KSR - 2025-11-21- KSR - Hour 1

Episode Date: November 21, 2025

Matt, Ryan, Drew, and Shannon discuss the issues plaguing Kentucky Basketball and take your calls live from Parlour Pizza in Lexington. 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Comedy Off Broadway and Lexington. Welcome Cincinnati native and club favorite Josh Sneed, November 14th and 15th. Then catch the return of AGT finalist Preacher Lawson, November 21st through the 23rd.

And November 28th and 29th, don't miss the Queen of Comedy in Lexington's own, Adele Givens. For tickets to all comedy off Broadway shows, call 859271 joke or visit ComedyoffBroadway.com. This is Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now here's Matt Jones. Welcome, everyone. It is Kentucky Sports Radio Friday, November the 21st. I'm Matt Jones here at Parlor Pizza right off of Herodzburg Road in what would you call this shopping center right here? This is Turflin. Turflin Mall shopping center on a rainy day.

It's been raining for a week straight, but we are here. Great crowd at Parlor Pizza, which has been claimed by many to be the best pizza place now in Lexington. Many locations, Shannon, in our home of Louisville, Kentucky, but now here in Lexington. And, well, it's where flavor meets fun. Did you know that? Sounds fun to me. I can't wait to try the hot honey. pepperoni hot honey pepperoni pizza is here and i'm sure a lot of the folks are going to try that

when we're here they've got a breakfast pizza until then and you can come and join us 859 280 2287 on the clark's puppet shop phone line a vision auto glass text machine they say i say it too fast so 772 774 5254 in this dish and sponsor by the t j smith law office if you call tj he'll make them pay it's rainy and kind of disgusting and has been for a while and i think it's going to be weekend, but nevertheless, this is our last dual football basketball weekend of the year, Ryan. Football season's almost over. Are you sad it's ending? You know, it's kind of weird how I have flipped.

I am more looking forward to that football game tomorrow than I am the basketball game tonight. I probably wouldn't have said that a couple weeks ago, but I'm excited about the football game tomorrow. You are. You're excited. Yeah, I mean, you know, it's going to be tough. We're going to be an underdog. We're a touchdown underdog already.

But just to see them on the court and the field when they've played the last three games, I think Vandy may be overlooking us a little bit. I think we're a trap game for Vandy's sold out. We're a trap game for Vanddi. He's trying to get into the playoffs. There's no trap games. We got to see next week. Yeah, I honestly hope we beat Vandy just to shut your smug mouth up again.

You have been way too trash-talkie to be a Vanderbilt fan. This is your last nerdy year of excitement that that football program will ever have. And I would love, just like I would love to shut up, well, the Louisville people aren't. dragon anymore. So now I think the thing left to do is shut up your protractor dork mouse down there in Nashville. You're a mistake in me for Diego Pavia. He's the one that talks all the trash. I don't consider him a dork. Diego Pavia, you all, as I think Drew said, he must have taken online classes. That guy is not, he is not a real Vandy student. Wait until he comes back for an eighth year next year. He keeps suing, so he's the guy in the Walmart parking lot 10 years after he graduates

high school cruising around. But Drew, I think we have a shot tomorrow. Maybe I'm just delusional, but why not? I think we have a shot. I'm actually expecting a rare shootout for a Kentucky football game. I don't think they're going to be able to stop Pavia, and we've seen that offense turn the quarter in the last three or four games, and I think we're going to have a little bit of a bolly Pavia shootout down in Nashville. I actually do too.

I'm with Ryan. I'm looking for the game, too. We are here at Parlor Pizza where there is pizza, I would hope. If you come and join us, you can come sit with some of your KSR fans, order food. I've been asked a lot, Ryan. I want to make something clear. I've been asked a lot. Have we forgotten the Ryan has to eat out by himself?

We have not. It's been really a travel circumstance. I have not been here. And the next week, of course, is Thanksgiving. I'm now maybe targeting the week after Thanksgiving. But I want you to know you're not out of doing that. I know you thought if you didn't mention it, nobody would do it. But you're not out of the week of going and eating by yourself.

I really thought it was going to be one of those Matt Jones ideas, like the camp out, the wadi werewolf, 24 hours in Ryan Radio. I thought this was going to just kind of slide in that ether and we all forget about it. It still could. Don't worry. It's not. I'm not going to let it because I have people reminding me. They want to see you be alone

for a period of time. So I just want people to know. We have not forgotten it. And I want you to, maybe you can get some practice this weekend. Well, I did have a little practice last night. Yoga Girl had something to do, so I went to the opening of the Festival of Lights at Applebee's ballpark. I saw that. What was that?

