2026-01-09- KSR - Hour 1

Summary

Kentucky Sports Radio (KSR) – January 9, 2026, Hour 1

Episode Overview

In this episode, Matt Jones and the KSR crew broadcast live from the newly expanded Cornbread Hemp facility in Louisville, Kentucky. The discussion blends Kentucky basketball and football analysis with listener interaction, behind-the-scenes media stories, and musings on fan morale in the face of recent sports disappointments. The tone is candid and humorous, as the hosts talk shop, joke about each other’s backgrounds, and debate the state of Kentucky athletics.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Live at Cornbread Hemp & Show Environment

• Location & Sponsor Love: The show is broadcast from Cornbread Hemp’s new retail and manufacturing space. The hosts praise the space, noting live gummy production visible from the booth.
  • “You can actually see it happening right here with the sheets... this is kind of a really cool thing to look at.” — Matt Jones (03:28)
• Emphasis on long-term sponsors (especially TJ Smith Law Office and Cornbread Hemp) and crowd turnout despite a tough midweek basketball loss.

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2. Kentucky Basketball Struggles & Fan Morale

• Current Record & Negative Vibe: The crew discusses the team's recent loss, low morale, and comparisons to previous tough eras.
  • Matt references Oscar Combs’ tweet calling this “the worst time in history to be a UK fan,” but disagrees with that level of pessimism (09:13).
    • “We had the death penalty, basically... our games were not on TV for an entire year... that was a worse time. But the mere fact that [Combs] brings it up suggests it’s at least a conversation.” — Matt Jones (09:13)
• Basketball vs. Football Optimism: Matt is notably more optimistic about football, citing a highly ranked transfer portal class and a refreshed coaching staff.
• Basketball Details:
  • The team lacks a top 75 player according to advanced analytics.
  • “Kentucky did not have one guy in the top 75 players in the country. Not one. And that feels correct...” — Matt Jones (11:40)
  • The hosts admit it’s hard to find hope for a basketball turnaround, with Shannon stating, “I kind of feel like... my spirit is broken.” (12:18)
• Coach Pope’s Grade: CBS handed head basketball coach Mark Pope a mid-season grade of D-. The crew largely agrees with the severity.
  • “With the roster... to be 9 and 6 at the midway point is borderline failure.” — Ryan Lemond (14:16)

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3. Morale, Fan Disillusionment, and Taking Criticism

• Comparing NIL Criticism: They discuss how scrutiny is justified for paid college athletes in comparison to highly visible pros like Elly De La Cruz.
  • “Maybe I’m just getting older, but I’m finding myself becoming more like, hey, dude, you’re being paid. You’re a pro now.” — Matt Jones (16:32)
• Leadership & Team Chemistry Issues: Mo Diabate is repeatedly mentioned for his attitude and team bickering, with the consensus that the coach shares blame for poor chemistry.
• “Part of being the head coach is being the leader and making this thing work behind the scenes... I blame Mark Pope. I think it all goes back to him.” — Ryan Lemond (16:18)

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4. Fan Expectations & The Sweet 16 Debate

• Listeners and hosts debate whether last year’s Sweet 16 was actually an achievement or an underperformance.
  • “We hadn’t been to the Sweet 16 since 2019 until last year...” — Matt Jones (23:04)
  • “What’s more concerning to me is that Year 2 looks like it’s on pace to be worse than Year 1.” — Matt Jones (23:35)
• Discussion on “paralysis by analysis” in building this season’s roster: Too many big guys, not enough coherent philosophy.

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5. UK Football Optimism & Coaching Carousel

• “Our football future... is taking a turn in the right direction.” — Shannon Dawson (13:10)
• Praise for former UK offensive coordinators (Shannon Dawson, Liam Coen) now thriving elsewhere, sparking debate about whether Mark Stoops “handcuffs” his OCs (25:47).
• Return of key native players (Willie Rodriguez, Ty Bryant) is highlighted as crucial for 2026 football (40:24).

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6. Listener Calls: Basketball Roster & Uniforms

• Roster Building: Discussion of which players deserve contract extensions and whether building through the transfer portal is sustainable (31:14).
• Denim Uniforms Anniversary: Listener wonders if now is the time for a celebratory uniform when the team is struggling.
  • “If we go in with a big losing streak, is this the time to bring out the denims?” — Matt Jones (32:18)
  • Consensus is you can’t cancel now; it’s a landmark anniversary.

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7. Technical Basketball Frustrations

• Sideline Tactics: In-depth critique of UK’s poor out-of-bounds plays late in games, citing lack of creativity and comparing with Missouri’s effective schemes.
  • “We ran a lot of out of bounds plays and we actually had some success with them. Now... what were we back to? A guy standing there with his arm up, posting up.” — Matt Jones (34:01)
  • “I can’t think of a player that I want making that play less than Brandon Garrison with less than a minute.” — Matt Jones (35:59)

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8. SEC Football & Realignment Trends

• SEC’s title drought is discussed, with speculation that the transfer portal has evened the playing field and thinned out SEC dominance at the top.
• “Now I think the top of the Big Ten, the ACC... I just think it’s as good as we are now...” — Matt Jones (27:25)

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9. Tangents: Citizenship “For Sale” Segment

• The crew humorously debates how much money it would take for Kentuckians to sell out U.S. citizenship and become Canadian, riffing off a real Greenland/U.S. proposal.
  • “How much money a year would it take for you to agree to vote to become Canadian?” — Matt Jones (42:38)
  • Ryan is a hard no at $50K/year, while Billy and Shannon say yes; most would jump at $100K/year. (“You gotta do better than that!” — Ryan Lemond, 44:32)

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10. Are the ‘Blue Bloods’ Fading?

