KSR - 2024-08-02- KSR - Hour 1

Episode Date: August 2, 2024

It's Kentucky Football Media Day Live from the Nutter Field House.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.

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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 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, 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 he at?

Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Comedy of Broadway and Lexington welcomes Greg Morton, July 11th through the 13th, then catch Josh Sneed, July 19th and 20th. And don't miss Jeff Allen, July 25th through the 27th. Comedy of Broadway opened in downtown Lexington in 1987, and they're still bringing the best and stand-up comedy to the area 37 years later.

Call 859-271 joke or visit Comedyoff Broadway.com. This is Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now, here's Matt Jones. For the last day, here is not Matt Jones. It is Drew Franklin, filling in for Matt. Also filling in for Ryan Lemon, who has the day off. Ryan will get a nice little three-day weekend before Matt's Monday returned. But with me are Billy R Sports and Super Mario at the Nutter training facility on UK's campus.

We're here for UK Football Media Day. We've got Shannon the dude back in studio who will be joining us throughout the discussion. Of course, we're sponsored by T.J. Smith, personal injury lawyer. TJ, what will he make them do, Billy? Make them pay. We'll also get the Whiskey Thief Song of the Day, the Don Franklin Auto Call of the Day. I don't have the A-Vision Glass Text Machine, but I guess you could text Ryan if you want at 502-735-3680. And of course, we want to hear from you are in the Clark's Pump and Shop phone line.

859-280-2287. A little unique media day for us, boys. I think this is like number 15 for me, and they've always been on the Kroger Field. It's always been hot. We sweat through our clothes, but it's always been a fun afternoon. But today it is pouring in Lexington. So they has moved us indoors to another facility. Right now we're looking around.

The players are kind of broken out in position groups where they're going to be doing special team photos. Normally they do that in the bleachers, but this year had a little different backdrop inside. Also inside, which we cannot hear, Mark Stoops just started his press conference. He's leading off today at 10 a.m. I don't think we can go to that live,

but we'll try to give you updates from Twitter. If we're getting any clips or anything, we'll play those here. We can't cut into that right there. Well, I mean, we probably could. You know, what's Matt saying? Ask for forgiveness, not permission. But, you know what, we've had some dust-ups in the past. I hope you can hang with these two young stallions.

over here. Of course I can. Come on. It's a little bit of a different show. Of course I can. Drew's Young himself. Don't get it twisted.

Drew's young. Thank you for saying that, Mario. See all this white and this beard? See how his back's hurting? But we got Stoops talking at 10. He'll usually go about 30 to 45 minutes after him. Bush Hamden will make his first press conference appearance at his first media day.

Brad White will talk. Then at 11 a.m., all the media will come into another facility where we are already sitting and they will break out and interview all the players. They'll be scattered all. all over the field and we hope at that point some of them will join us Billy but we're kind of don't know what will happen in that scenario we're kind of winging it today well wait and see see who comes to us we got an extra seat and an extra microphone they can sit down in true KsR fashion we were 20 minutes into being here

and I already got us into a little trouble having Chip train him on the KSR pre-show but you know what he was uh talked about pizza we didn't even talk about football Drew I mean what are they worried about so what exactly happened there let's just get right to that I'm upstairs I get here the nine o'clock check-in I check in I check in upstairs. They have Danish's. I had me a nice little donut and a cup of coffee. Talk to the media.

All of our friends were up there. But you were already down here doing the pre-show. And my understanding, as you said, you already got the principal over here talking to you. Yeah, Shannon and I were just killing it, like always. And I was talking about buying a little little Caesars for the fiancé last night. I really splurged, went out and got some good food. And Chip was overhearing the conversation.

He had took one of our chairs and was sitting right over here. And he just kind of chimed in when we went to break. I was like, hey, you want to throw a headset on? Talk a little pizza? He's like, sure. And about as soon as we were about to go on, we had maybe the media relationship coming over saying that we weren't supposed to be doing that. But I ain't sure here, Mario, we were just talking pizza. That's fine.

We weren't revealing any secrets, right? Billy, nothing wrong with that at all. He approached you, right? Yeah, yeah. He wanted to talk about the pizza and what we were talking about. So I didn't feel like we were instigating anything, right? You were being friendly, Billy, that's all. That's all.

You were within the rules. I don't think that's bad. Now, if you just walked over there and tapped one of them on the shoulder during the photo shoots, said come to a pre-show interview that I don't think I could have defended you on but if he approached the pre-show I don't know exactly I mean probably an everyday listener just like the rest of the football team probably gets pumped into this house so they can listen now my first observation though drew with chip sitting next to us and old Dion Walker over there is he is so huge everyone I need you to understand how big this man is he's 50 yards away and he looks like he's standing right in front of

it's a 6-6-345 Mario he's a big man that's a big man you don't want to see him on the field Mario, have you ever been in the Nutter training facility here? It's my first time. It's a beautiful place. Got some good turf. They finally got rid of that track. They used to not be able to even go to the corner of the end zone because you land on the track. But it's really looking good.

I got all these banners a lot more than there used to be. They got 2016, 17, 19, 19, 21, 22, 22, 23. A lot of success on the walls. And it kind of reminds me, you know, a young Drew Franklin had a little success in this building one time. Did you? I didn't even remember that, so I walked in here and just kind of felt. healthy energy, but the year was 1996. Take me back, Drew.

