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Matt Jones
This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace. You know when you're really stressed or not feeling so great about your life or about yourself, talking to someone who understands can really help. But who is that person? How do you find them? Where do you even start? Talkspace. Talkspace makes it easy to get the support you need. With Talkspace, you can go online, answer a few questions about your preferences, and be matched with a therapist. And because you'll meet your therapist online, you don't have to take time off work or arrange childcare.
Ryan Lemond
You can.
Matt Jones
You'll meet on your schedule wherever you feel most at ease. If you're depressed, stressed, struggling with a relationship, or if you want some counseling for you and your partner or just need a little extra one on one support, Talkspace is here for you. Plus, Talkspace works with most major insurers and most insured members have a $0 copay. No insurance, no problem. Now get $80 off of your first month with promo code SPACE80 when you go to talkspace.com match with a licensed therapist today at talkspace.com save $80 with code SPACE80 at Talk Comedy Off Broadway.
Ryan Lemond
In Lexington welcomes one of the rising stars of Kill, Tony KC Rocket July 10th through the 12th, then catch Lexington first timer Marcus D. Wiley June 17th through the 19th. And as seen on AGT, don't miss the amazing psychic comedian Peter Antonio July 25th and 26th. For tickets to all Comedy Off Broadway shows, call 859271 joke or visit comedyoff broadway.com comedyoff broadway.
Shannon The Dude
This is Kentucky Sports Radio, presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now here's Matt Jones.
Ryan Lemond
All right, good morning, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, grandpa's and grandma's aunts and uncles. It is the Friday edition of Kentucky Sports Radio. Friday, July 18th. Brian Lemon, Shannon the dude, Drew Franklin. Matt is this last day of his vacation. Of course, there's some more vacation coming up, I think in September from young Matthew Harper Jones. But he's off this week.
Drew Franklin
Big one in September.
Ryan Lemond
Big one in September.
Shannon The Dude
Yeah, he's vacation.
Ryan Lemond
You know, if. If only. If only he would count the vacation days he takes versus the vacation days that Shannon takes.
Shannon The Dude
Oh, I could count them up right now. Who took eight weeks of vacation? No, ten weeks of vacation? Not me. Not me.
Ryan Lemond
So Connect Sports Radio, sponsored as always by our good friend TJ Smith. Call the TJ Smith Law Office and he'll what, Shannon?
Shannon The Dude
He'll make him pay.
Ryan Lemond
Make him pay. Our Clark's Puppet Shop Phone number is 859-280-2287. That's 859280 Cats Avision Glass Text Machine has been my cell phone this week, and it blew up yesterday. We'll get into that in a little bit, and then, of course, we'll have our whiskey thief call the day. So, guys, it's Friday. We're usually on remote location. We have a rare studio show in the summer on a Friday, and we walk in and Wild Eggs has loaded up with breakfast stuff. Or there's all kinds of food out there from Wild Eggs. Once again, Shannon's not here. Of course Matt's not here. Mario's not here. So it leaves it all for Drew and Billy and I to eat the rest of it.
Drew Franklin
Today, when I was walking through the parking garage, my stomach did a little rumble. I didn't eat breakfast, and I thought, oh, man, I might not make it to noon. I'm hurting. Had no idea I would go up that elevator to what is there, like, 10 different meals over there? The whole table's covered.
Ryan Lemond
It's their summer menu, and they brought, like, every new item on their summer menu for us to try.
Drew Franklin
I'm working my way. I'm about a third of the way through all of them. Maybe by the end of the show, I'll have all of it down.
Shannon The Dude
Should we see, like, how many things from Wild Eggs Ryan can eat in 10 minutes?
Ryan Lemond
No, no, no. Hush your mouth. Hush your mouth. But we do have a Wild Eggs contest we're going to talk about here in just a minute. I'm really excited about it, so just. Just hang on for that. But really, there's. Guys, there's. There's two topics to open the show, and you can pick which one you want to talk about. Mark Stoops, UK Football at SEC Media Days or Archie Goodwin. Those are the two stories.
Drew Franklin
Oh, not the couple at the Coldplay concert.
Ryan Lemond
We're gonna get to that.
Shannon The Dude
That's the story.
Drew Franklin
I thought that was number one.
Ryan Lemond
We're definitely gonna get to that.
Shannon The Dude
Drew on that one. But, yeah, go ahead.
Drew Franklin
We'll save it. I was just kidding.
Ryan Lemond
I go save you. Which of those three stories you want to start with, Drew?
Drew Franklin
We'll save the astronomer. You know, build up anticipation.
Ryan Lemond
Okay.
Drew Franklin
The story sweeping.
Ryan Lemond
Sweeping America 100% it is.
Drew Franklin
You know, TBT and Archie, that's good, but that's later tonight. So let's start with what's already happened with Stoops yesterday at Media Days. Okay, let's just go ahead and get. Get Mark out of the way.
Ryan Lemond
He spoke to some local media before he went to the Podium?
Drew Franklin
Yep.
Ryan Lemond
I didn't listen to anything he said in the podium, but I listen to what he said to the local media because I thought that's when we're gonna get the good stuff.
Drew Franklin
Oh, I listen to the podium and not the local media. So if we put our brains together, it's like we were there.
Ryan Lemond
So, so it looked like it was like Nick Roush, Adam Luckett, John Hale, Dick Gabriel Price of other local TV guys, all the, all the big stars.
Drew Franklin
Stephen Peak. Don't forget Stephen Peak behind the camera.
Ryan Lemond
He's the one that was videotape. And I think that we watched his.
Drew Franklin
Video of hardest working crew in Atlanta this week.
Ryan Lemond
But I think, to me, as a fan, Stoops had a little chip on his shoulder yesterday, and that's what I want to see. I want to see him kind of mad, kind of angry, kind of ticked off about this whole motivated meme that's going around and everything. I, I, I heard some things from him yesterday that as a fan, I needed to, I needed to hear my coach ticked off. And I think ticked off Mark was there.
Drew Franklin
You like ticked off? Yeah, I lean a little the other direction. He, for the first time, commented on the motivated talk. It's been a meme since the spring. I was hoping he would laugh it off and, you know, be a good sport. No, he does not seem to like that whatsoever. Does not care for the motivated talk. In fact, Nick Roush. Salute to Nick Roush. Very first question in the ballroom live on SEC Network Omni Atlanta, completely full of people in media. And I'm watching and I hear first question. Get a little mic, little tap. Nick Roush, Kentucky Sports Radio.
Ryan Lemond
Nice.
Drew Franklin
Mark, how motivated would you say you are? Jesus, Nick. I mean, you couldn't even wait three questions. But Stoops made it clear he's not a huge fan of that. In fact, I think he said the media is having fun with it.
Ryan Lemond
Here's his quote.
Drew Franklin
Oh, you got it dialed up.
Ryan Lemond
Yep. I'll play along and let the media have their fun and take their shots, and that's cool with me.
