2026-03-23- KSR - Hour 2

I'm Daniel Alarcon, and this is my friend who's much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm John Green, co-host of the podcast The Away End with my old friend Daniel. On our podcast The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer is the most important. Listen to The Away End with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I am Greg Rosenthal. I know that, Greg. We're teaming up on 40s and free agents, the podcast that owns the NFL offseason. This is where teams are built. Free agency, combine, pro days, trades. Every move matters. From my draft boards and mock drafts. To my vaunted top 101 free agents and how rosters come together. Quarterback movement. Surprise signings. We'll tell you what it means and who really wins. 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But don't just take our word for it. Stockton Mortgage has over 70,000 five-star reviews and counting. Just like this review from Joshua, who says this about his experience with Stockton. They were super professional, always answered my questions I had and streamlined the process. I could not ask for better people to help me and my family get our first house. I feel blessed to be able to go through them. Be like Joshua or the 69,999 others just like him and get started with Stockton Mortgage today by going to stockton.com and get started. I've even used Stockton Mortgage myself on my own home loan. For your home loan needs, Stockton.com and click Get Started. Stockton Mortgage, NMLS 8259, Equal Housing Lender, NMLSConsumerAccess.org. Welcome to Hour 2 of Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now, here's Matt Jones. Welcome back. Hour 2, Kentucky Sports Radio, 859-280-2287. Text machine 772-774-5254. One person writes, Matt, this show is a little bit depressing. Nothing you guys have done. It just feels like the facts are depressing. They are. I mean, they are. This is what happens at the end of every year that doesn't go as you want. It's hard to be happy-go-lucky when things are not happy or lucky. But, I mean, we'll get over it. We'll keep going. You know, I don't want this show. It's not going to just turn into a bitch and moan fest. I don't think people want to hear that. But it's also, I think, important for people to understand the issues at play. You know, I got a text message during the break from someone who works at UK who said to me, Matt, keep up with what you're doing. The morale in the athletics department is the lowest it's ever been. and I think that's right now part of that is there are loyal people to Mitch Barnhart kind of sad to see that he's leaving there are people who worry that forces within the university that will be more negative are going to start running things and then there are just those who just kind of don't like what's going on but sometimes the only way you can have change is when you acknowledge when things are bad and because mitch is leaving there's going to be a change so let's just hope it's a good one yep and as you all said we need someone with some juice in here and some excitement i want to try some new things mitch was a big reactor to everything that's how we fell behind in nil which i think hurt stoops and cal whoever's next i hope they come in with some ideas and trying some new stuff and try to get this place to having fun having some success again let's talk a little non-uk stuff from the tournament real quick you happy for ricky patino I actually I am I can't believe I've switched to flip the switch deck I have with him but I am not only for him I am pulling for him to win it all now come on he's got to be Duke beat Duke in Washington DC how about the guy getting didn't make a shot the whole game and gets the winning layup and they call him church bells called his own number like he went to Patino and wanted to make the call that play for me I'm in a shot all game but I'll hit this one you like the nickname church bells love it yeah I don't know how you get that but I love the nickname I don't either I also love Patino saying that he wants to get a buzzer beater over Duke next week so he can avenge that later shot. I'm pulling for St. John's. I'm even thinking about going that Friday night. Are you really? Well, I mean, think about it. That's a Final Four in Washington, D.C. Oh, there's no doubt. Duke and Patino, UConn and Michigan State. Awesome. I mean, that's better than what the Final Four will be, won't it? Sure it will. Like, when are you going to get four coaches? I mean, Shire's new in his career, but when are you going to get four coaches like that in one building? It is. That's a Final Four. It'll be a better setting than the Final Four. You should go if you have a chance. I mean, I don't know if they'll credential me, but I'm going to go Shannon, Matt Jones, ESPN Radio. They're going to be like, what are you doing for ESPN Radio here? Well, nothing, but you know what? Don't ask. Don't ask. Don't tell. Those four letters will get you anywhere. Yes. No, I will be crazy. I was rooting for Rick. A, I don't want Kansas to have any success, and I have them beating Duke in my bracket, but my favorite moment of that game is when they made the buzzer beater. Rick just stone cold walked towards himself. I don't get that, man. And everybody was like, look what a G. He doesn't get excited. Man, you got to at least. Now he did pump his fist after. Yeah. What about Florida losing? Happy? Very happy, yes, because Todd Golden is snot-nosed, snot-head. I thought Ben McCohum and he might go to blows there. A lot of F-bombs going their way. I thought Hurley and Mick Cronin would be the one to watch. Those two were going at it more than those guys. Does anyone like Todd Golden? Like anyone? For Florida to lose? You like him. He is getting a little over the top, though. He's getting into Hurley territory, which I think is too much. Yeah, I mean, I do think you've got to slow down a little bit. I'm losing him a little bit. He's fighting everybody. I like the fire, and I even like when he tells opposing fans to sit down and shut up. I like having a villain, but he is getting a little too much. It'll be an interesting year for him next year because he's going to lose that core group that has been there the last two years. But to lose in Tampa as a No. 