and the significance of the upcoming Sweet 16 game. They encourage listeners to stay engaged and continue supporting the team.

Matt Jones [22:49]: "The nervous feeling… it's nice to feel that fan alive again."

They also touch upon the emotional resilience of the fan base, contrasting past indifference with current enthusiasm.

Matt Jones [22:32]: "Being nervous is like being alive, but being indifferent and not caring is worse."

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Matt Jones [07:02]: "Weetabix was the number one selling cereal in the United States on Amazon."

• Matt Jones [09:42]: "This is against arguably your second biggest rival. Right, Tennessee is probably second to Louisville."

• Ryan Lemond [12:07]: "This is also a beloved team with a lot of guys who have been there a long time… this is their last ride."

• Matt Jones [19:57]: "Pope has done an amazing job for a handful of people…"

• Matt Jones [31:12]: "They shut down every single option they're switching. It is beautiful to watch."

• Joe Bob [42:11]: "Danny Hurley is terrible… I never thought I'd reach a point that somebody was more dislikable than Bobby Knight was."

• Matt Jones [39:32]: "Danny Hurley clearly wants to be this dude… he's the heel. He wants to be the bad guy."

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Conclusion

This episode of KSR delves deep into the current state of Kentucky sports, highlighting the renewed excitement among fans, the strategic prowess of the team, and the passionate discussions surrounding coaching and media interactions. The hosts provide insightful analysis, engage with listener feedback, and maintain a dynamic conversation that captures the essence of Kentucky's sports culture.

Transcript

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[Matt Jones]

Comedy Up Broadway in Lexington welcomes Mike Armstrong March 27th through the 29th. Then it's the Lexington debut of Lori Kilmartin April 3rd through the 5th and catch rising comedy star Sam Tallente April 11th and 12th. Comedy Off Broadway opened in downtown Lexington in 1987 and they're still bringing the best and stand up comedy to the area 38 years later. Call 859-271-joke or visit comedyoffbroadway.com comedy off.

[Shannon The Dude]

This is Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now here's Matt Jones.

[Matt Jones]

Welcome everyone. It is KENTUCKY Sports Radio, Tuesday, March 25th. I'm Matt Jones here at the KS Bar and Grill where we haven't been a lot over the last couple weeks, but we are here today and Thursday getting ready for the sweet 16. You can give a shout out Clark's Pump and Shop phone line 859-280-2287. A Vision Auto Glass text machine is 772-774-5254. In this edition sponsored by the TJ Smith Lavas. If you call TJ, he'll make them pay. Ryan we're here at KS Bar. We open at 11. Got some folks already here this morning watching the show you brought in. This is Stan's Donuts and Coffee, which is from Chicago. Yesterday when we were in Merrillville, Indiana, not as Ryan said, Maryville Marvel, which was not how you pronounce it. As we were leaving, a guy pulled in. He had driven from Chicago to say hello and to bring donuts and he almost missed us. We were just about to pull out. He pulled in. He was actually a guy who when I did my show at Chicago Bears game this year, he came so really nice guy, I believe his name is Jeff and he brought us these donuts and you brought the leftovers today. But how nice was that Yesterday he.

[Drew Franklin]

Said he went to four different hotels trying to find us there in Maryville and he Found us as we were backing out of the parking lot. Perfect timing. Really appreciate him doing that.

[Matt Jones]

That was very, very nice. I would have hated. He had all these donuts if he had just like couldn't use them. But that still.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, we were moving. I saw him on the other side of the parking lot. Like, that guy has a UK hat on. Maybe we should stop.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

Good to see Jeff and I had about 4 of those for breakfast.

[Matt Jones]

So, yeah, that was nice. And we got back last night around, you know, 6, 6:30 of after what was really a great trip. I mean, I think, you know, I didn't know what to expect there in Milwaukee. I was thinking about this last night. I kind of thought they were going to lose Sunday. Just. I don't know, I just kind of thought that was going to happen. And then to get the win. It was weird because it's. It was a Kentucky trip with, you know, some Kentucky fans, but not the amount that we're kind of used to. And yet then you get back to Lexington and I do feel like there's like definitely a sense of kind of joy and excitement. We haven't had this since 2019 of being able to go into a week for the second weekend of the tournament.

[Drew Franklin]

And I, I suspect you guys will probably agree that they'll flood Indianapolis this weekend. You know, I would think so. They flooded Nashville. There weren't as many there as we usually see in Milwaukee. But they'll flood Indianapolis this week.

[Matt Jones]

I know a lot of people going, including people who don't go often. I mean, I told you, like my mom wants to go and, you know, we're going to start the process today of trying to figure out how we're going to get my mom tickets, you know, because it's the, the ticket market's weird right now because there's a ton of tickets. But they're like the prices people are charging. Insane prices.

[Drew Franklin]

Sure.

[Matt Jones]

Now I'm sure that's going to come down, Drew, don't you think. Don't you think there's a little bit of people going. All these idiot Kentucky and Purdue and Tennessee fans. You got to think it's going to come down a little bit.

[Ryan Lemond]

Might have some people that bought it thinking their team could be there now. They're trying to make a buck because.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, maybe an Illinois fan. Yeah, yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

I mean, they're steep and then a lot of it throw the fees on top of it and it's a, it's a hard get in price right now.

[Matt Jones]

But I do expect Indian. I mean, I know at least one group of people that are going to Indianapolis, not even to go to the game. They're like, I just want to be there for the environment pre and post game. I will say Indianapolis on Friday night, if we were to beat Tennessee, might be one of the great Kentucky celebrations of all time. Because it was like that when we beat Louisville that night. If you remember, that Friday night in Louisville, in Indianapolis was. It was basically a Kentucky block party for blocks in Indianapolis. Maybe that would happen again.

