John Ramsey, a longtime local radio personality and comedian, has joined the ESPN 680 radio lineup. He’s a staunch University of Louisville fan with the knowledge of the local sports scene to quickly become a force.
He’s going to provide a strong counter-punch to Matt Jones, the biased University of Kentucky fan, blogger and commentator, who delights as much in disparaging UofL athletics as he does in covering UK sports.
One difference is that Ramsey, a Ballard grad, actually played sports, including football and track. And he’s knowledgeable, with a quick wit and a wide assortment of skills
Ramsey strongly favors UofL even though he was once a member of UK’s track team. “What I didn’t like was the whole elitist thing with UK where they didn’t want to play UofL for so many years, like they were so far above us,” he said Monday on his 10 a.m. radio show. “It’s all about relationships with me. I got to know UofL coaches like Denny Crum, Howard Schnellenberger and other coaches over the years, and I’m a UofL fan.”
Among Ramsey’s considerable talents are his skills as an impressionist, often mimicking Howard Schnellenberger, Muhammad Ali and the late Howard Cosell. He had the hosts in stitches on ESPN’s Early Birds show with a recent Schnelly call-in. Ramsey and Ali are, in fact, close friends. Watch for his exposure to quickly expand at ESPN.
He continues to host WAVE 3 Listens Live daily at noon on TV, and has worked for several local radio stations over the last 15 years. He also is vice president of marketing and government affairs for the Ali Center and has worked in sports marketing at UofL. He also has performed at the Comedy Caravan.
Here’s a link to his version of the Big Blue Post Game Show.
My advice is to look deeper…..can someone confirm that he actually DID run track at UK. I went to college with him and I do not recall him running track at all.
But the Ballard track and football IS impressive…I played sand volleyball……I should be qualified to get my own TV show…..and he knows Ali? Wow, that really qualifies him. What a bunch of fluff.
No one is laughing and my guess is that he won’t last until the end of football season. and by the way, he is not the Vp of the Ali Center, he was fired from that position from what I understand. you cannot believe a word this guy says.
actually, I stand corrected, he may have left the Ali center but even still…
I was reading about this on KSR and thought it was just a joke which was mildly funny…the realization that this goofball is a real person and is trying to compete with KSR has me ROTFLMFAO!!!!
Are you serious???? Like others on here…I AM HOPING AND PRAYING THIS SHOW LASTS FOR AT LEAST 6 MONTHS!!! Gives us something to laugh about all winter long. Matt and crew will crucify this idiot. If it wasn’t so funny it would border on being unfair.
Go get’em fake bake man!!! Maybe start with an impersonation of Petrino getting the hell beat out of him by that girls BF.
Serious question here guys. Why does every U of L radio show have to use 5th grade bathroom humor and innuendos to fill up the time on their shows? I can’t hardly listen to the dogs with my grandchildren in the car because of what Dave Jennings might say using innuendos and now John Ramsey starts his show with Richard vs.Dick stuff. Come on guys you can do better than that. I don’t here that stuff coming from Jones and he does just fine filling his time. Thank you. Chris !!!
Might want to listen to something besides sports talk shows.
It’s fine, I won’t be back to this blog or whatever, I just saw it linked on the site you are obsessed with so much. Peace.
Never been there Michael.
OMG!
Are you familiar with the concept of “trying too hard”?
This show is going to be a ratings disaster just like every other UL radio show. This show or the attempt to try doing this show is nothing more than desperation. You can take all the ratings off all the UL shows combined, add them up & they still wouldn’t be anywhere close to the ratings KSR is doing & KSR podcast numbers aren’t even figured into the radio ratings. KSR ratings are unprecedented not just in sports radio, but radio ratings as a whole. No one more surprised then the suits at Clear Channel. UL radio shows can keep trying, but they are just going to keep failing mainly because of UL & UL fans own fault; UL doesn’t have the fan base especially outside the city limits of Louisville to grow ratings. Nationally people could care less about UL hence the reason why no big conference wanted them. The ACC only took UL out of desperation to keep the conference together not because they actually wanted UL. If it wasn’t for Maryland, UL would still be in the AAC.
UL fans also apparently can’t figure out: every time they go on KSR website they give KSR clicks meaning you just made KSR money. Every time UL fans listen to KSR, you’re creating ratings for KSR, meaning you just made KSR money. Every time UL fans talk about Matt on twitter, they just create free PR for KSR.
UofL radio shows have strong ratings whether you want to believe it or not. The suits at Clear Channel just love the $2 million from UK every year. No self-respecting UofL fan goes to KSR. Thanks for your clicks over here by the way.