• Caller questions whether Kentucky remains a top-tier blue blood.
  • “If those are the five blue bloods, and I think that’s probably correct, then at this moment we’re number five. If we’re talking about not historically... then we’re number five and we would be the one that would be on the verge of being replaced.” — Matt Jones (49:57)

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Notable Quotes & Moments With Timestamps

• “I’m not as old as you. Farrah Fawcett is not my generation.” — Matt Jones (05:47), ribbing Shannon about a media profile gone awry.
• “A leader is not effective if... people you’re leading don’t want to be around you.” — Matt Jones (22:18), on broken team chemistry.
• “Part of being the head coach is being the leader and making this thing work behind the scenes... I blame Mark Pope. I think it all goes back to him.” — Ryan Lemond (16:18), on coach responsibility for locker room issues.
• “We have too many big guys. We got five big guys. You can only play—I argue we maybe are better off only playing one big guy.” — Matt Jones (25:10)
• “If we miss the tournament, it’s going to be a massive embarrassment. We’re going to be the laughing stock of college basketball.” — Matt Jones (48:53)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:26 | Show begins at Cornbread Hemp; sponsor and event banter | | 03:28 | Facility details; live gummy-making commentary | | 04:27 | Mississippi State basketball preview | | 05:01 | Shenanigans: Matt's family home gets roasted in a magazine profile | | 09:13 | Discussing Oscar Combs’ “worst time ever” UK fan tweet | | 11:40 | Lack of Top 75 players and prospects for basketball season | | 14:02 | CBS gives Mark Pope a D-; is it deserved? | | 16:32 | NIL impact: How should we criticize paid college players? | | 22:18 | Discussing leadership, locker room rifts, and Diabate’s role | | 23:04 | Sweet 16: Is it sufficient as a program milestone? | | 25:47 | Former UK OCs succeeding elsewhere; handcuffed by Stoops? | | 31:14 | Should Pope extend player contracts midseason? Is portal roster-building sustainable? | | 32:18 | Uniforms: Should Kentucky bring out the denims during a bad year? | | 34:01 | Out-of-bounds plays: Critique of UK’s late-game tactics | | 40:24 | Willie Rodriguez returns to UK football; why it matters | | 42:38 | “How much to sell your citizenship?”—the Canada vote hypothetical | | 48:53 | “If we miss the tournament, it’s a massive embarrassment...” — caller segment on blue blood status |

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Conclusion

This episode of KSR is a quintessential blend of passionate sports talk, Kentucky cultural identity, and comic relief about everything from home décor to citizenship hypotheticals. The crew brings honesty—sometimes self-deprecating—about the state of UK basketball, optimism for football, and reserves plenty of time for lighter digressions and crowd interaction. If you missed the live show, this episode gives you an unvarnished look at Kentucky fandom in 2026, unfiltered and all the more entertaining for it.

Transcript

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[Matt Jones]

Man, it all comes down to this.

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[Matt Jones]

Comedy Off Broadway welcome everyone. It is Kentucky Sports Radio. There you go. Nice energy here this morning. Friday, January 9th at Cornbread Hemp in Louisville, Kentucky. You can give us a shout out. Clark's puppet Shop phone line 859-280-2287. A Vision Auto Glass text machine is 772-774-5254. In this edition sponsored by the TJ Smith Law Office. If you call TJ he'll make them pay. We are here at Corn Bed Brewing, Brett Hemp on Shuff Avenue. Is that right? The retailer for one of our longest sponsors. I was talking to someone the other day and they said who, who do you, who do you think is your longest sponsor? And it is, I think the T.J. smith Law Office. And then Ryan, these folks here at.

[Shannon Dawson]

Cornbread Hemp, it's amazing. We were here a year ago. They've added a retail store and this lab is brand new behind us. This is amazing what they've done since the last.

[Matt Jones]

This was here. The last time we were here.

[Shannon Dawson]

Not this part. We were the lab behind us is where we were. This is like all brand new lab right here.

[Matt Jones]

Okay. Well this is where they make the gummies. You can actually see it happening right here with the sheets. I've always thought this was. This is kind of a really cool thing to look at. Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

Ryan says they bake the gummies. They don't bake the gummies. They cook them but they don't bake them. We learned that in the pre show.

[Shannon Dawson]

Very cool.

[Matt Jones]

That's why I wouldn't have him make the speech. Cornbread Hip is formed here in 2019 and of course CBD gummies help you sleep, relax. I've taking them for a long time made a huge difference in my ability to sleep. They also have the seltzers. They don't sell them here on site but you can buy them in stores and during this show today, buy one, get one free. They've got people helping you park outside and nice crowd here. Especially when you consider we just lost on. When we lost on Wednesday I went oh no. People are going to be sad on Friday but still come out this morning.

[Shannon Dawson]

See, that's why we need the gummies. We lost, we feel sad. Gummies makes you feel better.

[Ryan Lemond]

A couple of those seltzers I'll forget about. I don't care what happens the rest of the season.

[Matt Jones]

I just talked to a couple of guys back there from Charlotte. Nice to see you all. You are going to the game tomorrow night. There you go.

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[Matt Jones]

That's. The game is at 8:30 tomorrow night against Mississippi State. A Mississippi State team that was predicted to be one of the worst in the league and is now 2 and oh, in conference. And so we'll find out later on today what the. What the spread will be. Ryan, you were saying that you spent yesterday doing an interview, Is that correct?

[Shannon Dawson]

Yeah, the guy who's doing the profile, you in Kentucky Monthly called me yesterday. And can I share what a lot of the questions he asked me about you.

[Matt Jones]

I mean, it's your story.

[Shannon Dawson]

He was asking me a lot of questions about your childhood home and specifically your childhood bedroom.

[Matt Jones]

How did he expect you knew what my childhood bedroom looked like? Well, he said, I tried to keep you out of it.

[Shannon Dawson]

He said, have you seen it? I said, well, like one time, 10 years ago, the first time we were there, we walked around. Well, what's it like in his childhood bedroom?

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, this guy's really big on. He said, I like to paint the scene of things. So he's asking me, like a lot of questions about, like, what does your house look like? I try not to tell him about, like, the New Yorker, magazines on the floor and stuff.

[Ryan Lemond]

The pictures that weren't hung up.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, I try not to bring that.

[Shannon Dawson]

Stuff up, that Coke, McDonald's cups all over the floor.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, I've thrown a lot of those away at this point. Well, I hope you said nice things.

[Shannon Dawson]

I did. And he was, you know, he wanted to know. I told him, I said, you know, he didn't have any Fair Faucet posters or anything like that, but in his room. But he had a lot of books. There's a lot of books.

[Matt Jones]

First of all, I'm not as old as you. Farrah Fawcett was. Farrah Fawcett is not my generation.

[Shannon Dawson]

That's true.

[Matt Jones]

Plus, Farrah Fawcett was married to someone from Middlesborough, and I think that would be rude.

[Ryan Lemond]

That's true.

[CarMax Announcer]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

Another man's woman up on your wall.

[Matt Jones]

I should not put another Middlesborough man's woman up on the. On the thing.

[Shannon Dawson]

That's a good point. Didn't think about that. But I said, he had a lot of books in there and it looked exactly like you'd step back in time. Like this quite quaint house you walk in. It just feels homey and very comfortable.

[Matt Jones]

Hang on just a second. You know, my mom's listening. You said, step back in time. My mom has a very modern looking house. It is very nice. What are you talking about?

[Shannon Dawson]

Your mom's house is not modern looking. It's a stately older home.

