2026-03-18- KSR - Hour 1

Summary

KSR - Hour 1 (March 18, 2026) – Episode Summary

Main Theme & Purpose

As the Kentucky Wildcats and their fans gear up for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, the KSR crew (hosted by Matt Jones, with Drew, Shannon, and Mario) broadcasts from Louisville before heading to St. Louis for UK’s opening round. The show blends travel banter, reflections on Matt’s ESPN bracket reveal, NCAA tournament scenarios, and classic KSR storytelling, all serving to rally Kentucky fandom around the big weekend ahead and dissect the state of the program under Coach Mark Pope.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Matt’s ESPN Bracket Appearance (03:00–08:00)

• Matt’s experience on ESPN: Matt describes filming his NCAA bracket pick video for ESPN, noting it didn’t get prime homepage placement but still drew strong engagement (approx. 18,000 views on YouTube).
• KSR’s unique style: The crew discusses the importance of injecting personality and fun into what could be a routine bracket reveal. Matt jokes about his appearance, including comment-section jabs about his hands.
• Audience reactions: Playful ribbing between Matt and Drew about on-air antics, making the segment entertaining even for the ESPN producers.
• Memorable moment: “If I can make my producers laugh, I know we’re rolling because they have to listen to this boring, monotonous sports talk all the time.” — Matt Jones (04:26)

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2. St. Louis Trip & NCAA Tournament Anticipation (09:00–12:19)

• Travel chatter: The team reminisces about previous trips to St. Louis and muses on what to do or where to eat while in town, soliciting recommendations from listeners (Text line: 772-774-5254).
• Arch banter: The iconic Gateway Arch is playfully debated—impressive landmark or overrated tourist trap?
• Show logistics: Considering a possible live/postgame show for Kentucky fans if UK advances past Santa Clara.

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3. Rallying the Big Blue Nation: Why These Four Days Matter (12:20–17:31)

• Matt’s call for optimism: Matt passionately urges the fan base to buy in for the tournament, breaking down three scenarios for UK and Coach Pope:
  1. Lose to Santa Clara: “It’s going to be a bad offseason... a loss to Santa Clara puts Mark Pope in a do-or-die situation next year.” (13:09)
  2. Beat Santa Clara, lose to Iowa State: "Kind of right where you are now... status quo."
  3. Beat both, reach Sweet 16: “You suddenly have a chance to start believing... will get some momentum going into a recruiting season.” (14:19)
• Historical parallels: Drew references Mark Story’s column about legacies being formed in March, and the crew cites the 2014 run turning the program’s direction.
• Quote: “For the next 96 hours, get on board and be excited.” — Matt Jones (15:40)
• March Magic: Shannon: “They can answer a lot of questions people have right now or at least get some confidence back by going on a run... That’s what makes the tournament special.” (16:09)

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4. What Counts as “Success” at Kentucky? (23:42–25:30)

• Fan skepticism: Matt reads a text from a fan who says they can’t allow themselves hope due to anticipation of heartbreak.
• Expectation management: The hosts discuss whether reaching the Sweet 16, even with 14 losses, is “success” at Kentucky. They agree it’s not ideal, but contextually, with this season’s adversity, it’d “be a success for this team.”
• Quote: “Success is in everybody’s eyes… what I will say is... do I think overall it would be successful? No, probably not. But do I think considering where we are at this minute, then yes, I do.” — Matt Jones (24:19)

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5. Mark Pope vs. Calipari: Analyzing the Coaching Transition (26:15–29:02)

• Comparative context: The team breaks down how, by the numbers, Mark Pope has already outperformed John Calipari’s last four years at Kentucky (tournament games won, SEC games, regular season %).
• Addressing narrative rewrites: They push back at critics trying to reframe Calipari’s departure, reminding fans that UK’s postseason struggles predated Pope.
• Quote: “This idea that somehow Mark Pope has done worse than Cal did post-Covid is ridiculous. He’s done better.” — Matt Jones (28:09)
• Memorable ribbing: Matt jokes about online “goobers,” and how if Cal left due to KSR criticisms, “he’s too wimpy to be here anyway.”

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6. St. Louis Music & Nelly Banter (29:13–30:17)

• St. Louis artists: Searching for the city’s musical identity, Matt and Shannon settle on playing Nelly, recounting his local concert stops and enduring appeal.

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7. Sports TV Recap: USA-Venezuela Baseball Classic & NCAA First Four (30:17–34:48)

• Team USA vs Venezuela: Matt recaps an exceptionally emotional and raucous baseball game, highlighting Venezuela’s passionate fan base in Miami. Shannon confesses rooting for Venezuela’s players.
• Texas assistant coach fiasco: The KSR crew discuss a wild moment when a Texas assistant ran onto the court before the game was over, prompting debate on whether a technical foul—and possible job loss—was warranted.
• Quote (on repercussions): “Imagine you’re the assistant though, and you caused the technical. At that moment, you’re out of a job.” — Matt Jones (33:49)
• Sean Miller’s furious reaction: Discussion shifts to the legendary sideline fury of Miller, and how close the assistant was to national infamy.

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8. Vitale/Barkley Call an NCAA Game—Broadcast Chaos (37:44–39:39)

• Lost play-by-play, lively color: The combination of Dick Vitale and Charles Barkley—left unchecked as their play-by-play partner lost his voice—resulted in a meandering but highly entertaining broadcast, complete with unscripted kisses and general chaos.
• Pros and cons: The group enjoys it as a spectacle, noting that for diehard team fans, it might have been frustrating, but for neutrals it was a “funhouse.”

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9. Tournament Rituals & Flaky Friends (41:01–43:42)

• SEC tourney travel groups: Matt bemoans friends who always claim they’ll join the SEC tournament trip but never show, recounting humorous excuses within his core crew.
• Perrin’s legendary absence: The gang recalls good times with bodyguard-like friend Perrin, who is notorious for canceling last-minute.

