2026-02-26- KSR - Hour 1

Then she says, have you seen a photo of my son? And I'm like, who is this person? This is the biggest night in podcasting. The countdown is on to our 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards. Live from South by Southwest, March 16th, we'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative, talented creators in the industry. It's truly a who's who of the podcasting world. Creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display. And the winner of the iHeart Podcast Award is... See all the nominees now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com. Hey everyone, it's Emily Simpson and Shane Simpson from the Legally Brunette podcast. Each week we're bringing you true crime through a legal lens. Whether you want all the facts on the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, or you still need to wrap your head around the ditty verdict, we're breaking it all down step by step. And we're not just lawyers. We're also husband and wife. It makes for some pretty entertaining episodes. Listen to Legally Brunette on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Ryder Strong, and I have a new podcast called The Red Weather. In 1995, my neighbor, Anna Traynor, disappeared from a commune. It was nature and trees and praying and drugs. So no, I am not your guru. Back then, I lied to everybody. They have had this case for 30 years. I'm going back to my hometown to uncover the truth. Listen to The Red Weather on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. From Netflix and Hulu, Comedy Off Broadway in Lexington welcomes Ashley Gavin, February 27th and 28th. Then from TV and the movies, he's one of the kings of comedy. Catch D.L. Hughley March 6th through the 8th. And from the Nate Land Podcast and the Grand Ole Opry, don't miss Aaron Weber. March 12th through the 14th. For tickets to all Comedy Off-Broadway shows, call 859-271-JOKE or visit ComedyOffBroadway.com. Comedy Off-Broadway. This is Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now, here's Matt Jones. Welcome, everyone. It is Kentucky Sports Radio Thursday, February the 26th. I am Matt Jones here on a rainy day in Lexington, Kentucky at the KS Bar and Grill, where we will be here all day. Love to see you. Come out, have lunch, tickle Ryan, and get ready for a big weekend coming on Saturday. Three games left in the season. I've got 90% of my voice back. Yeah, sounds a lot better. Still don't have the doofenshmirtz totally there, but hopefully I'll be there by tomorrow. But your left vocal cord is now stronger. It's strong, much stronger. Now it's just a little congestion and we'll be good to go. Clark's Pump and Shop phone lines, 859-280-2287. A-Vision Auto Glass text machine, 772-774-5254. This edition is sponsored by the T.J. Smith Law Office. You call T.J. on Make and Pay. Yeah, I mean, there were people yesterday who were, like, disputing me on the science of the vocal cords. You know, I mean, they may have their book learning, but, like, I could feel it, and I knew it was the left vocal cord, and so I worked it out, and now we're doing better. They don't know your vocal cord. We all have different vocals. Everybody's vocal cord's different. And, you know, I took the steroids. I could hit home runs right now. You should see how strong I am. I don't know how steroids work, by the way. How does it know what part of you to fix? No idea. Because I've had various things over the years where doctors have given me steroids. You know, if you're under the weather or if you're vocal cord or whatever. How does the steroid know what part of the body it's supposed to fix? Do you know the answer to that? No, I don't. You just find the bad part in your body and go attack it no matter where it is. I mean, this sounds stupid. I thought the same thing about Tylenol. I feel that way about all this. Whatever it is that is hurting, people say, take Tylenol. Well, how does Tylenol know whether it's my head or my knee that's hurting? I've always wondered that. I don't think it does. It's big Tylenol. Magic. Big steroid industry. But it seems to be working, so I'm not going to argue. That's good. Can you tell us where it was injected? Straight into the throat? It's not J. It's just pills. Oh, pills. You take like six one day, five the next, four the next, and it's like a six-day thing. I don't know if you met a guy behind Planet Fitness and he stabbed you or how this worked. Well, I mean, I get most of my steroids at Cane's, but that guy wasn't working today, so I ended up going to the pharmacy. Well, you did educate us yesterday. We didn't realize that the left focal cord is for the high part of your voice. I guess that was breaking news there. You learned science on this show. We did. So there's a lot I talked about. I have some really goofy stuff. I have some basketball stuff. And then I have some nerdy stuff. And so we're going to hit all of it. I actually have very rare 14 topics today. Sounds like a fun ride. Normally I have 12. Yeah. But I have 14 today. And I'm going to lead off with one. And then after I lead off with it, I'm going to do the thing, Shannon, where I do the numbers, right? Yeah. And you could pick the number and that would be the topic. Random choice, what's coming up next? But we're going to start with the one that I'm getting asked the most about because I feel like that's what you start with, which is what are the implications right now for SEC tournament seeding? You actually asked me this when we walked in. So we sat down and I asked you about it. So yesterday I ran all the numbers. I did not use AI or chat GPT because I don't own it. I'm going to hold out until the last. I held out on cell phones. You had Hotmail for a long time, too. You're the last person I know in a Hotmail email address. I still have that email address. I don't check it very often, but I do have it. We were actually talking about – well, I better save this. I don't know if that's ready for public consumption yet. But nevertheless, SEC tournament. So here's what I would tell people trying to figure out when they want to go. I think it's almost, it's not certain, but it's very likely, I would say 75% chance that we're going to be playing at 1 o'clock. Not certain, okay? We could, our range of seeds is still like 5 through 10, okay? But if you were to like run the number scenario, 8 or 9 is our most likely scenario, right? Okay. Okay, so basically