Shannon The Dude
Listen, that's motivation right there. That sounds like a motivated Mark Stoops. Not I think he's ticked off. But, you know, when you're motivated, you can get ticked off easily. I think that shows his level of motivation. Drew.
Drew Franklin
I don't like how he's blaming the media. Sure, I've participated in it. I did a motivated meme yesterday. But this started with the fan base on Twitter.
Ryan Lemond
Yes, it did.
Drew Franklin
It went for months before we Leaned into it at all just here recently. So, yes. Have I. Have I made a motivated joke? I've made several, but it's not a media thing. This is your whole fan base. You got to pay attention to your audience. This is being said by everyone, or at least a big online presence.
Ryan Lemond
So he followed that up. He says maybe y' all just looking for some ammo. And he said it wasn't his intention to lay low this off season.
Drew Franklin
Yeah, he. He did say he's with motivation. It's what it's been every year. Nothing's changed. He's trying to silence our memes. He said grateful a lot. So maybe we start the grateful Stoops.
Ryan Lemond
Means he did say he'd ra be grateful Mark Stoops than motivated Mark Stoops.
Drew Franklin
So I think yesterday was the turning of the page from motivated Mark Stoops to grateful Mark Stoops. And then, yeah, he. Even though we all think he's laying low this off season, he said, no, this has been operations usual. Nothing's changed. We're just trying to get better. I know there's a narrative out there that I'm kind of hiding from making headlines and doing interviews. But he denied it.
Ryan Lemond
I. Like I said, Shane, I heard some things I need to hear because it was like, almost like a sense of urgency with Stoops yesterday. Like, he knows that last year was unacceptable and he knows. He mentioned several times about the strength of the schedule so hard this year, but yet he kind of came across as like a guy that is kind of ticked off at the world and I'm going to prove you wrong kind of guy.
Shannon The Dude
I think he said fourth and one mentality. So, you know, I think that's good self awareness. You know, he realizes that there's a lot of urgency going into this season. Going back to the grateful Mark Stoops, though. Like, how do we do that meme? Do we do like praying hands? Like AI Mark Stoops with the praying hands. He's grateful. Like grateful. Yeah. Do we. How do we show that praying hands.
Drew Franklin
Throwing your hands in the air, hugging, just being thankful.
Shannon The Dude
Yeah, Okay, I like that. But yeah, I. I don't know, though, Ryan, that I heard anything that's going to change my mind on how I think the season's going to go. I mean, you did, though. You think you did.
Ryan Lemond
Well, as far as the wins and losses, maybe not, but. But I heard some things from him that makes me think that he ain't happy and he's going to work his butt off to try to keep it from being that bad.
Shannon The Dude
I like that. I like that mentality.
Ryan Lemond
I do, too.
Drew Franklin
I wish I had those same glasses. I saw it as similar to kind of cow with all the media. The radio shows are saying this, but it's really this. You know, they let them have their jokes. They're not really fans. I'm starting to get more of the defensive of just the headlines around and that's more of the vibe I got.
Ryan Lemond
Yeah, one of. I think the biggest criticism of Coach Dupes has been like, things are haven't been great, but he's like, well, yeah, but we won 10 games. Yeah, but no, we beat Tennessee.
Shannon The Dude
There's no but.
Ryan Lemond
You're right.
Shannon The Dude
You got to go out there and you just got to win the games. That's the only thing that's going to flip the this fan base.
Drew Franklin
He also says he don't want headlines, but he cussed. And if you cuss on the podium at SEC media days, he said the S word, not scrimmage from yesterday. The actual S word. And that's not a big deal. We're all adults. But when you say it at the podium at SEC media days on live tv, that's a headline. And that went everywhere, not just with Kentucky people, all media down there. So he wants to lay low, but he said this blanks hard or something like that. And when you throw that quote out there, you've. That's a headline. That's not KSR spiraling something. If you say this blank is hard on the stage at SEC media days, you've now made a headline.
Ryan Lemond
Willie Collinstein said that word here yesterday on our own show.
Shannon The Dude
So it gets dumped here. But of course it's hard, though. I mean, that's what you signed up for.
Ryan Lemond
That's right.
Shannon The Dude
You're making millions upon millions of dollars. You're not making that salary to play in an easy conference. We all know it's hard. It's the sec. But that's what you signed up for.
Ryan Lemond
So already in two months and spring practice to now, I already feel better about the team. And I know by the time we kick off the season starts, I'm going to be back on board. Yeah, man. Six wins, seven wins. Let's go. I know I'm going to talk myself into it because I'm already halfway there.
Drew Franklin
I feel like you're with Matt and the Reds. You're Matt in the Reds with Kentucky football. I feel like one time we'll do predictions one week in your bowl game and predictions another week, maybe two wins. Now now you're back. You're back on.
Ryan Lemond
Back on after what I heard yesterday.
Drew Franklin
Grateful Stoops has you back on.
Ryan Lemond
And the backpacks that had their digital numbers on the back of the backpack.
Drew Franklin
Let me start on those backpacks. What are we doing? What are we doing?
Ryan Lemond
I've never seen anything like that.
Drew Franklin
It felt very unserious to me.
Ryan Lemond
It almost seemed like something you would have for your elementary school kid.
Drew Franklin
Yeah, like that. Like, I expect middle kids walking in, showing off their backpacks and stuff.
Ryan Lemond
Look at my backpack. It's got my phone number and my address on the digital screen in the back.
Shannon The Dude
Here's my emergency contact information in case I get lost, you know, that type of thing. I didn't before, though.
Drew Franklin
At West Broadway Elementary School, I had a backpack. It was a Jeep. Shannon, you would have loved it. You like Jeeps?
Shannon The Dude
Yeah, I'm a Jeep.
Drew Franklin
And like the. It was the back, though. And then I had, like a clear thing for my windshield and you could see in my backpack. I could also hit a button and turn on my brake lights. I feel like that's what Kentucky football was doing yesterday. But I was in first grade and there at SEC media days.
Ryan Lemond
Yeah, I think so. I think. Right. That would be a hit with elementary school students, not with maybe college athletes.
Drew Franklin
Yeah. I have been a little critical of SEC media days. I will say Josh Katis, really all of them. But Cattus especially did a good job of explaining how he feels. There's truly been a transition from all the problems last year to accountability and having a better locker room. And if anyone hadn't seen it yet, I can't remember exactly what videos. There's a ton of interviews yesterday. It might have been with SEC Network. It's online.
Ryan Lemond
Darienoka.
Drew Franklin
Yeah. Okay, then it was SEC Network. We have it on the website. But Josh Kat has did a really good job speaking on behalf of the locker room. So I'm getting my backpack jokes off. But there were good parts of yesterday and I thought that was a highlight.
Ryan Lemond
And if there's two guys I think you can trust off this football team is Josh Cattus and Ty Bryant, who was on the show with you in April. They both kind of said the same thing. Man, things are different. They've changed some things. And we're not going to have maybe some issues we've had the last couple years.
