0:00

This Bingie beef Jerkey. Podcast of the Leech Report is also presented by Boons

0:04

Butcher Shop, one hundred old Bloomfield Pike in Barnestown, fresh meat cut on

0:09

location daily and they're family owned and operated, have been since nineteen forty six.

0:13

Another week Leach Report Shows, presented by Bobcat Enterprises. What a big

0:20

sports week it is here in Kentucky. You've got the PGA Championship starting on

0:26

Thursday at Valhalla. You've got Kentucky Baseball trying to clinch an SEC championship with

0:35

the three games set against Vanderbilt that will also start on Thursday. You've got

0:40

the Preakness. It's up in Baltimore, but obviously big for the horse racing

0:44

industry. Here is we see if mistic Dan can notch the second leg of

0:48

the Triple Crown. So and other things going on that we'll get to as

0:53

well. So busy busy week. Mark Pope still building his basketball roster.

0:58

We'll talk a little about that with Ben Roberts to lead off the show today.

1:02

It'll be UK Men's Basketball Beat writers present and pasted Today. Jerry Tipton

1:07

will be in the second half of the show talking about his new book that

1:11

is going to be officially launched tomorrow. So that's the lineup for today.

1:17

Wildcat News of the Day presented by Juseppes of Lexington, UK Baseball took the

1:22

Sunday game against Florida yesterday in ten innings, seven to five for its first

1:26

series win against the Gators since twenty sixteen. Mason Moore really did a nice

1:32

job on the mound. Kentucky had a three run inning earlier. Moore's pitching

1:36

well, he gets him into the seventh, had given up just two runs,

1:40

so Kentucky's up three to two heading to the bottom of the ninth and

1:44

they surrender the tying run. They get out of the inning, get to

1:47

extra innings, and then they get four in the top of the tenth thanks

1:51

to a three run double at Patrick Herrera, and they hang on to win.

1:55

Gators got the winning run to the plate in the bottom of the tenth,

1:57

but Kentucky got a strike out to end the game. Hangs on to

2:01

win seven to five. So Tennessee lost to Vandy yesterday three nothing so and

2:07

Arkansas lost on Saturday to Mississippi State. So each the Hogs and the Balls

2:13

both took two out of three, so with four games left was to play

2:16

for Kentucky and there are three conference games left for everybody. That's the big,

2:22

big number. Three conference games left for Kentucky. It'll be against Vandy

2:25

starting Thursday night. Kentucky has a one game lead over Tennessee and Arkansas with

2:30

the SEC Championship twentieth SEC win yesterday, So just a tremendous season for Nick

2:37

Mangion in company. And they seem to be honing in on one of those

2:42

top eight national seeds. So after the SEC Tournament, they'd get to host

2:46

a regional and then should they advance, they would likely then be hosting the

2:52

Super Regional as well, trying to play their way to Omaha for the first

2:54

time in program history. So exciting times for Kentucky baseball. And they're supposed

3:00

to play tomorrow against Wright State, but I don't know if they'll get that

3:06

in with the rain that is forecast. Hopefully they will, and then Thursday.

3:09

The SEC Series starts a little earlier this week Thursday, Friday night games

3:14

and then Saturday afternoon to wrap up the regular season before heading down to Alabama

3:19

next week for the SEC Tournament. So it's a huge, huge week for

3:24

Kentucky baseball. This would be if they can clinch it, I think,

3:29

just the second SEC championship for Kentucky baseball. Men's tennis beat twelve seed Harvard

3:37

on Saturday, four to two. They are headed to the NCAA Elite Eight

3:40

for the third consecutive year. Good luck to coach Kaufman's squad. The softball

3:50

team. Women's softball's headed to the Oklahoma Stillwater, Oklahoma Regional, which is

3:55

also where men's tennis is headed now. Men's tennis will play number four TC

4:00

you on Thursday. Softballs and the Stillwater, Oklahoma Regional and fifteenth year in

4:04

a row that Coach Lawson's club has qualified for the NCAA tournament. They'll take