1 seed, that was a big loss for Florida. Yeah, how about Iowa, by the way? That guy was a D2 coach like two years ago. But he said he won a D2 title? He won a D2 title, then went to Drake, had a good couple years there, and then this is his first year at Iowa, I think, yeah. And as good as Florida's front court is, we figured that back court would eventually get him in Lee, not the best. I mean, even if they had it off that pass, I don't think there was enough time for Hawk to lay it up. I mean, he just dribbled to the baseline and lost time. Yeah, so that's good. We listened a little bit to the UConn thing. Are you for Nebraska, Shannon? having never won a tournament game. They say they may have 40,000 people in Houston next week. They had so many people at that Vandy game, it felt like they were playing the game at Nebraska's home court. Yeah. What about that shot? Did you think it was heartbreaker? It was halfway down. It was almost another O-way shot that Tanner just missed there at the buzzer. Kept it from going out. I think you're right. Yeah. I guess I'll pull for Nebraska. Can we also note Ryan Lemon is in the 99.5 percentile on bracket? That's crazy. Wow. I'm going to clap. All know over here. I filled it out in like three minutes. Maybe that's the key. That's, I think, the thing with you. Yeah. Don't think. Don't think it. Don't think. Just fill it out. Natural brain. Yeah. Remember how I tell you don't try to be funny? Natural brain. Don't try to think. What's my other brain called if it's not natural? Whatever comes out of your mouth usually. Just natural brain. Natural brain. Is your Final Four still alive? Yes. Do you have a chance to go on a, okay. Yeah. He's got a chance to. Like he's like on our ESPN people contest. It's like a hundred different ESPN personalities. You would be in first. What? Yes. Why didn't I enter that contest? Yeah. I don't know. Too late. There's one perfect bracket on that bracket challenge on ESPN. There's one. Still perfect. Yeah. One, one guy still left. It's pretty impressive. If you're still perfect, you'd have a chance. How, how bad do you want Arizona to beat Arkansas? I am all in on Arkansas. what i'm all in on arizona there we go that brain i tried to give you a compliment yeah and then that's what you did that's the ryan limit experience let's go to mark go ahead mark good morning gentlemen good morning um church bells only plays on sunday that's the nickname Oh, okay. Church bells only play on Sunday. I like that. Okay, gotcha. So that's the nickname. But talking about UK basketball and what's going on and some stuff, just had some conversations with some people. And, you know, the kids are kind of frustrated. A lot of them want to go to Duke because of the experience and Kansas because of the experience. And what they're talking about is, you know, when you play in Rupp, we got the eruption zone and that's really it. And then you got the eruption zone, which is on our end in the second half. Yes. They can't go out and do anything because everybody knows who they are and they're all under 21. So they can't go anywhere and do anything and, you know, get into a little bit of trouble. So we're having to pay these guys a lot more money to come here. And then the other thing is nobody's back at Wildcat Lodge, so they're not together anymore except for basketball practice. kind of like a high school team you know at basketball practice when they see them at school they're there but they're not together yeah no they're not they're not they were up to about three or four years ago they were uh together and this is all part of the environment around go ahead go ahead no that was gonna say the whole point of the whole point of what i'm talking about the overall leadership is no one has taken the things you're talking about seriously. No one has really set and thought about, how do I make Rupp Arena better? How do I make it to where that environment, A, is inviting to fans, B, makes players want to come here. The question has always been, how much money can we make? That's been the question. And when I hear Eli Capilouto say, cuts more revenue that's you know that is all the part and parcel of make money and that and i think that gets to what you're saying build your own gym you control the revenue that way you do that's true and you could build it the way you uh wanted i appreciate the call you know these are these are little things okay and and i use them as an example not so not to complain. I know it sounds like it, but to just give you an example, let's take Mario. Mario has a big social media following. If you, if you walk on campus with Mario, if we go to a game, the second most known media member probably besides me is Mario with the younger people. Oh, no doubt. All right. The amount of hassle over the years UK has given Mario when he tries to do things at games with students is crazy to me. You have one media member in this entire state who relates to the students and who the students like. They have kicked him out of the gym before, escorted him out once, which they did apologize for, but it was ridiculous. They just constantly are trying to stop him from doing something that ultimately helps them. It helps the university. But all they see is we own everything that happens in this building. Mario is costing us money. Get Mario out. Instead of going, we've got this dude who gets our students involved. Why? Because they don't think like that. They just think money, money, money, money, money. And the key to money is everyone should make no dollar unless it's us. And that's a terrible mindset. And I see it with him but it applies to a million other things Why are we watching all these commercials during March Madness and the Kentucky logo is not anywhere Because we ask for more money than these other schools and these other schools get the benefit of Duke and UConn being on every commercial. There's value in that. Of course there is. There's value in kids. A lot of kids, the only time they watch college basketball is the NCAA tournament. And if you watch it during the NCAA tournament, you'd think Duke and UConn are the place to be because they're in every commercial yep and we're sitting there going we're gonna need 150 thousand dollars to use your like this it all the the chickens