transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:00] Known for his crowd work, Comedy Off Broadway in Lexington welcomes club favorite Ian Bagg, April 9th through the 11th. Then from Saturday Night Live and the hit TV show DMV, catch Tim Meadows, April 16th through the 18th. And from Netflix and social media, catch Amber Autry, May 1st and 2nd. For tickets to all Comedy Off Broadway shows, call 859-271-Joke or visit comedyoffbroadway.com.

Speaker 2:
[00:31] Welcome, everyone. It is Kentucky Sports Radio Friday, February the 24th. We are live on an absolutely perfect Mountain Friday, Mountain Spring Day here in Manchester, Kentucky at the Freedom House, operated by Volunteers of America Mid-State. You can give us a shout out in the Clark's Puppet Shop phone line, 859-... Yeah, how about that? We really got a pop... .2287. Avision Auto Glass Text Machine is 772-774-5254. And this edition is sponsored by the TJ. Smith Law Office. We call TJ. He'll make them pay. I'm going to do a little bit of an intro here. First of all, this location, the Freedom House here in Manchester, opened in March 2020 and is unlike any other place in the state. It is the only residential recovery program in the state that allows mothers and children to live together while the mother is getting treatment for addiction. They have had over 763 women, 426 children, and we are here today because they are going to make an even larger expansion on this side and we are here to cut the ribbons.

Speaker 3:
[01:36] That's awesome. What a great program.

Speaker 2:
[01:39] This is for, I assume, people not just in Clay County, all around the area where people who have addiction issues can come. They can get treatment but also be around their kids, which I think is an amazing thing. And one of the great things about Volunteers of America all around the state of Kentucky, we've been to events in Louisville, we've been here. This is an effort that people from all across the political aisle, all across the state, city, rural, they all come together for this. And in my opinion, these are the things that are the best of Kentucky and I appreciate you all having us here this morning. And we are in Manchester, we are in Clay County, the heart of Eastern Kentucky right here. You got to want to get here. And I was on a road today that I've never been on that was beautiful. This 452 out here. Now, that's a little windy, not quite like going to Buckhorn, but it's a little windy. And Ryan, we're in Clay County and you are wearing a very tight jersey today.

Speaker 3:
[02:42] This jersey fits me like a glove. I can play right now. This is the legendary Richie Farmer number 32, Clay County Jersey I'm wearing.

Speaker 2:
[02:50] But what size did they give you?

Speaker 4:
[02:52] Yeah, I don't think Richie ever wore that jersey.

Speaker 2:
[02:55] I remember Richie being a little chubby in high school, but you didn't look like this.

Speaker 4:
[02:59] He looks like the kid in Teen Wolf.

Speaker 5:
[03:02] No, he's not.

Speaker 1:
[03:03] Oh, yeah.

Speaker 3:
[03:04] The big guy.

Speaker 4:
[03:05] Well, I'm not going to say I'm not going to use the F word, but chubby in Teen Wolf.

Speaker 2:
[03:08] Well, you know, but you but listen, you're a good sport and you're going to be a support sporting number 32, the whole show.

Speaker 3:
[03:14] What an honor and a pleasure to, you know, celebrate the greatest basketball player in the history of Clay County, Richie Farmer right here.

Speaker 1:
[03:19] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[03:20] And we have 1987, you know, the the 40th anniversary of this team coming here very soon. Did you think you're that old 40th anniversary, the 87 Clay County State Championship team coming next year? Great crowd here this morning now. So I came in from London and I'm used to coming to the city, which is you would go through the Howell Rogers Parkway. So this is a, this was a new way for me. And I was thinking on the drive, man, this is really windy. But even more funny, Shannon, is that last night, our guy Mario, he put in the wrong address for the hotel. He put in this address. So he drove that road last night. And he came here last night. Now for people, those of you listening, we have no cell phone coverage right here. We, and so Mario was here in Clay County, lost late at night. He got, I called him and I could hear the panic in his voice. He was like, it's really dark here. I'm gonna try to find my way back, but I don't have service. And we almost said to Shannon, come rescue me last night.

Speaker 4:
[04:26] You and I were sitting there last night, watching the NFL draft is starting to get late at night. And we're going, where's Mario at? And I go, well, he probably just left a little late. No, he went an hour out of his way, 30 minutes out of the way, 30 minutes back, and ended up here instead of in London.

Speaker 2:
[04:40] Got lost in Clay County, but he's here now. And let me just say, you guys, what a great crowd. Clay County, we've done many things here over the years from this show to wrestling, and people always come out and we appreciate it. So thank you all very much. Billy, lot of stuff to get to today. Probably the biggest story is the Knuckleheads won. Yes. Yay! Well, we got some people who rely on state funding here, so they're trying to not be too loud. But yesterday, right after the show, the thing I hinted at in the morning ended up coming true, Mitch Barnhart. The contract was ripped up for the post-career position at UK, five years, million dollars a year, ripped up. Mitch Barnhart announced that he had decided to not take the position. I mean, everybody could say what they want. I don't think that was completely what happened. But Eli Capilouto in his statement said, he didn't say what he was going to still pay him, but he did say insinuated they're going to pay him something. And Eli said, I'm going to personally raise it. I'm interested who's given money for that. But amazingly, the complaints and sort of the questions about why that contract was given, it worked and then they ended up going away.

