KSR - 5-23-25 KSR Hour 1

Episode Date: May 23, 2025

Matt , Drew, Ryan, and Shannon visit the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival. The crew discuss Mark Pope, KY Regional Track controversy, and Eastern Kentucky. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories,

their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 in the TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having him with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor?

It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. 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.

Comedy Off Broadway in Lexington welcomes Ginger Billy, May 9 through the 11th. Then from White Famous Catch Jay Farrow, May 16th and 17th. And don't miss Rocky Dale Davis, May 23rd and 24th. Comedy Off Broadway opened in downtown Lexington in 1987, and they're still bringing the best in stand-up comedy to the air. 38 years later. Call 859-271 joke or visit Comedyoff-Broadway.com.

Comedy of Broadway. This is Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now here's Matt Jones. Welcome, everyone. It is Kentucky Sports Radio Friday, May the 23rd. I'm Matt Jones here under the shadow of Chain Rock in downtown Pineville, Kentucky for the Mountain Laurel Festival. Matt Jones, Ryan Lippman, Drew,

Franklin and Shannon the dude. It is, what, Friday, May the 23rd, and a beautiful day here in southeastern Kentucky. You can give us a shout to Clark's Pubmet Shop. Phone line 859-280-2287. A-Visian Auto Glass Text Machine is 772-7-745-254 in this edition. Sponsored by the T.J. Smith Law Office, if you call T.J., he'll make them pay. Ryan, we are in Bell County, which is where I grew up in the county seat of Pineville, where just two buildings down. I once practiced law at the Jones and Bruce law firm that is now host a subway sign. But before that, it was quite a law firm and we're glad to be here. I think, Russ, I think this is our first show in Pineville.

I've done a number of them in Middlesboro, but I don't think I've ever done a show in Pineville, first one today. Well, it's kind of fun to watch you walk around. You've got a little pep in your step. You're back home. You're shaking hands with people you haven't seen in a long time. And when you told me your law office was right there. Right there. Was that the claw?

Well, the claw was more of a market. This was Jones and Bruce. Me and Johnny Bruce. We had practice right there. Listen, we had two affiliates. We had one. Oh, he had affiliates. Like Shannon, like most big law firms, we had an office in Louisville and one in Pineville.

Those were the two affiliates. And, yes, we did here for two years. This courthouse right here is where my mom practiced law when I was growing up. I don't know what they use it for now, but right here in the center of town. This is Drew, one of the nicer little town squares I think we see in Kentucky. Oh, absolutely. We got here very early. I've been here at least an hour walking around, and I was telling Ryan and the guys,

it kind of feels like a movie set. It's just a place where it's all in one spot. You got a little bit of everything. Where's the mayor? I made him all to go. All right, well, vote him out. But when he comes, I'm just kidding. Now, you all should be trying to get movie.

This does look like a movie set in some ways. You can get a lifetime movie here. They do them all in LaGrange. There's no reason they can't come down here. You can show it right here at this theater, right here behind us. It is beautiful the way the mountains absolutely the way they surround it. Now, last night I have to ask you, Shannon, I drove down here during the day to Pine Mountain State Resort Park, and it's a beautiful view up there.

I hadn't been there in years. I used to go there a lot when I was a kid. But as I was making those last five miles up the hills, I was thinking, you know, when it's dark, this is going to be quite a drive and Shannon you've never made it right you made it last night did you drive off the mountain I did not I came close a couple of times

you're right though some very windy roads if you're not familiar you gotta really pay attention buckle up put your phone down but yeah it was a good drive here last night and had a nice day at the Pine Mountain Resort

that's exactly right so I was there as well and we are right outside the Bell Theater if you're around the neighborhood come on out 859-28027 we are here for the Mount Laurel Festival, one of the state's oldest festivals. It goes on now through Sunday.

It has been called, Ryan, the Queen Ceremony, which is in the Pineville, or in the amphitheater up here, it has been called America's Best Outdoor Beauty Pagetion. Did you know that? I didn't know that, but that's why I know the Mount Laurel Festival is for the beauty pageant. I think they crown the princess tonight, the high school princess tonight, then the college queen will be tomorrow. And it's a big deal here.

It is a big deal. You know, the governor used to come every year. Have you been able to keep that tradition up, or is Andy and them as he stopped coming? Andy, he comes every, there you go. The governor comes every year. And my mom used to say, if the governor doesn't come, he can expect to not win Bell County, or at least not win Pineville the next time he comes. I did my research, I guess, maybe on Saturday the governor's here,

and all the pageant contestants, they do a little curtsey for him as part of the process. I found it very interesting. Most festivals, like, have a pageant one night. and it's just part of a bigger event. This pageant has a festival. It's all about the pageant here. Who's the singer? Is there a singer?

Shenandoah was last night. Shenandoah. Wow. Wait a minute. Yeah, we missed it. Two dozen roses. Hang on just a second. You had Shenandoah here last night and no one told me.