comes down to this. First of all, you don't want to play on Wednesday. No, you do not. Easiest way to not play on Wednesday, beat Vandy Saturday. Win Saturday. That's really the bottom line. Okay. If you look at all the scenarios, the problem is a lot of the teams we're tied against play easy schedules down the stretch, and we don't. So the easiest way is beat Vandy. By my calculations, if we beat Vandy, we pretty much can't play Wednesday unless a crazy set of scenarios happen. I mean, it could, but, like, crazy stuff would have to happen. If you beat Vandy on Wednesday – or, excuse me, on Saturday, you are almost certain to not play Wednesday. So just start with that. Just beat Vandy. Just beat Vandy. At home. You owe him. Yeah, that's right. It's at home. Can we do it? Yes, we can absolutely do it. I know, what was it, 25 points in Nashville? they're not 25 points better. UK just had an awful game and they took advantage of it. Now, I think they're better, but I don't think it's like impossible you can recover from that loss. I think you should be able to get them tomorrow. Just beat Vandy. So, all the math, start with beat Vandy. If you lose to Vandy, the second most easy scenario is Texas plays road games at Texas A&M, and then in the last game of the year, I think they play Arkansas. Lose those games. All right? If Texas loses two more games, then we're almost certain to not play Wednesday. So you're two easiest scenarios. We needed Texas to lose last night, and they did. For a while they were winning, so they were close. But easiest scenario, beat Vandy, that's good. Or Texas lose two. Gotcha. Now, if neither one of those things happen, then it gets here. Then Kentucky gets into the scenario where they could be the nine Or even the 10 seed because the Georgia Bulldogs, who beat us and thus own the tiebreaker, kind of have an easy schedule coming down the stretch and could jump up, and if they tie us, we then go down. We get bumped down. So if you beat Vandy, now if you lose to Vandy and then win at Texas A&M, you still are probably okay, but you're not certain because of a variety of reasons, including Vandy owning the tiebreaker there on you. But beating Vandy is the easiest way. So that is the simple Matt Jones, you don't have to know math scenario. Absent crazy things happening, which can but are unlikely. Last year, a couple games later in the season, didn't they have to win at Missouri to not play on Wednesday? So back-to-back years, you're kind of back against the wall to avoid that game. They got it done a year ago. Please get it done this season. Just beat Vandy. I say it so much. I love the SEC tournament. The thought of playing on Wednesday makes me want to vomit. At 1 o'clock. Even if you win that, just being in the matchup is embarrassing. Wednesday at 1 o'clock against the team from Teen Wolf, most likely, and general admission. Open seating. I will say part of me would like that game just for the general admission part. Watching the Kentucky fans having a you get whatever seat you get to. I mean it would be a chance for some people to have the best seats they would ever have in their life. Because the tickets are like $10 right? $10 and you could sit in the front row. There's a part of me that says with Kentucky that would be the coolest thing you've ever seen in your life. But I still would rather wait. Play Thursday at 1 o'clock. That would mean our regular morning show is the pregame show. And tin roof would be the bar that everybody congregates before going to the game would be a lot of fun. And then we might have to play on Friday to play. It would be another 1 o'clock game, I guess, wouldn't it? I mean, if we're the 8th seed, the most likely scenario, basically the most likely scenario is we're either going to open the tournament on Wednesday against either like South Carolina or Oklahoma or one of those bad teams, or we'll play Thursday and likely play Texas. So Texas is our most likely first-round matchup. I would just say just kind of get in your mind that we're very likely to play Texas on Thursday, but we might have to play South Carolina or whatever first on Wednesday. Like you said, just take care of your business. Beat Vandy on Saturday. Let the chips fall, man. We owe Vandy. You know, they punked us at Vanderbilt in Nashville. We owe them. They're on the home court. Come and just win the game so we don't have to play on Wednesday. And even though they're better than A&M, I think this is – if you're going to get one of the three, I'm not saying this is easy by any means, but it's Vanderbilt in Rupp Arena. Come on, what are we talking about? It's Kentucky basketball. So that's number one. Like it. Now, one through 13, Ryan, I will let you pick to see what goes next. You know, I always pick 11. You do always pick 11. Uh-huh, that's my number. All right. 11. Okay. I have written down, that guy rocked. Okay? Do you know what that means? That guy rocked? This has been on my list all week. We haven't gotten to it. Okay. So there's a Twitter account right now called That Guy Rocked, and I like it. Here's what That Guy Rocked is. They just pick random college basketball players from the back of our minds and show the highlight packages up. Okay? Sounds awesome. That Guy Rocked. Now, the goal is not necessarily to pick stars, but to pick guys who were random. And when they explaining the account their theme for who that guy rocked is is Kevin Pitznoggle from West Virginia I did not know about it I swear I was going to say it sounds like an account Kevin Pitznagel I was about to say that It is dedicated to Kevin Pitznagel It should. That was the first player that came in my brain. Kevin Pitznagel, for those of you who don't remember, big, clunky, white guy from West Virginia but could shoot threes. Do you remember Kevin Pitznagel? Tatted up. He was tatted. I think he's a teacher now. He looked like he came from a trailer park in West Virginia. And he killed us. Didn't he kill us that one game? I don't think we played him. He had a great tournament run. Yeah, he was a big March Madness guy. So, my question for you is for the whole fan base. Now, remember, it's not stars, so you can't pick John Wall and Anthony Davis. Who is your favorite that guy rocked from Kentucky and from other teams? So, who's your favorite random Kevin Pitts, Noggle-esque guy? And they can't be great. They have to be like Kevin Pitsnock. So for me, my answer is from