Speaker 6:
[06:05] It wasn't just a vocal minority when Andy Beshear got involved. I think that's why you saw the decision made. And look, I mean, there were real questions, what the job duties were, why he would take this when there were cuts in other departments. So it started with a couple of knuckleheads that I know.

Speaker 2:
[06:20] Well, I mean, I do think, Ryan, it's an example of how like you can in today's world, you can put public pressure. I mean, it started with a couple of knuckleheads with Drew and I, but also fans online going, wait a minute, this doesn't make sense. What's the job they're going to do? And they kept not answering the question. They kept trying to avoid it. It just built up steam, built up steam. And then when Beshear I think got in, that was the final straw. And I think in my opinion, they just sacrificed Barnhart so that they could keep the law school dean and everybody could kind of move on. That's kind of what I think happened. But were you surprised?

Speaker 3:
[06:58] I was a little surprised, but like we said yesterday, at least maybe they're doing a little CYA, good PR, we're going to fall on the sword and rip this up because it stunk. It was a horrible situation. But you bringing it up, kind of got it in the forefront, and then Brett Setzer kind of...

Speaker 2:
[07:11] Yeah, Brett Setzer, that was a big part of it. Having one of the biggest donors. I forgot about that. Glad you brought that up.

Speaker 3:
[07:17] Yeah, and then when the governor, the governor of your state gets on board with it and try to expose that this deal is kind of stinky.

Speaker 2:
[07:23] Well, I mean, look, it was a perfect... The problem was there was nobody for it. Okay? Like seriously, if you think about all the people involved in a university decision, you have the faculty at the school, they were against it. They're like, you're cutting everything at this school and you're going to do this. Right. You had the media going, what in the world is going on? You had fans who didn't like it. Then you now... With Brett Setzer, you had big donors who didn't like it. Then all of a sudden, you get the governor who doesn't like it. There was nobody really Shannon for it. And so at that point, I don't think there was any way it could stay.

Speaker 4:
[07:57] It's sort of a shame, though, that nobody from within said something about this first. It had to be the media, in this case, us, calling this situation what it was. It stuck. We knew that. And nobody else was saying anything. It took us to basically bring this up to where it is now.

Speaker 2:
[08:12] All right. So for the future, here's where I think it matters going forward. All right. As everybody knows, they got to get an AD. And I think Mitch Barnhart did a very good job at Kentucky for most of his time. But now it's a new world of college basketball and college football. It's a new world where money is at the forefront. It was always at the forefront, but now it's explicit. You've got to be able to kind of push the envelope, et cetera. Ryan, here's how I read that happening yesterday. I think Mitch Barnhart created an athletic department in his image. If you listen to the interview that I did with Kyle Tucker yesterday on Interrupted, he talks about this. Everyone in the athletic department, and I like all these people, they all kind of were in his image. A lot of them went to church together. A lot of them, like they just kind of all like he hired people like himself. With that being cut off and them ending his association with the school. Ryan, I think it's also symbolic of a break now from the Barnhart era. I think it would be very surprising if they hire an AD that was under him. Wouldn't you agree with that?

Speaker 3:
[09:20] I think so. I think the program just needs a breath of fresh air like we saw at the football program.

Speaker 2:
[09:24] But don't you think that that move kind of means they're going outside of UK and outside of the Barnhart tree for an AD?

Speaker 3:
[09:32] I think so. You know, we all agree Barnhart did great things for our athletic programs at Kentucky. But as far as the inner workings of the athletic program, that's what needs, I think, a fresh breath to come in and read maybe a younger go-getter guy or gal. I think it would be perfect.

Speaker 2:
[09:45] Don't say gal.

Speaker 4:
[09:47] He doesn't like that word.

Speaker 3:
[09:48] I know he didn't like that word.

Speaker 2:
[09:49] Well, I don't think the next AD, I don't think you want to show up at the press conference and go, hey gal, how are you doing? I think you would just give like, you know.

Speaker 4:
[09:58] But when somebody retires though and you're trying to start fresh, you don't want that influence sort of hovering over. And I think that's what would have definitely happened if Barnhart took that position.

Speaker 3:
[10:06] Right.

Speaker 4:
[10:06] His influence still would have been there.

Speaker 2:
[10:07] So I will say, I wish Mitch the best. I think he did a lot of stuff here. This is, I think yesterday was a symbolic break. There was a period after probation in football when Mitch Barnhart was brought in. And there was a certain, that era, which was now almost 25 years. Yeah, early 2000. I think it officially ended yesterday. I now think you're going to see a completely new era. They're going to bring completely different kinds of people in here. And we'll see if it's better or worse. I don't know, but that to me is what happened yesterday. And then secondly, some reports came out of which I can confirm, I wanted somebody else to be the first one to put it out, that Kentucky basketball is still trying to hire Jamal Crawford as their assistant coach. Now, some of you may remember Jamal Crawford is an NBA player, good NBA player, really like a beloved player kind of in the basketball community. He does games for Amazon, so if you watch the playoff games, he's one of the announcers. Kentucky has, two weeks ago, offered him that final assistant coach position. He turned him down. Then they came back about a week ago and said, will you reconsider? And now apparently he is actually really reconsidering. The problem is he's calling these playoff games, so he's traveling around. Why does it matter? Well, A, I think he would add a coolness factor that I think we could all agree, maybe Mark Pope is not the coolest guy in the world. But B, he's very close with Tyron Stokes. And, you know, Ryan, I actually think part of why you're trying to hire Crawford is to be the final piece that could get Tyron Stokes to actually come here. I would want him either way, but what do you think of the news he's still considering the job?