Rick Petino's camp. One of the days they brought us over here and there were basketball floors down. We had, you know, probably four or five of them. Basketball, courts. Yeah, and no one's gonna believe this, but I set the Rick Petino camp shot block record that day. I'm not even good at defense. I just happened to be taller than everyone. I think I blocked like eight shots for Jeff Shepard's team.

We were playing against Oliver Simmons team. You all probably have no idea who Oliver Simmons is. No. I don't know who that is. lot in that era. Had nice red hair. They called him Cheeto. But I mean, I had maybe my career highlight of my very brief basketball career in this building. Now I'm hosting radio. So a little special place and nutter to me. Well, I don't know that former player, but I do know Willie Colley Stein, and that's another guy that gets eight blocks a game, at least in the TBT tournament. Were you just, I mean, you were a freak of nature out there?

No, I wasn't even that good. Maybe my ears were so big. They couldn't see around me, and I was just taking advantage of that with my wingspan, but I did have a great game. I remember they gave me a little something for blocking so many shots. But, you know, good memory here in Nutter. I wish there was a little video or any film of that. We have to see that video. We've seen Jack Pilgrim dominate in the Cal Fantasy Experience camps, and now it's good to hear Drew Franklin was dominating the Rick Tadena.

I want to be clear, it was a very unathletic record. If there were a film, it was probably just short, fat kids running into my arms. You know, I wasn't out there, you know, swatting shots off the rim, but it did happen. I'm really excited to whoever we'll talk to today. Whoever, yeah. I just want to apologize in advance. Get ready for a very disorganized show. It's not that I didn't do my homework.

It's that we just don't know what's going to be brought to us. So we could be. Unpredictable. Mid-conversation about the TBT and Mark Stoops could walk up. Or, you know, we could be talking about the Olympics. And Adam Luckett's going to join us at some point. We just don't know when people are going to come by. So you're going to have to bear with us as we just kind of do this on the fly.

Yeah, I think we did that a little bit of that yesterday when we were giving out the gas cards, where you had to come out to say, I love Clark's Pump and Shop. Shannon and I were like little squirrels out there just kind of every time somebody would scream at us. So you know what? We'll take anybody and we're ready for an exciting season, a tough schedule this year for this Kentucky team. Yeah, really looking forward to that.

Back-to-back seven win seasons, we're moving past that. We've got to get better. I know the schedule's harder. I want at least eight, Billy, which with this current schedule, eight is a tall task. But I think they're a group that can get it done

if they handle their business and the ones they're supposed to win and win at home. Oh, win total, six and a half on Draft King. So Shannon and I said that I think we're going to hit the over on that because seven wins has become disappointing, has it not? Oh, yeah. With the loss to Clemson and the bowl game last year, I think they left a bad taste in their mouth, Mario, and, you know, with the additions of a Georgia quarterback, an Ohio

state running back, and some returning guys like Dion Walker and Max Harrison, then, you know, you've got the pieces to compete. For sure. I mean, you've got a, it's a tough schedule. This is a very tough schedule. But if you had to break it down, guys, I have a really good question. It popped up on my timeline yesterday. Look at Mr. Mario already with the questions.

Which team is Kentucky most likely to upset this season? What's it going to be? What's your picks, Scott? So I guess to be an upset, it would have to be Georgia at home, at Texas, at Ole Miss, at Tennessee. You know, you got Auburn at home. I don't think that would be an upset. I think Kentucky will even be favored in that. Kentucky at Florida.

But Florida's not the Florida we grew up watching. They'll be a little better this year, but I still wouldn't really call that a huge upset. So I guess Mario's giving us about four options. there unless you consider those differently. Well, let me take the fifth option. How about Louisville? I think there's a good chance Kentucky isn't favored in that game. Get out here with that nonsense.

I mean, wasn't it like seven and a half, eight and a half last year? It's been way too easy with our friends of Draft Kings. I mean, I have a refrigerator named the Governor's Cup fridge because we were a one point underdog a few years ago, and it was just stupid money. I bet everything I needed to go get me a nice fridge at Lowe's. Come on, it's been easy to make money there, but you think Louisville might have a whole of an edge? I think Louisville is on the cusp of the top 25 right now,

And as the season they had last year, they were ranked as well. It kind of saved the perception of Kentucky season. So if I'm going to go outside the box, I'm going to take Louisville because I don't think they're going to be favored in that game. But if you want to go to the big four, I can't pick Tennessee. I'm kind of on the same basis with Ryan. I've been spurned by that too many times. And probably not Texas either. So give me a – what was the other option?

You got Ole Miss, Texas, Georgia, and Tennessee. We should have won that game a few years ago. Will Love is getting hurt in the end zone. the guy being a legal procedure, just being lined up. They cheat. Let's just say it. They cheat. And they still should have won that game.

So I think Old Miss definitely is the one I circle. I think I lean that way, too, even though I think Old Miss is going to be better than they've ever been. I think Lane Kiffin is, they're in the preseason talk as a team to watch the playoff. I think that's legit. But we seem to play them tight every time, even though it doesn't necessarily go Kentucky's way. It's been a one possession game a lot, and I would expect that. But for Mario's question, I'm going to actually flip that, even though I just said Ole Miss. I'm going to Austin because I'm going to be there.

I just want it so bad. I don't know if you all know this about me. If you saw any clips about me on Monday, I like to take the other team's hand signal and put it upside down. I might have done it 2,000 times in Freedom Hall. I want nothing more than to walk up and down Rainy Street in Austin doing Hornsdowns. So that's going to be my pick. Well, I believe Greg Sanky said that that would not be a penalty if there was going to be Hornsdown done.

