KSR - 2024-05-29- KSR - Hour 1

Episode Date: May 29, 2024

Ryan, Drew, and Shannon talk UK Basketball and are joined by former UK Baseball Coach Keith Madison to talk Kentucky Baseball in the NCAA Tournament.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me.

He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue 42. A rep. My mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker.

Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Comedy Up Broadway and Lexington welcomes Michael Pallasack, May 17th and 18th. Then catch Kevin Farley, May 23rd through the 25th. And don't miss Sam Morel. May 31st through June 2nd. Comedy Up Broadway opened in downtown Lexington in 1987,

and they're still bringing the best and stand-up comedy to the area 37 years later. Call 859-271 joke or visit Comedy OffBroadway.com. This is Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now, here's Matt Jones. All right, good morning, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Grap balls, grandmas, aunts and uncles, it is Wednesday, May 29. This is the Wednesday edition of Kentucky Sports Radio. Ryan Lemon and Drew Franklin and Shannon the dude here.

And as always, this is a dude. edition of Kentucky Sports Radio, sponsored by the T.J. Smith Law Office. What happened, Shannon? Oh, there we go. My mic's working. Hey, call it'll make them pay. Call, T.J., he'll make them pay. We'll have our Kentucky-branded call of the day, which I think we forgot yesterday, Shaddy. Oh, no. Maybe we'll do two today. Okay. Rough start. We'll have the Whiskey Thief Song of the Day. And right here in my right hand, the brand new A-Vision Glass text machine, and I just messed it up. There we go.

Look at it. It's charged. Let's see that. Tex came in all day, all night, but we're going to start fresh today. And it's ready. It's ready to go. And the number is 502-735-3680. Look at that. He remembered it.

Shannon, he wasn't even looking at the back of the phone right there. That was all from memory. I think that Ryan just sat in his bed last night, just repeating that in his head so he could get it right today. Oh, you make fun? That's exactly what happened. Did you? Because look, I've got a little rhythm. You know, Michael.

Michael. Matt has his 7-74, 772-8-2-8-0. 8-284. No. 8-482. No. Just go ahead. So mine, I figured, was 5027.

If I can just remember that, then it's 35-36-80. 5027, 35, 36, 80. Look at you. I'm so proud. Thank you. Also, listeners, I want you all to know that yesterday afternoon, we got to text this show topics for today. Yes, you did. We had homework.

This guy over here, this is. a brand new man. Well, today is the last day of school in Fayette County. Okay. Hallelujah. I mean, I used to celebrate this day like it was Christmas because that meant I didn't have to get up at 6 in the morning, drive the kids to the school, drive back. Well, now until Saas guy, he's on license.

So now instead of saying, hallelujah, he's going to be home all the time. I'm like, oh, dang. We say we're still in school, but today's the last day. Most schools have already been out. Like, all of the county schools have already been out. But today's the last day for Fayette County, which means Fayette County, which means Fayette County graduation is this weekend. Okay.

With Railbird this weekend. With UK baseball regional this weekend. It's going to be a madhouse around downtown. We do still have, by the way, we're talking about this, some railroad parking pass is still available, Drew. Got some room. Got some room. Best spots you can get, in my opinion.

I did it last year for both days. It's awesome. Yeah. And just for those that want to come here, at KS Bar or our neighboring restaurants, we still, we will have some spots, reserved for you would give you like a little pass. You have like a two-hour pass, and you can go to any of our restaurants right here,

especially KS Bar and Grill. But if you don't think you're going to try to sneak that pass and park for five hours. We'll tow you. Oh, yeah. You're in charge of the tow truck. We already got that. Oh, I didn't know that. But I know.

There will be plenty of room if you want to have a drink or a meal before after UK baseball. He said you can't linger all day. We need those spots. But there will be plenty of room for people that just want to come to KS. or our neighboring facilities to kill, halpinos. Yeah, and we highly encourage that. All our pals here. Go ahead, Shannon.

Now, Drew, when you say that Ryan's in charge of the tow truck, like I'm picturing Ryan driving a tow truck around and just picking up people's cars, like, he'll actually be the driver, right? Well, we figured he has the most experience with needing a tow truck. Truth. And since we couldn't get an actual certified driver, Ryan has the most minutes logged in the vicinity of the tow truck. So we thought if anyone could pull it off, it'll be Ryan. I feel like it would be an honor to have your car towed by Ryan.

Well, we're going to do it. Don't think you can park in our reserve spots and walk over to Railbird or we're towing your car out of here. So there are still some spots available, not many, but some spots available for Railroad. We'll have reserved spots for you to come here to the restaurant because it's going to be a busy weekend here. You know, we get UK baseball weekend, graduation weekend, and we may have a big announcement, Drew, about at 11 o'clock. Okay. I like big announcements. I like all announcements.

I like all announcements. Big, small, medium, whatever. This is big. This is big one. Okay. It's a big one at 11 o'clock. You can't over-silliver. Oh, no, this is going to be over-delivered. Over-delivered.