Drew Franklin
And Jordan Lovett and Alex Afari, who were also there yesterday, they also were speaking about it, too. I just thought Cattus especially did a great job of explaining how he sees a difference him being a senior and he saw the dip the last two years and he seems to really believe things have changed behind the scenes. We don't know how that'll translate onto wins and losses, but it seems like they really did clean that up from a year ago.
Ryan Lemond
So we've got a couple more football. You know, we've been so basketball heavy this week with the TBT tournament. All the TBT guys we brought in a lot of basketball. We're going kind of football heavy today. So we've got. Landon Young is going to join us at 10:30. Just found out he was in town. Let's have him on. So he's going to come on. And then at 11 o', clock, Aiden Laros, the punter with the zero toughness rating is going to come on Drew to defend himself. So it's kind of a football heavy show today.
Drew Franklin
Yeah, I'm looking forward to hearing from Aiden Laros. I've played the game a little bit since they came out. I feel like he's much tougher than they gave him credit.
Ryan Lemond
I mean, didn't you see the video UK put out? He's taking balls off his chest.
Shannon The Dude
I think we should prove that he is a tough guy. As a matter of fact, Drew, you tell me if this is a good idea or not. It would be better if Mario were here. But I think that maybe you should arm wrestle Aiden and let's see if he can beat you in an arm wrestling contest, you know, because we can show how much tougher he actually is than what the video game is giving him credit for.
Drew Franklin
I would happily do that. But it's by phone, right?
Ryan Lemond
Yeah. He can't come in. He's got to call in studio. We can set that up though. Yeah.
Drew Franklin
Media day coming up.
Ryan Lemond
He looks like a kind of a big tough guy. You know, he didn't. He's not a little skinny, little kicker punter. He's a kind of a. He's Australian or is he New Zealand?
Drew Franklin
South Africa.
Ryan Lemond
South Africa.
Shannon The Dude
Other part of the planet. Yeah.
Drew Franklin
So we could bring up. Since it's just verbal, you know, we could bring up situations where you would need to be tough and ask him what he would do in this situation.
Ryan Lemond
There was no toughness test, no tougher punter in the world than Glenn Pakalak. He would punt at 80 yards and then go down and knock your jock off if you tried to return to one of his punts.
Drew Franklin
Tim Mastay would like a word. So would Max Duffy.
Ryan Lemond
I still take Glenn Packalak over all of them. So, so, yeah, landon Young at 10 and 30, Aiden Laros at 11. And then like I said, we got to get some really kind some funny stuff about the, the kiss cam.
Drew Franklin
Kiss cam. We got a game tonight.
Ryan Lemond
Got a game tonight. Got to talk about Archie Goodwin. But we go back to Wild Eggs before we go to the commercial break. My son Josiah works for Wild Eggs. He's got a $100 gift card in his pocket right now and he's working at Wild Eggs right now.
Drew Franklin
Oh, okay.
Ryan Lemond
The first person that can find Josiah at Wild Eggs, he's going to give you that $100 gift card.
Drew Franklin
I like this game.
Ryan Lemond
I love this game. He's in on it. He knows it. He's got the gift card in his pocket right now. So if you want a hundred, 100 gift card from Wild Eggs, go find my son Josiah. No hints. I'm not going to tell you where he is. I'm going to tell you what he's doing. You got to go find him and you get a 100 gift card.
Drew Franklin
And if he is in the act of carrying a tray full of French toast or something, please at least let him, you know, do his job.
Ryan Lemond
Yeah. Don't stick your hand down.
Drew Franklin
Tackle him.
Ryan Lemond
Yeah. When he's pocket. Don't stick your hand down his pocket. He's got food while he's carrying food.
Shannon The Dude
Let's not talk about tin roof Nashville.
Drew Franklin
Okay?
Ryan Lemond
True. So, so go find Josiah. It's Find Josiah for a 100 wild AIDS gift card. All right, we'll take our first break. Come back 859-280-2287. It's 859280, cats. It's grateful Mark Stoops. Not motivated Mark Stoops.
Drew Franklin
Grateful memes. They're pretty funny.
Ryan Lemond
Okay, we'll get to those and a lot more when we come back on Kentucky Sports Radio.
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Matt Jones
This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace. You know when you're really stressed or not feeling so great about your life or about yourself, talking to someone who understands can really help. But who is that person? How do you find them? Where do you even start? Talkspace. Talkspace makes it easy to get the support you need. With Talkspace, you can go online, answer a few questions about your preferences and be matched with a therapist. And because you'll meet your therapist online, you don't have to take time off work or arrange childcare. You'll meet on your schedule wherever you feel most at ease. If you're depressed, stressed, struggling with a relationship, or if you want some counseling for you and your partner or just need a little extra one on one support, Talkspace is here for you. Plus, Talkspace works with most major insurers and most insured members have a $0 copay. No insurance, no problem. Now get $80 off of your first month with promo code space80 when you go to talkspace.com match with a licensed therapist today at talkspace.com save $80 with code space80@talkspace.com.
Ryan Lemond
All right, welcome back Kentucky Sports Radio Freaky Friday edition of Kentucky Sports Radio. Ryan, Drew and Shannon here in the studio today after being out at the KS bar last couple of days interviewing some TNT guys. Already grateful Mark Stoops is taking off. I mean I've got three or four memes already about it, so I think Drew, that's going to. It's going to. I think our fan base will have a little fun with that today, this weekend.
Drew Franklin
If he if his goal was to get the motivated Mark Stoops to end. It worked. It worked.
Ryan Lemond
Just going to Grapevine the page. Yeah. You said you had an update on the backpack.
Drew Franklin
I do. Every one that went to SEC media days got a backpack for showing up the three players from every team. So it turns out they just threw Kentucky under the bus by featuring them to show off the backpack backpacks because other fan bases, including Tennessee's message board, other fan bases are making fun of Kentucky's backpacks. But it turns out everyone there got one. Kentucky was just the example they used.
Ryan Lemond
So let me get this right. Kentucky is the very last team on the very Last day of SEC football media day.
Drew Franklin
We were third to last. Third.
Ryan Lemond
Okay. Last day.
Drew Franklin
Last.
Ryan Lemond
They wait till the last day to show pictures of student athletes in these backpacks and it just happens to be the Kentucky.
Drew Franklin
I think the SEC is mocking us.
Ryan Lemond
I think so. I think they always.
Drew Franklin
My apologies to the three young men wearing them. Cattus Fari and love it. I apologize. I, I thought it was a Kentucky only thing and we were trying to distract with our backpacks, but no, this was the SEC and they've, they've thrown Kentucky under the bus.
Ryan Lemond
So do we blame Tom Hart, Dari Noka and Peter Burns? That who we're going to blame here?
Drew Franklin
Yep. Cole Kublick, Chris Doring.
Ryan Lemond
Chris Doring. We're blaming them all.
Drew Franklin
Listen, Lang List, Paul, Paul Finebaum.
