KSR - Hour 2 (2026-02-11): Kentucky, Olympics, and Rapid-Fire Banter at KSBar

Podcast: KSR (Kentucky Sports Radio)
Hosts: Matt Jones, Shannon, Drew, callers
Date: February 11, 2026
Location: KS Bar and Grill

Episode Overview

This lively hour of Kentucky Sports Radio features a mix of sharp banter, Kentucky basketball talk, and a host of Olympic takes—especially on some of the more bizarre and entertaining winter sports. Matt Jones is joined by his regular crew, including Shannon and Drew, as they riff on viral sports stories, preview NCAA tournament destination possibilities, and take engaging calls from the audience. The hour is characteristically loose, irreverent, and heavy on both laughter and insight.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Viral Olympic Confessions: The Norwegian Bronze Medalist

• Matt introduces a recent story from the 2026 Winter Olympics about a Norwegian cross-country skier who won bronze and then, in a TV interview, confessed to cheating on his girlfriend.
  • Matt (06:03): "Norwegian TV station interviews him... he just goes, 'Well, actually this has been the worst week of my life because I made a mistake and fumbled the woman who was the gold medal of my life.'"
  • The panel debates the wisdom of the skier's confession, with Drew and Shannon noting the unintended consequences for the ex-girlfriend, who he had only dated for three months.
  • Drew (08:36): "If you’re going to cheat on her in three months, how much did you really love her?...You couldn’t even get through three months."
  • They joke about whether Norwegian culture might embrace such confessions and enjoy a Twitter reply:
    Matt (09:51): "My favorite comment was, somebody wrote, 'Norway this works.'"

2. Short Track Speed Skating Relays: Olympic Chaos and Butt Pushes

• Matt raves about his new Olympic favorite: mixed team short track speed skating relays, which he describes as "violent chaos."
  • Matt (14:29): "The way they hand off from one to the other person is they just like, tag them, but in order to make them go faster, they push them by the butt."
• The hosts relish the spectacle of organized chaos, athletes tumbling, and the strategic “butt push,” likening it to football’s “tush push” but on skates.
  • Drew (17:22): "Sometimes people just fall...one butt pushed the end of the other guy, they all go flying into the wall, and then it's a question of who can get up first."
• The segment is both a plug to watch Olympic absurdity and a springboard for tongue-in-cheek brainstorming about introducing butt pushes in other sports (e.g., Kentucky basketball fast breaks, MLB baserunning).

3. Olympic Figure Skating Update: “Quad God” and Snoop Dogg

• Quick recap of Ilya Malinin ("Quad God") and his eccentric, almost Allen Iverson-esque approach (e.g., skipping practice, landing backflips).
  • Drew (45:01): "He did a backflip and landed on one skate...he looks like a Game of Thrones villain."
• Mention of Snoop Dogg’s omnipresence and engagement with the Olympics.
  • Matt (46:18): "There’s Multiple Snoops in Italy. He goes to all of it..."

4. March Madness Venues: Wish List and Avoid List

• The crew analyzes possibilities for Kentucky’s NCAA tournament first and second round locations:
  • Matt (48:47): "Buffalo, Tampa, Philadelphia, St. Louis, San Diego, Oklahoma City and Portland."
• They debate which cities would be best (and worst), factoring in travel, food, weather, and local UK fanbases.
  • Shannon (51:32): "I’d rather go anywhere but Philadelphia...nothing redeemable about Philadelphia. Eagles. I hate, like, everything about their sports teams."
  • Drew (53:07): "Buffalo’s your first pick? ...Great blue cheese there."

5. Audience Engagement: Call-In Questions

• Caller Stephen (31:29): Asks whether growing less obsessive about UK fandom means one is “less of a fan.” Matt affirms it's normal to have shifting phases and priorities across life.
  • Matt (34:18): "People grow older and their fandom changes...I think it kind of goes through phases, don’t you?"
• Other calls include NCAA eligibility rulings (Alabama transfer) and discussions of NCAA consequences when ineligible players compete.
  • Drew (1:08:49): "Can we just go get Giannis for five games and pretend it didn’t happen?"