I have an interesting predicament with parking. Our show ends at 1155, as we all know. Baseball is at noon. I'm going. What are you going to do? I'm thinking about walking. You can't. I mean, it'll add 30 minutes trying to get a parking spot.

I've considered maybe scheduling an Uber and having it ready to go and running out. That's perfect. But I'm going to try to, I'm going to have to miss a picture. too. Hopefully not a full inning. But I got a little logistical issue there with our show Friday. So after the show Friday you're going to the game. Potentially sprinting. Haven't decided yet.

Or one of those little hover things. Those little scooters, get you a little scooter. Maybe I'll do that. Whatever gets me to section 101, row 15 the fastest. Oh, you've got good seats in. They're not bad. Visiting section all I could get, but I get in there. I'm going to stay here because we're going to have a watch

party. We have a UK baseball watch party. For those of you that can't get tickets, or you want to come here, or maybe you've got graduation, come here and watch the game here Friday. We're going to pack it like we do a UK football game or a basketball game and watch UK baseball in game one against Western Michigan, which first pitch is at noon. That's right. If we get some good weather, maybe we can do a little show out on patio, have a little tailgate. You want to do that Friday? We'll see. That's not a bad idea.

We're in charge. Today is Wings Day here. So come on out and have lunch with us and get your daughter Wings. but I think we have to start with today's Jackson Robinson Day. It is. Today the Jackson Robinson Watch wraps up. He's got until what, midnight tonight? 1159, unless you're Hamadou Diallo who missed it a few years ago.

DePoley's name out of the NBA draft. As of this moment, he is still in the NBA draft. He's got until midnight tonight to pull it out for the Jackson Robinson Watch. We'll be doing it all day long. Drew, what's your what's your projection? Well, based on his projection, he's kind of at the end of the second round, maybe going undrafted. So I'm kind of leaning towards him coming back to school. I think that would be his best decision.

The question is if he announced he's coming back to school by midnight, then what's next? Because he doesn't have to say which school. He just has to tell the NBA and then CAA, I'm going back to college basketball. So it may not be completely over with Jackson Robinson, whatever happens today. stays in the draft, it will be for our purposes. But if he returns to school, I know a lot of people assume Kentucky's in it, but Kansas is also in the mix and a potential return to BYU with their new coach. They're throwing around a lot of money out there in Utah.

Money that Mark Pope didn't have when he was out there. It's kind of like, I mean, they don't have any animosity towards Pope, but kind of like we're going to be all right without this guy. We're going to show it flex our NIL muscles. So a return to BYU is still possible, but we will know by midnight what Robinson is doing regarding the NBA and then go from there. Okay, I have a couple questions. But please.

I hear now Kansas has got in the mix for Jackson and the Robinson in the Robinson sweepstakes. Kentucky, Kansas and BYU. If I were put an order, I would think it would be Kentucky staying at BYU and then Kansas running third. That's just me guessing. I mean, if he comes back, they'll still have time to recruit him. We might even visit all those places again.

Who knows? But it's not like if he returns to school. We just have a parade. He's coming to Lexington. There will be a little bit more of a fight, I think. if he does return. So if he does withdraw from the draft,

there's really no timeline for him to pick a college right then. He can wait another month if he wanted to. I want to get it done soon, but it won't have his back against the wall and making a decision like he does today with the NBA or college. He'll have a little time to weigh those three options. Hopefully no one else enters the mix.

That's plenty. So, Shannon, if you had to look into your crystal ball, what do you think is going to happen? Well, I can tell you what would happen if it were me. I would be looking to see How can I maximize the amount of money that I can make? And I think going to the G League would not be a smart move, so I would probably come back to college, make a ton of NIL money with Kentucky, and then improve my draft stock in the meantime,

and then come back the next season and be a first-round pick and make first-round money. That's the right answer. That's the right answer for sure, no doubt. What's your prediction? Yeah, Jack Pilgrim's been keeping up with it on our board, and he mentions a lot about how the family worries about going to yet another school, because he's, this will be his fourth in four years, I guess. He was at A&M in Arkansas than BYU. A lot of bouncing around there.

So comfort could be something at BYU to watch if he comes back. I still think if you're him, stick of a pope, you know what you have in a coach. You're not going to find a better place for your marketability than in Lexington. You know, he'll have to deal with age when he goes to the NBA a year from now. But I think his best shot at proving that stock would be in Lexington. And that's me being a bit of selfish U.K. fan. But also, I really think that's the case. if he wants to, if he's really trying to move from end of the second round to first round a year from now.

Do you guys buy anything into the fact that Mark Pope actually went to the Combine, NBA Combine, to visit, to watch support, I guess the best word. To support Jackson Robinson. Now Robinson said in interviews, they're staying in touch with Pope about every day. They're still very close. So Pope's doing all he can. I'm sure other coaches are calling too, but he said, you know, no one is freezing out to him as often as Pope is with their relationship from the last couple of years. So Pope's doing all he can. We'll just see when it comes down what Robinson decides.