Are you kidding? You could have been over here. Wow. You were sitting over at the Pine Mountain Resort. How did I not know? I could have gone and seen two dozen roses and it might have changed my mind. And I didn't. That's how they're.

let it off night one I'm officially angry about that I love Shindoa oh well I think they had Luke Brian before he blew up right yeah wow you may be no he was he was here before he blew up oh thank you they're bringing this lemonade

so it's a festival so there are food trucks and all that there are rides bouncy house and all of the other so thank the Lord that chain is still securing that rock right up the hill where is this rock all right the chain rock is see a rock.

So if you were on the other side of this building, Chain Rock is over there. When it's over, we'll walk over so you can see that you're protected from the rock falling. And if it did, look at these people right here. Y'all would be crushed, wouldn't you? You'd be absolutely. And thankfully, Ryan, it's been protected. Did they ever, like, update the chain or is it the same chain?

No, same chain, but it's so strong, it does such a great job. They don't need to change it. It's got to protect this city for years. I need a chain like that. You too. I don't know what I need it for. I just need it. Are you excited that you're in?

It looks like maybe the Jones and Bruce has now been turned to an Airbnb, so you could stay there and be like this is where I'm at practice law at one point. That's what I said. You kind of got a little pep in your step. You're kind of back home. Your mom, this is where she used to drag you to all the court cases, make you sit in the back of the court. I sat in that building and watched more court.

You ask how I ended up a dork. You could thank that building right there for me having to sit and watch court when I was a kid. I've actually been in that building with you for court. I don't know why, but one time you brought me in, I just watched Karen. Why did we do that? I'm not real sure, but I had a good time. It was fun being here. And with Ryan, he has his two things.

Moment he gets in the car, we're talking about Chain Rock. I drove today. But the flood walls, too. He's quick to point it out to Mario. So I was the last time the floodwall has been closed. February. It was closed this February. Oh, during all the rain.

You all closed it. It's been closed twice since they built it. And the last time was in February. The mayor's right there. Oh, there's the mayor. All right, the mayor, well, so they closed. So there's your question. You asked when it was closed.

It's been closed. Well, they had that devastating flood in 1977. They built the floodgate in 78. They only had to close it twice. So it's protecting the town. Got a chain, got floodgates. Pineville's safe. Pineville is safe.

Thank goodness. Well, thank you all very much for bringing us here. I'm serious about that. It's always nice to come back home. And you appreciate, I'll tell you guys are here because there's some high school kids here. You guys will appreciate it more when you're older. I know when I will. was here in high school, Russ, you were probably like this. You were like, ah, I got to go do something

else. Got to go do something else. You appreciate it more when you've been gone and come back. So thank you all very much. Now, yesterday on the show, we had Mark Pope. Ryan, great response to the interview all day and night. People seem to love Mark. I mean, how can you not love him? And I think you saw over the course of the hour and 15 minutes, like why he's connected so well with the fan base. The overall theme, the people People talked to me about that interview yesterday with Mark Pope, was that he was just talking with us, not talking down to us. And I think that came across the interview. He just seemed like you and him were just sitting at a table, just kind of yacking it up.

We were. We were. And Mario showed my thigh on the video a lot. But otherwise, I thought he was great. Now, there's a few things he wanted to say that I wanted to kind of, that I thought were interesting, kind of newsy things. Let's start with he said, you know, during the portal season, there was this narrative started mostly by Louisville fans. that he was whiffing on guys, right? Like he was recruiting somebody, we wouldn't get him,

and people would say, oh, he's whiff, whiff. He noted yesterday, and by the way, I tried to say at the time, because I heard the same thing, that a lot of it is they don't know any of these guys in the portal. They've seen them play, but they haven't recruited. They don't know them. So they meet them, and sometimes they say,

that's not somebody for us. I mean, I'll just give you one that was the case. What was the kids named, the point guard, from Georgia that went somewhere else. Silas Dimery. Silas Dimery. That was a kid that I know, Pope didn't say this, but I know they met with,

and they were just like, yeah, I just don't think it's going to be a fit. Nice to meet you. Thanks. I think maybe even went down there. Yeah, like surprise. He's like, what are you doing for dinner? I'll be there.

Yeah, he went for dinner, and I don't know what they ate, but for whatever reason, and maybe it didn't sit well on his stomach, it was not, it didn't work. It was interesting to hear him, Drew, talk about that yesterday. Yeah, I'm glad he said that when the portal season was at full speed. I even said, I don't think

some of our fans are built for this because there would be a tweet, Mark Pope, zoomed Player X, and then that player five days later would commit somewhere else. Everyone just assumed Pope couldn't get him. But sometimes five minutes into a conversation if the kid says, I want this much money and this many shots, you're like, well, I don't think that's

going to line up with what we want. You just shake hands and go on your way, and that probably happened more times than we'll ever know. I think it happened quite a bit. I mean, I do think there was a couple cases like the kid from Sam Houston State where they wanted someone and they picked another school, maybe they got outbid or whatever. But there were some that the kid wanted to come here and they said no.