Speaker 3:
[11:57] I guess we know why that spot's been not filled.

Speaker 2:
[12:00] And that would make sense why no one's been hired. If you sat here and said, why is there not another assistant? That would be the reason.

Speaker 3:
[12:05] If they're trying to really pursue him, you got him. You've got Mo Williams on staff who has a connection to Stokes. You got Zoom Diallo on your roster who has a connection to Stokes. Maybe this could be the final piece that even Stokes is waiting on to see if they hired Jamal Crawford.

Speaker 4:
[12:16] Knowing what you just said, I think if he can make that hire, that could be the hire that saves Mark Pope's job. Because if things don't go well, you don't get Stokes next year.

Speaker 2:
[12:24] But even if they don't, I have to say, Billy, I mean, everyone here, I'm sure, wants Mark Pope to succeed. Everybody. Like, every single person wants him to succeed. I mean, we all want to see it work. The biggest weakness that I think Pope has had on the recruiting trail is that it's like milk salesmen coming to try to get people to, like, it's just a nerdy staff. And they have now replaced one with Mo Williams, who everybody will say is cool, and you could do the same with Jamal Crawford, and now you can kind of balance that. I think it could be a great hire for them if they could do it, regardless of whether they get tired.

Speaker 6:
[13:06] Mo Williams, an NBA champion, Jamal Crawford winning sixth man of the year all those years. I mean, that would relate to younger kids and help Mark Pope in an area that he has struggled in. So, are you guys still holding out on Stokes? Like, where are we on this?

Speaker 2:
[13:19] I mean, I'm not holding out, but I think the internet has given up too quickly on him. I don't, I'm not saying we're going to get him. I have no idea. But I will tell you, UK still, as of yesterday, thinks they can get him. They're still holding, waiting, trying to make it happen. Now, they believe, or at least they did believe, that he would decide something by the end of this week, looking at the calendar, that's today. So, if they, I think if he doesn't, then UK might at some point just have to go, look, we can't keep waiting. But I do, Ryan, think they think they have a shot.

Speaker 3:
[13:59] Like Shannon said, this could turn things around for Pope. You hire Crawford, that brings in Stokes, everything changes overnight.

Speaker 2:
[14:06] I think if you bring in Stokes, this fan base will be Shannon Stoked for next year. It would be like, there would be an excitement that this group really needs.

Speaker 4:
[14:16] There's been a lot of negativity in the off season from the fans, which I understand, but if you get the number one player, then all of a sudden, I think that changes the narrative for the off season. And that's important for Mark Pope going into the season.

Speaker 2:
[14:28] Sure, I agree. We are here in Clay County at the Freedom House, cutting the ribbon on a big expansion. When this is done, they'll be able to serve more than 300 women and children annually with the Volunteers of America, which is an absolutely awesome thing for our state. We will take a break and come back. Great crowd here in Clay County on a perfect day. It's KSR. Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio here live in Manchester at the Volunteers of America Mid-States. We thank the First National Bank of Manchester. All right. Hey, Clay County.

Speaker 3:
[15:00] Shh.

Speaker 2:
[15:03] Come on now. The Dave Flannery Veterans Support Fund and the People's Rural Telephone Cooperative for all sponsoring this. Yeah, you can give them a round.

Speaker 3:
[15:12] Absolutely.

Speaker 2:
[15:14] A couple of things here. First of all, right next to us, Ryan is, it looks like Calvary Baptist Church. And as soon as I pulled up at him now, he keeps playing in my hand. Calvary, bird, bird, bird, bird, bird, bird, bird. Do you know that?

Speaker 3:
[15:31] Yeah, that sounds just like you. That's exactly how they sing it.

Speaker 2:
[15:34] You were bopping your head, you know which one I'm singing.

Speaker 4:
[15:37] Has that replaced God's Up to Something in your head? Because last night at the hotel room, I heard you three different times . Singing God's up out loud.

Speaker 2:
[15:44] Now, I'll be singing at Calvary here in Manchester. One person writes, Matt, I want to ask Rod and Mario, are they still confident about their eyeballs from Wednesday night?

Speaker 3:
[15:55] I'd say not as confident.

Speaker 1:
[15:57] Oh, wow.

Speaker 4:
[15:58] You're you're Mario.

Speaker 2:
[16:00] You're still confident. Why are you not still confident?

Speaker 3:
[16:03] Because, man, this in the transfer portal world, like you said, we said this guy changed their mind overnight.

Speaker 2:
[16:08] But that was always true.

Speaker 3:
[16:09] You still put the eyeballs out, but I didn't put a name out. That's why I was afraid.

Speaker 2:
[16:12] But you said yesterday what the name was.

Speaker 3:
[16:15] I didn't homeboy over there.

