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.”
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.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.
