KSR - 2024-06-07- KSR - Hour 1

Episode Date: June 7, 2024

Jeff Piecoro is in to host the show with Drew and they're joined by Keith Madison and Coach Jay Boulware.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 headline. 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 Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. 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 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. A rep. My mama want you to wave at her. What? Where's she at?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifferts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Comedy Off Broadway in Lexington welcomes David Lucas, June 6th through the 8th, then catch Josh Blue, June 20th through the 22nd, and don't miss Rocky Dale Davis, June 28th and 29th. Comedy Off Broadway opened in downtown Lexington in 1987, and they're still bringing the best in 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. Where's Matt Jones? Somewhere in the world. I'm not even sure. Greece? And that's just any somewhere in the world. I'm Jeff Piccolo.

So it's great to be here at KSR Bar and Drew. It's great to have somebody sitting next to me instead of me doing this flying solo. Of course, happy to be here with you. So that's cool. Look, we're going to open this up to you guys because we can talk about a lot of things. We do have some best today that we're going to talk to. We're going to talk to Coach Madison here in just a little bit, the Hall of Fame, former baseball coach here at the University of Kentucky about the great success that UK's had this year

and what is coming up this coming weekend. And as you and Barry, we were just talking about this, trying to get a ticket to this game Saturday and Sunday. this is ridiculous bad day. You can't find them. I was up early this morning looking on secondary markets, see if anything popped up, not looking good. I'm actually considering taking a little folding chair and just sitting outside the stadium and listening if I have to.

But it is an event that is hard to get into if you're trying, if you didn't get that first round of tickets. I'll tell you what, it is really cool. It almost gives you cold chills because you think UK basketball, it's like, okay, we're going to the NCAA, or the SEC term, whatever. We do that. Football has become, okay, we're going to a bowl game.

But with baseball, it's almost like this is a new thing that people here have never experienced before. No, I mean, the park's five years old, but it's first couple years, I mean, it opened right for COVID. It didn't get what it deserved. Last year, it finally got that postseason. They won the region, went on the Super's didn't go as well. But now you've tasted it a little bit.

A lot of the team has had a little bit. Now you're hosting the Super's and your two wins away. I've been, hey, excited for the baseball. baseball team, the players, but the fan base has really bought in, as we're saying, with the ticket prices. It's been very cool to see over there. I set through every pitch and every raindrop, all three games last weekend, had so much fun with the fans. It's nice to see an energy over there that deserves.

You know what I like, and you could expand on this because you go to a lot of games at different places, too. With the addition of being able to purchase beer, you've got now adults, college, college kids, and adults that are able to buy, but they still have that kids feel to it because you still have that big area in the grass where the kids are after throwing a ball and rolling around and they can get a snow cone

and ice cream and everything else. So they get something for everybody. And I think that's what really, to me, kind of sells it a little bit. It makes it so nice is they do have all these areas where you can go and hang out and not feel like you're just jammed into it like you used to be at Rupp Arena in the upper deck, you know?

Yeah, and I'll admit I attended more games since they added the beer. You know, I'd go to the postseason, whatever, but I went to a few random Tuesdays and afternoons and had a beer. And I haven't been to every game, but as far as I've seen, there have been no issues adding that to the experience. And it's just, I think it's brought more people in. Like you said, overall, there's just so much. They got the food truck park over there. I ran into you at the food truck park Sunday.

So, yeah, it's, I would encourage people to get out there, but that would just be taking one more seat that I'm trying to get. But, Drew, this is the most unbelievable fact that I found about UK baseball. So, you know, obviously they've never been to Omaha. every single team in the SEC, everyone. And you say, usually we go, well, Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt was a powerhouse in baseball for years. Every team in the SEC, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State, South Carolina. Everybody's been to the last one is Alabama has been to the World Series five times.

Kentucky's never been. Everybody in the SEC except Kentucky has been to the World Series. Think about that for a minute. You think, wow. And you think about what Coach Madison did, one over 700 games, yet never made it to the World Series. That is a crazy fact that you wouldn't even think about that. In basketball, it's like, they're always going.

If they don't, it's like chicken little, the sky's falling. But baseball's never been. That's wild to me. So we're going to have Coach Madison on. Care what you start to him. Then we're going to have another Hall of Famer. Coach Bullware that a lot of people don't know this, Jay Bowie. He was just put in a Hall of Fame, so we'll ask him about that.

But we're going to talk a little football with him only because camps are going on now. And I know you guys are big with this at KSR. Oh, yeah. But a lot of people ask me all the time when I see him on the streets, you know, they talk about camps. What is a football camp now? Because when I played, they didn't have that. And now they have these invitees-only camps and things where you're basically showing off. You're bringing all these kids that are juniors and seniors in to show off what you've got.