Speaker 4:
[16:18] Well, we got reports that the guy was in the bookstore buying his own UK reports were from Mario.

Speaker 3:
[16:24] I know.

Speaker 4:
[16:25] But why is he buying his own UK gear? You get that stuff for free when you're on the team.

Speaker 2:
[16:28] I don't know. Also, by the way, in terms of the Barnhart thing, another person to give a shout out to is Linda Blackford of the elevator, who wrote that big article too that I think was part of it. The NFL draft started last night. Just so people know, it goes tonight and tomorrow. I looked at the final ESPN mock draft. Kentucky has five guys projected to be drafted. I don't think I realized that until I saw it. We didn't feel like a team that would have five guys drafted. But, Jaylen Farmer, the offensive lineman, is projected to be our first pick. David Gusta, the defensive lineman. Jagger Burton, our center, is projected to be picked. And then Seth McGowan, the running back, who was kind of on and off again hurt. And Kendrick Law, who we never threw the ball to ever, is also projected to be picked. So, five guys potentially picked over the next couple of days.

Speaker 3:
[17:21] Yeah, you said that during the break. Kind of surprised me. I knew our top three guys, I thought they were going to get drafted. But I was a little surprised. Allen and Farmer are in these mock drafts. They could probably find a spot on a roster somewhere.

Speaker 2:
[17:30] Farmer might get picked today, Billy. They have him potentially going in round two or three.

Speaker 6:
[17:35] Yeah, and Jagger's gotten a lot of hype in this process. David Gustav was the one that had the video of doing the bench press, and he was hitting a lot of them. First time in a decade that the SEC didn't have the most first round.

Speaker 2:
[17:45] Yeah, see, now I think that's actually a really interesting side note story. For the first time in 12 years, the SEC did not have the most first round draft picks. If you want to see the difference that NIL is making, the fact that the SEC did not have the most first round picks, and only one more than the ACC. So Shannon, you're seeing that now that everybody has money, the talent is spreading around amongst the top schools, which I think ultimately is good for Kentucky football. I think it's good. That means we can get some guys. We're not playing against rosters that are loaded like they used to be, but it was interesting. This is the first time in 12 years.

Speaker 4:
[18:29] Not only good for Kentucky football, I think it's good for college football just in general, because Alabama would hoard guys, and you would have the 70th player on the team who could play somewhere else and make a lot of good money, and we're good players, but we're on the bench there for an Alabama team. So it spreads out the talent.

Speaker 2:
[18:45] The Big Ten had the most. When you have the ACC and the Big 12 having basically the same amount as the SEC, it's kind of a different world in college football. Who's up first?

Speaker 3:
[18:56] God, Noah up first.

Speaker 2:
[18:58] Noah, go ahead, Noah.

Speaker 7:
[19:02] Hey, Matt, thank you guys for taking my call. Regarding from the Mitch situation, really glad to see they actually made a good decision from on that. On the other side of it, I'm a little disappointed we're not going to get an epic moment the first game of the basketball season with the random fans sitting behind Tom Hart on the ESPN broadcast with a big sign with like a Rihanna cover album poster with Mitch's head on the front that has the caption of Mitch better have my money.

Speaker 2:
[19:30] I appreciate the call. I think ultimately part of the reason this happened in Ryan is they didn't want this to linger, the Barnhart thing. I mean, they didn't want it to linger. Now, here's my question. They did say they were going to pay him a severance. How much do you think it is? And do you think they let him keep the tickets? They didn't announce whether or not he was keeping the tickets.

Speaker 3:
[19:51] You know, I'm okay with two tickets. Him and his wife, lifetime tickets.

Speaker 2:
[19:55] I'm fine with that.

Speaker 3:
[19:56] He did great things at that university. I'm okay with two tickets. I'm okay with two tickets to football. I'm okay with two tickets to all the sports.

Speaker 2:
[20:03] What's nice of you?

Speaker 3:
[20:04] I mean, I think he's deserving of somewhat of a severance package. I think he did great things, but the money wise...

Speaker 4:
[20:10] We didn't eat 10 either. And I will stand up for Drew because he's not here. And that's the thing that really stuck in Drew's crawl.

Speaker 2:
[20:16] Why do you need 10? Like how many people you got in your life?

Speaker 4:
[20:19] All your friends and family? I don't have 10 friends. I would even want to go with.

Speaker 2:
[20:26] I agree. I do wonder if you're a donor and Eli Capilouto comes to you and goes, all right, can you give me $100,000 to hand to Mitch Barnhart as he walks out the door? How many people are going to say yes to that?

Speaker 3:
[20:38] I don't think there's a lot of supporters on the Mitch Barnhart side at this point. That may be kind of tough to come up with because Capilouto said he's going to come up with the money himself.

Speaker 2:
[20:44] He says, I'm going to come up with the money personally to go and get it.

Speaker 4:
[20:48] So I didn't know if he's going to raise that or if he was just going to hand it out of his own bank account to him. That would be kind of funny.

Speaker 2:
[20:56] I assume he thinks he's going to raise it, but it is interesting because I think that'll actually not be easy money to raise. Who's next?

Speaker 3:
[21:02] Brandon is up next.

Speaker 2:
[21:04] Brandon, go ahead, Brandon.