So I don't know how much we will see that. Or Mark Stoops will persuade the guys not to do it, but we know our pal Drew Franklin will be there in Austin doing it. Oh, yeah. We're going to get to a lot more football talk as the show goes on. Again, give us a call at 859-280-2287. We're going to have Adam Luckett at some point. He's KSR's beatwriter.

He knows more about UK football than Mark Stoops. So if you want to call in, you'll have a question for Adam. We'll make sure he answers it. We can also answer football questions. But I also want to hear caller's favorite moments of the 10 weeks that Matt was gone. Yes. I have several. You know, this is our last day.

Shannon, I'm sure you have several. You know, Matt's, what was it, May 27th? Was the first show we did without Matt? That feels like a year ago, and he'll be back on Monday. Shannon, did you think we would make it to this point when Matt told us he was taking a 10-week vacation? No, no. And I can't believe. I mean, it did, though.

I mean, I know it's been a long time, but it kind of went by fast. And it's been a lot of fun hanging out with you guys and doing those pop-up shows. So I think it's been a really good summer for us. And Mario, you said it. Matt tweeted? He did. He's back because his last tweet was on May 27. pull it up let's see what he had here he said is this thing working now this is his very first week

is this thing working well i'm sure there's plenty to talk about whether it be the excursions in europe or all the games that he went to um it'll be good to have matt back but i'll be on vacation next week yeah an extra summer vacation for me on monday i don't expect to say much i think matt's gonna have a lot to say i think maybe the first three weeks ryan and i may just be listeners like everyone else we'll just happen to be sitting next to him but we really have missed him we're looking forward to seeing him. I hear he's down a lot of weight because he's been over there eating eating real food. Have you seen the pictures, Drew? I've seen a few. I've looked really skinny in the face. I haven't seen him in person. You're going to see him today, right? I'm going to see him

today and picking him up at the airport. All right. I'm going to be at KS. Bar tonight to watch the TBT game. We're going to talk about that a little bit too. We got some news we didn't want yesterday. Maybe Matt will join us there. Mario, did you have any favorite moments of the summer before we get to our callers? We'll give a few of our own. I'll give one. Let's all give a few throughout the show. Why don't you go ahead and drop one for us? My first one, it's not my favorite, but it's my first one. And you weren't here, Drew, at the time. It was the pool show. The pool show. I know Billy remembers that very, very, very vividly.

It was a very cool show. It was hot. It was in the sun. And Drew, I'm sitting outside. I'm on the, we're on the patio, we're doing the radio, and it's so hot. I don't know if the other guys were hot. They weren't complaining as much as I was complaining. So I'm saying it on the radio, and I guess we had a few listeners who overheard me, And Drew, they got an umbrella from the other side of the patio, and they bought it on the other side to where we were sitting down, and they put the umbrella right up under me.

And I was like, how incredible that is for you to listen on the radio and then say, you know, Mario's a little bit hot right now. I'm going to actually put the umbrella under him so he can get some shade. That is love. That is love from the KSR fan base. KSR has a streak of people always showing up to remotes. We thought it could have ended there, but people found Ryan's house. They went through his door and were able to,

come and hang out we got some players are about to crash our party we got zion children i was about to go to break but josh caddus and zion childers just walk up to us with microphones i'm thrown off here put that on put that head set on get you on there you go um i'm double miced up right now along with the zion chilters guys um thanks for having us even though we kind of just interrupted the whole thing um all right what do you got what's your questions on How close were we the Lugie that flew on Monday night? Well, Drew, you take my mic because you were there. I was right behind the shooter of the Lugie.

I watched it fall towards Nate Sestina. I had a view from behind, watched it land on him. And there's a fellow media member here who got hit with a stray. So I saw it in him, Dylan Ballard. I took one in the chest for the team. For the team. Yeah, you know, just to make sure to put those Ls down. But yeah, it was a wild night in Louisville.

Awesome. All right, we got a few questions for you guys. You know, if you guys could play any position on this Kentucky 24 team, what position would you guys be playing? Oh, man, I feel like you are so loaded up. I don't want to take anyone's spot. I'm going to, it's a lame answer, but I would like to just see if I could take Brock's job. I know he hadn't even started his job yet, but I would like to throw to you and Dane and Berion and that loaded offense.

So I want to be QB1 right out of the gate. That's fair. Barion is OP in the 25 game. If you could like just be in the 25 college football game, I mean, you could just do that, just throw it to them every time. I want to compliment you, though. You made some huge third down catches for me in that game. You're kind of a guy I would have to go to a lot on third down.

So I don't know how you felt about your ratings, but you've made some big plays for the Big Blue Nation virtually. Well, thank you, man. You know, you always get mixed reviews. You got guys saying, hey, man, like, great job. You're carrying my dynasty team. and then you got guys like, you suck, I bet you, all this. Do you ever get mad at yourself on there?

Do you play it? Play to yourself? Do you throw to yourself? Yeah. If your character drops it, do you get frustrated? 100%. I'm like, man, catch, I mean, go get on some jugs. Go get on some jugs. And then it's funny, like, I'll play my brother in the game.

And, you know, he knows who I'm throwing it to every time. Just can't stop it. He just can't stop it. A little tight end over. They take the tight end. I'm throwing a dingo behind them. O.P. It's got to be surreal seeing yourself on that game, right?

Yes, sir. And all your teammates. It's awesome. Yeah. Well, thanks for crashing our party. Of course, guys. I appreciate you. Double mic and up.

