KSR - 2024-07-12- KSR - Hour 1

Episode Date: July 12, 2024

Ryan, Drew, and Shannon are joined by Tom Leach to talk UK sports and his favorite calls over the years.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. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to.

Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Got Tom Leach coming in today. I'm excited about having Big Tom sitting here besides talk a little UK story behind the scenes stuff maybe. That's right. We hear Tom on the radio often, but he's usually calling the game that's in front of him or interviewing someone else on the Leach Report. So excited to hear some of what Tom has to say. And, you know, he's probably been behind the scenes a little bit over there. I wonder we can pry a little out of them about the current thing.

I'm going to try. We're going to try. Some memories and then something to look forward to, hopefully. Now, UK Twitter Academy, basketball Twitter can tweeted out a picture this morning. They were practicing at Rupp Arena this morning. They're at Rupp. What a novel idea that is. Actually practicing in the arena where you play in.

The new floor looks good. They're on the new floor. I love that they're in downtown Lexington and practicing. Did you see the follow-up tweet a few minutes later? I haven't seen it. Yes, there is an update. Not only did Mark Pope take the team down there. Tubby Smith is at today's practice.

get out helping out so uh a little more 90s nostalgia for our friday morning seeing tubby at practice at rubb yeah shanan it keeps getting better if tubby's involved down there now in their practice at rup arena that's cool i love first of all that they are actually practicing where they play would make sense to do that but yeah tubby being back that makes it that's the cherry on top for the day right you know the tubby's been around some this summer he came and played in the the golf classic children charity golf classic a couple weeks ago I heard he went to Jerry Tipton's That's right

He told us he went to his book Book party Yeah the book launch The book launch I love the fact that Tubby's coming back And being apart now that he's retiring Come back to the fold a little bit You know I love that about it

It has been seeing him around a lot Or not a lot But it's when we do And the big high point game I think really set that off That welcoming him back Having that celebration of Tubby And then he's been around

A lot since in retirement Now we've told this before But when Tubby left here I think he always felt like Kentucky fans were mad at him and when they introduced him at half time of a UK football game when he made the UK Hall of Fame he told some people are they going to boo me you think they're you know

are they not going to clap I mean and he was serious I think he really thought the fan base had turned against him and if you were there that day I got goosebumps the crowd wore for Tubby and you could tell he was really touched by it And I think ever since then, it's been nothing but love. I remember that.

And, I mean, I wasn't surprised by the reception he got, which made me kind of a little sad that he would think that there would be anything other than cheers. I mean, a lot of time had passed since the end of his career wasn't exactly where I wanted it. But the man won a national championship and had some great teams here in Lexington. So I wasn't surprised at all that he's been getting the reception he has back in Lexington. A little sad to think he didn't even think anyone would boo. He's such a good guy. But I think he was generally concerned that he did.

disappointed people here in his final years, and they would remember that. But Shannon, it was awesome. They applauded for him. He's now in the U.K. Hall of Fame. The honor him went during the high point game last year, so nothing but love now. Yeah, I feel like, you know, after time goes by a little bit, you know, things he'll look. And I realize that he did a good job here at Kentucky, but I think that fans kind of just got tired of the 10 losses every year, right?

They call him 10 lost tubby. But I think that he is, he is beloved when you're looking. look back, you know, on this time here at Kentucky. Somebody is calling the A-Vision Glass text machine right now. It happened a few times when I had the phone. I didn't answer. It's a text machine. Text it.

I'm still a little thrown off by, I don't want to spoil any videos, but Mario had an activity this morning. I even left my coffee on the table over there. We had an event before the show. It's kind of cool. Mario posted probably later today, a little exercise we went through this morning with Mario. Yeah, if anyone's ever seen, I think the football team's done a few times.

But Ryan and I walked in. There was a camera on us with a sign. We had to answer. question on the fly. I'm still a little throw off my routine. Well, our answers are very indicative of who we are. Young guy gave young players, old guy gave old players. You're in the middle. You gave a mix

a little of both, so it worked out pretty well. Back to basketball, we mentioned UK practicing this morning at Rupp Arena with Pope and the staff. He was at Rock Hill South Carolina last night all day yesterday, doing some scouting. You wonder if this guy's even been

able to sleep, because, I mean, he's had so much going on. He's got to come here, get his staff ready, get a roster ready, move his family here, get a house, move into his opposite. I mean, it's just nonstop recruiting. But, yeah, they were down at Rock Hill, North and South Carolina. There was a big tournament down there. Brandon Ramsey's down there for Kentucky Sports Radio, and he was doing like live. Zach Gagans on his way. be some names Kentucky's looking for but Pope I mean you're talking about he's in South

Carolina he was in Turkey uh this past weekend yeah he posted a picture from London on the 4th of July I wish we could see like a log of where he's actually been in what he's done since he's landed no actually I want to see how much he slept because I bet that's that's that's not a big number at all how it has even seen his new house the man's been everywhere we was in South America when Jasper Johnson was right down there I love that we didn't talk about this yet but he took the took him over to the football stadium yeah through on the helmet had the guys running around. That looks like a lot of fun. That's awesome to do that.