[Drew Franklin]

I wondered if some fans would go up like they do in Nashville, just to be a part of it, just soak up the environment, watch the game at Tin Roof or something indie, and then just be a part of the celebration party after the win.

[Matt Jones]

Still get hotels. I mean, the good thing about Indianapolis is because they host so many big events there, there's a lot of hotels. So while I think the tickets are going to be hard to get, I actually don't know that the hotels will be. Now. I do feel like the city is a buzz, you know, and I sort of measure that in two ways. One is the. When you go out on the Monday night after the game, how many just people in Kentucky shirts do you see?

[Drew Franklin]

Yes.

[Matt Jones]

And the answer was a lot. I mean, just look in here. Every. Almost everybody has something Kentucky on right now. Okay. I was about to say you were the one that didn't. And you have one on under it, too. It's like, you know, there's an excitement just to wear Kentucky gear. And then the second is, it feels old school to me how much we're into this stupid cereal. This Weetabix thing. No, I mean, I really do. Like. Okay, so when you. When I think of the early cow years, everything, like, there were always fun things happening, right? You had the John Wall dance. Okay. You had the free Enos T shirts, right? Then the next year you had unibrow stuff. Then the next year it was the Nerlens Noel, the box cut. People would wear them on their head, right? And then it was, the twins are coming. And so then people would do things as twins. And there was. And then there was the platoon. And everybody would wear the blue shirt and the white shirt. And there were all these things that happened that sort of were uniquely Kentucky fans and how we reacted to something and made it a thing. You know what I mean?

[Drew Franklin]

Oh, yes.

[Matt Jones]

And now we're. Now we haven't had that in a long time. We're doing this with this stupid dry cereal from England. So you can't get it in Lexington. Apparently there were more places that sold it than I realized. Like Publix. Yeah, the Irish place. Which I was told you butchered the pronunciation.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, we. On the whim. I didn't know what it was.

[Matt Jones]

What is it?

[Ryan Lemond]

I don't.

[Matt Jones]

I think we still don't know what it is.

[Ryan Lemond]

We're efforting, but.

[Matt Jones]

But they're out of it. They're getting it Thursday. But then, most amazingly to me, last night, Weetabix was the number one selling cereal in the United States on Amazon.

[Drew Franklin]

What does that tell you?

[Matt Jones]

In the United States. Not in Lexington. In the United States. Which means hundreds, if not thousands of people have gone online and bought this. I would love to know what the company thinks. Like, the company has to be going, what is going on?

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, they had a staff meeting this morning. They're like, for some reason, our numbers are up in the United States and they're really up in Kentucky.

[Matt Jones]

And how have they not called him? Like, how's he already not doing a commercial for them this week?

[Ryan Lemond]

I don't know.

[Matt Jones]

Their.

[Ryan Lemond]

Their last tweet was like, six days ago. I would have been all over this. I would have been playing up to Kentucky. I would have tried to create Weetabix addictions around here. So it doesn't last longer than a week. Just keep selling those boxes.

[Matt Jones]

So I thought we might have some here today.

[Drew Franklin]

I did, actually, and.

[Matt Jones]

And there's not. I know there are some people who have mailed it to the bar, so I assume we'll have it later in the week. I. I thought someone would have it. I was probably a little spoiled. I thought we were going to get here and someone was going to have it and I was going to try it because I'm all in on this. But the reason I'm all in on it, Ryan, is it feels like a throwback to those fun days where we in KSR was part of this, but it was the fan base as a whole just took some little thing and obsessed on showcase our craziness. It feels like this is like that too.

[Drew Franklin]

Is it just because we feel like we. We. We got our team back the last four or five years. We kind of feel disconnected, but it's.

[Matt Jones]

But I just think it's. There's a fun part. I mean, there's like a this. When we lose, there are times you can sit there and go, why do we do this to ourselves? Like, this is not. This is. And it's for fun, and this is fun. I. I was. With the exception of some moments with Reed Rob and Antonio. And then a little bit of how Oscar kind of had moments where he sort of captured the fan base. I just don't feel like we've had a lot of fun since COVID and I was reminded of that with all this, how much fun it can be.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, I think we're getting a little more of their personalities too. They're a little enclosed there late in the Cal area. I think part of that he didn't love the media. But I'm thinking even Back to the 2015 team, do you remember they would stay up and play Nintendo 64 in the hotel room and Super Smash Brothers became a big thing.

[Matt Jones]

Super Smash Brothers.

[Ryan Lemond]

I think we made like 50 KSR posts out of Super Smash Brothers people playing at home. It's like Kentucky fans latch on to whatever the players are doing or eating or wearing and it makes them even more a part of it.

[Matt Jones]

And now you get Tennessee this week. Right. I mean this is not just a Sweet 16 game. This is against arguably your second biggest rival. Right. I mean this is, I think if you're, if you're ranking rivalries, I think Tennessee is probably second to Louisville. We have never played them in the tournament.

[Drew Franklin]

You heard Tom Leeds say that this morning. Never played them.

[Matt Jones]

Never played them in the tournament. Beating them twice in the year. I remember in 2014 saying about that game against Louisville, this will be an all timer of a game, meaning the loser of this, it will stick with their fan base for a long time because we had won in 2012, they had won in 2013. It was kind of a tiebreaker. I think if I'm a Tennessee fan, if I were to lose with this team, with potentially Rick Barnes retired.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

And it be the third time I lost to him in a row this year, that would be an all timer drew for them. I'm not sure if it's an all timer for us. I kind of don't think it is. But I do think it is for them.

