KSR - 2026-03-26- KSR - Hour 2

Episode Date: March 26, 2026

More KSR Live from Opening Day in Cincinnati talking with Thom Brennaman. Also, the latest news and your calls.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Have a great day. I heart radio. 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, my mama want you to weigh better. What?

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Now, here's Matt Jones. Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio here. Hour number two at Great American Ballpark, Holy Grail, Reds opening day, Ryan Lemon, and been joined, happy to be joined by Tom Britteman, who stayed with us through the break. I got to tell you, Tom, two things. One, I got a text up text machine that says Tom Brindeman is proof, Matt, you do not have a voice for radio. I think they're right about that. It's very true. Because you have the voice for radio. Well, thank God for it. Still hanging in there after 62. We'll see what happens.

We've been very lucky, though, for a terrible voice, we've been able to make it work here for a few years. And then this guy right here, Tom, there is no bigger fan of your dad than this dude right here. Like he geeks out at just the mention of it. I sent your dad a text message while ago. They said he may be here. I have his number. He texted me back. I'm like, yes. Marty Brinnaman text me back. Where's he coming, by the way?

He's in the parade. Well, I know he's in a parade. He said he listens to our show. Oh, my goodness. Marty Brinthamon listens to our show. I'm set for life now. Absolutely. Have you ever done a Kentucky game? No. Never done a Kentucky game. The Big Ten games, ACC games, Pac-12 games, the old Pac-12, but never an SEC game.

I want to go back to that 9-11 thing you restored. I remember that World Series very distinctly. You called through the whole thing. You're on the Arizona Diamondbacks Radio. On the radio. Because on television it goes to the network. So tell me you go into New York post-9-11, and that takes a big symbol, that series, almost like America has persevered.

And we're going to keep. What was that like? Just being in New York. We played the first two games in Arizona. We won the first two games. We have Randy Johnson and Kurt Schilling, and we got a really good team. And so now we come in, and so Rudy Giuliani is the mayor of New York at the time. And we're roughly at this point about a month and a half removed from 9-11.

It's like late October because the World Series started a little bit late. Yes. Very late October. And so he was looking at that particular point in time with anybody that had any sort of celebrity to come down to ground zero and just to try and cheer up the guys that are literally digging through rubble. 10 stories of rubble to try to find bodies. And so he had asked the Diamondbacks that the team would come down there. So we landed in New York after an all-night flight after game two. and we get off the plane and the buses take us directly to ground zero.

Yeah. And, man, I mean, you couldn't believe it. What was it like? Was it still in the air? Oh, yeah, and smoke coming up still. Still? And the building where it had been blown up and subsequently collapsed, the Twin Towers. It was probably 8 to 10 stories.

of just the rubble from the buildings. Oh, my goodness. And there are people climbing those 10 stories, dogs, people, trying to see if there's anybody under there still alive. I mean, hour after hour, day after day, and this was six, seven weeks after the actual explosion. What was that like to process? I mean, you can hear it,

but what was it like to see it, smell it, be there? You know, Matt, it's like the old Jimmy, Buffett's side about, you know, don't try to describe the ocean if you've never seen it, right? You know, trying to describe what that was like, standing on a street corner where right in front of you, that is what is in front of you. And the whole world watched on television when that happened. And to be standing there, it was just, it's indescribable. and, you know, a lot of our players, well-known guys,

and we had a bunch of them because we had very much a veteran team of guys that had been great players, Cy Young Award winners, NDPs, Mark Grace. We had Luis Gonzalez, Steve Finley, Matt Williams, we had Jay Bell. I mean, we had a veteran team, but none of those guys had won a World Series before. So, you know, they put the team together. It costs a lot of money to come in there and try to win one. And even those guys.

and most of them at that point were in their mid to late 30s, you know, and I think everybody in the traveling party. And then so, you know, you do that. You're off day. The next night we come back, and you got to remember. I mean, everything is pretty much still at that point. By and large, shut down in New York. Are you nervous?

I mean, there were people who thought that might be a place for an attack. No, never, never for a second. But then we had a police escort our buses to go to Yankee Stadium and you're driving down some of the busiest streets in America, you know, Midtown, New York to get to the Bronx and just going through the streets and looking around and it's still almost kind of a borderline ghost town. It was just weird. But then when we got in the stadium at night, the atmosphere, the energy of people in that town that just needed that game. for just to feel better for a little while, you know. And then like you said, President Bush comes out, throws a strike, you know. I mean, that pitch, I say this all the time.