Well, you know, like they've got the Christmas light at the horse park you have to drive through. This is similar, but you walk through it. You park and you walk through the ballpark. It's really kind of cool. But I had to eat by myself there. Even though a lot of people around, I still ate by myself there. Did you go to the holiday show by yourself? That's much worse than eating out alone.

I went to the holiday show by myself. I walked through the thing by myself. Yeah. So that counts. There's one down. No, that doesn't count. But that is sad in its own way. That's much worse than going to dinner.

Well, it's better. I went to dinner at a restaurant and ended up, Shannon, with a dude screaming at me the whole time, which was, which, that's a people, that's a rare experience. But there was a drunk guy at the bar just screaming, Matt Jones, and then he would laugh, like he had said the funniest thing in the world. And then he just got, and then he waited a few couple minutes, he'd go, Matt Jones, and then he would just. Sounds like a pleasant experience.

Did you at least take his picture? No. I mean, I contemplate, I sit there and go, okay, because there's like an ancient, angel and a devil on my shoulders there's like my mom going don't give him the time of day this you would just be acknowledging him but like my mom is right yep and then there's the devil going i want to embarrass this dude and maybe take his picture and i but i ended up i let it i let my mom went out and i just uh i left and so what are you going to do see you're just to that level now where you can't even go out in public without getting heckled normally it's totally fine i don't know

I don't know why this guy. He was particularly rude. But nevertheless, we're here today. And like I said, dual weekend basketball tonight, football tomorrow. One of the things I was going to ask is which one you're more excited about. Ryan is clear it's football. Yep. For me, it's football.

Is anybody basketball? I'm basketball. I mean, I am excited about football, but I'm just looking at what's in front of me. I'll get to football in the morning. I know we won't get any questions answered tonight, but I just need a good taste in my mouth. I need some joy around Kentucky basketball. Assuming this is a blow. out, I just need to smile again with that team in Ruff Arena.

Yeah, so they had to Pope Press Conference after it was over. I think really two or three noteworthy things about it. One, he basically said, you know, and this is going to be my last time bringing it up, because I do think fans are kind of exhausted of it, but it is worth noting. He tried to close the book on the Louisville thing by saying it was nothing, which, you know. Don't believe you. I don't believe him either. to be honest. I love you, Mark. I don't believe you.

You don't bring something like that up and then go, we're going to tease Taylor Swift, let you think about it, and then go, hey, why are you all wondering about it? What's going on? Like, he started that. It's fine. It is what it is. I do think it's not productive for it to keep being brought up. But that's on him. That's a screw up on his part. Second thing he said, though, and I do think this is a little different and important, is he said there are no chemistry issues on the team. He was like all the talk out there about them not liking each other, et cetera. He said that is not.

true. Now my inclination is going to be to believe him, but then I don't know. What do you think about that? I've never heard a coach say we have chemistry issues in the locker room. What are you going to say? What else would you expect him to say? Like you said, I don't believe that

there's nothing to it because if there was nothing to it, why bring it up at all in the first place? So clearly there's stuff with that. He didn't bring up that they had chemistry issues. He brought up that something happened. The fans have created and I'm not saying the fans are wrong. I'm just saying the sort of rumors about chemistry are like people like us watching their body language, right?

And then fans, these kind of stories. My thought about chemistry, Drew, has always just been watching them on the court. They don't look like a group of guys who kind of love each other. I mean, that could be wrong, but that's what it's looked. That's where mine come from. Yeah, I'm the same way. And we have multiple friends that are at that game in New York. It's just not what's on TV.

They're just looking at them. They're looking at Michigan State, a team that's playing for each other, and they were looking at Kentucky, a team that wasn't. And so there's been times, there's been an open guy, and he doesn't pass it. You know, that could be nothing. But it's just from a basketball standpoint, there's no chemistry. And then I worry about even the team liking each other, but they're not a cohesive unit right now. There's no debating that, whatever is going on.

I talked to two different people that were sitting Ryan, like, court side in two different places. And they both had essentially the same art thing. They were like, there was apparently an incident where Brandon Garrison and some teammates, yelled at each other, not like in a fighting way, but in a arguing way. But the bigger thing was they were like, they don't communicate, they don't seem to talk. And then I heard some, like, Mark Pope sort of being a level of upset you don't see a lot. I mean, I don't think you can act like things are rosy right now. Whatever the case is, I don't think they're rosy.

We can all look, I mean, we're basketball bennies, we can all look. Something is off. Something is just a little off. And I think it's a combination of everything you said. Maybe Pope has backed it out of character. Maybe they had a little issue in the locker room. Maybe they're being a little selfish on the court. Maybe losing Jalen Loves put him into a tailspin.

I think it's kind of maybe a combination of all that. Well, let's talk about a couple other things from it. First of all, he said that Brandon Garrison is the second most efficient player on the team right now. Which, I don't know. You wouldn't think that watches the games. I'm a numbers guy. Like, I'm a big believer in. If the numbers say it, the numbers say it.