And now Kentucky's got a lot to offer. So you're showing to the craft center and the practice area and you're bringing them over to the stadium and you're playing on there. So we'll talk to him about that a little bit and what he foresees for this season, obviously. And then finally at 11 o'clock, we'll talk to Kenny McPeak, the trainer of not only Mystic Dan, the derby winner that's going in the Belmont Saturday, but also Thorpeedo Anna, who won the Oaks. And would have been going in the Belmont had he not run Mystic Dammit. She will be running today in the acorn, which is kind of the second leg, or I'm sorry, the third lady of the Phillies Triple Crown.

So we'll talk to him about that. Kenny, from right here in Lexington, went Tate's Creek High School. You are a long time buddies, right? Yeah. We have known each other since six years old. We lived in the same neighborhood off Tate's Creek Road and went to Lansdown and Tate's Creek Jr., Tate's Creek Senior and UK together. So, yeah, I've known him since forever.

We've been in each other's wedding, so that's kind of cool. We'll hear how happy he was, but quickly as his friend, what was it like a few weeks ago? Because, you know, I was, it's a little bit different for me than a lot of the guys that we grew up with, only because I'd done so much in horse racing. The reason I went to Cincinnati wasn't for the Reds, I went to Cincinnati to start a horse racing show there that was a national show that we did out of Turfway Park. And so Kenny and I have had that side to things that's a little bit different. But to be a friend and see what he's going through from the days when he and Sean Greeley and Todd Boston and some of these guys in Sean Greeley's dad was the president of Keenland.

And he was, he went and ran Dubai, you know, the racetrack there. Todd Boston is one of the top blacksmiths in the business. They all used to Dale Romans. They all used to share an apartment up there in northern Kentucky. at Turfway Park. I remember back to those days. So to see him go from that and running at River Downs and $3,000 races to winning now, he's won all three, the Derby, the Preakness, and obviously the Belmont, you know, the next thing would be to win Breeders' Cup

championship. But other than that, you know, he's done it all. So it's really cool. And it was, you know, it's pretty emotional. Then we went to Baltimore with him too and got to stay up there for three or four days. And yeah, it's just, it's special when you got a friend that does something like, you know, it'd be anything. If you had a friend that was an NFL player or a baseball player, it's just cool to see that side of things. And to see it from the, you know, behind the curtain, you know,

everybody thinks Bob Bafford or Wayne Lucas or the, you know, your competitors. Baffert's at his bar and they're sitting there, you know, just BSing with each other. And I'm like, it's Bob Bafford, man. And he's like, hey, hey, hey, Bob. Yeah, yeah, hey, Bob. And that, you know, the dogs running around and things. And Bafford's dogs running around. And, you know, and then here comes Wayne Lucas.

and you're like, here comes God, you know, as he strolls down, hello boys. But, yeah, that's the cool part. And, you know, we, and I'm including you in this, we get to see behind the curtain at a lot of things. You know, we get to see how the bread's made or whatever, however you want to say it. And that, to me, is the coolest part of the job. It isn't the games. To me, it's leading up to them, see how they get a horse ready to run, to see how, you know, a guy takes batting practice in the cages and.

stuff to see how what kind of drills guys are doing to get better that to me is is the cool part of what our job is where we get to go and see stuff that that other people just simply can't do oh we're very lucky very very lucky and i never take that for granted i'm excited to hear from him i don't think we've had a derby winner on here before we've given a lot of inaccurate derby picks before the derby but i think this will be ksr's first derby winner on the broadcast i've never Kenny in all the years he'd say man my horse has got a really nice shot i've never heard him as positive as he was leading up, especially to the Oaks with Thorpeino-Anna. He said, they can't beat her.

He told me about five weeks before the derby because, Jeff, I've got the best Philly I've ever had. I said, no, you know, Swiss skydiver is the best. He's, this horse can run circles around her. And I said, there's no way. And she was something else. I mean, she's really good. He would have ran her in the Preakness or the Belmont had Mystic Dan not running either of those. So he's not afraid.

He just doesn't want them running against each other. So for his owners sake. We'll see how he's feeling heading into the Belmont. Yep, we will. Tomorrow. Yeah. Why is it moving? Why is it moving?

They're construction or something? Yeah, they're redoing, you know, just like they're doing at Keenland. But unfortunately, they're doing stuff with the track as well. So this year, and I think next year, too, the Belmont will be run at Saratoga. So it's the same distance as a derby. Because, you know, each track is a different circumference. if you run a mile and a half race at Saratoga, they'd have to start way real close to the first turn.