Ryan Lemond
So there you go.
Drew Franklin
Randall Cobb. I watched Randall Cobb on the coverage yesterday. He's really good at that. And talking to him at Derby, I don't know how far he wants to pursue it. He enjoys doing it, but he's, he's really good at being an SEC network analyst, like hearing from him.
Ryan Lemond
I do want to mention before the guys went to SEC football media days, Coach Stoops and several of the players went to meet some special Olympic kids, spent the whole afternoon with them, had lunch with them, played games with them. And just if you saw that, I mean it just warms your heart when you see something like that. So I mean you, we forget that these players are really 18, 19, 20 year old kids and to see them interact with some special Olympians and like I said, Stoops was there almost all day, ate lunch with them. It just made my heart warm to see that and read about that. What they did with those kids.
Drew Franklin
Definitely they do so much of that that doesn't get to social media that we never know about. You know, every once in a while we will see pictures of something or a video. But that goes on constantly with most, if not all players on the team. I know caddis. I keep bringing him up. He's very active, been that way his whole career. He even talked about that yesterday about why he does it. But they do a good job of giving back to the community, whether it's the children Hospital, Special Olympics, Ronald McDonald, whatever it is, they're very involved.
Ryan Lemond
One more give back kind of thing happened for UK football. If you remember the name Scott Mitchell, he was a receiver in like 2004, 2005 here at Kentucky.
Drew Franklin
Rich Brooks, first recruiting class.
Ryan Lemond
Rich Brooks, first recruiting class. You're right.
Drew Franklin
Juco transfer.
Ryan Lemond
He made news national News when he chased down an arsonist out in California. I think him and his lady friend, I don't know if they're married or dating, but their lady friend, they were going on a walk or maybe a jog or something and they saw.
Drew Franklin
Hike.
Ryan Lemond
A little hike. And they saw somebody actually Shannon, start a fire after California just had these devastating fires. This dude's up in the, in the canyon in the mountains and he's trying to start a fire. Took off and Scott Mitchell chased him down and kind of held him at bay till the police came and arrested the guy. A hero, man. He was a hero.
Shannon The Dude
Yeah. Like that is a crazy story. I mean, he could have potentially saved a lot of people's lives and a lot of homes. I mean. Yeah, you're right. I mean, just had this huge wildfire and this guy is just trying to start a fire out in the middle of the woods.
Ryan Lemond
Yeah.
Drew Franklin
And just let a dry tree out.
Ryan Lemond
There in California and then try to take off and just let the fire, you know, engulfed the countryside again. And Scott Mitchell chased him down and held him till the police came to arrest the guy.
Drew Franklin
I like Mitchell said the guy was about 150 yards away and he still caught him. And his direct quote to NBC was, I didn't know I still had it. I'm not going to lie.
Ryan Lemond
Well, he was. And on the story I saw it was advertised as a former University of Kentucky football player.
Drew Franklin
Headline, ex Kentucky football player chases down arsonist.
Ryan Lemond
I know Coach Brooks tweeted about it, kind of congratulating him. And you could see, you could feel he felt like a proud papa that one of his own did this on the behalf of other people.
Drew Franklin
Yeah. Mitchell was only here two years. I know some people had mentioned online they didn't remember him, but he played. If he didn't start every game those two years, he played a lot.
Ryan Lemond
Played a lot.
Drew Franklin
Had a touchdown in the Governor's cup from Andre Woodson. Three career touchdowns. And moves back home to California, is chasing down arsonists.
Ryan Lemond
859-280-2287. That's our Clark's publisher phone number. Before we get to the calls and the Landon Young at the bottom of the hour, we do need to kind of hit on what Archie Goodwin said on here yesterday. The text machine blew up, my cell phone blew up, social media blew up. And I think the general consensus. Guys, I want both of you to comment on it. You just had. He. He gave us a different perspective of what happened that season from his point of view as an 18 year old kid. And you could see it, you could do, you could see he was, he's sitting there, a 30 year old man just being raw and open and sincere about feelings he's been dealing with for 12 years. And Drew, you and I saw him, you can see his body language as he opened up. You could tell it was, it still hurts him today. And he came across, I think most people left the interview saying, I am now an Archie Goodwin fan for life.
Drew Franklin
There's people online apologizing for being too critical back in, was it 2012? 13?
Ryan Lemond
Yeah.
Drew Franklin
I said the moment it was over. That's the best interview we've had with the player and I don't even think it's close. After going back and listening to it and during the break he let out an exhale and even told us like, I've waited since I played here to let that out and tell my side because at the time you can't just when you're doing the interviews post game, you can't be like, I'm not playing the right position. You're kind of controlled. But now 12 years later he's like, I finally got to explain why it didn't work out the way I wanted it to, why I did this, what I thought should have worked out. And just his explanation. He's a very intelligent guy, not just talking about that team he went by, went through some cow point guards. Like everybody was downhill until Ulis, but he was crafty to get in the lane. But after that, Cal kind of got away from that. Very knowledgeable of all things uk. And then even during the break we were talking about DeMarcus and some incidents DeMarcus had recently. And Archie's getting into why he thinks DeMarcus brain ticks the way it does. And I'm just like, you are not the 18 year old that we were trying to get anything out of when you're here for a year. But I loved every minute of hearing from, especially the part the big takeaway everyone had about why his one season didn't go the way he wanted to.
Ryan Lemond
Shannon, what was your takeaway? Sitting there listening to it.
Shannon The Dude
Yeah, I mean, I agree with Drew. I mean I think he was probably the best player interview we've ever had on ksr. Very well spoken. He went into a long explanation, you know, explaining his side of things and you know, it's probably something you can't say when Caliper is the coach here, but now that Caliperi has moved on, I think we're going to get a lot more Stories from behind the scenes and what went on with players during that time. But I thought he was great on.
Drew Franklin
The show, and he was trying to be. He kept saying, I might throwing Cal under the bus. That's up for the listener to decide. But he really wasn't trying to trash Cal, even though some of what he's saying, it kind of has a negative, you know, twist to how Cal was running the team.
Ryan Lemond
I couldn't help but feel for the guy. You could hear the pain, his voice, you could see his body language. It really hurts him to this day that he couldn't do for Big Blue Nation what he wanted to do while he was here. And I think it was good therapy for him to get that off his chest.
Drew Franklin
Definitely. I think they could lose by 50 tonight, which isn't gonna happen, but they could be out tonight. And this was a successful week for Archie Goodwin, just interacting with the fans and telling his story.
Ryan Lemond
I thought Khalil Whitney was good. The day before that, talking about his troubles. Archie, yesterday, that one sound bite went six minutes long. And you and I just let him go. Just let him go and work through some things.
Drew Franklin
And he was doing his own podcast. We were listening.
Ryan Lemond
He was. And you could see he would go, you know, walking through it. It was really amazing to kind of watch.
