Matt Jones (2:26)

Don't miss the Queen of Comedy and Lexington Zone, Adele Givens. For tickets to all comedy Off Broadway shows, call 859271 joke or visit comedyoff.

Drew Franklin (2:36)

Broadway.Com.

Shannon (2:41)

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

Matt Jones (2:47)

Welcome everyone. It is Kentucky Sports Radio Thursday. It is November 20th. I'm Matt Jones Here live at K. We are here until noon today. Love to have you come out and say hello. Got my friend here from Carlisle County. Help me with the book. When I went out to the. To the west coast or. Yeah, west coast of Kentucky.

Drew Franklin (3:06)

We don't get a lot of Carlisle county people come around here out there.

Matt Jones (3:09)

State. State champs, right. One year run. State runner up in like, what, 82, 83. See, look. Look at you. Well, they're very proud of it.

Drew Franklin (3:18)

Yeah.

Matt Jones (3:18)

And now are they combining the two counties into one school? No, they're not going to do that. They had talked about it and they fought it and they.

Drew Franklin (3:25)

Carlisle and what? Livingston. What's the other county?

Matt Jones (3:27)

Ballard. Carlisle and Ballard. That's out on the. Part of the state people. Don't. They need to know more about it. Clark's Puppet Shop phone line 859-280-2287. A Vision Auto Glass text machine, 772-774-5254. In this edition sponsored by the T.J. smith Law Office, you call TJL. Make them pay. Those are the Mississippi river counties. A lot of people in Kentucky just don't even think about the fact that we have four counties that board the. The border, the river. Big thing is, can you get a port? That's what everybody wants to talk about. Can we get a port? That's. That's. That's a big issue there.

Ryan (3:59)

You.

Drew Franklin (3:59)

I remember in your book you talk about one of those counties has a bridge that goes to nowhere. It's like just a bridge.

Matt Jones (4:04)

Fulton County. Well, there's a. No, no, no. You're thinking of a different part of the state. This is why I shouldn't let you be part of this. No, they. Fulton county, you have to cross into Missouri or Tennessee. You have to cross into Missouri to get to the other part of Kentucky. We. We have a little piece of Kentucky.

Drew Franklin (4:22)

It'S like a little island that's on.

Matt Jones (4:24)

The other side of Missouri, which is really strange.

Drew Franklin (4:27)

Very strange.

Matt Jones (4:28)

And most people don't know it. So. Yeah, that's. There's a. There's an Indian burial ground up there in Ballard County. Wick. The Wickham what? Wycliffe Wickliffe Mounds. That's right.

Ryan (4:41)

It's way out my way, even way farther.

Matt Jones (4:44)

You leave today, you get there Monday. Yeah. I mean, it's. It's far away.

Ryan (4:47)

For a second there, we thought we had a remote there next week, but Billy had the town wrong.

Drew Franklin (4:51)

Yeah.

Matt Jones (4:51)

That's an interest. That's an interesting. I don't know if you know about this. We're off topic, but that's okay.

Drew Franklin (4:57)

That's okay.

Matt Jones (4:58)

So we do Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We are at Don Franklin Columbia, which we were supposed to be at a few weeks ago. And for a scheduling reason, I needed to change. And we did it in Lexington instead of Columbia. And they said to me, hey, are you okay doing it the day before Thanksgiving? I said, sure, I can go to Columbia, right? We can do a little Adair county before Thanksgiving. So that's next Wednesday. But Billy on the drive goes, I said, where is that remote next Wednesday? And he said, columbus, Kentucky. And I was like, I don't know where that is. Where's Columbus, Kentucky? And Drew looked it up, and it's like, out in Ballard county, right? It's. It's as far away as you can be. It's 4 hours and 45 minutes. And I said, billy, I can't go the day before Thanksgiving 4 hours and 45 minutes away. Come back. Kentucky has a game that night.

Drew Franklin (5:56)

Yeah, they do.

Matt Jones (5:56)

I'm like, what do you. You expect us to go all the way to Columbus and all the way back and do that game the day before Thanksgiving? My family's going to be here. I can't go all the way to Columbus, be nine hours on the road. Billy's like, you agreed to it. And I said, I know I did not agree to that. I know I did not agree to go four and a half hours away. Well, he had it spelled wrong. He had Columbus and Columbia spelled wrong. Well, that's why he does thing like bring that suitcase is he writes the wrong thing down.

Drew Franklin (6:27)

Columbia has been good friends with us.

Matt Jones (6:29)

I love Columbia's great.

Drew Franklin (6:30)

Columbus that'd be.

Matt Jones (6:32)

And I'm sure Columbus is.

Drew Franklin (6:33)

I'm sure they're a great town.

Matt Jones (6:34)

Maybe there are people listening from Columbus. 772, 774. 5, 254. You can tell me where we would have stayed or where we would have be.

Ryan (6:41)

Population 140. I think we.

Matt Jones (6:42)

There's 140 people. I also was like, they can't have a Don Franco dealership in Columbus. But anyway, we. We're here. All right. A lot of stuff to get to our guy. Our Irish soccer announcer is going to join us because they play tonight, did you know that? In the NCAA tournament.

Drew Franklin (7:00)

Okay. I didn't know if it's comic tournament still or NCAA.

Matt Jones (7:02)

Gavin. Gavin's play. We play in St. Louis, I think tonight.

Drew Franklin (7:05)

Okay.

Matt Jones (7:06)

He's gonna get us ready for that game and. And more. But let's start with, you know, a story. You know, things are kind of a little hectic when people's like, grandmas are writing them and asking them what's going on. Right.

Drew Franklin (7:21)

Yes.