I hope the double mic didn't mess up your all's video you're working on. Going to be a fun day here. Well, there's an example of what's going to happen on today's show. I don't know where. I was about to toss to break. We did not expect that. Josh Caddust just shows up, flip the script, and threw a microphone in our face. I was not expecting that.

You kind of saw them walking over here, but they had some questions. They needed an answer. I'm going to go long snapper, though, Drew. I feel like I could execute a long snap if you have. actually asked me to do that. Yeah, I just, I want to throw it around the yard to all these weapons they have this year. I'm selfish. I want the ball in my hand.

It's a hard job, Drew. Hard job you got there, man. But I'm going with a wide receiver. I think I could, you know, catch a few balls, you know, make it run a few routes. And then, you know, I'm pretty athletic. So I see myself as a wide receiver. Well, Shannon, I don't know how that sounded on radio. We were a little thrown off there.

No, did that come through? It worked. It worked. Yeah, yeah, it was good. I think that might be an example of what's to come for the next hour and a half. We're just going to have people crashing the party. We'll get it figured out. For now, we're going to take our first break,

and when we come back, a lot more chaos from UK Football Media Day, 2024. 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 Slices Life 12 in the TikTok podcast. network on TikTok. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts show, I'm bringing you conversations

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

Hey, rep, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Park. Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Why is everyone obsessed with romance right now? Like everyone. Your co-worker who, quote unquote, doesn't read, is reading romance. Your mom, book talk, the entire internet.

I'm Sanjana Basker. I'm Tyler McCall. And this is Radio 831, a romance podcast. The books, the tropes. the adaptations, the drama, the discourse. And what all of it says about how we actually love, yearn, and obsess. We're going to Weathering Heights, which, for the record, is not a romance novel. And yet it has haunted the romance genre for 200 years.

We're getting into dark romance, age gaps, certain Russian hockey players. And sentient objects, in love, which is a thing. That's the kind of conversation we're having every episode. Listen to the Radio 831 podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back Kentucky Sports Radio. We are already off script after Zion Childress and Josh Kattis crashed our first segment as we were going to break. And right as we were coming back to talk a little more about the day, Mark Stoops just walks up. Coach Stoops, how are you?

Just got done with your first press conference in there? Yep. The first official press conference of the year, everything went smooth, and, well, as smooth as it can be, right? We'll see what they're right about me. Oh, yeah, and nothing but good things. Nothing but good things. A bit of a unique setting in here. Do you remember one being indoors?

It's always out there 100 degrees on the field. Your pictures are going to look a little different this year. No, we have not had one in my – this is my 12th, and we have not had one inside. So at least we have this beautiful indoor now, as opposed. to what it looked like a few years ago. So it's a beautiful setting in here, but I think we're still going to try to get outside and do the big team pitcher here.

It looks like the rain is lightening up here just for a second. Well, it's year 12 watching SEC Media Days from far. Couldn't be down there, but the oldest man in the conference, how's that feeling? Or longest tenured, I shouldn't say oldest man. Longest tenured, excuse me. That was just a careful. Let me walk that back.

Exactly. Longest tenured definitely feels a little different. You know, so, but really don't put much, you know, much thought into it. One thing about it is the relationships. I have good relationships with, you know, just about all the guys in the league. I know them have been around them. You know, I think the change has maybe slowed down a little bit. I don't know.

You probably could dig up stats on that, but for a while there was like there was a new damn coach. You know what I mean? There's two, three, four new coaches every year. And it seems like, at least maybe it's me, but it seems like, a little more stability in, you know, not as many changes of head coaches. You know, it's also different with Oklahoma and Texas coming in because I'm so familiar with them. I know them all so well. Not only they're head coaches, but they're ADs and in Oklahoma's case, the president.

And, you know, just, you know, real familiar with them. And so it's kind of friendly, you know what I mean? Like, it's fun. It's great to see them, you know, down at our meetings. You mentioned coaching changes, new coordinator. Things to be going well with Bush Hamden so far. But what does he bring? And recently you mentioned wanting to move a little faster instead of seeing one on that play clock.

How will that look with Bush Hamden taking over? Yeah, really excited about Bush. I just like, you know, a lot of things about him. I like the way he handles himself. I feel like he's a really strong presence with the players. I feel like he's a very intelligent guy, you know. And, you know, listen, you know how hard it is to be in a lot. offense coordinator in this league. You're going to go through some ups and downs and you're going to

you're going to take some lumps. That's for sure because it's brutal. But he does a very good job. And, you know, as far as the tempo and I just kind of addressed it in there as well, I need to make sure everybody understands that we're not trying to be like an old mess tempo or a Tennessee tempo. You know what I mean? And they, they do it exceptionally well, but that's what they do. You know, and they, we can't, we're not trying to do that overnight. You know what I mean? That's just not happening. But I also just don't want to, sometimes in our pro system with the words, with the language, it gets so long that I get tired of snapping it with two and one, you know, three, two, one second left on the play clock.

I mean, I stand there all day ready to call time out with the official. And that is kind of what we're trying to get away from. You know, even if it's, heck, if we average snapping it with 10 seconds left on the play clock, I mean, you know, you know, I think if we're getting more first downs, you're going to get more touches, you're going to move the ball. But ultimately it comes down to getting first downs. We might run into a hard break here, but I want to ask you, I've heard Bush say a few times.