[Ryan Lemond]

Definitely. I think Kentucky's even won five of the last six, four in a row. Several in a row at their place. This is the first time they're meeting in the tournament and they want so bad to shut us up about you all. Never make a final four. When I went to Knoxville, I took a picture of their banners because it says like nit appearances. You know, they want to be able to shut us up on that and get to a final Four. They call Rick regular season Rick. And if that could fall apart with Kentucky beating them yet again for a fifth time in A row. I mean, that would be hard to come back from in the rivalry.

[Matt Jones]

I think if you're a Tennessee fan, this week is almost like it was for Kentucky when we played Louisville in New Orleans. Whereas I, where I thought Louisville had nothing to lose in that Final Four game and we had everything to lose in that game where we were supposed to win the title. They didn't even think they'd be there. I think there's a little bit of that for Tennessee this week.

[Drew Franklin]

I did, too.

[Matt Jones]

Right. If Rick Barnes leaves without a Final Four, that era is over. Now. Maybe you get a coach that does it again, but maybe you don't. Right. Still don't have a Final Four lose to Kentucky. Now if you were to win, though, and beat Kentucky and then go to your first Final Four, you're talking about a legendary year for Tennessee. So I actually think there's a lot on the line for the balls this weekend.

[Drew Franklin]

I agree with you. I think all the pressures on them is with this. Then the Rick Barnes story definitely is a factor in it. I think the fact, you know, that their two best players, Linear and Ziggler, have played so poorly against us in their first two games, I think they're going to feel that pressure that they got to step up and do something.

[Ryan Lemond]

This is also a beloved team with a lot of guys have been there a long time and this is their last ride.

[Matt Jones]

I mean, Ziggler is this year nine, I believe so.

[Ryan Lemond]

I actually spoke to my dad last night about the game and he mentioned, like, Rick Barnes feels like he raised half this team because somehow he. They didn't go portaling. I mean, most of them started as freshmen and are now seniors and this is their last ride and Kentucky could put the end to it.

[Matt Jones]

All the more reason we should beat them. I think it would be so glorious to look at their little sad faces when they walk out in their orange and to be able to basically say, okay, it was nice of you to try to be a basketball school, but you're not, and that's okay. You. You're. They're good at a lot of other sports. They won. I think they won the baseball last and then they went to the playoffs. So they're. They're good. But you know what? You're not. You're not Ryan, us in basketball. It would be nice to be able to say that especially this is the year.

[Drew Franklin]

They were pounding their chest in basketball there for a while. Number one team in the country. Everybody thought they were a Final Four bound and then they just kind of stumbled a little bit. So, yeah, they had football, baseball, and they thought basketball was going to join them this year.

[Matt Jones]

I was on a Vegas gambling show last night and they were talking as if like, the Vegas world is shocked that Kentucky's the underdog. They're like, how can you beat this team twice and you be the underdog? I do feel like, Drew, we are still the underdog. I mean, there's a part of me that wonders, especially that game in Knoxville, how in the world did we win that game? I mean, like, even going back and looking at the box score, how did we win that game in Knoxville? It's hard for me to picture.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, I mean, remember, that's the game they shot a million threes and just kept bricking them. That's how we actually won. But Kentucky won before that as an underdog in Nashville or Knoxville and before that as an underdog in Knoxville. Three years, the underdog spot has been good to Kentucky in this series.

[Matt Jones]

Well, I'm looking forward to it, but it's also nice to have this sort of fan base happiness back. Oh, yes, it's a lot. It's a lot of fun. And these guys, I mean, they are, in my opinion, they're already going to be a beloved team, but they're like one win away from getting into, like, really beloved status. If you can knock Tennessee out of the sweet 16 with this, you know, group of vagabonds, as I've said, that would be, you know, that would be one I think people remember and put. Put in. In the books.

[Ryan Lemond]

What would you have thought if, when we were sitting there in Rupp last April, if someone said you're going to beat Tennessee to go to the Elite Eight? We wouldn't have even thought what if.

[Matt Jones]

What if you tell me you're going to have one player that everybody thinks is going to be really good and then he's going to get hurt and then you're going to go to the sweet 16. You just, you wouldn't.

[Ryan Lemond]

With Trent Noah making play tournament who wasn't even had an offer at that point last. Last year.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, if somebody had said that we would call somebody sweet moun angel baby on the team, I don't think. Well, I haven't called them that, but other people have. 859-280-2287. Text machine is 772-774-5254. We will take a break. Come back here at KS Bars, Kentucky Sports Radio.

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[Matt Jones]

Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio Metallica. Is that right?

[Shannon The Dude]

That's right.

[Matt Jones]

I don't know the song, but I could just tell by the voice.

[Shannon The Dude]

You called him Vagabonds. He says it's the only song I could think that had Vagabond in it.

[Matt Jones]

No, there's one more. There's a very famous one that. That has Vagabond.

[Shannon The Dude]

What is it?

[Matt Jones]

Well, I don't want to tell you. I want to see if you can figure it out. You're good at this stuff. There's a famous one. Like, it's. It was that. That's actually how I learned the word is from a song.

[Shannon The Dude]

Let me think about it. See if you.

[Matt Jones]

See if you can get it. Okay. I'd like to see. If you get mad, somebody will probably tell him and cheat. But there's a. There is a. There's a famous song that has Vagabond in it. Chris says, matt, you thought UK was gonna lose and you didn't stay in the arena for the game. Very weird behavior. Well, I think you have very weird behavior, Chris. I think it's perfectly normal to think you might lose a game. I always hate when people say, oh, you predicted loops. What a. What a stupid prediction. If you just predicted him to win every game, like, why even listen? You'd just be like, well, I guess we're winning because we're playing. I mean, do you think we're gonna go 140 in football? We're going to go 400 in basketball, which hasn't happened since 1975. Yeah. Matt, how could you ever pick them to lose? By the way? I picked him to win on the show. I'm just in the back of my head, thought we were going to lose.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, I don't love picking against them, but I'd say five or six times this season in SEC play, I had to put the graphic up with another team on there.