Like, sometimes I don't like when people argue with numbers because I'm like, numbers are objective. I don't know if these numbers are objective. You know, maybe if you include the games against the bad teams, he's done really well against then. But he was very adamant. Look, Brandon Garrison's the second-most efficient guy. He's done a lot better than people realize,

so I don't think this is a guy, Drew, that he's going to be out of the starting lineup soon. No, and this is the Pope's speak we knew we're going to get. Everything is always perfect and rosy. Like, someone asks about Brandon Garrison, You can say he's not playing as well as we need him and he's to get his button in gear, but he spun it to, oh, but his efficiency numbers. Like at some point, we can be a little negative.

We have eyeballs. Like, let's call it like we see it. We don't have to put a positive, beautiful, extraordinary spin on literally everything. Okay, so with that point, I had some people write me last night. You tell me what your thought is on that and say that they feel like you are, are, I don't know, they said turning. I don't believe you're turning on Pope, but that you have like a lot of negative. about the Pope experience right now.

Would you agree with that? Hell yes. Did you watch the last two games? My God, we were down by 20 in our only two meaningful games. I'm not saying fire the guy, and I still think it can get corrected, but I'm not going to act like that was a fun eight days we just went through at all. And I'm also annoyed. You don't usually get like this, though.

I mean, you're not, this is not your normal. We also don't go down by 24 to Louisville. Like, it's strictly basketball and then acting like it's fine when it's not. It can get fine. This is all just me reacting to the last eight days. But my other big complaint, he keeps saying we flipped a switch too early. Why are we flipping switches for marquee games? Like, shouldn't they already know this is Louisville?

Why is there a literal switch? Right. All right, guys, let's get ready now. No, they should have been ready weeks ago. But you're not used to. So I also don't want to hear a flip switch again. I'm just, you know, for long-time listeners of this show, I think they know, like, they know all of our personalities.

And this is a lot more worked up than you usually get. Okay, let me remind you all. We were down by 20 in the only two games that have mattered. All right, I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm not saying you're wrong. But you would agree. This is not a normal, Drew, react. It's not normal being down by 20.

Which is why Drew's got Pope fatigue already. Well, it does sound like that a little bit. It does. You know, I think the listeners that were reacting, I mean, do you have Pope fatigue? It's not Pope specific. I don't know if I'm not making my point. We've played two games at the tip we weren't in.

I think you're making your point. But like, I can't act like that's fine. We don't do that at Kentucky. We've never done that. When have we been down by 20 to Louisville? No, we, uh, but I don't know. Exactly. So, yes, that's what I'm reacting to.

Yeah, I mean, it's a long time. Me and Pope are good. I wish we'd stop flipping switches and, and it's beautiful, right? You all speculate. I'm down. I'm tired of being down by 20. It was quite embarrassing when Michigan State puts their walk-ons in at the end of the game because they're beating us so bad.

Exactly. When does that happen? It should never happen. Very, very, very real. Well, I am concerned not so much about Mark or the state. I'm concerned that this team's just not very good. And that's what worries me is that I'm sitting there looking, and I think that text message I got sort of looked,

I had this inclination back in July, but my saving grace was that Jalen Lowe I thought was going to be a star. But I just wonder if we just don't have enough good guys. I mean, Rick Petino said yesterday, and I thought this was a really interesting comment, and maybe we'll talk about it later. Rick said college basketball is better right now than it's been in 25 years. And I actually think that's right. I think a lot of people like to complain about NIL, and I think NIL has had some negative effects on football. But when it comes to basketball, the quality of play is better now.

You got guys staying longer, the thing everybody wanted. Everybody wanted people to stay long. Without, they're staying longer. You got foreign players coming in that could have been pros, and in some cases were pros, and they're now coming in. The freshmen are now skipping G-League in overtime. They're coming. This is more talent in college basketball than has existed.

And if you watch some of these other games, like even last night, Wake Forest played Texas Tech, and it was a great game. and you watch these games, and then I go, are our guys good enough for this? Like, I see Illinois's got like five guys who can take people off the dribble and score and hit threes. And I'm like, I mean, are we good enough? I don't know. And so that's what kind of worries me is did we accident,

did we sort of stack a team of role players with two stars that are hurt and a third guy in a way that's just not doing his thing? I don't know. We're going to find out. We've got a tough sled ahead. We do. St. John's, North Carolina, Gonzaga. That's kind of what worries me.

859-28027. We are here at Parlor Pizza. Ryan Lemon, who soon will be eating by himself, a worked-up Drew Franklin and a regular shade in the do. We'll take a break and be right back. This is Parlor Pizza. No, 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 SportsSlice 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. 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 Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

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

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or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio. 859-280-2287. It is fascinating for me to read the text machine and read fans' reactions. First of all, it seems like a lot of people agree with Drew. You can call me Frank today. I was about to say, well, that's what the person says. Is this Frank Frank? Frank's here at Palo.