You know, if nothing else, you're bonding that bridge, so to speak, between the football team and the basketball team. But yet for the basketball guys, of course, they love putting on, throwing the ball around and running some routes and doing stuff like that. They love every second of it. Yeah, we saw Brad trying to throw it like a quarterback, you know, throw a spiral. He's sitting there saying, I can't do it, and Pope's encouraging him, yeah, you got it.

And then they played what looked like a version of Ultimate Frisbee with a football out there. Colin Chandler, might have a little game. He's got the arm. He had the best arm, obviously. He made some catches. He kicked a field goal. That kid's athletic. But, you know, even if that wasn't intentional of what's happened in the past,

it was cool seeing the basketball team over there on the football facility and then Pope throwing on that helmet. Well, that's what the one thing, maybe he shouldn't have done. Maybe he'd throw the helmet on. We spent a lot of the show yesterday making fun of Pat Kelsey putting on the astronaut helmet. Then Mark Pope puts on the football helmet. It's exciting times over there, though, and that's why I'm excited to hear from Tom today, because we're seeing them, you know, we watched them step on to reparation.

arena in a video and they've shown videos of guys just in shooting drills but I need to know more. I need to know what's really happening over there. Well, the video that came out was like two days ago from practice. It was only like a minute, but yet my biggest takeaway was Curricer is a shooter. Oh yeah. Dude, I think just in that short video clip, he hit like three and there's a guy in his face every time. That's what he does. He can shoot.

He's an excellent passer too. I mean, get excited about him, but you want to talk about shooting. Did you hear what Andrew Carr said yesterday about Travis Perry? About Travis Perry? He said in one drill, he looked up and Travis Perry had taken 600 shots. He was shooting 85%. He's like, that's crazy. And then he realized it was like all threes.

Now, I mean, this is just open gym shooting by himself. But 85% on 600. And then he said he hit 59 in a row from the corner. 59 in a row. I don't know what Travis Perry is going to become, but there's a little part of me getting excited for him to surprise everyone. Now, I don't know. I don't want to get crazy.

and put unreal expectations on him with anything compared to what Reed just did. But I'm getting prepared for him to play a little more than people expected. Shan, we talked about Travis Perry on the pre-show, and you and I both said, dude, he's a scorer, man. There's going to be a spot and a time for him, and people are going to realize how good he this guy really is. If he can shoot like that in a game, there's no way you can keep him on the bench. Right. I mean, the guy that knocked down 59, that's ridiculous. Like, most people can't knock down 59 free throws, let alone a three-point shot.

I get mad when people say he'll never get off the bench. You wait. That kid's going to play, and he's going to be a good player someday. And I don't know all the other guys on the team. Heck, I don't even know Travis that well, but I know a little bit about his background. And I can't imagine there's too many people out working him right now, because that's always been his background, and what's made him stand out is how hard he works. So now he's got all that technology and the NOAA shooting system.

We might end up with just an elite lights-out shooter that you can't leave open. Well, Abraou is the one-shooter. If Crea-Brea. You keep trying to make him the baseball player. Bobby a brave. Probably a brayer. A. B-R-E-A.

Brea. There you go. There's no A. You're giving them a syllable that doesn't exist. Brea. It could shoot. Kerr-K-K-K-R-C-S-A-K-R-S-A. Kress-C-C-R-C-C-E-C-C-C-U.

Chris-C-C-C-C-T could shoot. The whole team can shoot for the most part. Andrew Carr's a good shooter for the four. So you can't be excited. Is there anything else in the little video clip that caught your eye that was released to a couple couple days ago? No, they're very intentional. just giving us a little bit.