So you don't want to come around out of the gate and having to hit a turn to go all the way around. They'd have to go around twice. So it would actually be like a four-turn race. And you just don't do that. Because a horse isn't bred to know, I know I'm going one turn or two turns, but not three or, you know.

Interesting. Look at this, Mario. This is more horse racing talk than I think we've ever had. Yeah, so it's just, Just because of that. So it's only going to be a mile and a quarter, so not the mile and a half grueling race. You know, that extra quarter of a mile is,

we could just ask Ryan, you know, because he's such a great runner. Well, when you were mentioned your friend, Kenny, and how you're seeing someone achieve something to have this big opportunity, I was thinking to my friend Ryan how this summer, Matt just left him with the radio show for two months. And it's kind of like when in the derby.

Ryan has this big microphone in front of him that not many people get to have. And I'm so excited. Not here. Yeah, I already took a day off, Mario. It's week two, already taking a day off. He's somewhere near Missouri State. There you go. Taking Josiah to

And how cool is that, though, too? Because you've got to see that kid grow up. Oh, yeah. You know, that's the cool part. We had an unfortunate injury last season. Set him back at Douglas in the receiver rotation, but he took, I think he's done with basketball. I don't want to speak for him, but he's been working hard on getting that arm back ready for football and he got his first offer at Wesleyan.

And now, I guess once you get that one offer, Ryan, now every weekend is going to a camp to try to get more driving around. How cool is that, though? That is where they are today while Ryan's away. Josiah's off. I want to say, I believe he said Missouri State is where they're headed.

That's cool. That's a decent school. I mean, you know, we'll see. We'll see. Because this is the time. Camps right now. This is when you want to go. It's exactly how you get to go and you get to see, you know, all the facilities they have.

You get to see the support that they have. This is a real important. People don't realize this. This is a very important time for football because all these recruits are coming through. Kentucky's got them every day over there. And I know that Nick has been over there. Oh, yeah. They've been over there for a whole.

Every day, shooting it all. And there are some big dudes. They had a picture yesterday. I think Nick had of some lineman from Ohio, and he towered. He was talking to Vince Marrow, and it looked like me talking to Vince Amaro. But the other way, this dude was four inches taller than Merrow. And he was like a junior. I'm like, what are they building these kids, man?

Yeah, as you'll get to Bulwere later. This is when it's kind of happening in the dark over there with baseball around. A lot of people didn't realize your. parking for baseball last weekend and then Railbirds going on. But inside the football stadium, there was some big moves being made with offers. We talked about Evan Hampton for Owensboro, a baseball player getting a football offer. That was an interesting twist from the week. But this is when they're really setting the roots for the future.

Well, I tell you what, why don't we take a quick break because we've got to come back and talk with Coach Madison about that? How's that? Let's do it. All right. Let's run through. Let's make sure one calls us at 859-280-2287. Shannon, this first segment and the whole show was presented by T.J. Smith, KSR's personal injury lawyer. What will we do, Shannon?

Yeah, you call T.J. He'll make them pay. Also, throughout the show, we will do the Whiskey Thief Song of the Day, the Kentucky-branded tweet of the day, and the Don Franklin Auto Call of the Day. And we're going to give away those last two Tim McGraw tickets at some point. I just remembered that. You ever seen him before? Not a lot. No. Really good show. Yeah, he's great show.

I was really impressed. And you've got to remember, he's been doing it for a long time. So he's got songs back there, Indian Outlaw and all that. Like, oh, yeah, that was him. It's pretty cool. Oh, he's a big deal.

You'll have to, at some point, we'll have to come up to the contest for these last two tickets. So we'll get those away throughout the show. We'll be back after this break. Last night, a blown call changed the 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 SportsSlic 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, 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, Keir Gaines, is we have really. 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 Hardway and listen now. 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? quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Rhett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back in. I'm Jeff Picoro, along with Drew Franklin.

We are live at KSR Bar, and you guys can come join us at about 40 minutes. The bar opens at 11 o'clock, and got a lot of great food here. Of course. A lot of great talk. And the phone lines are open if you want to jump on those lines and give us a call as well. Most of you have this written down and tattooed on your forearms from most of your callers that I hear you have. 859-280-2287 is the number here in town locally to give us a call. But before we go to the calls, got a dude that has, I've known this guy since 1981.

And he's a Hall of Famer and our first guest of the day. And that is the former coach whose number hangs out next to the American flag at Kentucky Proud Park. And that is Coach Keith Madison. Coach, how are you? I'm great, Pick. How you doing, buddy? I'm doing fantastic. Thank you so much.