Weber State, Harold the Show, Arsenal. Good one. Because I liked him because he didn't really have a neck. It looked like his shoulders were at his ears when he played. But he made everything, every shot. And that game where he beat North Carolina It's one of the great performances I've ever seen in the tournament. And he also had a great name, Harold the Show Arsenal. What a great name. It is a great name. So that's mine. Now, for Kentucky, my guy is Wukash. Okay, Polish, funny, always played well against Louisville, had the greatest quote of all time when he was talking about Kentucky playing Michigan State once in Rupp, and they asked him after the game, what did you think about the crowd? And in his woo voice, he goes, it was so loud. I thought the roof was going to come off the arena, but luckily it did not. Great quote, which I also loved. And he had that story about how, what was it? He was like, they would throw my dog in the river, and then we would just – you asked him what he did for fun in Poland, and he said we would throw our dog in the river and then wait for it to fight its way out and come back to us like it was a frisbee. That seemed fun. Yeah, or a boomerang. So I love that about Woo. So what are yours for either other team or Kentucky? Kentucky, I have to go with Anthony Epps. I think I just loved him, his toughness and what he brought. He was kind of the unsung hero of the 96 team. Patino tried to take the point guard spot away from him, give it to Tony Duck. Anthony Epps always got it back. And without him, I don't think they would have won the championship. So I'll pick Anthony Epps for my U.K. guy. And then your other guy. Jason Harrison for Ole Miss was like 5'4". Oh, yeah, I remember that guy. He rocked. I love that guy. He was little. Little bitty guy. Yeah, that's a good one. That's a good one. That's always been my favorite non-U.K. opposing player. I would not have thought of him. I like that. I like both those. Drew. Well, for Kentucky, I will go Derong Lamb. Okay. I like that. I say it a lot. Just doesn't get enough credit. You had his mattress. I mean, you all can have your Anthony Davis posters. We don't win the title without Deron Lamb. I mean, Anthony Davis took the fifth most shots. You think you having the mattress is part of what – It's part of it. We have that bond, that connection. We were never in it at the same time, but we did share a mattress. Yeah, okay. For my March Madness, I'm not even going to attempt his last name, but what was the Ollie from northern Iowa that we saw earlier in the regular season, and then he beat Kansas and took that – What was his name? Ali Farouk Manesh. There you go. Thank you. I wasn't going to produce that. But the three he took on a breakaway against Kansas, no one should have taken that shot. And you and I went and saw him. Yeah, we had been there. I was in that student section. So he's one of my favorites. One more, though, that I can't think of a name from the team, but I think of March Madness Legends was the Florida Gulf Coast Dunk City team. It was like four of them. Yeah, I don't know their names. But, I mean, they were so fun to watch that year. Ali Farouk Manesh is good. That's a good one. So I like these. The Kansas killer. On the show, Jason Harrison, Ollie from – I'm going to get Shannon's when we get back from the break. And then if you have any, you can write your Kentucky one or your other team, the That Guy Rocked. 12 more topics. I should have guessed. You always say 11. I'm never asking you again to start. I'll start mixing it up then. Yeah, never mind. Catch you off guard. We'll take a break. Be right back. It's KSR. Usually on This Podcast Will Kill You, we talk about the diseases, infections, and biological threats that can make us really sick. But right now, we're doing something a little different. We're stepping back and looking at what the human body needs to keep going. When you consider what we know about sleep in humans, there's one rule that comes out. We are predictably unpredictable sleepers. We're talking about why sleep works the way it does, why our bodies don't follow neat rules, and why modern life makes rest so hard to come by. The second half of our series takes us to the digestive system, with a multi-part series on what happens after we eat. Okay, I just have to say that all of my favorite words apparently are digestive. words. Yeah, sphincter, peristalsis, duodenum. It's fascinating, it's funny, and it matters so much more than you think. Episodes of our new series run from January 20th through February 17th with new episodes every Tuesday on the Exactly Right Network. Listen to This Podcast Will Kill You as part of the Exactly Right Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On June 11th, 1998, a deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department went missing. It's an all-out manhunt for John OJ. Every search and rescue team in L.A. County has been called in to help. Within days, tips started flooding into the sheriff's department. The rumor around the drug scene was that a deputy was taken care of. Is this the story of a man who just got lost in the desert? Or of a cover-up inside the nation's largest sheriff's department? A homicide captain saying, detective, do not find out if this guy's guilty or innocent. Who does that? Valley of Shadows, a new series from Pushkin Industries about crime and corruption in California's high desert. Do you have any advice for us while looking into this disappearance? I wouldn't do it alone. Listen to Valley of Shadows on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Rider Strong with a podcast called the Red Weather. In 1995, my neighbor, Anna Traynor, disappeared from a commune. It was nature and trees and praying and drugs. No, I am not your guru. Back then, I lied to everybody. They have had this case for 30 years. I'm going back to my hometown to uncover the truth. You can now binge all episodes of the Red Weather on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone. It's Emily Simpson and Shane Simpson from the Legally Brunette podcast. Each week, we're bringing you true crime through a legal lens. Whether you want all the facts on the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie or you still need to wrap your head around the ditty verdict, we're breaking it all down step by step. And we're not just lawyers. We're also husband and wife. It makes for some pretty