come home to roost after a while yep and i've brought this up for a while and it's gotten better but there were several years where i go to websites with hats or t-shirts they have all the colleges and i've dm'd them like hey you're gonna get kentucky stuff probably not they're the hardest school to work with it's like you got 110 schools but not kentucky that's improved a little but that was a problem for a long time merchandise people will tell you Kentucky is the hardest school to work with in the country and that's why again it's gotten better but it's been hard to get those cool like throwback or retro things because we wouldn't do it and again I hope that is a change but all of those are like little things that showcase I said to one of the UK media people I can go to the Super Bowl and get better access than you will give me at a UK scrimmage. Facts. Crazy. That's crazy to me that you guys, like, Ryan and Shaden didn't get credentialed for the SEC tournament, and Ryan sat next to the scorekeeper at the NCAA tournament. What is wrong with you people? But that's just how they look at it. On3 brought a bunch of, like, all their websites to Nashville last year, and we had a big dinner and you had to sit with people you didn't know. So I sat with the Florida site, the Alabama site, and they're talking about going to practices. And I was like, I haven't been to a practice in five years. They're like, what do you mean you don't get to go to a practice? Pat Kelsey invited me, Shannon, to a Louisville practice. Yeah, that's unbelievable. I want you to think about that. Pat Kelsey was like, man, you ought to come watch us practice. We can't even get to a Kentucky practice. What? That's crazy. Jay and Linden, go ahead. Shout out, Mario. Hey, Todd Golden is your buddy in college that starts fights and disappears when something goes down. That's a really good call. You're right. Hey, I got two quick things, and I got a favor to ask of you. First, I'm sick of the national media telling me my expectations are too high. I agree with you. And, Matt, you touched on this, and I don't know if you have any insight on this. The difference in Pope's interviews this year compared to last year are so stark. Last year I thought he was the smartest guy on the planet. It's like a hostage situation this year. It does feel like that. Jay, just go watch the videos of Mark Pope during the season in post-game press conferences last year but this year. It's like there's two different people. Here's my favor. I want you this summer to do a podcast on NIL and its whole relationship. relationship. I follow stuff and I don't even understand it, man. Yeah, I will. I will. I'm trying to be fair. I'll be honest. And I appreciate the call. I'm trying to be fair to an entity in JMI that really isn't fair to me. I'm trying to be fair because I don't want to blame things without really knowing. And I'm spending this spring after this portal season, trying to learn so that when I say something, I'm educated completely on it. But I will do that. We need to do it. And on the national media part, I don't want to hear anyone that's not a Kentucky fan tell me what Kentucky fans should expect. Right. I don't care. Like the quote from the CBS guy, Kentucky fans, just shut up. You don't know. I don't tell North Carolina fans what to expect. I don't need people telling Kentucky fans what they should want. That dude's probably never even been on UK. Stop it. Yeah, I mean, it's different here. We inherited this. It's our lives here. We'll decide how we want to live. Listen to any Kentucky fan's opinion about expectations. I'm not listening to the guy who has no connection to it. Big news for our listeners in North Carolina. Your team lost, but Cornbread's award-winning seltzers are on the shelves. Raspberry limeade, blueberry breeze, peach tea, which Ryan stole four of them from my house. Go to cornbreadhemp.com. It's cornbreadhemp.com. Get yourself rest and relaxation with Cornbread Hemp. Cornbread Hemp, grown for the good life. We'll take a break. Be right back. KSR. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault in Our Stars, and now I guess also as the co-host of The Away End, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist, and John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game, and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer, football, is a story we've shared for over 30 years, since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very debatable. And I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, its hope, its heartbreak, and above all, its beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to The Away End with Daniel Alarcón and John Green on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I'm Greg Rosenthal. And this is 40s and Free Agents. The games may be over, but the NFL never stops. This is my favorite part of the calendar. Yeah, mine too, Greg. Free agency, the combine, the NFL draft, pro days, trades. This is where teams reshape their future. This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and free agents, we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits. To my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move. We got teams rebuilding. It's hope season. Absolutely, it's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your favorite team. Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's the new me. And it's the old them. Everybody's on their journey. And your journey's different to theirs. This Woman's History Month, the podcast, If You Knew Better with Amber Grimes, spotlights women who turn missteps into momentum and lessons into power. I think coming out of where I came from, I'm from the Bronx. I think I grew up really poor. I didn't know that then because I very much use my creativity to romanticize life. And I'm like, my mom did a really good job of like, you step back and you're like, whoa, we, I don't know how we made it. So a lot of my life was like built out of like survival to get to the next place. Like my drive, my like tunnel vision of like, I got to be better. I got to achieve this was off the strengths of like, I want to make a better life for us. If You Knew Better brings real talk from women who've lived it. unpacking career pivots, relationship lessons, and