I want to talk baseball. But before we get into this, there's a story that you tell. And I hope you'll tell the story to the people because it just, just shows you the respect that some of the other coaches that UK had for you. Please, please tell us the story about Joe Hall when you were getting ready to go on a road trip and his generosity to you guys on the baseball team. Do you know what I'm talking about? Yeah, I think the story you're talking about, I think, is I was raising money for

to improve Shively Field. later known as Clef Hagen Stadium. And, man, I had, I, we were putting up lights and I had, I think I had to raise like $250,000, which was enormous back then, especially for a coach that didn't know what he was doing. So I got, I got down, I needed about $15,000 more dollars. And I was racking my brain. I thought, man, people are going to be hating me because they, They see me coming.

They're going to turn and go the other way. And so I call Coach Hall. I said, coach, do you have any ideas about how I can come up with this last bit of money? And I said, Mr. Hagan's not going to let me start this project until I come up with all this money. And he said, let me think about it. So he called me back. And they had money left over from when they originally built the Wildcat Lodge. and he said, I met with, I can't remember that group,

but he said I met with these guys, and they think you need this money so you can finish this project. So here's the thing, Eddie Sutton gave me the first $1,000 in that project. And then Joe B. Hall came up with the last $15,000. Is that not cool? That just shows you the respect. People don't realize how much, that you guys, when I say this, I mean, the coaches, you guys actually have a lot.

I'm sure you've got to go to practice. They come to your practice. They come to the games, things like that. There's a great bond between you guys, wasn't there? Oh, yeah. Like Coach Hall loved baseball, and we would talk baseball a lot, and I love basketball, too. And so I would get to spend a lot of time with him. And sometimes we meet over in Bill Kightly's equipment room.

Eddie Sutton was the same way. Rick Petino was not. I mean, I had a good relationship with Rick, but it was a, he didn't hang out in Bill Cighton's equipment room with me. I'll say that. Oh, Lord. But, yeah, and, you know, coming from the time that you were there, the era that you were there with, as you call it, Mr. Hagan, who just loved baseball.

Well, Mr. Aiken gave me, he gave me an opportunity as a 26-year-old baseball coach to coach at the University of Kentucky in my home state. And I'll always be thankful for that. And even though it wasn't the greatest of circumstances at the beginning, it was an opportunity. And not many 26-year-old guys get to coach at an SEC school. So I'm very thankful. And, you know, back to Eddie Sutton real quick, Jeff. This is kind of cool. He would, you know, the coach Sutton was under a lot of pressure a lot of the time.

He was here. And sometimes he just needed an outlet. And sometimes he would call me up and he said, hey, meet me over in Kightley's equipment room. And so I would meet him over there. It might be 10 o'clock in the morning or 9 o'clock in the morning. And he just wanted to talk baseball. He was a big Cardinals fan. And, of course, Mr. Kightley was a huge.

Dreds fan and he just wanted to and you know he and his wife went on their honeymoon in St. Louis at a Cardinals game. So I mean that tells you how much that guy loved, you know, love baseball. And then later on Tubby, you know, Tubby and I would meet over there too and had some great talk. There's so many interesting things and great stories told there in that old equipment room in Memorial Coliseum. It was just fantastic.

People don't realize what Mr. Kightley was like. He loved baseball. He used to come to the Reds games all the time with Luther Diedon and Tubby Smith. I remember they would come all the time and they would come up into the TV booth and then they'd go into Marty's booth

and you talk about, I don't know how Marty did a game with those guys in there most of the time because there were a few beers, let's just say. was a few beers up there in that booth and how Marty did the game when those guys were there. I don't know how they did it. If anybody could do it, Marty could do it, though.

Yeah, that's true. That's true. Hey, I do ask you one question before we get on to this year's team. Are you amazed now that some of these players are making more money than you did when you coached? And I'm talking at college? Yeah. Yeah, I am. But, you know, it's a good thing.

I don't, you know, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, see both sides of it. You know, I hate to see college athletes change so drastically where, you know, I don't want to see players loyal to money instead of the University of Kentucky. Right. I'm really naive. I'm old school about stuff like that, you know, and, but at the same time, um, coaches leave for more money all the time. And that's, uh, and then, and who does, who does the grunt work? The players do. Right, right, right. Coach, Don't get me wrong. Yeah.