We'll just see a guy take like one shot. There goes the next guy, he's taking a shot. One person I've gotten excited just from interviews and seen a little glimpse is Tegatron. Otega Oway, I guess we're calling Tegatron now. Another guy that is when Pope was adding 10 players in three weeks back in May, we're flying one after another, and I feel like he kind of flew under the radar

when we're looking at that roster. I don't know where he'll fit in. Probably going to be coming off the bench, but that's a guy I'm excited to see what he brings the table. Just a little different than everyone else. with his athleticism and physicality and little defense. I think the big competition is going to be who's going to be the point guard? I think it with Jackson Robinson and Brea and Andrew Carr,

those three guys are probably got their spots locked up. But the point guard. I think Lamont Butler is your point guard. But if Krista is that good and he can shoot. Yeah, there's going to be a lot of sharing. Like in the Cal era, dudes were playing 30-something minutes a game. That is gone. It's gone.

That is, that is, Pope didn't have anyone last year, average 30. minutes a game is a bunch of dudes getting somewhere in the 20s so sure I think butler there might heck it could change throughout the year I think Lamont Butler's probably going to be the starter right away at point guard but it could be situational he could be passed I think we're going to see a lot of guys play a lot of minutes in different roles and I'll mention Tegatron is he more of a point guard he think he'll play both he's like a win two or three yeah two or three hopefully a good defender because that's what this team that's going to be a big question mark The guys that Brandon Ramsey talked about down at Rock Hill that Mark Pope was looking at,

we mentioned the guys from Kentucky, Jasper Johnson and Malachi Marino, two top prospects out of Kentucky. Malachi is Dan in Rock Hill, I think, right now. But there's some other guys in Kentucky I want to make sure people are aware of. Caden Magwood, who's from Louisville, played at Oak Hill last year. I think he's going to play at a different prep school this year. But he's got offers from like Alabama, Auburn, a bunch of schools. and he's, you know,

Pope and staff watched him Pope and Hart are down there. They watched him yesterday. Cade Magwood's a name to keep an eye on. Yeah, it's crazy. We went for a long time without in-state talent. Now it seems to be a little bit every year. You've got to keep an eye on and hope they get an offer.

Obviously signed three in the last few years. So, yeah, Kentucky, it's on the come-up, both sports, really. And then in the next year's class. I want to ask you one thing. You mentioned Jasper Johnson. Why is the Internet worrying a little bit? bit about him. Has there been any movement?

You got any scoop? I don't have any scoop. There's just a lot of tweets yesterday about Carolina, not like reporters, just fans worrying a little bit. I don't have any scoop, but, you know, Jasper took his visits, went to Illinois, went to Alabama, North Carolina. So, I don't know. He was trying to do what's best for him.

I know. Figure things out. It's best for Kentucky to keep him here. I know he's got to do what he's got to do, but we can't let that guy leave the state. Especially when your dad played here. Your grandpa used to work here. Your uncle played here. In the 2026 class, there's a guy named Taylin Kenny,

who's played at Newport High School. Newport almost won the All-A Classic. Made a big run in the Sweet 16. He's a 2026 kid, but he's getting offers from everybody right now, too. I think just this week, Villanova and Oregon offered him. So that's a guy to keep an eye on for it in next year's class. And not speaking to him specifically, but a lot of the guys we've mentioned, and even like a Trent Noah, that phone wasn't going to ring until Pope got the job.

And he had that press conference said he's going to make a priority to keep guys home. Trent Noah was headed to South Carolina until the Pope got here and things flipped. So I think we're going to have to get used to seeing a lot more Kentucky, which is what we've wanted for a while. All right, Ryan, Drew and Shannon, we're here. We'll take your calls. 859-280-2287. That's the Clark's Pumpet Shop phone number. 859-280-287.

How about we do like an Ask Anything Friday? Okay. We haven't really done anything like that this summer. I like that. At some point, maybe not today. but I miss Shannon's buzzer. It's kind of had the summer off as well. Yeah, it did.

It went to Europe. It's on vacation with Matt. He took it with him. We can do both. First time, whatever you all want to do, it's a Friday. Friday and a 30-second buzzer?

You're driving. Okay, let's do it. Let's have some fun today. Except when Tom Leach is here, he can talk as long as he wants. Well, there is a slight hiccup with that. Currently, I can't open the call screener to get phone calls. So that might be a problem.

Well, that would be a slight problem. If we're trying to take phone calls, we can use the buzzer. We're working on it right now. So if you're trying to call in, bear with us. It would be hard to ask anything and buzz people with no fun. Well, you may have to try the Aviso Glass text machine. 502-735-3680. Ryan Drew and Shannon.

We'll be right back when we figure it out on Kentucky Sports Radio. To talk to Matt Jones and the crew, call the Clark's Pump and Shop phone line at 859-280-287 or 1-800-606-4-2-63. And send us the Kentucky brandit tweet of the day by tweeting Matt at KY 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 athletes 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. 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, Keir 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 Hardway and listen now. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey.

I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entire. entirely different worlds. Just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know.

Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. We just missed our Whiskey Thief song of the day. A little Darius Rucker as we came back from break. So thank you to Whiskey Thief. And maybe we'll see the folks at Whiskey Thief maybe soon.

Maybe. Maybe. I don't know. All right. From the Aeas and Glass Text Machine, here's a question, it says. If you could sit down for one hour and have a conversation with a sports figure past or present and nothing is off limits, who would it be and why? So who's your, Tom's doing it. We're laughing because Mario got Tom with his game.

Got him on camera. Yeah. Any sports legend? Let's do any sports legend. And then a UK person. So you said an hour of just off the record conversation. Nothing off limits. Tigers high on that list.

Tigers, very high on that list. I feel like Tigers got some tales. For some reason, Larry Bird comes to mine. Good call. I feel like he's got some stories. Yeah. Good call. I'll say those two for now, I think, on a little more.

But Tiger's certainly my leader. Reggie Miller? I thought about Reggie. I just, as much as I love him, I don't know if he would have as much of the interesting stuff to say as the other two. I mean, he's on my list of people I would like an hour with. You could go the other way and say like Jackie Robinson, somebody that's somebody real historical. Historical from the, what about from a UK angle?

Shannon's first. Are we going to count wrestlers as athletes or no? Sure. Yeah, it's anybody. I feel like I could sit down and have a year-long conversation with a guy like Rick Flair, you know, who is probably got stories to tell for a long time. If we're going outside of the wrestling world, though, How about Mike Tyson?

Oh, that would be a good one. I feel like that would be a good conversation. That would be a good one, actually. Yeah. I like Tyson. See, I mean, I think the guy's got to be a little crazy, you know? I feel like Tyson kind of checks that box. What about UK?

Rex came to mind pretty quickly. Billy Gillespie. Yes. Rick Patino. Petino. How about Tubby? Tubby would be a good conversation. Really, any of the coaches just getting all their secrets.

Yeah. I went to Rex for more of just other things, too. I thought Rex probably had a good time here in Kentucky. As far as players go, Rex may be the answer. I can't think of another player. Well, really, in this job, you know, anyone fairly recent, we probably have talked to them. We haven't had an hour off the record,

but we have interviewed them a little bit. So I was trying to go back a ways, even maybe somebody from like the 70s, just when times were different, maybe get some stories. Oh, that's a good one, too. That is a good question. You got one? Well, no, I was going to say Rex is probably the best answer.

I'm going with Rex. I can't even think of that. Is there like a controversial era where you wanted more answers? Like Randolph and just tell me about the facts. Chris Mills. Oh, of course. That's a good one. Yeah, we could do him.

So you could pick someone where you're just trying to settle an unsolved mystery that we fans have wondered about over the years. Shannon, you know one? Let's see. We're talking to players. One that might have answers to a UK mystery you've always wondered. Yeah. We need to get a player during the Gillespie era.

We had Dusty Mills, his tell-all book. Right. Yeah, maybe him. I'm trying to think of who else, maybe. If you got a good answer, well, we would ask for you to call us, but our phone lines are apparently still down. It's going well. 859, 2802-287.

Let me tell you about draft kings while we're just hanging out. Tell me about draft kings. While Shannon's fixing the phones. Yeah. You know, while Shannon's fixing the phones, Ryan, we can be watching sports. There's a lot going on right now. Isco Championship, down the road, and Nicholas. ville, Wimbledon's going on.

And if you want to bet on those, it's super easy to get started on the Draft King's Sportsbook app. Just pick your team or your person and place your first bet. It couldn't be any easier or any simpler. If you're new to Draft Kings, check this out. New customers bet $5 to get $150 in bonus bets instantly. That's code KSR for new customers to get $150 in bonus bets when you bet only on draft Kings.

The crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-Gambler, 18 plus, Kentucky only. Bonus bets expire, 168 hours after issuance, deposit eligibility, the restriction supply terms at dkng.c.c.com. From the Avisiglass text machine, because that's the only communication we've got with the people listening right now. For Ryan, with your love of sports and being a coach's son, why didn't you go into the coaching

profession? Funny story, almost did. When I was in Kentucky Wesleyan, I was taking education classes, and I think I graduated. I still needed maybe a couple classes and then do my student teaching. So I was close. So I'm working at Evansville, working weekends and TV, not making any money. working horrible hours, I thought I'm going back to school. I'm going to finish this up.

I'm going to be going to teaching and coaching. Channel 18 called, came to Lexington, the rest is history. I mean, but I was close. I was close to quitting Channel 14 in Evansville and going back into school to get my teaching degree. Follow-up question. Let's say you did that. What would your life be right now? What would Brian Lemon be doing on July 12th of 2024 at 1026 a.m.?

