KSR - 2026-04-16- KSR - Hour 1

Episode Date: April 16, 2026

KSR is Live at KSBar & Grille talking Zoom Diallo's commitment to Kentucky and take your calls on "Ask Anything Thursday."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

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their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the Iheart Radio app.

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Comedy off. I'm Matt Jones here on another beautiful day in Lexington, Kentucky. We are at the KS. Bar and Grill where tonight is trivia. Yes, I am ready. You say you got the team that's going to win. Yeah, I'm not just bringing a team. I'm bringing the winning team. I hope you all out there will get your team.

I'm working on questions all day today. You can get in here and get a spot perfect weather. Couldn't ask for a better night. So come on out. That's at 7 o'clock. I think even I have some friends coming that don't normally do it. So Clark's puppet shop phone line 859-280-2287. A Vision Autoglass Text Machine 7-7-7-2-75-4.

This edition is sponsored by the T.J. Smith Law Office. You call T.J. He'll make them pay. Ryan, I am tired because I went to the Reds game last night. You saw a heck of a game, though. Kind of a fun game to watch, wasn't it? That was great. Ellie hit a home run that it's still going.

That was fun, and they scored. You know, they don't score a lot. So they scored, and Sal Stewart hit two home runs, and I got to, it was a great time. Red still got to fix the food situation there. The food is so bad. But besides that, great experience. So the food situation is bad. Your seat has a rip in it.

But it's still peaceful to sit there. Like the weather last night. Perfect. I mean, not too hot. Yeah. You just sit there. You enjoy. And I like the midweek games because not many people there, so it's like no lines.

That part I like. Well, it's just kind of fun. They just don't have any good food. If you go to these other stadiums, they have great food. And then there, for some reason, you know, it's the same hot dog. If they didn't have Skyline Chiliconies, I would buy protest. Do they have you, are other places around the stadium? Like, have you walked around the stadium?

Yeah, no, they got a lot of stuff around. Was there any different food? In the stadium, it's just not very good. It's Ask Anything Thursday. So here's the deal. ask anything. You can ask any question, and we'll do it, start in the next segment. 859-280-2287, or if you have questions on the text machine, 7-7-2-7-4. I also have two tickets. The Reds play at 1240 today. I can't go.

So I'm going to give my tickets away. Mario, if you tweet Mario with your email address, before the end of this segment, Mario will pick which one. So if you can go, the games at 1240, tweet at Mario, just send your email address, and Mario will pick a winner. Somebody can get behind home plate tickets for the game today at 1240. And I think it's supposed to rain later this afternoon, but I think right now it's going to be perfect. And you get Chase Burns.

You'll be right behind. He throws 165 miles an hour. See, I'm not a Reds fan, but I'm a Chase Burns fan. I think that guy's going to be a superstar someday. Now, we have this couple right here. This woman, we found out she is pregnant. Yes. She told us something that I was surprised.

She's pregnant. Doesn't look like a day over 20. But she has a 22-year-old and a 17-year-old. Oh, you haven't said, but you have a 22-year-old. So you had a baby 22 years ago, and you're about to have another one. And I was like, that is impressive. I got to just give her a little round of applause. That's amazing.

Good for you. That has to be one of the larger gaps that I can think of in years. And nothing in between. She's like, just 22 years later, I don't. I think I'm finally ready for the second one. But you look great. Six months pregnant. It looked great, fantastic.

So continue doing well. So 22 years is a long time. Yeah, it is. And I think that got me thinking about, you know, if I were to have a kid now. Yeah. There's no gap because I didn't have one 22 years ago. But that would be so. Can you imagine just yelling and yapping and all that where, you know, obviously the Drew situation.

we have going as well, but he's younger than me. It's scary. Specifically to me? Yes. Why? If you had a kid right now. Why? Well, no offense.

No one of, you know, make you upset, but you got a lot of me. He's getting nervous, Shannon. I can see it on his face. You got a lot going on your world? You've still a child yourself. Yeah, but I mean, I don't think I would do it by myself. There'd be somebody else there. Yeah.

What, a nanny or the mama? No, I mean, hopefully the mother. I mean, I don't think. you would, I don't think I'm just going to end up with one. Yeah, but you got to contribute. Yeah, it takes two. I understand. I thought you all would be

more supportive of the theory. I mean, it's not going to happen, but. There's something you want to tell us? No, there's nothing to tell you. I'm just, it was just a... I'm sure this cup right here didn't think it was going to happen, but here we are. What do you mean you don't think? You're saying they, you don't know their plan? Just from talking to them. Oh, you didn't know. Okay, well, I'm sorry.