Yeah, go ahead. I was going to say, you know, coaches work hard. Don't get me wrong. But it's a different kind of work. I mean, the players are leaving blood, sweat, and tears on the fields and on the courts every day. Coach, I think anyone that listens when you're on with Darren knows or when you're on with me or Dick or on the television side knows how much you love Kentucky and Kentucky baseball. but how excited are you for this team about what they're about to do and what they're getting ready to get into here over the next four days? Yeah, I mean, my excitement and pride is off the charts for this group.

And it's a really classy group of players. I mean, you might see him doing all their shenanigans in the dugout, but the phenomenal thing to me is that they, compete. I mean, they're, they're on every pitch where they're in between the lines. They're focused. They're great competitors. And then, at least when I've been around them, off the field, they are absolutely great young men, just a phenomenal group of people that have really come together. You know, some Nick recruited out of high school, some from the transfer portal, but with Nick's leadership skills and his ability to bring people together, these guys really care about each other and compete for each other as well as for themselves.

So it's a special group, and I'm very, very proud of them. Coach, it's the bottom of the hour and I've got to get to a break. I appreciate you coming on short and sweet, but I love talking to you and I can't wait to see you Saturday evening. All right, Dick. I appreciate you talking to me and we'll go cats, okay? Thanks, buddy. Talk to you too. Thank you. That's the Hall of Famer. Keith Madison. We'll be back with more right after this. The bottom of the hour on KSR. Last night, a blown call changed the 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 SportsSlice on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced 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, Keer Gaines, is we have really. 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 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? Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, Rhett, my mama want you to weigh better. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford 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. Well, it's Jeff Picoro sitting in for me. Matt Jones, Drew and Mario here at the KSR Bar and Grill. Come out and join us, 11 o'clock. Got a lot of TVs here.

You get all your sports, watch the Memorial, the golf tournament and stuff. But, yeah, every time I hear the T.J. Smith commercial, I just see him as the Wildcat or as a cheerleader when he was at UK. I can't take the dude seriously. He's a great dude. Great guy. Don't get on a golf course with him because he will take your money. Oh, yeah.

He will. Maybe he just, he'll take your money. He'll make you pay. And you'll have a lot of fun as he takes your money. I've tailgated with him a few times. Football games. Guy knows how to have fun. Yes, he does.

Good sponsor this show, too. Good guy all around. All right, we've got a couple callers, so why don't we go to the line? Shannon, who we got? All right, let's start with Mickey. Mickey, what's going on, son? Hey, guys, first time caller, a long-time listener. I want to talk a little baseball, if that's okay.

Known as Coach Marshall, around the city. I've coached a long time and met a lot of great coaches. I wanted to let you know, Jeff, at an early age, I learned from one of the best watching, and that was your father. Your father, coached the legendary South Eastern Cubs. Yes, he did. I watched him do a play. It taught me two things. He was intentionally walking a kid, supposedly.

He went a pitcher through the ball, the catcher squatted down, and took strike three and struck that kid out. It taught me that you had to, one, take a risk, and two, have a trick up your sleeve. So I just wanted to tell you that story that a lot of kids learn as a youth about the love of the game. And guys like your father caught a lot of kids. So I just wanted to make that statement to you with baseball going on being so big this weekend.

Well, thank you so much, Bickey. Boy, he had a... Dad had a great time coached. My father played. I don't know if you knew this. He played Ohio State. The first baseman was a guy named Frank Howard. Pretty dark game.

Yeah. Hall of Famer. Second baseman was a guy by the name of John Habliceck. Oh, wow. Hall of Famer in basketball. And my dad was the backup catcher to Johnny Edwards, who was a great reds catcher for the time. But, yeah, I had some great teams up there, and Dad loved coaching. And that one year, Mickey, when the All-Star team had Norton and, gosh, I can't remember all these things.

Ryan Sparks. Dusty, Barry Sparks, Dusty. Oh, man, what a team. Yes, fishback. And they lost, you ready for this? They lost in Tampa, Florida. They would have gone to Williamsport. They lost to a team that had Gary Sheffield and Derek Bell on the same team.

They lost in extra innings. It shouldn't even be allowed having them on the same team. Well, you know, they're 12 years old. I'm a lot. I'm at Tage Creek. Yeah. So, man, that's crazy. Yeah, there's some great coaches of Mickey back there's some great

in Southeastern and South Lexington. Mike Dotson, who's a great friend of all of us here. Oh, yeah. He's a wonderful coach over to South Lexington. Lexington, coached Austin, Kearns and all those guys. But, you know, that's the one thing, Mickey, that you brought up. There were some great coaches here in the city for youth baseball and high school baseball back in the day. Trip here, Coach Tripp who just passed away from Henry Clay, you know, Ron Cole over at Tate's Creek, Barry Pointer.