HA! Ridiculing Jones & UK to make U of L appear “better”…don’t you U of L idiots realize you make Jones’ job easier with your drunken antics, embarrassing coaches, bad ink, and weak forms of radio “entertainment”? Attention Radio Executives: do you honestly think that U of L fans are so stupid that they would listen to this? Is this what you think will score ratings with Line-Beard Nation? Well…LOL…maybe…The ratings will show…
Maybe you can have Lloyd Spence as the Wack Sidekick…
Get your TrimtUp Model L1C4 ready, Mr. Ramsey….
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/AzYh388CIAALQTe.jpg
“This hour of The John Ramsey Show sponsored by….TrimtUp….when you need a line beard fast, use TrimtUp…the official razor of the John Ramsey Show and U of L….”
Wow. Good to know this show will fail miserably. “Comedian & impressionist”? Ramsey is known for being tan & 1990’s suits (& some incredibly boring TV show. Come on UL you are better than this.
I will soon have two degrees from UofL, and find it worrisome that this guy is being supported in any way by the Louisville fan base or the university.
Positioning this guy as the “Counter-Punch to Matt Jones” is a huge mistake in strategy and marketing. If he and his team were to focus on internal factors more than what others are doing, maybe their content and delivery would be better than the sub-par material I have experienced thus far.
I would think a UofL affiliate would produce a better product that what has been presented in this synopsis…. oh well.
LOL LMAO ROFL WHAT A DEWSH!
As a UK fan living in Louisville, I’ll follow this with some interest. It is funny how this story being linked on KSR has really driven a spike in the comments just here at this site. Ramsey doesn’t seem all that interesting/funny to me but then again I’m not the target audience.
While I wouldn’t be surprised if he had limited success, obviously he’s not going to end up with a minor empire like Matt has over at KSR. I’m not even a huge Matt Jones fan but he’s had tons of success and now has multiple employees working for him.
Agreed. He just seems so ‘vanilla’. I almost feel bad for the guy.
Probably because he didn’t have much to work with. Too easy a target.
Wow. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being Eddie Murphy and 1 being the least funny person in the universe, this was about a 0.2. Absolutely AWFUL. Neither clever nor funny in any way.
My 11 year old son is more mature and much funnier….what a joke.
MATT JONES IS GOD AND WILL ALWYS RULE THE CARDINAL UNIVERSE…#RUNNINGDOWNMYLEG
Wow, one of his skills is being an impressionist. High quality stuff right there. This just screams desperation…
Well I give this train wreck 6 months.
As a Cards fan, I’m actually embarrassed by this. Trying to copy cat KSR is beneath us. This just throws fuel to the fire that we are “little brother” to UK. If you can’t see that then you need to take off your blinders and look at this objectively. We shouldn’t be trying to copy KSR but rather coming up with something original that doesn’t include a homer like John Ramsey.
Ramsey doesn’t copy any one. He’s an original.
This “idea” is a copy cat. Ramsey is a tool.
An original? Sorry but the whole “Kentucky fans are hicks” shtick has been played out. How long can that actually be funny?…if it was even funny in the first place. This whole idea would not even exist if it wasn’t for KSR and Matt Jones.
Some work needs to be done, you’ll have to admit.
be serious. no one thinks he is an original.
I completely agree…this is embarrassing…he’s horrible.
Beneath you? The program that retained the philanderer Pitino, and hired Petrino who lied to multiple bosses and illegally hired his mistress? The program the kept convicted cheater Clint Hurtt? Beneath you? Really?
I can see where you’re coming from but look around you.
At least our coaches are getting some. Who cares if it doesn’t fit into what you think is moral. They are our coaches and we’ll stand by them through thick and thin. Did Pitino make a mistake? Yes. Did Petrino make a mistake? Yes. Did Hurtt make a mistake? Yes. Did Jurich make a mistake by keeping/bringing them here? Maybe. Depends on how many games they win.
I wonder if WAVE3 and Ali Center are comfortable with him publicly trashing people other than Matt.
Ramsey is so likable I doubt they care.
By reading the comments, it looks like no one likes him
This ramsey guy is a joke, good luck cathing The Big Blue D-Bags
This guy may make it through the U of L football and basketball seasons, but the show probably won’t make it past the summer.
He’ll be fine.
Not funny. Sorry – just not.
Are you guys serious with this? Man, UL has A LOT to look forward to with this dude. Matt Jones may not be unbiased, but he’s never claimed to be. He’s a fan first, for the best program in the state. Y’all can have this over-tanned, beefcake. We’ll be just fine with Matt at the helm. Go Cats.
At the helm?
Seriously? Copycats are rarely successful, and this appears to be a train wreck before it gets started. Apparently, no one at U of L understands how Matt Jones and KSR became so popular. It was because he’s funny, he’s sincere, and he gave the UK fans a place where they can feel connected to the Wildcat teams and express their fandom. This show is only built on taking Matt and KSR… or maybe just Matt… down.
