2026-03-09- KSR - Hour 1

0:00No one knows what the future holds, but you deserve a weather app that can help. Weatherbug is easy to use and provides forecasts for your every need. From storm warnings to pollen levels, write at your fingertips. Get the fastest local alerts and comprehensive 10-day forecasts wherever you are. It's hyper-local, real-time customizable alerts. Make sure the weather never takes you by surprise so you can plan every day with confidence. Download the free weatherbug app from the App Store today and start getting accurate weather forecasts 24-7. Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter? Right. And the best part? They accept discover. Accept discover? In a little place like this? I don't think so, Jennifer. Oh, yeah, huh. Discover's accepted where I'd like to shop. Come on, baby. Get with the times. Right. So we shouldn't get the parachute pants? These are making a comeback. I think. Discover's accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. Based on the February 2025 Nilsen report,

1:00everyone deserves to be connected. T-Mobile and U.S. cellular are joining forces. Our networks are coming together, bringing more T-Mobile coverage all over the country. Switch to T-Mobile and save up to 20% versus Verizon by getting built-in benefits they leave out. Check the math at T-Mobile.com slash switch. And now T-Mobile is available in the U.S. cellular store in Williamston. Bigger network, the combination of T-Mobile and U.S. cellular's network footprints will enhance the T-Mobile network's coverage. The savings versus comparable Verizon plans plus the cost of options benefits. Plan features and taxes and fees vary. Savings with three-plus lines include third-free line free via monthly build credits. Credit stop if you cancel any lines. Qualifying credit required. Running for office means having something important to say. Radio is the most personal medium out there. Voters hear the real you. Exactly the way you want to be heard. No filters, no AI. Just your voice, your message. And it's one-tenth the time and cost of video. Don't just campaign. Connect with millions all over the country. Even thousands in the smallest communities with radio. Call now and be on the air in just 48 hours. 844. 844 iHeart. That's 844. 844 iHeart.

2:01From Netflix and Hulu, Comedy Health Broadway and Lexington welcomes Ashley Gavin, February 27th and 28th. Then from TV and the movies, he's one of the Kings of Comedy. Catch DL Hugley, 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, four tickets to all Comedy Health Broadway shows call 859-271-Joke or visit comedyoffbroadway.com. Comedyoffbroadway.com. Comedyoffbroadway. This is Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now here's Matt Jones. Welcome everyone. It is Kentucky Sports Radio Monday, March the 9th on a massive show of SEC Tournament week here in Lexington, Kentucky. You can give us a shout, although I'm not sure we're going to take calls for a while. 859-288-287, a Vision Auto Glass text machine is 772-7745254 in this decision sponsor by the TJ Smith Law Office.

3:02If you call TJ, he'll make him pay. Let me give you a little road map of the show. All right. First of all, you got to have your mic on. Is it on? It does not sound good. It is not on. So Billy, Mario Gofum. And try to get Ryan to where he can have beyond the air that will help until then we'll talk to Drew. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to start with the basketball game from 10 to 10, 30, maybe 10, 40. Then we're going to switch over to Nuckelhead Sports Radio for just a few minutes, okay? And then we are going, there he is. You there? Check one, there he is. And then at 11 o'clock, we have Will Stein coming on nice and we'll do the thing, Shannon, where we do two segments in a row, right? That you know how we do it. And then at 11, 30, we'll open up the phones and people can talk about what they want to talk about. How's that for a plan? That's a Monday crackdown beat down. What? I don't know what that means. I'm not going to beat down or crack down anyone.

4:03We're going to talk about the world of UK sports because it's SEC tournament week, one of my favorite weeks of the year. And it will get started quicker than it's ever gotten started before. I don't love the situation, but I admit I woke up smiling knowing it's SEC tournament week. I'd rather not play Wednesday, but this is my favorite week of the year and I'll be there. I love it. And you know what? If we're the first team eliminated, I'll still be in Nashville, just with a lot less to do, Shannon. Possibly a really short party, but you know what, you know what? If they lose in the first round, then Nashville's just going to get four days of the cowboy hat. I tell you what, they lose in the first round. My party might be triple what it would have been. Yeah. I mean, in some ways, you'll be able to wilder week. You'll be anxious. We'll be distressed. No, I have nothing to do. I try to do the show. We'll be done at noon and then it's just me with the cowboy hat riding mechanical bulls though. Yeah. You've got to make that happen. Have you ever been on one of those? No. No. Okay. This is weird. I think I would break a hip. I can't do that.