[Matt Jones]

I tried to give him a chance. Yeah. Did you hear that? I tried to give him a chance. You can't.

[Ryan Lemond]

Sometimes you just can't help this guy. Like you can't get out of his own way.

[Shannon Dawson]

But it's, it's a beautiful. Okay.

[Matt Jones]

Okay. There you go. That's a good start.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, it's a very nice home.

[Shannon Dawson]

I said as soon as you walk in, you feel very homey and comfortable. It's like it's an older home but the people you know, you walk in these older homes and you do. It has a different feel to it. Your mom's house is perfect for that, but it's not a modern design home.

[Ryan Lemond]

I do find it strange that this guy thinks that Matt's like childhood, you know, bedroom is going to be the same as it was when he was a kid.

[Matt Jones]

Well, like, you know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna let you deal with my mother. After that conversation.

[Shannon Dawson]

Say this. He did ask me a lot of questions about your, your mother and I. Bragner said Matt's success is based on because he watched his mother being the first person in the state of Kentucky and her succeed as a female in a male dominated world. That motivated Matt as he became a professional.

[Matt Jones]

That's right. Well, that I think is a good analysis. Your analysis on our house, I think you is not quite as good. 859-280-2287. The text machine is 772 774-5254. Kentucky. The Kentucky fan base. I've been trying to figure out, okay, because we've had this situation happen before during the, the COVID year. And even, you know, there have been moments in various years. Shannon, I don't want this show to just become like a gloom, despair and agony. I mean I don't think that that's what fans enjoy. And so the question is, when you're not doing well, how do you keep things positive? And in some, in some respects it's even harder in basketball than football because in football there's only one game a week, right? So you can just talk about the game and then you just talk about other stuff. And then the day before Saturday you can go, well, there's another game this week, right? Basketball, the games just keep coming, right? And so it's hard to, it's hard to not. And, and I, you know, we talked about Saturday at halftime will be the halfway point of the season. The exact halfway point of the season will be at halftime. So we might have a lot of this left. And so I'm trying to think, well, what is it we do to keep the show entertaining, fun, light hearted, while also acknowledging that the team is struggling. And then Oscar Combs, okay, who, you know, he started this whole fan media thing that I started that I then followed and have done for 20 years. I was like, okay, well, Oscar Combs probably has wisdom in this area. Right? Because Oscar Combs has gone. Remember, he had to do his stuff when they were on probation.

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Right, Right.

[Matt Jones]

So I go to his Twitter account and on his Twitter account Oscar Combs writes, this may be the worst time in the history to be a University of Kentucky fan. He said, if you're looking at basketball and football, I can't think of a worse time to be a UK fan. Now, far be it for me to disagree with Oscar. I don't totally understand that opinion. We had the death penalty, basically. Our games were not on TV for an entire year. We had a losing record and the football team stunk during that period of time. So it would strike me that that was a worse time. But nevertheless, the mere fact that he brings it up suggests it's at least a conversation. I am not nearly as pessimistic as that. I'm actually oddly very optimistic about the football team. We have the 11th ranked portal class right now. We have the 11th ranked portal class having taken a lot less commitments than schools ranked ahead of us and below us. So for instance, Louisville, who fans have been freaking out because Vince has signed like eight former Kentucky players. Yeah, they've signed seven more players than us and there's ranking still behind us. Okay. So I mean our per player ranking significantly higher. And to be 11th, considering we were like the 65th best team in the country last year, I think it's pretty good. So I have no reason to be really down about football. I'm actually excited about the new staff. Basketball, this is bad. But we did go to the Sweet 16 last year and the season is not over. What am I missing, Shannon? Or do you just think maybe because. Because by the way, under Oscar's post where a lot of people agree with him. Okay, what am I missing? Because I don't feel like on the.

[Ryan Lemond]

Basketball side, I just feel like there is nothing that we've seen that would make you think that this season is going to turn around. You still got 11 quad one teams that you're going to be playing. So there's a lot of chances for you to build your resume.

[Matt Jones]

We have 11 more, still have a.

[Ryan Lemond]

Lot more games that you can win to build your tournament resume. More Quad one Y. Amazing.

[Matt Jones]

So.

[Ryan Lemond]

So on the on the basketball side, Yeah. I think there is still time to change, you know, things around, but the problem is I'm not seeing anything that would indicate that that's going to happen. So I think that's why there's so much negativity on the basketball side.

[Matt Jones]

Evan and I can't pronounce his name. It's like M or me. I can't.

[Ryan Lemond]

I know you're talking about.

[Matt Jones]

He has a. He has a social media, he's got a stat site. I actually think he does a really, really good job. He basically does analytics about the team, etc. He ranked all the college basketball players, like, how good is anybody in the country? Kentucky did not have one guy in the top 75 players in the country. Not one. And that feels correct, right? I mean, Jalen Lowe had not played enough games and away didn't make it. He was kind of like 90th or something. Do you. That feels right to me, but I still am not giving up yet. Where are you on it?

[Shannon Dawson]

Well, I said yesterday I kind of feel like I'm. My spirit is broken. And I think maybe Oscar, you know, the probation time may be made a worse time, but it doesn't feel like that. It feels worse now because.

[Matt Jones]

Why does it feel worse?

[Shannon Dawson]

I think because, you know, the football team we had, we've won, what, two SEC home games in three years?

[Matt Jones]

But our staffs, that's a new staff. Like, if Mark Stoops was back, I could understand that opinion. But this is a completely new staff. And I would note our new coach is playing tonight for a chance to go to the, to the championship game. And if he wins tonight, they have a really good chance to be a national champ. I mean, we have a really good chance to have a national championship offensive coordinator coming in here and running our team next year. A guy who has shown he will swing for the fences on recruiting. Right. I mean, we. And we've got not top quarterback, but we've been going after a lot of.

[Shannon Dawson]

People, so I agree with you. Our football future, I think definitely is taking a turn in the right direction. Our basketball future, I think a lot of people are scratching their head because it's not just we're losing the way they're getting beat, they're getting run off the floor in some of these games, I don't know if there are people kind of, like I said, their spirits broke. They're losing a little hope, I think for basketball.

[Matt Jones]

CBS ranked, they graded all the coaches in college basketball mid season, gave them all a. A grade. Did you see the grade that they gave Mark?

[Ryan Lemond]

I did, yeah.

[Matt Jones]

It was not a great grade.

[Shannon Dawson]

No, it wasn't.

[Matt Jones]

It was a Ryan Lemon S grade. It was a D minus. Gave him a D minus. One of only a handful of CO. Only, like, three coaches got Fs, but he got a D minus. Is that a fair grade, Shannon?