the mindset shifts that changed everything. Listen to If You Knew Better with Amber Grimes on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up? I'm Miles Turner. And I'm Brianna Stewart. And our podcast, Game Recognized Game, has never been done before. Two active players giving you a real look at our lives and what we actually think on and off the court. Nothing's off limits. We talk trade requests. What's the vibe of that when it's like your star player is like, well, I want to leave. And then actually now I'm going to stay. We talk tanking. I mean, honestly, like I might get in trouble for this answer, but I think it's like definitely happening in the WBA. And yeah, we talk about our mistakes, too. They pulled me to the side and was like, hey, man, we got a call last night and you can't be rolling around the city like this the night before games. No, you know, doing this, doing whatever. And of course, family stories. They'll be like, Mommy, why did you miss that? Mommy, do you play basketball? Check out Game Recognized Game with Studi and Miles on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to Techie Sports Radio, 859-280-2287. Text machine 772-774-5254. Folks writing in, a lot of interesting comments, actually. of people who with their own personal experiences. One person says, Matt, I blame a lot of our environment on our students. Our students are not very into it. I'll take up for the students. Our students are fine. The issue is not the students. You have to make the students. Like, you got to help. Like, complaining about the students is sort of like, I listened to Pope twice during this last week and complain about modern media. Okay, maybe you have a point, maybe you don't, but like this is the world you're in. so the question is how do you best utilize it right our students are like all college students are they distracted by their phones sure but you know what these other schools have students distracted by their phones and they got great environments so what do they do right right we stick our students in a little pen right behind the bench we don't we put the rest of them in these corner seats and then we don't really do it and when they try to bring in fun signs or do something they haven't taken from them. Right? What do you expect? I mean, like, you ask that, you make that job hard to be a student fan, then you're not going to get the reaction. All I know is when we get away from Rupp and we get away from what UK Athletics controls, we actually have some pretty damn good environments. Bridgestone Arena, I know, got killed there by Gonzaga. The moment we get away from you all being in charge, we're good. Y'all didn't have much time to have that press conference pretty awesome, right? And KSR goes places. We have no problem getting crowds. We have no problem having raucous environments. Again, no offense. Go to an official Kentucky pregame pep rally. Seriously, just do this sometime. Come to the SEC tournament. Come to the KSR pregame show. And then walk down the street and go to the official UK pep rally. Tell me which one's more fun. Not even close. Not even close. Not even close. The one in St. Louis. God love them, but what are you doing? You have a basketball goal, little children playing, and like two horns. French horns? What kind of horns are we talking here? So this is all part of you got to engage with the fans. Curtis. Go ahead, Curtis. Yes, sir. Yesterday was probably one of the most horrible defeats we've had since we lost to Wisconsin in whenever that was, 2016. But Mark Pope is a great person. He ought to be a youth minister, not a coach. He's not going to get any better. If he hadn't played at Kentucky, if he played at Valpo or Purdue and won a championship, he wouldn't be back next year, and we're just going to keep him. It's horrible. well I appreciate the call let's do this it's Curtis I I we let Curtis do that I got a bunch of people on here let's go through here and I'll do you get 30 seconds to say what you think about this without Matt Jones or Ryan Lemon or Drew Franklin like it just you can just say it unless I have to cut you off because of whatever reason all right let's do this Shannon you ready let's go 30s you get the clock for each of these people okay ready let's go Chris go okay everybody calm down in the state i don't think the media covered this enough guys um and that last caller was a perfect example uh take caleb will take caleb uh take caleb williams off of north carolina take condor off of florida acquaintance we forget uh was a potential lottery pick so we've got to look back and say what teams could have performed i think polk deserves a mulligan. I mean, we lost our starting point guard. What's up? One person might respond, Iowa State lost their best player in just because by 20, but I'm not doing that. Give everybody their time. We're just going to give everybody their time. Yes. David, go David. 30 seconds. All right. Very frustrating. Okay, go David. Okay, I just want to say I'm very frustrated with Pope and I don't know if he's the guy. I will give him next year, but if he doesn't improve next year, he's out. He should be out. All right. David, there you go. Denise, go. 30 seconds. Hey, I agree with you. The university needs to take a look and look up. If you don't change, you get stagnant and you die. And as far as Mark Pope, he's a great guy, but we rushed. We rushed to choose a coach. Just because you're a basketball player and you win a national championship does not make you qualified to coach basketball And there was no excitement in that game yesterday not by our Wildcats no excitement Mike, go. Mike. I have never been as most frustrated in the world. There's no accountability. There's, you know, players doing, I mean, 20 turnovers, Mark Post standing on the sidelines. I didn't see any emotion in him. I didn't see any coaching in him. I saw him trying to be a cheerleader. Even times we were – but what those players need is accountability. And they need to – when they do something wrong, they need someone to get in their face and hold them accountable for it. He's not the guy. Joe. Matt, Mama Stokes, we love you. You don't want to go to Kansas on an airplane. Come to Lexington, you can drive. And quickly, Matt, I am a liberal athletic director. I