Then the second thing, Ryan, he said he begged Travis Perry to stay. Those were his words. We begged him to stay, but ultimately he wanted something else from his basketball career than us. Now, I'll give a little side thing. They begged him to stay, but we also probably weren't willing to match the money that Old Miss was going to pay because they probably didn't see him as one of eight to ten best players on the team. But what did you think about Mark saying he begged Travis Perry to stop?

It was kind of refreshing to hear a coach be that open and candid, talk about a player that was leaving your program. But, you know, Mark said to you, my soul was crushed. It devastated me. I think you asked the word of used, devastated. He said, yeah, he said devastated. Yeah, it just kind of, and it was being sincere. I don't think he was making out.

That was Mark Pope being sincere that it devastated him, that a player that he really liked was going to leave the program. Shaden, were you surprised he said he was devastated, did by? Yeah, I mean, I feel like that's a little extreme, but that's Mark Pope's personality, right? So ultimately, though, you have to just let the kid do what he wants to do. Would we love to have him here? Yes, but how much of a role would he have really had on this team if he had to stay for this next season?

I don't think a big one. And I think that's probably why Travis Perry left. Yeah, I don't think he would have had a big one. But I did think, you know, Drew, I thought it was weird at the time that Perry didn't release a statement when he left. Mark didn't release a statement when he left. I think there was some, I don't want to say ill will, but there was some frustration maybe on both sides. It was nice to hear him publicly acknowledge, hey, we wanted him.

It just didn't happen. Yeah, I wouldn't a scenario like, hey, we're looking at this guy or this guy, and just numbers aren't adding up. You might want to look somewhere else. It sounds like Travis was a part of the plan, even though it was not going to be one of the first guys off the bench. Pope still saw a long-term vision for him, and Travis just wanted something a little sooner. Then he talked about scheduling. said he, you know, we play 31 regular season games a year. He said he wished we played 35 that he actually would like there to be 40.

And he said, if we can get to 35, his quote was, we'll go play home and home with Yukon. We'll go play home and home with Kansas. He didn't say Duke, which makes me wonder if he was sneaking that maybe that's going to happen as it is. I hope that's what he meant. But he also, and he said, we'll go play in Maui. We can do that if we go to 35. I love that, Ryan, because we just had a coach who we could have gone to 50 games and he wouldn't have played a home-and-home at Yukon or any of those places.

It was nice to hear him say that. As a fan, that was my biggest takeaway. That got me the most excited. Everything he said yesterday is that, yeah, he's not going to shy away from playing the big boys like we have in the past. I've got to load up with teams what we were going to be by 50 and order him not to play zone. But he Pope was like absolutely. Yeah, what about that? What about that, Shannon?

And he kind of said something that we didn't know, which is when we went to the Bahamas and we beat all those pro teams by 50, that he had made them not play zone. Pope said that he was like, when they got down there, Cal goes, we paid for your trip. You can't play zone. I don't understand how that helps you at all as a program. Well, we saw it when we played zone during the season. We were never ready for it. You're putting restrictions on your opponents. I don't know how that benefits you at all.

That made me angrier than it should have because that's. You get really mad about that. Well, I know of at least three times that happened. It makes me wonder, was it every exhibition? Because when you go beat a team by 50 points and we're getting excited thinking you have something, we assumed you were playing by the rules of basketball as they're written, but it was almost like he was covering them up to build up hype. Kentucky State, they did that.

It's Kentucky State. They did it with Kentucky. Just play them straight up. What are we doing? I'm getting worked up now thinking about it. It does make you mad. Well, I appreciate Mark doing it. We'll talk more in a little bit about the other stuff he did.

We are here in Pineville, Kentucky. It's the Mountain Laurel Festival. What's your name here, Knox Central Crazy? Chase Mills. How old are you? 17, Shannon. Look at that mustache. You couldn't grow that mustache right now.

It's that Pineville out, right? In the water in Barberville and Pineville, you can get that mustache at 17 years old. Now, Chase, you're sitting in the front row, and I said to you, if you sit in the front row, you have to be loud. So when I say we're leaving, people are supposed to clap. You have to be the loudest. He's a Knox Central crazy. I want you to be as good at class. as you are growing facial hair.

Well, I am their president. You're the president. Of the mustache club? President of the Knox Central mustache club. A lot of people in that club, by the way, I can tell you. We will take a break and be back here in Pineville. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. There you go, Chase.

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 SportsSlic. On the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, We get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, 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, Keir Gaines, is we have really.

Real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. 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 WNBA 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 feel on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs, Gabby Thomas and Katie Ledecky. The ability to show gold medal to someone and 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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.

Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio here live in Pineville at the Mount Laurel Festival, right down the street from the law esperanza. You know, we've talked about, Ryan, everyone has a different ranking of law asperanzas. There are now multiple. Russ Thompson says Pondville's got the best law asperanza. Do you believe that? No, I'm going to go with Larry. Larry Blondell. He says the best one is in Middlesboro. It's the only one he's ever going to go to. That's the best law. The one at the roses, which is not even a roses anymore, right? That's it. Don't go anywhere else. That's exactly right. My mom wanted me to say to everybody here, she would have been here, but she's at

at Wheaton and the Wheaton Divinity School. She's in college. Well, she didn't like what I said. She was in college. She wanted to be clear. I said that she was in the divinity school. She didn't really like my joke there. I want to throw this out, Ryan, you get to throw it in, too.

Okay. I was up at Pine Mountain Lodge last night looking out the mountain, and I thought to myself, this is one of the five probably most beautiful views in Kentucky. Which leads me to, if people ask me this all the time, if they wanted to take a view to the prettiest parts of Kentucky, where would they go? So I'm going to say two of them are in this county or close. One of them is up there at the Pine Mountain Lodge. I think the pinnacle and Cumberland Gap, which is technically Tennessee,

but we'll claim it, okay, I think is the second one. Another one for me is in Whitesburg. When you go up 119, there's this view you can pull over and you look over the mountains, and I think that might be the most beautiful view in Kentucky. What else would you put on that list? Those three for me are definite, and they're all in Eastern Kentucky. What would you put? I would put Lake Cumberland there and Cumberland Falls, definitely.

The Cumberland Falls View, I agree. Absolutely. I even put the Kentucky Lake, Barclay and Kentucky Lake over there. But you're right, we take it for granted. Kentucky is so beautiful in certain areas. We take it for granted. And when people come to visit, they're like always blown away by the beauty of this state. And then that part in Pike County that's kind of off, is it called the breaks?

Is that what it's called? All right, so if you were to want to take a drive, I've had you do this drive before, Drew. We've done every drive, Matt. No, but you did it with Abby once, right? That was the pinnacle, yeah. Yeah, so I think if you took a drive, you come, go down 75, get off an exit 29, come through here, go to the pinnacle, go to Pine Mountain, then up through Harlan, Whiteburg, to Pikeville and the brakes.

Ryan, I think that is like the best eastern Kentucky drive you could take. You brought us over here one time in the fall, and it was just blown away when the trees start changing colors. It is unbelievably beautiful over here. When people ask me that, and they ask me that all the time, that's the drive. 75 to 25E, up 119 to Pikeville, that's the drive. In 2020, when we couldn't leave our

homes or go places, we drove all the way to Virginia and hit all those stops. But one day, we drove just to the Pinnacle, and it was like Chevy Chase and vacation, they were closed for maintenance that one day. So we drove two hours and then just drove straight back home. But at Pinnacle, I haven't done them all, but that one's high on all this.

Shay Gilgis Alexander, before we go the phones, 859-280-2287. Shea Gilgis-Alexander was named MVP yesterday. Give a round of applause for that. How about this? First-ever player to play at Kentucky to be the MVP of the NBA. That's kind of an amazing stat. And think about all the guys that have come through here over the years.

You know, Dan Isles, Kenny Walker, Jamal Mash, from Jack Givens, Anthony Davis, John Wall. If I told you when they enrolled in school, that the first one to be the MVP would be Shea Gilgis Alexander, you'd never have believed. Never, ever. If you just take the Cal guys. He may be the 10th one I would have guessed. Probably so many guys ahead of him that would have won the MVP.

And then he played like an MVP last night. Got the trophy at 38 points in the game. Yeah, and it was nice to see his teammates how into it they were. Shannon they were going crazy for him. I mean, just go back and think about Shea Gildjus Alexander for a second. Grows up in Canada, ends up down in Tennessee, doesn't make the McDonald's All-American team. On a UK team filled with top recruits, he was considered like the afterthought. Remember, that was like Kevin Knox, Quote Green.

Was that Khalil Whitney maybe? Cali was a little later. Okay. But there were like four guys that were considered elite. And then they were like, and oh, yeah, there's this guy named Shay Allen. And now Shannon, he ends up an MVP. Pretty amazing rise by that guy. Yeah, when you look at his journey, I mean, you could have gotten really good eyes on

Draft Kings for him to be the first guy out of all those Calipari guys to end up being the MVP and the NBA. We were talking about him on the pre-show a little bit. He's become one of those guys that's so tough to defend that he frustrates the defense to where they end up making fouls. He got pushed last night. He's got shoved to the ground last night. But also think about this.

