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Speaker 1: All right back here on the KSR pregame show, and

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Speaker 1: something I don't know that I ever thought would happen,

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Speaker 1: joining us Rick Patino, Rick.

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Speaker 2: How are you?

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Speaker 3: I'm great. It's I'm going to visit my house tonight

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Speaker 3: where I live.

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Speaker 2: Matthew Mitchell still live there, Yes.

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Speaker 3: He does, and he was nice enough to invite me

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Speaker 3: over and my kids. We built the house. Bill Wanna

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Speaker 3: built the house and my kids were just young then.

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Speaker 3: Now one's forty five, so time is best.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a tough age.

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Speaker 1: What was it like last night with the ovation and

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Speaker 1: being back and rop and the you know, adelation you

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Speaker 1: got from the fan.

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Speaker 3: You know, I came within inches of crying my eyes out.

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Speaker 3: It was really very emotional for me because I was

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Speaker 3: backstage in the back with all my players and that

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Speaker 3: was great to see them, even Todd Sobota who's gone

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Speaker 3: through a very difficult time and and then seeing all

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Speaker 3: the guys was very very emotional for me, and then

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Speaker 3: walking out became more emotional.

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Speaker 2: Was there a hesitation?

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Speaker 1: Did you worry about what the reaction would be or

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Speaker 1: did you feel like it would be positive?

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Speaker 3: You know, I didn't know I was going to speak.

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Speaker 3: I didn't obviously know I was going to get that

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Speaker 3: type of ovation, but it was one of the better

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Speaker 3: nights of my life. So it was really it really

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Speaker 3: touched me.

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Speaker 1: So let me ask you about I mean, you love

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Speaker 1: this place and then you know you end up going

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Speaker 1: to Louisville, et cetera during that period of time. Did

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Speaker 1: you think I'll be able to go back there?

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Speaker 3: I was hoping, you know, hoping. Obviously didn't end well

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Speaker 3: for me at the other place, and and I wanted

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Speaker 3: to come back to this place because I had I

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Speaker 3: never had a bad day here, you know, never had

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Speaker 3: Everybody has a bad, bad month, bad year with a job,

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Speaker 3: but I didn't have both providence in Kentucky, I never

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Speaker 3: had a bad day. And that's that's interesting when you're

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Speaker 3: a coach, not to have a bad day, bad week,

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Speaker 3: bad month.

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Speaker 1: But it's now to be in the I mean, you're

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Speaker 1: in a rivalry and you're at Louisville. I've always thought

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Speaker 1: it's got to be hard to be at Louisville and

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Speaker 1: like Kentucky, or be at Kentucky and like Louisville. How

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Speaker 1: did you find yourself balancing that?

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Speaker 3: You know, it's sort of like the Mets and Yankees. Now, Okay,

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Speaker 3: So although Louisville, Kentucky's a lot different, I'm rooting for

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Speaker 3: the Mets. I am a die hard Yankee fan. Grew

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Speaker 3: up worshiping Mickey Mantle. Names that are a lot older

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Speaker 3: than you, obviously, but man oal Maris, Howard Barraw, they

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Speaker 3: were my idols growing up as a kid. But I

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Speaker 3: root for the Mets. So it's different with Kentucky. Though.

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Speaker 3: Kentucky is different than any job I've ever had because

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Speaker 3: you it's special. Yeah, it really is a special place.

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Speaker 3: You get very emotional when you. I told the kids

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Speaker 3: downstairs and said, you're not going to realize it now

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Speaker 3: because you haven't grown up in Kentucky, not all of you.

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Speaker 3: But someday you're going to come back here and you're

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Speaker 3: going to realize what it meant to put on that uniform.

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Speaker 1: What's it like in twenty twelve, in the Final four,

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Speaker 1: in twenty fourteen in Indianapolis and the Sweet sixteen?

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Speaker 2: What's that locker room? Right?

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Speaker 1: Because you can't kind of put it like you're both

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Speaker 1: trying to reach that goal. Well, you mean, and when

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Speaker 1: you play in Kentucky those two times.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, they it was a good game, very good game,

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Speaker 3: and I was proud of our guys. We missed a

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Speaker 3: mid range jump shot which would have made a.

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Speaker 2: Very close remember that shot.

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Speaker 3: But they had Kyle Currick I think took the show.