He likes a quarterback that can get a few first downs with his legs. So we might see a little more running. How will that look with Brock Vandergrief, and then you have a great transfer in Gavin Wimson who can run the ball too? Yeah, I just think it's important. And a lot, you know, I think every coordinator would tell you that, you know, whether it's off script, you know, where they have to pull it down. and just scramble for a tough four or five yards to move the chains

or some designed runs to keep defenses off balance. You have to, the nice thing about bringing in Gavin and a nice thing with Cutter, you know, coming along and then even getting Bow Allen back is we do feel like we have some depth. You remember a few years ago when, you know, with this transfer portal thing going on, if you lose a couple backups because they're the backup, then you really feel kind of scary about running your quarterback

because if you get them hurt, you feel like you're in big trouble and we saw it in, what, 19, whatever year it was, when we lost all of our quarterbacks. So, you know, so that's what the balance is, but I feel like we do have some depth, you know, and I think you'll see some, you know, design quarterback runs, and then hopefully you'll see some guys that, you know, that ad-lib a little bit.

You addressed the off-season in Dallas and might have said something in there, but I'll just ask, where's Mark Stoops, and how he's feeling heading into year 12 here at Kentucky? Mark Stubes is feeling great. He's feeling great and ready to go. And, you know, and, you know, I did address that in there because somebody asked about the challenge. Not in that same direct way, but in a different way. But, you know, there's always challenges, you know, and that's what makes it fun.

And that's what, you know, gets you going. 11, 12 years ago when I walked in the building, different challenges, but challenges every day. You know, and so we're going to attack them and address them the best way we can, you know, to get better. aspect of the program. And that's what makes it fun and challenging, but we're ready to go. All right, we're running into a break. Can you do a few more minutes on the other side? All right. Mark Stoops, we'll talk with us a little more. We'll come right back. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

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

He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue of 42. A rep, my mama want you to wave at her. Where's she at? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to The Cliverts show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Why is everyone obsessed with romance right now? Like everyone. Your co-worker, who, quote-unquote, doesn't read, is reading romance. Your mom, book talk, the entire internet. I'm Sanjana Basker. I'm Tyler McCall. And this is Radio 831, a romance podcast. The books, the tropes, the adaptations, the drama, the discourse.

And what all of it says about how we actually love, yearn, and obsess. We're going to Wuthering Heights, which, for the record, is not a romance novel. And yet it has haunted the romance genre for 200 years. We're getting into dark romance, age gaps, certain Russian hockey players. And sentient object. in love, which is a thing. That's the kind of conversation we're having every episode. Listen to the Radio 831 podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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. This is not Matt Jones. As I was just telling Coach Stoops here, Matt is on a 10-week vacation. Mark, when you get your 10-week vacation? That must be nice. I mean, 10-week vacation. I don't think I'll ever get it to 10-week vacation. You got to get into radio.

Just him, though. We don't even get one week on this side of the table. We got Mario and Billy here. They're going to chime in a little bit, too, but I want to continue the discussion with Stoops before we let him get back to his busy media day. We mentioned Bush Hamden, but Brad White's been here a long time,

and this defense looks to be in good shape. It might be looking like one year best heading into the year. Definitely. I have a lot of confidence in Brad and the defensive staff and what they do, and, you know, we've had really good continuity, and, you know, quite a bit of experience coming back. So there's guys that played a lot of football. That always helps.

There are some youngsters, so it's not just totally, you know, because you have to rotate guys, as you know, and it's a long season. We've got to bring people along. So, you know, there's kind of a mixture of some very experienced guys and then some youngsters, you know, so we've got to make sure we've managed that properly. They're already pulling Mark away, but I wanted Mario to get his question in.

He's new, he's our guy, and this is a big moment for him. So we'll get one more, then we'll get back to it. So, Coach, you talked about the challenges that you face almost every single year. If you had to single it down to at least one or two challenges, what do you think would be the biggest challenges for this upcoming season? Well, I think just the grind of it is, you know, what the challenge is. You know, because each and every week, it's a long season. And keeping these guys healthy, keeping them fresh, keeping them dialed in,

and playing at their peak is always a challenge. You know, that's why you see weird stuff that happens. So, you know, you all can look at paper sometimes and even week to week with injuries or different things and look at the line and think, oh, well, so-and-so is supposed to beat them, and that's just the way it is. But weird stuff happens because you don't know what's going on with the team. You don't know where they're at mentally, physically what they, you know, what, you know, it's very difficult on these young men what they have to endure. You know, we are here day in and day out for hours and then they have to go to be a student. You know, they are students, they are normal, you know, people, and I don't think people understand that.

Yeah, and so I just think, you know, making sure we keep them in the proper mindset, keeping them healthy, keeping them on point and playing our best, because there's going to be times out there when we do not play our best. The key is winning. Yep. Of course. And if you could get a W when you're not at your best, then that's a big plus. They're, you know, and let's just be honest, I mean, some teams are so ultra-talented.

They don't have to play their best every weekend they could win. You know what I mean? They could peak at certain moments. And so, you know, that's the SEC. And that's why you see some weird things, not only with us, but with other teams. You know what to me? Maybe because you don't know exactly what's going on there. Well, we appreciate you stopping by.

I want to keep you any longer. You're nice enough to already do this. So get back over there. You've got pictures to take. Thank you. Yeah, we appreciate it. Thank you, Coach. Thanks, God.

Well, there we go. Coach Mark Stoops. Heading into their training camp with a little month. away from the season starting. Wish we didn't have that hard break. This Tommy wasn't great there. But when he just walks up and sits down, I mean, what are we supposed to do? We get him when we get him.