[Ryan Lemond]

I think that it is. I think he is a St. John's or maybe Indiana loss away from being just an F. I mean, those. Yeah, those are really the only two things that have been redeemable about this season so far.

[Matt Jones]

Probably St. John's is all that keeps you from being. Yeah, you got one because Indiana was at home.

[Ryan Lemond]

You got one top 25 win. You lose that game. I think it's an absolute F with the. The roster. And again, we keep hearing about how much money was spent on this roster. To be 9 and 6 at the midway point is borderline failure.

[Matt Jones]

A lot of people put a lot of, you know, chatter about my comment yesterday about Ellie De La Cruz. Six players making more than La De La Cruz, and kind of what that means. The part of the reason I brought that up was just to say, I mean, basketball and baseball don't really have anything in common, but the point was just to say, you know, I'm a Reds fan. And the amount of criticism or praise that Ellie De La Cruz gets is unbelievable. I mean, he was on the COVID of the. Of the video game, right? And if you go to a game, every kid there has an Ellie De La Cruz shirt. And then there's people who complain every time he strikes out or every time he makes an error, like he's such a scrutinized person. And yet we have six basketball players making more than him. Six basketball players that, at least in theory, could be criticized as much or more. And I sort of have this balance, Ryan, of trying to figure out how much can I be critical of, let's say, Mo Diabotic, who played poorly Wednesday, bickered with his teammates the whole game, and I'm gonna say got benched in part because of his play, but in part because they were kind of tired of listening to his mouth a little bit during the game. How much criticism do you think they deserve? Or is it all on Mark Pope?

[Shannon Dawson]

I think the players deserve the criticism in your. Your example you're giving right now because even Ellie's not making that much money. But every time you see him, he's smiling, he's having a good time, he's enjoying life, just being on the field with The Cincinnati Reds, these guys fighting and bickering with each other. I put the blame on them. That's not necessarily a coaching thing. I think that's more their personality and the guys they are.

[Ryan Lemond]

Well, first of all, Ellie needs a new agent because he needs to be making money.

[Matt Jones]

What they do in baseball, the first few years, you don't make any money, and then you make a bajillion dollars after that.

[Ryan Lemond]

But I put this on Mark Pope because part of being the head coach is being the leader and making this thing work behind the scenes. If there are chemistry issues, guys don't like each other. That is your job as the head coach, to work this out. So I blame Mark Pope. I think it all goes back to him.

[Matt Jones]

I do, too. But I will. I found myself. I've been somebody. If you've listened to the show, I for years, like, been, like, yeah, you know, they're just players. They're just kids. I. Maybe I'm just getting older, but I'm finding myself becoming more like, hey, dude, you're being paid. You're a pro now. Yep. And if I'm gonna take up for you being a pro, and if you're gonna get to go on the portal and you're gonna get to do, like, now, I've got to treat you like a pro. And modi bate, I'm gonna kind of get, like. Be like. You know, I get mad when Draymond Green does that stuff. Well, you know, I gotta apply it to you, because this is two games in a row. Let me just say with him, he was the centerpiece of all the bickering at Alabama.

[Shannon Dawson]

Yep.

[Matt Jones]

Now, he played well at Alabama, but he was the centerpiece of all the bickering at Alabama. And now the same here, too. In between, he gives that interview in which he basically says, we weren't prepared, which seemed like a little bit. I don't know if it was indictment on the team or the coach. It was hard to read.

[Ryan Lemond]

Right.

[Matt Jones]

So, I mean, I think I give Mark Pope a D minus, but I do think the players deserve some of it. To 859-280-2287. Text. Machine is 772-7745254. We are here at Cornbread Hemp. Very cool facility.

[Shannon Dawson]

Very cool.

[Matt Jones]

Got Cornbread Hemp owners here from the my initial meeting with them at Skyline Chile. They still dress exactly the same. We'll take a break and be right back. This is Kentucky Sports Radio.

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[NFL Playoffs Announcer]

NFL playoffs are here, and it all starts with Wild Card Weekend powered by Verizon.

[Matt Jones]

Man, it all comes down to this.

[NFL Playoffs Announcer]

12 teams, six games, three days and one epic weekend. My goodness, it's win or go home and every moment counts on the road to Super Bowl 60. It's a touchdown wild card weekend powered by Verizon. January 10th 12th. Visit watch.NFL.com for the full schedule.

[Matt Jones]

You know, the DraftKings sportsbook is an official sports betting partner of the NFL, but it makes every playoff moment feel bigger. So like, think about the playoff games this weekend. You got six of them. Lots of good teams. I'm looking forward to the Bears against the Packers. Well, DraftKings has my back though. If I decide to make a bet on the game, I have early exit protection. So if you pick somebody like say, Caleb Williams to get yards and then he goes down in the first half, you still get paid in cash. That's pretty good. You don't get that a lot of places. So download the DraftKings sportsbook app. Use my code KSR. That's code KSR. Turn five bucks into $300 in bonus bets if your bet wins. It's in partnership with DraftKings. The Crown is yours. If you have a game problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER in New York. Call 877-8-HOPE and why or text HOPE and WHY. Connecticut. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org on behalf of the Boot Hill Casino in Kansas. Wager tax pass through may apply in Illinois 21 plus in most states void in Ontario. Restrictions apply. BIT must win to receive bonus bets in seven days. Minimum odds required. For additional terms. Responsible gaming resources, see DKNG Audio limited.

[TJ Maxx Announcer]

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[Matt Jones]

Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio here live at Corbread hip 859-280-2287. Text machine 772-7745-2541. Mary wants a verbal leader, and when Diabate gets on guys, it's a problem. Well, you can only be a leader if people want you to be a leader.

[Ryan Lemond]

And if they're willing to follow me and.

[Matt Jones]

Exactly right. And if they're willing to follow, like, you can sit and scream at people. But if for don't feel like you are a leader, it does. You don't just get to decide you're a leader. Being a leader, in part requires the consent of those being led. And so, you know, in theory, I like. I mean, again, I keep using the example because I think it's the most obvious example in recent years of Oscar. I liked Oscar. I don't think anybody would argue Oscar is not a good dude. But Oscar, for whatever reason, turned his teammates off. They did not enjoy being around him. So that meant he, when, when you would see him lead, it's just in one ear and out the other because these dudes, like. Now, is that Oscar's fault or is that the player's fault? I don't know. Could be either. But the point is, a leader is not effective if you don't. If the people you're leading don't, don't want to be around you.

[Shannon Dawson]

Right.

