Just The Cats · Michael T Bennett

Just The Cats 4-10-26

April 10, 2026·1 hr 35 min·7 clips

Michael Bennett argues Louisville is a Southern town, clashing with his co-host over the city's true identity.

1. Just The Cats with Michael Bennett and co-host Matthew Childress airs on Friday, April 10, 2026, covering Louisville professional sports prospects, NCAA transfer portal economics, and college basketball news. 2. Michael Bennett is the regular host and Matthew Childress is his co-host, returning after filling in alongside regular co-host Justin the day prior. 3. The episode's driving question is whether Louisville can attract a professional sports franchise — specifically NBA or NHL — and what the city needs to do to make that happen. 4. Michael argues that Adam Silver's NBA expansion board 'always' includes Louisville in its top four or five cities under discussion, despite Seattle and Vegas being the confirmed next two expansion markets. 5. His central argument is that Louisville fans must support existing teams — Louisville City FC, the Kings UFL franchise, the Louisville Bats — to demonstrate an untapped sports market to league decision-makers. 6. Matthew points out that the closest NHL teams to Louisville are Nashville and Columbus, Ohio, and agrees with Michael that an NHL franchise at Yum Center would succeed given Louisville's Midwestern audience base. 7. Michael reveals that the Kings' season opener drew 680,000 Fox viewers during the same time slot as the NCAA Final Four, and predicts the second game with no competing major sports will pull even higher numbers. 8. The $450 million renovation of the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, with a significant portion going to Freedom Hall including new scoreboards and seating, prompts both hosts to speculate about whether Louisville is quietly positioning for an NBA team. 9. Michael and Matthew debate whether Louisville is a Southern or Midwestern city, with Michael insisting it is Southern based on the Kentucky Derby, accent patterns, and culture, and Matthew arguing geographically it leans Midwestern. 10. A listener text calls Louisville 'the gateway to the south,' and Michael uses the St. Louis Gateway Arch comparison to argue that being a gateway means you are already in the thing, not outside it. 11. On Colin Chandler, Michael says BYU is asking a lot because Chandler's asking price is similar to what Rob Right earned, and Michael says he would take Rob Right over Chandler at the same price ten times out of ten. 12. Michael repeats the car-off-the-lot analogy for portal departures: the moment a player enters the portal, their value to their original program drops permanently, and returning means accepting a significant discount. 13. The Olivier Roux discussion highlights NIL excess: a seven-foot-nine Florida center with a 0.5-point-per-game average has his agent asking $3 million in the transfer portal, which Michael calls a symptom of what is wrong with college athletics today. 14. Matthew notes that cash-rich programs are willing to overpay for physical depth pieces, and predicts some program will pay Roux around $1-2 million despite the absurdity of the ask. 15. Michael says Mo Diabate would be a great fit at St. John's under Rick Patino because the physical, paint-dominant play style matches what Patino values and Diabate does not need to shoot. 16. The 2026 NCAA championship game between Michigan and UConn is discussed: both hosts call it 'predictable' because Michigan was always expected to go on a decisive second-half run, which they did. 17. The Masters is a recurring background element throughout the episode, with round two underway and Michael referencing it as a cultural anchor for the spring sports calendar in Louisville. 18. The show's format is conversational and text-heavy, with several listener texts shaping the direction of discussions about Dipping Dots in Paducah, Louisville sports support, and the Chandler portal situation. 19. Louisville-area sports fans who follow the Kings, Kentucky basketball, and local professional sports advocacy will find this episode directly targeted at their interests. 20. Listeners who want national-scale sports analysis without local Louisville culture, NIL economics, or college basketball transfer portal discussion will likely find this episode unfocused.

As heard by us

Loose Friday sports talk that eventually lands on a useful Kentucky baseball preview.

Just The Cats spends its Friday hour the way local sports radio should: loose, talkative, and a little unruly, but still headed somewhere. Michael Bennett and Matthew Childress have easy chemistry, and the conversation slides from sleep, dry mouth, and basement living into Reba…

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Why you'd press play

You want a Friday Kentucky sports show that starts sideways and still gets you to the weekend slate.

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