am ready for a liberal athletic director. Thank you. Goodbye. Adam. So the fact that, you know, anybody would blame the students is crazy. You know, they they came up with that structure when Patino was here. Fans were on the sidelines and it was awesome. It was rocking. then they limit the number of students to get more money and then they say they need more money like it's ridiculous appreciate it so there you go that's six straight calls and i'll do this again in the next air i just you know it ain't just us are you all right good desk is falling apart just don't break things i didn't really move that just fell into me the desk just fell underneath it all right we'll take 859-280-2287 we'll let some more folks uh go also talk about the women's team plays at five o'clock against West Virginia. Yes. Chance to move to the Sweet 16. They try a big game for them tonight. Huge game. We'll be right back. KSR. TJ Smith, personal injury attorney. Call TJ. 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. Ryan said something during the break that I'm sorry. I'm just distracted this segment. Just, you know, guys talking. Yeah. Well, let's not do that again. I had a good healthy laugh on that one. I did. That was one of those. True story. Very few times it takes your legs out. One person writes, Matt, do you think there will be changes in our coaching staff? I have no idea. Jack Pilgrim certainly thinks so. I mean, Jack Pilgrim said he thinks, what, three to four assistants? He wrote that on the board this morning. Three to four assistants? I mean, worrisome going into portal season. Yeah. No GM. Three to four assistants leaving. you know they're gonna have that documentary in two weeks i don't know how much they'll show but i forgot about that yeah are you excited to watch that oh yes i want to know what happened at the louisville game please include that in the documentary you know it's a you know they're not going to show any of that though like the stuff we want to see is not going to be there like i want to know what happened in louisville game yes i want to know why for a few weeks it seemed like seemed like they wanted to be in different cities than each other yes i hope they have the clip of the auburn when he's in the hallway talking about the mother you know cheated I want to see why the three to four assistants are leaving. This has just not been a cohesive anything. It got better as the year went on, but it's not. You and I talked on the postgame show. It was just an odd season. It was an odd year from start to finish. Just an odd year. It really all started with the, you know, what did he say? We talked about the Louisville locker room before. What did Mark do before the game that he said he screwed up on? Yeah. It's about flipping a switch or something. Yeah, I mean, that's one of those fascinating what-ifs. You hear like seven different answers. I've never really gotten a straight answer. Me neither. And we know of at least twice Rick Pitino had to call him and be like, what are you doing? Yeah, I mean, Rick Pitino called. I mean, I know a person who knows Mark very well that said he had a couple times during the year that people were like, dude, what is happening with you right now? And nobody really knows the answer. So, yeah, I don't know. I mean, I feel like I say I don't know a lot, but I really don't know. Part of it is also a well-run organization understands that they have to get stuff out to the public. This has become so shut off. We've talked about this. Yeah. Everything coming from basketball or athletics is silent. And silence leads to the void filled by rumor. And it's hard to know what rumor is true, right? I didn't see that coming from him or this program. Let's go back to what, let me just go back to when things were rolling. Let me just explain how things worked. From 2010 to 2017, on basketball, John Calipari disliked Jerry Tipton in the local media. And he also had people nationally he disliked. He disliked Pat Forty, he disliked Jeff Goodman, he disliked these handful of people. So he wanted his narrative out in the public. And so he did it various ways. If he wanted Kentucky fans to get information, my phone would ring at any time of night. I would see the name come up. I knew it was him. And I was like, here we go. An hour. Now, I loved it because he was fun to talk to. But I knew. And then he would go, you ought to say this. You ought to say this. You ought to say this. He was getting a narrative out there. Sure. And sometimes I would say it. And sometimes I wouldn't. It depends. Then if he wanted a national thing out, he would call Mike DeCourcy or Andy Katz. Those were these guys back then. And same thing, right? If Mike DeCourcy or Andy Katz said it, you knew where he'd come from. Then later years, Kyle Tucker was one of those. But Cal was very clear. Anytime anything happened, he wanted to make sure there were people in the media giving his side. I don't know what Mark Pope's side is about anything. And I don't think anybody takes up for Mark in public. We have no idea. I think Matt Norlander was that for a little while. He got pretty critical as the year went on, too. But as he got critical, then they cut him off. And so, like, I don't know what Mark Pope thinks. Does Mark Pope think the roster, he didn't get enough support from Mitch Barnhart? Does Mark Pope think he picked the wrong players? I have no idea. And I don't think anybody else does either. I don't either. You know? One thing I look back on is when Pope has questioned narratives in the $22 million, I want to be like, dude, you said you have a Ferrari and you compared it to your 96 team. So if the bar was raised too high, you kind of started that early before the year even began. And the only thing he ever brings up in public is that somebody made an AI thing about his wife in a plane crash, which I never even saw that. Did you see that? No, I don't even know. Did anyone ever see that picture? No, when I was listening to you? Did you see it, Shannon? No, I don't even know what he's talking about. I don't even know what he's talking about. I don't either. And I think most people are in agreement that the Facebook AI stuff, we know it's slop. I mean, there are some people falling for it, but that's not a big narrative in the fan