Drew Franklin
I hated when he said Cal told him, well, Ryan has to be the point guard. Yeah, I didn't want to hear that and have to do anything.
Ryan Lemond
All right, we'll take a break. Come back. Big old Landon Young going to join us, talk a little UK football and his career. We come back on Kentucky Sports Radio.
Matt Jones
TJ Smith, personal injury attorney.
Drew Franklin
Call tj.
Ryan Lemond
He'll make him pay.
Shannon The Dude
Now more of Kentucky Sports Radio, presented by Stockton Mortgage. Here's Matt Jones.
Ryan Lemond
All right, welcome back. Matt Jones still off. This is the last day of his week vacation before football starts. Ryan, Drew and Shannon here in studio today. And, Drew, I need to say kind of how this happened. You and I were working at KS Bar & Grill last week, kind of going through some of the photos. We go up in the attic, and there's this monster poster of Landon Young. Like, it's what, three feet by four feet? I mean, it's a big one.
Drew Franklin
Yeah. Big poster.
Ryan Lemond
So I called it.
Drew Franklin
If it's Landon Young, gotta be big.
Ryan Lemond
Yeah, that's true. The man is big. So I called his dad, Randall, and I said, hey, man, we got this great picture of Landon. We've just been sitting up here since we're doing some remodeling. Would you like it? And he said, sure. And during the course conversation, he goes, yeah, Landon's here right now? I'm like, what? He said, yeah, he's been farming all summer. He's here.
Drew Franklin
Yeah, of course.
Ryan Lemond
So I called him, got him to come on. Landon, It's. Man, it's good to catch up with you. I can't believe you're getting ready to start your fifth year in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints. But. But congratulations on a great career. You're a dad now. You got a second kid on the way. It just blows my mind. Landon Young's a grown man now, pushing, what, 27 years old or whatever.
Landon Young
Yeah, I'll be 28 this year here in August.
Ryan Lemond
Dude, that's crazy. But you've been with the Saints ever since you left uk, Signed with them again. So I guess you like what's happening down there.
Landon Young
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, obviously, we had a rough patch last year, but we got a new young coach in from. From Philly. They obviously just got off a stellar season, so we're excited to kind of see what he brings to the program and the culture down there and try to turn things around a little bit.
Drew Franklin
Hey, Landon, Drew Franklin here. We want to hear a little bit about your time with the Saints, but first, just you being a good Kentucky boy, what's it like being in Louisiana for so long now? Is that starting to feel like home? You get to do any farming down there or anything to feel like you're back in the bluegrass?
Landon Young
I get to get a little fishing in. That's about it. To make me feel like I'm back in Kentucky. But, you know, we. We were scared to death going down there when I first got drafted there. Just, you know, coming from a small town, living in Lexington, you know, a lot of my life, too, and, you know, going to a big, big city like New Orleans, it just. It was. It was very. It was a lot to handle. And, you know, then coming after the fourth year, not knowing if we were going to sign back or not, you know, we were sitting there crying, thinking about telling our neighbors by. And, you know, all the people we met and the friends we've made down there, it definitely has become a part of our routine. We love it down there, and we love the people, we love the culture, and we love New Orleans now.
Ryan Lemond
So when you were, what elementary school did you go to here in town?
Landon Young
Pick it up.
Ryan Lemond
So at Picketome Elementary School, third grade, they say, landon, what do you want to be when you grow up? I would bet 100 to 1 odds. 1 to 1 odds that you said, I want to be a farmer and an NFL football player. And probably the farmer was more important than the NFL football player.
Landon Young
It's funny because I don't remember what age it switched off, but for the longest time I wanted to ride bulls in the rodeo. And then I got big and they said, well, we're going to need some bigger bulls.
Drew Franklin
I'd like to give that a try.
Landon Young
I always wanted to farm. Yeah, exactly. And I, I always wanted to farm. You know, dad, we were always on the farm on the weekends all the way up through college ball until I got drafted. And, you know, I'd always, you know, done a little bit with dad here and there and heard his stories, heard my granddad's stories, and I kind of wanted to follow in their footsteps always and kind of take that over. So, you know, that's. We're starting to do that a little bit. We bought our first herd of cattle and we're getting back into it slowly and surely now.
Ryan Lemond
Your farm's in Grayson County?
Landon Young
Yeah, yeah, we. About two hours west of Lexington and we raised cattle there. My dad used to raise a bunch of pigs and cattle. My great granddad used to have an orchard down there and raised a lot of apple, pear, peach, everything and. But now we're, we're just doing freezer beef until I'm done playing. So anybody who wants a half whole of beef, we raise it. We'll sell it to you. Good quality Kentucky made. Kentucky butchered product like the shout out.
Drew Franklin
Also love just NFL players just farming in the, in the off season farms.
Ryan Lemond
Happy year plays football half a year.
Drew Franklin
You're a veteran in New Orleans now, but when you, you first got there after your, your nice career here at Kentucky, you're on that offensive line. What was your kind of wake up moment? Was there a defensive lineman you faced that was just a freak of nature? Or was there a moment in camp where. Or anything where you really said, oh yeah, this is, this is the league.
Landon Young
I will say, because obviously I wasn't a day one starter, but I was always on special teams starting off the season. And so my kind of welcome to the NFL moment was one of, I think it was my first or second game. We played Tampa Bay and I was on field goal playing right guard, right next to the snapper. And I had Vita Vay and Adama Kasu lined up against me and I was like, wow, that is a large, massive human right across from me. And I was sitting there and I was like, you know, maybe this isn't for me.
Drew Franklin
We'll see after this play.
Landon Young
And I did all right. But, yeah, those two guys, they called a V technique on their side of the ball against me on that field goal, I was like, man, this is different. And just from that, I didn't even have to play an actual snap offense. I just. Those guys lined against me and I was like, yeah, here it is. Welcome.
Ryan Lemond
Now, when you were here, you and Drake and these guys kind of set the foundation for the big blue wall. And Kentucky kind of came known for the big blue wall, came O line U. The last couple years, that's kind of been maybe a Achilles heel of the football program. You watching from afar, doing what you did when you were here to help establish that tradition of the big blue wall. What. What's been the problem and how can they fix it?
Landon Young
You know, I think a lot of it's just. It's unity. It's coming back to it. And you remember all those guys when we were here, between Drake, Logan, dk, even Nick Haynes, Cole Mosher, all those guys, we were all super close. And, you know, some of these guys may be close, but it wasn't a whole unit closeness like we had back then. And that's the number one thing that's going to make your O line work well together, is having unity outside of the field. And I've been able to spend a little bit of time with these guys. And, you know, it's a whole different, different thing in college football now if, you know, now that nil's come out, now that all these coaches changes and everything like that. But Slarman did a really, really good job of, you know, instilling that unity between all of us and saying, no matter what happens, whether you fail, whether you lose a block, everyone's gonna lose a block. Go out there with the mindset that you're better than the person across from you. And that's what made us really good. So we didn't care about losing. We didn't care about this, that or the other. We were going out there, and we knew that whether we lost one rep, two reps, five reps, we were still better than that person across from us. And, you know, we lived with that pride and that pride for the university, for the state, for our families, and, you know, some of its ebbs and flows of players and recruiting. But I definitely. I've been able to spend a little bit of time with these guys this last offseason. And hopefully we're. We're starting to turn it, turn it around and get that unity back between the offensive line, offensive lineman.