Oops. Well, hopefully they Hopefully they're not listening on the radio. 859-280-2287. All right, so since yesterday's show, a ton of stuff has happened. Just every hour. Something else was happening, it seemed like. So let's just go through here.

When the show ended, very soon after Rob Wright picked to stay at BYU. Correct. Panic ensued. Yes, it did. I mean, there were just hours of people saying, you know, a lot of stuff. a lot of people overreacted. I just, I basically logged off for a little bit after he did it.

I will say one thing was funny, which was people were doing memes or jokes about what a visit to UK was like under Mark Pope. And one person said, as soon as they come on campus, Mark makes them watch Andy Griffith. I did think that was funny. Well, you and Shannon like Andy Griffith.

I do, Shannon, that would make me commit. I just don't know how many kids. It would work for you and I. So that was a bad few hours for the UK folks. But then, as I sort of told you all on Tuesday, it would happen. If Wright didn't come, Zoom Diallo would commit, and then he committed later in the early evening. And so Kentucky got their point guard.

Are you happy about it? I am, and that helped ease the sting, I think, of losing Rob Wright by Zoom committing so quickly, a guy that was, you know, bigger, 6-4. he averaged what 16 points and almost five assists a game i mean this dude's a player yes are you uh are you you know most people probably haven't seen him play i've not seen him play i saw him one time so i i don't claim to be an expert but i did talk to somebody who's seen him a lot and said to me even though he's a different player that he can be a little bit more of a scoring version of lamont butler basically said look you guys like lamont butler you're getting lamont

butler, but maybe a little bit better score. He is a ball dominant point guard, which we've talked about those issues. I specifically said, better, worse than Jalen Lowe. That's what I asked someone. And they said, Jalen can be more explosive, but you're not going to get the ups and downs much more consistent than Jalen Lowe. So they were, generally speaking, the person I talked to, very familiar with Zoom's game, said, I think a really good pickup.

Not as good as Rob Wright is what they said, but still very good. Out of high school, he's a recruit. You got an offer from Arizona, Gonzaga, chose to stay home to play at Washington. But it looks like he made a really big jump from his freshman year to his sophomore year. That's encouraging. So I think that's a really good piece. I think for me, in terms of guys Kentucky was recruiting, he was the second best for Kentucky Point Guard and Portal so you get him. Now the question is what happens last night.

I was able to break the Alex Wilkins was on his way for a visit. So folks know, you know, every year I have my guy, if he comes here, Alex Wilkins is my guy. Uh-huh. You already know? He was better than Furman. I don't know how he ended up at Furman. Somebody needs to find out because he's better than Furman. And he was good there.

I mean, he was, I think he scored, what, 18, 19 points a game from Boston. You know, Jeff Goodman, I think, knew him a lot in the high school years. Now, he too kind of is considered a point guard. So it'll be weird if he comes with Diallo. But clearly he must be okay with it because he came and visited anyway. He's here right now. I want that kid. I think if we get that kid, there's a very good chance he would be the best player on R.T.

I remember we were in St. Louis. Furman was playing Connecticut in the NCAA tournament. We were sitting there watching it. And Furman was giving Connecticut all they wanted. And he was a guy who was doing it. There's a clip online. I think it's called Wilkins gives Yukon buckets. And you just see Wilkins.

And he's playing, obviously, against good players and doing it. He went to the final game, and Furman, because of him, put him up to the task. And then Freeman left, I guess. These days are all running together. I guess he left last night. And has not. Any word on him? I have not.

I mean, I think somebody, I have no insight on him. But so here's where we are. Because Kentucky got Diallo instead of right, they probably saved about a million. dollars of their of their budget. Rob Wright probably costs about a million more dollars. I think if they had gotten Rob Wright, they wouldn't have been able probably to afford Wilkins, which is probably why Wilkins didn't make his visit until Diallo committed. I think they would have had to go to like Jalen Cox or somebody else's their second guard.

So if you get him and you get Freeman, then I'm pretty, I think that's a really good class. is it a Final Four team? I don't know, but it's a team that can certainly be good, very good, if you gel and all of that. Then you have to find the pieces. Their weakness with this group is going to be shooting because we've heard that. But they're going to have to go find some shooters. And then I think the big thing is they've got to go find a big guy. Even if they get Freeman, they're going to have to find another big guy.