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10. “Mike Francesa Magic” — Hilarious Radio Clip Breakdown (43:55–48:11)

• Classic Francesa goof: The show features a segment playfully dissecting a viral clip of legendary New York host Mike Francesa wrongly claiming a current St. John’s player left Kansas because of Joel Embiid—noting Embiid played at Kansas when the player was only 9 years old.
• Matt and team’s analysis: They roast Francesa’s tendency for vague, noncommittal sports analysis and enjoy imagining him in a chaos-filled college broadcast booth.
• Quote: “He’ll sometimes get a little thing going… He’s played good, he’s played bad… he’s been down.” — Mike Francesa (44:46–47:00)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• On the intentional joy of fun sports talk:
  “If I can make my producers laugh, I know we’re rolling…” — Matt Jones (04:26)
• On the importance of optimism in March:
  “For the next 96 hours, get on board and be excited.” — Matt Jones (15:40)
• Setting tournament stakes:
  “A loss to Santa Clara puts Mark Pope in a do or die situation next year.” — Matt Jones (13:09)
• Challenging defeatism:
  “The hope is what life is about. If you sit and worry, you always can be sad.” — Matt Jones (22:45)
• Comparing coaches:
  “Mark Pope’s already won two NCAA games. He’s already won two SEC games in half as many years... this idea that somehow Mark Pope has done worse than Cal did post Covid is ridiculous.” — Matt Jones (28:09)

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Segment Timestamps

• [03:00] ESPN Bracket Chronicles—fun vs. formulaic picks
• [09:00] St. Louis plans, Gateway Arch banter, listener food recs
• [12:20] Matt’s passionate call for tournament optimism; breaking down possible scenarios
• [16:34] 2014 NCAA run as program turning point
• [23:42] Success defined: “Is Sweet 16 enough?”
• [26:15] Pope’s record vs. Calipari’s final years
• [29:13] St. Louis music & Nelly talk
• [30:17] USA-Venezuela WBC recap; Texas coaching blunder
• [37:44] Vitale & Barkley’s off-the-rails NCAA broadcast
• [41:01] SEC tourney friend group stories
• [43:55] Mike Francesa’s viral radio goofs

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Tone & Style

• Irreverent, quick-witted, fan-friendly, upbeat.
• Frequent playful jabs among hosts.
• Adheres to the KSR formula: a blend of Kentucky sports passion and self-aware radio humor.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This hour is a can’t-miss pre-tournament rally: it’s packed with tournament storylines, March Madness anticipation, tales of St. Louis trips, broadcasting bloopers, and quintessential KSR inside jokes. Whether you’re a diehard UK basketball follower or just love the joy and chaos of March sports, Hour 1 has you covered—with plenty to make you laugh along the way.

Transcript

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[Matt Jones]

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[Shannon]

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[Shannon]

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[Matt Jones]

Comedy Off Broadway in Lexington welcomes Josh Wolfe March 19th through the 21st. Then from late night TV and the Bob and Tom show, catch Nick Griffin March 26th through the 28th. And don't miss New York comedy superstar and podcaster Mark Normand April 2nd through the 4th. For tickets to all Comedy Off Broadway shows, call E59 271 joke or visit comedyoffbroadway.com Comedy Off Broadway.

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

Welcome, everyone. It is Kentucky Sports Radio. I'm Matt Jones. Wednesday, March 18, the day before the two best days of sports of the year, the first round of the NCAA tournament. We are all here in Louisville because when this show is over, we are taking off and headed to the SEC or not the SEC tournament. The NCAA tournament in St. Louis. You can give us a shout on the Clark's Puppet shop phone line, 859-280-2287. A Vision Auto Glass text machine is 772-774-5254 in this dish and sponsored by the TJ Smith Law Office. If you call TJ, he'll make them pay. Everybody is here. Nice to see you folks.

[Drew]

I haven't seen you since Nashville. So you've been up in New York doing your ESPN thing. You did a really good job, though, by the way.

[Matt Jones]

You got to see the bracket thing.

[Drew]

We're going to talk about that.

[Matt Jones]

Well, I mean, first of all, good to see you too, Drew. And we saw Shannon earlier. Mario's here. It did come out Matt Jones's bracket. And thanks to everybody who looked at it. If you haven't yet, go watch it. Good numbers. You know, I'm a very. I can't help it. I'm a little bit of a competitive person. Compare it to the other videos. The other videos got placement on the main ESPN page and ours didn't. But nevertheless, I think the last time I looked like 18,000 people watched on YouTube and then on all the social media. So that was good for us.

[Drew]

I had to put myself in the position of the producers. Like, oh, my goodness, we gotta put this guy on. He's crazy. He does these radio shows.

[Matt Jones]

He's crazy. I've worked with you for forever. What do you mean I'm crazy?

Some people would say you're crazy, right?

Yeah. I mean, you by far of this group are crazier.

[Drew]

Well, in the ESPN radio world, you're probably Mr. Crazy. And your first, the first team out of the hat, you call them the Evil Empire. And like the fourth team out of the hat, you talk about Bill Self's hairpiece and you got. They gotta be back in the booth, like, oh, my goodness, what have we done?

[Matt Jones]

Oh, I think they liked it. You know, if you think. The way I look at it is if you have to sit there and do that all day, you want something different, Drew, right? You want something interesting and fun. They were laughing. I judge when I do ESPN radio, this is true. If I can make my producers laugh, I know we're rolling because they have to listen to this boring, monotonous sports talk all the time. So if I can get a reaction out of them, I'm like, okay, we're doing something.

[Drew]

Yeah.

[Shannon]

Well, first of all, the hands looked amazing. I mean, I don't know what you

[Matt Jones]

think about what kind of moisturizer. Oh my goodness. They, I, I had a glow.

[Mike Francesa]

That was.

[Matt Jones]

Have a glow. I didn't like the vitamin C serum

[Shannon]

that you kind of rub on your hands, I think.

[Matt Jones]

See, I'm glad to hear you say that. Cuz someone in the comment section said, why did you wear white gloves? And I didn't think that was very nice. Shannon.

Yeah. You should have got a manicure before you went in there.

I think it looked good.

[Shannon]

I can see the pics. I was just looking at your hands.

[Matt Jones]

It looked good. And then, you know, the, they had suggested, they were like, you should put some makeup on your, your cheeks, under your eyes so it doesn't glare. And I was like, I'm good now. I see. Next time I'll do that because my right cheek, you know, you, you get a level of vanity when you see yourself on, on camera that you shouldn't. But nevertheless, I was overall very pleased

[Shannon]

to your point about having fun with it. I, Speaking for me, I don't have any interest in just watching someone read me their bracket without having a little fun with it. Like just post the picture and I'll read it myself. I don't need step by step. Well, I think they're going to rebound and they're going to win. No, you got to have fun.