4:08

on Michigan Friday at three afternoon Friday at three pm Eastern time. It'll be

4:15

an ESPN two. And that is the four team regional that Kentucky's a part

4:19

of out in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Links to all the stories that we're talking

4:25

about, you can find them on the bud Light Leach Report page at Tom

4:27

leachky dot com. Come back talk with Ben Roberts about Kentucky basketball. Maybe

4:32

a little preakness as well. Opening segment of our show each day is presented

4:38

by Giuseppes of Lexington. Maybe you were there for Mother's Day yesterday. There's

4:43

no better place to celebrate a special occasion like mom, any Mom's Day,

4:47

any play. Anytime you want to go to Giuseppes, just go to Giuseppes

4:51

Lexington dot com or open table, make a reservation, make up early.

4:55

It fills up quickly, even though they've expanded the lounge area now. It's

4:58

so popular there with the live jazz music from Dave Hall to accompany your meal.

5:01

So make sure you get your reservations not locked in early for your next

5:06

visit to Giuseppe's. We'll be right back with Ben Roberts water past the top

5:12

of the hour, coming to you from the Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Return,

5:15

Refresh and refuel at Clark's. Download their app to get the monthly specials

5:20

for May. We're joined now by Ben Roberts from the Lexington Herald, leader

5:25

of the club Blue Nil hotline. He covers Kentucky men's basketball at Kentucky sports

5:30

dot com and the pages of the Lexington Herald. Leader. And Ben,

5:34

you've been writing a lot of is lately about Mark Pope putting together his first

5:40

roster for the Wildcats. What's your take on the group he has assembled to

5:46

this point, group of ten. Yeah, I mean, I think he's

5:49

done a you know, a hundred of the circumstances and time constraints and all

5:55

that. I think he's done a pretty amazing job of putting together a team

5:58

that not only is talented enough to contend right away, but I think fits

6:04

both the system that he wants to play and then the kind of the culture

6:11

foundation that he's talked about in his earliest days as head coach here to to

6:15

try to get that started. So, you know, he's got a he's

6:19

got a lot of good players that fit the way he wants to play,

6:21

and he's got a good mix of both you know, veterans who are going

6:25

to be in their last year of eligibility along along with you know, some

6:29

younger guys who it seems like are going to stick around a while and maybe

6:32

don't need that immediate high level of playing time to stay multiple years. I

6:40

would think, and he has said himself he's more of an offensive minded coach.

6:46

I think that was the term he used with in the you know the

6:49

way his team played particular last season at b YU and is shooting all the

6:55

threes. Getting a bit of a late start on this particular job would stand

7:00

to reason. You're not gonna put the maybe ideal group together for your system

7:05

the first shot out of the box, and you don't inherit anybody either.

7:13

So it would seem to be kind of a wise move to have a team

7:18

that can at least be really good defensively. And it looks like a lot

7:23

of the resumes for these guys that he's brought in have really good things to

7:28

say in terms of their ability to defend. He talks about the phrase guard

7:32

your yard a lot, and then can be good offensively and we'll see how

7:40

good as it all comes together. Yeah, I mean four of us first

7:45

five editions out of the portal were all guys who you would classify as a

7:50

defense first if you were gonna look at one of those sides of the ball.