And the listeners know, politically, I couldn't be less aligned. But that pitch, I remember America needed that. They needed that. And then he threw a strike. Well, a perfect strike. A lot of people don't know unless you've seen that documentary. There have been a number of them about it. and so some people are aware of it now.

But when he went out there, he had on a bulletproof vest underneath his jacket. So, I mean, it wasn't like you or me walking out there and trying to do it, and the nerves and so on and so forth. But he was walking out there with this, you know, really heavy, thick jacket, which was going to limit, you know, how well he was going to be able to actually move. And I mean, he delivered a strike. And then you look up, the crowd is going. I mean, I can see it like it happened 10 minutes ago.

And you look up and that eagle is flying around. the stadium and the emotion and the crowd and then they actually had a real eagle they actually did it oh yeah yeah oh wow they uh the next three games they won for the first time in the history of the world series they won after trailing at the end of the eighth inning in all three games they won all three games in their lasted back but you all won the world series came back and beat them two in a row yeah that was the one the storybook didn't quite uh yeah yeah didn't quite get there all right so now you've done that right I mean, you've done Game 7 World Series, right? You've done one of the most famous college football games of all time, the Boise State Oklahoma.

Yeah. It's Clemson versus Boston College. How do you get yourself up for that? Oh, man, are you kidding? Well, you don't work. And it wouldn't have mattered if I didn't have a job for four years. I mean, I've always, and maybe it's from growing up and, you know, understanding how precious and few those jobs are. I mean, they really are.

You know, I tell my son, and he's in broadcast. at Indiana University, and he got a chance to broadcast all three of their games in the college football playoff on radio, student radio. And, you know, I've always tried to tell him, dude, I don't care if you're doing, you know, forget Clemson and Boston College. I'm in basketball. I know, but I don't care if you're doing whatever it is. Man, almost all the people that are watching that game wish they had your job. That's true. Almost every one of them.

Yeah, that's right. Not every one of them, but a lot of them. And so to get those kind of opportunities, never for a second do I look at it like to step down from what I used to do and why am I doing this? And although not a chance in this world. Your dad's a legend. What's it like to be a kid that then tries to follow a legend in the same profession?

Never, never thought about it for five minutes. Really? Not one time. And I've tried to say the same thing to myself. son, you're your own guy. Whatever you like, I can help you with some little things like my dad would be. If there were things about actually broadcasting I needed to ask him about, you know, would you think of that or would you have done that a little bit different, that kind of thing?

But no, never for a second thought about, oh, I got to live up to this or live up to that. And I give a lot of that credit to my mom, you know, rest your soul. But, you know, she wanted to make sure that, hey, don't get wrapped up in all of this kind of thing. and my wife, I think, does the same thing with our son in the same regard. Before I let you go, I am a red season ticket holder. What do we think about this season? Is it going to be what I hope last year would be the summer of Ellie? Are we going to have a big year?

Well, it's time. I mean, it's time for him to do it. You know, I want to get sick to my stomach when I've heard people around here on local radio talking about, you know, Ellie's the next Eric Davis. Well, right now he can't carry Eric Davis. jock so far so far i'm not saying he won't be able to yeah but i mean listen until you go out and hit 40 bombs and go steal 70 80 bases in a season you know then come talk to me about it and play gold glove defense yeah um which davis did in center field so i i'm i have no doubt crew de la cruz

is capable of doing it but now's the time that you got to put it together and you could say the Same thing, not only just about him, but about three or four other of those young guys that have come up at the same time. Because, you know, you go back to that group that won the World Series in 1990. I mean, they had Paul O'Neill. They had Chris Sabo. They had Barry Larkin. They had, I'm forgetting another, Eric Davis. They had all these guys that had come up, had their highs and lows for about two, three years,

and then all of them collectively and individually, bang. they all arrive really at the same time they put it all together and the team subsequently wins a world series well this group has a little bit of that in them you know you've got marty to a lesser extent shorter amount of time nonetheless third year now to big leagues you've got mclean who looked really good steer you've got stevenson you've got lelowlo you've got lodolo well yeah lodolo and green that's a whole different topic but but but yes it's time now for those guys to live live up to all the potential, quit talking about the potential, and make it into reality. Tom, thank you very much for doing this. I'm glad to have you on. Thank you. Look at how excited this man is. You've just made a fifth.

You guys got the best seat in the house out here. We do have the great seat. This is a great seat. Appreciate it. Hey, great to see you. Nice to see you. We're going to take a break. Be right back.

It's 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. 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.