[Matt Jones]

You got to have fun. What's the point of otherwise? Plus, I don't know anything.

[Drew]

You knew that sienna was a crayon.

[Matt Jones]

I said it was a good color.

[Drew]

It was a good color.

[Matt Jones]

That's right. And I gave a shout out to everyone that's ever been nice to me. Yes, you did like Jay Lucas, Nolan Smith, Ugo, Ugo, Ugo. There's no other bracket preview where Ugo's got a mention.

[Drew]

No doubt.

[Shannon]

I don't know. With the, with the tournament he just had.

[Matt Jones]

He did have a good ACC tournament, but I was like, you know, I'm gonna give Ugo a out.

[Drew]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

And so, yeah, I was.

[Drew]

You still look good in your Madisonville hat. I was a little worried about that till I saw it.

[Matt Jones]

Why are you so worried about you Sound like. You sound like you're my dad. It's okay.

[Drew]

We all kind of feel like I'm your father. Like, you're on the espn.

[Matt Jones]

You would be the worst.

[Shannon]

You know he hosted the bracket show, right? Like, if they let him host.

[Drew]

But now you're on TV and you're on the Sports center set.

[Matt Jones]

So it's supposed to air. They're going to air all of ours, I think, at some point today. Espnu. But they said, we don't know what time yet. I would have thought, Shannon, they have the times for shows picked out before the day of. Yeah, but apparently on espnu, it's just like, there's just a guy going, well, let's air this. Not now. That'd be fun.

Sounds like chaos. Like, we give them way too much credit to think they're organized over there.

Oh, listen, one of the things you learn, like, a good lesson for people is, you know, there's this idea in news and sports that there's this organized group of people trying to control think, and they're like, woke espn. If you walk in, it's a bunch of people going, all right, what we do now? Look, there's no grand plan. I talked to literally the top people at ESPN while I was there. Great people seem nice, but, like, they're just sitting around going, yep. Like, nobody's. There is no grand plan. Everybody's just a human being.

[Shannon]

That goes to my theory. Everyone in life is just trying their best, whatever they do.

[Drew]

That's exactly right.

[Matt Jones]

They're all just, like, trying.

[Shannon]

They're a kid that grew up and got a job, and they're just trying their best.

[Matt Jones]

Just think about your job and how much you procrastinate and try. That's exactly what they're doing, too.

[Drew]

I loved it when I talk to you at halftime when you're doing that college football bowl game, and the first thing you said to me, this is the most chaotic thing I've ever been part of in my life.

[Matt Jones]

Dude, that was. That was. It's all very nice to see. Like, sometimes I say on here, we're the only show that ever breaks down. And we do break down more, Shannon, than any other show.

Oh, yeah.

I mean, but everybody has those moments. And so anyway, thank you all for watching.

[Drew]

It was good.

[Matt Jones]

And the people that made the nice comments, the guy that said that about the hands with the. A lot of people were like, those are the hands of a man who's never worked.

True.

You don't have to say it's true.

Well, we Know, it is, but maybe

[Drew]

the white gloves comment was.

[Matt Jones]

I think they were saying my hands. I think they were saying my hands.

[Drew]

You know, you put on white gloves at a, you know, formal events.

[Matt Jones]

I don't think that's what they meant. I think they meant that I was. I don't. I think they meant that I was pale. So we're leaving for St. Louis after this is over. I've got, like, an insane amount of topics, so we're going to keep the phones closed at least for the first hour. Maybe in the second hour, we'll. We'll open them. That's just. I woke up and ended up with 15 topics. Um, we already did one, which was the bracket, so I want to go through a few of those.

[Drew]

Okay.

[Matt Jones]

One of the things I'm going to ask for. We're going to St. Louis. Yes. I'm trying to think. I've been to St. Louis. We were there when we played Wichita State.

[Drew]

Right.

[Matt Jones]

We were there for the SEC tournament. The one year when I was in college, we went to the arch and my friends. I climbed to the top and my friends spelled out a dirty word with their bodies on the ground.

[Shannon]

Oh, wow.

[Drew]

Wow.

[Matt Jones]

See, you didn't realize we were wild boys. We spelled out a dirty word and I took the picture from the top.

[Drew]

Wow.

[Matt Jones]

Wish I still had that.

[Drew]

Yeah.

[Shannon]

I don't know. You don't incriminate yourself by hanging on to that.

[Matt Jones]

We thought we were other kids. Went to spring break. We went to the arch and spelled out words with our box.

[Drew]

I want to party with you guys.

[Matt Jones]

But because of that, I do think I realize I haven't done, like, the St. Louis where to eat, for instance. So it's me, you, and Mario. So on the text machine. 772-774-5254. If you have St. Louis tips, where to eat. We're going to have some free time. So where to go visit. I've been to the arch.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

Overrate it.

It's. It is over. It's just a big blasphemy, but it's

[Shannon]

the gateway to the West. It's a pretty big deal.

[Matt Jones]

But it's just.

I'd rather stay in the east.

Like, there are. There are a thousand buildings in New York taller than the arch. What's the point? It's.

[Drew]

Yeah, it is miraculous. It just.

[Matt Jones]

What's miraculous about it?

[Drew]

This arch is just, like, there.

[Matt Jones]

It's not just there. They built it.

[Drew]

It's awesome. It's a beautiful thing. Makes my heart.

[Matt Jones]

But why is it. What's so great about it because it's

[Drew]

open to the gateway to the West.

[Shannon]

You don't know you're on your way to the west until you go through the arch. And you can't go around it. You have to walk through it, under it.

[Matt Jones]

I'm with you, Shannon. It's kind of like, what was it? Devil's Knob that we went to Devil's Tower.

Biggest bunch of BS I've ever seen in my life.

So if you have St. Louis, you know, recommendations, let me know. 772-774-5254. In the text machine, people have asked about a show we are still contemplating. We may not do a live show, but we may do something where after the Kentucky Santa Clara game, if we win, we'll do the postgame in some kind of bar and invite Kentucky fans that are there to come celebrate with us. But we still don't know yet. We got to find the place. We're going to our house. When I tried to get the Airbnb last night, there were only two left.

[Shannon]

Oh, really?

[Matt Jones]

And one of them was only in pink.

[Shannon]

Perfect.

[Drew]

It was like, yeah, that's it. That's our.

[Matt Jones]

It was a pink pony bachelorette house.

[Shannon]

Perfect.