I know. I wanted to ask him about all these banners that are hung up in this nutter field house. I mean, it's like I think it's one of eight teams that have eight consecutive bowl appearances. And that's got to be a part of point of pride for Stoots, but it's also got to be like you still want more, right? And there's still a lot of things ahead of them that hopefully they can achieve. Shannon, I wanted to get into, I had, you know, I did my homework. I do homework for this show, and I had lots of good Stoops questions that I just couldn't get into.

I was going to ask if we got in his car right now and turned it on, what music would be playing? How does he drink is already one bourbon? We putting that on ice? You mix anything with it? I tried to lead a man with a little Toby Keith. If I remember correctly, he was a big Toby Keith fan. You got a reaction out of him when that played. He gave us all a big smile.

We thank Coach Stoops for stopping by. Very unexpected three visitors so far, but we're going to keep rolling on with the show. Who's coming next, man? Who's coming next? I don't know. Keep your head on a swivel, Mario. You never know who will do it. Also, we want to hear from the callers, 859-280-2287.

Do we have anyone on there yet, Shannon? Yeah, we've got a couple if you want to take them. Yeah, let's go and take a few right now. Let's go to Cliff. What's up, Cliff? Hey, how you guys doing? That's a nice interview with Stoops. The highlight of the 10 weeks, I never thought Rick Petino would be on KSR.

That was crazy. That might be number one for everybody. That was crazy. and my football question is how many of these kids will we see play on Sunday? Oh, that's a good question. Well, you got Maxwell, right? Harrison.

Harrison. Well, Dionne Walker is going to be your first one off the board. Deion Walker. Vince always likes to say 7, 8, 9. I think he inflates the number just a little bit, but that's good. You want your coach having that confidence, but I'd like to see J.J. Weaver get that opportunity. We didn't even expect him back for a six-year senior.

I'm looking at him right now. That's a guy that's not supposed to be here, but he went and won the Schnellenberg MVP award in the Governor's Cup last season. We thought that was it and says, I'm coming back for one more. So that's a guy I hope has a great year. You know, he's had injuries off the field issues. Yesterday he was named to the Allstate Wolfer. That's a hard word to say.

Wolfler Award for community service. On the watch list there, he does so much. I just think on the field he needs to have a good consistent. year injuries have gotten him. I'm looking forward to what he does. Yeah, if he can stay on the field, he's definitely somebody that can prove himself and take that next step. Now, there's a new offensive line coach, the old offensive line coach has come back. It's Eric Wolford, right? Yeah. So maybe a guy like Eli Cox could find his way at the next level. We'd love to see that. Obviously, Dane Key and Baron Brown are on NFL draft boards.

Dane has said before, maybe even on these airwaves that he'd like to be a three-year guy. That's not necessarily the plan, but maybe the door will open for him there. So I think those Those are some of the names to really watch. Maybe Brock Vandergriff could have a special year. You never know. You never know, Drew. I wanted to ask Stoops a little bit more on Brock. Transfering from Georgia.

Yeah, like I said, I had so many more questions to ask Stoops, but we were lucky to get him as long as we did. His face, though, when you told him that Matt was on a 10-week vacation was pretty hilarious because with the recruiting and transfer portal, you think that guy gets a week off? Yeah. Throughout the year, maybe two? That's about it. He had three visible reactions.

One was to Toby Keith. He smiled real big. One was when he learned Matt's a week. on a 10-week vacation. He couldn't believe people get that. And then when I called him the oldest man in the SEC, thought he might punch me. That came out the wrong way. I meant longest tenured. It's kind of thrown

off there going on. Tell him to aim for the chin because the sternum still hurting a little bit. I'm all right. I'm all right. I moved on. Moved on from that. Let's move on the next caller, Shannon. Let's go to Lance. Lance, thanks for calling in. What do you got for us? What's up? You guys hear me? We do. Loud and clear. Good deal,

man. I had to call in today. First time, long time. Normally a podcast. listener, but I was at the Alabama Kentucky basketball game last year where we put up a thousand points on them, but during halftime, they do the little digital dunk cam into, on the big board where they put up the rammed people dunk on them. They had a guy on the screen. Everybody was kind of clapping to their thing. They put up Bush Hamden, new Kentucky offensive coordinator, and the place absolutely erupted.

And he went from kind of smiling and waving to almost getting emotional. face turned red he got super serious i think at that point he kind of realized that this fan base is a little different i know the exact moment you're talking about i had the exact same takeaway he looked shocked that the reception he got yeah i also thought he could have been in better seats do you remember do you remember his seats i feel like we could have put him a little closer to the court i thought he was a little high up to be the new one it looked like some random guys there and uh all of a sudden you know they put up that screen and his face literally changed. And I think he kind of realized, like, I don't know what I got myself into.