That's what I played for. Was Coach Cole. Really good coach. Yeah, great coaches. Yeah, we won this. But I appreciate the phone call. Thanks, Mickey. That was a great first call.

Yeah. How about that? Thanks, Mick. Appreciate it. I want to butt in with a question from the text machine because it fits in line with that. The text machine, I have a Scott Woodall who says he knows Mickey and wants you to explain why Creek alumnus from 80 to 90s rule the world. 1980 to 1990 rule the world. What is it with all that Tate's Creek over there? I'll tell you, especially in baseball, we won the state championship my sophomore and senior year. had some really good ballplayers.

He went on to play in college ball and stuff. But Woodall and his brother, I think Scott's daughter, just won a year ago the Tommy Bell Award, which the Rotary Club gives away for the top female scholar athlete. So I think she, if I'm, I can't remember if she went to Lexington Catholic or Lexington Christian. Maybe it was Sayre. I think it was Sayre. Now that I'm thinking.

But anyway, You know, this Krieger stay together, man. Well, you got to remember this, too. There were only four high schools back then. Well, you include Sayer in the... But Tate's Creek, Lafayette, Brian Station, Henry Claver, they only ones who played football. Lexington Catholic didn't have a football team.

They didn't start football until, I think, like, 90 or 91. And Dunbar wasn't around yet. Frederick Douglass wasn't around yet. So it was real interesting. Lafayette had an unbelievable basketball team. They had five guys. I got college scholarships. Jeff Parrott was the sixth man who played 10 years, Major League Baseball.

So it was a great time to grow up in the city. And I want to be clear, the Woodhalls are Lice and Catholic. Yeah, okay, Lexington Catholic. Okay. Okay. Before we go to the callers, I think we got another Hall of Famer is going to join us right now from the U.K. Football staff. Coach Bullwere, how are you?

I'm doing good. How are you doing? So you've got to tell me a little bit bit this, man. We've already had one Hall of Famer on. Now we've got another one. Congratulations. I appreciate it, man. I appreciate Irving schools, Irving ISD, which is where I grew up in Texas, for nominating me for that and giving me that blessing in my life, man.

It was nice to get back and touch friends and family who I haven't seen in a while. Well, you're going to see a lot more now that Oklahoma and Texas are in the SEC, and we're going to get a chance this year, right? Yeah, well Yeah, we go to Austin this year But that's in Austin, not DFW Yeah, that's true Yeah, we're looking forward to that trip as well too I think our fans should be excited about that

That trip as well Hit me up, DM me if y'all want to know Where the places to go eat That's at home There's a lot of good barbecue A lot of good Mexican food there You just took the words right out of my mouth The barbecue in Texas

I love tried tip and you can't get that a lot of places but man you can get it in Texas that's exactly right that's exactly right and then you know there's some of the legendary guys Aaron franklin's uh restaurant is there and you got to get there super early or you got to order it before you go to go into town so that you can pick it up when you get there but it's i mean that line starts at 6 a.m. man and they don't open until 11 that's awesome that's awesome right let's talk a little bit of football and and obviously you were brought in here and kind of throw it into a little bit of little bit of a tough situation because a lot of people think football games are offensive

defense, but there's three teams. There's offensive defense and special teams. And when you're a great team, the difference between winning eight or nine games and 10 or 11 or 12 games, a lot of times comes down to special teams. And I'm just going to throw it out there. Special teams wasn't great before you got here. But last season was phenomenal. And I'm not just trying to blow, you know what, up your backside. but you had the best returner in football. You had a field goal kicker that was fantastic, and he's coming back this year. And the other thing that I see when I come to practice,

when Tom and I go to practice and Drew, it's amazing. We used to have kicking practice. The practice was over, and then they'd say, okay, kick a team, punt, return, punt. That's not the way you do it, coach. You guys have a period right in the middle of practice, and you go after it, right? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yeah, we start off every practice with the special teams period. That's where our field goal, field goal block teams get their work.

So we actually start at the top and then at the bottom and then we don't have anything at the end. At the end, it's just for offense and defense and then Coach Stoops called up. So it is a priority for us, very much so. We were brought in here to change the trajectory of where our special teams were headed. And I really feel like we did that. You know, we climbed up from, you know, CAI is the analytics, right? Everybody's looking at analytics. It's the book that we all talk about.