7:55

All four of those guys were defense first. But you know, I

8:00

mean all those guys that have proven that that they can score and they can

8:03

do things offensively that that are going to help the team, and especially you

8:07

know, I think the Biggs is one area where I was pretty impressed with

8:11

with what he's done. You know, you got Brandon Garrison, who's on

8:15

Bactella's All American last year and did some really good things on a bad team

8:20

his freshman year and showed some signs that he could be an NBA level talent,

8:24

maybe even after this coming season. Probably not, but maybe, but

8:28

he and he's known for his defense, but he can pass. He's a

8:35

smart player, he can rebound his area. Mario Williams is another guy who

8:39

is a three time lead Defensive Player of the Year, but he's a really

8:43

good passer. You can pull him away from the basket. He's not gonna

8:46

bomb a bunch of threes or anything, but he's gonna be able to help

8:48

you run your offense away from the basket, which is which is what they've

8:52

done at BYU and then Andrew Carr obviously, I think is somebody who was

8:56

it's just a perfect fit for for Polkes offense. And he's and he's not

9:00

you know, he's not a bad defender by any I think he's a he's

9:03

a plus defender. I'll give you, he'll give you a positive impact over

9:07

there. But he's a guy who can make a lot of threes, can

9:09

do a lot of things offensively, and really be a mismatch for a lot

9:15

of these teams are going to play. When Mark first was mentioned, looked

9:20

like he was going to get the job. That was about twelve hours of

9:24

really negative reaction that did a pretty much a complete one point eighty. And

9:31

it seems like, I don't know if it's like this for you, Like

9:33

everywhere I go, Uh, it's what people want to talk about, UH,

9:37

and there's so much enthusiasm and you've written about uh lately, how the

9:46

recruiting figures to change. I'm more probably in line with what the trend is

9:52

across college basketball, where it'll be, you know, not an abundance of

9:56

you know, McDonald's all Americans in every class and a little more of a

10:01

you know, development over over time. And Kentucky fans, uh, it

10:07

seems are overwhelmingly ready for that. Yeah, I think so. And yeah,

10:13

just the around town thing, I mean, I think people who maybe

10:18

you never talked even if they knew what you did, they know you never

10:20

really talked much UK basketball with them before all of a sudden want to talk

10:24

about it. And people who always talked about it but maybe we're for pretty

10:28

discouraged. Over the last few years, there's a lot more optimism and people

10:33

really really looking forward to I mean, especially at the beginning not only the

10:37

season, but but what kind of team he was gonna put together. And

10:41

yes, as far as the recruiting, I mean, Colin Chandler was gonna

10:46

be his top ranked recruit at b YU and he's ranked in the forties range

10:50

nationally, and he's gonna get guys like that here. He's gonna get guys

10:54

who were top ten guys here, and he's gonna get guys like Trentoah who

10:58

were right outside the top one hundred here. And I think that's going to

11:01

be the big switch recruiting wise. Is Yes, I still think he's gonna

11:05

get maybe a one and done in every class, maybe a McDonald's All American

11:09

or two, or you know, any given year, maybe three in a

11:13

class. But he's also going to sprinkle in guys that I think he's gonna

11:18

want to build up over time. Maybe won't play major minutes right away,

11:22

but will be the type that that will stick around for multiple seasons and and

11:26

kind of add to that roster continuity that I think there's going to be a lot more of moving forward than there has been the last few years. He's

11:31

going to have the opportunity to go after players that he really didn't have the

11:37

opportunity realistically the land at Utah Valley or at BYU. And so there will

11:43

be you know, some element of those uh, you know McDonald's All America

11:48

type guys, but just not as many, right, yeah, exactly.

11:52

And I mean I think people who maybe didn't want six McDonald's all Americans want

11:56

and done guys, one of your guys in every class, but still wanted

12:00

to have that type of talent at a certain level might have looked at his

12:03

recruiting history and been taken aback or taken pause. But yes, I mean,

12:09

he wasn't gonna get those types of players at BYU. And I think

12:13

anybody who spent any time around them, or anybody who's even just kind of

12:16

watched the way he operates, he has the personality to be a really really

12:22

top tier recruiter. And obviously now he has everything that goes along with Kentucky

12:28

basketball as part of that sales pitch and also the past. I mean that

12:33

clearly the passion behind it kind of marrying those two things of his own passion

12:37

for basketball, but especially his passion for UK basketball specifically, and I think

12:41

that's gonna play really really well out on the recruiting trail. I think we

12:46

probably both would agree that what Kentucky fans really want is that is what they

12:52

can't have. They want McDonald's all Americans that would be here four years.

12:56

Yeah, well yeah, and they thought they got one last year, And

13:00

yeah that goes maybe not four years, but certainly more than one. But

13:05

yeah, I think that's in those days. I mean the days of uh,

13:11

you know, when Mark was playing, when when you had a four

13:15

year Tony Delk who was basically a star for three years, you had a

13:18

four year Walter McCarty who was a senior leader in year four, and guys

13:24

like that. Those days are over for the most part. You know.