Actually, 9.26 a.m. you'd probably be living on Central Town. I probably would have my Pike Central Charger baseball team out doing some Summer League baseball stuff, yeah, and then my basketball team would probably do some conditioning. I'll probably be baseball and basketball coach at Pike Central. So, yeah, it's funny how your life can turn just by one thing, and your path changes completely. It's not too late to start coaching. I'm sure there's some program around here that can use a little help.

I love it. I coach my boys in summer baseball and basketball. I've coached him in football. I love it. You coach Devin Key, Dane Key, Jagger Burton, Damien Harris. Everyone's success started with Ryan Lemon's teachings. 859-2-802-287. When we get our phone line going, got a couple good other suggestions for an interview.

Severe Wheeler. He came to mind. I have a few questions for Severe. I have several questions for Severe Wheeler. Yeah. Ryan Harrow. Another good one. That's another good one.

Enis Canton. He might get him. His brother will be here next week. That's true. This might be coming. Maybe we could get him on the airwaves. But those were three that came in on the aviation glass technology that are good, good choice. Did anybody say George while I was away?

George is another good one. Yeah. Because he played during the Gillespie era and he can verify. He was the one in the bathroom stall, wasn't he? Yeah, the national bathroom stall. Eric Manuel. Oh, yeah. That's another good one from the Eddie Sutton era, the did all that.

So if you got some more, Sean Kemp. Oh, yeah. I want that answer, maybe more than any. Alex Legion. Alex Legion's another good one. Yes. See, once we start thinking about it, there are some good choices out there

to who you want to pick for your interview. Hey, there's still a couple weeks left in the summer shows. Maybe we could book one of these guys for an hour or tell all. Okay, here's one for any athlete. Not as UK any athlete. O.J. Simpson. Well, he's dead. Well, I said Jackie Robinson.

That's true. We said historical. Could be past or present. Okay. Yeah, I think I already know what he did. I don't need to know more from him. There was an OJ thing on, it was those dateline things. Those date line things, yes.

We called them traditions at home Fridays. I've seen the OJ one two or three times. I sat and watched it again. Once it comes on, it's like you can't believe that all that happened during that time. I bet Dennis Rodman would be fun to talk to you for an hour too. Maybe like, how was Vegas all those times? Michael Jordan. It's fun exercise.

Tom Leach might even be able to reveal. Maybe an uncut hour with Tom Leach We could get more of these answers Than talking to the people themselves Well, Tom Leach is here 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 SlicLife 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast. Learn the hard way. 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 loss. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on Earth, or 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. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness.

So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levan this went to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me?

Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the Aihar Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The voice of the Kentucky Wildcatch, Tom Leach joins us here on Kentucky Sports Radio. Before we get into the football, before we get into basketball. We're going back to the atomic dog. I got to get this picture of you at Bourbon County High School. Look at that batting stance you got right there. Corey Price sent this picture of you.

Was that just a pose or did you really bat that way? No. Actually, when I saw that, that was for a picture. The bat would have been higher and my left leg would have been over more. Or no, right leg, I'm sorry. But it says Tom's outside interests include broadcasting Bourbon County basketball games for WBGR local radio station. He plans to attend the University of Kentucky as a communications major with hopes of becoming the next K.Wood-Ledford as the voice of the Kentucky Wildcats. You called your shots as a senior in high school.

Yeah, and I was very naive and very stupid at that time and got very lucky. Very accurate, though. Very accurate. That's pretty impressive. So have you been to basketball practice? Can you give us some tips? What do you see? Are you allowed to talk about it?

Tell us all the secrets, Tom. Yes. Yes, I have watched. And I can talk in general terms, I think, because Goose and Cameron were on my show in this past week, both talking about things they saw. And I think the players talked a little bit about it yesterday. The one thing, getting the ball from back court to front court in three seconds.

Goose was talking about that yesterday. and how I'm kind of stealing. I was told Pratt stories, so I'll steal Goose's stories and Cameron stories. They want to shoot it quickly. And, you know, if you're open, take the shot. Yeah. Anybody. Yeah.

I mean, I mean, if Mario Williams is not going to shoot from 30, but, you know, pretty much, yeah. And if you're open within, you know, it's a shot, the offense dictates you take, which is going to be pretty much any open shot for most of the guys, especially threes, then take them and get the floor spread out. That's what I think they're really looking to do is get space because they want to, a lot of this is about cutting and moving the ball. I don't think they want a ton of dribbling. So they want the floor spaced and you do that by being able to take and make threes.