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Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free. Have a great day. I heart radio. 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 line. You know these kids. This linebacker whops up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What?

Time out. Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, ref. My mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

That was an awesome interview. Listen to him to talk about the, I didn't know that he did the 9-11. I did either. I had no idea. That's, you know, that's, I was just telling Mario the story the other day about, about the last plane in the air. You know, we've talked about that over there, that there was a plane in the air on 9-11 where they didn't know whether or not it had been hijacked and they were trying to decide whether to shoot it down. Right. I was telling Mario that story.

I just, I'm always fascinated by all those stories, probably because I end up going to New York a lot. and I now know that area really well, so listen to him say that, I thought was really great. I loved hearing him tell the stories how, you know, the whole team went down there because they wanted to see it. You know, these are big league baseball players, but they're Americans, you know, and it affected all of us. I thought he was really open and vulnerable to talking about his time away from broadcasting.

Including off the air. I thought so, too. I never met him before. Don Franklin Auto. It's time to score big this month. Choose from over 6,000 new and C certified pre-owned vehicles. Go the distance with power train protection. slam dunk deals all month long at Don Franklin Auto or Don Franklin Auto.com.

If your parts need replacing, call Don Franklin Auto. It's Don Franklin Auto driven by family. We got Tall and Tiffany now here. Now, if we get Bill Cunningham on, I don't know if it's going to be quite chin and his lovey-dovey as that one was. No, probably not. But we'll see. We'll have to figure out what happens. You guys can bond over both being big red spans, though, today.

What is this thing right over here? Oh, the Florence yalls. I was like, what is, what is that head? Just like the water tower. Painting it like the water tower. All right, 859, 280, 2287. Are you watching Kentucky? Are you watching Arkansas tonight?

Are you watching? Are you pulling against Cal, pulling for Cal, not watching? What are you doing? I'm pulling against Cal, but you said the spread was eight and a half. That's a lot of points. That feels really high to me. That's a lot of points. So I'm doing Shannon a classic money-line hedge tonight.

There you go. I'm taking error. Routing against Arkansas. but putting a significant amount of money on Arkansas, so if they win, I feel better. I'm with you. That's what we're doing tonight. And at this point, I'm just pulling for the Johnny's.

They're my team from here on out, St. John's and Latino tomorrow night. I'm going to that game tomorrow or not. Oh, yeah. It's amazing how all the Big Blue Nation is now on board with St. John's because of Petino. I'm going. It's St. John's Duke. I'm not only going. I'm wearing a St. John's hat.

I'm wearing a St. John's hoodie. I don't know what's gotten into me. But I'm like, especially since it's against Duke. You've got to. What about the reports that if Donovan takes the Carolina job, John Shire might become coach of the Bulls? That's... Well, you said it could start a...

That would be interesting. I mean, that could flip that rivalry on its head. No doubt. You could go from... It looks like they found a coach who could replace Shishvsky, who's actually good, and then you could lose him... Just a couple years later.

You don't know what's next. and then Billy Donovan's at North Carolina. That would be amazing. That would be kind of... Well, you said it could start a snowball thing happens. Because Josh has from Chicago, I think, too. Uh-huh. Probably grew up a Bulls fan then.

Without question. That'd be a big dream job for him. And I would think he'd be a good hire for them because I think he's smart, and it seems like pretty good. And he's basically dealing with pros now, and clearly it's working. Yeah. I mean, the amount of guys who can coach pros and make it work, Cal was clearly one.

Looks like John Shire might be one too. And, you know, kind of that Brad Stevens mold where, you know, the coaching is not in your face. It's more analytics and kind of calm. I can see him working there. Do you, so you're pulling for Arizona? I am pulling for Arizona. You're pulling for Arizona? We're not pulling for Arkansas.

No, I know. I've got Arizona for no other reason my bracket. But, yeah, I don't want to hear of Cal. I'm going to tell you this, though. You write this down. If Arkansas wins tonight, they're going to, I think they're going to championship yet. I do. And I don't want that.

But they will win the next game. They will beat the winner of Purdue in Texas. Yeah. So I need Arizona to win. Just for me, you know, because I'm not trying to be a hater, but I don't think it does Kentucky basketball any good every game he wins. I'm pulling for Arizona, but I may bet Arkansas. To me, that's a lot of points.

I think that's a lot of points, especially when Arkansas's got a dude as good as they come. Who's next? Bob and James John. Oh, good. Great. 859, 280, 2287. Bob, it's opening day. I know, man.