We had the big news. You know, the deadline's not just for Robinson's for everyone. That's true. We had four guys now. Some of them I didn't even know they were in the NBA draft, but four current players came back yesterday. I was going to ask you about that. Yeah, Mario Williams went first.

Yeah. Who was next? Lamont Butler or Andrew Carr? And then Andrew Carr. And then I think it's breaking right this morning that Kobe Brea also. Okay, I answered my question. I didn't see yet where he had withdrawn from the draft. I'm saying that.

I believe our boy Jacob. I didn't even know he was in the draft, to be honest, Kobe Brahe. See, that was the thing. Some of these guys in there announcing they're coming back, their reaction, it's like, oh, didn't even realize you were in the pool, which is fine. They were just figuring out getting their feedback. We had players do it many years going back. But, yeah, it's here now.

He's the fourth to come back. Officially. Yeah. So really, it's just the Jackson-Robinson watched the rest of the day. Unless, you know, we might have a couple other guys in there we don't know about that are on the team. Yeah, no, this is all about Jackson Robinson. And then if you're worried about Robinson not picking Kentucky, there's the Wuga Poplar from Miami. He'll be pulling his name out of the draft and another guy you can watch as a backup plan.

What about that? I kept hearing, is it Will Riley? Yeah, he's with, he's the high school reclass backup plan. He's also just a backup plan right now. I assume so. I mean, maybe you could get both. I was going to say. Is there a chance you could get.

But, I mean, if you don't get Robinson, and those are the two guys you're looking for. On the wing. Well, there you go. There's your Jackson-Robinson update. Everybody would be refreshing all day long. Stay on top of it on KSR or on three sports. Yeah, join the board. The board's where all the action is.

KS. Board. I didn't answer the questions this morning. I wrote them. You wrote the questions this morning. Well, I'll do it during a break. I subbed in for Tyler today. We could have used you.

I will do it again. I already did it. It's over. Well, I'll do it for maybe for tomorrow. You'll send you some questions for tomorrow. Well, she's back, but we'll figure that out. The next day you're supposed to do it, let me know, and I'll send you some,

My question. Today's going to be a big day of hitting refresh, though. Yeah. That Hamadu Diallo year, I have vivid memories of basically sitting on my couch all day hitting refresh, refresh and searching his name on Twitter with every other Kentucky basketball fan on the internet, and then it happened after midnight. I'm trying to think, you know, we went through this with Oscar, but he didn't wait until the $13,000, did he? No, Diallo is the one that, I mean, it was an unbelievable amount of traffic on our website,

Twitter just searching his name because we were just waiting. and I think he forgot. Well, he admitted he forgot. I was watching Netflix. All right, phone lines will be open. 859-280-2287. That's 859-2-80-cats. Former UK baseball coach,

the godfather of UK baseball, Keith Madison will join us here in a couple minutes. Talk about the Batcats, big weekend coming up. We'll take your calls as well. Ryan Drew and Shannon. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending. opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves.

Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations. with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it

and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro.

Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out.

Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. All right, welcome back at Tech Sports Radio, Ryan, Drew, and Shannon. You know, part of the, uh, our requirements, when Matt is gone, when we fill in, we have to do the live reads.

We have to do the spots, the commercials. He handles all that when he's here, but when he's not here, we kind of have to split it up and share it. Drew had an epic UK federal credit union read yesterday. I got tongue-tied, tongue-tisted, tongue-tied at the end. Couldn't say the name of the bank, but other than that I thought it was okay. Today is your redemption day, though, Drew. So, Shedding, you know what they did? It's a new day.

They don't trust Drew anymore. They send him a script. Today. Scrib's help. Also, yesterday pulled a you. You turned to me to read it, and I was not prepared. I had to pull it up. So I had that Ryan Lemon anxiety going into it.

You want to try your hand at the script? Yes, and once again, it's another part that I participate in with their lovely bank. UK Federal Credit Union is helping you save more in 2024. And for a limited time, you could score one of the best rates with their nine-month certificate account at 4.75% APY. Lock in this great rate today. your savings grow the next nine months. Need flexibility in a great rate.

Check out the money market account that rewards members the more they save. UKFCU is here for you and here for life. Federally insured by NCUA APY annual percentage yield, minimum $1,000 to open certificate accounts. Member eligibility required. That was a great read, Ron Lemon. And once again, I did this. I took advantage of this nine month just the other day. I got one of these.

Nailed it. Through a couple bucks. Great job. Tear to my eye. Yeah. You want to see it on that? That told you about yesterday? This is all legit.