This is a thing people forget. about him. He's one of the few MVPs to win their MVP award with a different team first than drafted him. He was drafted by the Clippers and traded after a year. I mean, they

that's, you don't see guys that good ever get traded early in their career. And he, I'm not going to say they gave up on him. They were trying to get Paul George. But nevertheless, Drew, that's, you know, he was traded. Like, you wish, you think the Clippers wish they had him back?

saw a graphic on social media yesterday showing that trade. People were wondering if it's the worst trade ever because the Thunder got so many picks in Shea and they've basically built their success right now and having draft picks and guys come through their system. So for Shea to just be part of a trail, I think he's like one of seven or eight pieces in it to be MVP. That's nuts. By the way, send me on the text machine the best views in Kentucky, 772-745254.

We are at a carnival. You know, the Mount Laurel Festival has carnival stuff. What's your favorite thing to eat at a carnival? I have a feeling you eat all of this stuff that's terrible, like a deep fried Oreo or a deep fried Twinkie. Bacon, ranch cheese fries do sound good, man. Bacon, range cheese fries. That's really good. Look at the size of that bucket of fries.

I mean, that would take 10 people to eat that. So I'm going to get one. The greasier, the better when it comes to carnival foods. But a funnel cake is to go to. You got to get a funnel cake when you come to a place like this, don't you? You're a good phone? Oh, yeah. Covered in all that powdered sugar?

Do they have corn dogs? Oh, yeah, right there. You can't get a corned dog. dog too many places on earth except a carnival and a corn. Do you like a good corn dog? Oh, yeah. That's my go-to. We got some lemonade right here, freshly squeezed lemonade. I don't know why it tastes better when it's freshly squeezed. They still, Chase, right? They still serve corn dogs in high school cafeterias. Unfortunately. That's a big thing in Middlesbril. Corn dog day.

The attendance was always up on Corn Dog Day. Hey, you don't know what you have until it's gone. I miss regular corn dogs in my life. That's why today there's probably eight food trucks. I'm going to get one thing at each of them. We're just going to do a tour to Pineville here. All right. Well, that'd be a good video for you. Ray Dr. Ruchy does the food trucks.

Who's up first? Kentucky Joe. Oh, good. Kentucky Joe. Go for it. Kentucky Joe. All right, so Liam. Yeah.

Are you there, Joe? Yeah, I'm here. Wait a. I'm not going to wait. I'm not going to wait on you. We are on live radio. Joe. I can't wait on you. Hey, hey, you hear me now?

Yes. Okay, I'm by the window. Thank goodness. I'm glad you're by the wind. Don't jump out it. Yeah. Hey, man, it's been an interesting week. You made me cry Monday with the show down there in London. I mean, you're making me smile today.

Well, good. Hey, the clogging. There's still be some clogging. All right, Joe, enjoy the weather. Have a good time. We'll take a break and be right back. This is 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 here at the Mount Laurel Festival. Liam's playing that Rick music today. Liam, where are you getting this? First of all, Liam, this is his first day ever doing the show by himself. Liam, tell the audience about you.

Who are you? How old are you, Liam? Liam, I'm 23. I'm a scholar. I read a few books back in the day. You're a scholar? Yeah. Is that what you said?

You're a scholar? Okay. Liam, the scholar, 23 years old. Where are you from, Liam? Northern Kentucky. I went to Simon. From Northern Kentucky. Went to Simon Kinton.

All right. So why did you play that song? That's like old people music. Did you? It's baby making music. Yeah. Why'd you pick that? Because there was telephone issues, so Mr. Telephone Man, there's something wrong with my line.

Uh-huh. Oh, look at that. I didn't realize. Sorry, maybe Liam has deeper meaning than I realized. All right, Liam. I take it back. Well done. All right, so I asked you the best views in Kentucky.

Yeah. I've already given you Pine Mountain, the Pinnacle, the Breaks. By the way, Tyler Childers has multiple songs about the breaks because he would go there when he was young. All right, here's some of the answers. See what you think, Ryan. Claiborne Farm in Paris. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful. I drove by there like two weeks ago as the sun was setting.

You're exactly right. Absolutely beautiful. Red River Gorge. That's another great one. I don't know why we didn't even think of that. Yeah, the natural bridge and the gorge. Yes. Mammoth Cave.

I guess you're inside the cave. But if you're in the cave, Shannon, that would be very nice. Beautiful cave, as Mark Pope would call it. Yeah. By the way, was it all right, Channing? You thought I made fun of Pope for? all his beautifuls. I love that part of it.

It was so lighthearted. I don't think you could have done that with Cala Perry. No. Like, I think Calipari would have got to stood up a lot. Well, I'll tell you, one thing you couldn't have done with Cal was when I sort of questioned his substitution patterns and his three. He said, poor coaching. But I said to him, hey, you said you were going to shoot 33s.

You didn't shoot 33's. And I, I mean, he acknowledged it and then gave an answer. But Drew isn't, that's what a coach should do, right? I mean, rather than get angry and goes, are you a basketball, Benny? Did you, like when he said, still one of the maddest times he's ever made me when he looked at Tyler Thompson said, did you even watch the games, and I wanted to just mess up his terrible hair. Well, he has great hair, but mess it up. I wanted to make it terrible.