13:26

I don't think we're gonna see as many Chuck Hayes's or Tayshawn Prince's or Keith

13:28

Bogan's anymore. But I do think there's room for some guys who make an

13:35

impact in year one but but still stay around for three or four years,

13:39

and fans get to know these players for time of Ben Roberts. He covers

13:43

Kentucky men's basketball for the Hairleader Kentucky sports dot Com. Take a quick break,

13:48

come back with a one more segment. It's the Leach Report, and we are presented by Bobcat Enterprises each and every day. Hope you guys got

13:54

up to the grand opening the Walton location. Google Bobcat Enterprises and you can

14:00

find the one that's nearest you. Northern Kentucky, Central Kentucky, wherever,

14:03

and they will take great care of you for renting or buying heavy equipment like

14:09

Bobcats and excavators loads. Check them out by googling Bobcat Enterprises and find the

14:13

location nearest you. We'll be right back forty six past at the top of

14:18

the hour of Ben Roberts on the line with us chatting about UK men's basketball.

14:22

One of the stories you wrote recently was about Brandon Garrison, the young

14:28

man for McDonald's All American. We were using that phrase that comes in from

14:31

Oklahoma State. I am trying to gather up beat writers or play by play

14:37

guys for each one of these transfers to come on the show and tape an

14:41

interview or something. Talk about just a little Scouter Report, and I talked

14:45

to Toby Roland, who about Otega Away, and at the end, I

14:48

said, well, you guys went up against Brandon Garrison at Oklahoma State,

14:52

and we talked for a couple minutes about Garrison, and he was just gushing

14:56

with praise for Garrison, about how much upside there was Alma Buch how badly

15:01

Oklahoma wanted to try to get him. So he sounds like an exciting prospect.

15:07

Yeah, he is, And I wrote last week about it. I

15:09

think he's the most interesting, at least of the ten guys they've got so

15:13

far. I think he's the most interesting guy in this first class that the

15:16

Popes put together, just because of that upside. And it's not something that

15:22

you know, was so raw that it wasn't shown at all last year.

15:26

I mean he had defensively, he was a top twenty defender in the Big

15:30

Twelve as a freshman in the Big twelve is the best defensive league in college

15:33

basketball. But offensively, I mean, he had a twenty point game against

15:39

Salvin Brooks at Baylor, as Pope pointed out, and he had a twenty

15:41

one point game against BYU and a win over b White. Actually so he's

15:46

you know, he's another guy. He's not going to shoot threes, but

15:50

he's gonna make smart decisions with the basketball, especially I think when he's around

15:56

what I think are better players and maybe better fits this coming season at Kentucky.

16:00

But he also scores at an incredibly high rate around the basket. He's

16:03

going to rebound the ball well. Going back to the defense, I think

16:07

he's going to be just really really sound in that system that they put together.

16:11

And I think that's the real key thing, which you mentioned earlier,

16:15

is the number of really good defenders they have on this team at different positions.

16:21

They're going to have at least two, three, maybe four of those

16:23

guys on the court at any given time. But they're also going to be

16:27

guys who can score the basketball to a certain degree and in a couple of

16:32

cases, to a pretty good degree. So I think getting him, you

16:37

know, last season in Oklahoma State, I mean, he stayed that kind

16:41

of the home state school that he grew up rooting for. Things didn't go

16:45

well from a team perspective. You know, it wasn't a lost year,

16:48

but it was a really bad situation for him to be in that freshman year

16:52

and I think the room to grow is incredible at a place like Kentucky with

16:57

with better players around them, especial veteran players who've kind of been through some

17:02

things. Ben, Thank you much, all right, thanks a lot of

17:06

tom as Ben Roberts from alexid to the leader Kentucky Sports dot com. His

17:08

latest story, by the way up today at Kentucky Sports dot com is about

17:14

the Club Blue New Era event that is scheduled for June fifteenth. Club Blue

17:19

is the Nil project that is underway at the UK and if you subscribe via

17:29

Club blueinil dot com by May fifteenth, you'll be eligible to attend that new

17:34

Era event with Coach Pope and the staff and players. So go to Club

17:40

Blue Nil dot com click join Club Blue various levels at which you can participate,