And then I think you go and you're ready to rock. And I would say again, I do think they're going to get. get at least one, maybe two guys from overseas when this is all said and done. So can I ask you about, you know, what Stokes put on his social media about Zoom? Well, Stokes is close to Zoom. I mean, that's, you know, I mean, if all you cared about was Stokes, you would say this is the best guy you could have gotten. Because Stokes is close to him. They've played with each other before.

So that's good. I think that's very good. When he posted, my brother, I'm like, okay, come play with brother. Stop saying brother. He's my brother. Stop. Don't do that anymore. So I said online, I think Kentucky has to build their team, assuming they're not going to get Stokes.

Okay. And then if you get him, he's like, you know, okay, now we take it. So like if we end up with Freeman, Wilkins, and Diallo, plus Moreno and Cam and then whoever else they get, Noah, if you add Stokes to that, now I think you got a shot at a Final Four. If you don't, I don't know if you do. but like he's a cherry on top. But you can't wait on him.

You have to go get players and assume you're not going to get him. And usually when a domino falls like Zoom, the rest of the dominoes kind of line up and fall right behind him. Well, they had, I know they had like a plan of action. These are the kind of players we recruit if we get Rob Wright, and these are the kind of players we recruit if we get Diallo. And now you're going to start seeing, I think, some of the Diallo guys visiting.

And so I'm more optimistic. today than I was yesterday, maybe not as optimistic as I was, say, Monday, Tuesday, but still okay. Well, because we both kind of said yesterday. They got to get right or Zoom, one of the two. There are two best choices at Point Guard. You've got to get one of those two to kind of build around. So I'm happy with getting Zoom. My days are running together.

Did we know yesterday on the show that Wright wasn't coming? I can't remember. Shannon, do you remember? These days are all running together on me. I think we ended the show like saying, why would you go to B.Y. for less money. I think it was out there that he had

happened yesterday the day afternoon. It did, didn't it? We did say why would you go back to

BYU for less money? I feel like maybe he chose BYU you right after the show yesterday. But again, all these days run together.

All these days run together at some point. So I'm still optimistic. And you feel better about things after we get Zoom? Oh yeah.

Because what I was worried about is if you had a world where you didn't get zoom or right, then you didn't really have a good point guard. Because then I didn't think there were any other great point. Wilkins could have been your point guard, but he's a score-first guy, and I would have been a little more nervous.

Is he more of a combo guard where they could compliment each other? I think he played a point at Furman, but I think he could play them both. Look, we've had so many point-guard issues. Give us six points. And you know what? If we have to teach him to play power forward, we will, you know? Yeah, we've gone through like five or six point guards already. in the first two years.

So I will also note, our fan base, Shannon, it is so funny to watch online. Oh, I know. Because when Rob Wright committed, you would have thought we would not even be playing basketball. And then when Zoom Diallo committed six hours later, everybody had talked themselves into, well, that's what we wanted instead. We're back. That's actually who we were. It is the collective psychology of fans is really fascinating.

It reminds me of when we hired Mark Pope. We hired Mark Pope, and for 12 hours, it was the worst thing that it ever happened. And then everybody convinced him we had 21,000 people in that arena two days later. Like, it's just we, you know, that's what fans do. We sort of psychologically ebb and flow. We saw it online when Rob Wright did not pick Kentucky. Kentucky's, you know, we're, he's losing it. He can't do it.

Boom. You get to Zoom. He's like, okay, we're back. Let's go. Let's build around this guy. This guy who I wanted it anyway. I saw that a lot on this. I wanted this guy overrided.

anyway. Well, I wanted Wright more, but I think Zoom is good, and I think he's much better than people. If Rob Wright, we had never been involved, people would be very excited about this guy, so I think we should be excited. And I think it goes to show you that Keenland still works.

Maybe. Keelan got one. He went to Keenland. And so Keelan gets one success story. He didn't even have a banner. 859-2. Yeah, he did. They put a banner. Was there a Zoom one? Oh, there's a good. They've got, They're updating the brand.

They're rotating. They're rotating. Yeah, they threw the Rob Wright went in the garbage and they put the zoom one up. 859-280-2287. Text machine is 772-7-745-254. We will take a break.

Ask anything Thursday. 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 with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark.

Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so rapidly. up in the chase, that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway.

Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across.

When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them?

On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. from the WMBA standout Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you,

but don't ever feel like you don't belong. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeke. The ability to show a gold medal to someone have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. at our level at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world.

Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Yeah. There we go.

See, this has got to be our song for him, Shannon. No doubt. I thought about this as soon as he committed. I think this is going to, when he plays well, this is the best thing that's happened to Rex and effects in a long time. Yeah, their streaming numbers are going to go skyrocketing. All you're going to do is zoom a zoom, zoom, zoom, and a boom, boom. They've got to play that every game at Ruppering.

He may not like it, but I would play that like when he comes out. Yes. Like if I just think you just, Rex and effects is in effects and I'm the wrecker. I remember this video, Shannon. Oh, yeah. There was a lot of stuff going on in this video, if I remember correctly. That's right. It's called Rumpshaker.

Yeah. Yeah, they were they acting it out in the video, as I remember correctly. But yeah, so it's good. 859-280-20-87 on the text machine, people are writing in. One person writes, Matt, do we now start to give Pope a little credit for his recruiting or not? Well, I mean, look, the misses have clearly been. misses. But he's gotten some hints. This is a hit. Let's see what happens with Freeman and Wilkins. So with Wright, we were competing against where he was going to school. So there was a part of it that he

just wanted to stay where he was. So, you know, some of that's an uneven fight. With Diallo, we were offering more than everybody else. So to some extent, we were, you know, ahead of everybody else. I think Freeman and Wilkins will be a good test for him. And the reason I say that is Donnie Freeman, and Alex Wilkins, we're essentially offering the same thing the other schools are. So can he win one where the money's equal? Freeman and Wilkins are both being recruited by Yukon for essentially the same amount of money. Can you beat them? Can you go get a kid that another top program wants?

Can you go get one of them? It's a good test. With Diallo, we had a huge advantage. We were offering more money than everybody else. With Wright, we were offering a little bit more money, but he had a whole amount. school pull. These are two Wilkins and Freeman have no connection to Syracuse or to Connecticut

and they have no connection to Kentucky. Can you win those battles? That'll be an interesting test to me. The perception will help tremendously if you're able to get those two guys steal them away from Connecticut. Even one of them. True. But if you lose them both,

there is a sense of like when we go win one of these? You know, these are two kind of you're got to convince them to pick you over them. That's right. You can't rely on the tradition because these two guys weren't even alive the last time Kentucky won a title.

Now if somebody comes in and then offers more, Wolfman, I understand it, Freeman, I think's looking at Connecticut, Kentucky, Wilkins may be Connecticut and Syracuse in Kentucky. Syracuse may be offering more money than Kentucky in Connecticut, but if

I see both of these as it's you in Connecticut, equal money. Mark Pope, go get us one. That's kind of how I feel. Or two. As like I said, I'd be a tough challenge for him. Connecticut's been so successful. Go sell these guys on what you're trying to do.

You got Zoom, you can throw him out there, come play with this guy. You start getting those pieces in line. That's what maybe Stokes, you can get him to convince to come over here to Kentucky. All right, I'm going to ask anything question. One person writes, are we ever going to have an AD? Where are we on it? Don't know. I thought they were going to have one by now.

I did. I thought they were going to have one. I thought the idea was that they'd have a, have won right after the NCAA tournament to announce, and then there'd be like a transition period, and then they would kind of, Mitch would move to the side. I sort of had heard maybe that the spring sports would kind of be Mitch's goodbye. Maybe they'd do something for him at the last baseball game. Yeah.

Maybe even at the – but so far, nothing, so I don't know. I heard like a week or so ago that it was getting ready to happen, and then I don't know what happened. You and I heard the same thing I thought it was happening Like last week I thought it was happening like last Thursday Or last Friday They were getting everything in place

To make their news conference I don't know Maybe they decided to wait till after the portal I don't know if that would have anything to do with it or not But I kind of already expected to have an answer I think there are From what I understand Two finalists

And I don't really feel at liberty to say who they are but yeah, I guess we'll see. Yeah, I don't know who the winner was going to be. I just heard there were plans in place to have a big news conference and try to get things ready. You know, they've got a plan ahead, this sort of thing. So it didn't happen. So we'll see.

You know, I've never been here when we hired a new AD. It's true. Like, that's going to be, I've had the same AD the whole time I've been here. So this will be new for me. I was around when they hired Lurie Ivy and also Mitch Barnhart. Barnhart was kind of a low didn't, you know, a little popping circumstance. Well, they didn't do really pop in circumstances back in those days.