Matt Jones (7:21)

Yesterday was. You know, there are moments where Big Blue Nation is at its best, and then there are moments where I won't say it's at its worst, but you see the other side of, like, okay, this is the other part of dealing with this job. And I think yesterday was that, I mean, people are understandably frustrated about the Michigan State game and lots of complaints, which is also understandable. But then the kind of like, okay, what's going on? Went into wild effect. I mean, it was like the old days in the sense of, you know, Dan Dockage got re. Like. Like, came from the. From the past to, like, come after me and call Big Blue Nation names. The national media. CNN had an article about how Michigan State was doing the future and Kentucky wasn't. And, like, a contrast in styles. I didn't even know CNN did sports. You had Gary Parrish, and you had all these guys, like, taking. Giving their opinion on what's going on. And then, of course, and I. You know, I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. The rumor mill started running wild as to what was going on with the chemistry of this team. I wrote on Twitter that I got nine different stories last night from people who told me they were 100% sure they were true and some of them were mutually exclusive. They could not have both happened. And I probably believe none of them are true. But everybody had, like, you know, Kenny Walker's cousin told me, or it would.

Drew Franklin (8:59)

Be like, my son's a friend of the.

Matt Jones (9:01)

Oh, I had a lot of friends of the. Of, like Zach Toe.

Drew Franklin (9:06)

Yeah.

Matt Jones (9:06)

Or, you know, there were a lot of friends of. Or cousins of. Or housekeepers of a lot of that stuff. But I also would say it was inevitable that this would happen and that Mark Pope did this. Mark Pope did what should be cardinal rule number one as a coach. Do not say something happened and not say what it is. Okay. Or do not, like, do not give no answers when people want answers, because when there is silence, people will fill the void. I probably said that to John Caliperi 50 times in those last few years. If you leave silence, if you don't tell people the status of players, injuries, and if you don't do that stuff, the void will be filled with something, and that has now happened, and that's where we are right now. You're right.

Drew Franklin (10:00)

You know, everybody's trying to find an Answer like, what's wrong? So when we don't know, they're going to fill that void, like you said, with just any crazy story that you hear, and then it gets passed around and just gains momentum.

Matt Jones (10:14)

And every time it gets said, it's like the telephone game.

Drew Franklin (10:16)

Yes.

Matt Jones (10:17)

Changed a little bit. And also in people's mind, gets more credibility because they're hearing it from a lot of people, even though it's probably the same story just circling around and hitting everybody. Did you say your parents asked or somebody's parents?

Drew Franklin (10:31)

Yes. I mean, it starts going around on these message boards. It gets passed around, and then all of a sudden everybody believes it must be true.

Matt Jones (10:37)

It's in the church bulletin at the Nazarene Church. What? No, I'm just kidding. It wasn't. But that's the kind of thing that you could see happening. Yeah.

Ryan (10:46)

I was going crazy yesterday. I had people asking me, people I haven't heard from in forever. Hey, is this true? How y' all heard this? Heard this, so and so told me this. And I agree that there's chemistry issues, but some of the rumors out there, I feel like they had a whole UFC fight card of teammates fighting each other. I heard every combination of player on the team fought each other at some point. And, you know, all of that can't be true.

Matt Jones (11:06)

Yeah. I'm trying to think, is there anybody. I didn't hear any. No scenario involved. Yellow Vic.

Ryan (11:12)

No.

Matt Jones (11:13)

He may be the one, maybe the one that was not involved, but I heard a scenario involving, I think every other player, maybe Malachi. Maybe it's something about those bench bigs that keeps them out of. Out of the mid mix. Now, there's also the real world ramifications. Our assistant basketball coach responded to one of these on Twitter. So there's an account called Man Boy, which I don't understand why that's the name of the account, but it is. It is. Mark Maggard. You remember Mark Maggard from back in day. Another name from the past.

Drew Franklin (11:48)

I didn't know he was coming.

Matt Jones (11:50)

People are coming out. When are we gonna have TC Cat come back? Like. Like all the names from the past are back. He wrote something sort of. It didn't even really seem that. That bad to me. It was just like, if there are chemistry issues, and then he was. He was, I think, speculating. Could Garrison leave mid semester? Something like that? Jason Hart replies to the comments, and Jason Hart says, I don't normally respond, but chaos in the locker room is false. You're making things up, which is unfortunate. So that's good to hear. But I also don't know if that's the forum to respond to it in. But again, Pope did this like the reason this is happening is because, A, you brought up the pregame Louisville thing, but then B, because kind of the way he was acting after the game against Michigan State, it kind of leads to this.

Drew Franklin (12:50)

It does. It goes all back to how he handled the whole Louisville thing. And his response after that game. His response after the game, we won. The difference response he had to the median and the fan.

Matt Jones (13:00)

Yeah. When he said something about Taylor Swift.

Drew Franklin (13:02)

Yes.

Matt Jones (13:02)

Yeah.

Drew Franklin (13:02)

And then the response after the Michigan State game. All that has kind of led all of us to speculate and run wild with some of these stories.

Matt Jones (13:08)

If you're going to send the fans drew on an adventure of guessing, you can't get mad where they take that adventure. Right. And he kind of did that.

Ryan (13:17)

And Pope's had three, four speaking opportunities, and only Jason Hart on Twitter is the one denying or putting any kind of stuff out there from the coaching staff. Pope is the one in front of the microphone speaking for the coaching staff, but his assistants are having to go around him and reply on Twitter to let people know that things are okay.

Matt Jones (13:35)

So he speaks at noon today?

Drew Franklin (13:37)

Yes.

Matt Jones (13:38)

That's a little unusual. Usually he will speak once a week before a game. Am I correct about that?

Ryan (13:45)

Well, the players did Monday. This is his one.

Matt Jones (13:47)

Oh, this is his.

Ryan (13:48)

Yeah, the players.

Matt Jones (13:50)

Okay.

Ryan (13:50)

Excuse me.

Matt Jones (13:51)

So this is his normal one. Wouldn't you say to him, if you were giving PR advice, just deal with all this right now.

Drew Franklin (14:01)

Hit it head on.