He's a legacy from the Caliparia. What's funny, though, to me is there are, in literally back-to-back text, Shannon, there are people that complain that KSR in general is both too negative and two sunshine pump. Oh, really? Wow, that's a reality. Which really just means that for those people, they just want you to reflect whatever their opinion is. They just want to hear it right back. Whatever my opinion in is the right opinion, give it back to me.

I am surprised. I'm both surprised and not surprised we're struggling. I'm surprised we're struggling by so much. I didn't think Mark Popatines would lose by this amount of points to teams. But I am not surprised that with Otega O'A not playing well, Ryan, we're struggling so much. Because I still, I said all year, we're only going to be good if Jaylon Lowe's good, and we don't have Lowe, and Otega has struggled.

Now, we had some good news, I think, about Lowe yesterday. Yes, we did. Which is Pope said essentially we're going to work and we're going to try to give it another go or something like that. So that says to me he hasn't given up on the season, which I assumed he would have, to be honest. So I heard that as he's going to try to play again, and that's good. Is that how you heard it? That's exactly how I heard it. I think we all heard before the Michigan State game that was the other way.

He was leaning towards surgery. Maybe that game kind of made him want to come back and help the team. He saw how pitiful they were without him. They were. They were. He makes a difference the minute he walks on the court. He just, you know, the offense just runs better, more efficient. But even without him, Oteg is still the key, man.

He has got to snap out of this. But I think he turns some of those role players, Drew, into really good players. Like a guy who's a third option, it's harder for him if he's the second option. But if he gets to be the third option, right? So if Denzel Aberdeen is the dude you're leaving open to guard O'Way and low, okay, now wait a minute. But if we're all standing around waiting on Denzo Aberdeen to score, I don't know. So like at Florida, he got to be that guy because Walter Clayton and those guys were getting

and he got to kind of be the third, fourth option. Maybe all these guys are meant for a role that with low out and Oway not playing well, they don't get to do. Yeah, and, you know, I know we got used to the one and done and guys just aren't what they are, but guys are supposed to get better each year. And I know a lot of these were just role players, but when you, Lock him in, you're hoping they get better, and two of the starters have not only not gotten better, they seem to have gotten worse, and that is a huge problem.

That's a really good point about this. We got so used to one and done that whatever we saw, that's just what they were. Guys get better. Like, Colin Sandler. O.A. is a perfect. I don't know what O.A. was like as a freshman, but he wasn't probably what he is. So, you know, I will say that, Jamal Mashburn, and then we'll move on. Jamal Mashburn was on a different game last night,

and he's sitting with, I mean, there's a lot of people with Kentucky connections. Adam Lefco is the host, used to be in Louisville. Mashprin's on there, Bruce Pearls on there, Jaylen Rose and his steak hair are on there. And Mashburn said they're not playing like Wildcats, they're a team that with a bunch of kitties. And basically said, you need a dude. That was just what Mashburn was saying, you need a dude.

And he was like, none of these guys look like a dude. dude. That's kind of what we've been saying, Ryan. But it was interesting to hear Maspern, who was certainly a dude in his day, say that. So the optimistic Kentucky fan might say, Matt, the calendar does still say November. There's plenty of time to turn it around. But who's the dude? If Jalen Lowe doesn't, let's, I mean, if we're being, this is why I'm worried. If Jalen Lowe doesn't come back, who's the dude? It's got to be Otega, man. Don't you think it's got to be there? I don't know. I don't know if he's a guy. You know what Jayton Quaintons comes back.

Can he be that guy? Maybe so. Maybe. He'll certainly help defensively and rebound. He will help with that a lot. You know, assuming Jaylon Lowe will come back and that's a big assumption. But if he does and if Quaintons, you know, recovers, I want to see what this team looks like fully healthy. Then I'll judge the team.

I'm going to reserve my judgment until that happens. I will, too, if you promise me, they'll be fully healthy. We haven't seen Jay and Quentin play a game yet. Right. And we don't know about Jalen Lowe, so we'll see. Who's up first? State 5-9-2-80-22-87. Adam.

Adam. Adam. Go ahead, Adam. Or don't. Who's next? Bryn. Brin. Go ahead, Brent.

Hey, man. Thank you for taking my call. I was listening to Jack last night on his sources say, and he was talking about Mark's inability to read the room, like with the fan base in his post-game press conferences. And then he went into how this is affecting recruiting. And he gave, you know, like some examples about, like, how it's carrying over, like, into the recruiting area. And I was wondering if you had heard anything like that. I'll hang up and listen.