17:45

and you get a chance to be a part of the New Era event

17:48

on June fifteenth. But again, the deadline is Wednesday by midnight to sign

17:52

up. Club Blue in al Leach Reports presented by Bob Kat Enterprises and we

17:57

welcome to the program via the Club Nil hotline. Jerry Tipton spent forty one

18:03

years in the role that Ben Roberts now has covered Kentucky men's basketball. We

18:07

just finished chatting with Ben Jerry joins us now. As I said, beat

18:11

Writers present and passed, and Jerry has a new book out, Deja Blue,

18:17

that we'll have the launch party tomorrow night, open to the public at

18:19

the Carnegie Center from five to seven Eastern in downtown Lexington. And Jerry,

18:26

this is a book that you know, flipping through it, reading some of

18:30

the passages. I've not gone through the whole thing yet, but I'm just

18:34

did you keep a journal as you did this job for forty one years or

18:40

did you just keep all your notes because you have a lot of great detail

18:44

in the book. Well, my wife would say that I kept a lot

18:51

of notes and everything, and that wouldn't be a compliment. But yes,

18:56

I mean I kept notebooks, and you know, with the Internet you can

19:02

go and check past stories and things like that, and so you know a

19:08

lot of it. It was just vivid in my memory. But I you

19:14

know, I was reminded of other things by going to notes or you know,

19:19

old notebook stuff like that. I have heard this in particular with herd

19:26

interview with Sug McGahee a few years ago talking about one of his great horses

19:30

personal INCIDNT and he was recounting, you know, all of like all of

19:34

her workouts, this workout and then eight days later she did this and this

19:38

was like years years later. And I've heard coaches you'll be able to do

19:42

those kinds of things when you're totally engrossed in a job that you really enjoy

19:48

doing. The detail to which you can recollect it, I'm sure would probably

19:53

be amazing to other people. And it seems kind of normal for you,

19:56

is it that way? Well, you know, as as you know Tom

20:00

Kentucky, basketball is such a vivid thing. And I've said to people and

20:06

probably to you in the past that any reporter wants to cover a beat that

20:10

the readers or the listeners or the viewers are really into. And I never

20:15

worried about that. I knew they were into it, and that was kind

20:19

of a motivation to, you know, try to do a good job.

20:25

And you know, I've debated, and I never debated while I was working,

20:32

but debated about doing a diary of some sort, you know, a

20:37

daily accounting, and I felt that was too self absorbed. I didn't,

20:42

you know, the stuff the story is not about the reporter. And I

20:48

probably overreacted, maybe, but that's how I viewed it, And so a

20:53

lot of it is memory. A lot of it was like sitting back and

20:57

thinking about I made lists of each of the six UK coaches that I covered

21:03

things that happened, memories, and you know, back in the olden days

21:08

with Joe b and Eddie Sutton, you could, you know, the media

21:12

could go to any practice they wanted to go to, and you know,

21:15

there was more opportunity for things to pop up that you want to remember.

21:22

You know, you kind of hit the sweet spot as a beat writer for

21:29

the game of college basketball. It occurs to me because you started this job

21:33

with one of the top programs in the country, and you started in nineteen

21:37

eighty one, and that was two years after the Magic and Bird game and

21:44

coincided with the launch of ESPN and seventy nine, and they were so heavy

21:48

into college basketball that there's just the eighties in particular, just an explosion of

21:55

college basketball and really the game really grew and CBS took over the NCAA two

22:00

hermamit, and it took off with Michael Jordan in eighty two and all this

22:03

and you're covering, you know, one of the top programs in college basketball

22:06

at that time. And there's no internet. Yeah, absolutely, I mean,

22:11

you know, it was the deadlines were so different. I mean,

22:15

with the Internet and everything, you know, you would feel like you were

22:18

on a constant deadline. You were, you know, facing deadline pressure and

22:25

unrelenting And I've told people that back in the day with when Joe b was

22:29

coach, if Kentucky played an afternoon game on the road, I would fly

22:33

with the team and then get back, you know, late afternoon and maybe

22:40

around six six thirty something like that, and I'd have plenty of time to

22:44

go to the office and write my game story. And of course that's all

22:49

you know, that's ancient history now. Of course, like I say,

22:55

it's you know, you're constantly with the internet. You've got to post and

23:00

as soon as possible and turn things around. It's just a whole different world.