Pope handles it the right way. Okay, here's why I do that. I thought that was great. I thought that, and I think a lot of people did. We had a board thread kind of reacting to the whole interview, and a lot of people mentioned that you couldn't have done that with Cali. It would have gotten very defensive. Might have pulled your credential.

You definitely would have been in trouble. Definitely would have been. Anything you did. 859-28027. Cope open lines. Give us a shout. A little slow on the phone this morning. Kentucky player next year, Aberdeen.

Sorry, first name is David. Denzel. He went with the rest of the Florida Gators to the White House because they won the national championship so they get to visit the White House. Denzel Aberdeen, who even know he's transferring, He helped win the title, so he goes. Two funny things that happened. First of all, well, first of all, Trump mentioned him in the speech.

He did. As, you know, as having played well. Two interesting things. First of all, they did the gator chomp while they were taking the picture. And he was the only guy on the team, Ryan, that didn't do the gator chop. Everyone else did. He just stood there. You think that was like a little, you think that was on purpose?

What do you think? He kind of won me over when he did that. The whole team's doing it about him. That tells me his loyalty is now with the Kentucky Wildcats. He's not going to do that for the Florida gator. Did you like that, Drew? Oh, of course. I mean, that's a kid.

He grew up in Florida, Orlando, Ryan's favorite city. Florida State Champion, played three years as a gator and wore a ring. But he's like, no, I'm a cat now. I can't anticipate this. Can't do the gator time. Then the other great moment from the gator visit is, what's the guy who's seven foot nine or whatever? What's his name? Have you all seen this guy?

Olivier Rue. Yeah. He goes to shake Donald Trump's hand, and Donald stays sitting in the chair. And the visual of this seven-foot nine man reaching down to shake hands is one of the better video clips I've ever seen. Did you see that? Yeah, yeah. That is, it's hilarious. Probably good that Trump didn't stand up because that would just make them look even weaker, right?

Here's the thing. So Trump is my height. Yeah, he's a big guy. Trump's 6-3, 6-4. I think he and I, I mean, we don't have anything in common. Basically the same person. But we're about the same height. But a dude that tall can make you look short.

I mean, go look at the picture of me with Mark Pope. He makes me look short. Seven-foot-nine guy can make you look really short. And I don't think he would have liked that. Yeah, the last thing you want is the president of somebody towering over you. So I mean, I think that's why. So you think he sat down on purpose. Of course.

I think that's probably right with all those tall people. My favorite moment was when he asked, he said, where's Aberdeen? Aberdeen kind of stood forward, raised his hand, and he said, I have a house in Aberdeen, Scotland. And that was like, that's what he had to say to him. Yeah, I was going to be nice and not say what was the. I just thought that was neat. Where's Aberdeen? I have a house in Aberdeen, Scotland.

But hopefully, Ryan, he gets to go to the White House again next year, and he's visiting with us as we win the time. You know, I'm still kind of amazed that he picked Kentucky. You know, he looked at the roster, but if he wants to be a part of that team, He's going to, like I said, I think they may start him, Otega and Lowe, both. Got to go small a little bit and start those three guys. Who's up next, Liam? Bruce. Bruce. Go ahead, Bruce.

Matt, did you know that Bell County and Pineville started high school wrestling teams recently? You all have a high school wrestling team in Pineville? I did not know that, Bruce. Thank you for letting me know. Why do you know that? Well, I was going to say, well, apparently that the Millsboro students, for too weak, especially their 1998 alumni to have at

wrestling teams. Wow. Wow. Throwing some major shade at Millsborough. Clearly you're not talking about me. I did not graduate in 1998. I graduated 1996 with Lawrence Moyers who's sitting here in the crowd right now.

So that was close to being good. Anything in the late 90s. How about that? Anything in the late 90s? Well, good. I didn't realize that. Wrestling? Yes, go ahead. Also, one more thing. there's a very good possibility that pickleball is going to be adopted as a high school athletic sport. Not under my,

dead body. That's some scuttle, but the high school pickle ball is going to be a sport in the spring. What would it take for you to broadcast the state championship game of that? Oh, we've got to do it. Oh, there's no doubt. Half a million dollars. We'll do it. First of all, I appreciate the call.

That's not true. true is it. We're not doing... Rush is shaking his head. They're going to do high school pickleball. What has happened to this state? I thought we were... Are you, you being real? When are we going to have high school ping pong?

Is that what's... I thought pickleball was for old people. Can't the high school play tennis? Kids can play tennis. Like, pickle balls for old people. Not a lot of overhead. You already got the court. Is there even a pickleball court down here? Hopefully not.

No build one. You played high school basketball against Russ Thompson. I think he had 24 points. How many points did you have that day? He was good. I was not good. So Russ was a good basketball player. I was like James Johnson on the bench just taunting him from the background.