Drew Franklin
That's not a position where you see they're the star of the team very often. So your group was very unique in that Kentucky was branded around you guys and being the big blue wall. And other teams knew if you were playing Kentucky, you were having to deal with that offensive line. You mentioned being proud. Was there just an extra sense of pride knowing that like the offensive lines kind of were the stars of those teams and that the success or even the failures, it all kind of fell on you all a little more than it has in most programs, in most cultures, 100%.
Landon Young
And that's what we signed up for. You know, we wanted to make being an onlineman look fun. And it is fun. You know, when you sit in those meeting rooms with us, like we have a blast. We joke around. And I always say that every single level you go to, it's different people. It's same people, different faces. And those are the good offensive line rooms. When you can still joke around, you can have fun and make being an old lineman fun. That's what we sign up for at the end of the day is to be the, be the, get no congratulations on whatever and take all the blame at the end of the day. And we got to be okay with that. But you know, when we started being, you know, embracing that role at UK and we were just out there having fun, you know, having competitions between each other and everything like that, you obviously saw the, what happened in turn. You know, we, we went out there and we won games and we rushed for a lot of yards and we got to know, be known as, you know, a really good offensive line that a lot of teams didn't really want to go against. And so it was just, it was a blast playing. And like I said, it's that pride that kind of carried us through those, those years at uk.
Ryan Lemond
Well, man, I appreciate you taking some time off your tractor to come and talk to us a little bit.
Drew Franklin
It's beef.
Ryan Lemond
I asked him what you been doing this summer. Farming. I've been doing farming. You know, get ready. Of course, your athletic career didn't start at Picket home. It started with the South Lexington Legends 8 year old all star team. He was my first baseman. Looked me right in the eye. He was 8 years old. He's looked me right in the eye. And Melanie, we're so proud of you. The, the city of Lexington's proud of you. Lafayette High School is proud of you. Jesse Clark Middle School is proud of you, UK's proud of you. You guys set the tradition that we still is today. Everybody still talks about the big blue wall and really happy to hear you're doing well and you're a dad now, your kids and just really proud of the man you've become.
Landon Young
I appreciate it and I appreciate you all having me on the show.
Ryan Lemond
All right, Landon young, ladies and gentlemen, one of the pride of. You know, Lexington went for years and years and years and didn't produce an NFL player. And now in the last couple years they got Landon Young, Jed Willis, Devin Key, Lucky Jackson, all about the same age all at once. And Landon was kind of the leader of all those guys.
Drew Franklin
Had a Damien Harrison there, Damien Harris Dane key next year.
Ryan Lemond
I think so.
Drew Franklin
Nice little Kentucky pipeline. I like that he lined up against Dominican sue and considered selling beef full time while his hand was in the dirt. He's looking at sue, but his brain is going, maybe I should farm.
Ryan Lemond
Maybe farm is not a bad option after all. All right, we'll take our break, come back, we will go to the phone lines. We'll put up the phone lines right now. 859-280-2287. That's 85928. Oh, catch. Ryan, Drew and Shannon, we'll be right back. This is Kentucky Sports Radio.
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Ryan Lemond
Ryan, Drew and Shannon here. We're in studio today and I love that whole group. Landon Young, Cash, Daniel Drake Jackson. Those three Kentucky kids, they just brought a work ethic and a blue collar attitude to the team. It's kind of been missing the last couple years I feel like.
Drew Franklin
Yeah. And it's just, we all know it's just a little different when they're one of us out there. And that recruiting class was special. Kentucky had a lot of good contributors from the state in that era.
Ryan Lemond
859-280-2287 Casey's been holding for a while, so hey fellers, how are you? Casey.
Landon Young
Hey, good morning Fellers.
Ryan Lemond
So I was wondering if you guys had watched the ESPYs because Shane Gillis.
Drew Franklin
I thought killed it. There was a lot of mixed reaction on Twitter but I wanted to see he picked it. A couple of our Kentucky guys, he kind of poked at Carl and poked.
Ryan Lemond
At SGA a little bit. I thought he was funny. So I just wanted to see what you guys thought and I hope you guys have a great weekend. Go cat. Thanks. Thanks Casey. Have a good weekend also. Yeah. Drew brought this up during one of the commercial break told us one of the jokes. You can sell that joke.
Drew Franklin
Did you hear what he had to answer a question? I really enjoyed it. It was very awkward without being there. You can't tell how like bad they're bombing or if they're getting applause. It was hard to really tell if it was as awkward as it felt on tv. But he had some jokes that after he said him you're kind of woo surprised he said that went on Disney network here.
Ryan Lemond
What do you Say about Carl.
Drew Franklin
Oh, no, don't make me pick on Carl. He said, carl Towns is here. Hey, girl. Sorry, Carl. That, you know, that became a Carl trend there through the playoffs. A little bit zesty Carl as it was. He said he gave a shout out to Shay and said everyone's sitting around him's in foul trouble. He did do the Norm MacDonald OJ joke that was very controversial at the ESPYs in the mid-90s. He brought it back at the end. As he was walking off, he said, I have one more joke. And he did it, which I loved as a Norm guy, that one. All the Norm fans appreciated that one because it was a nod to him.
Ryan Lemond
I go say it's what it was, a Nod to Norm MacDonald.
Drew Franklin
So he brought that one back. That's a famous ESPY moment, the one I told Ryan during the break that I'll repeat here on the show. It's so stupid. It's the most childish of the jokes he made. But he was talking about Shohei Ohtani and how he has a bookie, and then he said, a bookie? That's what Bill Belichick reads to his girlfriend before bedtime. Enjoyed that one. But it's very.
Ryan Lemond
Were they there? Was. Was Bill and his.
Drew Franklin
They didn't show them that. Most people he talked about, they showed they were there. Yeah. And a lot of uncomfortable faces. Yeah, it was one of those. I like uncomfortable comedy, so I enjoyed it. It was even being at home watching it, like, oh, my goodness, is this. He has to feel so awkward up there because it didn't feel like he was getting laughs and he was pushing the envelope a little bit. Even would apologize for one after he said it. But overall, I enjoyed it.
Ryan Lemond
Is it up there when Norm MacDonald did it?
Drew Franklin
No, not. No, but it is that. Casey said you either loved it or you hated it. A lot of people absolutely hated it. And some people kind of enjoy that kind of humor and kind of the tension in the room.
Ryan Lemond
While we're talking about TV shows, the Late show with Stephen Colbert is getting canceled and starting next May. May of 2026. I gotta admit, I've probably seen that show two times, maybe three. I just didn't care for it. Either one of you guys watch it. Is that something that's gonna bother you to watch it?