Good stuff there. Now, UK Federal Credit Union feels much better about their sponsorship. Oh, yeah. I'll be doing TV commercials. Super Bowl commercials. Now, yesterday, I think maybe during the show yesterday, or maybe right after the show, the details broke for Mark Pope's new contract as a Kentucky head coach. Lexon-Herald leader, I think Ben Roberts broke the story or got the first guys' hands on it first.

It's basically five years. years, $27.5 million, comes out to like a little over $5 million a year or something like that. $5.5 a year? 5.5 a year. Obviously, they're getting a little bit of a discount. The Calgary discount coming in there. They're going to save them. Oh, yeah.

$4 million a year. Anything jump out with you about the contract or anything? There are some incentives. If he makes the Sweet 16, it automatically extends by a year and includes a bonus for $250,000. and he gets an extra $50,000 for winning the SEC tournament. Remember that? I remember when we used to get to the weekend of the SEC tournament. I'll give him $50,000 to win.

I don't have $50,000. But I would like to win that again. $100,000 for winning the SEC regular season, missed doing that. $250,000 for a final four and $500,000 for winning the national championship. So some good incentives there. Yeah. But I said good discount based on what we had the last few years with the lifetime deal and even a good discount on what they were throwing at maybe Hurley and Scott Drew, the first two offers.

This is for a coach we seem to love right away. I feel like they got a little bit of a good budget option here. That's true, Shannon. They were ready to load up the Brinks truck and dump it at Danny Hurley. Yeah. And then they saved some bucks by hiring Mark Pope. Pope's doing all right, though. It gets, what, a quarter million dollar raise after every season?

That's a good start. That's a very good start. And then the incentives, of course, to win the SEC, which it's not going to take money for Mark Pope to win the SEC. to want to win the SEC tournament. I can assure you he realizes how much that tournament means to the fans that come down to Nashville and spend an entire weekend down there, spend a lot of money. So that's going to be, I guess, refreshing to see that we have a coach that actually cares about winning the conference tournament.

I think when we get to the summer and you've completely aced your assignments while Matt's gone these 10 weeks. Yes. I think you should take Pope's contract to I heart. I'm like, hey, look at it. You renegotiate. Maybe I want an extra $250,000 every year. moving forward.

What would be our incentives? Two hours without the equipment. Well, that's not on us. That's on them. Yeah. A show where I don't mess up the Stockton Mortgage Read. That's true. Or I'm prepared to read the Stockton Mortgage Read.

I get a little Diet Coke. Remembering the equipment. Oh, that's a huge one. Yeah, if I remember the equipment. Yeah, that'd be a fun game. So I did have a really cool son, father's son moment last night. Oh, yeah. Saw a selfie from this.

Matt? Uncle Matt let us use his tickets to the Reds Cardinals game last night. My whole family is Cardinal fans. And my dad, there's no bigger Cardinal fan than my dad. And so my dad and I drove up to Cincinnati and got to sit in Matt's seats. And Shannon, you know, you've been there. Drew, you've been. Those are awesome seats.

I mean, they're incredible seats. My dad was like a little kid in a candy store. He couldn't believe, you know, those seats. And, you know, you kind of have your own private concession stand and your private bar and your private bathroom in that little clubhouse. pouches in there if you need to go relax a little bit he was so excited he couldn't wait to we got in the car he called my mom telling him about the game so it's a I sent mad to thank you know I really appreciate him and let us use these tickets because

my was you know everybody has those memories with their dad out playing catch in the ball yard you know and so now I get to experience baseball with my dad another way oh yeah you got to do those father-son trip I saw your cardinals didn't take it easy on the no they did not that's what made it even better was a great well The weather was perfect for baseball. I mean, it was perfect. And the Cardinals ended up winning 7 to 1. They'll stink and good for nothing.

Neither team's very good. No. Don't get me wrong, Shannon. Neither team's very good. Neither one will be going to the playoffs. But I'm glad you had to or got the opportunity to enjoy a day out with your dad and watch the Reds lose another game. It's always fun.

I just did the PGA with my dad. So I know what you talked about going to supporting of big golf fans. So we were right when Zander hit that shot on 18. We probably see us. He was just a few feet from us. Normally when Matt knows to Cincinnati, though, he's throwing peanuts at somebody or two people are fighting or he's not knowing where to park. It sounds like you just had a great experience. We were in and out of the – oh, no, that is a good question.

Because Matt always has some chaos from Reds games. Well, I completely forgot. Remember when he pushed the old lady over on Open Day? I did remember that. That was opening day. I think so. Yeah, it was opening day trying to get to the ballpark. We parked – Dad and I parked in a parking garage right by the stadium.

So walking back to the parking garage, we unknowingly got on the wrong elevator and got off on the wrong floor. So we're walking around in this huge parking garage trying to find the car. I'm like, it's got to be right here. So he starts hitting the alert button. We hear it, but we have no idea where it is. We realize it's in the floor above us. So we had to walk up the ramp to get up to the floor. We got to the wrong elevator.