Matt Jones (14:02)

Just hit it head on. I'm not sure it's going to make anything necessarily better, but maybe it'll quell because right now you have two different conversations going on. The are we good at basketball? Conversation and then the what's going on? Conversation, and then those two kind of bleed into each other. And you can at least end or at least tamper down one of them.

Drew Franklin (14:23)

See, I'm with you. I mean, it is November. There's a lot of basketball left. And if you don't hit it head on and get it out there, it's going to. It's going to follow you like a dark cloud until you address it and tell everybody what's going on.

Matt Jones (14:35)

And people like rumor. They just do. It's while these shows like Love in Kettle island and all this stuff occur. Kettle of them. Actually, if you had Love in Kettle island, that's a show I would watch. If you've ever been To Kettle Island.

Drew Franklin (14:50)

Where is Kettle Island?

Matt Jones (14:51)

It's up in the hollers of Bell County.

Drew Franklin (14:53)

Wow.

Ryan (14:53)

I would watch that.

Matt Jones (14:54)

I would want to see that. That love. But. But point being like it's. That's people like that stuff. Now I want to give just a basketball point somebody got and I just want your thought on this.

Drew Franklin (15:06)

Okay.

Matt Jones (15:07)

And you don't. We'll probably go to break after I say this so you can think about it. During the break, one person wrote and said, matt, here's what I think is ultimately the biggest issue. Pope created a team completely built on analytics and that all looks good on paper, but maybe he just forgot to go get us really good players. He said, let's be honest about what we have. We have two guys who in theory can be stars. One of them was an inconsistent player from Pitt and he's hurt. The other one has yet to be on the floor. The third, Otega O Way was while our most consistent player last year. Would you say he was our best and he's not playing well? The other players, while great, are all kind of role players. Aberdeen was the fifth leading scorer at Florida. Diabate was the sixth leading scorer at Alabama. Cam Williams was the sixth man at Tulane. Three guys are rookies. None of them were ranked in the top 10. Maybe we just don't have all that much talent. And this is what it is and it's a team that looks good on paper, but when it actually comes to having great players on the floor, we just don't have as many as everybody else. What do we think about that?

Drew Franklin (16:27)

I mean, I think there's a little truth to that for sure, but I also think the fact the whole team, the whole summer was all built around Jalen Lowe. He was supposed to be your guy and when you yank him out, they've kind of been in a tailspin and haven't learned to recover yet from that.

Matt Jones (16:41)

You could make an argument that only one guy on this team has had the responsibility of being the best player on a Power 14, and that's Jalen Lowe and he's hurt. And just to contrast that to last year, Kobe Braya, Jackson, Robinson, Andrew Carr, Amari Williams, you know, Lamont Butler were either the first or second best player on their team. And do we have one guy on this team besides Low and Away who was the first or second best player? The answer is probably no.

Ryan (17:23)

I think the big problem, as we all know is away is not being what he is supposed to be. Owe a was the best player last year. He's the preseason player of the year and he should not even been in the conversation for police preseason player year. With the way he started, I think.

Matt Jones (17:35)

He was our most consistent player and in some ways was our best. But I will say this. I always kind of thought the other guys were as good. It's just he was the most consistent and now he's not consistent. So I'm not saying I totally agree with that. But that's an interesting read on the roster. It's a roster that you go, oh, all of these pieces are great. But then you say, well, is there.

Drew Franklin (18:03)

A guy you know during the summer we all thought this was a great roster because he was too deep in every position. That was. That's a roster I thought.

Matt Jones (18:10)

But do you win with too deep on six men?

Drew Franklin (18:14)

Not necessarily.

Matt Jones (18:15)

Well, we'll see. My big concern is just an interesting point. I hadn't really thought about it like that, but that's an interesting thought.

Ryan (18:22)

He passed on people in recruiting because they're not a fit. If we don't have chemistry, why are we passing on good guys? Because they don't fit. If the mediocre guys thought there was going to be fit, well, that's a concern. If he can't read the room in recruiting.

Matt Jones (18:33)

859-280-2287 we will take a break. Be right back. This is ksr.

Josh Zeman (18:38)

A decade ago I was on the trail of one of the country's most elusive serial killers. But it wasn't until 2023 when he was finally caught, the answers were there, hidden in plain sight. So why did it take so long to catch him? I'm Josh Zieman and this is Monster Hunting the Long Island Serial Killer. The investigation into the most notorious killer in New York since the Son of Sam. Available now listen for free on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts.

Caller (19:12)

All I know is what I've been told.

Matt Jones (19:14)

And that's a half truth is a whole lie.

Podcast Narrator/Ad Voice (19:17)

For almost a decade, the murder of an 18 year old girl from a small town in Graves County, Kentucky went unsolved until a local homemaker, a journalist and a handful of girls came forward with a story.

Caller (19:33)

I'm telling you we know Quincy killed her.

Podcast Narrator/Ad Voice (19:35)

We know a story that law enforcement used to convict six people and that got the citizen investigator on national tv.

Caller (19:44)

Through sheer persistence and nerve, this Kentucky.

Matt Jones (19:47)

Housewife helped give justice to Jessica Curran.

Podcast Narrator/Ad Voice (19:51)

My name is Maggie Freeling. I'm a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist producer and I wouldn't be here if the truth were that easy to find.

Matt Jones (20:01)

I did not know her and I did not kill her or rape or burn or any of that other stuff that y' all said. They literally made me say that I.

Podcast Narrator/Ad Voice (20:08)

Took a match and struck and threw it on her. They made me say that I poured.

Matt Jones (20:11)

Gas on her.

Podcast Narrator/Ad Voice (20:15)

From Lava for Good. This is Graves County, a show about just how far our legal system will go in order order to find someone to blame.

Matt Jones (20:25)

America, y' all better wake the hell up. Bad things happens to good people and small towns.

Podcast Narrator/Ad Voice (20:34)

Listen to Graves county in the Bone Valley feed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and to binge the entire season ad free. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.