The old saying ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’ would only have meaning if the imitation was done to be successful as well. This imitation is being done out of desperation. It contrived, forced, and not funny. Matt doesn’t constantly trash U of L… constantly trashing him will not serve this effort well.
As a UK fan, I have to say, “Bravo!” I hope this continues. Sometimes the news trickle gets slow. This will be an easy target for Matt and the gang at KSR. Love, love, LOVE that this exists!!!
Mr. Ramsey, I’m sure the good folks at Northeast Christian Church love your antics. See you in the morning greeting…sinner!
As much as UK hates Duke (see Christian Laettner) They Suck Up Matty Jones who’s a A DUKE GRAD for God’s Sake!……DUKE! They deserve each other and…GO CARDS!
Jerry, if you think Matt Jones does it for free 24 hours a day or 1 hour a day, it may be you that is the “dummy.”
John Ramsey went to UK. Your arguement defeats itself
Spell check.
“Charlie Springer” I mean John, why are you writing an article about yourself under the name Charlie Springer? Do you seriously think you’ve fooled anyone?
By the way John..I mean Charlie..I mean John, keep up with the SPRAY TANS. You look more ORANGE than a UT sweatshirt.
He’s a Transy grad and a Duke Law grad. Just because he never went to UK doesn’t mean he can’t like UK sports. Let’s not assume both of our fanbases are solely filled with degree holders from our respective universities. I would venture to say over half don’t even have a college degree. Poor argument there.
As much as UL hates Kentucky (see Cals 6-1 record vs UL) They Suck Up John Ramsey who’s A KENTUCKY GRAD for God’s Sake!…..KENTUCKY! They deserve each other and… GO CATS!
Ramsey will still have competition from the Joe B. and Denny show on Cards Radio. Given the choice…I’ll go with the coaches every time.
John Ramsey is funny.
He is not funny and I am a UL fan. This is the biggest waste of time. We get tired of UK going after us all the time because they call us little brother. This seems to me as if we are acting like little brother. Matt Jones does not spend all his time going after UL. Listen to his show, he goes after us after Tom sweeps everything under the rug and talks out of both sides of his mouth.
Not the same Tom I know.
Hahaha. That’s some funny stuff. Well worth the 9 minutes of time to listen. It’s about time our side has someone to take on Jones.
U of L started it, when they hired Jock Sutherland (a paid employee of UL , to do game color and bash the Big Blue, on air, DURING UL games). What goes around, comes around. And, since then, UL has continued to pay people to bash UK (see Dave Jennings, Tony Vanetti, and whatever that clown that claimed to be a preacher on Talk Noize was)Also, Drew Diener. Just one long line of UL employees paid to denigrate UK.This is just the latest never ending effort to keep up w/ the Jones’s by Tom Jurich. For the record, Matt Jones has the largest independent Sports Blog in the world, so good luck catching up. You’re going to need it. Also, for the record, until last year, Matt Jones was never an employee of UK in any way. (And then, only to help w/ pregame shows). Yeah, Jock Sutherland was funny, wasn’t he? Yuck, yuck, yuck. I’m still laughing. What about you? Even, to this day, UK has never hired the first person to denigrate UL in any way, means or form. What goes around, comes around.
John was hired by the radio station, not UofL. The school doesn’t have to pay anyone to criticize Kentucky because the UK program is such an easy target, bringing it upon themselves. If Matt Jones does indeed have the “largest independent sport blog in the world,” (which I seriously doubt) that’s just another indictment of the UK fan base.
UK doesn’t pay anyone because dummy Matt Jones does it for free 24 hours a day. On the other hand, Jones does work with the UK broadcast team, in case Rick Edwards hasn’t been paying attention. He is also paid by WHAS, which gets $2 million a year from UK.
Jerry, if you think Matt Jones does it for free 24 hours a day or 1 hour a day, it may be you that is the “dummy.”
Not one of those guys you mentioned works or worked for U of L. They all work for radio stations. As far as Jennings, Vanetti and Deener . . . they go out of their way to let UK fans call in and run their mouths. It gives you no credibility to list every radio personality in Louisville and say that U of L pays them to bag on UK when none of them really do. Yours was a really sad reply. Try again.
Are you saying that UofL didn’t start WKRD? Anyone that believes that is incorrect. The only thing that anyone needs to remember is “What goes around comes around.” If you initiate it,(and UL did. by hiring Jock Sutherland),and you keep it up,(which they are) then it will keep going on.
Clear Channel Communications reserved WKRD for UofL and still owns the station, probably paying the employees as well.
Yes, I found that out. I was wrong. I’m sorry. The point I was trying to make is that UK fans don’t like being bashed anymore than you do. (But, I’m sure you knew that). Good luck to you and the Cards.
Good point, Rick.
John Ramsey is fearless, funny and knowledgeable and exposes Matt Jones as an amateur. Congratulations to ESPN 680 for snagging him.