We took the wrong, got off on the wrong floor. There we go. It's never an easy process. 859-2802-287. That's our phone number if you want to call and get on board. Shannon, who we got first? All right. Let's go to Glenn and Pennsylvania. Glenn and Pennsylvania. Go ahead, Glenn. Hey, guys, how's going today? How are you, Glenn?

Doing wonderful, man. It's a wonderful day up here in eastern PA. Sunshine and birds are singing. Hey, hypothetical situation here, if we were, not next season, but any season in general, if we were to go have a really good season, stay in the top five all year long, and go to the SEC tournament, lose it, go to the NCAA tournament, losing the second round, or have a mediocre season, SEC tournament win and losing the second round of the NCAA, which would be the most successful season.

season in your guys opinion. Thanks and I'll hang up and listen. Glenn, I appreciate it. It's kind of a good question because I would just like to win one game in March. Just one game would be an improvement for me. And if they win the SEC tournament, but maybe bow out after the first weekend in the NCAA tournament, I mean, my initial reaction is I think I would be okay with that. Did he have a second round loss in both scenarios?

Yes. Yeah, no, did not get to the second weekend in NCAA. I don't like that attitude. I don't like that attitude. I don't know, that's tough. So, you know, I miss the SEC tournament winning that one. I do, lean that direction, even though there is a little bit to the argument. How much does it really matter?

But that's Kentucky's tournament and it's been too long. So whatever it takes to be there on Sunday and win that again. I miss that feeling. I miss that confetti falling on us in Nashville, Ryan. Got some of it in his Ziploc bag at home. It's got dust. It's evaporating. Shane, what would you say?

Yeah, if you're going to have a mediocre season and go out in the second round of the NCAA tournament, regardless, at least have a title, so I would take the option of winning the SEC championship in the tournament we're talking about. I think in most fans' minds, they would be happy win the SEC tournament and at least get to the Sweet 16. I think in most fans' minds for first year

we're throwing the roster together like he has, I think that would be viewed as a success. I mean, you want to just, you want to be better than you were the year before. You want to just win a game in March. That is much better, at least for the postseason. I don't want to dismiss last year's regular season. That was a lot of fun, but for postseason,

there's nowhere to go but up, really. I think most fans would trade a maybe disappointing regular season to have success in March. And a disappointing regular season could mean you're growing along the way. You take some early losses. You watch them get better. And then it ends with the culmination of winning the SEC term. All right. We'll take our break. We come back.

The Godfather of UK baseball. He's in the house. Keith Madison, talk about the Batcats in their big weekend coming up. We come back on Kentucky Sports Radio. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month,

I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it

and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, our Heart Radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. What's up, guys?

This is Clever Taylor the Fourth. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What?

Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get, your podcast. T.J. Smith, personal injury

attorney. Call T.J. He'll make them pay. Now, more of Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Here's Matt Jones. All right, welcome back. Kentucky Sports Radio. Ryan, Drew and Shannon here, and it's

a huge weekend for UK baseball, Drew, hosting the regional tournament for the second year in a row as the overall number two seed. Oh, yeah. Can't wait to get over there. I'm excited for our special guest. I hope he was able to get tickets. I think he probably got it.

to get a hold of those. He probably got a lifetime pass, joined now by the, you are the godfather of UK baseball, Keith Madison, head coach for 25 years. And I know you have to be proud as a peacock when you see what this program and where this team is today, aren't you? No doubt. I mean, what Nick Mingeon has done and then, and also what Mitch Barnhart has done, getting a new stadium. And then Nick has just done, he's done a tremendous job with. this program and you know they hit a lull there right before the pandemic and during the pandemic but everything was weird then but they have done a masterful job with the transfer portal they've gotten some great they really do their homework on these guys and when you get guys like grant smith from incarnate word yeah transfer in and he's probably the best shortstop in in college baseball. And then, you know, it's just amazing that they've been able to track these guys.

And not only that, Ryan, but once they get them here in the fall, they have the fall practice. And to get all these guys thinking together and playing together and pulling for each other and being a team, that's a whole different thing. I mean, you see different sports with the transfer poorly. They bring these guys in, but it doesn't always work. You know, there's egos involved, and there's, hey, I want to play shortstop. No, you're playing second base. You know, there's all those kinds of dynamics going on. But Nick and his staff have done a tremendous job of getting these guys to come together,

and you watch them in the dugout. They have so much fun. There's so much energy. And they really pull for each other, and they've been a fun team to watch this year. Is there a trick to that blend? Because he does have a blend of guys that made huge plays last year in the postseason, guys that started freshmen and grown. Then you have Nick Lopez who comes in his first team all SEC.

So he's got a hodgepodge of backgrounds there, but they seem so close, as you said. Is there a secret you can reveal or in Magic Formula how he pulls that together? You know, I think Nick, and you guys know this about Nick, he is such a positive guy. You know, he, you can't be around Nick, me and Joan, to be unhappy. You know, he just has that energy himself.