5:03I'd love to. But, you know, Mario and I are staying down there and drooled anyway, so it could just be me, Mario and Drew take on the city. I book Wednesday to Saturday that money is gone. I'm not getting it back. So I'll be there or whatever happens. That's right. And if I need to stay to Sunday, I'll figure that out, but I'm at least through Saturday. All right. Well, so let's talk about, let's go back to Saturday against Florida. It was over before I even got to watch the game, right? So when they start on ESPN news, I don't, I, I, I just don't know ESPN news. I think I have it, but I don't ever turn it on there. So I'm sitting there watching and it, who played before, it's Vandy and Tennessee. Who's before us Arkansas? Arkansas. Arkansas, Missouri was at noon. Who is it, too? I was it rough. So I went. Well, whoever it was, the game would not end and I just kept looking in the corner and seeing numbers add up. Yep. It was like, oh, two, oh, four, seven, oh, and I was like, fine, because I went to all

6:09the pregame. And let me say, Rump was hype. Yeah. I left right before. Actually, it was for when I got home, I left right before it started. Everybody said the environment pregame was outstanding and people there early. I mean, that was one of those. I think everybody half hour of the place was full. Yeah. Couple of those a year where it's Ruppering is best. I mean, the little light things. That was a nice. That was a cool dish. You got Marlena Van Hoos. The, as you said, the crowd was downtown in the arena early. That was one of Rupp's best crowds. They had the thing where like at the Taylor Swift concert, I say this, what people told me, I've been to, I've bought Taylor Swift God's good grief, but I didn't go. But you put the thing on and it blinks lights. You know what? You're looking at me like I'm crazy. You know what I'm talking about? I've not seen it. They got these things and you wear them on your wrist and then it'll like it lights it up. So it'll be blue and white. And then during that start saying, well, it was red, white and blue. Did it work? Yeah. It looked cool.

7:10Yeah. Like it, like it, I think it executed well. And they had those for WrestleMania that you and I went. We did have the WrestleMania. That's right. Because they turned the lights off and you just see the, it's a very, it's a cool little feature. They did that. Senior day was very nice. It was, I actually, you know, it still makes your heart, what is it? Palpatate during the, during the, the mile Kentucky home, um, are you supposed to take your hat off from my Kentucky home? I was, I had a moment where I looked around because I started to and no one else did. Yeah. That's how I was. Because you take it off for the national anthem. But why don't we take it off from my old Kentucky home? Is there a reason? It is the state song for the Kentucky one. Or is it like, why, first of all, why do we take our hat off? I know. I saw Trump didn't take his hat off. They used to be a respectful thing back in the day. Now, I don't know that we did much, like you wouldn't get at a dinner table with a hat on back in the day. You had to take the hat off. But I feel like everybody takes it off for the national anthem. Yes. Oh, we still do that. But other things in life. I am of the opinion we should take our hat off for my old Kentucky home.

8:12And as a, a vowed hat wear, I still think you, uh, you should do it. Nevertheless, uh, it was very pretty. Well, in Van Hoos, that was great. And I'm thinking, okay, here we go. Leavened up it. Then we fight back. Yes. It's 20 to 19. I think it's a ball game. It's on like Donkey Kong, 130 run in two minutes. Yeah. Very fast. Two minutes, 33 19 and then it's over. Ball game was over. Don't. Kind of like the game down there. In the sense of, we fought pretty well with them from the vast majority of the game. But a run just, it was over the beginning killed you. Kentucky won like the last 38 minutes of this game. But when you went down 11, oh, and just never had the lead, uh, never took the lead. That was a key. They never took the lead. I know Florida's awesome and all that Kentucky's not there, but home, senior day, at least lead at some point with that kind of crowd and that energy and what's at stake 80 minutes

9:13against Florida this year, having led one, one second. That's bad. Their dudes are better than our dude. Their dudes are great. I, there's no shame in losing to Florida. I do think there's a shame in being blown out. I know the final score was seven and we actually ended up covering the opening line, which is one of the craziest backdoor covers of all time. I don't think we were within seven much. Not at all. Not at all. And then we finished within seven. This is pointing to you because everything else prior to the game kind of set up for us. You know, Arkansas beat Missouri, no, everything. If we had won that game, we'd be the foreseed. That's crazy. And everything set up for us. We'd be the foreseed. We'd have a double buy. We'd be dancing. Instead we play the first game against. I would argue the best of the bad teams. LSU. I think LSU, I don't think we could have come out worse like even if we'd been the 10 seed, we would at least been on the other side of the bracket from four down 18 to that team and the game they played in the regular season. We're down to the 18 to the 16 seed.