Well, I have not. I mean, Jack, I don't do, like, I don't talk to high school kids or coaches anymore. So I can't. Jack would know that a lot better than mine than me. you know there's always been this question about well how does mark relate to to players etc is there because you know i mean he's shanning kind of a corny guy like so how does that how does that work my view has always been judging by what he brings in now we haven't brought in a superstar yet and so you do wonder about that so i can't say

about the recruiting thing um i still think rye fans still really love the guy. And I think he's done a really good job of reading the room, except the last eight or 10 days. So I don't want to just say, like, make these grand pronouncements that he doesn't know how to talk to fans. I just think he's had a bad couple weeks. Yeah, and we talked about that whole Louisville pregame incident. He's the one that initiated that. He brought it up to us. We would probably never know anything ever happened. He didn't even say anything. I think he's too honest to a fault sometimes, and maybe he's kind of learning by fire that maybe there's some things that need to stay in the locker room.

that, though. He played here. He knows this fan base. But you also can just have a bad week. You can. You know, you can just have a bad week. Sometimes you're grumpy. You know, sometimes I walk out of this show and go, eh, I don't know if that's what I wanted to say. You know, and he only gets 10 minutes in front of us

three times, right? So, you know, maybe you just had bad days. We'll see. The problem is we're not going to know anything else until we play somebody good. And it's two weeks away until we do. We'll take a break here at parlor pizza. This is Kentucky's Sports Radio. 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. Welcome back, Tucky Sports Radio. Liam, you do a good job with the music selection. I do have to say. I mean, like, you know, you're no Shannon, but you do, you do a good job with the music selection, and Liam, I do appreciate it when you're there. I try to play and get the people going, you know. Well, I don't if it gets people go.

It gets me going. But I just like you do it on topic. We are here at Paro Pizza. It was named Best of Lexington, 2025 for their amazing pizzas. By the way, so congratulations. Those awards just came out. We won Best Wings, and we won Best Place to Watch a Game. Nice.

And this place won Best Pizza, and they deserve it. They're growing, got a location in Hamburg on Richmond Road, and they have a UK room right over here. It's a private party room that you could use to watch UK games or other sporting events. I know Drew has used it and is going to use it. So it's right over here. Before you folks that are here, leave. Make sure you go check it out.

Very cool room in there. Well, here at Parlor Pizza. We already have it for the Arkansas game. I'll be here. 859-280-2287. I don't want to make this all like complaining. So I also want to talk about a couple other things. I've got a question for you, Ryan.

All right. Let's go. The guy that's in charge of the transportation department. His name is Sean Duffy. He was on the real world or road rules. or one of those. So he's perfect to run the transportation department. He did an interview, and he said a bunch of things about the holiday travel season.

But one thing he said is he thinks people should dress up more when they go on planes. He said that if everyone dressed up more when we went on planes, it would be a better experience. Now, I know back in the day, like you would see those pictures in like the 50s and 60s. People would wear suits, or they would dress up and they would look really, you know, they would look like, they're going church when they go on planes. Of course, now people look like they just woke up going on planes. You like to fly sprint to a lot of places. Do you think that that would be, spirit? Do you think it would be better for people to dress up? And then if they, if you did, will you dress up to go on plane? Absolutely not. I mean, where else in our lives are we crammed

into a metal cylinder when you're sitting in the middle roll and you're trying to find a place just to lay back and put your head and put your elbows. You want to be comfortable, man. I'm wearing sweats and a hoodie and flip-flops and I'm being comfortable. But do you think if people dressed up, it would be like everybody would be more polite and civilized and it would be a better experience for everyone? No, make me more uncomfortable. For you especially, because you don't ever dress up for anything.

What about you? No. I mean, actually, I like when I see. It's usually someone a little older. They're there and they're in like a full suit. I have like a briefcase. It's kind of sweet when I see that, but I'm not doing it. I'm usually taking the first flight in the morning.

I usually roll out of bed and crawl into an Uber and get to the airport. I see all those pictures, Shannon, from like the 50s and 60s when people did dress up. And I don't know when that changed, because I can't think of a time in my lifetime that I've ever seen people not just look terrible on a plane. So when did that change? Because, you know. With the hippies in the 60s probably. He traded in their suits for tie-dye and, you know. I mean, I don't know that I'm the best person to talk because I wear a hoodie almost every day.

But like, I've talked about I don't like churches now. I don't like the whole wear jeans to church thing. But I don't consider planes like that. To me, planes, I don't know if me wearing a suit's going to make anything better. It's just going to give me a wrinkle jacket. Exactly. It's going to make you more uncomfortable. And if you're traveling, I'm all about comfort.

I don't really don't care how I look. I'm there for comfort. So you don't think that's going to change. I don't think that will ever change. Anytime soon. All right. Well, that was his job. I didn't know the road rules guys are transportation.