Matt Jones (21:00)

Can we get a Thanksgiving first? I'm hungry.

Ryan (21:03)

Hey, y'.

Drew Franklin (21:04)

All.

Podcast Narrator/Ad Voice (21:04)

It's Kadeen and Deval, the hosts of Ellis Ever after podcast.

Matt Jones (21:08)

This holiday season, whether you're cooking for the family out buying gifts for the.

Podcast Narrator/Ad Voice (21:12)

Kids, or crowded in holiday traffic, tune out the noise and tune in to Ellis Ever After.

Matt Jones (21:18)

On Ellis Ever after, we get real with our crew about family. If you feeling like you feeling that's probably because you a good parent friendship. Be careful what you put in your body. Move your body and love it the way you love them cars that house, them clothes, them shoes, them brunches.

Ryan (21:34)

Love yourself.

Matt Jones (21:35)

Them brunches. Love and marriage.

Podcast Narrator/Ad Voice (21:37)

You know what's become attractive to me? And it's because I've self corrected and I guess I detoxified myself.

Drew Franklin (21:43)

Accountability.

Podcast Narrator/Ad Voice (21:45)

Oh, like it has been attractive. So attractive to me and everything else in between. I've told my most embarrassing moment on this podcast before, which was me taking a in a Ziploc bag.

Matt Jones (21:55)

So listen to Ellis Ever after on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Podcast Narrator/Ad Voice (22:07)

In early 1988, federal agents raced to track down the gang they suspect of importing millions of dollars worth of heroin into New York from Asia.

Matt Jones (22:16)

We had 30 agents ready to go with shotguns and rifles and you name it.

Podcast Narrator/Ad Voice (22:22)

But what they find is not what they expected.

Matt Jones (22:26)

Basically, your stay at home moms were picking up these large amounts of heroin. They go, is this your daughter? I said, yes. They go, oh, you may not see her for like 25 years.

Podcast Narrator/Ad Voice (22:39)

Caught between a federal investigation and the violent gang who recruited them, the women must decide who they're willing to protect and who they dare to betray.

Matt Jones (22:51)

Once I saw the gun, I tried to take his hand and I saw the flash of light.

Podcast Narrator/Ad Voice (22:55)

Listen to the Chinatown sting on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts.

Matt Jones (23:06)

Welcome back. Excuse me. Kentucky Sports Radio, 859-280-2287. Text machine is 772-774-5254. A couple of you're asking if I can get Mark Pope on. I haven't asked a. Be honest because I think you have to ask those, like, selectively. And I'm not sure this is the perfect time, but I mean, if they keep losing. Yeah, I think we're gonna. We're gonna need to do that. One person writes. Matt, I think that answer or the. The text is completely correct. I also am not sure if Jalen Lowe is the guy. Well, I don't know how you say that. He's played a game and a half. Like, I mean, I liked him. I still think if, if he plays this year, we can still be really good. But I do think he's the key and I've said that all summer. Still believe it. I. I just, you know, he. He is the straw and without him we have. I watched Alabama play last night. They won on the road at Illinois. Great win. Last eight points a game were scored by Phylon and they couldn't stop him. They just could not stop him. He got what he wanted at the end of the game. We just don't have a guy.

Drew Franklin (24:14)

We don't have the guy.

Matt Jones (24:15)

We don't have that guy. And at the end of a close game or even when you're like struggling to score, you need that guy at least.

Drew Franklin (24:25)

I felt like if we had low, he could at least create and give somebody a better look than what we've been getting.

Matt Jones (24:29)

He did it against Louisville.

Drew Franklin (24:31)

Yeah.

Matt Jones (24:31)

When we struggled, especially in the first half. He got us some points the minute.

Drew Franklin (24:35)

He came on the floor.

Matt Jones (24:35)

Yeah, I just.

Ryan (24:37)

My thing is still owe is the big reason of this. I still think away was a star last year. We had like 28 against Oklahoma in the SC tournament, maybe 20 in the NCAA tournament. For me, as much as low hurts them, him being basically zero at this point is the biggest issue.

Matt Jones (24:53)

I just never saw him as a star.

Ryan (24:55)

I mean, he took over the tournament games.

Matt Jones (24:56)

Yeah, but I mean, like, he has taken.

Ryan (24:58)

He didn't take over Eastern Hill.

Matt Jones (24:59)

Listen, I'm not trying to say he's not really good, but I never saw him as a star. I mean, I said on the show, I don't. Didn't really think he was SEC precinct to me now, that doesn't mean I just felt like he was a dude who could give you 14 every single game. But against a good team do I think. I mean you get in a matchup with Louisville down the stretch, they got Mikhail Brown. You got away who you want.

Ryan (25:25)

Here's always games the last week of the season. Last year, 27, 22, 24, 28, 20, 20. That is awesome. And that is nowhere near on the roster.

Matt Jones (25:34)

But did you ever.

Ryan (25:36)

Did you ever think that was Auburn, LSU, MO. He's done none of that against Eastern Illinois, Nichols or whoever else.

Matt Jones (25:43)

Did you ever think though that was a guy that you would say, say get us back in this game away or was it guy who always won those games? Yeah, I just. I mean I just.

Ryan (25:51)

And I watched him in the combine scrimmages and he looked like one of the best players on the floor. That guy is not in Lexington right now.

Matt Jones (25:57)

Listen, I get it. I never thought that was a guy who clear out always going to win the game for us. Now he did get those layups against Oklahoma. I'm not going to. Those were awesome plays. But I still thought he was a dude who hit his lanes, who would drive to the basket, who our shooters could space for and then it would give him driving lanes. I just, you know. But regardless, he's not given that. Even if what you're saying is pretty awesome.

Drew Franklin (26:24)

Last year, you know, the Louisville game, that was that hardy guy they. He was on all way and just totally had him flustered and did not let him get. Get free at all. I think teams now going into the game instead of maybe concentrating always maybe the second or third option. They all now know he's supposed to be the first option. So they put all their defensive.