10:15We were down 18 to the 16 seed. Yeah. So, yeah, it couldn't set up worse. And, you know, I give Mark Pope created he said we're going down there to win, but, so now we're 19 and 12 on the year. I set after the game, I give the season like a C minus or a D plus. I'm kind of still there. I can't give it an F because we're going to make the tournament and we have some really good wins. We want to add Arkansas, beat Tennessee twice, beat Vandy, beat St. John's who's going to be a probably two seed in the tournament, beat Indiana, so I can't give it an F. I can't give it though higher than like a C minus because of the losses to all. If you want to know what was the problem with our season, go look at the fact that all

11:16these teams tied with the same record and we were last in the tiebreaker. Why is that? Because we lost to mediocre teams all year. We lost to Georgia at home, we lost to Missouri at home. We lost an M and we should have won. That's the problem. The problem with this year was not Saturday. But no, we should never lose by that amount. The problem was everything else that leads to us playing at one o'clock on Wednesday. Do you agree? Completely agree. I know the SEC is better and I mean, I still say, well Florida has figured it out. I don't like that excuse, but it's not so good that Georgia should be ahead of you and Missouri should be ahead of you. These teams that have been at the bottom forever, you've lost your grip that much that you're now in the bottom half of the standings. You lost those teams at home. You got those games at home. The Missouri loss, which was the second game of the SEC and then the Georgia loss, which

12:17was two weeks ago, those are the ones that ultimately killed us. I know you read Aaron Fleaner's tweet on the post game show, but that's it. Well, Aaron Fleaner hit it. He's Caddy's on the PGA tour and then he makes good points. It's great. He said watching Florida is what we used to be. I missed that. I missed that. That's it. It's a fair point and you can put everything else aside. That summarizes the point. Florida has done it. There was a guy that called the post game show and he was like college basketball is different now and he was kind of using that to excuse it. And I said sort of in the moment and I agree. So Duke's figured it out, right, Florida's figured it out. You cons figured it out, Houston's figured it out. Those teams are good every year, every year.

13:19And in the last couple of years, Michigan's figured it out, right, Alabama. Why can't Kentucky, Kansas? So that's really not an excuse. The SEC is better, but look at a team like Houston, Houston's good every year. Every year. And the big 12 is this year, the best conference and they're good every year and it's Houston. So why can't we be and they don't even spend money like we do. Why can't we do it? There's no doubt the sports completely different and the SEC teams are better. But we can't just be like, well, bear much better, let's go home. I guess we can't compete now because it's changed. No, figure it out and continue to dominate. Maybe you won't be winning every single year in the SEC like you were because teams are better, but ninth, you can't just say it's changed. Well, we're ninth. Everyone's better. That's the loser mentality. So if you like college basketball history like I do, you can look at college basketball

14:22as they are the seismic shifts over history in the structure of the sport. So you start when college basketball first starts, Kentucky starts to take it seriously before everybody else. And that's why we're so good in the 40s and 50s. We take the business of college basketball seriously before anybody else and we dominate early. Then integration is the next big change. And Kentucky is slow on it. And UCLA specifically jumps in and says, and they treat recruiting as big business. And then UCLA has a period of dominance. Then you get to the late 70s and early 80s and recruiting becomes national and kind of dirty, right? And some teams jump on it, Indiana, Georgetown, Kentucky, North Carolina, and they then become

15:24the cream of the crowd. And then it switches and all the games end up on national television. And it becomes a sport based on brands. And in the 90s, if you're a brand, you matter, Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina. There's your 90s. Then it kind of switches again to the one and done world. And we are at the forefront again, Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, North Carolina kind of holds back on that and they slip. Well now we're in the next seismic change, which is in aisle and portal, really post COVID. And for the first time, maybe in history, since integration, we were slow to integrate and it hurt us for 10 years.

16:26We've been slow on this. We were at the forefront when college basketball started. The nationalization of college basketball, the sort of blue blood era of every game being on television and the one and done era, Kentucky was at the forefront. We were not at integration and it hurt us. So four errors, we did it, one we did not. And now this is era number six. And we've not been at the forefront. And because of it, we're watching these other teams leap to the top and we're now doing what in history programs have done when they haven't adapted. We're finding ourselves in the middle and we got to change it quick. You know, here and you go through all that, it just makes me scratch my head because this coaching staff and they came in, I thought they were going to be way ahead of the curve, proactive, they're smart. They know all about modern basketball, analytics, algorithms, everything and yet it hasn't

17:27happened. So that's what worries me. There's a seismic shift and you have to do it early or you get left behind. It's early and we're getting left behind. We'll take a break, very bad KSR. No one knows what the future holds but you deserve a weather app that can help. Weather bug is easy to use and provides forecasts for your every need. From storm warnings to pollen levels, write at your fingertips, get the fastest local alerts and comprehensive 10 day forecasts wherever you are. It's hyper local real time customizable alerts. Make sure the weather never takes you by surprise so you can plan every day with confidence. Download the free weather bug app from the app store today and start getting accurate weather forecasts 24-7. It is time for March and that's the Draft King Sports Book, the number one sports book for bedding in March. The tournament is unexpected, we know that but the rewards with Draft Kings are guaranteed. Draft King Sports Book is delivering the most generous rewards in the market no matter what happens on the court.