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Speaker 2: But they had a great team.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, great team, and certainly just to make the final

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Speaker 3: four was awesome buff of the state of Kentucky to

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Speaker 3: play each other and have this type of you know,

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Speaker 3: we're a small state and you had two teams in

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Speaker 3: the final four.

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Speaker 1: So tell me about Pope reaching I assume he said, coach,

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Speaker 1: I want you here. And I actually believe the video

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Speaker 1: you made that morning the day he was hired actually

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Speaker 1: was a big part of the fan base getting behind this.

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Speaker 1: What made you feel like this was the time to

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Speaker 1: kind of re engage with this.

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Speaker 3: Well, because Mark is is my captain of a champiship team,

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Speaker 3: so it was the time for me to come back

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Speaker 3: because he's the coach and he's a special guy. I

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Speaker 3: went to visit him at Utah Valley State when I

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Speaker 3: was out of work, and I never knew these two

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Speaker 3: guys would be great coaches. One was Billy Donovan and

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Speaker 3: the second was Mark Pope. Because Mark was a Rhodes

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Speaker 3: Scholar candidate learning to become a doctor. Billy Donovan was

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Speaker 3: a shy, humble kid. Both had the same qualities. It

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Speaker 3: was never about them, it was always about what they represented.

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Speaker 3: They didn't have egos. I call egos, you know, edging

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Speaker 3: greatness out. If you have confidence, that's great, but egos

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Speaker 3: not great. And both Billy and Mark had the same

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Speaker 3: quality of humility, selflessness. And I knew after watching market

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Speaker 3: Utah Valley State practice he was going to be a

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Speaker 3: great one. He's a great offensive coach. He knows how

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Speaker 3: important defense is. And I thought he was the perfect choice.

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Speaker 3: And that's why I did the video. I not on Twitter,

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Speaker 3: although I tweet. My son tweets it out. My son

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Speaker 3: tweets out my.

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Speaker 1: You don't sit there with the your phone and type

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Speaker 1: it with your thumbs.

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Speaker 2: Okay, I don't know how to do it.

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Speaker 3: He tweets out what I want to say, okay, And

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Speaker 3: I don't have to read the bad things.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't want to do that. I do.

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Speaker 3: So I did the video because he was telling me

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Speaker 3: that a lot of people are really against Mack Popey

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Speaker 3: and coach did want the bail I got to want.

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Speaker 3: I said, no, man, he's the perfect guy and I

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Speaker 3: did that video just to help the Kentucky fans understand

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Speaker 3: this is the perfect guy.

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Speaker 1: But and I think it worked. But then I also

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Speaker 1: thought think it brought back for a lot of Kentucky

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Speaker 1: fans the warmness they had for when they were younger

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Speaker 1: and you were the coach when you were at Louisville.

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Speaker 1: Obviously Kentucky fans and media probably myself included not probably, yes,

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Speaker 1: we're hard on you. Do you did you find yourself

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Speaker 1: holding any bitterness? I mean, I think it would be

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Speaker 1: natural if you did.

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Speaker 3: No. I guess what you don't understand, Matt, is this.

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Speaker 3: I was at a low point in my basketball life.

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Speaker 3: It was the first time I failed with Boston Celtics,

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Speaker 3: first time I failed, and all I wanted to do

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Speaker 3: was get back to this place. Not thinking Louisville, Kentucky,

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Speaker 3: but just thinking I had such great memories of working here.

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Speaker 3: I just want to get back to the state where

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Speaker 3: I had so many friends. I said it at my

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Speaker 3: Hall of Fame speech. If friendships in life could be

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Speaker 3: the rallying point for someone self esteem and so on,

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Speaker 3: then for me, I'd be doing Warren Buffett of friendships

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Speaker 3: because I made so many great friends here. It lifted

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Speaker 3: my spirits up so much to come back. But I

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Speaker 3: took the Michigan job.

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Speaker 1: Oh, A lot of fans, myself included, said they wish

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Speaker 1: you had taken it, because then it wouldn't have been

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Speaker 1: a thing.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: So I'd signed with Michigan, and my wife said, look,

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Speaker 3: you know Kentucky, you have all your friends there. You

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Speaker 3: don't know Michigan. You know no one. You'll be happier.

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Speaker 3: So with that in mind, I came back. Certainly had

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Speaker 3: a lot of great years. I loved my players, the

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Speaker 3: fans were great to me. But now it gave me

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Speaker 3: a chance to put it all back together because I

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Speaker 3: don't know if I'll get the opportunity.