Yeah, Sean Duffy. He married, I think he married a woman from road rules. Or, excuse me, from real world. It was a road world marriage. The challenge, it was a challenge marriage. They did. They married together. His wife was on the one with Puck eating the guy's peanut butter.

Okay, that's back when I used to watch. Yeah, me too. Well, he's been all over the road. I guess it makes sense. That's true. He was on a resume. He traveled. He was perfect for the transportation department.

Who's up next? Otis. Otis, go ahead, Otis. How are you doing doing well? I'm not going to add that retort question. I haven't heard from you in a long time, Otis, so I want you to get that engine revved and start talking fast. All right, man, I just got two concerns. I'm a little concerned about Mark Pope, the last, I want to say, dating back to the tournament, the last big game, not the little game. He has got blown out, Tennessee, Georgetown, Louisville, and, of course, this last one.

So I'm a little concerned about that situation, hoping he can get that rectified. And my main concern is with, oh, wait. I'm thinking in my mind, this is my couple, you know, I'm really objective and this is my opinion. I'm thinking in my mind, he thought he should have went to the draft and should be in the NBA. He didn't want to come back to college because you guys think about it. He waited to the last second to declare he's coming back. But in my mind, he thought he probably was a better prospect than the mock bullet and some of the other guys that got drafted. So he's stuck in limbo like, man, I want to be here, but I don't want to be here.

I want to be here for the money. But at the same time, I want to go on to start my career. So what do you? I want to hang up and get you a opinion on that. Thank you guys. I mean, I get a black holiday and look forward to. Here's my secret for fans when you talk about wanting to be in the NBA.

Here's a little secret. Every single guy wants to be in the NBA. Every one of, every single one of them, all of them. So I don't care. Think about Reed Shepherd. You remember how everybody go? Reed Shepard's from Kentucky, and he loves his place. And he'll want, like, when he had a chance to go the NBA, what did he do?

But to the NBA? I mean, all these guys want to go the NBA. So I'm not going to hold it against O.A. that he wanted to go to the NBA. Right? We've had guys wait until the last minute, come back the next year and be great. You know, so Keith Bogans,

a perfect example. Tried to go the NBA twice. Got turned down twice, came back his senior year and had one of the best years for UK in the last 25 years. So that, to me, Ryan, is not an excuse for him playing bad

is he wanted to be in the NBA. All these guys wanted to be in the NBA. You know, Jalen Lowe went through the process as well. He wasn't picked, but I mean, like, or he wasn't going to be selected, but they all want to be in the NBA. It's like last year,

he played with like a chip on his shoulder like I have something to prove that I do belong here and I do be an NBA prospect. This year it seems like that that's missing and I don't know what between his years right now. He's just so concentrating on what the NBA scouts told him that you've got to become a net three point

shooter if you're ever going to play in this league and he thinks that's what I have to do come out and shoot seven, eight threes a game. I think it's a combination of that Drew and then there's a combination of the thing he was good at is hard for him because we're not making shots, we're not spacing the floor and the lanes he got last year.

Excuse me, he's not getting. And don't forget, Amari Williams used to be at the top of the key leading the offense, and Brandon Garrison doesn't do quite the same job at that maybe as Amari Williams did. And he had more shooters around him. I think that's a very big problem for O'A right now. I actually went back and watched his highlights the other day, and he would get the ball, and the second it touched his hands, no hesitation. I'm going to the rim, and he was finishing.

I don't know that he's done that once this year. I mean, he's attacked, but there's been some delay. We passed around the perimeter. You take a shot. I'll take a shot. He seems like a completely different player. And I get the caller's point, but I almost flip it the other way. I watched O.A. in the Combine.

He was playing really well. He should see Nichols in Eastern Illinois and be like, I am going to kill these guys. And he doesn't have that attitude. Yeah, he hasn't had it. He said 12 or 14 points, but we probably need him to have 20 or 22, like you were reading some of his box scores at the end of the last year. Who's next? Kenji.

Kenji, go ahead. Hey, guys. Thank you for taking my call. First of all, I heard you all. talking about more talent in the college nowadays. Do you feel like why you think we're missing out on that talent? Hopefully we can get a guy like Tyron Stokes. And then secondly, I'd like to say, how do you all feel about maybe moving,

I love Colin Chandler first of all, maybe moving him to second string and bringing in Jasper to start because I think that Colin will give us a boost off that second string because the second string is struggling. Well, I mean, if we don't have Colin, then I wonder who's going to make a shot. I think you do that. We've just made our shooting even worse. than it was before. I'm still starting Colin Chandler, at least at this point.