18:28Because this is an tournament you bet and forget, it's when you react to, you have a chance to do live bedding. You're not betting on what might happen, you're betting on what is happening. Possession by possession, play by play, live lines, props, next play outcomes, as the chaos unfolds, the bracket breaks and you are there to take advantage. So don't just watch the unexpected, bet it. If you're new to Draft Kings, $5 bets, you get $200 bonus bets instantly. That's the Draft King Sports Book, what you need to get ready for March. You can download the Draft King Sports Book app now and use code KSR, that's code KSR, it's $5 into 200 bonus bets instantly. If you have a gaming problem, call 1-800-Gamer, 18-plus, Kentucky only, eligible to be received as a plot, bonus bets, spare 7 days after issuing a traditional time response with gaming resources, cdkng.co slash audio limited time offer. You know what I can really go for right now? Literally anything that comes in a McDonald's carton, wrapper, or bag, or a McDonald's cup. Yes, any of those items you do it.

19:30We've got your cravings covered, now stop in for the flaky filet of fish. The crispy snack wrap, or a large fries for just $2.99, limited time only, price and participation may vary, cannot be combined with any other offer. Run a business and not thinking about podcasting? Think again, more Americans listen to podcasts than add supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora, and as the number one podcaster, IHearts twice as large as the next two combined. So whatever your customers are into, true crime, sports, comedy, culture, they'll hear your message. Plus, only IHeart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio. And all this reach means everything. Just think about the universal marketing formula. The number of consumers who hear your message, times the response rate, equals the results. Now, let's get those results growing for you. Think podcasting can help your business. Think IHeart. Streaming, radio, and podcasting. Let us show you at iHeartAdvertising.com, that's iHeartAdvertising.com.

20:34Or call 844-844-iHeart. One more time. Call 844-844-iHeart and get podcasting working for you. Welcome back, techie sports radio. 859-288-02287, one person writes mad, I agree with your point that we should be more consistent, but you come was an eight last year and lost in the second round. But they were coming all back to back titles. I mean, you're not, you're not going to be good every year. But you got to be good some year. And they're back good again this year. There are six years since COVID, we've had one really good regular season in six years and we lost to St. Peter's in the tournament that year. So we've met, we've been to the second weekend once, that was last year. But it's objectively, if you were to list post COVID, what have been the best programs and you were to just blind resume it and not have the names on it, I think we would

21:35struggle to be in the top 20. We would probably be somewhere between 17 and 20. If you're talking about consistent over those years, you know, in the SEC during those years, we would be behind Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and over. We would be probably fifth in those years. I don't think there's any debate about that. So you know, that is what it is and why it is is a think of a variety of things. Downfall of Cal and sort of how his years went, Kentucky being slow on NIL and then Kentucky being once they got the NIL where they needed to do with Pope being poor in its distribution on this year's team. I think last year's team pretty good. All things considered. Yeah. And with the way things move now or one in your big picture thoughts, you can get left behind faster than you would 10 years ago.

22:37Teams can catch up in just a couple of months in an half season now where you used to take a slow bill. Look at Jay Lucas at Miami in one year. He turns that around. Yeah, that's impossible. 10 years ago. Yeah. But the same like when you hire a new coach and you have that excitement, you need to capitalize on it. Those bucks that came in, you know, they might not keep going. You need to perform and keep that energy going. And if it dips, that's where you start to get left behind a little bit. Yeah. And when you have a new hire, that's the time to make your move. It's like when you when you meet a new, a new woman or a new mate. If it's not sexy and hot at the beginning, it ain't going to get better. Like if after the first eight dates, you are still like, eh, that ain't going to get better over time. Right? Now it might continue, but you got to like, there's got to be sparks moment, maybe not one, but by moment, date 10, or they're probably not coming out of the woodwork.

23:39And if you nail the hire in this area, look at like a Michigan. I mean, there's several young and new coaches that are doing great Michigan. I think to myself, man, they have it. Like you can just and they're going to be good. They're going to be good every year. I mean, they just run got, you know, we talk about Yaxle, but there are other dudes on that team that just like that, that you just watch it in the coach. They call time out watching Michigan, Michigan state, you say, I watch that whole game. After every time out is though, because is though, he doesn't have the talent that Michigan does, but he's really smart. Sure is. And you watch those two and they're excellent. Like if you call time out, you knew that play was going to work coming out of the time out on both teams, you just knew it was Michigan state's problem is they just got the same lumbering dudes they've had for 25 years there. See as though after the game is so said, I ain't nobody's little brother. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

24:40Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, Mark would do that and he can at moments, but he just hasn't gotten it down with his career. So, you're right. We did have the sexy and hot in the beginning. Why is it faded then as the deeds because we're not good. I was good. So what happened? What Michigan did in your one is hot. I mean, we had a good first year. I'm not down playing that. What was your two for him? Still, I mean, we haven't reached hot with Pope. We had a good first year, but I mean, they went straight up. Yeah. You know, after every loss, you get this group of people online who are like, you know, John's KSR ran off a Hall of Fame coach. Put that to the side. That's an absurd argument and the Hall of Fame coach wasn't going to work here anymore.