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Speaker 1: So when Kentucky fans were coming at you as the

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Speaker 1: Louisville coach, that didn't hurt.

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Speaker 3: It hurt, but I understood it. Okay, it hurt, but

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Speaker 3: I understood it. I understand. When I went to Greece,

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Speaker 3: the greatest rivalry I've ever seen in my lifetime was Pontataikos.

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Speaker 3: I've heard Olympiacos. Yeah, one of my players was the

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Speaker 3: best man at the wedding of somebody from Olympiacos, and

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Speaker 3: Nick I had to meet that I've became the national coach.

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Speaker 3: I had to meet them at twelve o'clock at night

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Speaker 3: at the Starbucks because they couldn't be seen together. Oh

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Speaker 3: like wrestling, So I understood it. But now it's behind me.

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Speaker 3: I'm met Saint John's and it's great. It's behind me.

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Speaker 3: I can appreciate all the memories.

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Speaker 1: So you can do you do you now that you've

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Speaker 1: had that moment? Do you think you'll come back here

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Speaker 1: more often?

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Speaker 3: Definitely? Because Rick ave On, my business partner and very

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Speaker 3: very dear friend, and I have so many great friends here.

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Speaker 3: Seeing the players was very emotional for me last night,

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Speaker 3: very emotional.

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Speaker 1: Just a couple quick things because they're telling me you

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Speaker 1: gotta go, so let's go. Are you really a UK

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Speaker 1: football don't?

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Speaker 3: Oh?

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Speaker 2: Oh?

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Speaker 3: I gave well, I don't want to say what I gave.

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Speaker 3: I didn't give a lot of money. They gave fifteen

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Speaker 3: thousand dollars.

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Speaker 2: That's pretty good. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: And Mark Stoops came in and I was nice enough

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Speaker 3: to come in. Eddie Gran's a good friend of mine.

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Speaker 3: They came in to play golf with me. We played wingfoot,

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Speaker 3: We had a great time. I love Mark Stoops, love

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Speaker 3: Eddie I was just coming. I wasn't coming in for

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Speaker 3: Big Blue Madness. I didn't think I could make it

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Speaker 3: because of the practice schedule, but I was able to

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Speaker 3: change it to one o'clock, so I was able to

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Speaker 3: make it. But originally I wasn't planning on So you

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Speaker 3: are going to the game tonight. I am going to

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Speaker 3: the game.

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Speaker 2: I'm going in.

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Speaker 3: I hope they're gonna win. I'm gonna be on the

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Speaker 3: sidelines for a while. I'm a big Mark Stoops fan.

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Speaker 3: What he's done with Kentucky football. They said couldn't be done,

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Speaker 3: and he's done it. I watched the Old Miss game,

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Speaker 3: was awesome. Even the Georgia game was awesome. And I

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Speaker 3: hope they get tonight.

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Speaker 1: Do you think you will have a series where you're

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Speaker 1: playing and rup with Saint John.

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Speaker 3: I want to play play Kentucky with trying to work

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Speaker 3: it out. But Mark can't come back to Madison Square

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Speaker 3: Garden the following year because of commitments. So but with

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Speaker 3: trying to work it out, I would actually love I'm

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Speaker 3: sure Mark wants to go to the Garden. I would

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Speaker 3: love to play the game in author Esh Stadium in

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Speaker 3: front the twenty three thousand.

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Speaker 2: Oh dude, That would be amazing.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I can get that done, but it's up to

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Speaker 3: Mark whether he would the players always want to play

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Speaker 3: in Madison.

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Speaker 1: That would actually be that would actually be really cool. Well,

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Speaker 1: one thing I want to say to you before you go.

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Speaker 1: We have a very good mutual friend in Paron Johnson,

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Speaker 1: who played for you at Louisville, who helped set this up,

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Speaker 1: and he has always said to me, you two guys

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Speaker 1: would actually like each other after all of the things.

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Speaker 1: And I think it is big of you to do this.

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Speaker 1: I really mean that, and I appreciate it. I wish

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Speaker 1: you luck and hopefully we can take a time where

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Speaker 1: we can sit and have a longer form interview.

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Speaker 3: That would be great. And I appreciate you having me

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Speaker 3: and I love the Kentucky fans want I want to

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Speaker 3: see the football team camp tonight and go home with

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Speaker 3: a smile on my face.

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Speaker 2: All right, Rick, Thanks, Thanks man.