[Matt Jones]

I didn't get that one. I decided I couldn't take that much pink, so I got the other one. And that's where we'll be.

[Drew]

Yeah. The content would have been great in the pink house.

[Matt Jones]

So are you excited?

[Drew]

I see. I love St. Louis. When I was a kid, that's where our family would go to watch. To go to Busch Gardens and watch a Cardinal game every summer. Go to the Arch. Busch Gardens, Cardinal game.

[Shannon]

Have you ever seen a little Ballpark Village? That's a cool place.

[Drew]

That's a really cool place. Now, we were there when 2014 went to ballpark Village.

[Shannon]

That'd be the Union Station.

[Matt Jones]

If you all have suggestions, especially places to eat. 772-774-5254. All right. I have something I want to say to get us ready for these games.

[Drew]

All right. Glasses off. Must be important.

[Matt Jones]

I'm very adamant about this. Okay? It is time, at least for the next four days for us to get ready and to believe in this Kentucky basketball, okay? Because we have nothing to lose. What is there to lose?

[Drew]

Nothing.

[Matt Jones]

Meaning if it doesn't work out, we got a whole off season to complain about it for four or five days. We need to be all in, because here's why. These are four crucial days for Mark Pope and for this iteration of Kentucky basketball. Crucial how we see what will be his most important year will be determined by these next four days. Right?

[Drew]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

Let me. There will be. There are three possible scenarios. Let's go over. Let's say we lose to Santa Clara. It's going to be a bad off season there. The. There are going to be people who are going to say this isn't going to work. There's a good chance that some of the teams that we compare ourselves to are about to have a really good march and it'll be awful. And there will be so much pressure to get this roster right. And even if it is right, people will not believe it until it starts. A loss to Santa Clara puts Mark Pope in a do or die situation next year. Next year, if you beat Santa Clara and you lose to Iowa State, in my opinion, you're kind of right where you are right now. There will be a lot of people who still kind of believe in him. There'll be people skeptical and then there'll be people who think he's going to fail. And we're kind of at status quo. So the way the fan base feels right now, that's how they feel. But what if we win? What if we beat Iowa State? What if we get to the Sweet 16 for the second straight year? What if we take this team that for a lot of the years felt disjointed, etc. And all of a sudden we move to a regional and whoever we play in the next game, be it Virginia, Tennessee, whoever, there's no reason we can't beat that team. Right? Already beat Tennessee twice and Virginia's Virginia, you all of a sudden have a chance to start believing the game is in Chicago. Yeah, that ain't that far. There's a lot of Kentucky fans there. It would kind of feel you would get that adrenaline in your. In your blood again. Does adrenaline go in your blood? Let's just say it does. Okay. I don't know anatomy, but it will be extremely exciting and Mark will get some momentum going into a recruiting season. And I do think this fan base will look at the team and the program completely differently than they look right now because you will have beaten one of the seven teams according to Kim Palm, that has a chance to win the national title. So these four days in St. Louis have a chance to set the program even farther back than it is right now or kick off some momentum that can lead next year to feel exciting like we did this year. If that's the case, why not for the next 96 hours, get on board and be excited.

[Drew]

You nailed it that's exactly right. And we as Kentucky fans should do that. You we go back to what Mark Story wrote. He said this Mark Pope's legacy could be decided within the next month. This is it. It is time right now to see what he said.

[Matt Jones]

This is part one of it. I think making the team for next year is part two. But this is a part one and Drew, you have a chance in this part one to make part two easier depending on what happens.

[Shannon]

And that's why March is the best. Because whatever you've thought up to this point, if you're very negative, they can shut you up. And by going on a run and going to a state a stage in the tournament you didn't think they could reach, they can answer a lot of questions people have right now or at least get some confidence back by Pope by going on a run. That's what makes the tournament special. The idea is you have of these teams going into it. You could be completely wrong and they could surprise you and rewrite their whole season just in a couple of weeks.

[Matt Jones]

2014 the momentum of a program turned around with that victory over wichita State in St. Louis. In St. Louis they got on a run. They ended up in the championship game. Next thing you know Willie and the twins want to return and you get one of the great Kentucky teams in the history of the sport the next year.

[Drew]

Yep.

[Matt Jones]

But had they lost to Wichita State, maybe the twins don't return. Maybe Willie negativity occurs all year and 2015 never happened. So this is a massive weekend. This is a nervous weekend. This is a Matt's going to leave the arena weekend.

[Shannon]

Are you going to the arena?

[Matt Jones]

Oh, I'm going to go and then leave. But it also is a chance to really get Kentucky basketball feeling like Kentucky basketball again. And so we might as well get excited and try to make it happen. We'll take a break. Be right back.

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[Matt Jones]

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[Drew]

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[Matt Jones]

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[Radio Advertiser]

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[Matt Jones]

Welcome back. Tucky Sports Radio. What are the. What are the St. Louis songs? I'm sure there's one with Nelly.

[Shannon]

Probably find me in St. Lou.

[Matt Jones]

There's one called Meet Me in St. Louis.

All right.

Judy Garland.

St. Louis doesn't really like, roll off the tongue for a song.

Now a lot of St. Louis, they say, though, St. Louis like the song St. Louis.

Yeah. All right. That's all right. We'll see if you got some St. Louis. Probably need to play some Nelly.

Okay.

[Drew]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

See what other artists are from St. Louis. I don't know. 859-280-2287. One person writes Matt or no, he said, brother, Brother. I can't allow myself to have hope for this season. It's not worth the near inevitable fall it will bring. That is not the way to live life. It is not the way to live life, to have no hope because you might get hurt. If you live like that, you're gonna sit in your house and just be scared all the time. Think about Ryan, okay? He knows that when he gets married, there's a chance it'll fail, but he keeps getting married, right? Because you got to have the hope.

[Drew]

Got to have the hope.

[Matt Jones]

The hope is what life is about. If you sit and worry, you always can be sad. Like, I once dated a woman, she said, I'm worried that you'll break my heart. Maybe I didn't say that. But like, but that. But that. If you. If that's your thing, if that's your thing, then you can't ever date anyone.

The heartbreak kid, Matt Jones.

But like, if you're worried about losing, then you. Then I won't get excited about any game. We can always have our heart broken. You still get up off the mat, Drew, and you keep believing because why not in 96 hours? It'll be decided anyway.