They had a board meeting. He approved him, and boom. He started his job. Yeah, all right, who's up first, Shannon? Let's go to Tanner. Tanner. Tanner. How are you? Hey, Matt. First time, long time. Who are? What's up?

Hi, so very excited about the Zoom commitment yesterday. I'm excited to see what other guys we can get. I'm with you. I'm all in on Wilkins. But I did want to share a story. Had our first golf league night last night. and with my buddies and some of my dad buddies, I had my first ever hole in one on a par four yesterday. Skip the par three, had a par four downhill, 256. So you're just calling to brag that you got a hole in one on asking anything Thursday?

On a par four. First of all, what kind of par four are you playing that's 256 yards? That is, are you playing at a junior course? No, no, no, no. It's 256 downhill. 256 downhill par four? Where is this course? No, with the slope, it's 256. Sugar Ridge, Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

Don't take this away from me, Matthew. I don't know. I don't know. Sugar Ridge, Lawrenceburg, Indiana. 256 downhill par four. I think that's, I mean, first of all, a hole-in-one's awesome. But I think I just would stick with the hole-and-one and not brag on the par-four, because that That sounds like a sketchy par four. Hey man, an albatross is an albatross, one way or the other. Well, well, congratulations. I appreciate the call.

That's what you got to do. Just say, man, I got a hole and one on a par par par four, and drop it right there. Don't see how far it was? That's easy for him to say, in the chair. Yeah. It's easier for that guy to hit the par four than Ryan to say it was. It was for Ryan to say it. Yeah, well, well, congratulations to him.

that wasn't really a question, but that's okay. So our first question the other day was Burke Kreischer. I still feel bad about Burke Kreischer, Shannon. Like I went back and looked at, like, he was so nice to us. And I, you know. And then my buddy last night was telling me Turkey Hunter at the game that his new Netflix show is good. The new Burke Chrysher show? Yeah, that part of the premise of the show is he's upset that everybody only sees him as the guy that takes his shirt off.

And I was like, oh. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Yeah. Well, you know what? I guess I followed into it. We'll take a break. Be right back. KSR.

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. It is Kentucky Sports Radio. 859-280-2287.

Text machine 772-75254. Nice job. Getting Leanne Rhymes in here for tradition's sake. Of course. We've got to do that every time we get a commitment. That's exactly right. at KY Sports Radio on Twitter. People are now writing me, telling me about their par fours

where they got a hole in one. I'm glad to read about them. And I'm not saying the kid shouldn't be excited. He should. I just wouldn't lead with it was a par four if it was 254 yards downhill. I'm going to say it's a par four, but just don't say the length of it. Just let us be amazing. You had a hole in one on par four.

It's amazing. When person says, Matt, for Ask Anything's Thursday, is there a housewarming gift you would like? People have asked me that question. you don't thank you all you don't need to get me anything i'm i'm i'll um you know that's very nice but i can i can i can i can get stuff i maybe i just don't know i can answer that question for them what kitchen table couch bed chair do need a bed that's true that'll be a start yeah i mean everything yeah yeah yeah pots pans home depot they uh they told me today matt the landscaping i got

to text this morning that the the landscaping like the spring thing where you pull weeds and all that is happening right now. And they were like, if you would like, you need to be thinking about any changes, you might like to your flower bed. And I didn't even know how to think about responding to that. It looks good the way it is, actually. As long as they just clean it up, I think it looks good. Yeah. So I don't have any major changes. But I did notice, like, you know how Shannon's something you'd never care about? Then all of a sudden you care? You have to. Like this guy was like, there's this like puny tree in front of it. And he was like, If it were up to me, if it were me, I'd get rid of that tree.

And now I'm, like, obsessive. I think I need to get rid of that tree. Get rid of it, yeah. Enjoy being a homeowner. I wouldn't have even noticed. But now, though, you can't call. But now it's in my mind. And now it's in my mind, and I'm like, I've got to get rid of this puny tree.

You made my house look better, but a curb repeal better if I get rid of this tree. See, that was a landlord issue before. Now it's your issue. Exactly right. Now it's on to me. All right. Who's up next? Go to Jeff.

Jeff. Go ahead, Jeff. Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my call. It's been a long time since I've called in, but just wanted to, in the days of Shading Sharp and these guys like that, you've got to figure out who's trying to blow smoke. And I think there's a way to do that is whenever they're about ready to

not commit or something like that, just sweeten the deal. Say, I'll tell you what I got. I got an extra me. if you'll commit here today. Yeah, they do that, though. Like, you're not the first person to come up with that idea. They've done stuff like that before, and sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't.