[Ryan Lemond]

And it's not just the bickering with the players. I mean, if you go back to last game, he was bickering with the assistant coaches on the sideline. So I think he's got. He's got a lot of issues. It seems like with everybody on the team.

[Shannon Dawson]

You know, the practice we were at, he had an issue with one of the assistant coaches at that practice. So, you know, we heard this summer all along that he was kind of the leader. The guys were following him. But maybe it's the way he's doing it. Maybe The.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, that can make a difference.

[Shannon Dawson]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

One person writes, Matt, I hate we latch onto the Sweet 16. Last year. I didn't know the Sweet 16 was the expectation at Kentucky Fair Point. But let me give you a good, fair counterpoint. We hadn't been to the Sweet 16 since 2019 until last year.

[Shannon Dawson]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

When you're coming off a loss to Oakland in the first round, you had a new coach.

[Matt Jones]

All right, you had a new coach. New coach comes in. I think he deserves a minute. Right. Like. Like, take Will Stein. Will Stein were to win two games next year. That's a valid criticism. But if he wins six and goes to a bowl game, I'm going especially with the hardest schedule that I can remember us ever having, which is what we have next year. That I'm going to say, dude, great, right?

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

Because, I mean, you do have to give these people a minute. Now, what's more concerning to me is that Year two looks like it's on pace to be worse than Year one. But I don't really have any criticisms, Ryan, about Year one.

[Shannon Dawson]

I feel like they kind of even overachieved last year. You know, Pope had never even won an NCAA tournament game as a head coach till last year. So I kind of feel even though I only went to the sweet 16, that was an overachievement for that group.

[Ryan Lemond]

What's interesting is he seems to have done better throwing this roster together in two weeks last year than he did when he had a full off season to be able to build.

[Matt Jones]

You do wonder if there's a paralysis by analysis that maybe he overthought things and ended up getting guys that were not. Like, he overthought it.

[Odoo Announcer]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

You know, I talked to a person that's not a UK media member, but that's a national media member that knows Pope and the staff pretty well, and he said, look, they'll never say this, but they panicked a little bit in the. In the portal, and they thought, let's get these athletes. We'll teach them to shoot. And it didn't work. Like, they basically were like, we've got to have better defenders to win a national championship. We'll teach them to shoot. And then I think everybody will say they. They got too many big guys. They just did. They got to. We have too many big guys. We got five big guys. You can only play. I argue we maybe are better off, Ryan only playing one big guy. If you watch the Missouri game, some of our best runs came with. With Cam Williams at the four and only one big end. But when you have five big guys, it's hard to only play one of them.

[Ryan Lemond]

And I also don't understand what is going on with Trent Noah. I mean a guy who came in last year and was such a big part of the run in the tournament.

[Matt Jones]

I don't think he fits in the team.

[Ryan Lemond]

But you need somebody that can shoot the three.

[Matt Jones]

I, I mean, I agree with you.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

But on a team where you're like, we can't shoot, we got to play defense, he might be the worst defender on the team. So how do you put him in? I, I don't think they had a coherent philosophy building this and it shows it. Let's switch gears for a second. Shannon Dawson. Mr. If it had worked, you would have liked it has gone to the national championship game. What do you think of that?

[Shannon Dawson]

And getting all kinds of praise last night, the play calling. He made some of those long third down calls. He made the plays. Just how is it two of our ex offensive coordinators, Shannon Dawson, Liam Cohen are like now?

[Matt Jones]

Well, Mark Stoops clearly picked offensive coordinators. Well, yeah. What if Bush Hamden, like in three years is in the national championship game?

[Ryan Lemond]

Wouldn't be surprised. I mean again, that goes back to Mark Stoops. We've talked about, you know, him handcuffing our offensive coordinators.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

There's got to be some truth to that.

[Matt Jones]

I was watching him, I was watching him during the game and if you, I don't know how many of you watched it. They made Miami some really stupid calls. It felt like during the game they went wildcat in a position that, and they ended up losing a ton of yards and they, they had some dumb decisions. With that said, he also made some great calls. And there's that little dude on Miami, the little freshman, Tony. He might be the best player I've ever seen. I mean he's, he's like this tall.

[Shannon Dawson]

Yep.

[Matt Jones]

And he is a, he is a demon. Now the SEC for the third straight year is not going to win the national championship and for the third straight year is not going to have a team in the championship game. Is that a trend you think is the SEC slipped a little bit. We always say it's the hardest conference hardest schedule has that slipped.

[Shannon Dawson]

I heard the guy, I heard one guy kind of describe it. You know usually Georgia, Alabama, their second string, third string guys would start on most teams but those guys are leaving Alabama and Georgia now they're going to play at some of these other places. So the transfer portal has kind of hurt the SEC powerhouse. These guys don't stay and play for them anymore.

[Matt Jones]

I think where it's changed is because of the portal and also because there have been some good coaches go to these other schools. I still think the middle and the bottom of the SEC is better than the middle and the bottom of the other conferences. But now I think the top of the Big Ten, the acc and, you know, I just think it's as good as we are now. I think the middle and the bottom, I still take our conference, but the top. I think, Shannon, we're just. We're not as dominant as we were.

[Ryan Lemond]

Good players still want to go to Alabama and Georgia, but money means more to go to other schools.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. And then you got Carson Beck, who Georgia said leave, and now he's playing for the national championship. That was George's call. And now they're going to watch him play in the national title game. We'll take a break. Be right back. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio. 859-280-2287. Here at Cornbread Hemp. You know, Cornbread Hemp is. Has been going for a while, but they're also having to fight our congressional policy. Unless Congress intervenes by November 2026, all hemp products in America will be a Schedule 1 narcotic on par with heroin, which is a huge mistake, but hopefully that will change. And these guys are spending their time in Washington trying to making that happen. Shannon, all I can say about it is it has had a big impact on my. Especially a couple years ago when I was first starting on my sleep schedule. And you know me, I'm not somebody who, like, I, I don't enjoy being inebriated or high or any of this because that doesn't happen. But it does relax me to allow me to sleep. And I. It has done wonders for me and I think it would be ridiculous to take that away.

[Ryan Lemond]

I agree with you. They have great products here. The sleep gummies I'm a big fan of and just the regular gummies as well. So really good stuff they [e-mail] do.

[Matt Jones]

You think that was pass interference on the last play? Last?

[Shannon Dawson]

I think it was, but I don't know if you call it, but it sure seemed like he was kind of had his hand on his shoulder pads even kind of pulling him down.

[Ryan Lemond]

I feel like that's one of those. If it were like second quarter, they call it.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

But into the game they let it go.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah.