Speaker 8:
[21:07] Hey fellas, with this transfer portal, I feel like we're in the movie Major League all the time and we're looking at our roster and going, who are these guys? And then almost like the owners are looking at it and they're looking at the whole list and somebody goes, oh, that guy's dead. We'll cross him off then. I mean, I think we're at that point where I don't know these guys.

Speaker 2:
[21:29] First of all, I appreciate to call. I think part of the reason our roster is turning over so much is Pope's got to do a better job of retaining people. I mean, look at Florida. Florida's bringing back their entire roster. Florida's bringing back their entire roster from a team that was really good. Yup. Duke, a bunch of dudes for Duke are coming back. A bunch of dudes for Arizona are coming back. A lot of these other schools, Billy, are getting people to come back. We, part of what happened with Pope is he recruited about five guys that he thought would come back. He thought he was going to have another year at Jalen Lowe. He thought he was going to have another year at Mo Diabate. He thought he was going to have another year at Brandon Garrison. He thought he was going to have another year at Trent Noe, etc. And he expected all those players to improve. And then the guys got hurt or didn't improve, and they don't bring them back. And that's why there's such a turnover.

Speaker 6:
[22:22] Yeah. And when you don't have a ton of high school recruiting, then you have to go in the portal to fill those spots.

Speaker 2:
[22:26] And I can't believe he got no high school players.

Speaker 6:
[22:29] None.

Speaker 2:
[22:29] None.

Speaker 6:
[22:30] None. And we heard that maybe he had overpaid a little bit to keep some of those guys there. And now they're not seeing year three guys like Brandon Garrison or Colin Chandler. That's disappointing.

Speaker 2:
[22:38] I mean, we still have, just for people to know, we still need like five players. We still have a lot of spots open. And there's only a handful of players left in the port, left in the top players, the portal. And we only have, what, six roster spots filled. I mean, we still got a lot of dudes to go and get. We'll take a break and be right back here in Clay County at Volunteers of America, this Kentucky Sports Radio. Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio here live in Manchester at the Freedom House, operated by Volunteers of America, only residential recovery program in the state for mothers and their children who can live together. We just saw, was it Brayden? Bryson, four weeks old, whose mother is here and walking around, well, the baby's not walking around. She asked if I wanted to hold the baby. I'm anti, I don't want to drop babies.

Speaker 4:
[23:29] You don't want that liability. I understand. I wouldn't either.

Speaker 2:
[23:32] That's the law. You're in me. I don't want to drop a baby. So I'll just, you just stay over there and we'll, and I'll cheer you on. All right. We do have to talk about, I'm sorry, before we go to the phones, I got to talk about the Mike Vrainbowl situation. I mean, whoa. Okay. So this story started two weeks ago. I mean, we talked about it on Cover Zero, Billy, just interlocking fingers, like two married people with interlocking fingers and we were like, well, can you still be friends and interlock fingers? And we said, well, I don't know if you could be friends and interlock fingers. That feels a little intimate. But they both insisted their friends were there and nothing was going on. Then later pictures came out and the two and they were like sitting at a blackjack table at a different time and kind of sitting close to each other. And then it started to fall apart in the last 48 hours. Vrainbowl announces he's going to skip day three of the draft to be with his family and go through counseling. Still a bizarre decision. Like our family's good through rounds one through three, but by round four, we must now get counseling. Well, Mike, can you get it the next day? No, it has to start day three of the draft, not before, not after. And now we see why. As last night, Shannon, pictures come out from six years ago. Six years ago of them making out at a bar. Six years ago. And it comes out that it, that was six years ago in 2021, which was after that, she had a child and named it Mike.

Speaker 4:
[25:12] Oh, the story just gets better and better.

Speaker 2:
[25:15] She had a child and named it the same name as Mike Raible, who she was kissing in a bar a year before. So now, now it's like, and you got it, like part of me thinks Shannon, it's not even all out yet. So here's my question for you. Who was holding on to these pictures for six years? They've been holding on to these pictures for six years and then let it go.

Speaker 4:
[25:40] Do you think it was just some random fan who got a picture and goes, oh, there's Mike Raible making out with some random person.

Speaker 2:
[25:45] See, I wonder if it's like, since this started, somebody went, oh yeah, we were at a bar one time.

Speaker 4:
[25:51] Let me scroll back through six years of pictures in the cloud to find that one. Then how much do you sell that one forward to the paper?

Speaker 2:
[25:59] I don't know. They went to the same paper as had the original ones, which is the New York Post. Ryan, again, we saw it with Mitch Barnhart in terms of the not explaining the contract and now we see it here. If you don't talk or you lie, you are asking for the story to be even bigger than it was and that's what happened with this.

Speaker 3:
[26:24] Absolutely said what happened with this. So why not, you know, you get busted, you got to just be a man, step up and like, yeah, I did it. You know, this was bad, this was wrong. I'm going to go to counseling immediately, not wait till day three of the draft.

Speaker 2:
[26:35] The day three of the draft, Billy, is like, I mean, basically he's acknowledging that his family is worth a compensatory pick at the end of the third round. Like, he's like, you know, I'm still got to pick my first and second round guys. But for the fourth round, I'll pick my family.