But the problem is these kids have the cards in the situation right now. Because what, in the transfer portal era, the kids have most of the leverage. They've got an unlimited amount of suitors. They've got more teams that have money than have ever had money, before. And so they've got the cards. And so even the most powerful team, so coaches are going to have to learn to navigate that. And I would assume in a few years the top programs will. Michigan clearly did it last year. But there's going to be very few times that you can just

outbid people. Louisville has been able to do it because, and we'll talk about this later, Louisville has put a huge investment in the next season for a variety of reasons. But you're not coming up with any solution. Anybody else has it. have. It's just these kids have the cards now. They have a lot more options and they have a lot of the leverage. Well, if a kid's not wanting to accept, I mean, if you're sweeten a pot and he's not willing to accept it right then, then move on to the next. Well, then what are you going to do, though? I mean, but, but like if you're Kentucky and you're sitting there and you're thinking, there are two great point guards in this portal that we can get, Rob Wright and Zoom Diallo. If those are the two,

Then you got to get one of them. Got to go out hard as you can and get one. Because your drop after that, in your mind, is so substantial that you have to get one of them. And the kids know this. I mean, they know they're agents, the good ones, they have agents that go, look, they have to get you. So we're going to make them pay every. And when you say just move on, that's a decent idea, except there's not an unlimited supply of good players. Yeah.

You know, this is the worst freshman class of all time. So there's not a ton of players in it. Jeff Goodman was saying on his show that he thinks this might be the worst portal class of all time. So there's just not an unlimited supply of players. No, I appreciate the call. But, I mean, I think that's the – I think the players had a lot of leverage in this one, you know. Well, like the call I was saying, the Kentucky should, you know, at the last minute sweeten the deal. Well, so is Yukon.

You know, so these other schools. They're doing the same thing. We're not the only one going after. You're exactly right. You're exactly right. All these other schools, they have money too. Yes. So that's why I'm interested in this Wilkins- Freeman thing,

because I don't think money will be the issue on that one. I think it's going to be, I think Wilkins is also apparently being recruited by Alabama. You've got other powers who have the same resources you are. Can you beat one of them more? Yes. That's what I want to see because I don't know that, Mark Pope has won a really competitive recruitment, except maybe Kobe Brea. Because remember Kobe Brea, Duke won in Kobe Brea.

So he beat everybody for Kobe Brey. But otherwise, we've won guys, but they've usually been guys that we either targeted specifically or other schools. We just, we haven't won a lot of guys that everybody wanted. We'll see what happens with these guys. Do you believe that report that came out that the average NIL cost per players up like 65% from over last year? I think that is true for the top guys. For the top guys.

For the top 20 to 25, 30 guys. I don't think that's true for the other guys. Like, I think one of the things you're seeing is that your jaspers and your garrisons and your Diabates, the market wasn't quite as healthy as maybe everybody thought. But yes, for those top guys, I think they're getting... Wow. Well, I mean, Diallo's going to be... Diallo's going to probably be our second most paid player ever,

and that's kind of a surprise. But I think they don't have a choice but to do it. They had to. You want to be competitive. You have to get some players, and he's at the top of their list right now. Who's next? Roger. Roger.

Go ahead, Roger. Thanks for taking my call, Matt. I was wondering about the grace kid for Santa Clara as Pope didn't go after him because he's a dude. He's one in the get you the final four. Yeah, I think he did, but he's both looking at the draft and maybe other schools. I haven't heard Kentucky associated with him a lot. You're talking about the kid that we played against in the NCAA tournament grades?

Yeah. Yeah. Hit the last shot, yes. Yeah, he's good. But he's an NBA player. He is. He'll be picked in the NBA draft. Yeah, I thought he was entering the draft.

I didn't know he was still a chance he made transfer. I think he did one of those where he entered the draft, but then he also gave himself the ability to come back. Who's next? Kevin. Kevin. Go ahead, Kevin. Hey, I hope you guys are having a good morning. So you've been discussing the city of Lexington recently, so I haven't asked anything illegal questions for you. My wife and I live on the worst road in Lexington.

By far, we've lived there almost five years now. It's a dead end. It's got eight houses. The road's in terrible shape. Used to be in HOA back in the 80s and 90s, fizzled out in the mid-90s. So it was considered a private drive back then, and it's no longer that anymore. So we get all city services.

including trash and recycling. City trucks up and down the road every week. We've tried to contact the city about having the street repaired or repaved, and they haven't responded. So they even threatened to find the homeowners before we moved in if we didn't repair the road ourselves. I didn't know if you had any advice or suggestions. Yeah, I don't have any advice.