[Shannon]

And this is March, last I checked. We get one of These a year. I mean, it's our favorite time of the year. Sure, we're a little disappointed in how the regular season went, but March Madness is here and it's like Christmas for Kentucky fans. Maybe our toys aren't as shiny and we're not Griswold in our house this year with all the lights and it's not as exciting as it would be as a one season, but it's still March and it's right in front of us.

[Matt Jones]

One person writes. Matt, can. Do you really believe a 14 law sweet 16 season would be a success at Kentucky? No, not. Not totally, but that's. I. Success is in everybody's eyes, like some people think success is. You have to win a title. There's not many people that think that, but they'll say final Four, whatever. Success is in the eye of the beholder. What I will say is, do I think overall it would be successful? No, probably not. But do I think considering Ryan where we are at this minute, then Yes, I do.

[Drew]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

The way we've played all year, etc.

[Drew]

Yeah.

[Rob Gronkowski]

Big picture.

[Drew]

Overall, it is not a success. But where we are today with what the injuries and the way the season's gone, to get that far would be a success for this team.

[Matt Jones]

I always think about golfers, Drew, because I've wondered if I was a professional golfer and I was in 47th place going into the final round and I knew I couldn't win. And let's say I'm Tiger woods and I have a ton of money, am I still driven to play the best I can to come in 31st? I think the true greats are right. Like you're still driven to put the best performance you can out. I don't think any of us think we're going to win the national championship, but why not still be driven to see us do the best that we can based on where we are right now?

[Shannon]

Yeah. And think about these players. They're going in with the right attitude.

[Mike Francesa]

This.

[Shannon]

This is Otega, always last tournament, whatever happens. Same for Aberdeen, same for a lot of them. This group won't be together again. They're going in with the mindset of let's win six games was the fan base. Whatever you think of them to this point, at least believe with him and we'll see what happens. And if it ends Friday or a bad loss, that's. That's a big problem. We'll worry about when we get to it.

[Matt Jones]

And maybe you get a moment, Shannon, that we remember forever.

Yeah.

Right. Maybe you get one and then, and then. That's, that's nice.

Yeah, I mean, if you could beat Santa Clara and Iowa State, that would definitely be something to remember. Yeah, that was days a very good team.

[Drew]

Maybe you get a moment where James Young forgets to play and they come out of the timeout huddle and he hits the game winning three pointer. You never know what might happen.

[Shannon]

Also, we're focusing on the pitch path. How many times do we see the path just completely open up?

[Matt Jones]

What if not?

[Shannon]

We're just assuming Iowa State wins.

[Matt Jones]

You know, probably when Murray State played San Francisco, they were sitting there going, well, we have no chance against Kentucky. And then we lost to St. Peter's time after time.

[Shannon]

It happens almost every year.

[Matt Jones]

Upper said that time after time, if you look. That's exactly right. Mark Story, you mentioned him also. You know, listen, we've been hard on Pope, myself included. I think Mark Story made a really good point as to where Pope should get some credit. Okay. Mark Story said, hey, Arkansas won the SEC and everybody's comparing. He said though, and Drew and I've made some version of this point a lot of the year. The comparison for Mark Pope, if you want to compare, is not what John Calipari is doing at our concern. That's all. If you want to compare Mark Pope, you can. If you want to compare him to when Cal first got here, Cal was clearly better, but maybe the relevant comparison is what Cal did the last four years before he left. And in that comparison, Mark Pope's crushing him. John, Cal Perry in his last four years won one tournament game. He won one SEC tournament game. He had more losses or a worse regular season percentage. Mark Pope's already won two NCAA games. He's already won two SEC games in half as many years. And so, you know, we can debate till the cows come home. Would Cal have done what he does at Arkansas here? I think the answer is no. Maybe some people think the answer is yes. But this idea that somehow Mark Pope has done worse than Cal did post Covid is ridiculous. Drew, he's done better.

[Shannon]

That's why on Sunday I was not listening to anyone trying to dunk on Kentucky because they were rewriting how it ended here. Did people forget losing to the non seed Texas A and M in Nashville and then turning around and losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament? As you said, in four years, one tournament win. Like why, why are they trying to

[Matt Jones]

dunk on SEC tournament win?

[Shannon]

I mean, why are we good for him at Arkansas? We all know he got rejuvenated all that that people are trying to rewrite how it ended here, it was not good here. Kentucky was not winning in the postseason over a long period of time. I mean, there was Billy Gillespie type numbers there at the end.

[Matt Jones]

And there's this group of goobers who all usually have the same pictures of the people who call me a stinking liberal who say, you know, you ran the coach off. We did not run the coach off. We're not that powerful. And if we were, then he's too wimpy to be here anyway if he's worried about a radio host. But even if we did, if you don't like what Mark Pope's done, do you remember what Cal was doing at the end? Now, granted, Cal had an amazing first 10 years, but you don't pay people on what happened in the past. You pay them on what's going to happen in the future. We'll take a break. Right back.

[Radio Advertiser]

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[Matt Jones]

Call tj. He'll make him pay.

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

You can't help but dance to Nelly, right? I mean, he's got. We've talked about this before. He's got so many hits. Oh, yeah, you got this one. You got Air Force One. You got the one I used to. I did my law school exam, too, with the. I can't remember the name.

[Shannon]

Got a little EI. Little number one.

[Matt Jones]

EI, EI. The one with Tim McGraw.

[Shannon]

Over and over again.

[Matt Jones]

Over and over again. This is the one. This is the. This is. This is the major. You know, I love Nelly. I love Nelly so much. Totally fine. He played the Trump inauguration. Get it, Nelly?

[Drew]

You saw him at the Legends Ballpark, too, right?

[Matt Jones]

I did. What a. What a blank show. That was him. Juvenile. That was ridiculous.

[Shannon]

I've seen Nelly.

[Matt Jones]

I did have fun at it. I did.

[Shannon]

He has a hard time getting there on time.

[Matt Jones]

First of all, he plays anywhere. He'll play like in Barberville. Like he really will. I think he played the Corbin Arena.

[Drew]

Did he play the Corbin Arena?

[Matt Jones]

I'm sure he did. He plays everywhere. Nelly must still need money because he never stops playing. But good for Nelly.

[Drew]

Amen.

[Matt Jones]

Good night of sports TV last night. Did you watch a little USA Venezuela?

[Drew]

I saw the highlights and I saw your boy hit the.