The side show of the big show is going on down there on the river back. They're tearing down and long work all. Make room for that new bridge going up. Anyway, you know, you got talking to Tom. That's Tom with an H. You know, he spells his name with four letters, not three. Anyway, there's a statue of Marty. His dad, and some kid broke the microphone off,

but they're going to get a new one for 37,000. thousand dollars recast the new mold anyway we're going to see the Ellie get some uh home runs today and uh beat the stock all right i appreciate that's a classic bob call he really was shananan in the realm of bob in jamestown calls that was about as bob and james town call as you get right there took a lot of turns a lot of things he talked about the bridge being open a microphone broken a microphone broken what was the middle thing he said something maybe between. It was also nonsensical. I forgot about it.

Yes. What the heck did he say? Oh, he said Tom with an H. Oh, yeah, yeah. Which, by the way, I knew. It's like no one's ever seen that guy's name. You know, he spells it with four letters instead of three. I've heard.

I'm glad to hear. Almost like it's short for Thomas or something, you know? Yes. Bob and James down. Who's next? Rick. Rick. Rick.

Go ahead, Rick. Hey, guys, happy opening day. We're on the way up from Louisville. We're getting ready to hit Cincinnati out of here in about 50. minutes. Really great interview with Tom. Really enjoyed that. Thank you. As big as a Kentucky fan as I am, I'm a bigger Reds fan, and I absolutely just love opening day. And this might be the most excited I've been for the Reds in a really long time. I think a lot of people are really undervaluing how big a deal it is with Terry Francona being in his second year,

coming off his first year of making the playoffs. I think there's three keys to this team. I think three guys are going to have absolutely breakout seasons. Nobel Marte, Fowell Stewart, and Matt McLean. I think those three guys are going to have just unbelievable seasons. As long as our bullpen can hold up, I really like this team's chances to go a long way this year. All right.

I appreciate the call. Thank you very much. I didn't expect a Reds preview there. but that's okay. I won't go into my thoughts. We'll probably, I got plenty of time to be disappointed as the season goes on. By the way, where did you get that jersey just out of curiosity?

Like, that's not, first of all, what is it? What number is it? It's number eight, Joe Morgan. Okay. But it was my son, Michael's Little Lake jersey, when he was 12 years old, 12 years ago. Shannon, it kind of looks like a 12-year-old's jersey, both in, both in, um, the,

yeah, this is definitely. The fit is not ideal. Yeah. It's definitely 12 years old. The stitching looks to be coming apart, Shannon. It is. Three or four different places. Where does they get those clothes at the toilet store?

I mean, it is. I just, I'm going to, if you don't mind, I'm going to touch your body. Go ahead. Okay. Right there is a hole for me. Right here is a hole for me. Right here is a hole for me. And right here, the stitching seems to become undone.

If this shirt makes it through the end of the day, Mario, look at all the deformities this shirt has already. I don't know if it's going to make it through the day. Do you? But we've missed the best part. It's got my name on the back. It's got limit on the back. It's got limited on the back.

How many deformities? Oh, my, like there are multiple threads coming out of it. One, two, three, four. there's no way this shirt is making it through the day. This lady right here is laughing at you and she doesn't even know you. Well, I know. Let's, I mean. I used to play for the Reds.

This is my jersey when I played. Okay, who's up next? Let's go to Bryn. Brin, go ahead, Bryn. She totally believed me. She does not think you. Hey, Matt. I was looking at something on Twitter and it said Mark Post's average wins for the last.

10 seasons. He's won 21 games and he's lost 12. Don't you worry that he will be just good enough not to get fired but not to be able to take Kentucky to the level that he needs to take us to to get back to Final Fours and championships because I just can't imagine him coaching us to a championship game. I'll hang up and listen. Thank you. Well, that's a great question. Now, I actually can't imagine him getting this to a championship game, but I will tell you, consistently 21 and 12 is about the worst thing that could happen for Kentucky. Because he's right.

That's the kind of thing that makes you look unreasonable to fire him, but also isn't successful. Do you know what I mean? Yes. That's what Tubby was doing at the end. Exactly right. You know, it was like just good enough. but not what we want. And when Pope went on his coaching show the other night

and compared his record to the last four years of the Calera, that's just kind of what the caller was saying. That's just good enough. We don't want just good enough. We want better than that. It's tough because I don't want it to be the case. Like we've asked him to be more open. And you can't be the kind of people that are like,

we want you to be more open. And then when you're open, go, we don't like what you say. Yeah. Right. So this is our server if you want something. So I didn't like, though, the comparison to Cal because he was acting like mediocre is good. Yeah, like this is not good enough. He did kept saying that, but I don't know.