Speaker 6:
[26:51] I really don't understand that because it makes it a football program. Now you're not in the building for an important day during the draft. And that just makes the story even bigger.

Speaker 2:
[26:58] It sounded like he wasn't going to be around for a while.

Speaker 4:
[27:01] It makes the family, I'm sure, feel unimportant. It would also make me as a player feel unimportant if I got picked in the fourth round and my coach isn't there because he's off to counseling.

Speaker 2:
[27:11] The story is crazy. Do you think there's, I kind of think there's still more.

Speaker 4:
[27:16] Oh, yeah. It's slowly unraveling.

Speaker 2:
[27:19] The slow drip, I think, Ryan, there's just going to be more. Now you see all these, there's an interview where Diana Rusini is interviewing him and asking about his wife.

Speaker 4:
[27:34] Yeah.

Speaker 6:
[27:35] Or she's like, what's your favorite part of your birthday today so far?

Speaker 2:
[27:38] Yeah. She's like asking and then she names the kid Mike.

Speaker 4:
[27:42] The tweets they're digging back through now at that time.

Speaker 2:
[27:44] It's just brutal. It's brutal. And all of this is in part because at the beginning, they didn't just fess up to it, right?

Speaker 3:
[27:51] You know, it makes you wonder sometimes when things like this happen, other women may come step forward. You know, this could really blow up in his face quickly.

Speaker 4:
[27:59] It already has. I would say it already has.

Speaker 2:
[28:01] Yeah. I think the video from six years ago is the one that really takes him down. Who's next?

Speaker 9:
[28:07] Megan is next.

Speaker 2:
[28:08] Megan, go ahead, Megan.

Speaker 10:
[28:11] Hi, Matt. Thank you all for taking my call. I just wanted to give a shout out to today. My grandfather will be 90 tomorrow. It's his 90th birthday tomorrow. And I know you don't normally do this, but he was actually on Rupp's 1958 championship team. And so he's a huge UK fan and tomorrow...

Speaker 2:
[28:31] What was it? If he was on the 58 team, what's his name?

Speaker 10:
[28:36] Harold Ross.

Speaker 3:
[28:37] Oh my goodness.

Speaker 10:
[28:38] He did not play very much.

Speaker 2:
[28:40] Wait a minute. Why are you... Sorry, his mic was down. You went, oh my goodness. Why?

Speaker 3:
[28:44] I just watched a thing on Harold Ross last night that Mike Mallory did at Channel 6 in Paducah. Did a one-on-one sit down with Harold Ross on his front porch. I just watched it last night.

Speaker 10:
[28:57] I was right there beside him when they were doing that.

Speaker 2:
[29:00] Well, there you go.

Speaker 3:
[29:01] I encourage you, you know, this is a national champion from 1958, one of the few still living. Go back and listen to his days playing for Rupp. It's fascinating. It's wonderful. Go, go listen to it.

Speaker 2:
[29:10] Well, happy birthday to Harold. Happy 90th birthday. And I appreciate you calling in.

Speaker 10:
[29:18] Thank you all so much.

Speaker 2:
[29:19] Wow, you were very, you were very excited.

Speaker 3:
[29:21] Well, my buddy, Mike Mallory, over there in Paducah, he did this. He was proud of it, so he sent it to me. So I watched it last night before I went to bed. And it's, it is, man. It's a time gone by. The 1950 18, those guys, what they did, they went through and won a championship.

Speaker 2:
[29:33] They beat Elgin Baylor.

Speaker 3:
[29:34] That's right. Fidlin five.

Speaker 2:
[29:36] Yeah. Who's up next?

Speaker 3:
[29:37] Fake Barney is up next.

Speaker 2:
[29:40] Fake Barney, go ahead.

Speaker 5:
[30:12] Oh, baby, baby, oop, both did it again. He needs a GM. Oh, baby, baby, oop, our roster is broke. We need Tyron Stokes to be beautiful and magnificent.

Speaker 4:
[30:31] Wow, Fake Barney.

Speaker 2:
[30:33] I have to tell you, that was, listening to that while watching the crowd in Clay County's face, There was a huge, like, there were people laughing, there were people very perplexed at what was going on.

Speaker 4:
[30:46] A lot of confusion.

Speaker 2:
[30:47] There was a lot of confusion. So I appreciate the call, Fake Barney. I thought that was funny, but it was, equally as funny, was looking at the people who were like, what is happening right now?

Speaker 4:
[30:57] It's a great remix. It's funny because you and I were telling Mario about some of the colors we used to get, fake colors like Fake Barney. I haven't heard from Barney in forever.

Speaker 2:
[31:04] I will say, Ryan, the Internet is full of videos and comments about Pope's recruiting. A guy did a skit, which I'm not tweeting because I don't want to get there, but a guy, whoever you are that did the skit where you were acting like Mark Pope on a recruiting visit. I mean, I didn't want to laugh, but sometimes you have to laugh so you don't cry. It was pretty funny. Have you seen that?

Speaker 3:
[31:34] I've seen it. I'm like you. I didn't want to retweet it, but I watched it and I feel guilty. I laughed several times.

Speaker 2:
[31:39] We all watched it and we didn't want to laugh, but it is kind of funny about what Mark Pope's recruiting visits must be like.