[Matt Jones]

You're going to lose sometimes. Like. Like, it's part of it and people are. Who could you predict Kentucky to lose? Like, I guess if you're like a wellness guru, you would only think Positivity. But we try to, like, give our actual thoughts.

[Drew Franklin]

We're so. Yeah, we're supposed to act like we kind of know what we're talking about once.

[Matt Jones]

We don't.

[Ryan Lemond]

But, I mean, we get lucky sometimes.

[Matt Jones]

You still get. You get feelings in your gut sometimes. And I. I was pleasantly surprised about my gut this time.

[Drew Franklin]

I. I don't. What's the word?

[Matt Jones]

You forgot what you were gonna say.

[Drew Franklin]

I'll get ready.

[Matt Jones]

Say that sentence right there. Shannon, did you hear that? That little mumble of words. That was like the referee. It was referee. Anyway, Besmirch.

[Drew Franklin]

That's it. I don't besmirch. I don't besmirch you for picking against Kentucky, but it is a little weird that you don't go to the games. I'll admit that.

[Matt Jones]

You've. You've done this with me now for.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

For over a decade.

[Drew Franklin]

I still think it's a little weird. A little weird?

[Shannon The Dude]

It is fully weird.

[Matt Jones]

It's not weird. There. Are everyone listening? Well, not everyone, but most people listening to this have at some point in their room, like, they walk to the other room, Right. You do that. You flip the channel for a minute out of frustration. See, I can't do any of that when I'm at the game. Whereas if. When I'm in the lobby, if I want to walk, I can come back. I can't at the game. You're stuck.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah.

[Shannon The Dude]

It's one thing, though. If you leave, like, in the last five minutes, because it's close. You didn't even. You weren't even there for the tip off. You were gone from the very beginning.

[Matt Jones]

It's interesting, though. I find the beginning of it worse than the end, really, because at the end, like, it's going to go one way or the other, but in the beginning, there's this, like. It's just this waiting. Okay, well, we're down 8. Are we going to come back? Well, they got it back to six. Well, now it's back to eight. You know, like, whereas at the end, there's going to be a resolution one way or the other.

[Drew Franklin]

I get more tense in the end, by far. I mean, even the game the other day gets Illinois. They made the run. You know, I felt myself tighten up a little bit.

[Matt Jones]

Part of it was Drew. I really wanted it for, really everybody, all the fans, but also for Mark Pope, I think when Cal won. While, to me, those are completely different things. And I said that Saturday night and predictably got the. Oh, well, now you say it. Cal beating Arkansas or beating Kansas doesn't have anything to do with Mark Pope. You know, Jeff Goodman, I actually thought said it really well. Cow had a miserable season for two thirds of the year, but then he turned it around and he deserves praise for that. But Pope's had a good year all year. And if we had lost and they won, the fact that I think Pope has done an amazing job for a handful of people would have gotten washed away. I actually don't think that happens this time. If we lose an Arkansas beats Texas Tech, as long as they don't make a final four, I think our. I think most people will just skip over that. But I think if we had lost in the second round, it probably would have mattered to people. And that was why I really wanted them to win.

[Ryan Lemond]

I agree with you. I still didn't have the urge to go sit in a bank lobby.

[Matt Jones]

I'll have pathetic.

[Ryan Lemond]

I'll have your back on one thing. You've done this since I've known you. So it's not like a one off situation with Pope, Cal, this team. I mean you were doing this in 2012, so it's just your thing.

[Matt Jones]

You want to know how much I'd given up on the last few years? I didn't walk out the last few years.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

Like literally I had gotten so resigned to losing against Oakland.

[Ryan Lemond]

You sat next to me the whole game.

[Matt Jones]

Sit there the whole game.

[Ryan Lemond]

I didn't know what to do.

[Matt Jones]

Watched Oakland beat I. The last game. I got nervous before the last game. I walked out before. Troy was St. Peter's three years ago. And I think St. Peter's broke me. And I was like, we're just gonna lose. I really do. I think that that did it for me. And it felt we. It was interesting. Troy was the first time that that feeling came back, that nervousness. Which is a good thing in my opinion.

[Drew Franklin]

I think you said you wanted it so bad for the fan base for this bar, for Mark Pope, everything. You wanted it so bad.

[Matt Jones]

It's not even honestly this time it wasn't for the bar. We have the Sweet 16 coming this weekend, which is you. Which is usually. It was really for these fans and for Mark Pope. I didn't want a summer of phone calls of John Calipari made the second weekend and Mark Pope didn't. And so. But it was nice to have the nervousness back. I'm really only thinking about this right now. I had not walked out of watching a game since St. Peter's wow. Because I think I just thought we're Gonna lose.

[Ryan Lemond]

So you're feeling alive again.

[Matt Jones]

I do feel alive.

[Ryan Lemond]

You're back.

[Matt Jones]

It matters to me again. I actually think to a lot of fans, this is like, oh, yes, it does. A lot of fans that I'm hearing from that are my age between, like, Drew's to a little bit older than me, so let's say 35 to 50. I think for a lot of us, Ryan, we feel alive again about this team. I mean, we're alive about other things in our life. But for this team, it matters again, in a way that I think had kind of been taken from us.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, we had that three or four years of gloom. We were so afraid, I think, or.