And then you can make cuts behind that and ball, comes off long, you rebound it, kick it over to somebody for another open three. So a lot of it is just about, you know, finding ways to maybe it's a dribble penetration at times to kick it out, set up somebody for an open three. So it's going to be, I think a lot of fun to watch. I think the ball's going to move well. I think they're going to, you know, a lot of movement of players and ball and the basketball and then a lot of threes.

In Pope's press conference a week or two ago, he mentioned how Jackson Robinson will bud in and push him aside and explain to his teammates. This is what he means, this where he wants you. Have you seen any of that leadership or any other guys that are communicating really well earlier? I didn't see as much of that the day. I was just there one day because when they first got started, I was on vacation, so I didn't, Goose and Cameron have seen more than I have. But that's what I thought would be the case with Jackson Robinson.

It was great to get him for many reasons, one of which is that it's somebody that knows what he's saying that can exactly what you're talking about, to kind of translate a little bit. I have said this, when I hear Mark talking about the offense and see it, your players talking about it, it reminds me a lot, it's crossing sports of the way they talked about the air raid offense

in those early days. And their thing was always, throw it to the grass. That's what they coached the quarterbacks to do, Tim Couch and then Dusty, throw it to the grass. and that meant scan the field and find open space where you had a one-on-one matchup and throw the ball there.

Again, it was all about getting athletes in space and where you could make a play. And they had, you know, Mommy always said, you know, anybody could come watch his practices because they weren't going to see much because they really didn't have many plays because a lot of it's dictated off. You're Craig East and he's Tim Couch

and you guys kind of see the same thing and it's maybe a nonverbal communication or a nod of the head or something, but it's just through thousands of repetitions and, you know, understanding each other. And it sounds a lot like that to me with this basketball system that Mark is bringing in from BYU, where it's just a lot of reading the defense,

reading your teammates, kind of playing off each other, and not a lot of, you know, set plays. Yeah. Now, we always used to joke that you had the easiest post-game job in the world with Cal because he would come out, you'd say, Cal, how'd go? And he'd talk for 30 minutes. He'd take off.

At home game. At home game. Everybody always said that. That was at home game. At road games, he's looking to catch the plane, get to the bus and get to the plane. That was tough for you. Those were shorter interviews. You had to get, what, like three segments out of him on those post-game interviews on the road,

and it was tough to get him to talk. The funny. And Cal was very good, very professional through all that. But the funniest story was the Baylor game, the five overtime. It was the women played five overtime. Yeah. Game wouldn't end. No.

And so then Kentucky and Baylor play, and Kentucky, I think, blew a lead and lost late. And so at about 1.30 in the morning, and Cal went in, if you were there, the news conference lasted about a minute and a half. And then I went into his office off the podium there, and he just turned and said, you got one question for three segments. Yeah. So we got three questions. but you could have told me it was any hour that night there that felt like four in the morning we're in that the AT&T center for so long I want to go back to that magical Sunday in Rupp Arena back in April where you hosted the Mark Pope introductory press conference

did you in a million years think that that's what you would be looking at from that stage no I mean it it I think they were looking at maybe five to seven thousand people think You know, when I talk about they, the probably university officials and the people Rupp Arena. And then you saw the people lined up outside early in the day. Yes. And I'm thinking, well, maybe they could, maybe they could, you know. But I thought was could they fill up the lower bowl, which was, I think they were in 10 or 11. But then the way when I got there and saw how it was set up, I walked out.

It was about half hour before the news conference. and it was full on one side that the podium was facing, and all the way to the top, it was about half the arena. I thought, boy, that is incredibly impressive. And then I turned to the right and behind the podium, and you see people running like, you know, when they used to have general admission concerts

and they'd open the door. You were not exaggerating. People were sprinting to find a spot. Yes. And I thought, wow, they're going to get some people here on this other side, too. and it just kept growing and growing. And that'll be something people will talk about, you know, for years, you know, people who were there, certainly, or saw it,

especially if this works as well as we all hope it will, that's going to just be so fondly remembered as kind of the launching point. And it was amazing. I actually sent this to Mitch, and I've told this story before. This was Friday morning. It was Thursday night the story started to break. It was going to be Mark Pope. And Friday morning, a listener sent me a note on X, Twitter.

This is a disaster. Fire Barnhart. Four hours later, same guy. I'm on board with this. Let's roll. I think that was about 90% of the fan base, myself included. And it's been rolling ever since. Heck yeah.