Matt Jones (26:41)

I think that's a. It's a really good point. There's a difference between a first and a second option. And he is the first option. And I don't know if he's. That maybe he will be. Maybe. I hope. I hope so. But I don't know if he. If he is. All right. Switching gears for just a second. I'm more confident about what I said yesterday about Mitch than.

Drew Franklin (27:04)

Than I really.

Matt Jones (27:06)

This will be his last year. I just want that on the record.

Drew Franklin (27:09)

The Matt bomb dropped yesterday.

Matt Jones (27:11)

Yeah. I think we're going to be getting a new athletic director at the end of the year.

Drew Franklin (27:15)

So do you still feel like January 1st is when he.

Matt Jones (27:18)

I don't know that. I can't say when he'll announce it, but I just feel like that's very, very likely. I think There's a lot of things that point to it, including a couple of things just like, you know, you remember he had a donation thing where he was donating so much for that complex. And that ends at the end of this year. There's just a lot of stuff that I, I think, and just talking to people, I think there's a good chance there's a new ad. And then the question would be, who is that? My guess is I, I think if you had to guess, it would be one of two people, which is either Dwayne Peavey or the guy who has Dwayne Peavey's job now, Mark Hill. I mean, my guess is it's probably one of those two guys. And that sort of. That consistency continues.

Ryan (28:04)

Yeah. And the timeline with Mitch getting that 800,000 a year starting next year, I mean, that kind of checks out. If you're predicting what he would do to wrap up his time.

Matt Jones (28:14)

What do you think about that? $800,000 a year for two years to be the special assistant to the president?

Drew Franklin (28:21)

Give me that job.

Ryan (28:22)

Yeah, I don't like that.

Matt Jones (28:24)

Assistant to the regional manager.

Drew Franklin (28:27)

Show up to some functions, shake some hands.

Matt Jones (28:29)

I mean, I know somebody else had to approve that contract, but it's yet another contract where you go.

Ryan (28:36)

I agree with you on the candidates, but that eliminates so many people. If he's just going to be lingering around. If you did want to get a new, some new blood or some excitement, no one's going to want him just sitting in the office in the corner making 800,000 a year while you're trying to take over an athletic.

Matt Jones (28:49)

Yeah. I mean, if you're Dwayne PB or Mark Hill and you wanted to come in and like, have your own game plan, having him sitting over there going, that probably doesn't help. That's true. I think Mitch has done a great job here, but nobody is irreplaceable. Right. And so I do hope whenever he steps away, he steps away. Right.

Drew Franklin (29:12)

Let's let the new guy do his job.

Matt Jones (29:13)

You owe it to the new person to let them do their thing.

Ryan (29:17)

Yeah.

Matt Jones (29:18)

When it's time, we'll take a break. Barry backs KSI.

Drew Franklin (29:22)

TJ Smith, personal injury attorney.

Matt Jones (29:24)

Call TJ he'll make him pay.

Shannon (29:26)

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

Matt Jones (29:31)

Welcome back to Tiny Sports Radio. I was dancing here, sitting here.

Drew Franklin (29:35)

Button up. We didn't.

Matt Jones (29:36)

Baby, it's is it. But it's not button up.

Shannon (29:39)

It's loosen up your button.

Matt Jones (29:41)

Loosen up. Button up. That would be a Mitch Barnhart.

Drew Franklin (29:43)

That's what I thought.

Matt Jones (29:45)

Up that button, baby.

Shannon (29:48)

The top button at least.

Matt Jones (29:49)

Yeah, button the top button, baby. We're gonna watch Masterpiece Theater. That's the Mitch Barnhart dance. Little different than Loosen Up My Buttons, baby. Kyle says, I usually don't disagree with Matt completely, but Drew is right about OA being a huge factor and why we've looked so bad this year. No, well, let me be clear. I don't disagree with Drew on that. The reason we look bad is it always not playing well. Where Drew and I probably disagree is whether or not always kind of has the potential to be like a number one option, like a star. But we may disagree on that. But is it the case that he is the reason, A big reason we're struggling? I completely agree. Let me ask you, Shannon, real quick.

Drew Franklin (30:38)

Yep.

Matt Jones (30:39)

The Louisville Bats announced that for six games next year, in the middle of the summer, they're going to change their name to the Louisville Humidity. Right. And their. Their jerseys are going to be orange and they're going to have sweat stains on them.

Drew Franklin (30:55)

Yep.

Matt Jones (30:57)

And the numbers are going to have dripping water on it. The Louisville Humidity for six games. I put that out. There was a mixed response. Not everybody was negative. Not everybody was positive. I kind of like it. What about you, Shannon?

Shannon (31:13)

Yeah, I mean, this is the fun of minor league baseball, right? Anything they can do to get people to come out. Usually the dollar beer works fine for me to get me to go to the games, but I like it. You know, for six games, there'll be the Louisville Humidity and it'll be something that fans can collect. The sweating baseball logo on a baseball hat.

Matt Jones (31:29)

I kind of think I'll buy one of those. Yeah. I mean, I think I'm going to buy one. I love having the jersey have pre, pre approved sweat stains. I'm a fan. What about you?

Drew Franklin (31:40)

I'm a big fan. Shannon said it, man. That's what makes minor league baseball fun and special. When they have their little gimmicks and things they do to try to attract a crowd. You know, the humidity is so awful. That's probably when their crowds are the least. Now they'll do it a week where the. It'd be hot and sweaty, but people will go just to be a part of this.

Matt Jones (31:59)

Yeah. Louisville site they call Louisville. I don't know what it's called. Like is it a Heat Pocket or a Heat. It's got a name because it's kind of got a little dip in the valley. And you're on the river and all that. There's some. There's some name for it. It's like a heat pack or something. And that stadium's right there on it. So I kind of like it.