[Matt Jones]

Indifferent, which is worse. Right. Being nervous is like being alive, but being indifferent and not caring is worse. And I think a portion of our fan base, especially the older ones, Drew, had become indifferent.

[Ryan Lemond]

Well, I know plenty of people who thought, I'm not gonna get excited and spend money on this team just to have my heart broken again. Before Pope, just looking at the last couple years, some even going all the way back to Wisconsin, just thought, I can't keep doing this and having it in the way it has. And then Pope was the big, great reset on everything, whatever you felt. And it's brought a lot of excitement back.

[Matt Jones]

That nervous feeling that I got Sunday, right where you wake up in the morning, you're a little nervous. You start reading every piece of information you can find.

[Ryan Lemond]

You kind of feel like you're playing like you got stretched.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. And you stretch, you know, and you start. You make sure you eat a good breakfast and all that.

[Shannon The Dude]

Like, eat your Weetabix, eat your weed.

[Drew Franklin]

A Bix.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. That's being, like, alive as a fan. And it had become dead. I remember when we were in Greensboro. We were in Greensboro on the Saturday between games. I'm not going to say what happened, but I wouldn't have been like that before. We were just like.

[Shannon The Dude]

We almost joined the army.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

We sat on those recliners and DoorDash.

[Matt Jones]

Like, four minutes, but I was like, we're going to lose to Kansas State. We're certainly going to lose. It was. It's just nice to feel that fan alive again.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah. Going to the arena, feeling optimistic, like, we're going to win this game, not going to the arena, dreading what could possibly happen.

[Matt Jones]

What do you think? Who do you think? You think we got? We go. Who you think? You know, like, that's. That's. And now we've got that again. And we got a whole week of it. Which should be fun. All right, we're gonna take your calls. 859-280-2287. We're here at the KS Bar and Grill. I'm not weird for getting nervous about the game. True fans understand you sellouts do not. We'll be right back. TJ Smith, personal injury attorney. Call tj. He'll make him pay.

[Shannon The Dude]

Now more of Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Here's Matt Jones.

[Matt Jones]

Great pick. Shannon.

[Shannon The Dude]

Not the one.

[Matt Jones]

Still not the song I was thinking of. Okay. Because this is New York, New York. But that's a great pick.

[Shannon The Dude]

People have been sending me an Elton John song, but I thought of this.

[Matt Jones]

One Elton John song.

[Ryan Lemond]

I was thinking of an Elton Johnson.

[Matt Jones]

There's one more. Wow. You're in the set. You're in the ballpark with Elton John. Okay, but there's one more. Okay, but this is a good one too. I. I forgot that he had this.

[Drew Franklin]

Me too.

[Matt Jones]

But there's another one.

[Shannon The Dude]

They've got me stumped. You stumped.

[Matt Jones]

The boot give you. I'll give you 15 more minutes. Somebody will get it for you. Somebody will help you. You'll get it. There's one more. And it's, it's a, it's, it's famous, but this is a good one too.

[Drew Franklin]

What are vagabond shoes anyway?

[Matt Jones]

So, you know vagabonds, a person who just like, like trolls. Yeah. You travel. He's like a, you know, you can't be stuck in one place. You're. You're a vagabond. And also over the years, it's kind of meant to be, kind of been seen as like a lower class person. So a vagabond shoes would be. These vagabond shoes are leaving today. Like he's wander around, but then. But he's still New York, New York at his, at his heart.

[Drew Franklin]

I thought that was it. When Shannon played, I said, that's the one you're talking about.

[Matt Jones]

Not quite. One person writes text. Machine is full of people agreeing with me.

[Drew Franklin]

Okay.

[Matt Jones]

I'm 36 and I 100% agree with you about feeling alive. One person writes, I got up in the morning and packed and unpacked clothes, which is my game day routine. It's an interesting thing. I hate packing. This person uses packing as their nervousness.

[Ryan Lemond]

Wait, they just packed and unpacked like they're not going anywhere.

[Matt Jones]

They're not going anywhere.

[Ryan Lemond]

Suitcase. All right. Hey, whatever works. I'm not judging anyone.

[Matt Jones]

You think that's weird? That's.

[Drew Franklin]

That's a Little weird.

[Matt Jones]

One person writes, Matt, I remember you and Max talking about how you got in your car and drove around during the St. Peter's game. I challenged the fact that you were nervous. No, that's the point. The fact that I was driving around showed I was nervous. Providence, Kansas State, Oakland. I sat in the arena and watched the whole game because I was dead inside.

[Ryan Lemond]

Weren't we all?

[Matt Jones]

Just watch it because whatever. Who cares?

[Ryan Lemond]

Wasn't there a game? I guess it wasn't a tournament game. But you just drove around New Circle.

[Matt Jones]

I think you've told St. Peter's St. Peter's driver.

[Ryan Lemond]

Because you didn't go. That's right. I was up in India.

[Matt Jones]

I just drove around New Circle and I kept thinking when we get a lead, I was going to pull into KS Bar and celebrate with everybody. And then I pull in and then they would hit a shot and be tied again and I'd pull right back out.

[Ryan Lemond]

Should I be worried that I have the exact same hotel as I did for the St. Peter's trip when I didn't open my suitcase?

[Matt Jones]

That's, that's, that's bad mojo.

[Ryan Lemond]

I think I'm gonna burn a Tata Washington and Doug Editor jersey in the trash can.

[Matt Jones]

All right, so 859-280-2287. I want to talk the portal open. I want to talk about that. But let's go. Who's up first?

[Shannon The Dude]

All right, let's go to Devin.

[Matt Jones]

Devin. Go ahead, Devin.

[Drew Franklin]

Hey, boys. Go Cats.

