KSR Today: Reliving a Wild Freaking Tuesday for Kentucky from a Front Row Seat

Holy Moly. Where do I start? I guess the beginning. Sorry, it’s 10:30 PM ET on a Tuesday night and my heart is racing. It was a long day, but not necessarily in a bad way, while covering your University of Kentucky Wildcats.

I know there are new things happening on Wednesday. Taylor Swift is podcasting with her boyfriend. The Kentucky Wildcats are going on a team-bonding excursion in the middle of fall camp. That’s all well and good, but before we look forward, we gotta look back on a surprisingly eventful day in August. Let me unbutton my top button and give you a no filter perspective that would make Alan Cutler envious.

My Kid Started Kindergarten

The first day of Kindergarten can be emotional for parents. There wasn’t any time for emotions, just excitement. Did I want to be emotional? Maybe. After all, I remember my first day at St. Paul in 1997. He shouldn’t be old enough to be doing things like this. Hell, I’m not old enough. Nevertheless, he was fired up to get started, and that got me fired up.

Most importantly, it got me moving. Things move a little slower, a little later in the day during the summer. There was no time to waste. Out the door just after 7 AM because I had a meeting to catch in Lexington.

Champions Blue LLC Board Meeting was Boring, Until it Wasn’t

Attending Board Meetings isn’t something that’s usually on the KSR calendar, but Champions Blue LLC. is brand-spanking new. Changes are happening fast and furiously. Somebody needs to be there for KSR to see how it all unfolds.

This may shock you, but KSR isn’t exactly a “Board Meeting” type of publication. We’re the ridiculous one. However, I do have a few years of experience working on the school board at my alma mater. No offense to DeSales, but the stakes are a tad bit higher at the meeting taking place in the recruiting room at Kroger Field.

Even though the stakes were higher, it was about as stale and stiff as you might suspect. The hardest part was trying to figure out what was actually newsworthy as they changed PowerPoint slides and made motions. Mitch Barnhart detailed many of the details that he shared at the last meeting, like budget figures and plans for capital investments. Then it was Paul Archey’s turn to take the podium.

The head of JMI shared how his organization was preparing for changes in the revenue-sharing world. We learned in a press release that Kentucky is moving its NIL collective efforts in-house with BBN United. That part of the slide wasn’t new. This part caught my eye: JMI will allocate 80% of the ad revenue to UK over the lifetime its the deal with the school through 2040. Wait, 2040? I must’ve missed that contract extension. Nope. I didn’t miss it. That was the news of the day.

Barnhart Explains How the New JMI Deal will Benefit Kentucky

After 90 minutes, the meeting adjourned and Mitch Barnhart stepped outside to take questions from the media. The gravity of the situation still hadn’t quite hit. It’s one thing to see it in a press release. It’s another thing to hear Barnhart say things like this about moving the NIL operations in-house:

“It gives us an opportunity so that our partners are somewhat protected, said Barnhart. “The intellectual property, institutional property; it’s really important that if people want to use our marks, use our facilities for part of their endorsement property, that’s part of the deal. You come to the University of Kentucky and you’re part of our family and you get to use our things, but also that’s part of the relationship. There’s a responsibility and a right that comes with that.”

Athletes can still seek out their own separate NIL deals, but the extension with JMI, worth an estimated $465 million, was jarring, especially when the news broke in the middle of Kentucky Sports Radio. There was a lot to unpack, but little time to react. It was time for football practice.

Kentucky Hits the Midway Point of Fall Camp

Fortunately, the walk from the Kroger Field Media Room to the Kentucky football practice fields was short. I had about two minutes to spare before it was to speak with Brad White and Bush Hamdan after the Wildcats’ practice. While the conversations didn’t create quite as much heavy news, there was plenty to consume.

One question elicited a somewhat surprising response. At the midway point of camp, I asked the Kentucky offensive coordinator how they keep the team engaged amidst the grind. “Competition.” It serves as the motivational fuel for the team, according to Hamdan. He pivoted to the wide receiver position, where he didn’t give the pass-catchers a ringing endorsement.

“I think the receiver room is the most competitive room right now. We’re really not sure where those guys are at,” said Hamdan.

That’s not exactly ideal.

Once the coordinators finished speaking, I chatted with a handful of players. That included an incredibly awkward conversation with Daveren Rayner. See it for yourself.

One More Big Surprise

The afternoon was spent at a table inside the newly renovated KSBar. It looks spectacular. I’m excited for y’all to see it. But I couldn’t spend too much time looking at all of the new pieces of Kentucky memorabilia draped on the walls. There were things that needed to be done at home.

The kids got fed and put to bed. The trash cans were taken to the curb. Four jars worth of banana peppers were sliced and pickled, leaving me with one final chore of the day. Moving carseats is a pain, but I’m an expert by now. This expert wasn’t prepared to see a possum running around the garage.

During my trip to SEC Media Days in Atlanta, my neighbor shared a Ring camera video that amused me, but not my wife. Their cat had chased a critter out of their yard and into my unattached garage. “It’s way too hot. There’s no way that thing is staying in there,” I reassured my wife. On Tuesday night, she got to tell me, “I told you so.”

Dodging thunderstorms and possums, I tried to quickly hop into my vehicle and pull it out of the garage to have some space to switch seats. The garage clutter didn’t make things any easier. I knocked over a large interior door that fell onto the van. There wasn’t any moving until I moved the door. That’s when my brain forgot that the 100-something-year-old door isn’t light.

It took some extra effort, but the carseats got where they needed to be, the possum was cozy in my garage, and I added a strained oblique to a turf toe. I started my day in denial. By the end of the day, I received confirmation that I am old and washed. That’s a heck of a Tuesday.

What’s On Deck for Kentucky Fans This Wednesday

The Kentucky Sports Radio crew gets all of our ducks in order ahead of the 2025 Kentucky football season. Season predictions will be shared soon. 11 Personnel is preparing to set the timer and talk about every position on the team. It should be an eventful night, especially if I run into that possum again.

Until that critter comes crawling out of my garage, enjoy a new edition of Sources Say, where Jack Pilgrim and Shawn Smith discussed zero pests, and all Kentucky basketball.