Lee Anne Pope also makes fun of her husband for saying "beautiful" and "special" so much

Mark Pope’s frequent use of the words “beautiful” and “special” has become a running joke in Big Blue Nation. During Tuesday’s interview with Matt Jones, Ryan Lemond even texted Matt when Pope used the word “special” three times in a row while describing Travis Perry. When Matt informed Pope of the text, Pope said it’s nothing compared to what he hears from his wife, Lee Anne.

“I’m not mad at you because Lee Anne crushes me. She’s like, ‘Would you stop saying beautiful?’ At one point, I was saying breathtaking. She’s like, ‘Can you please grow your lexicon so you can have some other words to say besides special and beautiful?’ I’m actually gonna put a card down there with some synonyms for my hyperbolic words.”

I checked the tape, and the “specials” outweighed the “beautifuls” in this interview 12-6, but “beautiful” had an early lead. If you’re curious, I also looked up when Pope used the word “breathtaking.” It was while describing Jaxson Robinson’s defense in Kentucky’s comeback win vs. Gonzaga, one of the games he had to play point guard while Lamont Butler and Kerr Kriisa were both out.

“What Jax has done the last three or four games defensively is breathtaking, and toughness-wise is incredible. And hitting the insanely difficult shot in overtime period to boot. He was really special, man.”

I’m sure if I let the clip keep going, he would have found a way to work in “beautiful,” too. I have a feeling Lee Anne might buy her husband a thesaurus for Christmas.

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Mark Pope compares KSR to a well

This was just one light-hearted moment from the interview, which was as relaxed, engaging, and informative a one with a head coach that I can remember. Earlier in the conversation, Mark Pope even teased Ryan Lemond for not taking his shirt off yet. It’s refreshing to have a coach who understands what KSR is and is comfortable using it to connect with the fanbase, something Pope himself brought up at the end of the interview. He told a story about a fan who is an amateur artist who came to his office to give him a painting he did of Pope at his introductory press conference last year. He brought some friends with him, and the group sat down with Pope to talk for a few minutes, when one of them mentioned KSR.

“This was what was super cool. I was him, and he brought his four buddies in there, and they’re all my age, they’re 50, right? And he gave me this gift. So, we’re sitting down talking in the office, and we got to the point where they’re like, ‘When I get up in the morning, the first thing I do is like, what’s going on, what’s new, and then I’m listening to KSR while I’m working. And then I get home, and after dinner, I’ll go check to see what else has happened with the Cats and the whole thing.'”

Pope said that in that way, KSR is a connection point for fans, comparing it to wells in villages in Africa that he’s seen on service trips.

“It’s this connection point, the same thing we’re talking about, that you guys do an incredible job providing, is, and I say this all the time, like, it doesn’t really matter if you say something bad about me or good about me, or bad about the Cats, good about the Cats. What matters is that there are all these people coming to the well.

“So I had a chance to go to Africa so many times and do some service trips there, and in these communities, in these villages, the well is where you always find people because everybody is constantly there throughout the day. You have to leave your hut, and you walk across the village, and you go to the well to collect water. It’s happening all throughout the day. And so the well is a special place, because it’s where everybody gathers and everybody interacts. And you guys do an unbelievable job.”

And that’s why Pope can say “special” and “beautiful” as many times as he wants.