Shannon The Dude
And I was like, this is terrible. Who is watching this? And. And so I won't miss him at all, personally.
Drew Franklin
So I used to. Not even regularly, but I would semi frequently watch. I guess it's called the Colbert Report on. On Comedy Central.
Ryan Lemond
Yeah.
Drew Franklin
Back in like college, I. Since he moved to cbs. Is it even cbs?
Ryan Lemond
I believe.
Drew Franklin
I don't know that I've seen it twice. And he did that what a decade more.
Ryan Lemond
Yeah, he's been on forever.
Drew Franklin
And I was a pretty frequent Letterman watcher. I just, I don't know if it's that style of TV or him. I don't know what. But I did not follow him when.
Matt Jones
He made the movie.
Shannon The Dude
It was like a big political rant. I'm like, this guy, he's just obnoxious. So I could. I had to turn it off every time I try to watch any of it.
Drew Franklin
Do those shows even work anymore?
Ryan Lemond
I'll just get ready to say that. No, I know. Jimmy Fallon, right? Seth Meyer still do his show?
Drew Franklin
I have no idea.
Ryan Lemond
I mean, Jimmy Kimmel.
Shannon The Dude
Yeah, Kimmel definitely does. Yeah.
Drew Franklin
It seems since they're not replacing it, maybe CBS recognizes that. That model sucks.
Ryan Lemond
Boy, it used to work. It was the hit.
Drew Franklin
Oh, I used to be in the Letterman Leno battles after the.
Ryan Lemond
After the local news on Evansville. We came on at 10 o'. Clock. So it started 10:30. Yeah. Johnny Carson or Jay Leno and then David Letterman right after that. Everybody watched that every, every night.
Shannon The Dude
Some of these guys, they put on it like 1:30 in the morning. I'm going, who is watching this? Remember Carson Daly used to have a show. It started at like 2 o' clock in the morning. It was like 30 minutes. Like really? They're going to put. They're going to have a show on and it's only on for 30 minutes. Who's watching that?
Ryan Lemond
I think Carson Daly's one most overrated people I've ever seen in my life.
Drew Franklin
You weren't TRL guy.
Ryan Lemond
Dry. No, no Personality, not charismatic. My little Carson Daily I feel about.
Shannon The Dude
Drew Carey posting the Price is Right.
Drew Franklin
Do we need to add Carson Daly to Ryan's list?
Shannon The Dude
I think we do.
Ryan Lemond
That's.
Drew Franklin
That felt personal.
Ryan Lemond
Well, I just always felt like, man, how's this guy doing? All.
Drew Franklin
What do you watch him on? I don't even know where I would consume Carson Daly on the Today show.
Shannon The Dude
I think he's on the Day show now.
Ryan Lemond
He used to do the Voice. All the MTV stuff he used to do.
Drew Franklin
Yeah, I just used to watch him after school counting down for my favorite music videos. Haven't kept up with them much since these late night shows though. They only get like one good segment anyway. And then it's on social media in the morning that I think that's what's really killing them.
Ryan Lemond
8, 5, 9.
Drew Franklin
Catch the recap.
Ryan Lemond
280-2-2, 8, 7. Who's next? Shannon?
Shannon The Dude
Marcia.
Ryan Lemond
Marcia. Go ahead, Marcia.
Marcia
Good morning, everyone.
Ryan Lemond
Good morning, Marcia.
Marcia
I have two things. Two things. First, I want to wish happy anniversary to Robert and Misty English, 44 years.
Ryan Lemond
Nice, Misty.
Marcia
And we'll see them. Yes, we'll see them tonight at the TBT game. And I have something to say about the tbt.
Ryan Lemond
Go ahead, Mark.
Marcia
My favorite thing in the world is seeing former players. Okay, Clamp. I love seeing our former players. However, in most of the games, you see them, like at that Tate's Creek game the other day, they're just out there having a good time. If you want to see defense and rebounds, you're gonna be frustrated. See, I get frustrated. Kendall was fussing at me at that game the other night. Mama, calm down, because I want to see defense. When you go to them TBT games, it's for real. They playing and you're. See, I'm getting two things at once. I'm seeing former players and they playing. And I. I'm so excited. I can't wait for tonight. And even though beating Louisville was the cream, I just seen Louisville lose and don't have to even look at. They spitting ugly faces.
Ryan Lemond
Marcia, if there's anybody who wants to. Who's excited about it, you're. You were a girl I knew was going to be there tonight supporting the team. You were there every game last year. So enjoy it again tonight.
Marcia
I sure will. Love you guys.
Ryan Lemond
Love you, Marsh. Appreciate it.
Shannon The Dude
And that Willie was talking about they're going to be locked down defensively. You know, he's talking about that on the show yesterday.
Ryan Lemond
Well, even Andrew Harrison said that something about, you know, the defense are going to play. So maybe. Maybe Sean woods is trying to change the focus of the team a little bit, even though it's a TBT tournament.
Shannon The Dude
My biggest takeaway from that was Willie saying that he. He doesn't even pick up a basketball until he goes out there. Like, you think that these guys are probably practicing somewhere and they're just like. I mean, I guess they had that scrimmage or. I can't say scrimmage. They had that get together. But, you know, he's like. He doesn't even touch a basketball. He said.
Ryan Lemond
Said he doesn't even own a basketball.
Drew Franklin
Just like riding a bike. That's what he said.
Ryan Lemond
Okay. People think he was on the golf course yesterday when he called us. And, you know, that noise did hear a mower. We thought it was golf cart. Golf cart.
Drew Franklin
Oh, yeah. Playing it back in my head. That was definitely a golf. Golf.
Ryan Lemond
I agree. He was playing golf. He was supposedly meeting with somebody.
Drew Franklin
Well, you can't play by yourself. That's no fun. So he met someone at the golf.
Ryan Lemond
Course, but I was led to believe it was meaning like a recruit or a current player or. So maybe he's playing golf with somebody yesterday.
Drew Franklin
I think you're, you're realizing in this moment that you got played.
Ryan Lemond
I did get played.
Drew Franklin
He had to get his 18 holes in or 36, actually. I think yesterday he confessed to multiple rounds a day.
Ryan Lemond
Well, that's what he was doing.
Shannon The Dude
That's what that sound was.
Ryan Lemond
That sound was him on the golf cart.
Shannon The Dude
Clubs are rattling around in the bag.
Drew Franklin
Yep. And at one moment I heard a mower, but then the motor sounded different. So he was by a lawnmower on the course, then fired up his golf cart.
Ryan Lemond
We got it.
Drew Franklin
We're on it.
Ryan Lemond
Look at this.
Drew Franklin
He told you. Investigative reporters.
Ryan Lemond
All right, we'll take our break. We come back, the least toughest man in all of EA college football sports video game. Aiden Laros, Kentucky's punter, joins us. We come back on Kentucky Sports Radio.