[Matt Jones]

You didn't watch the game?

[Drew]

No, I was watching the basketball.

[Matt Jones]

Oh, my goodness. That was one of the most exciting baseball games I've ever seen. I would have thought you would have been right on Top of it.

[Drew]

I was so engrossed with Howard and umbc, I couldn't turn away.

[Matt Jones]

Shannon, did you watch the game?

I watched the first one.

You're telling me you, your base, you baseball heads didn't watch that game? I've never seen a baseball game with more emotion. Yeah, I mean, you know, World Series games. I know are huge, but I'm not sure. That stadium. When did Miami move to Caracas is rocking. It was. Venezuela took over. It was wild. It was. I mean, the excitement of Bryce Harper hits the two run home run to tie it. And then you go to the ninth and who. Hey, me. Oh, Just gets the game winning hit. He looked like he was about to spontaneously combust when he got the hit. Then they won. And the celebration was like. I was. I'm for America. But I couldn't help but smile at how happy they were.

[Drew]

Yeah.

[Shannon]

I said out loud, am I a bad person that I'm enjoying Venezuela right now?

[Matt Jones]

Amazing to watch.

[Shannon]

I love Ronald Acuna.

[Matt Jones]

Happy like Suarez is the guy from the Reds. You have Acuna.

[Shannon]

I think I knew more of their players than our players.

[Matt Jones]

First of all, how did I. If you had asked me, Matt, how many Venezuelans do you know? I'd be like, well, we got that. The one guy, the president. I didn't realize how many. I knew there was a. There was Salvador Perez. Who they said he was 35. Shannon, he's. Check the birth certificate. He looks 60 to me.

Yeah, he's at least 40, but he was still playing.

He caught during the game.

[Drew]

Good for him.

[Shannon]

Even Abby was like, is that Miguel Cabrera?

[Matt Jones]

I know coaches are famous like Miguel Cabrera. Miguel Cabrera looks like he did not hit the weight room when he was done with baseball. But it was. I thought it was neat. And then they sang the national anthem. I loved watching them sing their national anthem because none of them were on the same pace. I don't know. Everybody knew the words, but they were not in the. I kind of like that they're all just singing at their own tempo.

[Shannon]

They're all in a hurry to get to a club Miami.

[Matt Jones]

Like, you could tell how much they care with the fact they had more people in our stadium than America did.

[Drew]

Well, it was packed, right? It was sold out.

[Matt Jones]

That was awesome. And it was like. It was unlike a baseball atmosphere. Like people were treating it like it was like basketball or whatever. Like they were just losing it the entire game.

[Drew]

Well, it's been a huge success. That's why they do this.

[Matt Jones]

That's why they do develop I thought it was great. I really enjoyed it. And then Texas. So then the. Both first four games were good.

[Drew]

Yeah, they were.

[Matt Jones]

And the Texas game, have you seen the video of the assistant coach running on the floor?

[Drew]

I have seen that.

[Shannon]

Oh, no, I didn't see that.

[Matt Jones]

All right, so you need to look this up. Let's. So. So Texas hits with one. So. So with one second to go, Texas hits a shot to take the lead. And all of a sudden, I guess one of the Texas assistant coaches loses his mind and he runs on the floor.

[Shannon]

He's at the free throw line.

[Matt Jones]

He literally runs on the floor. The game is going on. I didn't even notice that the ref blows the whistle. You gotta see Sean. Sean Miller, Shannon, he almost commits murder

on the sideline trying to get the

guy because he thinks they're going to call a technical. The refs come together and they clearly consider whether to give him a technical and they decide not to.

Imagine you're the assistant though, and you caused the technical. At that moment, you're, you're out of a job.

[Drew]

At that point you're.

[Matt Jones]

I think he might be out of a job anyway. Watch. Sean Miller. Yes, Sean Miller literally is about. I don't know that guy's name, but he is lucky to be alive today.

[Drew]

Turn. Sean Miller is so mad, he turns his back to the action on the floor and is just to yell at his.

[Matt Jones]

His assistant coaches are holding him back from that. So now here's my question. Watching that video.

[Drew]

Wow.

[Matt Jones]

Should the refs have called a technical? It is technically a technical. Yeah, it is now. Now, NC State called timeout, but it is unclear whether they decided to call timeout in that moment or whether they did it after the ref stop the game. So I don't know the answer to that question, but do you think you go by the letter of the law and call the technical or do you go, okay, let's not have the game disrupted by this. What do you do?

[Drew]

The rest had to decide. We blew the whistle, called the timeout before we saw him on the floor. They had to have. They would have called a technical. I believe at that point they had.

[Matt Jones]

What would you do? Let's say, let's say NC State was going to call a timeout, but they just hadn't yet. But you didn't know that, would you?

[Drew]

You have.

[Matt Jones]

Let me give you the chain of events. You see the guy run on the floor first. Then NC State calls timeout. You know what happened. Are you calling it knowing you're going to give NC State, two free throws, chance to tie the game and maybe to win if they then score on the next play.

[Drew]

You have to. A coach is running in the like to get to the free throw line on the court. If that happens before they call the timeout, you have to call it.

[Matt Jones]

What do you think?

[Shannon]

I'm teeing him up and I probably shouldn't look at it this way. I have more grace if it's a player. They're young, they've. In the moment. A coach has to know better.

[Matt Jones]

But you're going to get him fired.

[Shannon]

He's fired anymore.

[Matt Jones]

You have this man's job in your hands.

[Shannon]

Well, don't be bad at your job and then you won't get fired. You cannot run on the court for some reason. A player. I give a little more. You know, they're young, caught up in the moment. A coach has to know better.

[Matt Jones]

Shannon, I know you're teeing them up.

Yeah. I think NC State saved his job by calling a timeout right there. If they don't call a timeout, you know he's going to get teed up.

[Drew]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

And he is losing his job after that. Especially if you lose the game after that.

I'm probably going to let him go.

Yeah.

Because I'm, you know, liberal. That's right.

[Drew]

He was obviously just caught up in the moment, but still act like you've been there before.

[Matt Jones]

Doesn't believe in law and order. Yeah, but you can't just have coaches. I don't support our referee, law enforcement.

You can't just.

No, you can. I mean it is an unbelievably stupid move by that guy. And he would go into the annals like Chris Weber, move over. We got a new guy. And right now I don't know his name, but if they called that technical, I'd know his name everywhere. The whole world would know his name.