base at all. Whatever the fake AI stuff is. The only thing I ever see is that Colin Chandler donates all his money to Prestonsburg Middle School. Good for him. Colin Chandler would literally be Elon Musk rich if the amount of money he's given to people on Facebook was true. I saw he and Owe split Pope's fine to the SEC. Yeah, so that I see, but I never see this other stuff. All right, let's do what we did a minute ago. 30 seconds for all these people. Are you ready, Shannon? Yep, let's do it. Brad, go. UK Athletics and university leadership has started a major feud with the fans. That's just a fact. Every campaign needs a slogan. The slogan here is UK Athletics does not prioritize winning. The only reason we're having a year three of Mark Pope is because of mismanaged finances, botched hires, and poorly negotiated contracts. out. Mike, go. Mike. That's not Mike. There's two different Mikes. Okay, Mike, go. Let's try this, Mike. He doesn't understand the assignment and in 365 days or sooner, we're going to be having this same conversation if something doesn't change. All right, Mark, go. You have to be ready to go. When I say go, I don't need you to switch it from your Bluetooth to your phone to your Blu-ray to your X-ray. Just talk. TJ, go. I understand that Pope might not be the guy, but you have to take into account He has two years. Todd Golden lost in the first round his first two years. Shire made the round of 32. Sweet 16 his first two years. And maybe Pope isn't the guy, but he was 8-1 his first year with a healthy team. This year, we never really saw them fully healthy. So maybe he's not the guy. Maybe he doesn't have that dog in him, as people say. But right now, I just don't see how people say to fire him or he's not the guy. We don't need to find the proven. Appreciate it. Debbie, go, Debbie. varied staff so that will offset all his analytics. He's got to balance that with common sense and not just use analytics. Also, I think Capilouto's new slogan should be touch money. Debbie! Debbie! Debbie! Wow! Spicy Debbie! Look, who knew Debbie had that in her? BP! Go ahead, BP! Matt Jones, Mark Pope is a good dude. He can date my daughter. He can take my wife on a date. But 46 and 26 in two years at UK is not acceptable. Thank you. Appreciate it. Take your wife on a date? He's allowing her. He's allowing her to date his wife and his daughter? And his daughter. Open relationship. You need to listen to our podcast about relationship advice. Yeah. You do. By the way, a lot of good feedback from that, Shane. Yeah, it was fun. you and i i made ryan and mario listen to it on the way back ryan what do you think of our advice it's very interesting to hear two single 40 year olds talk about relationship advice because for me really i'm not kidding coming from a different perspective a guy who's been married lived that side of it to hear you guys side of it is totally different you know the best feedback we got shannon was from women because they agree with us yeah because we understand women that's exactly matt go ahead matt hey every good public organization needs like multiple channels right multiple communication channels we need some leaks somebody's got to leak some information otherwise we're making up our own narrative about what's happening with mark pope and he's going to date our daughters and wives or something, I guess. I totally agree with you. I totally agree with you. Appreciate the call. I had a conversation with someone, with two different people actually, over the course of the last five days at UK, both of which said, our plan going into next year is for us to control more of our information and how we get it out to people. Meaning essentially, rather than give media stuff, it's going to be BBN Network. absolutely horrible idea and I said to one of the people you can't interview yourself you realize no one gives credibility if you interview yourself right no one will believe that and they were like well we believe that's the way to increase revenue in the future that's just that's horrible and they will realize that you know why do you think we were at the again at the Super Bowl the NFL is allowing every Tom Dick and Harry with a phone to come why because they bring eyeballs. There's a reason they let Stretch come in and interview... Is that a person? Sketch. Sketch. They let Sketch come in and interview Roger Goodell because they know Sketch can relate. If they just bring in, hello, this is Frank from NFL.com to interview... Everybody's going to go... But if Sketch comes in and he's like... Then... But the UK doesn't get that. The UK is living in the 1970s. it's completely fair they are and and leaks are part of it leaks are part of life it's what works you don't think that these like the president like when the president wants something out he tells like they andy beshear when he wants something out they leak it like you just talked about john calipari was the best at it and the moment john calipari stopped doing that was in part coincided with his fall because he became so inward especially if there's already a narrative out there that's not true or you don't like it one text to a media member it doesn't have to be anybody anybody just say hey by the way that thing that's going around is not real will you help get the right thing there's a rumor two of your friends are five two of your players are fighting over a woman text somebody and go that's not happening you shut that can you please shut that down and that ends it yes yep but if you're like oh they shouldn't do that ignore them they stink that is going to keep saying that just keeps going just shut it down one text and it ends but they don do that ServPro is the number one choice in cleanup and restoration Whether it mold fire storm or water damage we got a pro for that We're the ones that make it like it never even happened. If you have a fire or a flood or something like that, it stinks. But ServPro will come in, fix it, and it will look just like it did before. It's S-E-R-V-P-R-O.com. ServPro, ServPro.com. We hope you never need them, but if you do, go to ServPro. Final segment. We'll be right back. KSR. I'm John Green. You may know me as the author of The Fault in Our Stars. And now I guess also as the co-host of The Away End, a brand new world soccer podcast. I'm Daniel Alarcon, a writer and journalist. And John and I have known each other since we were kids. My first World Cup was Mexico 86. I was nine years old. I watched every game and I fell in love. On our new podcast, The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. For us, soccer, football, is a story we've shared for over 30 years, since Daniel was the star player on our high school soccer team. Very debatable. And I was their most loyal and sometimes only fan. I love this game. I love its history, its hope, its heartbreak, and above all, its beauty. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer, is the most important. Listen to The Away End with Daniel Alarcón and John Green on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Daniel Jeremiah. And I'm Greg Rosenthal. And this is 40s and Free Agents. The games may be over, but the NFL never stops. This is my favorite part of the calendar. Yeah, mine too, Greg. Free agency, the combine, the NFL draft, pro days, trades. This is where teams reshape their future. This is where Daniel Jeremiah makes his money. On 40s and Free Agents, we break down every move that actually matters. From my draft evaluations, mock drafts, and team fits. To my top 101 free agents and how real rosters are built, cap space, contracts, and all the tough decisions included. You got quarterbacks on the move. We got teams rebuilding. It's hope season. Yeah, absolutely. It's hope season. We'll tell you what's real, what's noise, and what it means for your favorite team. Smart analysis, real conversations every week. I don't know about the smart, but definitely analysis. Listen to 40s and free agents on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's the new me. And it's the old them. Everybody's on their journey. And your journey's different to theirs. This Woman's History Month, the podcast, If You Knew Better with Amber Grimes, spotlights women who turn missteps into momentum and lessons into power. I think coming out of where I came from, I'm from the Bronx. I think I grew up really poor. I didn't know that then because I very much used my creativity to romanticize life. And I'm like, my mom did a really good job of like, you step back and you're like, whoa, we, I don't know how we made it. So a lot of my life was like built out of like survival to get to the next place. Like my drive, my like tunnel vision of like, I got to be better. I got to achieve this was off the strengths of like, I want to make a better life for us. If You Knew Better brings real talk from women who've lived it. unpacking career pivots, relationship lessons, and the mindset shifts that changed everything. Listen to If You Knew Better with Amber Grimes on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up? I'm Miles Turner. And I'm Brianna Stewart. And our podcast, Game Recognized Game, has never been done before. Two active players giving you a real look at our lives and what we actually think on and off the court. Nothing's off limits. We talk trade requests. What's the vibe of that when it's like your star player is like, well, I want to leave. And then actually now I'm going to stay. We talk tanking. I mean, honestly, like, I might get in trouble for this answer, but I think it's like definitely happening in the WBA. And yeah, we talk about our mistakes, too. They pulled me to the side and was like, hey, man, we got a call last night. And you can't be rolling around the city like this the night before games. No, you know, doing this, doing whatever. And of course, family stories. They'll be like, Mommy, why did you miss that? Mommy, do you play basketball? Check out Game Recognized Game with Stooly and Miles on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to Techie Sports Radio. We have some breaking news, Shannon. Rani-na-na! Dwayne Peavy has signed an extension with the University of DePaul. Six more years as AD. I guess that means not going to be the Canoe Kentucky AD. Would have been my probably top choice. So I'm bummed about that. I think he would have been perfect. I think he does. He knows this university, but has a different perspective. I think he would have been perfect. But he must have thought that he was not going to be considered for this job, or maybe they – who knows? I haven't actually talked to him about it, so I don't know. But that's a bummer to me. I think he would have been really good. There are going to be many other good candidates too, but he would have been a good one. Yeah, I was hoping he'd be high on the list of people to consider as they're still just getting that rolling. I know Eli said he's on his listening tour. Listening tour. Yeah, we're talking to him. 30 people, he said. 30 people. I don't know who they were. But I guess good for Dwayne that he's getting a new deal at DePaul. but selfishly would have loved to have seen him here. I'd be interested to know how many of those 30 people represent the average fan. How many of those 30 people are like the lineup of callers we've had? I wonder how many times Eli's talked to, right now I see Terry, John, Andrew, Brandon, Mark, Martin on the show. Because I bet he's not talked to anyone like that. And I'm not saying those people, these six people should decide, but they should have a voice. and by the way on the listening tour he hasn't mentioned anyone he's listening to he said they have credentials though we don't know the credentials but they do have a credential yeah yeah well it wasn't sean it's not shannon ryan they didn't even get a credential fair point i'm watching it ten roof one person says matt you don't seem as upset as i thought you'd be with the with the athletic department stuff did you just see it coming i've seen this coming for a long time on the athletic side. I thought the basketball side would be a little better, but I've seen this coming for a long time. I've been talking about it for years. These guys have been more and more out of touch, and the chickens have come home to roost in the last year, and this is stuff that privately I've been telling them for a decade. You could feel it. You talked about Brett Setzer. Brett Setzer is one of the biggest donors for the university. Go look at his social media. This is a guy who literally takes one of our UK teams and like transports them