25:40But everyone listening knows that this isn't right. Yes. Everybody knows that. And at the game Saturday, it was interesting. It wasn't anger. It was like sadness. Did you get that sense? I should have taken a picture. I couldn't believe how many people were leaving at the seven and a half mark. Now, the ones that stayed got into it and had some belief there when they're trying to come back. But Mario, you're there at seven and a half time out. You could look up in the upper level steps had a lot of people on their way out on senior day. Do you blame them? I mean, like, I don't blame the fans because we've had so many games this year where we've just been losing the whole game. So I said on the post game show and I have not checked this. So I'm going to assume the person is correct, but they could be wrong. But I said, I wish somebody would add up the amount of minutes we've been losing and we've been winning this year. Now we're 19 and 12 and this includes games against bad teams or presumably we were winning

26:42almost the entire game, but weren't not always, but most of the time we were. We were winning most of those games. We've still been losing more more minutes than which we have a winning record. So that does say we come back, but in power conference play, 60% of the minutes we have played in the power conference play we've been losing 60% of the minutes, which means fans have been watching us just lose a lot and a lot, you know, something they came back, a lot of us looking up at the scoreboard is in Ruperena and you're losing to logos where you never see them winning in Ruperena, you know what I mean? Oh, and two against Georgia, Pope, that's insane. Georgia has been a joke of the SEC for as long as I can remember, it wasn't that long ago, 10 lost tubby air raider run him out of town. And if I'm not mistaken, Billy Gillespie's two year record is not much different. Billy Gillespie's two year record is two games worse than this. Two games worse. We ran those two guys ready to run him out of town.

27:44I do think Billy would have been back if not for the off court stuff. I think he would have given him a year, but he made it to where they couldn't. Now, with all that said, we do have to talk about the other part of this, which is knucklehead sports radio. That's next. TJ Smith personal injury attorney called TJ, he'll make him pay. Now more Kentucky sports radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Here's Matt Jones. Welcome back, techie sports radio 8559288287. Text machine 772, send 7452541. Person writes, Matt, you say that Cal wasn't going to work here and we're supposed to take it as fact that your opinion, I'm sure it was going to work out with Cal. Look at self at KU. I was ready to say that until we lost to Oakland and St. Peter's two out of three years. Yep. I mean, and I'll remind you, self did have a lot of bad losses in the tournament in the early part of his career and there was some pressure on him. Like people were ready to run him off. The difference was it was the early part of his career.

28:46This was the late part of Cal's career. By the way, but if you want to say it would have worked here, that's fine. I will remind you that Arkansas last year was the non-seed in the SEC tournament. And by the way, if you want to have confidence going into the tournament, just say what look at Arkansas. Last year they were the non-seed, nearly lost that first game. Should have lost. South Carolina was ahead and had a chance to win. And then Arkansas came back. They won. They didn't lost their next game. But then they made a run to the sweet 16 in the tournament. So you could say, well, that could that be Kentucky? Could we beat LSU, lose to Missouri, go to the tournament and win two games? Yeah, we could. Absolutely. We could. And that's so that's the confidence part. But you can't sit there and look to me. Look at me and go, should have kept Cal. If you're so mad about this year, that's the year he had last year. They started the conference one in six last year.

29:47So, you know, the disappointment in this program starts for me at COVID, which spans two coaches. Yeah. Right. Now let's talk about Mitch Barnard for a second. So Mitch Barnard has his going away press conference, which we were not able to go to. I snuck in there. Oh, you win. Yep. I heard it was a nice affair. There's a lot going on. It was a lot. It was a big celebration. Big celebration. A bunch of people talked, right? Yes. Well, why didn't the president cap allude okay? You lost in a video and then Mitch talked for a long time. But, you know, I'm not going to. I'm not going to hit on his moment. You know, I may have had something to do. I'm kind of surprised the president's not there. Like you guys have been partners for a decade and you send a video. I mean, you know, I would understand if like the president sent a video. But like he said he was quote. President United States. The president university you would think would be there. But he was not. What do you say? I think they said he was out of town. I think he's an Alabama law. Okay. Well, but out of town,

30:48they got planes. They got planes. They got planes. So it's actually a fine affair. And in classic Mitch Barnard, he can't quite get through it without expressing grievances. And here is what he had to say. All I've ever done in my life is work. So this notion that this golden parachute is falling from the ceiling and I'm going to sit in the rocking chair and eat, hey, is ridiculous to garbage. Matt notion that started by some couple two or three knuckleheads needs to end. I'm excited about working. I'm not done. That's why I have many comments about. Like literally I could take almost every word. Okay. Is it a golden parachute? Yes. Of course it is. Of course it is. Even if he does everything that the executive for the commissioner of the initiative of sports and workforce does, it's still a golden parachute.