entertaining episodes. Listen to Legally Brunette on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back. Kentucky Sports Radio, 859-280-2287. Some great answers here on the text machine, but I don't want to steal Shannon. So Shannon, I'll let you go for yours. Yeah, for Kentucky, I'm going to go Darius Miller. Darius Miller, okay. Great six man. I don't know that they win the title without him on the team that year. Oh, yeah, for sure. What's your random? I'm going to go with Robbie Avila, who you might remember, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Larry Nerd from Indiana State. Well, you know, he plays for St. Louis now, and they're going to make the tournament. Like, they're good. He plays for St. Louis, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar does. He's still rocking then. He is, Larry Nerd. He threw a guy into the table last week in a little fight. Yeah, they got in a huge fight. Yeah, he's still wearing his little glasses. Is he still big? Like a little pudgy? Yeah, he feels like he's in a little better shape, but he's still big. No, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar can still be – He can still be around for this March. He's still doing it. And he'll be on these lists for decades. Yeah, he will. So a lot of people are writing for Kentucky a couple names they think other people would say. Patrick Sparks. Yeah. I think fans of other teams will say Patrick Sparks. I remember Beaumont saying to me once that he thought Patrick Sparks was the coolest white country dude ever in basketball. He was like, most white guys that play basketball try to be, like, urban. But he was like, Patrick Sparks looked like he was from the country and was cool with it and would still beat you. And I always like that description by Bomani because I think that's right. What I like about Patrick Sparks is I imagine in the locker room it went like this. Bill Kitely said, look, Patrick, I have a white T-shirt for you. It's large. And he's like, do you have a 5X I could wear instead? I want the sleeves of this T-shirt to go down to my wrists. He did rock a very baggy undershirt. Yeah, a huge white T-shirt. I think that added to his legend. Yeah, and then another person says, Matt, I think other team's fans would say Jorts. Yes. I think that's probably true. Yes. Jorts is, I mean, his name is Jorts. Like, that would be why one of these days that account may actually do Jorts. And now we learned that he used to date Erica Kirk. So that's even another random fact about him that would make him be on it. I can see other fan bases be very endearing to George just because of the – like we do with Kevin Pitsnoggle, just that big doofy guy that can go out there and still fall. You always say doofy. Doofy is not a word. You always say doofy. And just a reminder, doofy is not a word. DJ Burns. That's a good one. There's a couple right now that will be on this list for years. Yeah, DJ Burns I think is definitely – one person says, Matt, I thought Kenneth Fareed. Ooh, that's a good one. That's a good one for Morehead because he – Remember, he beat Louisville in the tournament. He played in the NBA, though, so I don't know if you can be random and be in the NBA. He does have one of those highlight packages, though, that are pretty fun to watch with how he played. Now, if you were going to let us pick players who were kind of stars on opposing teams, Marshall Henderson was the first one that came to my mind. Yeah, I think he's kind of a star, but yes. I mean, maybe Ole Miss just grows those guys. Marshall Henderson, though, I kind of liked. I know a lot of people didn't. All-time villain. But, I mean, there's that famous picture of him yelling at the old men with sweaters in Auburn. You know what I mean? That's one of my favorite pictures ever. He's just sitting there yelling at these old men that are trying to fight him. I was at, I guess, the SEC tournament. I was somewhere in a hotel lobby, and I watched, like, a little kid and his grandpa go up and talk to him. And I'm trying to think what he said, but it was not polite. And I was like, man, this guy is villain 24-7. I kind of like that, though. All right, so now we're at 1 through 12. Shannon, I'll let you go. Number three. Number three. Okay. I wish we could have done this one later in the show. But it is what it is. It's what he picked. It's what he picked. I have to go by the numbers. That's right. I got a question. Let me read you the question. Okay. Matt, you guys have been on the air for three or four days, and you have not talked about the controversy you liberals created with the U.S. hockey team. You three created it. I didn't create it. Ryan and Drew created it. I still don't even really know what's going on. What is the deal? You liberals don't love America, and this is a perfect example. See, that was so well articulated I felt like we had to deal with it, right? So I guess, you know, they win. Yes. By the way, one of the highest-rated Olympic broadcasts of all time. The second highest-rated hockey game ever in America. The only one that was more was the Miracle on Ice. Kind of amazing, isn't it? Especially with it being so early in the morning. So it's over, and then they're in the locker room and they're celebrating. Cash Patel comes in. He seems like a winner. He comes in and he starts celebrating with them. Really looks like a complete dork. But he starts jumping up and down drinking beer. Then Trump calls him on the phone, and he makes a joke like, I guess now I'll have to invite the women's team too, and they laugh. And so a lot of people got mad. Here's my take on it. I have a three-part take. Are you ready? Ready. Take one. Take one. Cash Patel's a dork. All right? I mean, fine. Go if you want, although I think that's lame. But, like, being in the locker room, dude, you don't play. Okay? Like, and you know when you go in there, you're going to create a controversy. So he's a dork. Trump calling, I'm fine with. He's the president. President calling an Olympian I totally fine with that Matter of fact them going to the White House I fine with Even them going to the State of the Union I fine with that He the president I don like him but he represents America They won for America. I'm good with that. Presidents call people who win things all the time. His joke, classic Trump, rude. But this is where we liberals screw up. We get mad at these hockey guys for laughing. If you