[Matt Jones]

Go Cats. Oh, yeah. Just calling up here from the snowy.

[Drew Franklin]

Upper Peninsula and just wanted to say.

[Matt Jones]

That, like, I don't know, I think.

[Drew Franklin]

I think the, the divorce has gone pretty well.

[Matt Jones]

What do you guys think? I mean, I think that's fairly. Yes, I appreciate the call the divorce. Three, three schools have all gotten better because of the divorce. And I question whether Arkansas, you know, the tournament. I appreciate the call. The tournament can, can give you false hope and it can also false make you sad. Right. Arkansas did not have a good year, but they got better as the year went on. Whether or not that will work long term, we'll see. But it's worked in this tournament. BYU is certainly for the better because they got this dude that's given all the money and I think we're for the better too. So it might be the rare three.

[Drew Franklin]

Way divorce and they kind of did it three different ways. You know, Cal lost his best player, then lost his second best player in a due, still found a way to do it. We lost half our team for injuries this year and had zero points returning coming back this season, and he was able to do it.

[Ryan Lemond]

And, yeah, I mean, their turnaround has been pretty amazing to watch. But also, Arkansas in the tournament wasn't that bad. They went Elite 8, like, Elite 8 Sweet 16 with Muscleman, so that they didn't have the tournament drought that we had their years down a little bit.

[Matt Jones]

I mean, people are forgetting he's going to have to completely rebuild that roster. Yeah, I mean, he'll probably bring back Billy Richmond maybe, and Carter Knox, but everybody else is going to be gone.

[Ryan Lemond]

It'll be interesting what DJ Wagner does because that's his. That's his boy. But it's clearly not working out the way DJ thought it would work out with his NBA prospects. I wonder if he would give him a third try.

[Matt Jones]

He's got a really good recruiting class. But I kind of. I wonder, like, next year is going to be like his Kentucky team in the sense they're all going to be freshmen.

[Ryan Lemond]

He got the kid with the shovel and the construction vest from the UK visit. That's Thomas. Yeah. It turns out the shovel and the little birthday crown worked out after all.

[Matt Jones]

That's interesting. No, it'll be all right. So. So. Well, let's do one more and then we'll do a talk about the court. Who's next?

[Shannon The Dude]

All right, let's go to Jay and Lyndon.

[Matt Jones]

Jay and Lyndon, go ahead. Hey, I got two quick things.

[G]

I want to talk about the sec. Matt, you know, I've talked about this for the sec. Success in the tournament in the past was based on us having a different style.

[Matt Jones]

I used to say it was more.

[G]

Like having a football team on the basketball court.

[Matt Jones]

Yes.

[G]

This weekend, man, we have the best players.

[Matt Jones]

We do. I mean, this is without question the reason the SEC has been so good in the tournament is we've always had the best athleticism, Ryan. Always. Even the bad teams had crazy athletes. And I used to think it helped Kentucky in the tournament that we'd be very athletic and be playing these teams that didn't have athletes. But now they also have the most talent. And you saw it. The Arkansas, St. John's game was the perfect example. St. John's had not seen athletes like Arkansas. They just had. The Big east is not as athletic and they would attack the rim the same way they did in the Big East. And the Arkansas would. Players would just block it. I mean, they just. They were not used to that athleticism. And I think that's helped this entire same thing with Ole Miss, Iowa State. You. You could see It Iowa State was like, Whoa, these old Ms. Guys are physical and athletic. And they just had not seen it.

[Drew Franklin]

I never really thought of our team being athletic and physical like that, but it definitely bothered Illinois.

[Matt Jones]

Well, Amari is. But I think it's actually, oddly the difference for us is we're not scared of athletes because we played against them all year. I still believe that, Drew, that we have the least athletic team in the sec. I do. I think Amari's a great athlete, always a good athlete, but Bray is not a good athlete. Butler's a pretty good athlete, but he's hurt. Carr's not a good athlete. Almanor is not a good athlete. No one, Perry are not good athletes. Chandler's a pretty good athlete. But. But we've learned to play against guys like this.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, I mean, maybe a slight athletic edge against Illinois, but that team defense was something we had never seen before. There's that clip going around. I don't know if y'all watch that possession where they're defending the pick and roll and Kentucky is just shutting down every single option they're switching. I mean, it is beautiful to watch. Not the overpowering athleticism. That was just Mark Pope having them prepared and the guys hustling.

[Matt Jones]

And they've gotten better. You know, I questioned at times this year whether or not the defense could get better. It has gotten better. It's certainly gotten better. And it's gotten to be, if not locked down, at least affected.

[Drew Franklin]

It may be the first time all year we can say defense kind of won that game against Illinois.

[Matt Jones]

Now, I still don't know if we have enough defense for like a Florida or an Alabama. But for. For these teams we've played. So we haven't done. We have enough offense for Tennessee. We've seen it before, right?

[Drew Franklin]

We said, you know, even though we're not the most athletic team in the world, it bothered Illinois because they're not used to playing against those athlete athletic teams.

[Matt Jones]

I saw a tick tock that was talking about how Mark Pope has become one of. And then he mentioned a couple other coaches really good at the. At the. At the page of the. Like the page cut. Do you know what that is?

[Drew Franklin]

I have no idea what that is.

[Matt Jones]

I had seen it. You know what it is? I'd seen it, but I didn't really know what it was called. But basically, let's say you want to get Kobe Braya shot, right? You have Lamont Butler, somebody have the ball. Brea comes off to the side and comes and sets the pick. Okay. And Then Butler tries to go around it. And if Brea's man does not help for a second, Butler goes to the basket. But if Brea's man, even for one second moves over, Bray cuts out to three point line and gets a shot. And they call it a paja cut, basically because Peja Stojakovic would be the screener. It's pick and pop with a big but with. But with. With Page, it was like more just to get the shot. And the goal is have a penetrator that just makes Pages man stop for a millisecond. And we did that like three times Sunday. If you go look with Butler and.