Well, we went from 83rd in the country to 20th in the country. We were third in our league and special teams efficiency. That's what it's all about. It's not about, man, I want to go out there and see, you know, for example, I read all the comments, man. I see people talk about, I want to, I want us to. punt further and this that and the other we messed our punter up and all this and you know all this type of talk and i'm i'm here to ask people right now do you have any idea how many big plays that we gave up last year with our same punter and 18 rollout punts we gave up two 30 plus yard returns

you know what i mean and this you know this year he started for us full time so if you do the math you know we had 60-something puns if i do the math you know that's somewhere around around six or seven of those bad boys of just explosive returns against us. Well, that's not the way we do business. That's not the way the University of Kentucky is. We want to eliminate the big plays from our opposing teams. We don't want to give teams any momentum. We preach E4 on our special teams.

We want to have energy. We want to energize our football team. Play with an edge and we want to execute. And for the most part, you know, we did that. we had a physical mentality to us. You know, we went down to Mississippi State, and, you know, I'm just going to talk about our kickoff team because our kickoff team was one of the areas that let me down

toward the end of the year once we got a bunch of guys heard. Guys were talking about the transfer port of the last two games of the season, and so we missed some of those guys. We went on the road into Mississippi State, the number one kick return team in our conference the year before, and every one of our stops were inside the 20-yard line. every one of them. You know what I mean?

And those guys got out and they did it with a physical nature, man. We took that on the road and dominated a really good kick return team who a week later took one to the house against Texas A&M. Yep. Yep. We call that the hidden yardage, you know, when you talk, when you start a drive inside the 20 or up at the 30, you know, that's a first down. That's a whole first down that you're taken away from that team that they have to earn against our defense. right? That's right.

Coach, let me ask you this question because a lot of people say, you know, you go out and get an Australian kicker, but you want to stay in the pocket, so to speak. What is the difference coverage-wise for a punt team when you have the whatever you want to call it, Australian rollout kicker, whatever it is, and a guy that stays in, does it change things for the coverage team? Well, here's what changes things, right? if you have a great punter, you have a great punter. He can do whatever.

You know what I mean? I mean, he can roll out. He can pocket punt. He can do this, that, and the other. The difference for us is when I looked at tape on us from the year before, it's not that we don't roll out punt because we do. We do have it in our scheme. We didn't do it last year, again, because for that same reason, you know,

of the 18 rollout punch that we had with our punter, Wilson Berry last year. Two of them had two of them with 30 plus yard returns. One of them in the Iowa game, right? Think about that. All the fans remember that I was hired already. I just wasn't part of the, I just wasn't coaching yet. But I remember watching that man, like, man, when that dude caught that ball from Iowa,

man, he had nothing to space. You know, we want to eliminate ball in hand plus grass from the punt returners. And we only had one situation last year where I felt like, you know, man, he kind of got out in front of us a little bit in terms of against a great returner against Georgia. But we got blocked in the back and we were able to hold that one out. We didn't give up any 30 plus yard returns last year. Zero. And that's that efficiency thing that you're talking about.

Just because I can punt it further, you know what I mean? With lower hang time doesn't mean that's what we should be doing. And that's what some rollout puns do for you if you're not able to put the ball in the air with the appropriate hang time so your coverage units can run underneath it. in this league, man, when you get against some of these great return, man, you have to be consistent at ball placement, hang time, and distance. And if you're consistent with hang time and distance, which will allow your coverage unit to get downfield and make that play,

then you can eliminate whoever's across from you. You know, I've been in this league before, man. I mean, Honey Badger, Patrick Peterson. I mean, there's a Cobb kid here. I mean, there's been some guys here, man. I mean, you put the ball in their hand plus some grass, man, and it's over. You know what I mean? I don't know who I got.

It's trouble. Well, you got one on your return team number seven that same way, too. Yeah, yeah. Berionne Brown, man, let me tell you what. And I don't want to take anything away from him, but I do want to speak on that whole unit as a whole, right, as a collective. Man, those guys, man, do you realize the first two return, man? I think I even heard you say it online.

He wasn't even touched. He wasn't even touched. You know what I mean? I mean, yes, that's what you said. That's what you said, man. It's like, man, these holes that these guys are executing on that unit. That's a great unit. That's not just a great individual.

Not saying that Barry is not a great individual because he is. He's fastest men in college football. But there's a whole bunch of teams that got fast guys all over their team and can't do what that kickoff return did the team did last year. Three kickoff return teams for a touchdown. 17th all time in kickoff return average is what Barry on Brown did last year. So that's all time. You know, that's the history books.

That's what was done last year on special teams. And our guys realize that despite all the, you know, we've got to close out the noise, any negativity, anybody that wants to comment on what we're doing and don't really know the fabric of our room, man, you should see those guys. They all come up to us all the time. man, I'm excited to be back on special teams. I love the energy. You make it fun.