[Shannon Dawson]

What do you think?

[Matt Jones]

I think, I think when you put yourself in a. Like, in a position where it's a Hail Mary. You just gotta deal with that. If it's. Now, if it's first and goal at the three, and that exact same situation happens, I think they call it. But I think there's a sense of if you're throwing it 40 yards downfield, you know, if you notice they're both grabbing each other. And I think actually, if you go watch the play, a lot of people focused on the passing fair. Look at the other guy on Ole Miss. It's clear it was actually a brilliant play. I don't know if Kiffin or who came up with it. Maybe Charlie Weiss Jr. One of the guys of the offensive players was interfering with the Miami game to keep him from coming over to the other guy. So if you go watch that play, the other Miami receiver is pulling the Ole Miss guy down. So it's one on one on the other one. Yeah. So I actually think you could have called it either way there. So I was okay with letting it go.

[CarMax Announcer]

Yeah.

[Shannon Dawson]

When they went.

[Matt Jones]

You put yourself in that position. Ole Miss, if you're having to throw.

[Shannon Dawson]

A Hail Mary, the official they use up there in the broadcast booth, they kind of went to him real quick and he said, yeah, exactly what you said. They kind of were both pushing on each other. Nobody really had an advantage. So that's why they probably just didn't call it.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. 859-280-2287. Who's up first? Joey is up first. Joey, go ahead, Joey.

[Caller]

Hey, man. How y' all doing?

[Shannon Dawson]

Good.

[Caller]

So I've got two quick questions. Is this really the year to break out the denim uniforms? And then the next one is. A few weeks ago, I seen a write up that Pope was working on contract extensions already for the guys for next year. I mean, I don't understand that. Like, I don't get what guys you want to keep off this roster, but I'll hang up and.

[Matt Jones]

Well, I mean, I. I think that's. I think that's a conversation. We'll see how the season ends. Let's just talk about what I think they were planning to do. I think they were planning to bring back low diabate, you know, whoever. I think those were the two major ones, and then everybody else that was going to kind of depend. On what? On. On how things went now. Who knows? But you also mean you gotta have somebody.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Ryan Lemond]

I mean, right now, you got nobody.

[Matt Jones]

If there's one thing you. We've learned. I mean, we have zero recruits with zero people Committed. If there's one thing we've learned, you don't want to build your whole team by the portal. So, I mean, they're gonna have. Some of these guys will certainly be back. Do you think there's an argument, Ryan, not to bring the Denims out this year? You know, we've already announced we're doing it for the Tennessee game first weekend of February. If we go in with a big losing streak, is this the time to bring out the denims? And also the 96 team would come back because it's been 30 years since they won the title, which I cannot believe it's been that long. But yeah.

[Shannon Dawson]

Well, that's it. It's a anniversary marker. It's the 30 year anniversary of that 96 national championship team. Now you got Popey Pope as your coach. I'm for it. I think I was all excited about him bringing them back. Of course, if they have a losing streak going into the game, that's going to kind of stink. But I'm all for bringing out the denim uniforms this year for the anniversary.

[Matt Jones]

It's this Saturday. They're bringing back rup's runs.

[Shannon Dawson]

It is. Yes.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, they're bringing. Saturday night, they're bringing RUPs runs. And I believe all of the. All of RUP's runs that are alive, except Larry. It's Larry Conley. He's alive.

[Shannon Dawson]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

He's got some health issues, so he cannot come. But all the other RUPS runs, including Pat Riley, are going to be at the game Saturday night because it's the 60th anniversary of Rup's run. So I think you probably do the Denims because It's the anniversary 96. But I will say if we go in and we're like 2 and 8 in conference when we do it, it's not going to feel quite the same.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, but you've already announced that you're.

[Shannon Dawson]

Going to do it.

[Ryan Lemond]

You can't go back now. I mean, I think that would be a weak move to go. Well, we're not winning, so we're not going to bring out the denim. You got to do it because it's the anniversary.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. Who's up next?

[Shannon Dawson]

Tom is up next.

[Matt Jones]

Tom, Go ahead, Tom.

[Caller]

Yeah, man. Thanks for taking my call. I know we have a lot of problems on basketball, but the. One of the worst things I've ever seen was are out of bounds play. Why do we have to throw it the length of the floor to get the ball in without trying to run a play to score? We've had several turnovers just trying to get the ball inbound. I just like to know your view.

[Matt Jones]

I, I think that is a really great question and one that as I watch the game. All right, so can I do a 45 second rant on out of bounds?

[Shannon Dawson]

I want you to.

[Matt Jones]

You guys remember, you guys remember during the Cal era. Drove me. Yeah. Insane. We would just have a guy stand there and they would lob it to his hand and it drove me insane. Especially when you would see the other teams run some play and then they would get it. All right, fast forward last year. I don't know if you remember, we ran a lot of out of bounds plays and we actually had some success with them now, probably because we had a very intelligent team, but we did then. All right, now let's start to this year. Beginning of the year, what were we back to? A guy standing there with his arm up, posting up. We were doing that and then we got some turnovers because, oh, guess what, that doesn't work. So they had two weeks between the St. John's game and the first SEC game. And so my assumption was add some out of bounds place. And now it seems like our view is let's throw it all the way down the court to the other side. I guess so it won't get stolen. But then. And the announcers made this point and I appreciate the call, sir. The announcers made this point. You've wasted six or eight seconds getting the ball up the court. And on the last play. I don't know what we were doing on that last play. I mean, I really don't like, I love Jalen Lowe, but I'm not sure that's not the shot you want coming out of that, coming out of that break. So I don't understand the out of bounds place. By the way, go watch Missouri's out of bounds place. On every Missouri out of bounds plays, they either got a layup or it got knocked out of their hands and they got the ball again. But they, they got a slip position and a shot at the rim every play.

[Shannon Dawson]

That's what made me so mad. That last minute of the Missouri game, we had four, four empty possessions and two of them were coming out of a timeout. The first like at 50 something seconds out of a timeout, they gave it to Brandon Garrison to initiate a play.

[Matt Jones]

Stupid.

[Shannon Dawson]

Then the last possession, that play they designed, Jalen Lowe threw up.

[Matt Jones]

Stupid. I'll say that I like, I actually think Brandon Garrison gets a little more criticism than he deserves. But I can't think of a player that I want making that play less than Brandon Garrison with less than a minute. I know he had played well, but like let him roll to the basket or something. But the idea of, okay, let's give it to Brandon and then let him make the decision. Shannon, I don't understand.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, too much dribbling on the team too. That's another thing. You know, Pope I thought was going to be really good with these drawing up plays, X's and O's. And that's, that's another reason that some of this season has been disappointing because you really haven't seen too much of that.