[Shannon]

I mean, what if they had quickly inbounded the ball and dude just runs into the coach at the free throw line.

[Matt Jones]

Exactly.

[Drew]

That's true. Yep. They quickly inbounded they before they called the timeout and they. Somebody runs into him on the course, taking a dive.

[Shannon]

I'm running up to him and falling.

[Matt Jones]

What was he thinking?

[Shannon]

That's what you got to know better.

[Matt Jones]

That's the problem.

And there was a buzzer had not gone off.

[Drew]

Yeah, there's still time left.

[Matt Jones]

But it's not like he heard a horn and thought the game's over. He just ran out there. Unbelievable.

He's excitable boy.

He is an excitable boy.

[Drew]

After watching that video, though, I fear for his safety. Of Sean Miller coming after him.

[Matt Jones]

Sean Miller, you're right. He just was like, I'm not even going to watch the end of the. I'm going to kill this.

[Drew]

He did. He had his back turned to the

[Matt Jones]

action because I thought they were going to call it technical. When the refs huddled, I think Sean Miller thought, oh my goodness, they're going

[Drew]

to call it technical.

[Shannon]

I got a prediction. I wonder if he'll be on the bench in a few days.

[Matt Jones]

You think so? You think he's that like, get out of here. Maybe Vital and Barkley did the game. And by did the game, Shannon. I mean they did not mention the game.

It was a love affair.

But so the play by play guy lost his voice. Yeah. So he was like bad. So bad. Which means you got more Barkley.

[Drew]

They had to fill the time.

[Matt Jones]

And Vital, they had to fill the time. And I think they just talked about anything. And at one point, Vital realized they were so off script that even he goes, I think we got to talk about the game.

[Shannon]

We got a game going on.

[Matt Jones]

I mean, this is an NCAA tournament game. Remember during Kentucky Indiana, they did that.

[Drew]

Yes.

[Matt Jones]

But you know, it's a December game and whatever. They got a little off script.

At one point he started. Vital started kissing Barkley.

Yeah, they were kissing each other.

Each other.

He did rivalry, little smooch.

[Drew]

See, I loved it. I loved hearing those guys talk during the game.

[Matt Jones]

I know, but if you were a Texas or NC State fan and it was an NCAA tournament game, would you have enjoyed it? I don't know.

[Drew]

Our Kentucky fans didn't enjoy.

[Matt Jones]

I enjoy the Indian. I did too. I enjoy. But, but I, to be fair, I have a huge soft spot. Spot in my heart for both those guys.

[Drew]

Yep.

[Matt Jones]

I love them both. And I think, you know, Vital had never done an NCAA tournament game.

[Shannon]

You're right.

[Matt Jones]

So I thought that was cool.

[Drew]

Very cool.

[Matt Jones]

And then Barkley. But I think Barkley adds to everything. But I think the guy not having his voice and thus they just were left. It was like you were having a five year old, like a fifth grade band, but with no conductor.

Yeah. There's nobody to rein them.

Everybody was just hitting the cymbals and like it was just kind of going insane. I. I enjoyed it. But Drew, if I was a Texas or NC State fan, I probably would have hated it.

[Shannon]

And one thing that's fun about Barkley this time of year is it's pretty obvious he's not very detailed in college basketball.

[Matt Jones]

He doesn't know who Anybody.

[Shannon]

But that's fun.

[Matt Jones]

I like it.

[Shannon]

Normally he has someone to lean on with him. So when the. When the play by play guy left him, I. Barkley is just. He was railing on the NCAA at one point. He was giving all kinds of opinions.

[Matt Jones]

I specifically enjoy that he doesn't know anything about it. Part of that is self preservation because I have to go on espn, Shannon. And talk about things I don't know either.

Right.

But I do enjoy that he's just like the big dude over there, throws the ball.

It's like when they brought in Snoop Dogg to call Mike Tyson fight.

You know. But if I was a Texas or NC State fan.

[Drew]

But probably more people watching that game last night were not Texas or NC State fans. So they enjoyed it.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. Here's the reality in Kentucky right now. If you can't afford childcare, a place to live, then you can't have jobs and businesses can't grow. We're short tens of thousands of childcare spots and we are short housing in 97% of the communities. It's time for Frankfurt to fix the basics. Childcare and housing. Join the Kentucky Chamber and asking legislators to make it better. Visit opportunitystartshere.com that's opportunity. Starts here dot com. We'll take a break. Be right back. KSR. I'm telling you, weirdest lyrics of any song. But it's got a great beat.

Yeah.

Excitable. Boy. You can't. I can't even like focus. The song sounds so happy.

[Drew]

Yep.

[Matt Jones]

And the lyrics are.

And the lyrics are dark.

Yeah.

And like sad. But he's excited. You know. And it's like, that's okay. That's probably why he did it on purpose. That kind of.

Yeah.

You know. 859-280-2287 we walked in here, I ran into Perrin.

[Drew]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

I'm still mad at him.

[Drew]

Why?

[Matt Jones]

Because he said he was coming to the SEC tournament. He just didn't. Oh. Who. Who just doesn't come to a trip? So like my group to go the sec tournament is 15 people. That's who gets the invite every year. And I'm sure in everybody out there, you all have a group of friends like this. They're the people you can count on and then the people you can't count on. So of the 15 people I know every year, one of my friends, he's got like. He can't. He ends up never being able to come. But that's cause he's got like 17 children. Literally. I don't know how many he has. He's busy, but he's literally, like, every day a new child comes out.

[Shannon]

We should get that checked out.

[Matt Jones]

So I'll give him a break then. I have a friend who's a lawyer, and he claims to always be in trial, but I don't think he's ever even had a trial. Like, Larry, he's always like, well, I got a trial. No, you don't send a picture of him. You don't have a trial. You've never once had a trial. He's like, well, it's scheduled. We might have to go. I was like, you've never. There's never been one trial, and yet. So he always came. So we know that he flakes, too. But then there's Perrin, who always says he's coming and never comes. And I always believe in him. I made multiple bets with people like, well, he's not gonna come. I was like, he's coming. Trust me. This is the year I promise you he's coming.

[Shannon]

New year, new pairing.

[Matt Jones]

Nope, didn't come. Do you have friends like that?

[Drew]

Oh, yeah.

[Matt Jones]

That say they're gonna do something, and then you just know they're not coming.

Right.