Yep, I remember that exact moment. Thank you for calling. We appreciate that. Maybe Bush Hamden will pop in soon. He was just doing his press conference. Was that the Justin Edwards game where he went off? It was. And you can look at it as a positive, as these guys go into bigger jobs,

but at times continuity can go a long way. And so it's also not only that, but it's your third different quarterback in the last three years, too. Yeah, and I'll add there's some excitement around the program because yesterday they announced fewer than 500 season tickets available over at Krogerfield. There we go. I believe the release said they've already sold over $42,000. So you said how many media days have this been for you, Drew? I've 15 I think 15 is this the first one in here though that I can remember we've always had good weather out on the field it's been scorching hot back when we did hey kentucky you know I'd interviews these guys and they'd shoot it where we're kind of in the shot too and I would just be sweating through my shirt and I know the players were hot too it's a definitely interesting twist being in here

do you ever think about how far this program's come since those that vandy football game at commonwealth stadium and everybody's sitting at the top row and I mean it's I mean this is eight straight bowl season You got a chance to make the college football playoff theoretically nowadays. I mean, you wouldn't even think about that thing. No, these banners I'm looking at certainly weren't there. We also had that terrible recruiting setup over here. I don't know if you all ever saw it, but it looks like a church potluck. Before they had this nice facility right behind us, attached to Kroger Field, where we had Danishes this morning.

Huge recruiting area for games. Before, it was just this corner over here of folding chairs and folding tables. I'm not kidding what it kind of looks like we're sitting at right now. Wow. So a big upgrade. Got the turf, tracks out. And then I don't know if anyone's heard or seen, but just over here inside Krogerfield,

see what's going up? Went up yesterday. What's that? Fancy new LED lights. We can make it blue in there finally. Oh, so like the little show that these cathedrals put on. Oh, I'm excited. It's a party.

Two years ago, when they went down to Tennessee, and they were doing those orange lights, I wasn't there. I was at home watching TV, but I was just thinking they play a different sport when it comes to atmosphere. I know a lot of Kentucky fans were down there talked about that. So I think we're a little behind adding them, but that's fine.

They're here now right in front of us. I'm looking forward to how they use them in games. Someone on KS. Board, which, by the way, got to sell on KS. Board. Go join. We have lots of fun discussions. I believe it was our good friend, Bagel. He made a suggestion that they should take the stadium lights down as low as they can, as safety will allow, make it dark in there, play the Never Leave Harlan alive into Grove Street.

When Grove Street starts, bring up the blue. And I have, look at my arm. I have hair standing up right now. I'm so excited for that. Yeah, why not? The presentation is a big part. I'm sure it goes a long way with recruiting, right? I mean, these guys want to be in those types of atmospheres.

You didn't get hit with a golf ball when you're at Tennessee, did you? No, I haven't made the Tennessee trip in many years. I did have fun there a long time ago. Old school KSR listeners knows about one of my trips to Nailen. But no, I haven't made that trip in a while. I saw Tennessee's adding this nice entertainment district that connects Nailan State. stadium to, you know what, I'm not even talking about. Why am I talking about them in the UK football media?

They suck. Let's get back to what we're talking about. Our lights are going to be awesome right over here. I'm excited they're going up and driving in today. I don't know if you all noticed. There are tents everywhere. People are already claiming their spots outside Kroger Field for the season that is still a little almost a month away. Well, college football has a lot of things, including pageantry.

But is there anything better than tailgating? Because a nice crisp fall day and you're getting ready for a football game, it's just special. I don't think you can replicate it outside this country, and especially not outside the SEC. So if I had an RV, that's what I'd be doing, Drew, is parking it right about now so I can have my spot. How do you feel about the people that just put, like, the shell of a tent there, and that's just claiming their spot? They've been there for weeks already. Yeah, that's kind of like us going to the Masters, and you put your chair down.

You can just go walk the course, and everybody just has to abide by the chair that you put down. I think it's fine. I don't know. I don't know if I have a strong opinion on it. Shannon, is that fair or foul claiming your spot? I mean, some have been there maybe a month already. Yeah, I mean, if there's no rules, then I mean, I guess it's fair. But it kind of reminds me of like some of these music festivals that you go to that allows chairs.

And you have people that will get there early. They'll plop their chairs down right in front of the stage and then just wander off and kind of stake that land off to where nobody can get closer to the stage. So if there's no rules, then I guess it's fair. But I kind of lean foul on this. But since there are no rules. then I'll give it the fairer judgment. I respect their passion. We're going to need that.

The teams leaving this area, now that we have a little sunshine, they're going to the field to take their team picture on the turf. Two takeaways is they all walk just right past us. Yeah. Dionne Walker's not real. That is not. No one should be that big. Top 10 draft pick.

Deon Walker, probably. Hayes Johnson. Yeah. Our boys all grown up. I just saw him walk by. He looked over here in the corner of his eye, and I gave a big smile, and he looked away. almost feel like a proud parent over here

after we've had him on the show throughout his high school career a few times. Now it's good to see Hayes finally in uniform and on the team. I think we were in Bear Nose getting ready for Kentucky Louisville and he called in and just gave out his phone number and was looking to kill geese. That may have been one of my favorite calls of all time. He's looking good. That big number 72 heading over

to photo day. We're going to head to a break right now and we come back. More football talk. Who knows who will stop by? We're just kind of taking as it comes. This is 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 Sports Slice 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. 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- This linebacker walks up to me, he goes,

Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the Iheart radio app,

Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Why is everyone obsessed with romance right now? Like, everyone. Your coworker, who. quote unquote doesn't read is reading romance. Your mom, book talk, the entire internet. I'm Sondjana Basker. I'm Tyler McCall. And this is Radio 831, a romance podcast. The books, the tropes, the adaptations, the drama, the discourse. And what all of it says about how we actually love, yearn, and obsess. We're going to Weathering Heights, which, for the record, is not a romance novel.