Ryan (32:19)

Yeah, I love it. They got hats. Imagine. I mean, you're wear a baseball jersey around town all. All the time. But got nice Louisville humidity hat with sweat dripping down the side.

Matt Jones (32:26)

You like orange, though. Some people don't like the orange.

Ryan (32:29)

Love that. But it's better than Louisville red. It the soccer team here, the election sporting. They had like a bourbon barrel uniform. We remember the icicles.

Drew Franklin (32:37)

Yeah.

Ryan (32:37)

I have legends gear from years ago where they had theme nights. I think it's really, really cool that that level of sports, you know, does some gimmick stuff to sell more merchandise to get people involved.

Shannon (32:45)

But you're right, Matt. It is kind of that Tennessee orange. It's not just orange orange. It's Tennessee orange.

Matt Jones (32:50)

It's that puke inside of a pumpkin. That's the orange. But I'm still going to do it, I think, because I like. I. I like it. I think it's a cool idea. I wouldn't have thought. I mean, you talk about creative. Who would have ever thought to call something the humidity?

Shannon (33:04)

Remember the wild health genomes that were.

Matt Jones (33:07)

The genomes didn't work for whatever reason. The genomes that. That was. I don't know if that was too far. Just too nerdy. Counterclock counter clocks didn't really work either. I don't even know what they meant by that. But now I kind of like the humidity. I think that was a good call.

Ryan (33:22)

They had every games.

Shannon (33:23)

It's not the entire, you know, six games.

Drew Franklin (33:25)

Six games.

Matt Jones (33:25)

Yeah.

Ryan (33:26)

The hottest time of the year, too. They had every meteorologist in Louisville at the announcement wearing the jerseys.

Matt Jones (33:31)

Oh, they did?

Drew Franklin (33:31)

Yeah. It's a good idea.

Matt Jones (33:32)

Oh, did they keep them separated?

Ryan (33:34)

No, I saw the photo. They're all together.

Matt Jones (33:36)

The two guys that hated each other were there.

Ryan (33:38)

I. I don't know people by faces.

Matt Jones (33:41)

Weinberg and Bailey. It's a Lexington. Louisville thing. I don't know if two Louisville guys hate each other other. Weinberg is the Louisville one. I think it's Weinberg and Bailey that have the. That have the beef.

Ryan (33:51)

Yeah. I don't know my Louisville meteorologist, but they had about 12 of them in a photo together wearing.

Matt Jones (33:55)

Very controversial. And there are people who will take up. There are people who will fight you for and against his weather.

Drew Franklin (34:01)

People love their weather guys.

Matt Jones (34:02)

All right, who's up first? Shannon.

Shannon (34:03)

Ed.

Matt Jones (34:04)

Ed, go ahead. Ed.

Caller (34:08)

Hey, good morning, guys.

Matt Jones (34:10)

Good morning.

Caller (34:13)

I'm astonished that I'm up first.

Matt Jones (34:16)

Well, you're here, so don't ruin it.

Caller (34:19)

I won't ruin it. Just, I want to make a couple, three points real quick. Number one, Matt, you are exactly correct. Every good team, since they'd offer up, up till now, every good UK team has a floor general as a. Has someone typically the point guard, who's the floor general, runs the offense, is in charge on the floor. And without Jalen Lowe, who do we got? We don't have one. It could be Aberdeen, but Aberdeen's got to quit trying to be a hero, scoring the ball. He's got to facilitate the offense if he's going to be the point guard.

Matt Jones (35:02)

And what? Second.

Caller (35:05)

Second. We don't share the ball. We're watching. My wife and I are sitting there watching the Michigan State game. And yellow bitch, who needs to be playing a whole lot more because he hustles and does the little dirty work stuff, plays good D. He was wide open two times in a row down the floor, nobody guarding him, within 15ft away. Looks at him, stares at him, never passes him the ball.

Matt Jones (35:30)

Yeah, I appreciate the call. I think those two things work together. I think those two things, you know, in his very few minutes against Louisville, people remember, and understandably, that the Rush 3, that was a bad shot. Missing the free throw, but he had some dimes in that game, especially early. He had some passes where he found guys, and. And we're gonna miss that. I. I don't know if Aberdeen's. If that's something he could do or not. I think he probably can. You know, OA has a tendency to put that head down and, and go to the basket, and I'm okay with that, but you better finish. You know, if you're going to do that, you got to finish. And he hadn't finished like he did last year.

Ryan (36:06)

Lowe's the only guy on the whole roster who can get anywhere he wants on the court. I mean, we saw that Louisville, I mean, he stepped on the baseline at the end, but if he hadn't done that, he even got down there and had a guy open in the corner, and that is what they're going to miss the most. Aberdeen, probably better defensively, might figure out point guard, but he'll never be able to do what Low could do and just get low and get inside and really go wherever he wanted. Distribute the ball.

Drew Franklin (36:27)

Yeah, the game changed the minute Low stepped on the floor, the offense change, more efficient, better open, looks for the. Some of the guys. Everything changed now. They don't have that. I mean, Aberdeen's good, but he can't do it at that level, that Low can do it.

Matt Jones (36:40)

So if he doesn't play. What?

Ryan (36:45)

The ceiling is much lower. The floor is already much lower than I thought it would be.

Matt Jones (36:50)

Me, too.

Ryan (36:51)

I never dreamed a scenario this bad. Without Low, it's hard to imagine them hitting their main objective.

Matt Jones (36:59)

I'm gonna be. You know, I feel like I've said this now three or four times. I'm gonna be interested to see what Pope says, but I am gonna be interested to see what Pope says.

Drew Franklin (37:05)

Yeah.