And I think it's like John Maxwell, the great leadership guru, says, you know, everything rises and falls with leadership. And so when they see their head coach with this much energy, and then he's encouraging guys to have fun in the dugout. You know, that's an area where me and everybody else that coached in my era, we messed that up. Well, old school, you didn't allow it. No, no. You didn't do that. That was, you know. It's like, boy, you better be locked in.

And if I ask you what the count is, you better know it. And instead, these guys are over there having fun. They're in the game and they're ready to play, but they're still having a blast at the dugout. So we get to ask all the time, what has been the difference this year? Why is this year they've been so successful this year? I think it's because they win in so many different ways.

Like if they're not hitting a ball in the gap or hitting home runs, they can execute small ball. If they're not executing small ball, they're letting Ryan Walshmidt. He's my favorite player. Oh, that guy's a stud. He is a stud. But they're letting him and, you know, these other guys swing it.

Yeah. And so they can hit home runs. They can do double steals, which I know you probably were really good at at Kentucky Wesleyland. Oh, I don't know why you didn't recruit me back in 1985. I know. That's a huge mistake. Still, he lays awake at night, Drew. I know.

I could have had this guy. He could have broken a school record for stealing bases at Kentucky instead of Kentucky Westland. If there was a portal, he would have gone and gotten you after one year. He needed a portal. I do have a funny story. We came over and played you guys in Fall Ball in 1986. You guys were loaded. I mean, that was Terry Schumpert, I think maybe Larry Lubers and Mark Thompson.

And you had a great pitching staff. Willing Van Lendingham may have been on there. And you guys beat us the first game 19 to 1. Second game, we threw our best pitcher. You played all your second string guys, and we won. And you made them run. We broke down, got in the van, and you're still making them run. out in the outfield.

Well, that's old school. But, yeah, you know, one of the things about back in that era, we would play teams like Kentucky State and Georgetown because I wanted my young players to have an opportunity to play and get experience. And it was good competition. You know, you guys were pretty good. Yeah. And I'm amazed we scored 19 runs off.

Oh, you killed us the first game. But then we threw our ace. We treated the second game as the best game, and you did. You threw you played your second string guys. Well, you know, that's the thing about baseball. Like it's different than football or basketball. It's all about pitching. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. And I don't care who you're playing. If they're throwing their number one and you're throwing your number five or six, they've got a great chance of beating you no matter who you are. Yeah. How could that help, like talking about going against a great pitcher, they played well against Hagen Smith a day after one hit against LSU. What can something like that where you go up against an elite pitcher that's top ten projected pick?

How can that help their confidence moving forward into this week? That's a great question because you have guys like Walshmidt and Grant Smith and me and Petrie. These guys face Paul Skeens last year. He's in the big leagues. Yeah, he's in the big leagues. And I still remember Petrie going up. I think he was leading off and Skeens is throwing like 100 miles an hour. And Petrie just hits a bullet, pulls it to right field.

And I'm going, my goodness, this kid's got some bat speed. Yeah. So, Drew, when you face it. guys like that and then, you know, Smith this year. And we were able to punch out a few hits against them. And then you bring in a guy that's throwing 93. You're going, hey, there's no doubt I can hit this guy. Now, we talked about this yesterday with Daniel Hager.

Do you throw your ace Friday? I mean, how do you, as a coach, because, you know, the SEC tournament, they saved their ace till game two. How do you handle your pitching rotation this weekend? Boy, that is a great question. I mean, you have two schools of thought there. as you know. Yeah.

You know, you're playing Western Michigan first. Yeah. And they're a... You should handle them. Yeah. But I've always said for 30 years, I've said that the Mac is the most underrated baseball conference in America.

Those guys can play. So if you throw a down-the-line guy against them, you get beat, now you're, boy, you know, you're in trouble. Now you're fighting out of the losers bracket. So actually, I was with all the coaches this morning. And we meet every Wednesday morning. They let me come in. I'm sort of like...

Joe Hall was to John Caliperi. They let me hang out. You're the old coach that hangs around and practice. Yeah. So sure enough, I mean, Nick asked me, hey, what's your pitching rotation this weekend? Yeah. And I gave it to... He asked you.

He asked me, but that doesn't mean they're going to go with it. But so Nick said, hey, that's not the one I picked. I think you're right with you're right with Dan. You know, Dan's a pitching coach. So, yeah, I mean, I'm probably going to go Poozer against Western Michigan.

And I want to win that first game. You got to. Yeah. And I remember one time we were playing South Alabama to open up our season. And that was back when Paul Kilgus pitched. And, you know, Paul pitched in a big leagues for 10 years or something. And we played, I can't remember the name of school. We played a team that wasn't very good the first game while we were on that trip.

And I went with my number four pitcher. and we lost this little school. Then we played South Alabama. They were ranked in the top 10 that year. And I threw Kildgas, and we lost that game too. So we started off the season, O and 2, because I didn't pitch Kilgus in the first game. So ever since then, I've been like, you've got to go with your best in a tournament situation. You're laughing about hanging around, but I was there last year.