I mean, if it's a public street, they're supposed to do it, but, like, you have no public right. So, like, so for instance, if you're on a street and there's potholes everywhere, and the street just like sinks into the ground. You can be upset. You can like call the city. You can be angry.

You can vote out the mayor. You can do whatever. But you don't really have a right legally for them to come fix your public street. You have a hope, but you don't have a right. So really, I mean, you can keep putting pressure on the city, but I don't know that you have a legal right to do anything. I think people sometimes don't understand that public services are great, but you don't have a right to any of them.

The city of Lexington could just decide we're not going to have police. And really nothing anybody can do about it except just go elect people who decide to bring back the police. True. So I appreciate the call. This guy, you know, unfortunately, he's on a short, dead-in street. He's low on the priority list for pothole filling. There's very few things you actually have a legal right. to. Like you have a right to, they're called entitlements. So you have a right to Social Security.

Uh-huh. You have a right to like veteran, if you're a veteran to veterans benefits. There's a handful of things that in the statute that created them, they give you a legal right to them. But when it comes to local services, you basically don't have a right to anything. It's by the grace of God and your tax dollars that you get them. I know why he's upset You know, these trash trucks come down here Recycle trucks come down here Why can't they come down here and fix my road?

Yeah But like if they just decide If the city decided tomorrow No more trash service Sorry There's really nothing you can do about it What are you going to do? You can't

There's really nothing you can do about it That'd be awful Yeah Well that's why you're not going to do that But it didn't it happen in New York one time What? New York City Well sometimes people go on strike

Oh they went on strike So when they go on strike But that's part of the reason when trash workers go on strike, you can't sue the city. There's nothing you can do about it. You just have to hope it works out. So, anyway, in Kentucky right now, Ryan, you may not know this, but if you can't find affordable child care or a place to live, you can't get a job. What's the person supposed to do?

You're supposed to fix that, politicians. And that's why workers, you need to be able to fix the basics, child care and housing so the Kentucky workforce can actually work. Go to Opportunity Startshere.com. That's Opportunity Startshere.com. Add your name to the list from the Kentucky Chamber saying housing is important in Kentucky. It's opportunity starts here.com. We'll take a break and be back here at KS Bar and Grills.

Kentucky Sports Radio. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. Breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life

12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't really really. We don't really 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, or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely.

And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen, kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness.

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

You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them

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Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Welcome back, TeguSports Radio. 859-280-2287. Text machine is 772-752524. I didn't expect today to also be public services radio.

But you know what? that's okay because it's ask anything. That's right. Daniel says, so you're saying the tax we pay for for public services entitled us to nothing. If that's true, why didn't everyone just refuse to pay taxes for things that aren't guaranteed?

Well, to the first part of your question is, no, the taxes you pay do not ensure you for anything except the things that are entitlements, which were the things I mentioned earlier. Why do you not just refuse to pay taxes? Because you will go to prison.

for federal taxes and depending on what your state one is too. But like you may not like that, but that's the law. I mean, Daniel, you don't get to decide whether the law is good or bad. You can just elect people to hope to change the law. But that's the way it is. So as my grandfather would say, life ain't fair. You know, and I think there's a lot of, a lot of truth of that.

But I don't think people understand. One of the funniest things to me is to hear people in discourse talk about rights. Because people have a lot of rights that they don't realize they have. And there are a lot of times that people will say, for instance, well, if the police tell you to stop, you have to. Well, sort of, but not always. And then there's a lot of rights people think they have that they don't. Like you don't, almost everything the government does.

does for you. They don't have to do. It's a service? That's the word. It's a service. So, you call 911 and an ambulance comes. If it doesn't come, there's nothing you can do about that. Like, it's a service, except vote out the people who create poor services. That's it. So snow, we had that big issue here about snow. Right.

Everyone was mad in Lexington about the snower And like, they were right to be mad. But the city of Lexington could just say, clean your own damn snow up. Like, they don't have to do anything. Correct. You want them to do it. That's why you elect them, but they don't have to. People got mad when, like, certain streets got cleared, but their streets didn't.