23:06

You start in the first chapter telling some stories about the start of your

23:11

time covering Kentucky basketball, and it was about the second half of Jobie Hall's

23:17

tenure. I'm sure Joe probably felt under siege the entire time he was in

23:22

the job, you know, as the successor to Adolf Rupp, who didn't

23:26

want to leave. And then you know, as he you know, was

23:33

you know, he went through a stretch where after they won it in seventy

23:36

eight, you know, they had you know, some some teams that were

23:40

very talented that you know, had those rough NCAA tournaments in a couple of

23:45

years got it back, you know, to a final four and eighty four

23:48

before he left. But that was for a for a guy who was,

23:52

you know, you're new on the beat, had to be a really challenging

23:56

time. Absolutely, I had so much to learn. And of course,

24:03

you know, Kentucky basketball from any from a distance, it's obvious what it

24:07

is and the stature it has. But then to be in the you know,

24:12

in the midst of it, that was a you know, definitely a

24:15

learning experience. And one of the things I learned was that Adolf rough second

24:22

guest Joby Hall publicly uh so, you know, I remember telling John Caliperry

24:29

that after a press conference in which John Caliperry talked about how much he liked,

24:33

you know, former coaches and you know, the jobs they had done

24:37

and so on. So I just told him, by the you know,

24:40

and how difficult it would be to follow a legend, and I couldn't resist

24:44

going up to John and just telling him, you know, Adolf Rough's second

24:47

guest, Joby Hall publicly and you know, his eyes wide, Cal's eyes

24:53

wide and like old man really and yeah, you know, I you know,

25:00

I felt like I had so much to learn about Kentucky basketball, and

25:08

one of the things I learned with that, I think Job and the Harold

25:11

Leader. There was some friction there before I came, and I remember being

25:18

told one of the stories they did was had a reporter sit close to the

25:22

events and did something about Jobi's language during games, and of course he didn't

25:27

like that. And you know, I had all of this to learn and

25:32

kind of navigate as I tried to, you know, just do an objective

25:36

job. Yeah, the your mission, I think you have seen you quoted,

25:44

is you your mission was always to serve your readers first and foremost.

25:49

So that and even they would get angry at you because of stories that were

25:56

would be termed negative, right, which I'm sure you probably bristled at some

26:00

of those characterizations at times. Well, yeah, I mean, you know

26:04

I could understand it that, you know, fans are fans. I did

26:10

a chapter on fans. I don't know if you read that, but that

26:12

was a lot of fun to put together, just remembering you know, criticism

26:18

and so on. And I didn't take it personally. People didn't help me,

26:22

but but I but I understood where they were coming from. And you

26:27

know, I've told people that, you know, I had this reputation for

26:30

asking hard questions, and I wasn't trying to ask quote unquote hard questions.

26:36

I was trying to ask good questions. I was thinking of the reader and

26:41

thinking what would you know, what question would come to mind for the reader?

26:45

And then I, you know, I had a license to ask it.

26:48

So that's all it was. You Also, it always occurred to me

26:52

just really enjoyed the game because I know, like in things like the Maui

26:57

Invitational, you were not on the the oft times, you know, surfying

27:06

or hiking in the mountains of Maui or whatever. You were watching every game.

27:12

Well that was, you know, as part of the fun for one

27:15

thing. Plus you never know what you could learn, what you could pick

27:19

up. And of course I did the Sunday Notebook, which was started out

27:23

about sixty five inches, and so I felt like I've got to find stuff

27:29

to put in there, and you know, of course it has to be

27:32

centered on Kentucky, but I'm not that every single note has to be Kentucky.