And yet it has haunted the romance genre for 200 years. We're getting into dark romance, age gaps, certain Russian hockey players, and sentient objects, in love, which is a thing. That's the kind of conversation we're having every episode. Listen to the Radio 831 podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back, KSR. We're going to be quick here because we just pulled Vince Mero out of the coaching crowd and asked him to join us, and he gladly accepted. So we'll do a quick couple minutes here with Vince.

Vince, just overall, how you feeling heading into another year of Kentucky football? Feeling pretty good. Really, really, I was looking at our team the other day, and I'm like, man, we really got some size and a lot of depth in a lot of positions. Your tight-in room's got a lot of familiar faces, but I want to ask you about the other side of the ball. This defense fully loaded up, Dumas Johnson, you help get Waller in here.

I mean, how's this defense looking? Because going into the year, it's looking like one of the best Brad White's Ted. It is scary. I mean, I was looking at that D-line yesterday and this size all across it and then you throw in JJ. I mean, it's a really good-looking defense. I can't wait to watch him. And Brock Vannegriff looking good. He's going to make sure your tight ends are getting the ball a little bit. Every year, I think we ask for your tight-in predictions. Hey, listen, the one guy I'm really excited about those, Willie Rodriguez. He's really, you know, he's got a guy that he's learning, but you look at his size and his ability. So,

They'd be in a tight-in room with Brock, asking for receptions already. So Brock looks pretty good. One more than we'll let you go. We just had a caller before you joined us, asked about potential NFL picks on this team. You're the NFL liaison of the program. You usually throw out a little number of who you think it could be on some NFL radars. I think we're going to have anywhere from 8 to 10. I'll legitimately say that.

I mean, we got nine scouts coming in today. How about Brendan Bates last night? I told you he's a dog. That's right. We're getting to this team photo. Yeah, I know you got to get to it. Thanks for stopping by quickly. We appreciate that, Vince.

There you go. Once again, interview on the fly. I think we might have gotten him in trouble. I've never seen Vince run like that. He's late for the team photos. He got out of here. Like speed dating. Yeah. Are we going to hear about that one?

I don't know if they wanted us to pull Vince out of that. I don't know. I don't know. I think that was more okay than the chip train him this morning. That was. Stoops approached us and asked for the opportunity. Vince, we were more just, Vats, get over here.

It's fun hearing from him. Shannon, who was at Vince Marrow interviewing this segment? I'm glad you asked, Drew. Shady Raise. I bet you that Coach Merrill's probably got them some shady rays. If not, we need to hook them up with some. If you're tired of buying expensive sunglasses only to lose or break them, or you don't wear them because

you're afraid they're going to get dirty. You need to check out Shady Ray's an independent American-owned company. Start it right here in Kentucky. The premium polarized shades for every activity. And if you lose or break your shades, they'll replace them. No questions asked. Just go to ShadyR. Use the promo code KSR. You're going to save 50% off two pair or more

at their flagship location at the summit for its farm, or like I said, you can also go online to shady rays.com. I mentioned Brendan Bates to Vince Mero there. Some of you might have wondered what I'm talking about. He played in the Hall of Fame game last night for the Bears, undrafted free agent. Two targets, Billy? How many yards do you think he got when he was targeted twice?

Well, first did he catch both targets? I'm going to go, yes. He did. By the way, you guys were talking about it. How about 47 yards on two targets for the former cat, in Brendan Bates on a third and five. He picked up about 20 yards after the catch, running down the field. Showing down the field. Showing some quickness we didn't really see here in Lexington. So an undrafted free agent, Mario, Bates looking like he might have an opportunity to make that bear's roster.

Man, you talked about Vince. Coach Vince said there's eight to ten guys on this year's roster. I told you. You did. You called that perfectly. I'd love to see the tight ends get involved this year. We've been calling for that for how many years now? Every year. Every single year. So let's see it happen. Nobody wants it more than Vince. Bates looked good last night.

And on the other end, Lonnie Johnson, back with the Houston Texans trying to make the team. The Texans drafted him in the second round, I believe. In 2019, he kind of become a journeyman after a couple of years in Houston. He was even a Tennessee Titan last year. But Lonnie popped back up in Houston trying to make their roster. Unfortunately, he got dinged up on one of Brendan Bates' catch. Catches. Cat on cat.

Bates kind of ran over him, but otherwise I believe Lonnie had three tackles in the game. I don't know how he is with his health, but he did have a moment where he stayed down a bit. That's got to be a point of pride for Stoops being a former DB coach, and you see all these secondary guys go to the league and have success. I think of Mike Edwards the safety. I mean, Valentine was a guy that's now in the league. You could go down the list. And now with Maxwell Harrison doing so well and being the All-American talent that he is,

you've got to think he's next in line for that kind of success. We don't want to get carried away and overreact to a little practice things, but did you see the one-handed grab picture they posted at Max Harrison? Yes. Yes. How about that? A dude special. I'm a little thrown off. He's wearing a different jersey.

Wear one. That picture first popped up. I was like, who is this? And then it hit me. A lot of Kentucky legends have worn one in the past, so I don't know. All right. Well, we're going to, coming up against another break. As you can tell, we're a little thrown off.

We don't know who will walk up and crash our discussion. I'm just going to throw my notes away because we have not followed my list of topics. whatsoever. But this has been a fun first hour of Kentucky Sports Radio. Stick with us when you come back. Lots more football talk from the Nutter training facility on campus. 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 acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some

retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves.

themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and 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, this linebacker walks up to me, he goes, A ref, my mom wants to you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue with 42.

Hey, Wreck. My mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Cliverts show on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.