So what do you foresee as Pope's biggest obstacle he has to get over? Or the biggest sticking point in year one? I think probably. I think he gets probably a little bit of a honeymoon as much as you ever could for a Kentucky basketball coach. Probably about any sport these days. But so I think the biggest challenge is just blending all those different guys. I mean, you know, you had two guys that were the walk-ons that were here last year. And you had Jackson Robinson that played for Mark.

But, I mean, they're coming from all these different backgrounds. And you're putting them into a system where it depends heavily. on how well they learn to play with and off each other. And so they've got to develop that chemistry, bond, whatever term you want to use on-court chemistry. I think it seems like a really good group of guys, and they're older. I think off-the-court, they'll get along well. Certainly all the signs are good on that. But the on-court chemistry, how good can that get?

Do you have any, we like getting some of the behind-the-scenes stuff from you, Do you have any Mark Pope memories from before he was the head coach? Any younger Mark Pope interactions or anything like that? Maybe as a player just been him popping in. I wouldn't. Wasn't doing the game at the time. So I was just covering the team, you know, covering news conferences, and I didn't go to practices then.

So I don't have any particularly great stories. Ryan and my wife, and those folks from Channel 18 would have the best stories because my wife, Robin, was working in L.A.X at that time. It was an anchor, and she went on some of the road trips covering the cats that you guys were on in the button days. Crazy button days. People want those. And Mark worked there for a year.

I think it was about one year, didn't he? Yeah. The 97 run. Yeah, because he finished in 96 and getting started school, hadn't gone to the NBA yet, any of that stuff. Another highlight from that Sunday when Cutler popped up for a question. Yeah. Hey, that's my guy. We got to take a break, but we've got all kind of technical issues going on, apparently.

Our 6.30 a.m. stream has gone down. Oh, no. Our phone lines are down. Shannon, are you, is the place? Is Shannon down? No, I'm still up. I'm still here. Is there any update on what's going on at LAP and the phone line? I didn't even know about LAP until you just mentioned it, but phone lines are still down.

The AVision Glass Time Machine is full of LAPE's messed up, and their stream is down. So if you're listening on another stream, thank you. Continue to see. You can't call in. So we'll keep Tom Leach for another segment. We'll take our break. No sense given the phone number because you can't call in. This is Ryan, Drew, and Shannon, and Tom Leach 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 athletes 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. SportsLice 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 Slices Life 12 and the TikTok podcast. network on TikTok.

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you get your podcasts. To talk to Matt Jones and the crew, call the Clark's Puppet Shop phone line at 859-28027 or 1-800-606-4263 and send us the Kentucky brandit tweet of the day by tweeting Matt at KY Sports Radio. Playing to Tom Leach's wheelhouse right there with that song. Earth, wind, and fire. It's almost like I've produced Tom Leach's shows before and kind of know what Tom Leach likes when it comes to music.

It's amazing. You must have ESPN. That's right. Shannon has produced your show for what? 10 years? It was a long time. Yeah. Been together a long time.

Okay, apparently the WLAP stream is up and working now, and the phone lines are working now, so Shannon fixed it. Shannon fixed both problems. Great job, son. Thank you. Thank you. It was hard work, but, you know, I got it done just for you guys. So if you want to call in and ask Tom a question,

859-2-80-2-8-7, we now can take your calls. A lot of questions, though, on the message board for Tom, Drew. What do you got? Yeah, a lot of people want to know more about. just the broadcasting one actually don't have the name here but they're asking just like a what kind of preparation goes into a regular game I guess it could be either sport basketball or football what's it look like for tom leading up to a game yeah I used to get that question so often that actually timed it a couple of different times over the years and football was about

23 24 hours over the course of the week and that's yeah it's not 24 hours of sitting at a computer that's, you know, going to practices. And then, you know, reading about the other team and coming up, I do my spotting board that's the depth chart to the top two or three at each position for each team. Offense and defense on one side, like home out or Kentucky offense, opponent defense, and then vice versa on the other side. And do all that by hand because it helps with the memorization process and then try to come up with notes, nuggets of things you can drop in. Tom Hammond, I remember telling me one time, you know,

you prepare as much as you can come up with knowing that you might, if you're lucky, get 50% of it in, but you just don't know what 50%, so you have it already. And then when Jim Host hired me, Mr. Jim Host. One of the things Jim talked about, was, you know, the beat rider, which I think may have been Jerry in those days. Jerry Tipton may have been doing football in 97.

If not, it was probably John Clay. And anyway, he said, whoever the beat writer is going to, in the newspaper the next day, on Sunday morning, they're going to have all these notes that, you know, it was Tim Couch's six, 300-yard passing game, or was Artus Pinners' second 100-yard rushing game. And he said the goal should be they shouldn't read anything in the paper that they didn't already hear from you the day before. So kind of just to be ready for a lot of that stuff. And then Ralph Hacker was great in terms of kind of the way I kind of set up the board and everything.