Speaker 4:
[31:46] You put the bald cap on a bald cap on it.

Speaker 6:
[31:49] Well, Kyle Tucker mentioned it in your interview that Kentucky is getting laughed at right now.

Speaker 2:
[31:53] Yeah, that's unfortunate. Who's next?

Speaker 9:
[31:55] Dennis is next.

Speaker 2:
[31:56] Dennis, go ahead, Dennis.

Speaker 9:
[31:59] Hey, a couple of things here. Number one, in my opinion, if the college program is going after an assistant coach just to get a player, that's very unethical.

Speaker 2:
[32:12] Why do you say that? Why is it unethical? I mean, if we're allowed to pay players directly, what's wrong with having a coach that the player likes?

Speaker 9:
[32:23] You don't see that that's unethical just to hire somebody.

Speaker 2:
[32:27] No, I don't. Well, first of all, Kentucky has done that many times in history. Okay, so this would not be the reason.

Speaker 9:
[32:37] Well, we've had a pretty good history.

Speaker 2:
[32:40] Well, first of all, are you a Kentucky fan?

Speaker 9:
[32:43] I grew up a huge Kentucky basketball fan.

Speaker 7:
[32:46] But are you a Kentucky fan?

Speaker 9:
[32:47] But I'm no longer a college basketball fan.

Speaker 7:
[32:51] I'm a football fan, but I'm no longer a college basketball fan.

Speaker 2:
[32:54] Now, wait a minute, hang on. If you're a college football fan, you realize every school in America has hired assistant coach to get college, to get high school football players, like every one of them. You pick the school, they have hired someone to get people to play there at every school in America.

Speaker 9:
[33:14] But does two wrongs make a right? I always heard two wrongs never made a right.

Speaker 2:
[33:17] Okay, but you're saying that Kentucky basketball is looked at a certain way because of it. Every school has done that. Every single one of them.

Speaker 9:
[33:30] You ever watch Dan Dockage?

Speaker 2:
[33:32] Okay, there we go. You're a Dan Dockage fan. I mean, is that what you're gonna use?

Speaker 8:
[33:37] No, no, no, no. You're gonna use an example of ethics?

Speaker 2:
[33:40] Is your example of ethics gonna be Dan Dockage?

Speaker 9:
[33:44] No, I'm just saying that that's what a lot of people, they think like him. I'm not saying I think like him, but there's a perception. If you don't think there's a perception out there of Kentucky that Kentucky's corrupt basketball program, then...

Speaker 2:
[33:55] Okay, do you think Kentucky is corrupt under Mark Pope?

Speaker 9:
[34:01] No.

Speaker 2:
[34:02] Okay, so then what are you arguing?

Speaker 9:
[34:05] But that don't you think? But if he goes out and hires an assistant coach just to get a player, in my opinion...

Speaker 2:
[34:10] He will become, if he does that, there's no way you're gonna convince me. He can go hand Tyron Stokes, legally, $8 million, hand him $8 million, or he could hire a coach Stokes is comfortable with, pay him $600,000. And you're telling me the $600,000 hire is less ethical than the $8 million handed to the kid?

Speaker 9:
[34:38] It's not the money. It's that you're hiring somebody, you're not hiring that person for them to actually do a job. You're actually, you're just hiring that person just to get somebody. That's just, I don't understand why somebody can't see the wrong in that.

Speaker 2:
[34:53] Well, I don't, but I appreciate the call. And it sounds like you were a big, I mean, if you don't like college basketball, why do you care anyway?

Speaker 3:
[35:01] I mean, if they do end up hiring Jamal Crawford, Stokes is not the only recruit he's going to help recruit to Kentucky. He's going to bring in several recruits to Kentucky.

Speaker 2:
[35:09] I'm going to say to you, I'm fine, Shannon, if you get Jamal Crawford, even if it doesn't get you tiring Stokes, you're getting an NBA player that clearly is bright. He's on television doing games, so he clearly understands the game or he couldn't do that. I see no problem. I mean, if we don't hire him, we're probably going to hire someone no one's ever heard of. So what difference does it make?

Speaker 4:
[35:30] And he's still going to do a job for you. It's like he's going to have a golden parachute and eat hay. He's going to do a job for you.

Speaker 2:
[35:36] Mitch Barnhart now gets to eat hay, by the way. So good luck to him.

Speaker 4:
[35:40] Get some ketchup.

Speaker 2:
[35:40] Hey, spring is sprung and that means you might be getting outside more. And if you're doing yard work meaning to stay active by biking or running, court physical therapy can help. Our therapists know what it takes to help you heal and get back to the things you enjoy over 70 locations statewide. It's easy to find the center near you. Go to court.com for rehab. kort.com. We are here in Clay County. How's that jersey fit?

Speaker 3:
[36:02] I'm having trouble breathing once in a while.

Speaker 4:
[36:04] Yeah, it's getting tighter by the minute.

Speaker 3:
[36:07] Breathing's becoming an issue, but I know I look good. She told me I look good.

Speaker 4:
[36:13] Skin tight jersey.