27:37

If something's that interesting, I'll throw it in there. And I remember

27:41

going to the SEC tournament and I would go to every game. The only

27:45

game I might not see all of would be the game right after Kentucky's game

27:49

because I was working then. But otherwise, you know, you never know,

27:53

you know what you can pick up, and so, you know,

27:57

but and Plos, it was fun. Yeah, I'm seeing basketball. I'm

28:02

under no pressure to write anything about other games, so it was just fun

28:07

to watch and observe and try to pick up. One of the guys I

28:11

really enjoy getting to know over the time i've been at this job was Jim

28:15

O'Connell, the late longtime beat writer for the Associated Press in college basketball,

28:19

and he was just he was like that in terms of just you know,

28:23

loving to just watch the games, and he was covering them too, And

28:29

you know, it occurs to be that, you know, that's if that's

28:33

the kind of a job that you could have moved on to it at some

28:36

point, but you stayed in this particular job I'm sure there were, you

28:41

know, other things that you did consider at times. Why did you stay

28:44

for forty one years covering Kentucky basketball? Well, that's a good question,

28:49

Tom. You know again, I mean it was such a great beat,

28:55

and you know, every once in a while, as you know, you feel like you're witnessing history, you're covering something that will be remembered for a

29:04

long long time. And you know how many other beats are like that,

29:11

you know, So you know, I enjoyed it. It was fun and

29:15

even though the things got contentious sometimes that's part of it, and you know,

29:21

I just tried to move on not take it personally, and yeah,

29:25

I just you know, I liked it that much, liked covering something that

29:30

you know, was so interesting and so newsy. As you know, things

29:34

come up all the time that you know that are newsy, and I like

29:38

to kid around that, like every double dribble could be a could be a

29:44

controversy, could lead to a controversy. So you know, it was nice

29:48

to be although challenging certainly to be, uh, to be part of all

29:53

of that and trying to cover it. I think it was near the end

29:57

of coach Mubby's term when there were some of his radio shows where he was

30:03

being contentious with callers. There were some you know, negative calls quote unquote,

30:07

and uh, I said, you know, there's one thing that's worse

30:11

than what you would term negative calls, and that would be no calls.

30:14

And that's never a problem here. So I'm sure how I would relate to

30:19

that is like, yeah, they were complaining about a story. It meant

30:22

they read this story. Yeah. Uh. And I tried to, you

30:26

know, if I could find a way to uh respond politely, I would

30:33

if they sent me an email. Uh. And at the beginning there were

30:37

times I lashed back, and then it became that just inflamed it and it

30:42

was it just worse. So I just tried to find a way if I

30:48

could to you know, thank them, maybe not thanks them, but say,

30:52

you know, I acknowledged the point they were making, and I would

30:56

check into it to see, you know, if I made a mistake in

31:00

that instance. Chat with Jerry tipped about his new book, Dejah Blue.

31:04

It is going to have the official launch party tomorrow five to seven Eastern at

31:10

the Carnegie Center in downtown Lexington. Is just open to the public, Jerry,

31:14

Yes, Yeah, anybody can come. We'll have books there for sale,

31:18

and we're going to have some guest speakers. Tubby Smith, Kenny Walker,

31:26

John Clay, columnist with the Harrow Leader, and Chuck Culpepper, a

31:30

former columnist leader now at The Washington So yeah, I mean that's quite a

31:37

lineup. Yeah. You know, I heard from TB about ten days ago.

31:41

Of course, I believe he lives in North Carolina. Yeah, but

31:45

and it is over in Kentucky, I think. But anyway, he told

31:49

me that he's coming for the PGA goal Oh yeah, later in the week

31:56

in Louisville. So and I had asked him, I had sent him texts

32:00

asking him if he could speak and a tend and he, you know,

32:04

he said he could. So I felt great. You know, that was

32:07

wonderful. Let me take a quick break here. We'll come back and have when more segment with Jerry Tipton. It's the Leads Report, and we're presented

32:13

by Bob Kat Enterprises, and we come to you from the Clark's Pumping Shop

32:17

studio, Return, Refresh and Refuel at Clark's. Jerry Tipton's with us of

32:23

the Club Blue ANDIL Hotline, talking about his book Deja Blue, about his

32:28

forty one years covering Kentucky basketball. What's your early take on Mark Pope and

32:34

how he'll fit in this job. Well, you know, I think it's

32:37

all positive. I mean, I was going to go to thelier introductory session

32:45

at Rapperina, and about an hour and a half before the doors were to

32:49

open, my wife was on the internet. She told me there's this long

32:52

line of people. So I didn't want to get in a long line.