You know, all those type of comments, that's when we know we're playing winning football. Yep. I've always said you've got to want to be on special teams to be successful. Hey, that's exactly right. I'd rather have volunteers than hostages. You know, I don't want anybody on those units, man, that don't want to do it. They don't want to do it with everything that they got to represent the University of Kentucky in a first-class manner. and we want to be the best in the country.

I don't care who we're playing against or who, you know, who that guy is back there, man. We want to drop that ball on his hand and sit his butt down. That's what we're all about. Well, Coach, I know you've got camps going on, or you've got a scoot. I appreciate you taking a couple minutes with us

and I'll see you soon, all right? Yes, sir. Y'all take care. Appreciate it. Thanks, Coach. Coach Jay Bullware, he's the special team's coach and running backs coach. You didn't even get to talk about Chip Trana,

but, man, wait, do you see this guy. talk about a body. Wow. This guy is built like Herschel Walker. I mean, he's going to be something else. I'm telling you. That's a good getting the portal. Ready to see what he looks like. He is something else. All right, we got to hit a break. It's 1049. Come on out and join us. We open up at 11 o'clock. Come in here. We got phones open. We'll get to those when we return right after this on KSR 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 happens. 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 SportsLice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And 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. Trip 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, as 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 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, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, rep, my mama wants you to wave at her. What? Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

We are back at KSR. I'm Jeff McCor along with Drew Franklin Shannon the dude in studio running the commercials and everything the only guy happy

about the game last night I think was Shannon big Boston Celtics fan Hey I know we have a couple callers Emily and Brad I think it is on the line I don't want to jippy out of any time because we're kind of up against the top of the hour

if you hang on we'll get to your first first thing coming out but Shannon I guess you're pretty excited about a win last night you won by 20 Oh look great Porzingis could not be stopped I mean he had been out for quite a while and came back in

and miss a beat. So yeah, very happy. They're up 1-0. And hopefully they can take care of business for the next game, which is again in Boston, and then we'll see where it goes from there. But the, uh, the Drew the draft kings. Yeah, he's not happy. Yeah. And I think there's a lot of people listening that aren't happy with you. I'm aware. I'm aware. I'm not going to cast blame on anyone else. This is on me. I made the picks

and it didn't win. We lost money because of me. However, this is two games in a row. A blowout has thrown things off and a former cat didn't make a three-pointer. There you go. Shannon, remember this moment. It is June 7th at 1055 a.

m. I, Drew Franklin, will not put former cats hitting threes in any parley's moving forward. This is two in a row. We've lost his former cats and three-pointers specifically. I knew better on this one. I did it anyway.

Hand up. This is all on me. Anyone that bet it, do not blame PJ Washington. He had nothing to do with this. This is on Drew Franklin. No more former cats in the parley is moving forward.

I like that. I'm not mad at you because yesterday I fully backed it. You know, we went through this, leg by leg. It looked good. It sounded good. Dr. Holley got his assist by half time. I mean, they were going to blow by that over if they didn't put the end of the bench in. But no excuses.

We'll be better next time. There's a tough loss for the parley. So yesterday was the real D-day, and then last night was, unfortunately. I'm glad Shannon's Team 1. It's not all about game. It's team one. That's more important. Gambling is just fun, entertainment purposes.

use Draft King, do it responsibly, but I am sorry for including a former cat. No more moving forward, Shannon. You remember this. Does he get something today? We'll have something for game two. It won't have a former cat, but it'll be on Draft Kings.

Crown is yours, all that good stuff. Use promo code KSR if you sign up. Did you have a team in the, you got an NBA guy, you team care about Celtics or Mavs? I was never a Celtics fan growing up only because I love the Sixers back when Julia Serving and all

And then I love the Lakers when it was Michael Cooper and Magic first got in there and stuff. I just thought they were kind of cool, you know? And then when Moses Malone and Daryl Dawkins and Irving, I mean, that was just, they were cool. And the Celtics were like, come on, man, they were just kind of square, you know? And their fans, you just hated. It was like I had all the titles. I hate the Steelers because of that. They're too good.

The Boston was too good. So I always wanted them to get beat. So anyway. Yeah. So there you go. All right. Hey, one hours of the books. That was quick.

Easy. We'll talk to Kenny McPeak coming up this hour. And you, the callers too. When we come back, come on out and join us here at KSR Bar. We'd love to have you. Of course. Be back with more. Yep.

Hour number two coming up after this. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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 headwriters, Street or 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 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 headline. 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 SportsSlic. 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, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her.

What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42. Hey, rec, my mama wants 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. Thank you.