want to be mad at Trump for the joke, I get it. It was an inappropriate joke. But these dudes are on the phone with the president. Are they supposed to go, Mr. President, that was an inappropriate joke. Hello, Mr. President, this is Demarcus Cohen. Yeah, I mean, they just won the gold medal. Like, you can't hold them to a standard that you would. Like, if you want to be mad at him for the joke, I get it. But you can't. I mean, the hockey players have just won. And, I mean, you want them to go, excuse me, sir, we've just won the gold medal, but you need to not tell that joke. So we're being a little bit of a hall monitor getting mad at the hockey players. Whereas if you want to be mad at the president, I'm fine with that. But that's my take on it. Sometimes liberals bother me because when I was growing up, conservatives were the hall monitors. They were the ones always trying to stop the fun. And sometimes now we try to stop the fun. I don't like that. And that's my take on it. I think whatever the president's policy, what side they're on, I think it's cool that they call the Olympics. They should call as many as they should. And they do that all the time. They call when somebody wins the title. I'm fine with the phone call. Now, Cash Patel jumping up and down like a dork. Like, just, wouldn't you go find the Guthrie's mom? Be right back. 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. I had somebody ask me recently, is there anything any of the guys could do that would get you to replace them on the show? And I was like, I mean, if they committed, like, a big crime or something, maybe. But in general, like, this is the group. Now, Shannon, if you keep playing this song, though, this is the kind of thing that could get you replaced. Oh, well, in that case, then I'm going to play at the next six breaks and see what happens. No, I don't think you would do that. All right, some more This Guy Rocks. Big Country. Big Country's a good one. I had his jersey. Did you really? His Grizzlies jersey. Yeah, he was a high draft pick. But still, though, I feel like he wasn't good in the NBA. So I still feel like he counts. Yeah. He was thick. Had that military buzz cut. Taco Fall. Oh, that's a good one. Didn't he just play in the celebrity NBA game? I think he did. Taco Fall's a great one. Yeah. Because Taco Fall, they almost beat Duke that year. That was the Zion team. They should have beat them. Central Florida was up like 10 with like three or four minutes to go and blew the game. Remember, we were sitting there in a hotel lobby, wherever we were, pulling for Central Florida. I remember watching it. Dante Calabria. See, I remember Dante Calabria. Anybody even know who he played for? No, I can't pull it up. Nobody knows Dante Calabria? And here I thought I was with a bunch of ball knowers. Who did he play for? North Carolina. He was the hairiest man in the history of basketball. That's what he's famous for? Oh, he had the longest arm hair. He could braid his arm hair into various designs. I don't know how to look this up. Go look up Dante. He was Italian. He was the hairiest dude that's ever played basketball. You don't remember Dante? Very handsome guy, but very hairy. Remember the name. Don't remember any details. And I should not remember his hairy arms. Man. I went to the Twitter account, and I'm now addicted to it. I followed it. but now I'm going to be scrolling through it and see all who he's put up there already. Yeah. Sunniata Gaines. Oh, yeah? That's a good one. Is that Georgia? Georgia? Yeah. Saw him a lot. All right. Ryan, do not pick 11. One through 11. Let's go seven. Oh, okay. A UK one. So, Pope last night on his radio show said, He was asked about, are you going to hire a GM? And he said, we have conversations weekly about it. And? So do we. That's all he said. We're trying to figure it out where you have conversations weekly. I wish I hadn't read it. I wish he, like, drives me crazy. What's the conversation? I mean, how many conversations can you have? Yes or no? Like, what do you – do it. My only hope is the conversations are interviews, but it didn't come off as that's what he was saying. Just say, we're going to hire a GM. We're trying to figure out who. Yeah, I think that's what he would have said if the conversations were getting the ball moving. What is the – what could the conversation be? All of the best teams in the country have one. Now, all of them. There's like one that does it. I think maybe Kansas does it. But you know what? They seem to be doing fine. They seem to be getting the top players. So if Kansas doesn't want to do it, then fine. They've been cheating for years, so they already know what to do. I do not understand the counter argument. Usually when people disagree with me on something, I at least understand the other side. Even if I disagree with them, I understand where they're coming from. I try to think about what's the most rational view they have and then try to oppose it. I don't understand the rational view here. What is the downside besides money? Besides the fact you have to pay someone's salary, what is the downside? Do you think he doesn't need it because he can do that job himself? But he clearly can. Like, he clearly can. If he could, we wouldn't be in this situation. There's no – listen, I love Mark Pope, and I think there are good cases for him to be – like, if you were to say to me Mark Pope's not a good coach, I don't agree with that. There are arguments that he's a very good coach. I don't think there are arguments that he's a very good player evaluator. What is the argument? We've got no high school recruits, and at best, this team was poorly constructed. And the top three guys they wanted last year, they didn't get any of them in the portal. So what is the argument that he's good at that? That's what I said. You think in his mind he thinks he can handle it? I mean, I can give him some analytics that show he's not. I have a theory. Would you like to put on a tinfoil hat with me? Yeah. Take a little trip? Yeah, let's go. Let's go for a little ride. I think that Mark Pope leans on Rick Pitino too much. I haven't liked it since his first Big Blue Madness. Okay. Rick Pitino fired his GM in January. Interesting. So Rick Pitino is the one example of where a GM hasn't worked. And I hope that Pope didn't see that and he's talked to dad and dad. Didn't he fire his GM because the GM got him the wrong players? It's something