31:51Would they hire someone off the street and pay them $950,000 for that job? To do the job. It does absolutely nothing. Would they hire someone for $950,000 to be a career placement officer? Not unless your name is Mitch Barnhart. No. I don't know what the career placement officers that you came make, but I it ain't $950,000. What is it you think? 80, 120, maybe 10th of that. So yes, it's a golden parachute period. Now some people may deserve golden parachutes. Maybe Mitch Barnhart does. But don't insult me and say it's not a golden parachute. It is. Then he says, going to sit in a rocking chair and eat hay. First of all, I don't even think you eat hay. Not unless nothing. Who eats hay horses? Just chew on it. Did I ever any point suggest he was going to eat hay? I don't think anybody did. I will go on record and say, I do not believe Mitch Barnhart's going to eat hay. Rocking chair maybe? No, no. Rocking chairs. Nothing wrong.

32:51Rocking chair. I like a good rocking chair. Some people's problem with my problem with this is that not that I don't think he's going to work. Sure, I'll give you his work. He's going to work. Shannon, I'll give you his works 40 hours a week. Yeah, on paper. All right, yeah. Entering emails. I don't think this is a job that is worth $950,000 a year. It's allegedly in the academic department, but being paid by athletics. Why? Why? I think it was originally going to be paid by academics and the school and Linda Blackford wrote her article and people are like, oh, that's a bad look. If we're sending out emails that says we're doing budget and staff cuts and we're now paying this guy to come and place people at Kodak, you know, on the same day. On the same day, Kodak, Kodak, they're coming back.

33:52So they were like, well, wait a minute. We'll put it back in athletics. Well, what? Is this UK athlete? People's problem is not that you're going to do nothing. Here's a secret, Mitch. People are going to be worried you're going to do something. They're worried you're going to shadow the new AD. Stick your nose right in the middle of it. That's what people are worried about. When people get mad at criticisms and then respond to the criticism that people are not making, it shows that they don't really have an answer for the criticism they are making. You cannot tell me he will have no role in athletics and then pay him from athletics. If you want to pay him from academics and say he's over there, that's fine. But then you have to deal with the people who say, should we be paying this guy? A million dollars from academics. But if you're going to be paying him from athletics, then people are going to say, well, now I'm worried he's going to be this. The word sports is in his title. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. I'm not saying he's going to like put his nose into whoever the new AD is,

34:55but you can understand why people would say that. Especially if it's somebody that has worked underneath him. Let's then go to the next sentence. Started by two or three knuckleheads. Okay. Hello, knucklehead number one. Just because I have a legitimate concern about this contract that so far, no one from the university has publicly made a statement about or taken one question. That doesn't make you a knucklehead. If it does, then I'll wear a t-shirt that says a hoodie that says knucklehead. Is Linda Blackford a knucklehead? She's probably knucklehead number two. Is Drew? Is Ryan? Okay. How about the amount of fans who have a question? Are they all knuckleheads? One of their biggest donors used the golden parachute word. Yeah. You call him a knucklehead? Press sensors probably given the second or third most money to UK athletics in the last

35:5720 years. Is he a knucklehead? There's a lot of people that have these questions. And what happens with these leaders at the end is they just decide, I am king. And the mere fact you're asking me a question makes a knucklehead. I don't care if you've got every mega hat in the world. You know, that's what Trump does. You know it. Kyle did it. Mitch does it. Every question is like, I give credit. Pope doesn't do this. Every question is like, you are questioning my authority? Great video. You are allowed to ask questions and it doesn't make you a knucklehead. If we get to the point in society that it is not good to ask a question of your leader, we become something completely different. This is a public university man.

37:00You get to ask questions. You need to ask questions. Now, maybe there's a good answer. But answer it. Don't say that the question is somehow a knucklehead. And then finally, he ends it by going needs to stop. Why? Why? Why should we listen to you and ask no question? Who made you king? You are an official paid for by the people in this state. You get to ask questions and it doesn't get to stop just because you say so. It doesn't. Mitch Barnhart is a great man. He is. He does a million things for this community. He's done a million things for UK athletics. But he is not above questioning. And neither is President Capeludo, Eric Monday, Andy Bashir, Donald Trump, anybody.

38:09That's what we're supposed to do. You ask questions and what you should do is answer it. Not yell at people for asking the question. That's what I'm tired of. And in all that celebration of Mitch, which he deserves, he deserves all of it. You got to end it by out the door going, pay me a million dollars a year and shut up. Shut up. And by the way, yeah, on my way out, they gave me $150,000 a year raise for four years. That's $600,000. They gave me a $250,000 bonus. That's $850,000. And they added another year to my contract, which is $950,000, which means on the way out the door, they added $1.8 million in salary that the school was not required to pay me.

39:14And they just did it and don't ask one question about it. If that makes me a knucklehead, then I'm glad to be the head knucklehead. We'll be right back. No one knows what the future holds, but you deserve a weather app that can help. Weatherbug is easy to use and provides forecasts for your every need. From storm warnings to pollen levels, write at your fingertips. Get the fastest local alerts and comprehensive 10-day forecasts wherever you are. It's hyper-local, real-time customizable alerts. Make sure the weather never takes you by surprise so you can plan every day with confidence. Download the free weather bug app from the app store today and start getting accurate weather forecasts 24-7. You know what I could really go for right now? Literally anything that comes in a McDonald's carton, wrapper, or bag, or a McDonald's cup. Yes, any of those items should do it. We've got your cravings covered.