I think it was after they won the regional, when Nick Mingeon brought you on the up to the podium at the press conference and talked about how much big of help you are, how he leans on you for support and advice, just how much did that mean for you in his special moment there to share it with you in front of all the cameras? You know, that was one of the most humbling things that's ever happened in my life, to be honest with it.

I didn't know what to say. And, you know, we were all out there celebrating, and Nick comes up to me, say, coach, I want you to go to the press conference with him. I said, no, man, this is your moment. You go. And he said, no, no, no, I really want you to go. And so then he walked off.

And then Mitch Barnhart comes up to him, and he said, Nick really wants you to go back there. And I said, okay, okay. So I went back there. The boss says go. And I remember kind of sitting over in the corner and think, why does he want me in here? And then he calls me up there, and I'm going, oh, man, I was not prepared for this. I was more nervous than coming on KSR. That was a very cool moment being in there.

It was very cool. You can tell you were caught off guard, but for him to be in that moment, just winning the region for the first time for him, and that's his press conference to share it with you. I thought that was very neat. Yeah, we have a really special friendship. And, you know, he does things so differently than I did things. And it just goes to show you that even though you might have different philosophies, you can still be really good friends.

I wish our entire nation could grab a whole of that. Amen. You know, and just, hey, you don't have to agree. I'm probably not going to agree with everything Drew says, but you know what? We can be good friends. Yes. Drew's a good guy. Yeah, he's a good guy.

I like Drew. You know, he's probably going to vote differently than me this year, but I don't care. You know, that's his privilege. It's a free country, right? That's right. Amen. Talk about being so close to MNG. Do you get a share of that SEC coach of the year or two?

Does I get to stay on your mantle every once in a while since you are? He says you're such a big help. I feel like you should get a look credit for that too. He told me I could come look at it, but that's it. We'll take our break. We'll come back. If you want to talk to Coach Madison, you've got a question for him about UK baseball or anything. But, Shannon, when we come back, you're going to find out how Coach Madison

knows Randy Macho Man Savage. I cannot wait to hear this story. This is just for you, Shannon, the dude. So we're take our break. Come back. 859-280-2-287. Ryan Drew and Shannon with Coach Keith Madison here on Kentucky Sports Radio. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. For more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. and we're still chasing it and we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person

while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing,

growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Clivert Show,

I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker, this linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42.

Hey, ref, Mom, I'm a one. you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back, Kentucky Sports Radio. Ryan Lim and Drew Franklin, Shannon the dude. We're joined by the godfather of UK baseball, Keith Madison. We've got a special caller online for you. Want to get to him just a second.

Okay. But you have to tell Shannon the dude how you know Randy Macho Man Savage. and like you guys you know him well yeah we uh Doug Flynn and I came up through the reds organization together and when we were playing in Tampa in the Florida State League we had this uh catcher by the name of Randy Poffo and he was a athletic looking guy left-handed hitter pretty good player and so I remember I remember Doug Flynn he and I were talking about this the other day he and a guy named Greg Sinatra who was on the team. Greg Sinatra was a stud. And so Randy would get on the bus like we'd be

going down to Miami or someplace. And he'd get on the bus and Greg and Doug Flynn would be all over him because his dad was a pro wrestler. You know, Randy's dad was. And, uh, uh, uh, Angelo Pafo. And so, uh, you know, they would just, hey, you know, don't you know your dad's in the ring and it's fake and all this stuff? And, and Randy just took it. He didn't get a or anything, he just took it. And so about five years later, six years later maybe, Doug is playing for the Mets and I'm finally coaching here in Kentucky. And he comes, Doug comes to pick Sharon and I to go out to eat with he and Olga.

And so he said, hey, you mind if I pick up a friend? And I said, no, that'd be great. So we pulled into this little brick ranch house somewhere in Lexington and Doug and Olga get out and Sharon and I are in the backseat. All of a sudden this big dude, comes out of the house and he's got this wild and crazy hair and he's just humongous and i asked here and i said who in the world is this guy and so he comes over and the windows were down and he looks in the back in the back seat and he says madison pafo here and he had gained like 40 pounds all muscle all muscle

and he just looked different and even talk different it's like and so i just i just i just I had to think it through for a minute. That was the same guy. So he stayed in character even when you were just hanging out, or was he? No, not when we were hanging out, but when he reintroduced himself, he just wanted me to know who he was. And so it was hilarious. So he gets into the car. This is a funny thing.

We go down to Columbia Steakhouse. And everybody in the restaurant was wanting Randy's autograph, and nobody wanted Doug's autograph. He just won the gold glove for the Mets, and nobody recognized him, but everybody knew. Everybody knew who macho man Randy Savage was. No, Randy was a good athlete, man. He was a good player, and he was a catcher, and he hurt his arm. So he went into wrestling? No, before he went into wrestling, he signed with Cardinals organization as a left-handed throwing first baseman.