to and from games, one of the secondary teams. And he's done so much for football too. He's done so much. And just go look at the stuff he's tweeting. And this is one of your biggest donors. Just go look. And like you'll see there's this sea of discontent that has existed for a long time and now it's just kind of pouring forth a little more. All right, people seem to like this just rapid fire. It's good. So let's go 30 seconds. Brandon, go. Hey, this is for all the callers that say fire Pope. He's not going anywhere. He gets another year. They need to understand it. They need to accept it. There's a standard at Kentucky, and we all know it, and Pope knows it better than we do. The top 25, he won more games against the top 25 last year than any coach in Kentucky history. That has to mean something. That's a one-year mulligan for him. The last guy used to talk down to us. We gave him a grace period based on 10 years prior to his firing or letting go, whatever. good stuff terry uh terry go ahead terry good call i was born august 28th 1962 i'm 63 years old yeah we've won four titles in that year uk fans check your sense of entitlement at the door wow terry that's not what i wasn't expected from terry andrew go ahead andrew let's stop beating a dead horse. Pope's going to be the coach next year. Todd Golden is the worst. All right, Mark. Go ahead, Mark. Mark. All right. Martin. Martin, get it? Martin, go ahead. Martin. Yeah, Martin. Hey, it's simple for me. The athletic department only cares about one thing, and that's money. And when you prioritize money to a degree to where it becomes the end-all be-all. You forget about all the things that got you to where you are. You forget about the student environment, the fan environment at Rep Arena. And in regards to Pope, we need a leader who needs to be respected and is so worried about being liked and doesn't wear his heart on his feet. All right, there you go. So lots of different opinions you've heard. We probably heard 15 in a few minutes. And I kind of hope the folks at UK are listening so they get a sense of where people are on the fan base. Now, tonight, Mark Pope's show is at 6 o'clock. The U.K. women are playing against West Virginia. So let me just say, going into that, the number one sportsbook for live betting is DraftKings. Had a good weekend on DraftKings this weekend. You can as well. You bet what happens. Possession by possession. Use my code KSR. Bet five. Get 200 in bonus bets and turn five bucks into 200 in partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours. If you have any problem, go on here at GAMLAR, 18 plus Kentucky only. Eligible restrictions apply. Bone specs apply for seven days after residence. Traditional term responsible game resource. See dkng.co slash audio limited time offer. Cats and West Virginia against the ladies in Morgantown. West Virginia is a three and a half point favorite. Drew, what do you got? Oh, I like the women here. They're going to give us a longer one. Which team? Well, Kentucky women, excuse me. They're going to give us a much longer run than we got from the men's team. The madness is still alive. Let's get behind them at five o'clock. I think they play well, even though that is a tough road game. We will have the game on at the bar if you want to come by. No, actually, we're closed today. We will not have the game on at the bar. I forgot we're closed. You know what, Mario? Thank you for saving me. Who you got? They said a lot of West Virginia fans filled that arena over the weekend, so it would definitely be a true tough road game for Kentucky. Man, they knocked on the door last year, didn't get there. They get there this year. They get the win tonight. What do you think, Shannon? Kentucky covers and Kentucky wins. Going to the Sweet 16. and they're going to keep March alive for all of us. They don't have an answer for Clara Strick. She kind of got to take it easy against James Madison, pulled back a little bit in the second half. I think we get a huge game from Clara. As I told Charlie Cream last week, Kentucky should be hosting this game. They should be. But that's okay. They can be biased against us. The Cats will go into West Virginia, win the Battle of Appalachia, right? Are we the Hatfields or the McCoys? Brooks is in the Strix one of them was in Kentucky and one of them was in West Virginia which one are we? I don't know whichever one we are that's the one that's going to win and we are going to beat West Virginia today and go to the Sweet 16 give me the cats by 6 I like it thank you all very much we're here for the next few days may go to opening day Thursday well I'm going but we may do the show there that's exciting right we'll see you later this has been Kentucky Sports Radio I'm Daniel Alarcon, and this is my friend who's much more famous than I am. I wouldn't go that far, but I'm John Green, co-host of the podcast The Away End with my old friend Daniel. On our podcast The Away End, we'll share with you the magic of international football, all leading up to the 2026 World Cup. Together, we'll find out why, of all the unimportant things, football, soccer is the most important. Listen to The Away End with Daniel Alarcon and John Green on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. come together. Quarterback movement, surprise signings, we'll tell you what it means and who really wins. Open your free iHeartRadio app, search 40s and free agents, and listen now. I actually drop better when I'm high. It heightens my senses, calms me down. If anything, I'm more careful. Honestly, it just helps me focus. That's probably what the driver who killed a four-year-old told himself. And now he's in prison. You see, no matter what you tell yourself, If you feel different, you drive different. So if you're high, just don't drive. Brought to you by NHTSA and the Ad Council. The human body is a beautiful machine, and keeping it running means understanding how it actually works. Which is why this podcast will kill you is doing a multi-part series on sleep. What it's for, why our bodies don't follow neat rules, and why modern life is not helping. When you consider what we know about sleep in humans, there's one rule that comes out. We are predictably unpredictable sleepers. 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