He got, did you see Seth Greenberg blasted him for it? I didn't see that. Did you see Seth Greenberg absolutely blasted him? And I don't like Seth. I'll take Mark over Seth, but he was kind of, I was like, he was like, you know, if you're going to pick cows last for you, Here's why don't you pick the 10 before that. Uh-huh. And there's something to that, to be honest.

Yes. So 859-280-2-807, we're going to see if we can get our guy Bill Cunningham to come screaming in a minute. We'll be right back. 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. I picked the wrong apparel for today, Shannon.

I didn't realize it was going to be 80 degrees. Oh, yeah. It's supposed to be like 86 later. Yeah. So I'm not to go in the Reds team shop and get a new shirt Because I'm wearing a black hoodie Sitting in the sun I couldn't have picked the worst thing

So I'm not to go in the Reds team shop and get something new You might, you know what I'm going to do for you? Because I love you Even through all your You-ness, Ryan I just realized the buttons on this shirt Are broken I'm going to buy you a new shirt

Where you and I are going to both And Mario has no Reds gear So I'm going to buy us all Reds gear Which is probably going to cost me $600 to buy three red shirts in the Reds team shop. But I'm going to do that for you and Mario. Because Mario right now is wearing camouflage pants and a black t-shirt. We need to get him in the spirit.

We do. I appreciate it, but, you know, I'm not a Reds fan. I know, but I can't keep seeing you wear this. But this is kind of, it means a lot to me. This shirt does. Because it's your son shirt. Yeah, it's my son shirt. I won't buy you a shirt.

I offer it. I wish I brought my shady race because it's sunny. Oh, yeah. Rays basically the same quality as those 200 sunglasses you used to buy because it's made with the same stuff, but it is just cheaper. Premium is the expensive brands, but a lot less expensive. Shadyrays, Shadyrays.com. They got it at Fritz Farm and Lexington, Oxmoor Center in Louisville, or go to ShadyRays.com. The way you would get with Shady Rays is to get great sunglasses.

Try for yourself the shades rated by five stars with ShadyRays, Ryan, and ShadyRays.com. Let's go over a couple of other little notes. Brett Setser, the donor who's been going after Mitch Barnhart. He's one of the knuckleheads about the contract. Really not even so much Mitch Barnhart. Eli Capoludo, he tweeted, I still haven't heard for President Capiludo since sending my letter this past Monday, and then he has a lot of emojis. Crickets.

Cricket emojis. Is Brett Setser? It sounds like he ain't going to drop this. He will absolutely not drop it. Like we said on the show this week, it's going to take somebody with a little power to kind of make something happen. He is that guy. He's going to keep pushing it to trying to make something happen. Yeah.

Listen, I said this the other day. It ain't going away. Nope. He's not going to let it go away. We were the first ones to mention it. Then Linda Blackford made a big deal about it. I don't think she's done. She's not going to let it go.

She's not done. And I don't think Brett Sensor's done. And I do think Brett has given permission for other people. who are UK donors to speak. I think now the question will be, will any of them do it? Right? So I do think in order,

I do think other ones are going to need to speak. I don't think it can just be Brett, but he is kind of almost now giving permission. Okay, the rest of you can now speak and let's see if they end up doing it. You know, he's a guy, all of a sudden you say, okay, I'm not going to give my money to UK football anymore.

You can't use my plane to fly your teams there anymore. But I don't even know if that's what it is. I think it's just, he's the kind of dude that likes to raise a ruckus. He's a Kentucky fan. But he's also, you know, some people are not ruckus raisers. I'm a ruckus raiser. You are? Really?

He's a ruckus rase. He is. And so I could see him continuing to down this pet. Yeah, like I said, he's not going to let it die. Somebody that's maybe leading the charge for other donors to follow. Yeah. Other donors that will follow. Other piece of news I thought was interesting.

The ratings for the first round and second round. the NCAA tournament came out. NCAA tournament first round. Kentucky, Santa Clara, the second most watched game of the entire first round, which is crazy to me, considering it was on at noon. On a Friday.

It was on at noon, and still number two, number one was Duke Sienna, of course, which is because Duke almost got beat. Yes. Then in the second round, Kentucky, Iowa State second most watch game next to Kansas St. John's, which of course had Ray Patino and Bill Self.