[Matt Jones]

859-280-2287 all right, I have a question that I want you guys to answer when we come back.

[Shannon Dawson]

All right?

[Matt Jones]

How much is being an American citizen worth to you financially? There's a reason I'm going to ask you this because apparently it's now for sale. And so I'm wondering how much is it worth to you? How much would it be worth to.

[Ryan Lemond]

You to switch to another country?

[Matt Jones]

So we will talk about that. But also don franklinauto.com you go to Don Franklin. You could buy a vehicle at the best price, the best selection. It's Don franklinauto.com There are 70 locations around the the state. There's one near you. They could. It is a family oriented business, great service. And if you know and if you want to find your vehicle, go to donfranklinau.com go to and it'll pick it up and there it'll be. It is at Don Franklin Auto, driven by family. We'll take a break, be right back. This is ksr.

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[NFL Playoffs Announcer]

NFL playoffs are here and it all starts with wild card weekend powered by Verizon.

[Matt Jones]

Man, it all comes down to this.

[NFL Playoffs Announcer]

12 teams, six games, three days and one epic weekend.

[Matt Jones]

My goodness.

[NFL Playoffs Announcer]

It's win or go home and every moment counts on the road to Super Bowl 60. It's a touchdown wild card weekend powered by Verizon. January 10th 12th. Visit watch.NFL.com for the full schedule.

[TJ Maxx Announcer]

At TJ Maxx. Feel more you than ever without compromise because we never make you choose the quality you want, the styles you crave and the prices you love. It's all at TJ Maxx so you can focus on just being you. With so many finds arriving daily, that means so many ways to show your unique style. Shop is in store and [e-mail] and Max, what makes you you?

[Matt Jones]

Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio here at Cornbread Hemp, their beautiful new retail and manufacturing facility out here on Shup Road. Is that how I say it? Yeah. Shop.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yes.

[Matt Jones]

Yes. Right off poplar level. 859-280-2287 Text Machine 772-774-5254 by the way, Willie Rodriguez coming back to Kentucky as a tight end, that's a big deal.

[Shannon Dawson]

That's a big deal.

[Matt Jones]

That may be. In terms of guys returning, you could probably argue Ty Bright, Willie Rodriguez are the two most talented guys on the team and both of them from Kentucky, both of them now return.

[Shannon Dawson]

Yeah, I think they, they looked at the offense. Okay, what one guy can we not afford to lose? I think we might have been him did the same thing on defense. What guy can we not afford to lose? It was Ty Bryant. With all these guys kind of all of a sudden leaving is the. I'm going to Louisville. It's good he decided to stay at Kentucky.

[Matt Jones]

I think Willie Rodriguez is going to be a monster. Yeah, Will Stein's offense, I think he's going to be a monster. I think that is a Huge, huge get to get him to stay. All right, so, you know, we've been. You've probably, if you've been following the news, they've been talking about Greenland, and, like, Trump wants to take Greenland. And so, you know, it's generally considered that we're probably not going to invade it. That's not a good idea. So they're trying to figure out, I guess, Trump wants to buy it. Well, Denmark runs it and says it's not for sale. So there's this talk of a plan where they're going to offer Greenland people and say because they have a right to vote, they usually vote to stay with Denmark. They've done that for a long time. But he's like, if you do another vote, one of the things they're offering is we will make it to where we will pay Greenland citizens to become Americans. That if they vote yes to become Americans, there's 50,000 of them. We would give them between 10 to $50,000 a year for the next 20 years. Now, I will say I think a lot of Americans are going to be like, well, where's my money? Yeah, yeah, but, but let's put that as a side. All right, let's say Canada. Shannon wanted to buy Kentucky. I don't know how that would happen, but let's just say Canada came up and said, we are buying Kentucky. And you had to vote whether or not to leave America and become Canadian. How much money a year would it take for you to agree to vote to become Canadian? Because that's the most likely scenario. I mean, first of all, it's not likely. Yeah, but like, if I'm trying to think of the equivalent, if they said to you, okay, we will give you, Shannon the Dude, $10,000 a year for Kentucky to be Canadian.

[Shannon Dawson]

Hard.

[Ryan Lemond]

No.

[Matt Jones]

$50,000 a year.

[Ryan Lemond]

Keep going, Bob.

[Matt Jones]

So your vote. So if I just offer you 50. Your votes. No.

[Ryan Lemond]

No.

[Matt Jones]

Okay. By the way, I bet there's a lot of people that would vote yes. $50,000.

[Ryan Lemond]

I'm proud to be an American.

[Matt Jones]

There are some. Billy, all American. Billy says he would be.

[Ryan Lemond]

Billy's a sellout.

[Matt Jones]

You would be Billy. You would be Canadian for 50, 000 a year. So it'd be 49 states and we would be one of the provinces of Canada.

[Ryan Lemond]

I'll give you 50, 000 now to go to Canada.

[Shannon Dawson]

Do you have to move to Canada?

[Matt Jones]

No, no, Kentucky.

[Shannon Dawson]

Okay.

[Matt Jones]

The theory is Kentucky would now be part of Canada. We would be having a vote, and if the vote occurred and over half the State voted. We would be the. A Canadian state. So the question is, if they just came to you and said $50,000 and then it got on the ballot, are you voting yes or no? 50,000 a year. That's yours.

[Shannon Dawson]

Free. I'm probably saying I'm wanting to get Bob Barker to go a little bit higher.

[Matt Jones]

This is the. Now wait a minute. This is the offer. It is on the ballot at $50,000 a year. That's the offer. This is not. You're not bargaining one on one. They don't want Ryan. They want the state of Canada, of Kentucky. So are you voting yes or no at $50,000 a year?

[Shannon Dawson]

I can stay in my same house. I can live with them around my same people.

[Matt Jones]

Everyone will be the same. It's just. You'll be a Canadian.

[Ryan Lemond]

Laws different somewhat.

[Odoo Announcer]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. No, the law would be different.

[Shannon Dawson]

We have to change it to KSR instead of ksr.

[Matt Jones]

Answer the question.

[Shannon Dawson]

I'm trying to figure it all out here about Canada. Start with a K. But I'm starting to lean towards. I would probably take it.

[Matt Jones]

So you're a sellout. So you would vote yes?

[Shannon Dawson]

I think I might vote yes.

[Matt Jones]

So now we have two votes for Kentucky to join Canada. Billy and. And. And Ryan.

[Odoo Announcer]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

You're a no. I'm a no, which is surprising. I thought you would become Canadian for a hundred dollars. No.