Matt Jones (37:06)

Because whether they say it or not, they know whether or not Lowe's playing by now, right there, anywhere. Anyway. They don't know. No, I think they've had all their imaging. They know, and we might find out. Today could be it. I mean, today, by the time you listen this podcast, it might already be out. But they know if he's going to play and if he's not going to play. Part of me wonders if part of the sadness of him is the realization of if he doesn't play, do we have. We spent all this money, by the way, I still don't think they spent $22 million. I'm just going on. I've said that forever now. Matt Norlander and other people disagree with me, and I'm not gonna say they're wrong because they have a lot of sources. I just don't. I don't buy it. I know people who write those checks, and I don't think they wrote that big a check. So let's just. With that said, though, we spent more than most people, maybe more than anyone, certainly in the top two. And it doesn't look like that when they play.

Drew Franklin (38:02)

No, it's gonna be a recurring theme until they start playing better. No doubt about it.

Ryan (38:05)

And I'm someone that said the money doesn't matter, but it matters when you're down 24 and 20. If you lose because the team shot well from three, bad matchup, whatever, it's basketball. You lose. Getting your teeth kicked in in your first two big games is inexcusable for what they spent, whatever it was.

Drew Franklin (38:20)

But you were right. Like we said yesterday, it is plausible that Pope's attitude has been because he knew. He knows low is done for the year, and he doesn't know where to go next, how to fix that problem.

Matt Jones (38:31)

If he's done for the year. Go find a point guard. There's got to be. It's a big world. There's got to be one somewhere.

Drew Franklin (38:38)

Mario's got eligibility left.

Matt Jones (38:40)

We need to keep moving. Yeah. I don't know if he's good enough.

Ryan (38:44)

He's got. He's with us. We can't lose him.

Matt Jones (38:46)

That's right. Who's up next?

Shannon (38:47)

Craig.

Matt Jones (38:47)

Craig. Go ahead, Craig.

Caller (38:50)

Hey, fellows. Thanks for taking my call. Appreciate everything you guys are doing. A couple of comments and a question. When Mo went down the second time, I almost felt like it was the worst. It was the worst thing that could happen if we were aspiring to be national champions. I mean, I settled. I settled all my future bets for championship.

Matt Jones (39:17)

You've already cashed them all out.

Caller (39:22)

For being a champion? Yeah. As far as Final Four? As far as far as Final Four appearances, no, But I just didn't see any open in that. Secondly, with Pope and how. And how with these two losses, it is incredibly unsettling to see how despondent he is. It almost seems like this job is suddenly becoming too big for him. And.

Matt Jones (39:57)

I want to hold on to that thought for a second because I do want to talk about that. It was your. Your. Your. It's a point Gary Parrish talked about earlier today, and I want to go over that. So I. I appreciate the call. I think that's a really good point to raise. If you're a bourbon lover and a UK fan, why don't you grab a bottle of Club Blue Bourbon, Ryan? It supports the athletes through JMI's NLL services. Ryan and Drew helped select the Club Blue Bourbon recipe. So when you rink drink it, it's like you're drinking a little piece of Ryan. That's actually not a good.

Drew Franklin (40:25)

Not a good. Put in the advertisement.

Matt Jones (40:27)

Put that in there. They shouldn't put that in there.

Drew Franklin (40:30)

Yeah, I wouldn't even taste Me either.

Matt Jones (40:33)

You shouldn't have said that. Go to Club Blue Bourbon. It's part of Bespoken Spirits. They're voted best of Lexington, Best date night spot. You can learn more at Bespoken spirits. Be spoken spirits.com they make private labels have barrel picks. You can do it for weddings, anniversaries, birthdays. Great folks out there. Bespoken spirits. Bespokenspirits.com and by the way, Billy had them create custom labels to give his gifts to his groomsmen.

Drew Franklin (41:03)

That's cool.

Matt Jones (41:03)

I hope that wasn't a surprise because it's in the copy.

Ryan (41:06)

Congrats, groomsman.

Matt Jones (41:08)

Groomsman. If you don't know yet, surprise. We'll be right back. Welcome back, Techie Sports Radio A59280 2287 Text Machine is 772-774-5254. Okay, so Gary Parrish talked about what the caller said about Mark Pope. And I really liked what Gary said. Gary sort of went through the progression, and he said, okay. By the end of Cal's time here, he was kind of disconnected from the fans. I think we all would agree with that. And then he said, Mark Pope really made it, like, his goal to become connected with the fans. And Gary even mentioned ksr, but the media, the fans, I think that's completely true. He made that a priority. The problem with that, and by the way, that was good. He needed to do that. The problem with that is, according to Gary, you feel then when the criticism comes. Right. And he's also right about that. You know, one of the things that makes being connected to a fan base is you got to be amongst them. You got to be part of it. And that means, you see, when they come after you, I can relate to that, because that's also me. It would be like, you know, a lot of times people say, I don't care what the general public says. I don't see it. Well, I do. And, like, that's hard when you. To be really connected, you also have to, like, almost ingest the criticism. And Gary's point was Mark is now feeling that, right? He's feeling the criticism because he so wants to be connected, and that can be hard. And I think that's very true. Right. I mean, I, I, I. In order to do his job right, he needs to do this. But this is the downside of it is you can feel when things are not going well.

Drew Franklin (42:59)

I think a lot of our fan base's feelings about Pope may dictate on what he does in the next couple weeks. How does he battle back from this? What's he gonna say to us? How's he gonna respond? I mean, I am. I'm gonna be opening my eyes and listening to what he says today.

Matt Jones (43:14)

You know, it always happens right after.

Drew Franklin (43:16)

This show comes out. Right at noon.

Matt Jones (43:17)

Right. Right at noon. Always.

Ryan (43:20)

I would go to all of them, but they put him right at noon. Yeah, he also. He hears the criticism. But, you know, when they lost the Georgetown, even though in count, he was furious, like, we do not lose in this arena. Like, he gets it, which means he also knows we don't lose to Louisville by 20, and it would end up being close. But, I mean, most of the game, they were down bad, so he knows how bad he's Dropped the ball more than any coach in that spot probably would.