True story. He learned how to throw left-handed in the off-season after he got released by the Reds. Wow. And he told me he threw 200 balls every day left-handed. And he made a minor league team doing that. He was a stud, just an amazing athlete. Just like our Shannon. All those wrestlers were all amazing athletes.

Yeah, he was a really fun guy to be around. It broke my heart when I heard that he passed. Let me use that elbow for other reasons. It's true. Yeah, the elbow drop off the top rope. Yeah. All right, we got a special caller for her on the line. He called specifically to talk to you.

So who we got, Shannon? Kentucky Joe. Kentucky, Joe. You're on the poll with Coach Keith Madison. Hey, Hey, Coach Madison, it's a real honor to talk to you. I might have talked to you once, maybe summertime. But I guess the big question, do you think Kentucky can win at all?

And probably be Tennessee for all the marbles? I sure hope so. I mean, in baseball, it all starts on the mound. You know, if our guys, are competing well on the mound and making, you know, executing pitches and the way we play defense. We have a tremendous defensive club, probably the best double play combination in college baseball with Grant Smith and the median petri. So, yeah, I think we can.

You know, Tennessee is really good now. I'm going to say that. They've got it. They've got it all. They've got the hitting, the pitching, but our defense is better than them. And I think I think our offensive execution is better. in Tennessee. So we definitely have a chance to go all the way.

And would it be cool for Tennessee and Kentucky to play against each other in a college World Series? I think we would take that. I do too. Yeah, I think we would take that. Got anything else, Kentucky Joe? No, there's something going on with Coach Mark Pope through or somebody's going to want to check that out.

I'm sorry, Coach Madison. That's okay, man. Hey, I'm a Kentucky Joe fan. I listen to you guys all the time. Here you go, Kentucky Joe. You like all my songs? I love your song. Don't encourage you.

Don't encourage you. If anybody that listen that says that Kentucky Joe doesn't bring a smile to their face, they don't have a pulse. That's a good point. Good point. And probably the final thing, I plan to do a championship song when the cats win. Okay, we'll take that. If the cats win, you make a song for them.

Okay. Thank you, Kentucky, Joe. Appreciate it. You all have a good day. If they win it, we'll take a Kentucky Joe Song for that. Absolutely. How about we getting them over there for the seventh inning stretch? Don't encourage him.

No. I'm going to go to the park. Shannie said we've got one more. We'll try to squeeze on before we get out of here. Who we got? Let's go to Lee. Lee, go ahead, Lee. Guys, Coach Madison is one of the finest guys you'll ever meet.

That's what, and Nick's doing the same thing. But Coach Madison, sometimes you tell your stories. Him and John Butler had to do to get our baseball program going. And coach, this is Lee Rogers, and you have a great day. Bless your heart. Hey, thank you, buddy. I appreciate it, Lee. When he mentioned Coach Butler, I got a quick story.

So back when Rick Petino first came here to coach basketball, you remember how Rick dressed and everything, man. Slick Rick. Oh, wow. He always, he looked like Frank Snott all the time. So we got a call one day in May, and it was from Louis Stout, the former commissioner. state high school commissioner.

So he said, hey, Keith, you know, your field is the only field we can get a game in. It's been raining and your field drains better than any field in the city. We've got to get this regional tournament game in. Would you let us play at your field? And I said, well, Lewis, if we can get it ready, you know, we'll play. So Coach Buller and I went out there and we did everything we knew how to do to get the water off the field. I mean, we were squeegeeing it off and all that. And finally, we even got to the.

the point where we, at third base, we dug a little trench in the grass to drain the water off the field. Yeah, I've seen that. And we had a little hole there. We were actually using cups to get water out and put it in a bucket into hauling off. Did that? And so we're muddy and we're dirty. And Coach Butler looks up at me and says, Keith, do you think Rick Bettino would do this

for a high school basketball game? No. I don't think you would. No, I don't think you would either. Listen, thank you very much for coming. It's a lot of fun. Thank you. I hope the fans come out this weekend and support the cats.

Are you in the booth with Darren Hendrick? Yeah, I'm in the booth of Darren Hendrick. The fans energize these guys. You know, the fans get these players going. So I'm hoping the fans will be just, I hope it's rocking and rolling out there this week. I think it will be back. Touch the big Keith Madison bobblehead while you're there for good luck. That's true.

The life-sized Bobblehead. The empty head, that's what I'm all about. Thank you, Coach Keith Madison. We'll take our break. We come back. We'll go back to the phone lines. 859-2-80-2287. Ryan Drew and Shannon Return on Kentucky Sports Radio.

Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert, smigel and friends on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real

story behind the headlines. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. What's up, guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th.

And on my podcast, The Cliverts show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, A, ref, ref, my mom wants you to. wave at her. What? Time out.

Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Rhett, Mom, I want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.