I bring that up to say it doesn't take over. Obviously, we'd rather win have national championships, etc. But, Ryan, anybody who wants to say, and I don't care who it is that says it. Anybody that wants to say Kentucky is not a marquee program or not a brand, I'm just going to say to you, go look at that. We were the second biggest game in the second round and the second in the first round, and we're the only team that was in both, okay? And both games were at noon.

And we were the only ones in both. Duke had the biggest first round game, but the third biggest second round game. Kansas had the biggest second round game, but like the 25th biggest first round game. We're the only team that was in both. And our second round game wasn't even that close in the second half, and we're still in. And people can say, well, they're watching hoping Kentucky will get beat. But that's what makes you a marquee program. Yes.

What makes you a marquee program is that teams want to see you. fans want to see you lose. Why do people watch the Yankees? They want to see them lose. Right. Why do people watch the Cowboys? Because they want to see them lose. That's part of it.

Why do we watch Duke? We want to see them lose. So are we the needle? Duke is probably the needle now. If I'm being honest, we have dropped the needle to Duke. But we're second. Still. And we're second without having made a final four in a decade.

If we can ever get back to doing that, we'll pass Duke. but I still, sometimes it's our fans that say it, sometimes it's fan of other teams, but we still are the, I would say number two marquee program in college basketball. I wish it was number one, but if I'm being honest, it's number two. Now if Carolina hires Billy Donovan, they're going to join us. Kansas is probably just a notch below that, but we're still there. So I do think that's important for people to understand, yes, I'd rather win, but we will not stop mattering.

Is that why CBS and the network put Kentucky's that first game to kick off the tournament. When the NCAA tournament bracket comes out, let me tell you what happens at CBS. CBS says who is Duke playing? Who is Kentucky playing? All right, let's place those in the slots that we want people to watch. Yep. Let's place those in the slots on CBS in the afternoons. Yes.

And then they go, okay, where's Carolina? Now let's put them up there. And then they start going, all right, let's see matchups. Oh, Bill Self versus Rick Petino, that's big. That's a good one. But before they do anything, where's Duke? Where's Kentucky? And that's what they do.

It's what ESPN does. Why do you think these national shows spend so much time talking about us? It's not because we're great. It's because we care and we're marquee. And that's why you're never going to convince me, at least now, that we're not Indiana. When's last time you've seen an Indiana game in a prime slot anywhere? 1980 but we still are so that's what i think is important for people to realize that's why they want to kick off the insane tournament put kentucky in that spot i think what they've realized is

because i saw this thing that duke and kentucky more and more the last few days have been playing the day games on thursday and friday because they take the mindset we're going to get people in the pattern of watching the games all day by kicking it off with kutki and duke and then everybody tunes in you keep them you turn you turn it you turn it you turn it you're You keep them throughout the day is, I think, the mindset. Who's next? Pat. Pat.

Go ahead, Pat. Hey, how are you doing? I'm just calling. Actually, I just moved back into town. Hey, but I watch the UK every game this season for the first time in a long time. Let's admit it. Hope is just not it. He works too much at numbers, and he can't even, I mean, my fiancé was watching the game,

and we were getting double teams, and nobody would even come up. He's like, why don't they come up with help him? He knows nothing. I mean, he doesn't have any game plan. I mean, I know he had those comebacks, and that's great. But they were come back. We should never had to come back from. I agree.

They weren't. We should have been beating all those teams. So, yeah, great comeback. But he's too busy putting it, and look at the court and figure out who should be in that game and who should it. So, I mean, we can say everything we want. And okay, and everybody, I know, say, okay, he played for us. Great, that's fantastic.

But, Matt, I heard you say a thousand times, don't pick somebody because they play for it. I agree. I agree. And he's not a Kentucky coach. And I went, you know, I went against my thing I've been saying for 15 years on this. And I still, look, he's our coach. So I'm going to support him. I appreciate the call.

And I think he's going to have another year and I hope it succeeds. But it's the thing about falling down early. the games, Ryan. It's not just this year. We did it last year, too. Like, this isn't just this year that we fell down. It's last year. We had huge comebacks last year, too, if you remember. Not more this year, but we had a lot last year. So I had a coach point out to me, you know, the assistant coaches are responsible for the game prep for getting ready for the game. Well, maybe we need to replace them all. And it sounds like we are. It sounds like, I don't know if it's going to be all, but I think there's going to be a decent amount replaced. And maybe that's the correct thing to do.

That was his point. You know, the assistant coach gets you ready for. for the game, head coach then makes the adjustments at the halftime a lot of times. Oh, look at these nachos. Oh, my goodness. Delaney, thank you. Look at this. Can I get another diet, please? I'm sorry, we're ordering on the air, but we don't have a choice. Who's up next? Let's go to Swag Sandwich. Swag Sandwich. How are you?