Speaker 2:
[36:14] It looks amazing. We'll be right back. It's KSR. We're back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio here live in Manchester, Kentucky at the Freedom House. Pregnant and parenting moms receive family and individual therapy as they participate in a wide range of parenting and skills training classes while also helping with any treatment for addiction. That's here and it is a great place here in Manchester, Kentucky. Bucks Divers, Bucks Divers, hush. We're trying to do a show over here. 859-280-2287. I have a story. So here's my question. Let's play the game of should this be illegal or not?

Speaker 3:
[36:53] All right, courts in session.

Speaker 2:
[36:55] Courts in session. Should this be illegal or not? One of the US Seals that went into Venezuela when they went and got the Venezuelan President Maduro, he was one of the people that captured him on the mission. Right before he went on the mission, he is alleged to have gone on one of these polymarket places. And there was a thing of will Maduro be captured and overthrown? He bet on the answer as yes, right before he got on the helicopter to go take him out. So he bet knowing that he was about to go and do it. He has now been arrested. I tried to read what his charges were, and I couldn't find it in the story. But basically, he is being arrested. So here is my question. Should people in the military be able to bet on whether or not a military action is going to happen if they are part of the group actually doing the action?

Speaker 3:
[37:54] I think this is so illegal. I don't know what he is going to be charged with. You have to charge that dude with something to give up a potential military exercise, to potentially give it secrets away. That puts ourselves safety and jeopardy.

Speaker 4:
[38:09] I've been told all my life, bet on yourself. I feel like that's what this guy did.

Speaker 2:
[38:15] To be fair, he was betting that they would be successful. He didn't bet against it being successful. He did bet on it being successful.

Speaker 4:
[38:23] I guess I look at it as like an NBA player betting on themselves, on DraftKings. I don't think you should be allowed to do that. So I guess my answer is going to be no. I don't think you should be allowed to do that.

Speaker 6:
[38:33] Yeah, just like you said, Shannon, like a player betting on DraftKings. I don't think that's ethical for the military member to be sharing secrets about a military operation.

Speaker 2:
[38:43] If I was the military, I'd be really upset about it. Because think about if you're other countries and you see these betting markets and you go, wait a minute, why all of a sudden has there been a $500,000 bet on us being overthrown? Oh, wait, maybe they're coming. Like I do think it's a good way. I mean, if people are putting that kind of dollars on it, and I don't know if you remember when they did this, the market moved like in the 12 hours before they went and did it, the market moved like way up like it was gonna happen. You're almost putting them on notice. So actually, if I was the military, I'd be extremely worried about that kind of thing.

Speaker 4:
[39:25] You're tipping them off. You're also putting your own soldiers in danger.

Speaker 2:
[39:30] Let me ask you a question. What if something had gone wrong during that?

Speaker 4:
[39:33] Right.

Speaker 2:
[39:34] Like what if something had gone wrong? I mean, this dude, it would be a completely different story if it was that. So you all think should be illegal?

Speaker 3:
[39:41] Dude, I think so. I mean, anything that jeopardizes a military operation like that, I mean, is it treason? What's it charging you with?

Speaker 2:
[39:48] I don't think it's treason. I would say it should be illegal. I also know, but go ahead and throw in when Congress people do the same thing with there, because there's a lot of them on both sides that do that all the time. Who's up next?

Speaker 3:
[40:01] Jared is up next.

Speaker 2:
[40:02] Jared, go ahead, Jared.

Speaker 11:
[40:05] Hey, Matt, thanks for taking my call. So I want to start by saying, we all want Mark Pope to do well. We all want him to succeed and to bring number nine and 10 and 11 and however many more, but whether you want him gone or whether you want him to stay for the next five, 10 years, at the end of the day, as it stands now, he is firing himself. And what I mean by that is he is doing things that he cannot explain later if he does not win. He's not using the current NIL valuation system that Kentucky paid for. He's not hiring a GN. He has terrible PR, whether it's being horrible on interviews and just having a weird personality or giving fans the silent treatment. And most of all, he's not winning. So at the end of the day, at the end of this season, if we lose 12 games, he's not going to be able to explain.

Speaker 2:
[40:58] Yeah, so I think I don't totally disagree with what you're saying. And I appreciate the call. I mean, this is the way I put it with Kyle Tucker the other day. If Mark Pope goes to the Elite Eight or the Final Four, Ryan, it won't matter what he did. He'll be fine, right? He can walk around and not speak to anyone. And if we go to the Final Four, nobody's going to care. Do you agree with that? Winning cures everything. If we miss the tournament or lose in the first round, it's not going to matter how nice he is. People are going to be ready to make a change. The question is, what happens when you're in the middle? What happens when you lose in the second round or the Sweet 16? Then all of a sudden, all this other stuff, I actually think matters more to people. And I think he's just given himself to where he doesn't have a lot of leeway. They're going to have to win next year. And right now, they don't have a lot of players yet.

Speaker 3:
[41:51] So he said it's kind of a make or break season for him. And he's got to go all in on Stokes or get some players because this could be, his entire career could depend on what they do next season.

Speaker 2:
[42:00] But we could have a situation where when we come back on this show Monday, if Stokes is committed here, everybody's going to be good. We'll be the first time in 12 years we've had the number one player in America come here. So we'll see, it's kind of feast or famine. We'll take a break and be right back, hour number two here in Manchester. This is Kentucky Sports Radio.