I didn't, I was not a big player. You're a role player, though. Every team needs a role player. My role was to clap and be a lot of water bottle. This is Ryan. This is the 1972, Kentucky, Massachusetts. Mountain Laurel Festival program. And just so you know, the winner of the 1972 Mountain Laurel Queen was Wanda Sue

Stiles from Midway College. What a fox. Yeah, yeah. She was quite the looker back in 1977. You know, just so you know, Wanda Sue would now be 76 years old. That could be a 76-year-old Fox. I like in the front of that program, it shows people that participated, like Rupp is listed. There's a lot of big-time names of people that have been directors and different roles.

They have the list of directors for the pageant. You know who's... So let me read you some of the people that were directors for the Mount Laurel Paget in 1972. Adolf Rup. Yeah. Oh. Was one of the directors. Oscar Robertson.

Really? Is that the Oscar Robertson or is that some guy here named Oscar Robertson? It's the V. You all had Oscar Robertson on the board of directors? Wow. How about that? I get Pope on there. Bert T. Combs? He's got like a highway, right?

Bert T. Combs, former governor. That too. Wow. He also has a highway. William T. Young. Yes, big horse guy. Big library guy. Love that library.

Peanut butter. I also recognize some Middlesboro names here. Kirby Smith and all that. So, anyway, 1972 Mountain Laurel Festival. It's 859-280-2287. We are here in Pineville. Right here in southeastern Kentucky. We'll take a break and be right back.

This is 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 SportsClice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games.

And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase

that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing and we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? 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, Keir Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose. On my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free, our Heart Radio 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 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 and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WNBA 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 feel like. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladecki. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and 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 IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast. Podcasts for wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. All right, Liam. Welcome back, Tegi Sports Radio.

Great song. I think I like, listen, I think I like Liam Shannon. That's a song Tyler wrote about the brakes. He's like, he's falling in your footsteps. You better watch yourself. This might be a younger Shannon the dude. He knows what you like. So he's sucking up right now is what he's doing.

That's all right. I am just like our president. I'm here to be bought. Stop overpaying. for sunglasses and check out Shady Ray's. An independent American-owned company started right here in Kentucky. Premium polarized shades. I'm wearing them right now because it is a beautiful day here in Pineville.

Try the entire collection. It's Shadyrays.com. They're in Lexington, Louisville, and online. They also have a blue and white collection as well. It is Shady Rays. Speaking of that, one person writes me and says, my brother and I have a bet for $150, Drew. That's a lot of money.

Matt, you have to decide it. We got in this argument last night. if you were the athletic director at Kentucky Donald Trump wanted to come to a Kentucky basketball game would you say yes or no all right so that's the bet well let's say before I answer what do you think my answer would be

knowing my feelings about would I say yes or no if I was the athletic director at Donald Trump coming to a UK game shape you'd say yes what would I say he's still the president of the United States you would say yes I think you would also say yes I would definitely say yes. So whichever of you bet it would be a hassle, right?

It would make it a hassle for everybody. But yes, if he's the president, you would invite him, especially if you're a public university that takes federal funds, then yes. I would say that no matter who the president was, unless, you know, no matter who the president was, yes, you would invite. Put him on the bench, make him the 15th man, give him a jersey. You know, put him out there to be a good 15th man?

Do the Y at the timeout? I don't know if I'd have it to be the Y. Put it in the layup line. That might be a little different. But, of course, you would definitely invite him. So whoever got that $150. All right, let me give you a fairness situation, Shannon. You tell me how they should have ruled.

Class A, Region 1, track championship. I like it already. So this is Western Kentucky. This happened on Saturday. Class A, Region 1 state track championship, or regional track championship. They have all the races. Okay, 100 meters, 200 meters, 50, I don't know what all they have, but they had all the ones they had.

Then when it was over, the people who come in first and second, they move on to the state tournament. They find out, though, the next day that the timing equipment was broken. Uh-oh. That they were off on the timing equipment. Now, the timing equipment in the finals, they crossed a tape so you could see who won. then the preliminaries, the timing equipment may have been off. And so now they are making everyone come back. As they should.

Yep. Next week. And run it all again. So the people that were in first and second no longer get to go to state, they got to do it again, and they're making everybody come back. Good decision, bad decision. So you're saying even the people that weren't time, the people that were just racing and clearly finished first and second?

No, they had like preliminaries. and you made it based on time. Okay. That was screwed up. Now, the finals races were the first and second place people went. Yeah. They, it was a race. I got you now.