[Ryan Lemond]

You gotta do better than that.

[Matt Jones]

All right, Mario, yes or no? Mario's a no.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

All right, so now I'm gonna give up. We're gonna put one more ballot.

[Ryan Lemond]

Okay.

[Matt Jones]

Because. Because this is.

[Shannon Dawson]

They're.

[Matt Jones]

They're talking about the. A hundred thousand dollars a year.

[Shannon Dawson]

Sign me up. I'm Canadian.

[Ryan Lemond]

They already got you for 50,000.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, that's true. Billy and Shannon now. Or excuse me, Billy and Ryan are already Canadian. They voted yes the first time at 50. All right, this is your last offer, Shannon. Yeah. $100,000 a year for 20 years. And Kentucky is now joining Ottawa and Manitoba and Alberta, and we are now Canadian.

[Shannon Dawson]

Come on, eh?

[Ryan Lemond]

Feel so patriotic right now.

[Matt Jones]

Come on. That's a lot of money. Listen, a hundred thousand dollars a year. You could not work if you didn't want to. If you didn't want to, you wouldn't work. Because, like, we're essentially going to be offering these people a Greenland if this policy happens, and I don't know if it will. We're offering them a chance to basically not work, work and become Americans, which is why I think a lot of Americans are not going to like it if we Offer that. But we are offering that. Are you taking it?

[Ryan Lemond]

I'd like to say that no amount of money would be enough for me to turn to a Canadian.

[Matt Jones]

That's crazy. But shocked that you believe everybody's got.

[Ryan Lemond]

A price for the Million Dollar Man. But we're not talking about a million dollars. We're talking about a hundred thousand dollars. It's still a no. I'm still gonna stay America.

[NFL Playoffs Announcer]

Yes.

[Odoo Announcer]

Wow.

[Matt Jones]

You're a yes.

[Caller]

Now.

[Matt Jones]

Mario is now.

[Ryan Lemond]

We converted him to Canada.

[Matt Jones]

So, by the way, a hundred thousand dollars has now just made three of the four of you Canadian. We should.

[Ryan Lemond]

We should deport all three of you right now. Get out of here. Get out of our country.

[Matt Jones]

Here's the thing. So. So let me ask you this. I actually could see why, if you were a Greenlander, you would go, well, yeah. Okay. Now, what happens in America if we offer that? Do you think people will like that?

[Ryan Lemond]

No, because we'll be just like what you said. Where's our money? How come we're not getting money? I think you'll have people from America converting to Greenland. Oh, you come back to America for money? I would if that. If we're gonna do that. Let's play the game here.

[Matt Jones]

You would try to become a Greenland citizen first? Yes. Now, see it in advance.

[Ryan Lemond]

There you go.

[Shannon Dawson]

Take the money.

[Ryan Lemond]

Take my free money. I'm still American.

[Matt Jones]

Shannon. Very smart, Shannon. Jumping citizenship.

[Ryan Lemond]

I will temporarily be a Greenlandian, but not. Not permanently.

[Matt Jones]

It's interesting. I hadn't thought of that angle. Who's up next, by the way? I didn't notice how I didn't have to give my answer.

[Ryan Lemond]

Yeah, hold on a minute. Yeah, don't go to the next caller. What's your answer?

[Matt Jones]

My answer would be. I still would. Would. I think there are advantages on the world stage to being an American. With that said, you know Canadians, not bad. There's a lot of good.

[Ryan Lemond]

Like, we've been to Canada.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah.

[Shannon Dawson]

Aren't they very similar living in Canada.

[Ryan Lemond]

Living here, we would have Mounties instead of police in Kentucky. Right.

[Matt Jones]

There are some differences. There are a few or less. Like, it's not quite as individualist. You don't have quite as many freedoms, but you have most of them. You get like, universal health care, but that also can kind of have some problems occasionally. Travel is basically the same. So, I mean, it's. It's not a huge difference.

[Ryan Lemond]

You and I are Team America and these guys.

[Matt Jones]

When you are Canadian, though, you do have to rely on another country for your national security. That's one thing about America is we, we do rely on like we take that for granted. But most other countries in the world are to some extent relying on us for national security. And that does matter.

[Ryan Lemond]

See, they'll come and attack Kentucky.

[Matt Jones]

That's true. Get invaded.

[Ryan Lemond]

Exactly.

[Matt Jones]

All right, go ahead. Who's next? Mo is up next. Mo. Go ahead, Mo.

[Caller]

Hey, Matt, you remember back in like 2013 when we missed the tournament, Chester called in and he said that the reason was he blamed it on socialism.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. He blamed it on the liberals. That was a great call, one of the great calls in KSR history, I thought.

[Caller]

And I guess if we miss the tournament this year, which I don't think we will, but if we do, I guess we blame it on capitalism now, you know, $22 million paid to a team that really hasn't played.

[Matt Jones]

If we miss the tournament, it's going to be a massive embarrassment. We're going to be the laughing stock of college basketball if we miss the tournament. But go ahead.

[Caller]

And a question. As far as blue bloods go, do you think we are now objectively maybe the weakest of, of the blue bloods in terms.

[Matt Jones]

Great question.

[Caller]

I mean, it depends on what you define.

[Matt Jones]

It depends on what you define a blue blood. As I heard during the off season somebody, I think it was Matt Norlander said blue bloods are five programs. You can only have five blue bloods at any given time. And his argument was UCLA has been replaced by UConn. So he was basically like, it's Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina, Kansas and Yukon. If those are the five blue bloods, and I think that's probably correct, then at this moment we're number five. If we're talking about not historically, historically I still think we're number one. But if you're talking about where are the blue bloods in terms of their status as programs now, then we're number five and we would be the one that would be on the verge of being replaced.

[Shannon Dawson]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

If we're not careful. So it's just, I think that's important to realize. I do think that's true. We'll take a break, come back hour number two. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. This is Julian Edelman from Dudes on Dudes with Gronk and Jewels. Sunday mornings I've got my game day ritual, coffee, lucky socks and now new morning uncrustable sandwiches. It's all about that 12 gram protein boost with the new uncrustables. Bright eyed berry or up and apple flavors. Bright eye berries Got a feisty receiver energy up an apple. Your classic Do it all tight end, soft, pillowy, packed with protein and easy enough for Gronk to grab from the freezer. Whether you're on the couch, driving to the tailgate or heading to the locker room, New Morning Uncrustable Sandwiches are the MVP of snacks. Your new Sunday kickoff ritual starts here with New Morning Uncrustable sandwiches packed with 12 grams of protein.

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