I'm doing good, guys. I just wanted to say this. I've not heard anyone say it yet. Why don't we look at like Ray John Rondo? Like adding him somehow to the staff. For the exact same reason that we just said about the former players. Why? Now, is Rayjon Rondo potentially a good coach? Maybe. And if Mark Pope believes he is, but what I would say to you is, if we're going to add Rayjon Rondo,

we should add Réjon Rondo, even if we would have added him if he went to Georgia. If you look at Rézhan Rondo interviewing, talk to him, and you feel like he's the best candidate, than hiring, but it can't just be because he went here, because that's what gets us in trouble, I think, when we do that. Well, I just think he would help a lot with recruiting. But you say that, but how do you know? I mean, like, has he ever recruited before? Maybe he would.

I'm not saying he wouldn't, and I'm certainly willing to give him a chance. But if I'm the coach, let's say I was the coach, I'd talk to Ray John Rondo, but Ray John Rondo would have to convince me that he would do better than anyone else. It can't just be because he went here. That's why I love the idea of like Tashon Prince when we were talking about him as GM. Because it wouldn't be just because he went here. He's gone and had success in the NBA. He knows the job.

Nazi Muhammad was the same way. When we talk about a guy like Rajan who might be awesome, but he's never done that before. So we're only bringing up his name, Ryan, because he went here. The one hook to get him, maybe you get early, recruitment of his son. Well, now that's maybe a reason. Yeah.

And if they wanted to bring him on. That was a point of mind, too. Yeah, no, that's a fair point. I really think that, no, I think that he could just get involved in some way to contribute. I'm not saying, I mean, you know, you see Coach K on the sidelines, you see self on the sidelines, you see these guys with these faces. And we don't have one. We don't have Rick on our sidelines or sitting in the sand.

We don't have a thing. If it's not an assistant coach, though, and I appreciate the call. Let's say he's in like a player development role. You know, because there are all these people on the staff we don't even know, like random guys. If you hired him for that, then signed me up. I'm for that. That's a different animal. That's a different animal.

But you only get so many assistant coaches. So I want to be careful with that. But if you're talking about just one of the player development roles, sure. Yes. He'd be great, for sure. Who wouldn't want to have a guy like that on your bench? NBA champion. Yeah.

Because, like, I don't think Tyler Ulyss is. an assistant, is he? I don't know exactly what his role is now in Arkansas. But like what Tyler Ulyss did? Did here. Yeah. I'm for. I'm for it if they wanted to have him in that role.

859-280-2287. All right, I'm going to go see if I can find Bill Cunningham, Shed. I don't totally know what he looks like, but I'm going to look like to see if it's an old man yelling at the garage. And if so, I'm going to try to bring him over here. We'll see what we can do. We'll take a break and be right back. KS.

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 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. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist,

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on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Turn someday into right now with Buddy by Jake Radio, nonstop workout music and expert tips 24-7. Hey, head over to iHeart.com. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free right now. Awesome health and wellness tips 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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

Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio. lady just came over here and said here's a picture we took nine years ago and then she goes you look so young the implication of course is that i don't look that young anymore but you're right but that's

okay well nine years ago you're in your 30s 50s now uh i'm in my 40s so it's a little there bill but cuttingham uh doesn't get here until 30 unfortunately so i was kind of looking forward to that that would be a good been a good segment a little back and for you Not don't I keep scaring this guy I'm sorry It's my bill cunning hand What do you

One person writes Matt what do you think about Buzz Baker Tweeting the UK Doge account Do you know about this whole thing Oh yes So there's a Twitter account

Called like UKY Doge Yes It ignores the fact That the original Doge was a failure There's my little

political comment But the The premise of it is He's giving the Behind the scenes of like stuff that he alleges is happening at UK. Oh, yes. He seems to be on the academic side.

He seems to be very focused on the U.K. healthcare. Yes, big time. That's why I thought maybe he was involved with that. So he tweeted something yesterday, and he starts analogizing what's happening with U.K. Athletics with U.K. health care. And then Dave Baker responds and goes,

can you talk? Which makes me wonder if like, because this is an anonymous person. Nobody knows who this is. I've tried to figure out who it is, and no one knows. Like all the journalists in Kentucky are behind the scenes going, who is this person? Like, I know, I mean, I've heard a lot of them ask.