Matt Jones
This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace. You know when you're really stressed or not feeling so great about your life or about yourself, talking to someone who understands can really help. But who is that person? How do you find them? Where do you even start? Talkspace. Talkspace makes it easy to get the support you need. With Talkspace, you can go online, answer a few questions about your preferences, and be matched with a therapist. And because you'll meet your therapist online, you don't have to take time off work or arrange childcare. You'll meet on your schedule wherever you feel most at ease. If you're depressed, stressed, struggling with a relationship, or if you want some counseling for you and your partner or just need a little extra one on one support, Talkspace is here for you. Plus, Talkspace works with most major insurers and most insured members have a zero dollar copay. No insurance, no problem. Now get $80 off of your first month with promo code space80 when you go to talkspace.com match with a licensed therapist today at talkspace.com save $80 with code space80@talkspace.com.
Kentucky Sports Radio (KSR) - Hour 1 Summary Release Date: July 18, 2025
Hosts: Ryan Lemond, Shannon "The Dude," Drew Franklin
Presented by: iHeartPodcasts and Sports Talk 790 (WKRD-AM)
The episode kicks off with Ryan Lemond welcoming listeners to the Friday edition of Kentucky Sports Radio. The primary focus quickly shifts to Mark Stoops, the head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats football team, particularly his recent remarks during SEC Media Days.
Mark Stoops' Stance on "Motivated" Meme:
Timestamp [05:59]
Drew Franklin notes that Stoops expressed frustration over the pervasive "motivated" meme circulating since spring. Stoops addressed media members directly, stating, “I’ll play along and let the media have their fun and take their shots, and that’s cool with me.” ([06:01])
Shannon "The Dude" interprets Stoops' comments as a sign of high motivation, suggesting that being "motivated" leads to him being "ticked off" at times, showcasing his dedication to the team's performance ([06:09]).
Reaction and Fan Sentiment:
Timestamp [07:25]
Ryan reflects on Stoops' urgency and determination to overcome last year's shortcomings, emphasizing a "fourth and one mentality" that underscores the team's focus and resilience ([07:45]).
A significant segment addresses the controversy surrounding the digital-number backpacks showcased during SEC Media Days.
Backpack Design and Perception:
Timestamp [10:24]
Drew Franklin criticizes the backpacks, describing them as "very unserious" and reminiscent of elementary school accessories. The discussion reveals that all teams received similar backpacks, but Kentucky was specifically highlighted, leading to teasing from rival fan bases ([18:04]).
Ryan elaborates that the SEC may have intentionally singled out Kentucky by featuring their backpacks last, sparking mockery from other teams’ supporters ([18:30]).
Apology to Players:
Timestamp [18:46]
Drew apologizes to Stoops and his team, acknowledging that the SEC’s actions were not intended to target them specifically. The hosts humorously blame various sports media personalities for perpetuating the teasing ([19:08]).
The hosts shift to more uplifting news involving the Kentucky football team’s community efforts.
Coach Stoops and Team’s Volunteer Work:
Timestamp [19:25]
Ryan highlights how Coach Stoops and several players spent time with special Olympic children, engaging in activities that showcase the team's compassionate side. This segment emphasizes the players' dedication beyond the field ([19:57]).
Scott Mitchell’s Heroic Act:
Timestamp [20:37]
The conversation turns to Scott Mitchell, a former UK football player, who heroically chased down an arsonist in California. Mitchell's courageous actions prevented potential wildfires, earning him national recognition and praise from Coach Stoops ([21:13]-[22:23]).
A pivotal moment in the episode centers around Archie Goodwin, a former UK football player, who opens up about his experiences during his time with the team.
Goodwin’s Emotional Disclosure:
Timestamp [22:15]
Drew praises Goodwin's candidness, noting, “He was doing his own podcast... I loved every minute of hearing from him.” Goodwin articulates the challenges he faced, providing insight into the team dynamics and his personal struggles ([23:13]-[25:25]).
Impact on Fans and Narratives:
Shannon agrees that Goodwin's transparency offers valuable perspective and may lead to more behind-the-scenes stories emerging, fostering a deeper understanding among fans ([24:48]).
The latter half features an engaging interview with Landon Young, a standout NFL player from the Kentucky Wildcats.
Landon’s Career and Farm Life:
Timestamp [26:06]-[30:11]
Landon reflects on his transition from UK to the New Orleans Saints, discussing his love for farming and maintaining his Kentucky roots despite his professional commitments. He shares anecdotes about his early aspirations, including rodeo dreams ([28:55]-[30:11]).
Thoughts on UK’s Offensive Line Legacy:
Timestamp [31:58]-[35:11]
Landon emphasizes the importance of unity within the offensive line, attributing past successes to strong camaraderie and collective pride. He outlines efforts to restore this legacy, highlighting the cultural and strategic changes implemented ([33:28]-[35:11]).
The show incorporates listener calls, bringing forth community sentiments and additional topics of interest.
ESPYS and Late Show Cancellation:
Timestamp [39:04]-[43:38]
The hosts discuss recent events like Shane Gillis' performance at the ESPYs and the cancellation of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." Opinions vary, with some finding Gillis’ humor entertaining while others are indifferent or critical of the show's cancellation ([39:04]-[43:38]).
Listener Marcia’s Comments:
Timestamp [44:11]-[45:43]
Marcia shares her excitement for the upcoming TBT game, appreciating the presence of former players actively participating in matches. The hosts encourage her enthusiasm and extend their support ([44:11]-[45:43]).
The episode concludes with teasers for future segments, including an upcoming appearance by Aiden Laros, Kentucky's punter, promising further insights into the team's dynamics and player profiles.
Wild Eggs Contest:
Timestamp [14:33]-[15:32]
The hosts announce a contest where listeners can win a $100 Wild Eggs gift card by locating Josiah, Ryan’s son, who is working at the restaurant. This playful segment engages the audience and adds a light-hearted end to the show ([14:33]-[15:32]).
Mark Stoops on "Motivation":
“I’ll play along and let the media have their fun and take their shots, and that’s cool with me.” ([06:01])
Scott Mitchell on Heroism:
“I didn’t know I still had it.” ([21:48])
Archie Goodwin on Personal Struggles:
“I finally got to explain why it didn’t work out the way I wanted to.” ([23:19])
Landon Young on Team Unity:
“We were out there having fun, you know, having competitions between each other and everything like that...if you fail, everyone’s going to fail together.” ([31:58])
This episode of Kentucky Sports Radio provides a blend of critical analysis, heartfelt stories, and community engagement. From dissecting Coach Stoops' challenges with media narratives to celebrating player heroism and candid personal revelations, the hosts offer a comprehensive look into the current state and legacy of Kentucky sports. The inclusion of special guests like Landon Young adds depth, fostering a connection between fans and the athletes who represent them.
Listeners are encouraged to stay tuned for more in-depth discussions, interviews, and interactive segments in future episodes.