KSR Today: Talking Season Winds Down

We’re reaching a breaking point in the offseason. It’s the final week of Talking Season. Sure there will be more talking between now and Kentucky’s first game of the season, but Week Zero brings the gift we’ve been waiting for: football.

The games feel so close, I can almost hear the Anchor being put Down in Honolulu. If you squint, you can see a Nebraska special teams goof set up an easy Northwestern score. No, I don’t need a reminder that UConn has a football team, thanks to Week Zero.

Before we receive the warm embrace of medium-quality college football, a few more things must happen to put Talking Season to bed.

A Little Lunch with Mark Stoops

Talking Season reaches its final peak when Mark Stoops gets in front of a bunch of Kentucky fans in an enormous room. On Monday he spoke for about 30 minutes to folks from around Louisville at Churchill Downs. Stoops doesn’t like to make headlines, but he did share that he played Augusta National this offseason. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to say that.”

I don’t know if he wants me to share that. He probably wouldn’t mind me telling you this tasty quote.

“Number one, we go out to compete to prepare to win every game,” said Stoops. “People are like well, you know, we could go 10-2 — I’m not interested in giving up anything. We’re not out there to go lose any games, and that’s our approach.”

If you want to hear more from Mark Stoops, his final speaking engagement is Wednesday at noon in the Longship Club at Kroger Field.

Kentucky Football Offense Back in Action

After lunch, the Wildcats will return to the practice field Tuesday afternoon. It’s the beginning of the transition from fall camp, a.k.a Talking Season, to Miami (OH) prep. Rich Scangarello and a few players will speak with Adam Luckett and a host of reporters this evening. Until then, enjoy some highlights from Saturday’s scrimmage.

LOCKS!

A personal favorite of Talking Season is talking win totals. Not only is it a fun, season-long future bet, it’s a great tool to use for big picture discussions about various college football teams. Last year the 11 Personnel went 12-3 in our preseason picks. We don’t like to toot our own horn, but TOOT! TOOT!

If you did not catch the show live Monday night, we’ll have the audio rocking and rolling shortly on Apple Podcasts, or where ever you get your podcasts.

Cutter Boley is Good at the Football

The talented young, blue chip quarterback threw for 367 yards and three touchdowns in his debut for Lexington Christian. Watch Cutter Boley do his best work and you’ll see why Kentucky and a ton of other schools want him to play for their college football team.

House of the Dragon was Incredible

The return to Westeros was everything I wanted and more. Many wondered if HBO could stick the landing after falling short in the final season of Game of Thrones. The prequel has the feel of the early show — the music, politicking and intricate dialogue — along with Targaryen dragons, a combination they were looking for but failed to deliver in season eight.

It felt so good to be back in Westeros that TJ Walker and I had to fire back up Kentucky Thrones Radio. Hopefully it can quench your House of the Dragon thirst until next Sunday’s episode.

Shoe Giveaway in Eastern Kentucky

John Calipari and the Kentucky basketball team partnered with Samaritan’s Feet to give out 10,000 shoes to folks in Eastern Kentucky. If you need a new pair and are in the area, today they will be giving them away from 10 am – 2 pm at Jenny Wiley State Park and 12:30 pm – 4 pm at Buckhorn Lake State Park.