[Drew]

My. One of my great memories from the SEC tournament in St. Louis, though, involves Perrin.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. Because he tried to fight people. That's why I want him there. He's a good bodyguard.

[Drew]

Bodyguard.

[Matt Jones]

He's a good bodyguard. And he's fun, but he's not coming. Like, that's what happens. And my other friend's going to have four more kids this year, and he's not going to come. And there's this. Apparently in Fayette county, there's a trial every 30 seconds and. But we did get the Core 11. The Core 11 are always there. And they. And they came.

[Drew]

Although one of your corps forgot to bring another one of the corps.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, we talked about that. You just left him in Lexington, which. How do you leave.

[Shannon]

Of all people leave? How you leave hubby.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. You leave the guy who ordered the house. Forget my two. Can't even get in without him.

Seems to make important to the group, it would seem.

But I'm upset at pair. I don't know how you just, year after year, don't show up, so they

[Drew]

get bumped out of the group and somebody subs in.

[Matt Jones]

But I want him to come because he's fun, but I'm never going to believe in him again. He owes me because I bet. And it didn't happen. You know, one of my favorite things to do, it's Tournament time, Shannon. That means let's check in with Mike. Francesca.

[Shannon]

Oh, yeah.

[Weatherbug Announcer]

Okay.

[Matt Jones]

You remember Mike Frances? Still doing Mike and the Mad Dog. Wake up Mike couple. He is our favorite radio host that we never have listened to. All right, so he fell asleep that one time, snored on the air, which is amazing.

[Drew]

It is.

[Matt Jones]

He talked about Maryland a few years ago in the tournament. He was like, they've won some games, they've lost some games. They've been up, they've been up, they've been down. He clearly never seen him. But he may have topped himself better than anyone this day, making his picks. So all these dudes in New York, the way they talk about college basketball is they just talk about St. John's because they don't know else to say. It's Rick Patino and it's in their city. So if you watch first take, it's just Stephen A. Smith and Chris Russo yelling about St. John's because they're the only teams they know. Mike Francesa claims to have watched every St. John's game this year. Okay, okay.

[Shannon]

Knowing him a little bit, I already

[Matt Jones]

don't believe that that's what he claims. But he had one of the more outrageous statements of all time. He's talking about one of the St. John's players. I just want you to listen to this and see what you think he might have gotten wrong.

[Mike Francesa]

They score on the break, they score off the turnover, and they score off the offensive rebound. And then Zubi sometimes will get a little thing going. Zubi can look really bad offensively and he can look really sweet offense. But it's gonna be interesting to see what happens, especially against Kansas. Remember, he left Kansas, but that's a long time ago. And he left Kansas because of Embiid. And then Bead's a different player than Zubi. I mean, Embiid, when he's healthy is a guy who score 50 points in the NBA is a big time talent. That's no big deal if they, you know, that Embiid was over him. I mean, that happens. And he came and he found a home.

[Matt Jones]

So he says Zubi came to St. John's because he couldn't get in because of Embiid. Joel Embiid graduated from Went left Kansas in 2014.

[Drew]

MB's been in college a long time.

[Matt Jones]

Zubi was 9 years years old when Joel Embiid left Kansas. He was nine years old.

He couldn't get in, though.

And he said Zubie couldn't get in. Well, no wonder he's just nine because of Joel Embiid.

[Shannon]

I think his age would be the bigger roadblock than Embiid being on the team.

[Matt Jones]

Now, he did a. Yesterday, he addressed on the show his mistake after people made fun of him. He goes, I was thinking of Hunter Dickinson.

[Drew]

Oh, really? Similar players there.

[Matt Jones]

Hunter Dickinson's not gone for 50 in the NBA. No, you were thinking of Joel Embiid, and you don't know what you're talking about.

[Shannon]

Hunter Dickinson and Embiid.

[Matt Jones]

I don't.

[Shannon]

I'm not falling for that one either,

[Matt Jones]

as stupid as that was. Just play the beginning again. This is his explanation of St. John.

[Mike Francesa]

They score on the break, they score off the turnover, and they score off the offensive reader.

[Matt Jones]

Done.

[Mike Francesa]

And then Zubi sometimes will get a little thing going.

[Matt Jones]

He'll sometimes get a little thing going.

Yeah, but he's played good, he's played bad.

He's played good, he's played bad.

He's been down.

But the problem wasn't being really sweet.

[Mike Francesa]

Offense. It's gonna be interesting to see what happens.

[Matt Jones]

He's got to be interesting to see what happens.

[Shannon]

I want to see the little thing he does. Didn't see that on the scouting report.

[Matt Jones]

Zubi gets a little thing going.

He's look bad. He's looked sweet.

What do you think he means by gets a little thing going? Does a little dance.

[Drew]

Maybe a little tap dance.

[Matt Jones]

I love Mike Francis.

[Shannon]

I do, too.

[Matt Jones]

Put him on a broadcast. He needs to join. He needs to join Barkley and just let the two of them do it. Oh, my goodness.

[Shannon]

It's amazing. He has a job, I guess, because it is entertaining to hear that. I follow that funhouse account that just

[Matt Jones]

constantly count that all they do is make fun of him.

[Shannon]

It feels like this happens daily. Stuff like that.

[Matt Jones]

The whole account is just playing clips where he does things like that, and they're frequent.

[Drew]

And yet he still has a show every nine.

[Matt Jones]

When Joel Embiid played, he meant Hunter Dickinson.

Yeah. This is his podcast. I don't. Is he still on the air like radio?

No, the podcast runs on the air. Oh, it does.

Wow.

By the way, his teeth. Those some chompers. He's got the. What do you call those things? Veneers. Yeah, those are some veneers.

[Shannon]

You go too big.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, I think that's fair to say. We'll take a break, come back. Hour number two, ksr.

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[Julian Edelman]

from Games With Names. I want to take a second to talk about something that's personal to me. I've had the privilege of working closely with Robert Kraft for a long time and one thing I've always respected is how seriously he takes up standing up to hate. As a Jewish athlete, my identity is something I am proud of, but I also know what it feels like to be singled out for it. That's why this new commercial for the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate that aired during the Big Game really hit home. It's about showing up for someone when they're targeted, even if you don't have the perfect words. And sometimes standing next to someone is enough and you can show support by sharing the Blue Square.

[Matt Jones]

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[Shannon]

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[Drew]

Com.