Matt Jones (43:42)

Let me ask you a question real quick about my other team, the Cincinnati Reds. They announced yesterday Ellie De La Cruz played half the season last year with a partially torn quad. And I was glad to hear that because he didn't play very well towards the end, and I was worried. But if he had a partially torn quad, I get it now. Some Reds fans are very angry and they say, why'd you let him do that? And they're mad at the Reds. How do you let him play with a partially torn quad? What I don't understand, Ryan, is like, I feel like guys, when they get hurt, they can't. Like, neither way. Like, people criticize them either way. If they don't play well, they're not tough if they do play. Why'd you let him play?

Drew Franklin (44:22)

Yep.

Matt Jones (44:22)

Right. I actually think it's kind of cool that this dude, who may one day be worth $500 million, right now he's playing for 800,000, still wanted to play through a partially torn quad.

Drew Franklin (44:32)

I give him a lot of credit. You know, if they were out of the playoff picture, maybe he would have shut it down. But he wanted to play to help them. They were fighting for a playoff spot to get in the playoffs, and they did. You know, he wanted to help his team, help his family should be praising the guy.

Matt Jones (44:44)

I would think so. Why? It's not bad, right?

Ryan (44:46)

I agree with you that if he hadn't played and they're in the playoff push, it'd be rub some dirt on it. Why is he just sitting there? Go out there and help your team. Yeah, he does that. And you know better than me. I don't know how he played during the stretch, but they were in that hunt till the very end.

Matt Jones (44:57)

He was not his normal self, but he was better than whoever would have replaced, you know, so. Shit. What about you, Shane? You're a baseball guy.

Shannon (45:05)

That's impressive, especially at his position. You got to be very athletic at shortstop and then, you know, running the bases. I didn't notice it. You would think somebody with a partially.

Matt Jones (45:12)

He was slower. They were doing. They were showing during that stretch that he didn't run as fast. Well, now we know why.

Drew Franklin (45:18)

Yeah. Still faster than what? Over half the people in the big leagues.

Shannon (45:23)

Running at all on that is impressive.

Matt Jones (45:25)

All right, so what's your quad? Is that this thing right here?

Drew Franklin (45:27)

That's that muscle right there, I think, top of your thigh.

Matt Jones (45:29)

That's my weakest muscle. It is. I don't do well with this muscle. This is the muscle when I start working out that I. That it says, okay, what are you doing? Stop. That's. That's the muscle. Like when you're doing squats, right? Squats.

Ryan (45:44)

Lunges.

Matt Jones (45:45)

Lunges.

Ryan (45:46)

Are you not lunging when Kentucky's losing in games? You got a lunge.

Matt Jones (45:50)

If you were to say to me, matt, what is. What is hell? It is a world where you only do lunges. I hate it. I can barely like, so, so tearing that I can't imagine anything.

Ryan (46:04)

So you wouldn't have put or done lunges in the first place?

Matt Jones (46:07)

When my lunges are sore, I just say, I'm not moving this weekend. So. So as a quad, I think I'm staying. I'm not playing well.

Drew Franklin (46:15)

Like Shannon said, you know, you run every game. It had to kind of hurt every time he was trying to run, you know, beat out a base hit or go to second base, steal a base.

Matt Jones (46:22)

Good at lunges.

Drew Franklin (46:24)

I hate lunges. That's gonna be one of the worst things ever. What are they? And those, those up downs, whatever they call those.

Ryan (46:31)

Those should be illegal, actually.

Drew Franklin (46:32)

Amen.

Matt Jones (46:33)

My. My trainer, Sunny, she's a wonderful woman, but she was way too into burpees. And like sometimes I sometimes think, you know, I need to get started again. And then I'm like, she's gonna make.

Drew Franklin (46:43)

Me do a burpee, then I'm not going.

Matt Jones (46:45)

And I think I would rather sit here than go do a burpee out lo they. It's a terrible thing.

Drew Franklin (46:51)

It's awful. It's the worst exercise in the history of exercise.

Matt Jones (46:54)

Yeah.

Ryan (46:54)

So that's why we're on a radio.

Matt Jones (46:56)

Show sitting down to Ellie for playing through.

Drew Franklin (46:59)

Agreed.

Matt Jones (46:59)

And I don't understand. My guy, Lance McAllister's like, this shows the Reds are a terrible organization. What do you want?

Drew Franklin (47:05)

I mean, he trying to help the organization.

Matt Jones (47:08)

Playoffs say no. Let's play Stock. Santiago, Espinal. More. Who's next?

Ryan (47:13)

George.

Matt Jones (47:14)

George. Go ahead, George.

Caller (47:18)

And good morning, gentlemen.

Matt Jones (47:19)

Good morning.

Caller (47:20)

I think the. The biggest trouble to me is the bait and switch we've had with Mark Pope and his offense. I mean, we were promised a modern free flowing, you know, shoot a lot of threes, ball movement, offense. And what I saw against Michigan State was worse than anything we had in Cal's last two or three years. I mean, it is completely not what we were promised. It's not what he typically does. He built a roster that can't play the way he wants to play.

Ryan (47:56)

Struggling.

Caller (47:57)

It's his issue.

Matt Jones (47:58)

Yeah. I agree. I think the real issue is did you build the right roster and away what do you like? Why don't you play Would you start Moreno next game?

Ryan (48:07)

Oh, yes. I probably would have started him last game. I said on our pregame for Michigan State, Brandon Garrison, this is your last opportunity to prove you deserve that that spot and it did not go well. That clip of him giving up those offensive rebounds is burned into my brain. I can't get it out of there. So yes, I would go Marino. I'd go more Yellowch and Quaintance. We we don't really mention him but he's still projected mid December. That could certainly help when he gets here.

Matt Jones (48:30)

That can help Garrison. His time may be ticking.

Ryan (48:35)

He went the wrong way like he's supposed to get a little better.

Matt Jones (48:37)

He got worse, sprinted in the wrong direction. All right, we're going to come back hour number two here at KS Bar Grill, it's Kentucky Sports Radio.