6. BYU Basketball, Mark Pope, and NIL

• A season ticket holder points out that BYU has had tournament success and a recruiting surge since Mark Pope left, sparking discussion of NIL’s role and whether Pope could adapt to big-money recruiting at Kentucky.
  • Matt (1:13:00): "As soon as he left, BYU became a massive NIL program. But as far as on the court, I don’t know that they’ve been that much better..."

7. Bracketology and Callbacks

• Quick review of latest bracket predictions: Kentucky as a 6-seed, possibly facing UCLA and then Purdue.
  • Drew (48:01): "I don’t like that Purdue storyline because we’re just going to get made fun of for that exhibition win if it doesn’t go well."

8. Rostered Seating: The KSBar “Pick an Airplane Row” Meme

• The crew riffs on a social media post: which KSR/UK sports personalities would you want to sit next to on a 12-hour flight?
  • Matt (1:23:11): "Middle seat between Bob in Jamestown and Ryan. Forget it. I’m not even taking that seat."
• Humorous breakdown of personalities, with Drew and Willie’s row as the “party seat,” and discussion of “quiet” options for introverts.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Matt, on the Norwegian skier’s confession (06:32):

  "Strong play by this guy…throws his infidelity out to the world. Nobody asked him, hey man, nobody knew about it. What've you been doing? You been faithful to your lady? He just throws it out there and just says, hey, I’ve been cheating…"

• Drew, on Olympic butt pushes (16:38):

  "You don't see a lot of encouraging of butt pushes in other sports…We all get winded…man, I just need a quick butt push and I can get through this."

• Shannon, on Philadelphia as an NCAA host (51:32):

  "I'd rather go anywhere but Philadelphia. So that’s last on the lead. Why don’t you like Philadelphia? There’s nothing redeemable about Philadelphia. Eagles. I hate, like, everything about their sports teams. I hate the Phillies. I hated ECW..."

• Matt, on fandom phases (34:18):

  "People grow older and their fandom changes…biggest when they are young...then obsessive again in their twenties...come and go when life gets busy. It goes through phases."

• Matt, on the NCAA/Alabama transfer situation (1:09:25):

  "If you’re the NCAA, you got to be happy about that ruling because…that’s now going to make it where everybody—the thing they’d been worried about—are you going to have guys from the NBA coming? Looks like that’s not going to happen."

• On the KSBar Plane-Seating Meme (1:23:11):

  • Drew:
    "Very few people associated with UK sports that if you put them in a duo wouldn’t end up more hammered than Drew and Willie."

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [05:00] – Olympic bronze medalist’s viral confession and discussion
• [14:00] – Mixed short track speed skating relays and “butt pushes”
• [30:00] – Call from Stephen about shifting UK fandom
• [45:00] – Figure skating’s "Quad God" and Snoop Dogg at the Olympics
• [48:47] – NCAA tournament city wish list debate
• [1:08:49] – NCAA transfer/eligibility and Alabama’s contested wins
• [1:13:00] – BYU’s post-Pope rise & Kentucky’s NIL context
• [1:23:11] – The KSBar “pick your airline seatmates” meme breakdown

Tone & Style

The KSR crew combines Kentucky devotion, sharp humor, pop culture references, and a casual, everyone-at-the-bar atmosphere. The hosts seamlessly jump between sports, weird news, and listener engagement, making the hour fun and accessible for die-hard UK fans and casual listeners alike.

Summary Takeaway

This episode of KSR’s Hour 2 is classic Kentucky Sports Radio: quick-witted, occasionally raucous, full of hot takes—whether about Kentucky basketball, Norwegian soul-bearing, or the physics of Olympic butt-pushing. If you ever wondered what makes this show such a Lexington institution, look no further than this snapshot of clever conversation and community banter.