[Drew Franklin]

Kobe Bray, I think Kobe Bray is just a different player right now. He's doing things he was not and maybe could not do earlier this season. Getting his shot, getting. Creating enough space, like you just said, to get his shot off.

[Matt Jones]

Well, the one play where he took the ball at three point line, head faked, stepped in, head faked again, then shot a free throw. That was a great. That was like an NBA possession right there.

[Ryan Lemond]

That guy Garden was still dizzy from trying to find him on that one. And I've noticed one of Colin Chandler's threes, he used Kobe's pump fake sidestep move and even credited Kobe after the game for teaching him that. So it's rubbing off on all the other guys too.

[Matt Jones]

Did you see Kyle Wilcher's tweet this morning? I thought it was kind of awesome. So I saw. We were at lunch yesterday and we saw a picture of Kyle Wilcher. Think in your mind what Kyle Wilcher looks like. He don't look like that.

[Drew Franklin]

No, he does not.

[Matt Jones]

He's got a sleeve full of tats. He's got blonde hair spiked up. I mean. So I said, I tweeted out he was going through his Birdman phase because he looked like it. He retweeted it and said, nah. And then it was a picture of Colin Chandler because he kind of looks like Colin Chandler, but he was basically like, I'm going through my Colin Chandler.

[Drew Franklin]

That's cool.

[Matt Jones]

I think that's cool. Seeing former guys embracing the program like that new coach, I thought that was cool.

[Ryan Lemond]

Well, after Arkansas, we saw a few of them show how their colors are, and it's most of the guys who didn't do anything in the tournament. So now that Kentucky, since Kentucky's made the Sweet 16, we've seen Michael Kidd, Gilchrist, Willie, a bunch of the players that had a lot of success with Cal are showing that they're still big Blue. Lots of tweeting about it. Rob's not from that era, but I don't know if y'all saw Dillingham wearing the full Kentucky warm up on the plane.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

So I know there's some people worried which, which way their allegiance would go, but most of the beloved ones are still with the cats.

[Matt Jones]

It's, it's kind of weird. The only one that has it all led to any questioning was Reed, unfortunately, which if all the ones you would have thought that would have been the one that. But, but he'll, he'll be, he'll be fine.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah. Mints and topping. Some of those guys fired up, fired off a few tweets about it, but you know, they're also part of the reason it ended the way it did.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, I mean Mintz was here. It was a tough couple years. Mince was, it was like that was that, that had, that was hard. What was your auto loan? What is your auto loan ever done for you?

[Drew Franklin]

Well, it doesn't do a whole lot for me.

[Matt Jones]

Well, UK Federal Credit Union, you can get the best rates and it'll do something good for you. Which is up to a thousand dollars off if you refinance your existing high rate loan with UK Federal Credit Union. Seven branches. Or you can go [e-mail] make your auto loan work for you, Ryan.

[Drew Franklin]

Here we go.

[Matt Jones]

UK Federal Credit Union. It's banking only better. Refinance, subscription Approval Loan Requirements ukfcu.org Terms and Conditions Membership eligibility required. Fairly insured by NCUA. We'll take a break. Be right back. It's KSR.

[Cindy Crawford]

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[Shannon The Dude]

Is that it?

[Drew Franklin]

There it is.

[Matt Jones]

There it is. That was the one I was thinking of. Yes, that was it.

[Shannon The Dude]

Forever young Rod Stewart.

[Matt Jones]

Yes. Whether you're a prince or a vagabond, which is why I said it sort of has the inference of kind of lower class. Because he compares a prince and a vagabond. I really like this song and I don't know why I like it so much. It is a really good Song, it kind of gets you. I really like this one a lot.

[Ryan Lemond]

I like it, too. Clean sweep across the. The panel here.

[Matt Jones]

Yes. So that was three vagabond songs. Speaking of vagabonds, what do we think of Danny Hurley and the latest. All right, so. So we didn't really get to talk about this. He. He walks off the court after Florida loses or if Yukon loses Florida. Yukon played a good game, had a chance. He apparently looks at the Baylor players who are about to run on the court to play Duke and says something to the effect of, I hope they don't blank you. Like they blanked us, meaning the officials. A TV station in Durham captures it on video. Video comes out. We're all like, what a jerk. Because Danny early is a jerk. I mean, like, he clearly is a jerk. And then apparently, the station says that the director of media at UConn called them up and threatened to ruin their careers if they didn't take the video down, which is just taking a bad situation and making it much worse. What do you make of that?

[Drew Franklin]

That's UConn thinking they can just bully everybody around. They can bully a TV station in Durham, North Carolina, who is just doing their job. If we were there and we had something rolling, you don't think we would have posted. Of course we would have.

[Matt Jones]

I mean, but what are they gonna do to him? I mean, what's. What. What's the Yukon media person gonna do to a TV station in Durham? Like, I mean, there's nothing they're gonna be able to do to him.

[Ryan Lemond]

I would have loved to been that TV station. Durham, rem. The NCAA told me to delete my Lynn Marshall video.

[Matt Jones]

No, no. Let's go back to this story. The ncaa. This goes farther. Drew took a picture of a video of Greg Marshall's wife losing her mind, a video that later got him on Inside Edition.

[Ryan Lemond]

I didn't really add context. Is the video told the story.

[Matt Jones]

And the NCAA not only threatened to not give Drew a credential again. They told me on the phone Drew couldn't leave the building without deleting it. And I was like, what are you talking about?