about money management. I guess it's still under investigation. I'm not sure. It wasn't that long ago. Okay. So I don't know any of the – I mean, I know that happened. I don't know if Pope has talked to him about it. But my brain's thinking, what if Rick, having just had a bad GM experience, has maybe – That's the only thing I can think of. Because otherwise, just go get one. I mean, that may be correct in terms of the thought process. Because St. John's is the one place where they had a GM and got rid of it. I like that. I mean, that is probably what he's thinking. I still would say Rick has a history of 35 years of picking great players, and you don't. Right? That's the only reason I could think that he would be hesitant to get one. You know, my mom. Who wouldn't want help? I consider my mom to be a mentor. but my mom can sing, that doesn't mean I can sing, right? So, like, you know, that doesn't mean I should follow in her singing path. I can't do it. Rick may be able to do that. Maybe he won't. I don't know. But Mark doesn't have that history of being able to do it. I feel like I'm probably totally wrong. When Corey Feger followed him from BYU, I thought that was the role he was going to play. Like he was going to not necessarily assist the coach but be like the general manager. No, he's a good young expert. But here's what the Jeff Goodmans of the world are saying, okay, and they're more connected in this than I am. They're saying that Mark Pope put together a great staff, like a top-notch staff for what recruiting was like five years ago. That basically he picked a group of guys that when you went and recruited high school guys and got people in the portal the old school way, fifth-year seniors, this was the group of guys. when you were talking to coaches and parents. But his point is, now you're talking to agents. And these dudes have no experience in that. And it's like a Spanish-speaking person talking to an Arabic-speaking person. And they don't even talk the same language. That's his argument. And I think the facts seem to suggest Goodman's argument is kind of correct. Doesn't it? Probably some truth in there, you would think. whoever they hire, you think it's got to be more of a business guy than a sports guy even? I think you have, in a perfect world, you have someone who can do both. Right? You pick someone who knows basketball but also went and got their MBA. Right? Yeah. And also has some experience on the streets talking to these agents. And those people exist. Like a perfect example is Evan Daniels. All right? A lot of people know Evan Daniels' name. He used to do recruiting for the various websites. Evan Daniels couldn't beat anyone on this show in basketball. But he's been around it his whole life. He's been talking to agents since he was 19 years old. Right? He knows recruiting, and he's seen enough basketball to know who's good and who's not. You want someone like that. Right? Yeah, it's the people that are up late in the hotel lobbies at the Final Four and going to restaurants as these people. It takes a lot of socializing and networking. You need someone that does that. It's like the woman at Duke. I mean, the woman at Duke just worked for Nike. She's never played – I don't know if she played women's college basketball, but she certainly hadn't played men's college basketball. But she is apparently killing it because she has this role where she knows what the job is. I don't think you have to have necessarily even been good at the sport. You just have to know it. I have a fear that to shut everyone up, they're just going to slide someone over and call them GM. Like, everyone, GM, Mark Fox. Yeah, but that'll be a mistake if they do that. I mean, just saying, okay, this wasn't working, but if we give this person a different title, it will work. That's what Cal would do. Cal would have made Bruiser Flint his GM. So predict one month from now, do we have a GM? I think it's going to be what he says. They're going to pick somebody that they already have and move on. Or someone close to the program. Yeah, exactly. No, it'll be like some guy. I would be very surprised if they do what I want them to do. Go outside your sphere and bring in somebody to give you a new set of voices. Be like Scalia and hire a liberal in your court, right? That's what I would do. And do it before the portal opens, first of April? You know, be like, you know, I've told this many times, Scalia would hire a liberal, Ginsburg would hire a conservative, so they always had someone in there giving them the other point of view. He needs to do that in sports. Mark, the way you do things, hire somebody who in theory would do the opposite and now have, as Abraham Lincoln would say, a team of rivals. It makes total sense But I don't know what's going to happen If I was struggling at my job and someone was like Hey, we can make a position Where they're good at it and would help you And we'll pay them, it's really nothing for you Just honestly less work I'd be like, heck yeah, get them in here No one doubt But Surf Pro is the number one choice in cleanup and restoration Whether it's mold, fire, storm, or water damage We got a pro for that Surf Pro makes it like it never even happened When Ryan's house caught on fire They came They did Made it like it never even. They were awesome. Go through the whole process. S-E-R-V-P-R-O.com. It is ServPro or ServPro.com. Let them be your cleanup source if you have difficulty. We'll take a break. We'll be right back. We are in Madisonville tomorrow. $10,000. We'll talk about that as well. We've never given away that kind of money. Maybe the second best prize ever on KSL. We'll take a break. Be right back. It's Kentucky Sports. Usually on this podcast, We'll Kill You, we talk about the diseases, infections, and biological threats that can make us really sick But right now we doing something a little different We stepping back and looking at what the human body needs to keep going When you consider what we know about sleep in humans there one rule that comes out We are predictably unpredictable sleepers We talking about why sleep works the way it does, why our bodies don't follow neat rules, and why modern life makes rest so hard to come by. The second half of our series takes us to the digestive system with a multi-part series on what happens after we eat. Okay, I just have to say that all of my favorite words apparently are digestive