Now, I've heard people write me say, look, none of the people that got out of the preliminaries, they weren't going to the finals anyway, but they're still running the whole thing again. Do you think they should run it again? I think we've got to run it back to make sure it's legit. Otherwise, those times mean nothing. So if you're the top two runners, though, naturally you should still finish when we run it back again you should still finish in the top two if you're two best. You're Mr. High School Sports Ryan run it back again or say well it's like basketball

ref may get the call wrong but it is what it is. I thought you started telling the story you were going to tell us that they are just going to take it even though they had admitted timing malfunctions I thought they were going to take the finals as they were the fact they're going to redo it I think that's the right decision I mean if you got the extra weekend before the state finals anyway why not do it but what if he came in second in a close race, you run it back, and now you come in third. Tough. Finish second this time. Be faster.

Yeah, be faster. I'm going to go the other direction. Congratulations to our winners. Sorry, our equipment messed up. That's life. Whoops, we'll do better next year. But it's these kids' senior year of high school. They're one chance to be and play in the glory of the state tournament like I did in doubles

tennis when I lost 60-60 to a group of eighth graders. They could have that moment. Also an equipment malfunction. They're not going to get to have that moment. I get it. It's sad, but I mean, it's tough luck. I mean, I would be very upset. Whoever messed this up, we didn't have our equipment right,

but you've already crowned a winner. I say too bad. What's your decision? So, normally, if the finals were timed, I would agree with you all. Run it back. But if the finals race was like whoever got there first and we know, then I say, look, those were going to be. be the ones that would have made it anyway.

I'm going to go ahead and take it. But don't those preliminaries matter? Because that depends on who gets in. But I'm going to feel like if you weren't good enough to come in far ahead in the preliminaries, you weren't going to win the finals anyway. I'm assuming it was kind of clear even if the times were off a little bit. Yeah. But it's interesting.

All those people have to come back. Some people apparently missed their high school graduation to go the last time. And now they have to go back and do it again. So we're split two, too. So we're split 2-2. We'll have to go. How many of you would make them run it back? Raise your hand.

Not one person. Nobody? How many of you would say it is what it is? Get over it, kids. Wow. Wow. Unanimous. Look.

Ryan and Shannon, you talk about being in the minority. No one agrees with you. Ryan and I are the only two in Pineville. The entire city should say they should have to come back. My, that's incredible. Let me tell you what they don't give out in Pineville, participation trophies. I can see that. There are none of those in Pineville.

Who's up next? Aaron. Aaron, wow, I didn't expect. Me neither. That's a lot of people. Aaron, go ahead, Aaron. Yeah, in three years, do you expect this show to be in a current forum with you at the host? You know something I don't know?

What are you talking about, Aaron? Do you plan on being the host in three years? All right, so it's three years. That would be 26, 25, 26, 27. So you're talking about 28? Yeah, if you, I'll be, yeah. You just signed a five-year deal? Yeah, no, I mean, I'm going to go, like, you know, I kind of look at things in blocks,

and I've kind of, I think absent getting fired, I think through 28 is a pretty good bet. But not after. I don't know. That's four years. What are you going to be doing in four years? I don't, you know, I don't know. Okay. We'll see in three years.

I think that guy's betting on the under. Yeah, he knows something we don't know. That was kind of ominous. It was. Yeah, I don't know. He'll see you in three years. Like, he knows what's going to happen in three years. Just right to the point, too.

Yeah, I don't know. That was really kind of worried about you. Yeah, well, hopefully he doesn't know anything I don't. But why not? I mean, I'll go at least through then. If not, this office is still open, you can Johnny Bruce go back to. No, they've turned it into an Airbnb. I don't think I can go back.

You think they charge more for that Airbnb knowing the history that you once practiced law there? I would make you a bet there's not one person here and maybe not one person in this town that knew that that was where my office was. I mean, I didn't even get the right building the first time. So, yeah, I don't think it's a historical monument. Former home of the claw law office. Come and stay here. For me, this is really more Braves country than Reds, right? How many Braes fans here?

How many Reds? Okay, so split. Most people seem agnostic. But if you're a Reds fan, to me, Ryan, this is the weekend that decides whether or not I give up on the table. Here we go. Here we go again. Hosting the Cubs for a three-game series. Cubs have a five-and-a-half game lead on us.

We at least got to win two of three. We can't slip farther behind them, or it may just be time to say that's it. You got to win at least two out of three this weekend at home against the Cuc. And what are the Reds? They've lost 12 of their last 15 or something. Is that right? No, we won five in a row just a little while back. They're only one game behind 500.

I thought they were really good to struggle. Yeah, we won five row. And Hunter Green comes back tonight. He pitches tonight, so that's good. But I do think, Ryan, this is a big series for us against the Cubs. I'm going tonight to the game. Huge series, because if you lose this when you're down eight games and they're out. They're done.

more games to play. They're out. 60 games into the season. Red stink. They're like your canes. They're stink. Yeah, the canes have stunk. I don't want to talk about that.

We will take a break. Come back. Hour number two here in Pineville. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help

an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. And every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear.

Listen to SportsSlice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host Kier Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing.

How many men carry a suit are armored? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring woman 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.