[Shannon The Dude]

Can't hold somebody hostage.

[Matt Jones]

I'm like, he's. Is he under arrest? What do you mean, he can't leave the building? And they. I was like, you realize that? Like, that's a tort. You know, you holding somebody. False imprisonment is a lawsuit. And then they realized they were talking to a lawyer, and they were like, I mean, we'll let him leave the building and.

[Ryan Lemond]

But I Was on my computer in Indianapolis working on a KSR post, and a guy stood over my shoulder, said, pull up your Twitter. And at the point, at the time, I didn't know he's talking about. So I pull up my Twitter. He said, delete that. And I'm like, no, I'm not deleting that. Delete that. I'm not deleting that. And then that just where it kept spouting. I'm taking your credential. Still not deleting it.

[Matt Jones]

Games over, tournaments over. What do you want from me?

[Ryan Lemond]

But, like, I don't understand why people don't think that's just gonna make it worse. The video in the Hurley situation got 20 times the views because of how the SID handled it. If he had just let it disappear, sure, people would have seen it and talked about it, but he made it infinitely worse.

[Matt Jones]

Here's what I don't understand about Danny Hurley. He clearly wants to be this dude, right? He clearly wants to be the jerk, to use wrestling terms. He wants to be the heel. He wants to be the bad guy. Okay, then I'm going to dislike you. That's. That's clearly what you want. And then they complain about not getting a fair shake. You're an ass. You are doing that intentionally. It's not like you're accidentally doing this, so people are going to hate you. Ryan and I. I don't hate him, but I think he's good for the sport. But he's clearly an ass, right?

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah. And I think it reflects that arrogant, egotistical attitude that Some, like the NCAA or UConn have. Have that they can bully smaller people. No offense.

[Ryan Lemond]

That's okay. It's also not like a rich story.

[Matt Jones]

Small.

[Drew Franklin]

I didn't mean it that way. I meant the lesser. No, it's not.

[Matt Jones]

Just small. He's also now less.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, it's also not like a written report that could be false. It's a video where it's their actions being seen. That's true. It happened.

[Matt Jones]

He said it like. Like, he said it.

[Drew Franklin]

Can't deny it.

[Matt Jones]

What. What do you want to do? Do you. What do you think? If Hurley had come here, is it just like. I mean, our fans would take up for all this? I mean, the reality is. I mean, let's be real. This is a fan culture. If he did all this, we would take up for it. But he's still a jerk. He would just be our jerk.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, we would. We would justify the behavior. Probably not the right thing to do, but it'd be A one of us situation.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. I mean, it's the same thing as politics, you know, like, if the Democrats had a Trump, the Republicans would hate it and vice versa. If the Democrats had a Trump, we would take up for a lot of his nonsense because it's a team thing. Like, that's what this is. And I feel like that probably would have been true with Danny Hurley, too.

[Drew Franklin]

We all did it. When they hired Billy, we kind of said all that, you know, he's married to basketball, you know, and they kind of.

[Matt Jones]

We did say he was married to.

[Drew Franklin]

Basketball and kind of overlook some of the things that maybe we shouldn't have early on, but then it wears.

[Matt Jones]

One difference between sports and politics, I say this all the time. Time is what makes it dangerous. That politics has become a team sport is, unlike in sports, at the end of the day, you have a win and a loss, so there is something objective to grade you on. In politics, you can make anything a win or a loss if you want to, so that makes it harder. But in sports, if Danny Hurley had come here and won, he could have done all this stuff, and if he lost, we would have hated him. That would have been. That would have been the. The sequence. So who's next?

[Shannon The Dude]

Let's go to Joe Bob.

[Matt Jones]

Joe Bob, how are you?

[Ryan Lemond]

I'm good.

[G]

How are you today?

[Matt Jones]

Good.

[G]

Just a quick note. I wasn't gonna. I wasn't planning on saying this, but on Danny Hurley, he's terrible. I mean, I'm. I'm Ryan's age, and I never thought I'd reach a point that, you know, somebody was more dislikable than Bobby Knight was, but I think he's. He's there anyway. Talk about was he's getting there. Yeah. Being a fan. I've got a problem, and I don't know. I don't know how to fix it. I don't know if I need to fix it, but every time in my life I've ever filled out a bracket, it's always Kentucky. It doesn't matter what seed they are or who they're playing. I think we're going to win every game. And I don't know when that started. I mean, I was 12 years old when they won in 78 when they beat Duke, and I was just hooked from that moment on.

[Matt Jones]

Well, I think most fans are like, yeah, I appreciate the call. I think most fans. It's hard for us to fill out a bracket without picking Kentucky to win. I mean, I. I don't. But I think most fans do that. I saw, you know I saw at one point before the tournament started Kentucky was on the fifth most brackets to win. A lot of those are just Kentucky fans who cannot pick someone that's not.

[Drew Franklin]

Because we get to this weekend we've got he's one of those Kentucky versus Tennessee in our bracket. We can't put Tennessee down on our bracket. We have to pick Kentucky.

[Ryan Lemond]

I usually pick against Kentucky early just for percentage of my gambling pool. I I'm always in a Kentucky group so I try to be different just to try to win it but it's never my feelings are involved in a bracket.

[Matt Jones]

It's just very hard. Like even if you objectively think Tennessee's gonna win to write Tennessee's name out. Can't do it after Kentucky. You just can't do it physically hurts.

[Ryan Lemond]

My hand won't even make that motion. The brain disconnects from the hand right there.

[Matt Jones]

Trying to just like lose motor skills on that. I understand. I'd be the same way. We'll talk about the portal and more when we return. KSR.