32:57

So I watched on TV and you know, I thought he hit a home

33:00

run. Very You know, a lot of cheering and popularity, and two

33:07

things stand out which everybody knows. One he played here, so he knows

33:13

what he's getting into. He knows the and the keen interest of the fans

33:17

and the expectations how high they are. And he's been a head coach,

33:23

he's done it and has navigated nil and all of that. So yeah,

33:30

I think he's going to do really well. Told a friend of mine is

33:34

a horse trainer. We were talking about and I said, what you if

33:36

you're a Kentucky fan, you hope that he's like the trainer who clearly has

33:42

demonstrated an ability to do the job well and now gets the chance to train

33:46

the best horses, and so he's going to be able to get recruits that

33:51

he couldn't get before. Yeah, the way, it's funny you say that

33:54

because I've thought of it like like horse racing where Kentucky. He is Secretariat

34:00

obviously in basketball. So if you're just a pretty good jockey, you can

34:06

really do well riding a horse. And I'm not saying Mark is just a

34:10

pretty good coach. I think he'll do really well. And he's riding Secretariat,

34:15

so yeah, I think fun times ahead. Jerry, appreciate the time,

34:22

Good luck with the book. Carnegie Center tomorrow night, five to seven

34:25

Eastern time. Great list of speakers and the launch party for the book,

34:30

and I'm sure it will do well. And appreciate the visit. Well.

34:37

Thanks Tom. I appreciate your health. Take care you too. It's Jerry

34:39

Tipton, longtime Kentucky men's basketball beat writer for the Lexington Herald Leader, and

34:45

Deja Blue is the new book. We're going to get to a break and

34:50

come back to close out this Monday edition of The Leach Report, presented by

34:53

Bob Kat enterprises stand Wile Cat History, a service of Kentucky Road Show Sports

34:59

cards and Rebellia. They're on Romedy Road here in Lexington and at roadshowcards dot

35:02

Com. Nineteen eighty eight. This day, Rix Chapman announced he was leaving

35:07

after two years for the NBA draft. Guy Morris, former Kentucky football coach

35:15

an assistant, came here as an assistant first under how Mummy, then did

35:19

a great job as the head coach. Guy Moo was born on this day

35:22

and married Haskins, former Kentucky basketball player, celebrating a birthday today. A

35:28

couple of birthdays we missed yesterday. Joker Phillips belated happy birthday, and Nate

35:31

Cestina, a young man who was a great addition to the Kentucky basketball program

35:37

and unfortunately got his chance to play an NCAA tournament cut short by the COVID

35:44

pandemic. Triple Crown Coverage a service of Clayburne Farm doing the unusual unusually well

35:50

for more than a century. They'll take entries today for the Preakness and the

35:53

card on Saturday up at Pimlico. Mystic Dan he's in the derby winner declared

35:59

in by trainer Kenny McPeak over the weekend. Misteric Dan doing well in his

36:02

Gallops at Churchill Downs and trainer Brad Cox putting Catching Freedom, the Derby fourth

36:07

place finisher, into the race as well. So shaping up is a nice

36:09

renewal. Much stronger race this year than last year for the Preakness. We'll

36:14

talk about that as we get closer to Saturday. Have a great day. Everybody will see it tomorrow on The Leech Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises. Thanks

36:22

for listening to The Leech Report. Anytime you miss the show, you can

36:25

catch the Mingy Peep Tricky podcast. Find them at Tom Leitchky dot com or

36:30

on the iHeartRadio app. Interested in advertising on the show, email Leach Reports

36:35

at gmail dot com. We'll see you next time on The Leech Report.