And think about, though, if you could sue because your street went after, everybody would sue. Yes. You know, and that's why you're not allowed to do it. interesting topic we got going on today it's not what I thought we would be talking about one person writes Matt do you think Rob Wright used us just to get more money from BYU no I do not I think

we were offering him more money and we thought he was going to come I mean now that it's over we can say they had a whole set of things planned for when he came they were going to do a photo shoot they were going to like I think they were going to do a big video all this stuff.

He, UK said to his agent, we want him to come, but we want him to come kind of only if he knows he wants to be here, and they said he wants to be here. So UK was under the impression that it was going to come.

Yeah. And then he got here, and he said, and it was the kid. He was like, I just don't know if I want to leave BYU. And then he left. He had a final,

I think, the next day, at in BYU and he went back. He just did, you know, the kid, everyone around the kid wanted him to come to Kentucky, but the kid himself just didn't want to leave BYU. So he took less money to go back to, I don't get that, Shannon. I really don't. BYU seems like it would be the worst place to go. But, you know, that's what the kid wanted.

Do you believe the report did where he allegedly said, I don't want to play three schools in my three years? Possibly. Yeah. Why would you even consider it then? Because there's more money. I think probably the people around him were like, dude. This is Kentucky.

Yeah. It's $750,000 more dollars and it's Kentucky. What are you doing? And he was like, but I like it in Provo. So there you go, Shannon. What are you going to do? You know, if the kid wants to stay there, he wants to stay there. Yeah, yeah.

I mean, I just think it's concerning that we're losing players to BYU and not other rules. I think we're losing players to BYU. He didn't want to leave BYU. That's why I think these other recruitments are so important because they would be, then you would be right, Shannon. Right? If we're looking.

But if he didn't want to leave, why did he get in the portal? Because I think some people pushed him to get in the portal. You know? I mean, look, I understand both sides. My view is, though, I mean, at the end of the day, this is a business decision, but if the kid wants to stay there, what are you going to do? I mean, you can't make him come here. You know, you know, it's got to be girlfriend.

Could be, or it could just be, you know how it is with college kids. You have college kids. Sometimes they might just be like, well, I like it here. Yes, there's no doubt. And they don't think about the sort of bigger, you know. Social friend. The other thing is, while to me and you, Shannon and Ryan, the difference between 2.5 and 3.3 is a lot of money. That's $800,000.

It's a lot of money. But if you're a kid, you're like, well, 2.5 sounds like a lot of money. You know, you might not think about that marginal difference a lot. You might just be like, I'm going to have money. You know, so. It's also Kentucky versus BYU, though. That's how I feel, but my kid clearly didn't feel that way. So when did BYU become this big rival with us?

When we lost. Because we hired Mark Pope. We hired a guy from BYU. And took Jackson Robinson. So now we hired a guy who's part of the Mormon. church and he is obviously, you know, connected to a lot of people in that world. And then it's not a surprise to me we end up recruiting against that place as well. That doesn't really surprise.

So there's two guys in a week to BYU. But think about all the connections we've had with BYU. Yes. Richie Saunders, Colin Chandler, now Rob Wright. Uh-huh. And then, I mean, that's just, that's what it's been like. So who's next? Andy.

Andy. Andy. Andy. Andy. Go ahead, Andy. Andy. Hey, Matt. How are you, buddy?

Good. What's up? Good. I just want to talk about, we've talked a lot about Mark Pope connecting with players. I don't know if it's just that. We can talk about this as what we do know, what we see on the court. I mean, you think when he talks about his vision to these players, and they talk about, they look at the rotations when they're watching the game. I mean, if I'm a player, I'm watching the game, and I'm cooking, and the next thing you know, I'm sitting on the bench for five minutes, I mean, is that where I want to go? Is that going to hurt me in the long run?

I mean, that's what I'm looking at. Not so much is, like, is Mark Pope, or any year or anything like that i just i just know i would think that mark poke to connect the players he's been in this world for a long time so we keep hearing it's like there's a connect to the players i'm like i'm sure the dude could connect the players i just think it's more about his vision when he finally tells them like hey we're going to have like a 10-man rotation and this is what we see you doing and it might be a turnoff i mean that could be part of it that that's possible but you know i appreciate the call that's possible but there are other coaches who play a lot of guys and they've made it work.

You know, obviously you think about the 2015 team with Cal. Yeah. Where he sold guys on coming and they played 20 minutes, right? I think that the Mark's substitution pattern definitely hurts him a little bit, but I don't think it's a final straw. It might be. Might have some role. All right, we'll take a break.

Come back. Hour number two. This is KSR. 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 headwriter, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game.

This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, in 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 Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything.

Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. 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

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