If you're just asking who deserves to be benched of the starters, it'd be O.A. I mean, if we're being real, if you want to take two starters that deserve to be bench, you'd be O.A. and Garrison. And then you'd start Johnson and Moreno, the freshman. So I would not take out Colin Chandler. Appreciate the call. Now, why aren't we getting the top guys? It's an interesting question.

It is. I mean, so you look at Reconnais. recruiting right now, we have yet to get a top guy not from the state of Kentucky. We've yet to do it. And that's an issue, especially this year in a class where his freshmen are really good. Like there's some really good freshmen. AJ Devons at BYU, Caleb Wilson at North Carolina, Darren Peterson at Kansas, but Cameron Boozer at Duke, the kid out at Arizona, whose name I forget.

But he's been, he's just as good as he's been really good. I mean, there's been all these dudes really playing. Then you go back last year to the portal. Donovan Dent, probably the number one player in the portal, ended up not getting him. The kid that went to Michigan, Yaxel, whatever, ended up not getting him. We did get Jalen Lowe,

but he was kind of our second choice at point guard. A lot of guys, the guy Ryan called incorrectly, Lamar Wilkinson. Why do you think when it comes, we've gotten a ton of really good players, but why do you think, I think we haven't gotten the great player yet under Pope. I don't know.

I get the question we can't answer. That's why these, like you mentioned the other day, there's these three top freshmen, Kentucky's got to get one of those three guys or the perception that he can't get anybody. It's just going to grow. Well, let's use that. I mean, we are kind of very, we're either one or two with like three of the top 12 players in the country. But like all the other non-players signed with their schools.

Why are the three we want? Why aren't they coming? Like, why is it all the other guys, teams are getting their guy locked up, Drew, and we're not? Like, why? That doesn't make sense. No, and it could be Pope's personality, but one thing I thought the moment he took the job is he does not play anyone over 30 minutes a game. We see it. Saw it last year.

We're seeing it now. He wants to play 10 deep. And if you're a five-star, number one, Stokes, either number two, number three, you're going to get 30 to 30-3. five minutes wherever you go. And whatever he's doing in the living rooms, what he's saying, I think just the way he shows he doesn't give people the minutes and let them kind of be the guy. That's what Jack Pilgrin thinks it is. I mean, Jack Pilgrim took the job because at BYU, everybody played about the same minutes

in the 20s. I think Mark Pope is too nice, too honest, to open. And say what you want about Calipari. He was a great salesman. I don't see that. Here's what's interesting, though. He's also, he's not playing some of those freshmen this year. and then he just lost two guys that they thought they were going to get.

Last day. I mean, he had a kid flipped from Arkansas to Maryland on the last day. That didn't used to happen. So I wonder if it's just fundamentally a different game and we haven't adapted you. It's not because of money. We got the money. Yeah. I'm worried they're using us to get more money from other people.

That might be true. Kentucky Skin Cancer Center. They just sent us a new travel skin care set right here for today. It's sitting right over there. We're all going to take it with us. They gave us the products that we had it. Owensboro before the live show. This holiday season, Kentucky Skin Cancer Center is giving KSR listeners 15% off a travel

skin care set. So go to Kentucky Skin Cancer Center.com. You want to know what's in it? What's in it? Cream, serum, it brightens your skin, makes you look younger. I expect you to use it. I'm going to use it. It's the travel skin care set.

Go to Kentucky Skin Cancer Center.com. Use code KSR, and it's a good gift for the men and women in your life a little travel thing let's pull out one of ours out there Billy so we can wake up Billy there you go Kentucky skin cancer.com promo code KSR that's your travel skin care. Hydrate, refresh. It's going to make me look like a

movie star. Slow down, right. Papaya enzyme, gentle cleanser. I like papaya. It's miracle cream. We will take a break and be right back here at Parlor Pizza. This is KSR. 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

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859-28027. Here at Parlor Pizza, Best Pizza in Lexington. And folks are starting to order the hot honey. pepperoni, is that right? That's right. Yep, these wings look amazing. I can't wait to try one of those. Looking forward to try it. One person writes, Matt, I'm for Frank Franklin. I think instead of paying 11 or 12 guys and being deep, we should pay six or seven dudes and then have role players. You know, I mean, we'll find out maybe that is the strategy. I don't know. I mean, but then we did that last year and then people got hurt and we were going, hey, I wish we had more players. I mean,

Remember, part of the issue last year is we were playing Travis Perry, and we're playing guys, and we're like, oh, now we're not good enough. So I don't know. I mean, I think whatever you do, the injuries can, what, the greatest plans of mice and men, what is it, best laid plans of mice and men, may not matter if you get hurt. Yeah, we've always said you can judge a team by how many NBA guys they got. We have none. That tells you right there, the talent level.