A lot of this is about football because it takes a greater amount of prep. But I've got, you know, the spotting boards I use for football and the scoring board I use for basketball. All that is I got from Ralph in the mid-80s somewhere. But basketball takes about half as much time, but you have at least two games most weeks. So it ends up being about the same amount of time total. Second part of that question from Clutch Cargo, what was on KS board, is the pronunciation of names. You mentioned Kwood would talk about how we'd have to rehearse. How's that word?

Do you have to call the school sometimes? Yeah, done that. I remember one time I got burned on a guy from Kansas because I used the first one. one I saw in the notes, and later in the notes, it was listed differently. But I put it phonetically. So if you see the spotting board, however somebody's name might be spelled, I may spell it differently or whatever just from the standpoint of, it doesn't matter if I misspell it, but it does matter if I mispronounce it.

So I'll have it spelled out phonetically and highlighted if it's something tricky. and then, you know, some of them, like the Kentucky guys, and you get just from repetition. But the opponent, especially if it's something unusual, and there's one that's coming to mind from Indiana. Football player went on to play for the Bears. At O'Walli Agunliéi, Gunglea. That's one I would like, for that day,

you first time you got that, you're just for, you know, a lot of the day, just kind of say, Agunlie, Agunlie, Agunlea, Atta. At O'Wali, Agunlea. So, consequently, it's still, with me. Yeah. The question referenced, I guess the Russian team came here, and Kay Wood, I guess,

had to do a lot of rehearsing for that. Wow. Well, Kay, there was a funny story. Ralph told me one time that Ralph was working on pronunciations, and Kaywood said, Ralph, don't worry about it. It was a Czechoslovakian team or something. Don't have to worry as much about that. Their momas and daddies ain't listening.

Of course, now they can be. Yeah, they're true. 859-2-80-228. We've got some callers online and probably got some questions for you. So take a couple of them. Who we got first, Shannon? All right. Let's go to Mike.

Mike, go ahead. You're on with Tom Leach. Hello, Mike. Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike. Uh-oh. Maybe the phone lines are working. Hey, Ryan, you're there? Oh, there are you there? Yeah, go ahead, Mike. Do you remember me from our old college days? No.

Mike's Frank. Obviously, I had a great impact on your broadcasting career. You got to take a cell speaker. so we can hear you. All right. Let me try this again, my man. Whenever you're ready. Anytime, Mike.

He just hung up. Oh, wow. Well, that was a great first call of the show. You sure the phone lines are working? I remember Mike from college. Next question, Shannon. Creek. Creek. Go ahead, Creek.

Hey, Ron. Hey, Creek. How are you? Good, how are you? All right. What are you got for us? Just want to tell you, Todd Lilipop, Todd Lilpop, hosted Kentucky Wesleyan baseball camp,

and I won the overall Charlie Hustle Award. Nice, all right. Charlie Hustle Award at the Todd Lilpop baseball camp in Kentucky Wester. Yeah, did you do the headfirst slide to win? No, I just had to work hard and do it they said. Well, congratulations, Creek. We appreciate you calling in and tell us that and keep working hard. Kentucky Wesleyan is a great place to go play when you become a college player.

Who's next, Shannon? Peyton, go ahead, Peyton. Hey, guys, hey Tom. So I got two questions. I'm a podcast, a listener, and Smolling Grass last night, catching up during the week, and I heard Shannon talking about his baseball cards. The Somerset card shows tomorrow starts at 9 to the last to 1.

I'm sure we have plenty of vendors and collectors that could help you look through it and maybe even buy it off of you. There you go. And let you know how much it's worth. And Tom, what's your favorite call in the Stoop's arrow? Appreciate it. They were calling the Stoops era. That's a good one.

Touchdown Dane Key, I think should probably be the correct answer. Benny Snell touchdown in the Citrus Bowl because he scored a key touchdown and also broke the rushing record. Hell by Sonny Collins on that play. And, you know, they ended up. It was on the way to the first 10-win season since 77. and then the Bud Dupree interception. Oh, that's a good one. South Carolina.

Mark's second year, the home game against South Carolina and tipped up into the air, but intercepts it and kind of turns the game. All right, can you stick around a little bit a lot longer? All right, we'll take our break. We've got our phone lines going and the stream's going. We want to keep Tom a little bit longer. We'll come back.

Give us a call, 859-280-2287. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. 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.

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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 SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast,

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