40:16Now, stop in for the flaky filet of fish, the crispy snack wrap, or a large fries for just $2.99. Limited time only, price and participation may vary. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Tired of the 9-5 grind, looking for something different that's flexible, fulfilling, and pays well? How do you like to get paid to work out? Now you can, with ISSA, the global leader in personal fitness certification. There's a huge demand for certified personal trainers right now. And once you get ISSA certified, they guarantee you'll get a job. Trainers can make as much as $100 an hour. Yes, I said $100 an hour. And with ISSA, you can be certified in as little as six weeks. You do everything at your own pace, and 100% online. Pursue your passion in specializations like yoga, nutrition, or strength training. Get certified and live your life on your terms. Work at a gym, start your own business, or a side hustle. Whatever works for you, just don't wait.

41:16Get your free personal training evaluation kit today. Get certified in as little as six weeks. And ISSA guarantees you'll get a job. Text Lift to 323232. Text Lift to 323232. Lift to 323232. Run a business and not thinking about radio? Think again. Because more people are listening to the radio and iHeart today, than they were 20 years ago. And only iHeart broadcast radio connects with more Americans than TV, digital, social, any other media. Even twice as many teens than TikTok. And that reach means everything. Just think about the universal marketing formula. The number of consumers who hear your message times the response rate equals the results. Now let's get those results growing for your business. Radio's here now more than ever. And iHeart's leading the way. Think radio can help your business. Think iHeart. Streaming, podcasting, and radio. Where the reach is real. Let us show you at iHeartAdvertising.com. That's iHeartAdvertising.com.

42:17Or call 844-844-iHeart. One more time. Just call 844-844-iHeart. And get radio working for you. Welcome back. Take you somewhere to radio. A lot of people have strong opinions about my rant. That's a good little rant you did right there. I'm not, I think I sounded angry. I'm not angry. But I also am a big believer in when you work for a public institution or a government job, they're like, we have to put trust in you to do that. Right? I don't think the general public should get to and like make every decision. Everything doesn't go up to popular vote. But that also means it's imperative if we're going to as citizens, as UK fans, put trust in you, you have to explain to us what you're doing. Right? Right. I think that is completely fair. I think it's fair for coaches, for everybody. I think that's why journalists are so important. They need to ask me there to ask these questions.

43:19And fans have these questions too. It's easy just to dismiss it through as it's a handful of people. This radio show is listened to by more people than any radio show for a local sports team in America. If they thought I was out of control and not positive and all this, they wouldn't listen. People don't want to listen to somebody just rail on the team. We want them to win. And if I got too negative, the fans would show me by tuning out. But they don't because they feel the same way. Not all of them, but most of them. Yep. Would you agree with that? Yes, especially on this one. I said recently, we can't agree on anything as a fan base. We fight over if Pope should have called a time out or who should have taken a shot. But it seems like on this, we might be all 100% on all right. What's going on? You may think he deserves this.

44:19I think I go back and forth. But the $1.8 million of extra money that we didn't owe him that we just all of a sudden gave him. That is sketch. It is. We didn't even owe him that. We just gave it to him. Why? And those 10 lifetime tickets aren't cheap. Yeah, but let me go back to 1.8 million. Some of this stuff we owed him in his previous country. But we did not owe him this 1.8. They just added it. And the Board of Trustees did not approve it. Now, they don't have to under the bylaws. But they did only one person approved it. The president. And he didn't show up to the press conference. One person approved this deal. And he didn't even show up. Hello?

45:19Does nobody think that's weird? Read between the lines, maybe. And I mentioned this during the break. Mitch went, I'll take a few questions, a few questions. And if I don't like him, it was like, my God, you're always telling on yourself. That's exactly right. You're telling on yourself. He played it off his joking, but I've seen a lot of Mitch Barnard press conferences. This is what they are. I hated the one when he set by stoops. He called us in on a Saturday to basically just yell at us about the stoops call thing. Earlier or last fall, whenever it was, I think it was John Hale's like, Hey, is the NIL thing good enough? It's like, my goodness. Every time you talk, we're getting yelled at. One time I had a conversation with Mitch that was a positive conversation, okay? It was not like a neg. This was a few years back. And in it, he kind of started braiding me a little bit. Not in a bad way. He was not like it was, we were and he said, and at one point I said to him, I say this respectfully, Mitch. I don't work for you.