No one seems to really know Dave Baker, for whatever reason, he's publicly trying to talk to the person. It's definitely somebody that's on the inside, and he's got some really, really good inside information. It seems like it. I mean, I don't know. You know, I haven't, I'm not sure if it's real or not. But when Dave reached out to him, can we talk, the guy. I think people think that that makes it seem legit, the fact that Dave reached out to him. And then the response was, I am Batman.

I think that was what his response was? I didn't see that. I don't think. I think this person's just going to stay anonymous. I do too. Kind of intriguing, isn't it? Who is the anonymous person? I just found it like a week or so ago, and I immediately called Drew.

Are you aware of this? It started a long time ago, but it has really picked up steam. Oh, my goodness. in the last cornbread hemp.com if you need to rest, relax gummies, oils, seltzers, it's all there to help you find your inner zen. It is cornbread

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Okay, all right. Well, cornbread hemp. Cornbreadhimp.com. I thought you got me worried about when I spilled. You were good. cornbread hemp user code KSR. We'll do our picks in a minute. We got time to take a call. Who's next?

Let's go to Hunter. Hunter, go ahead, Hunter. Hey, Hunter. Hey, Matt. So I wanted, with all of Billy Donovan talk, I wanted to remind everyone why Mitch Barnhart could not wait for Billy Donovan. That Friday, the swim coach allegation story was coming out. So he needed a hire to bury that story by Friday.

that's how we ended up with Mark Pope. Well, I appreciate the call. There have obviously been people over the years that have made that argument. Only Mitch would know the timing of it. But yeah, who's next? Let's go to Willis. Willis, I got about a minute. Go ahead.

Just want to thank Brad Setter for calling out the administration. I think he did. Other people need to step up. I also want to touch on. I hope North Carolina. does not hire billy donovan because that's who we need thank you appreciate the call uh yeah i mean listen people can get on the media there's two ways things happen people in media say it or people in important places say it the media did it with mitch now it's up for people in important places

brett sencer did it and now we'll see if somebody else does as well let me go over a couple things real quick for this week i am off tomorrow and next week just taking a few days of uh vacation. Billy is going to be on the show tomorrow. At various points, I'm letting Ryan drive for a couple days. Drew is going to drive for a couple days. We're even going to let Billy drive for a day. And then Jack Pilgrim and Nick Rouse will be on various days as co-host. So we'll hear a bunch of variety of voices. And we'll have people on here who know what they're talking about as opposed to just me and Ryan. I look forward to having Jack and Nick on because they're kind of more in the weeds and some stuff we've been talking about.

So be watching for that. So that'll be tomorrow and next week. Go to KS Bar, watch the games for this weekend starting tonight. We'll have them. We've got a lot of specials going on. And I'll be back after that. So I've got like I'll be gone for six shows and then I'll be back for quite some time. And we'll look for you at the St. John's Duke game.

You go to Draft Kings. Use my promo code KSR. You can bet on Draft Kings. Bet five get $200. Shannon, what's the thing? If you have a gambling problem, 1-800 gambler 18 plus Kentucky only eligible your strict supply bonus bet to expire seven days after issuance for additional terms responsible gaming resources dkngg.c0.c0.0.com.com.

All right he's good at Arkansas and Arizona. Arizona is now only a seven-and-a-point favorite. Who you got? I'm still taking Arkansas to cover. I think Arizona wins, but I'm taking Arkansas to cover. Purdue and Texas. Yeah, I can never bet on Purdue. What's on what the spread is? I don't. I can't point out. Seven and a half. Texas covers. I like Texas. I like both Texas and Arkansas to cover. Maybe even to both win, but certainly both to cover. I guess what? Houston, Illinois.

Is that right? Yep. Houston's a two and a half point favorite. I like Houston. I got Houston winning. Remember, they're on home court, too. And right, it's at Houston. Nebraska, Iowa, Nebraska is a one and a half point favorite.

Give me Iowa. I like the underdogs in all these except Houston. See you later. This has been Kentucky Sports Radio live at opening day. Go cats and go Reds. We'll see you later. 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 headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Turn someday into right now with Body by Jake Radio. Nonstop workout music and expert tips 24-7.

Hey, head over to iHeart.com. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free right now. Awesome health and wellness tips 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Remember, stick to the fight. When your heart is hit, it's when things seem worse that you must not quit. Don't quit. Body by Jake Radio, where hope meets momentum. body by Jake Radio and stream it for free. Have a great day. I heart radio. 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 walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out.

Quarterback on office blue 42. A rep. My mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey, Miss Parker. Listen to the Clipper Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.