words. Yeah, sphincter, peristalsis, duodenum. It's fascinating, it's funny, and it matters so much more than you think. Episodes of our new series run from January 20th through February 17th, with new episodes every Tuesday on the Exactly Right Network. Listen to This Podcast Will Kill You as part of the Exactly Right Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Segregation in the day, integration at night. When segregation was the law, one mysterious Black club owner had his own rules. We didn't worry about what went on outside. It was like stepping on another world. Inside Charlie's place, Black and white people danced together. But not everyone was happy about it. You saw the KKK? Yeah. They would have dressed up in their uniform. The KKK set out to raid Charlie, take him away from here. Charlie was an example of power. They had to crush him. From Atlas Obscura, Rococo Punch, and Visit Myrtle Beach comes Charlie's Place, a story that was nearly lost to time. Until now. Listen to Charlie's Place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On June 11th, 1998, a deputy from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department went missing. It's an all-out manhunt for John OJ. Every search and rescue team in L.A. County has been called in to help. Within days, tips started flooding into the Sheriff's Department. The rumor around the drug scene was that a deputy was taken care of. Is this the story of a man who just got lost in the desert? Or of a cover-up inside the nation's largest sheriff's department? A homicide captain saying, Detective, do not find out if this guy's guilty or innocent. Who does that? Valley of Shadows, a new series from Pushkin Industries about crime and corruption in California's high desert. Do you have any advice for us while looking into this disappearance? I wouldn't do it alone. Listen to Valley of Shadows on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Rider Strong with a podcast called The Red Weather. In 1995, my neighbor, Anna Traynor, disappeared from a commune. It was nature and trees and praying and drugs. No, I am not your guru Back then, I lied to everybody They have had this case for 30 years I'm going back to my hometown to uncover the truth You can now binge all episodes of The Red Weather on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts Radio Okay, you gotta stop Stop No, stop Well played Let's stop We might be the only people hearing this anyway right now Yeah, no, people say it's working now We're having audio issues with the network If you hear it going in and out or whatever They're working on it It's not us for once It's not our machine It's something else So they're trying to fix it If you can't hear all this You'll be able to get it on podcast I wish it wasn't during that segment Because that was, I think, good conversation But it'll be there on podcast One person writes Matt, Tyron Stokes did an interview yesterday where he said – which led to Joe Tipton saying that he thought Stokes wanted to go to Kansas, but Kentucky was his backup plan if things didn't work out. Do you want a kid who sees us as a backup plan? Yes. Because we've lost kids that other schools were the backup plan, and then they went – like Caden Lewis, he wanted to come here. Villanova was his backup plan. He went to Villanova. That worked out. So, you know, if you end up marrying somebody and they kind of wanted somebody else, but it works out with you, you just go, well, luckily they didn't marry them. That's the way I'm going to say. You know, because I have a different view, by the way, about marriage. Yes. There's a lot of people you could be married to. Okay. You know, people say there's like one person. I don't believe that. Why is everybody laughing at me? I mean, I think there's a lot of people you could be happily married to. I see what you're saying. Like, if you moved at childhood and had a completely different life path and grew up somewhere else, you still probably would have found – You really believe you're going to end up with the same person you happen to end up with in your hometown? I get what you're trying to say. Like, if you grow up in Middlesbrough and you marry your high school sweetheart, are you telling me if your parents had moved to Nevada, you would have still ended up with that woman in Middlesbrough? God has a plan. God's plan, man. Yeah. Here's my question for you. We're talking about this. I'm just saying, like, there's a lot of people you could be happy with. I'm not saying that, like, you know. You're saying there's other fish in the sea. I'm not saying you don't marry people because there's always someone better. I'm just saying you could be happy with a lot of people. Life circumstances put people in your life. All right, fine. I'm clearly not winning this view. I hear what you're saying. I'm just trying not to sleep on the couch. Well, out of all the million people you've met in your life, thousands and thousands and thousands of people, how many do you think you actually have met that you could spend the rest of your life with as a wife, as a spouse, as a partner? Three. I think it means if your life was just so different, you ended up on the other side of the country, you would find someone. Or what if your parents were in the military and you ended up in a different country? Are you just going to spend your life and be like, well, I didn't meet the person from Middlesbrough, so it's not going to work? maybe you will later in life now I found my soul mate it would have happened anyway you wouldn't have had anyone else and Billy's about to get married I hear the point you're trying to make you don't have to look at us like you're a villain here I know what you're trying to say definitely not my circumstances people who are married can't say that and I understand but I'm still sticking by my point is if Tyron Stokes doesn't work out with Kansas I'm cool being his rebound that was the early indication was that he wanted to come to Kentucky I think his parents were kind of leaning towards Kentucky. He's from Louisville. Yeah. And then the money got in the way, and for whatever reason, it fell apart with Kentucky. All right, one through ten. Shannon. Four. Four. Tomorrow we're giving away $10,000. Yeah. Maybe. You got to do something. If you hit a half court. The opportunity to win $10,000. If you get a half court shot in Madisonville. I love it. First of all, what did Madisonville