46:19Okay. We are talking because I want this to be a good relationship because I want UK to win, but I don't work for you. I think he thinks everyone, the media works for him. And I think he thinks in some ways the fans. If not, work for him like, and I think that's a mistake. And I, I'm now switching a little bit. I'm not so mad. If somebody said to me, Shannon, here's $2 million extra. Do you want it? You're going to take it. You're going to take it. Of course you are. Anybody would. But why did they give it to him? And how come the people that gave it to him are not speaking? Why? I'm all for giving a guy a retirement. A watch. Yeah. Or like Drew said, even just the country club memberships and maybe there's some tickets. I'm fine with that. I'm with that. The tickets don't bother me. A lot of people that game brought up to me the tickets. The tickets seem to get at people. It takes a lot. Obviously, it doesn't bother me.

47:19But there are a lot of people that have brought up the tickets. That doesn't bother me as much. But I'd be okay with it. Tickets, country club membership, ten is a lot. And those ain't cheap. And that's for life. Those could be sold. Yeah. What about Eric? What do you have a? Well, you know, we brought up, they brought CM, bought CM a house in the Bahamas. Was that controversial at the time? That feels like that would have been, I'm going to buy you a house in the Bahamas. Of course, you know, this is before social media. So it didn't get as much run as it probably would have. Okay. But that's not, that's not as excessive I think as this is. No, this is more. Yeah, sure. What I hate is this is a money game now. Even if he doesn't say a word in the New Athletic Director, the New Athletic Director has 950,000 on the books every year. When fans go to donate money, we're going to have to get over that hump before we start paying a shooting guard. Like, this is owed to him through athletics. And they're going to be asking people to help put their budget when no one wants to pay that. And Andy Staples, who's a national college football reporter, he wrote, I don't think you're going to get an AD

48:19that does not have a connection to Mitch Barnhart because no AD is going to want to come and have Mitch Barnhart in the building. Fair point. Looking over your shoulder the whole time. I mean, I don't know AD. So it's hard for me to know that. But I think, you know, if you were doing betting odds, the chances you get a person with no connection to the, to the staff, I think goes down. You know, also whose job is it to place people in sports already because they just got thrown out of the bus. And then, and then, and then, no, did they get bumpshade and they were like, look, you've done such a bad job. We are quintupling the salary that we pay for this. The whole situation just does not, it's a bad way. And by the way, there might be, I want to be clear about this. There might be a reasonable explanation for all of this. Okay. There might be. And maybe one will show itself. But that's why you asked the question. Let me try it. That's why the question is important, right?

49:22You can have an answer. But that's why the question is important. And, you know, I, I don't want to be down this path. It puts me in a weird spot. It puts the people that I get along with in UK and a weird spot. It puts my employer in a weird spot. But you know what? It'd be a lot easier for me just to move on. But, you know, some things have to be brought up. Somebody's got to say it because the fans think it. At least a lot of. So, that's where we are. Now, I do want to completely switch gears because I am excited about football and I am excited about talking to Will Stein. We haven't talked to him since he got hired. He's going to join us. Spring practice starts tomorrow. Yes. And he's going to join us. Cross your fingers on the technology. Because there's a lot happening here during the break. We'll be right back. It's KSI.

50:25This is Julian Edelman from Games with Names. I want to take a second to talk about something that's personal to me. I've had the privilege of working closely with Robert Kraft for a long time. And one thing I've always respected is how seriously he takes up standing up to hate. As a Jewish athlete, my identity is something I am proud of. But I also know what it feels like to be singled out for it. That's why this new commercial for the Blue Square Alliance against hate that aired during the big game really hit home. It's about showing up for someone when they're targeted. Even if you don't have the perfect words. And sometimes standing next to someone is enough. And you could show support by sharing the Blue Square. No one knows what the future holds. But you deserve a weather app that can help. Weatherbug is easy to use and provides forecasts for your every need. From storm warnings to pollen levels, write at your fingertips. Get the fastest local alerts and comprehensive 10-day forecasts wherever you are.

51:25It's hyper-local real-time customizable alerts. Make sure the weather never takes you by surprise. So you can plan every day with confidence. Download the free weather bug app from the app store today and start getting accurate weather forecasts 24-7. It's here. At T-Mobile, get the new Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra with Galaxy AI on us. Okay, we don't need the trumpets. We know it's awesome. Couldn't help yourself, could you? We'll get ready for this. At T-Mobile, you get a five-year price guarantee. A kazoo? Get the new Galaxy S26 Ultra on us. Did I mention at T-Mobile, there's no trade in needed? Guarantee excludes Texas APIs supplies to month the price of on- that we're talk text and 5G data on the beyond plan. Imagine if your Wi-Fi was a little hot smarter and way more reliable. Picture it. Your TV, phone, laptop, even your fancy fridge, working together to make life easier. Well, Exfinity makes that dream a reality. Devices so insane you'd think they're telepathic.

52:26Wi-Fi that knows when your device needs a boost, the best equipment to stream, or games at once with multi-view, or stream your favorite podcast on iHeartRadio. That's the magic of Exfinity. It's seamlessly in tune with you. Exfinity. Imagine that. Restrictions apply.