I mean, we'll have one when Jaydon Quentin plays, but he's not playing right now. Right now on the court tonight, we will not have one NBA player playing. There might be guys who develop in the NBA players, but there are no NBA players right now playing. And, by the way, there were no NBA players on the team last year. Like, real ones. I'm not saying those guys can't make the league and but, right, consistently making the league and being a game.

We didn't have them last year and we don't have them this year, Drew. It's just how it is. And as you said with the freshmen, I think this college basketball season is going to be pretty unique with how many stars there are. Even some Transfer Portal guys like Haggerty, who we could have gone after, and you had like 40 for Kansas State last night and just doing whatever he wanted. Do you remember the guy's name? What was it?

Magoon, Guaith or whatever from San Diego State. He had 24 in his last game, and if you watch it, you go, oh, he would have been nice. But maybe those guys will end up showing up for us as we go. 899-280-2287. I have a question for you, Ryan. Okay. Jenny Bus.

Do you know who Jenny Bus is? Owner of the Lakers. Owner of the Lakers. Yesterday, she fired her two brothers as the head of scouting for the Lakers. So her two brothers, Joey and Jesse, had kind of been running the Lakers scouting department, and she got rid of them and said, it was nice having you here, brothers, but get out. Now, presumably they all sort of own the team together, but she runs it. I don't know if dad, I guess dad selected her and said,

because I think in their TV show, the two brothers are both idiots. So they select the one. But do you think you could fire your brother from the team that you all own together? It's going to make for a very awkward Thanksgiving next week when they sit down and you look across the table and there's your two brothers and you fired both of them. I could maybe fire him, but I would reassign him to a different position. You know, like, let's move you down to a head of custodial services or something. Here's a Bob.

I think that's worse. I think that it's definitely worse. At least you're still employed. That's right. Could you fire your brother? Absolutely. I mean, if I want a coffee shop, he's the barista, no, you own the Lakers. They're going to be all right.

Like, let's find someone who can run this ship. I mean, they're million billionaires. Sorry, brothers. You had fun playing scout. Go do something else. I'm going to get some professional. But if you're Mark Stoops, can you fire your brother Mike? Yes.

Yeah. I never would have hired them to begin with. That's my thing. I wouldn't have been in that situation. But is that true? You all are acting all hardcore. I've seen you all like go above and beyond for, I've seen all of you guys, go above and beyond for family members. It's easy. We don't own the Lakers. It is theoretically possible to fire family.

But it's another thing Ryan to do it. Like I can't see you firing you. You can talk all the trash you want, but I've seen your relationship with your brother. It is hard for me to see you firing your brother. That's what I said. I would just reassign him. But what if he doesn't want to be reassigned? Well, then I'm going to make him be reassigned.

So you're going to fire? Well, so you got to, you have to move into the custodial services. Okay, stop with the custodial services. But like, do you? But like there's some cushy job in the front office. I'm sure he would like that. He's still getting benefits. No, he is upset.

Well, no, I'm not if you reassign him. I would reassign my guy. I'm telling you he's upset right now. My brother? Yes. In my hypothetical, he does not want to be reassigned. Well, it's that or nothing, Chad. You can't always get what you want.

Is your brother's name, Chad? Yeah. Oh, okay. I thought you were just making up a name and saying your brother was Chad. All right. I'm a casual Cowboys fan. They need to do this, too. I love that you all like having your family operations.

These are a billion-dollar businesses you're dealing. This isn't, this is even completely different than stoops and stoops. When I'm thinking you own the Lakers, yes, get out here, go find a hobby. Like, we need to actually win and have the best of the best here. You all would not have good family meals after a time. No, but we would have a good team. Yeah, and we would make more money. It's odd to me they did it because the Lakers are better this year than they've been in a long time,

which seems like a weird time to do it. Who's up next? Jake. Jake, go ahead, Jake. Hey, morning, Madden team. I actually have a quick comment for you and then a question about tonight's game. So to kind of piggyback off the discussion about not being able to land the top recruits, I think the diagnosis for that is actually pretty simple, and it's minutes per game.

Did you know that we only have one guy on our team playing more than 25 minutes per game, and that's Denzel Aberdeen at 25.4? So if you're, you know, Tyron Stokes or, you know, name your top favorite recruit, if you see that, man, you want to play and put on good film for the NBA. So I think that would be a pretty big deterrent for some of these guys, especially with NIL money. I think that's a perfectly, I think you're exactly right. I appreciate the call. I go back to Pope would look at the analytics and go.

Guys are not efficient unless they play 25 minutes. But you're exactly right. If I'm Tyron Stokes, I'm number one player in the country. Do I want to come play 20 minutes a game? Probably not. I will note, Cal did the same thing often, and he got guys to come, so you can do it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. On Humor Me with Robert Smygel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed the 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 SportsSlic on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo's Slice Life 12. and 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. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know.

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