do to deserve this? Listen, Matt, we're the best town on earth. It's literally our name. There's a sign that says it when you get there. So these are just little. Is there a sign that says it's the best town on earth? Yes, I have a T-shirt. It's even abbreviated TBTOE, and you just know that stands for the best town on earth. See, there are T-shirts that say TBTOE. Yeah, got one at home. I'll wear it often. We've got to get one. So these are just things we do. You've got to bring me one of those, Madisonville. TBTOE. I don't know everything they have planned, but I would expect a very hospitable group tomorrow and very excited to have KSR because Madisonville is TBTOE. You know, tonight is. So my soulmate could be there. Your soulmate could be there. If it's the best town on earth, I could find my soulmate. I don't know what app is popular these days, but if you're on the apps, maybe see what's around the region when you get there. Gotcha. Okay. Tonight is the evening with Drew Franklin in Madisonville. Yeah, so let's talk about this. Tonight, Madisonville, an evening with Drew Franklin. He will be reading from his poetry. I'm going to sit by a fire with a pipe. That's great. Congratulations. Thank you. Do you have your speech ready? No, no, no. We need to work on that. Yeah. We got a couple hours. And then we're going to all hang out tonight in Madisonville. Where's the party in Madisonville tonight? I'm getting there at like 730. Oh, you'll be getting there just in time. I get done at 7, so you'll probably get to hit every stop with me. I would expect three to four Mexican restaurants throughout the evening. We're definitely going to end at Farrell's. Happy end at Farrell's. After hours. Haven't been there in a long time. That's a great Madisonville memory for me. Farrell's has after hours? Oh, they don't close. I've been in there. Been thrown out of there. After hours. So where's the bar? We don't have a lot of those. We'll find them. There's a few spots. Might take you to Oasis. I'm excited, though. We don't all get to hang out in these – Shannon, are you coming? I have OVW. Otherwise, I won't be there. So the rest of us will be there. Yes, yeah. Okay. We're going to play all the hits. I mean, we're hitting them all. Get ready. Where's the show tomorrow? It's at the Kentucky Sports Factory. Big athletic conference. Big athletic basketball. So we will draw a name. One name or two names? I think just one person shooting. Tell Madisonville if it's the greatest talent on earth they could do two. Everybody should be able to shoot. Let everybody have a shot. I don't think everybody can shoot. Somebody will make it then. We'll say two, but it might just be one. Half-court shot, $10,000. Can you imagine the excitement? They only give you like five when you hit it to Rupp, I think. Telling you, Matt, they give you three? Three shots. Oh, they definitely shoot all day. How much money do you get? Five or ten. So it's the same amount of money here as at Rupp Arena. In Lexington. No wonder we can't get recruits. We're offering the same amount of money they do at the Madisonville Sports Complex. I'm telling you, that's how excited they are. Everyone should be there. We're going to have a great time. I'm very excited. I might take you all out for donuts in the morning. Ma'am, are you going to try? I feel like you could make it. Do you know if someone wins, can they hire someone to take the shot? Yeah, if you draw out a name and it's And it's like a little old lady who can't throw it that far Could she get someone to do it for her? Well, maybe we'll make the rules right now It's not my money I don't get to make the rules Whoever's paying probably gets to make the rules But nevertheless, it's just something to think about I'm excited because I think it'll be a great moment I don't think we've ever I was thinking about the best prizes we've ever given away Once we gave away a trip to the Bahamas Yes To see Kentucky play basketball and the guy won. And it was, you know, he got to go to the Bahamas with a guest for the Kentucky basketball. We gave that away on KSR once. This is probably the second best. It's coming full circle. Madisonville got one. Why does Madisonville get everything? Because we're the best town on earth. It's on the side. All right, fair enough. We will take a break. Hour number two when we come back. It's Kentucky Sports Radio. Then she says, have you seen a photo of my son? And I'm like, who is this person? Welcome to the Boys and Girls podcast. Arranged marriage is basically a reality show. And you're auditioning for your soulmate. And who's judging? Only your entire family. I sacrificed myself to this ancient tradition, hoping to find love the right way. And instead, I found chaos, comedy, and a lot of cringe. Listen to Boys and Girls on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When segregation was a law, one mysterious black club owner, Charlie Fitzgerald, had his own rules. Segregation in the day, integration at night. It was like stepping on another world. Was he a businessman? A criminal? A hero? Charlie was an example of power. They had to crush him. Charlie's Place, from Atlas Obscura and Visit Myrtle Beach. Listen to Charlie's Place on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is the biggest night in podcasting. The countdown is on to our 2026 iHeart Podcast Awards. Live from South by Southwest, March 16th, we'll honor the very best in podcasting from the past year and celebrate the most innovative, talented creators in the industry. It's truly a who's who of the podcasting world. Creativity, knowledge, and passion will all be on full display. And the winner of the iHeart Podcast Award is... See all the nominees now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. Audible is a proud sponsor of the Audible Audio Pioneer Award. Explore the best selection of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals all in one easy app. Audible. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free trial at audible.com. This is Ryder Strong, and I have a new podcast called The Red Weather. In 1995, my neighbor, Anna Traynor, disappeared from a commune. It was nature and trees and praying and drugs. No, I am not your guru Back then, I lied to everybody They have had this case for 30 years I'm going back to my hometown to uncover the truth Listen to The Red Weather on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts