Boomo Bugg Show 050526

[0:00] Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens and all of Northwest Alabama and Southern Tennessee. It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice. The Boomo Bugg Show. Your exclusive inside track to the Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC. Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9. The Score. Good afternoon and welcome in to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us your ride around the Tennessee Valley. Brett Beaird, welcome in to 5-5, a.k.a. Cinco de Mayo Day. And are you ready for some SEC tourney times? Good afternoon. Welcome in and how are you?

Matthew Cinco de Mayo Day. And you and Harold Bugg. The Braves lose to Seattle last night 5-4, but Matt Olsen hits home run number 300. Josh Fowler, head baseball coach at Central High School. We'll preview quarterfinal baseball action for the Wildcats a little bit later in the show. And as I'm sure you have, I've listened to several of these signature calls by the late John Sterling, voice of the Yankees and the Braves. For the last 24 hours? Well, Roger Hoover had a signature call after back-to-back home runs by Bill Fines and John Lim in Alabama's 5-1 win over Vanderbilt during commencement weekend.

And with that, we will graduate to sing hello to the voice of the Alabama Crimson Tide. It's always nice when you're mentioned in the same breath as Mr. Sturdum with the Yankees, gone far too young at the ripe age of 86. But Roger Hoover's still rocking and rolling there on the Alabama Crimson Tide Network. Roger, welcome in. The stage is all yours. How are you? Boomo Bugg. I'm doing really well. Yeah, that was a fun call to make. I like when good things happen, like home runs and back-to-back shots, like we got over the weekend.

And yeah, I give that ball a diploma. I gotta confess, it's not the first time I've used it. I only break it out when Alabama's at home during commencement weekend. And we got everybody lining up outside Coleman Coliseum ready to get there. Gorgeous piece of paper that proves that they're a legend that has been made at the University of Alabama. So it was a very fun moment. I appreciate the shout-out, Brad. Roger, talk to us about that before we get into the obvious. I mean, as a play-by-play guy, I've always equated it to being on a high wire in a high wind with no net.

There ain't no do-overs when you're doing a live play-by-play, and it either comes or it doesn't. How sweet is it when it comes in moments like that? I don't have it happen too often, so I'll report back. I feel lucky every now and then, but no, I think sometimes you go into it trying to script it or trying to think about, okay, if this happens, you really can't do that. And I think it's time to do that. It comes off kind of flat or not right. But when it does come together, and a lot of times, as you say it, you don't know if it kind of resonated, if it kind of fit the moment.

I've always been drawn to people like, you know, John Sterling got a chance to meet when I was doing a few Marlins spring training games against the Yankees a few years ago. It could not be nicer. You know, he had a way, you know, with his unique catchphrase, it's a really punch moment to make it memorable for a lot of fans. And even though he would think about them, he would never write them out or anything like that. What you heard was very authentic, and I think the best broadcasters are able to do that.

Yeah, now, Roger, talk to us about this team. Obviously, it's all about timing in baseball. You've got to get hot at the right moment. And they're coming off some milestones. First win at Texas in a long, long time, even against Texas, period. And over the weekend, completing a sweep of the Vanderbilt Commodores. First time since a long time ago, 2009, for that to happen with this Bama baseball team. Your thoughts about the team and the milestones that they're setting right now? Some really good ones right now. And I think playing at home certainly helps getting that sweep against Vanderbilt.

Playing some tight ballgames, I'm more impressed that Alabama found a way to win, especially when down 4-1 that opening night. Because, again, the Tennessee weekend had not gone well. We obviously remember the midweek before that against UAB. It had been a while since that team. Even in the win in Knoxville, that was kind of a strange ballgame to Tennessee and to Alabama. So, for Alabama to come back, get the three-run homer by Eric Kimes, tie that ballgame, the walk-off later by John Lim. I thought that was a real game that could move as a springboard for this group.

Kind of like Tyler Faye no-hitter did a few weeks ago as well against Florida. That led to a great three-week stretch of Crimson Side baseball. We're really hoping that the walk-off by John Lim is the springboard to finishing out the final three weeks of the season on the right note. And I think it's a group that's still capable of a lot if they play smart, clean baseball. And by clean baseball, Limit the Errors had a couple pop up and nothing fatal over the weekend against a pretty good Vanderbilt team.

[5:21] So, I think it's a group that kind of, again, Rob Vaughn has really stressed to them, you know what you look like at your best. You do look like one of the top eight teams in the country that can host a Super Regional and get to Omaha at your own ballpark. But you've also seen if you kick the ball around, you make errant throws, you look like a team that will be on the road and get bounced out to the barbecue on the road in a regional.

So, Alabama has got to chase down the vision of the team that we really saw this past weekend and maybe not the one that's really popped up in some of the really tough disappointing weekends we've had this year. Well, Drew, I thought the key to the entire series was Eric Hines' three-run homer to tie the game at 4-4 Thursday night, and then Alabama went on to win 5-4. I agree. Eric is just playing at a very high level for a freshman. And Rob Vaughn talked a lot about it a few years ago, Justin LeBron.

Well, we kept playing him as a freshman, and he did pretty well batting eight. So, it's like, all right, he passed that test, we'll move him up to the middle of the order. All right, he did pretty well passing that test, keeps getting on base, hitting home runs. We're going to put him at the top of the order, play him every single day, and, you know, he couldn't take him out of the lineup. Eric Hines is on a very similar trajectory at this point of his freshman season.

Just every time he's been challenged by something, he keeps rising to the challenge and passing the test. So, that has me excited, though, because we know the power is there, but Eric is doing a lot more than just hitting home runs. He is playing pretty sound defensively in the outfield. He's being very, very smart, and at times drawing walks and getting on base as his team needs to. And then he has provided the stuff that his lineup is really needed, because we've seen the home run numbers go down for a while for Justin LeBron, and even, you know, guys like Jason Torres has not had quite the year he would like to have in terms of the home runs, but he did have a good one for us on Sunday.

But, you know, somebody's had to step up for this group offensively. I think everybody felt that coming off the Texas weekend, especially, and then the way the doubleheader went against Tennessee. And so far, that person has stepped up as Eric Hines. Roger, I think one of the big additions to the SEC baseball tournament is they have added the strike zone challenge, similar to the ABS system in the major leagues. It's limited usage, but I thought that was huge to add that to the SEC tournament at Hoover.

I like it a lot. It's something we've, you know, anybody that loves baseball has been watching these major league games. I mean, it's refreshing just to get the calls right as it turns to, you know, being very obvious when calls are wrong, and, you know, you kind of have to live with it like we have for so long. I like the fact that it's a very quick mission system. To me, it hasn't really made the games longer or anything like that. And at times, it's just the way they're able to get that video on the screen instantly.

I know the SEC is going to have pretty similar technology to make it happen. I don't think it's going to lead to a three-hour game becoming a four-hour game or anything like that. I think it's going to help just speed along and make sure the calls get right. And I was a little surprised that there are going to be three challenges for these teams as opposed to the major league. I kind of like to keep it consistent with the major league and professional baseball rules. But I think it's a huge positive for SEC baseball.

And because major league baseball umpires, with all due respect, they get the calls far more often right than what we see day in, day out in college baseball. Even with some good umpires, there's a wide gap between an SEC umpire and a major league umpire. So I think you're going to see a lot of calls being overturned with this system. And a lot of people get some extra light to the plate or some pitchers that were cheated out of the final strike or something like that until they're finally here to work in the right way.

You know the umpires love that new system. Roger, first things first, before Alabama gets ready for the SEC tournament, they've got some business to take care of now, and that is against Troy. And people say, well, that's just Troy. Troy's had some good runs on the Diamonds. Just go back to other teams that Alabama could have said on paper. This is on cruise control. Look at UAB. What happened? What was it last week? Your thoughts about tonight's game with the Trojans? Well, Troy's playing better baseball than the last time Alabama faced them in Tuscaloosa a few weeks ago at the end of March.

So, you know, Skylar Meade always has a really scrappy bunch to play Alabama tough in one of the classic games for that regional in 2023. And let's face it, guys, it is Vico de Mayo around the college town. And I think they're going to be following all around Riddle Bay Field. And the students and the Troy supporters are going to be in quite a mood to welcome in Big Bad Alabama. Roger, talk about Alabama's softball number two seed in the SEC tournament in Lexington. We'll be in Madison the year after that.

Alabama playing very well. Right now, Thursday, 1 o'clock. That's going to be on 93-9 to score. Talk about this softball team. Really well-rounded. I mean, this looks like the best championship in a World Series contender like Patrick Murphy has had in a while. You can go back to the Montana foul seed, but I think offensively, it's a better team than what they had when Montana was dominating in the circle. And you've got somebody that is having a Montana foul season, maybe without some of the hype and the buzz that Montana brought because she was, you know, that number one of the nation and she's captured everyone's attention instantly.

[10:46] Well, Jocelyn Britsky just very quietly has put together the best season of any SEC softball pitcher. I'll be shocked if she's not named the SEC softball pitcher of the year. And then to compliment her, freshman Big Bowden, who I got the interview on Crimson Drive from by NASCAR, she could not have been more entertaining. She could not have been more confident as a freshman. And really, in any sport, anybody I've talked to in the last four or five years, nobody has carried themselves to the confidence of young Big Bowden.

I love the ones that much they have in the circle with those two. And again, I just think offensively, this is a much better team, much more well-rounded. Freshmen, veterans, I mean, they have the perfect recipe for a championship caliber squad. I know they just missed out on winning the regular season title of the SEC, but that may turn out to be a good thing. I think it's going to be a pretty good motivating factor to leave Lexington with a trophy and be one of the top seeds in the nation.

And we already know, even if Alabama loses its first game of the SEC tournament, we already know the road to Oklahoma City is going to go through Rhodes Stadium and Tuscaloosa. It's the best home-field advantage in softball. And I can't wait. I really can't go to some of the ballgames of our baseball going on at the same time, but I cannot wait to see the team that's going to be there for the postseason very shortly. Roger, talk to us about the secret of the sauce in the eyes of a lot of people.

Pat Murphy, do people really appreciate not only what he is doing, but what he's been able to do consistently. It's hard to win, have a winning season. It's so much tougher to put together a string. Now, I know Alabama had that run, and by that standard, they haven't hit that number. But overall, do people appreciate what Pat Murphy has done, not only for the team, but for the program and the university as a whole? I honestly don't think they do. I think Alabama fans have gotten kind of too used to winning and far too critical of Patrick Murphy.

He doesn't reach the heights that he's had before when it comes to SEC championships, obviously the one national championship in 2012. And I think there's been far too unfair criticism of him in the past, in the last two or three years. He took some great young players, molded them into good veterans, and they're performing at a high level right now. And he has added in probably the best freshman class he's had in a decade. That's making quite an impact already on the results on the field. So I don't think Alabama fans appreciate enough the great job he does.

As you mentioned, for the whole university, there is not a bigger cheerleader for other sports on campus. Dan Patrick Murphy, I love the fact that NATO's used him in a motivating way prior to the final four run a few years ago and kind of popularized some of the ideas of CEDA and having vicarious joy and other success. That was great to see a larger audience be exposed to what he has been doing behind the scenes kind of quietly for a long, long time. And he's got a great relationship with his baseball program as well.

I get a lot of texts from Coach Murphy listening to our baseball games and being like, you know, asking about strategy and being like, is anybody up in the bullpen thinking like that? I mean, he is as dialed in as ever. I know a lot of baseball players kind of lean on him to the point where it was a couple years ago, our first captain of the Rob Vaughn era, Evan Slite. On his senior day, he had his girlfriend, Brooke Spear, down there with him, who is a member of the Alabama soccer team.

And then Patrick Murphy, I believe Evan's family couldn't make it to campus for some reason for his senior day. So Coach Murphy kind of stood as part of Evan's family on that senior day. He's one of the absolute best, and I'm thrilled that the results are going in his favor. But he's been a winner every single moment he's been on our campus. Yeah, absolutely. Tell us about your week. You've got Troy in Crimson Drive. Today, Bryce Fowler is one of the guests. South Carolina coming up later this week.

Tell us about Roger's week. Yeah, a little bit of time on the road. Cruising down 65 south right now. I'm on my way to Troy. So we look forward to getting down to the wire graphs for that ball game coming up later tonight. And then to the Palm Meadows, as you mentioned, I guess, like you mentioned, Bryce Fowler, Peyton Steele, a native of Decatur, played at Hartsville High School. He'll be on the show today as well. And then Marty Hubbard, also from your neck of the woods, she'll be talking about softball coming up as well on our Thursday show.

So we're going to be very, very busy previewing what's going to be an exciting few weeks for Alabama baseball and softball. Roger, safe travels. Remember, it's 5-5 Cinco de Mayo in front of a student body. So be safe down there, okay? Absolutely. I'm hoping graduation will come and go on and they've all gone home. But they may stick around for the baseball and it will be the Crimson Tide. And of course, those are amazing. Another great call, I know, on the way. Roger, thanks so much for your time today.

Roger, who were voiced to the Crimson Tide Sports Network. By the way, speaking of the softball tournament, underway even as we speak in Kentucky. And right now, Auburn is only three outs away from advancing. They hold a 6-2 lead over Missouri. Three outs away, Missouri coming to bat. Remember, they only play seven in softball. So it's go-get-em time for those Tigers from Missouri against those Tigers from Auburn. Coming up, speaking of what's going on in our neck of the woods, Caleb Suggs on deck. Stay with us.

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The king of it is Bill Shanks, host for The Bill Shanks Show. Bill, welcome in. How are you? I am doing great. I'm headed to the best college town in America, Athens, Georgia, right now. You said best college town in the country? You're not going to Tuscaloosa, Bill? No, I'm going to Athens. I ain't never been to Tuscaloosa. Bill, you know, after our last conversation, Brett and I, we have been on a guilt trip, and we agree that we do not talk enough about the Atlanta Hawks, Bill.

We don't. Bill, here's your chance. Oh, now you're going to talk about it. Oh, what I'm saying, you told us to talk about the Hawks, so the platform is yours. Yeah, thanks a lot. Now you're going to talk about them. Yeah, everybody is humiliated. Now you want a whole segment on the Hawks. It's never too late. What do you mean? The Boomo Bugg Show, weekdays, noon to two on 93.9 The Score. Speed on the bases, power at the plate, gold glove defense across the diamond. The stars of Atlanta are ready to take the field.

Michael Harris is going to spread back, and he somehow makes the catch Willie Mays style and goes into the wall. Tonight, stay up for some Atlanta Braves baseball from the left coast as Austin Riley and the Braves get another shot at the Seattle Mariners. Braves Radio goes on the air at 825 Eastern, 725 Central on the Braves Radio Network. Brought to you locally by the law firm of Johnson Pasher, Medley & Virtual, J.C. Hammonson, First Metro Bank, nationwide insurance agents Michael Doe and Bill Cochran, Mefford Jewelers, Valley Credit Union, Certified Alarm, Lost Pizza, and Alabama Health Guidance.

Atlanta Braves baseball tonight versus the Seattle Mariners on 93.9 The Score. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back again to get updated ACC softball tourney in Kentucky. Auburn leading Missouri 6-2. Missouri down to their final out. Two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Auburn would move on with a win over those Tigers from Missouri. We'll keep you updated on that. In the meantime, it is an absolute pleasure for us to say hello to Caleb Suggs. He's got it all covered over the Decatur Daily.

Caleb, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing good, guys. How are you all? Yeah, we're doing all right. Let's start with a name that, folks, he's almost, what, at least of late, a local legend there in Morgan County. And I'm going to take a shot. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Kane Falciani, I won't steal your thunder. It doesn't matter if it's football or baseball. He lives for the big moment, does he not? Yeah, he certainly does. He's a great kid, too, and been one of my favorite players to cover throughout this entire year.

But yeah, when you look at it, his catch and Jasper gets Jasper last football season to win. That was extraordinary, but, you know, here in this moment, you're playing in a playoff game against Coleman in baseball, you know, at number five versus number three. It's already a huge rivalry, so that's a huge moment for us. So for him to step in and, you know, get that RBI in, and yeah, I think it was a sacrifice. But, you know, for the game-winning play, that was huge. And what's great about it was, I mean, he kept battling.

[21:13] I mean, he had two strikes on him for the longest time. And, you know, he had one that he thought was going to be the sacrifice and ended up going foul. And he kept battling and battling, and then he ends up getting the hit that, you know, wins him the game. So huge game. It was a great ending to what was a thrilling extra inning game between two, you know, great teams. And it was a great atmosphere. And unfortunately, game two didn't quite live up to the hype.

But game one was certainly – it felt like a state finals game. I mean, the atmosphere and everything, I mean, it was great in high school baseball. Talk to us about that, because you were a prophet. You said that was probably going to be the best matchup anywhere in the state. You just mentioned why, the high rankings coming in. Hartsell actually was, I guess, in some ways the underdog relative to their respective rankings at the time. But never overestimate this team. Tradition has a way of rearing its head.

Your thoughts just what that means going forward. When you take on a team that good, that early, relatively speaking, in a way, in the process of playoffs, what does that do for you going forward? Well, I just don't think – I don't think anybody that Hartsell's going to see in 6th and 12th is going to be shocking to them. And that's not me downing the teams that are left in class. Right. There's a lot of great teams. But honestly, they've already played a bunch of them. I mean, they'd already played Coleman.

They've already played Hazel Green, who's still left. I mean, you just look at the first half of their schedule. I mean, they literally weren't home for basically the first – until area play started. They hardly played any games at home because they were all playing these perfect game tournaments and all these other teams were – you know, these types of tournaments were literally – they only invite the best teams, not even from the state of Alabama, but from Georgia, Florida, Tennessee. So, you know, they're playing – you know, and their record was what it was.

It was around 500. It wasn't a fantastic record. But they were going up against some of the best teams around the southeast and, you know, playing against guys that are throwing – you know, throwing 90, you know, plus, you know, every single time that they're facing. They're not seeing – you know, so, you know, then they get in the area of play and they're in a – you know, not seeing bad teams, but, you know, I remember talking to Coach Phillips. He said it was kind of a gesture for us because we've been seeing 90-plus for every game so far and then we had some guys that weren't throwing 90.

So, that just kind of shows you, I mean, that's what they do with their schedule. They stack it and, you know, they may not come out of it with the best record, but now you look at it, they've won 16 games in a row now. I mean, you know, so it's obviously paying off. I mean, you know, so – and that's kind of what it was last year. They had a pretty good record for the first half of the schedule and then they went on and won like 20 in a row and won a state championship.

And that's kind of the Hartzell formula. And right now we're seeing it working again here. Yeah, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see a repeat of that too, winning 20 consecutive games. Class 1A, Athens Bible at Huberville because Athens Bible sweeps Skyland 7-1, 4-2. Jake Banta tripled and singled. Gavin Butler, Chandler James, one of the most underrated teams in North Alabama. Talk about Athens Bible now, 20-11. Yeah, I think underrated is a good way to put it because, you know, they kind of share – they share a county with another private school that's in Lindsay Lane that's doing a lot of headlines because they're so good, you know, this season and they're usually good every season.

But Athens Bible is another one that's just right there every year. And, you know, they have guys now that you mentioned Banta, but Luke Myrtle, Butler. I mean, these kids now have been playing for about three years. They've kind of been building towards this. So it's not a surprise to me to see them in the quarterfinals. I think beating Skyline was a heck of a win, especially sweeping them because I think Skyline has a traditional good 1A power in baseball. So I think that was a huge win.

And so now they've got a chance to go on to the quarterfinals and, you know, go on the road again. It's going to be tough. And I'm not going to lie, Hoverville's a really good program. But, you know, I think when you've got guys that have kind of been, you know, that are juniors now that have been playing for three years, I mean, they've kind of been through it and they know what to expect. I mean, this is a program that I think definitely has a chance to keep winning.

Caleb Suggs to Keter Daily. Could it be safely said that maybe this matchup that I'm about to mention here could be one of the headliners not only in our neck of the woods but the state? You mentioned Lindsey Lane taking on Mars Hill Bible. You talk about two Titans locking horns. That is it. Yeah, no, I think it's definitely one of the best series in the entire state. Yeah. Definitely around here. Because you look at it, I mean, Lindsey Lane is obviously the number one team in 2A.

They've been kind of a benchmark this year. They've won around 30 games, 30 hits or something like that. So, you know, they're really good and they've got good pitching. They can get. So, obviously, you know, they're a favorite. If you look at Mars Hill, they've kind of been the standard in 2A for baseball the last few years. I mean, they've been to the state finals, won state championships. You know, so even though Lindsey Lane is the number one team, you know, going on the road, I feel like, you know, it's kind of like this is the last, you know, obstacle we've got to do.

[26:18] If we want to get back to the state finals, this is the obstacle we've got to get through. And so it may sound weird to say when you're the number one team, but I view them as the underdog just going in this because I think Marshall's really good, especially at their place. It's going to be really tough. I've been there. It's a tough place to play. So, it's going to be – I think it's going to be a great series. I think it's going to be a good three games, and I think it's going to come down to, you know, just one of two key plays and maybe, you know, pitching at the end.

But I really think whoever wins is going to go on to the state finals and, you know, have a really good chance to win a state championship. So, this is definitely a huge series. I think you're exactly right. Lindsey Lane, 32-6 after sweeping Cole Springs, 4-0, 13-3. Morris Hill wins game three against Vincent. Josh Willingham, of course, is the coach for Morris Hill. We talk about Athens, football and basketball, but East Limestone is another program. I've mentioned it to you before. In all sports, they're good.

They're hosting American Christian, East Limestone 25-9, American Christian 32-10. East Limestone beat Lincoln in three games. Your thoughts on this should be a pretty good series, too. The Indians hosting American Christian. Yeah, I think, no, I think if you look at it, I mean, we talked about it last week. I think East Limestone is a fun team to root for because, you know, you look at what they did in basketball, losing several key guys off last year's team, so then they come in this year's team and go even further to go to the lead eight.

And, you know, a lot of those guys, like I said last week or two weeks ago or whatever it was, a lot of those guys are on the basketball team and are playing for the baseball team. So, you know, it's one of those things where you have guys that aren't specialized in sports that play multi-sports for their school. And I'm always a fan of rooting for teams like that because I think that's the way it should be. So, you know, and I think there's a lot of good kids at East Limestone and very underrated sports program.

So, you know, what they've done this year has been fantastic. It's going to be a tough pass. I'm not going to lie. No one of the best teams in the state, you know, not just 5A, but the entire state. So it's going to be a tough pass to go on there on the road. But if they do win, it's obviously going to be, you know, on to have a real good chance to go to state finals. But even if they don't win, it doesn't take away from what's been a great season for a program.

Definitely a win-a-block season for them. But that's not me saying that they can't win. But I'm just saying, you know, win or lose, it's been a great season for them. Yeah, it's been a great season for a lot of teams in softball. We'll be talking about that a lot the next week. Austin wins the Class 7A Area 8 softball, beating Bob Jones. West Morgan beats Danville to advance to the north region in Florence. And congratulations to Athens girls. They beat Coleman in soccer. They're going to Huntsville, in fact, this week.

I know you've got pre-game, post-game. You can get it online and in the paper. Where can we get all your great stuff covering preps this week? Yeah, you can get it online at DecaturDaily.com. We've already had softball this week. We'll have baseball later, more softball and soccer. And it's just a fun ride until we get in a couple more weeks, I guess, until some are brave. But we're going to enjoy all the time we have well. Hold on. The end is near. In the meantime, thanks so much for your time today, Caleb.

Thanks, guys. Thanks for having me. Thank you, bud. Caleb Suggs checking in from the Decatur Daily. Time to take a long road trip to the other side of Decatur. It's called Las Vegas. On deck with Bruce Marshall. Stay with us. You like saving money, right? We all do. That's why Allstate just lowered the price of car insurance. Not, but wait, there's a catch. Lower. Actually lower. So if you're shopping around or just want to see how much you could save, check Allstate first for a new lower auto rate that could save you hundreds.

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Online health questions required. Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93-9, the score. The Atlanta Braves fell short last night in Seattle. They lost to the Mariners 5-4. The Braves had nine hits in the loss as the Braves drop to 25-11 on the season. The Braves and Mariners are back at T-Mobile Park tonight. Bryce Elder will start for Atlanta. He's 3-1 with a 1.88 ERA. George Kirby is scheduled to start for the Mariners. He's 4-2 with an ERA right at 3. In college baseball action tonight, 19th ranked Alabama is on the road to play at Troy.

6th ranked Auburn will travel to Birmingham and take on UAB. North Alabama will host Samford and South Alabama. He's set to host Alabama State. Bundle auto and home, renters or condo, and save with Progressive. I'm John Thayer with the Sports Flash, presented by Progressive on 93-9, the score. The Colonels cooked up a new $10 bucket of the day just for you. Monday, 24 nuggets for $10. Tuesday, 8-piece fried chicken for $10. Wednesday, 10 wings for $10. Thursday, 8 tenders for $10. Friday, 24 nuggets for… Ooh, you guessed it, didn't you? $10. The $10 bucket of the day deal.

Every weekday. Only at KFC. It's finger-lickin' goo. Prices and participation vary. Well, supplies last-hand available on third-party ordering platforms. Tax extra. The score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9, the score. Welcome back in. Time to head west and say hello to the king of Las Vegas. Bruce Marshall, busy there with the Las Vegas Insider. Sports.net, CBS Sportsline, Bent Rivers, Vegas Insider. The gold standard in more ways than one. Bruce Marshall, welcome in. How are you? Hey, Harold. Pretty good. How are you doing? You good?

Yeah, we're doing all right. Well, we need to come to you and ask for some enlightenment here. Remember when this guy came from Miami to Tuscaloosa for $4 million and people were just saying, how in the world? This sport's going crazy. How can you pay a coach $4 million? The reason I bring that up, Bruce, Tennessee just got done signing Duke Harris from Wake Forest for a reported $5 million. I said Tennessee basketball, not Tennessee football, a player, not a coach. Bruce, welcome to 2026. Yeah, how can we explain some of this stuff?

It's like, you know, there's a bunch of Jimmy Sexton clones running around here being an agent for these guys, I guess. I don't think Jimmy's involved with some of these basketball guys. Maybe he is. It's a world that's gone crazy, and you just get the point. I mean, Harris is good, but I mean, you know, this is now to the point where there's some sort of insanity about it, and I don't know where it stops. I mean, where does it stop? I mean, this is crazy.

Tennessee wants to pay that much. Let him do it. Happy for Duke, but I'm not sure what I think about this if I'm a Tennessee fan. What does that say about the sport, though, Bruce? I mean, obviously, these programs are finding the money somewhere. Have they always had this money, and they just squirreled it away somewhere else? Or all of a sudden, have they found the goose that lays the golden egg day after day? Well, here's what I equate it to a little bit. I mean, you've probably heard the story about Live Golf here, and the Saudis are, it looks like they're getting out of that, and it sort of reminds me of that in a way, and that at some point, I mean, well, as far as Live goes, the Saudis realize, you know, this is just decorative, and we really didn't, we don't need to do this.

We're just throwing money out the window, and at some point, the same boosters who are putting up this cash, if you're not getting rewarded with something, and there's no equity in this for these guys, it's all just decorative, then you wonder, does this continue to come, or is there just a new pool of suckers who want to come, and I'll call them that, suckers who are throwing this money at these players, but at some point, you've got, you could see this whole thing collapsing at some point, and that's when I think, well, go away, though, that's, that's, I think there's another step to this, and it may be private equity coming in, and they're already talking about that, and then you start talking about giving up part of your, you know, ownership in your whole enterprise to do this stuff.

[36:59] That's where this is headed, not quite there yet, but I'm afraid that's where, inevitably, it might end up going. I'll say this about Rick Barnes, he's got this defensive mentality, but he has brought in six or seven transfer portal dudes, they average a combined 100 points, Len Bland from Belmont, J.D. Ames, Terrence Hill from VCU, Duke Harris from Wake Forest, we'll see what happens, because they lost seven or eight players, but I'll tell you one thing, Rick Barnes is taking one more big swing before he retires.

Yes, that sure looks like it, and with help from the boosters here, to pay all these guys, I wonder what Josh Heupel's thinking, I mean, I'm sure they're paying that money to him, but I mean, what happened to this supposed 20 million, I mean, that's like way in the rear view mirror. Yeah, it looks like he's making one more swing, but boy, it's tough being a college coach now to have to go through this every year, and Barnes is sort of fortunate, because he's got, he's able to go out there in the market and buy some of these guys, but I mean, every year they have to redo this over and over again, my goodness, I mean, it's tough.

Michael Malone is going to miss being in the NBA, even though he was fired by Denver to get this mad, you know, this mad carousel at Carolina, which is, you know, involved in the same sort of things, too. College hoops, not for the faint of heart. Bruce Marshall is the man to go to Vegas and see there at the gold standard. Bruce, you can bring up North Carolina, what's going to happen there in football this season. Bill Belichick making the rounds at the Kentucky Derby with some candy there.

What's going to happen to Belichick? What's up with New England football coaches, anyway? Well, I know. I mean, Vrabel's got himself into some hot water here, you know, kind of a humor. Do you go to counseling for what, you know, what he did? I don't know if that's going to work. North Carolina, I thought it was interesting. Last year, I mean, there's so much hype and so much talk about Belichick until the opening game against TCU. And then it sort of stopped for good reason, because we realized, I mean, this team's just not that good.

And we've been hearing stuff out of North Carolina. Okay, and the quarterback, Lopez, okay, now I'm getting ready this year. I always really, my antenna goes up when I hear that a guy suddenly is getting serious about stuff. Well, you've been in college football a few years. You had the new region last year. Why weren't you serious last year? They were just, they were a mediocre team last year. Just completely mediocre. There was nothing special about them whatsoever. The offense was stagnant. They lacked playmakers on defense.

Yes, maybe he can get a few more guys in there. But this looks like an idea that has gone, is going really bad at Carolina. And I have a feeling if this doesn't get much better this year, they may, this experiment might end. It just looks like it's not going the right way for North Carolina. But maybe more painful. I mean, people stop talking about Carolina once they realize how bad the team was last year. In the meantime, Bruce, your thoughts just about the reality of the obvious race in terms of conferences.

We know the SEC had the crown. And then over the last few years, people say it's one-off. The Big Ten's come on. Here's the reason I bring it up. I'm looking at some numbers here. And you know money better than anybody out in Vegas. The Big Ten pays member schools almost a half billion dollars or 72 mil per school. They ain't got a lot of money up there. We know what happens if you've got the money and brains. That can be destructive. Your thoughts just going forward as far as the Big Ten and the SEC?

Yeah. I mean, the Big Ten looks like it has sort of just pulled ahead a little bit in the money game here. But there's still plenty for the SEC to do. And that's just from TV distributions and media rights. You've still got the booster class and all that who can make up some of the difference in the nil market. And things like that. So there's really not much of a gap. It all depends upon the people you have in charge and the people who are pulling the levers.

And it applies to the coaches, too. And it applies in the Big Ten because you do have some guys in there who have made it work. Now, we saw, though, what happened the last two years at Michigan when they didn't have the right guy in charge there. It can go sour, you know, kind of quickly there. And even, you know, Penn State, it fell apart the last year. So those are two brand names in the Big Ten that have new coaches coming in this year and try to get back up to speed while, you know, Indiana came in there and, you know, jumped them in the line and jumped them in the queue with Cignetti.

But I think that's the key here. You've got the money is great and, you know, the media rights are what they are. But if you don't have the right coaches in charge and you don't have the right guys pulling the levers, you're going to end up, you know, stuck in quicksand. Interesting. I was in, you know, California the last few days. I actually went to UCLA's spring game, if you can call it that, the other day. But there was a different attitude you could sense around that with the new coach, Bob Chesney, coming in from James Madison.

[42:11] So, you know, he might, I'd keep an eye on them because he might make a difference. And it still comes down to the guys you've got in charge. If you've got the right coach and you've got the right system in place, you can win. But if you don't have that, no matter how much money you've got, it's not going to work. Kirby Smart was on the Paul Feinbaum show last Wednesday at the Regents Pro-Am and said, I still love the SEC championship game, but at some point it's going to go, but by the way, the hoolie hoop because of the expansion of the playoffs.

Do you foresee an announcement this summer, Sankey wants to stay at 16, everybody else wants to go to 24? Are we going to skate past 16 and go to 24 with an announcement later this year? My gut feel is sooner or later, yes. Though Sankey's 16 may come first. They seem to go in, you know, these stages and that'd be a pretty big leap, although, you know, the TV network certainly want it. They want more games. And in the end, I guess they're going to end up winning. Sankey realizes that as much as anybody, but I think he's trying to keep the SEC in a position of prominence.

And he's probably not thrilled if we're going to get more entries in there, if that means more schools that don't come from the SEC. I noticed, you know, basketball is going to go to 76, it looks like, and he'll be very happy if the SEC keeps it 12, 13 bids. But I, that seems like a pretty big, uh, bite there. When you go, if you go from 12 to 24, that's in one swoop, I think it's going to get there, but I think that's maybe the next step. And it sort of depends on the TV networks do it, but I kind of think it goes to 16 first.

So Sankey will win in the short term, but long term, I think, I think it's going to go to 24 or 28. Bruce, you know, it's always football season in our neck of the woods. It is college football season. In your opinion, what is the most intriguing team or program in the country? Whether it be SEC, you got to look at Indiana. What are they going to do for an encore? Can Ohio State, can they take another punch? They lost another heavy load in the first round, the first 10 or so picks.

Of course, Alabama goes without saying. Auburn's got a brand new top tiger. What is, in your opinion, Bruce, and in Vegas's opinion, maybe the most intriguing storyline right now in May? Yeah, you could go to a variety of SEC locales, you know, with Alabama and Russell coming in in the quarter. I mean, there's some things here. Auburn's got an interesting storyline with the new coach coming in, goalish. But I think, actually, we mentioned Notre Dame a couple weeks ago. Miami is interesting because they got all the way to the championship game last year.

They beat Ohio State in the way. So good for them, good for Cristobal. It's like he finally has established that. But, you know, now Carson Beck has moved out of the NFL, where he may play for the Cardinals this year. We will see. The guard in Darian Mensah, though, from Duke. And all Duke did last year is actually win the ACC, believe it or not. Miami didn't win the ACC. Duke did because they won the championship game. So I think that's a really interesting storyline. And if Miami can keep this going, I mean, they have worked the portal extremely well.

Give Cristobal credit for that. And there was a real plug-a-war with Mensah getting him out of Duke. But a lot of people think, look, they found another quarterback here who can maybe get them to the promised land. So I think Miami is a very interesting storyline. Also, I mentioned those two in the Big Ten. I know Matt Campbell coming into Penn State. But I think this Kyle Whittingham hire at Michigan is really one they're going to watch. Because that thing sort of fell apart for some ridiculous reasons there at Michigan the last few years.

So now, I mean, they've brought in, you know, Mr. Clean to sort of clean up the image there. And that's good. But they will want to win at Michigan pretty quick. Let's see if the Wolverines are ready to do that. I think there's a lot of eyes on Kyle Whittingham in a very interesting move, in his last move of his career. I mean, he's not a young guy. And that surprised some people. But I think that's the one move a lot of people will look at this fall.

You mentioned attending the UCLA spring game. And you also went to a USC regular season game, met with the quarterback's dad. Lincoln Riley had the number one recruiting class last year. And the defense seems to be getting a little bit better as he brought some coaches in. Is this finally the year that they make a step up to a top five, top eight team? Your thoughts on USC? Well, if it's not, I think Riley's got a lot to answer for. Because they've been kind of spinning their wheels their last couple of years.

The last we saw them, they were blowing that game to TCU in the Alamo Bowl last December. So there's some people getting a little antsy there. There's a new school president and a new AD at USC since he was hired. And you mentioned that with the recruits. Yeah, they're in there. And he did his coordinator. Dan Tunnelin moved to the defensive coordinator and moved to the NFL. So he does have a new defensive coordinator in there. That's gotten a little better the last couple of years, but still not up to championship level.

[47:31] I think the pressure's on him this year to get something done. And like you said, I think it's playoffs or bust for USC if they're not there. Riley is still marketable enough. I mean, there's been talk about him going to the NFL at some point. That still might be on the table. He's expressed, you know, his old alma mater, Texas Tech. Now they're not making a change soon. But he won't have any shortage of suitors. I think it's a big year for him at USC. It really is.

Bruce Marshall, the gold standard in Vegas. Let's talk a little baseball. First of all, is Vegas, are they buying or selling on the Braves? We know it's still a long way to go in the season. Nobody's doing it better right now. Carly Simon and the Braves to date. Your thoughts about that and a team near and dear to your friends there in Vegas. How about those athletics? From worst to first, they lead the AL West, although it was an 18-16 record, and against a team that the Braves had problems with last night, the Mariners.

But your thoughts about the Braves and how about the A's? Well, yeah, I mean, the Braves right now, and I think they have been helped by the fact the Phillies, who have made a managerial change in the Mets, who didn't, but at least yet, have had such slow starts. Now, the Phillies are rallying a bit for Mattingly, and maybe the Mets, they've won three or four now, with Mendoza on the hot seat. But they are still so far behind, and the Braves have got off to such a big lead there.

That's a huge advantage. So I think as long as they don't have injury issues there, and everybody else in the NL East is struggling, the Braves have a clear path, and you can see that right now. I mean, that's a lot of ground the Phillies and Mets have to make up, and the Mets, I was watching them. I actually was out, I watched them against the Angels in the Mets. That lineup's not that good with some of these guys hurt right now. The A's are very interesting because, much like the Braves in the NL East, the AOS looks kind of weak this year.

Houston is down, Seattle is struggling, the Angels are terrible, and I'm not sure what to make about Texas. So it's right there for the A's. It's interesting. You know, three years ago, this team won 50 games. And also, by the way, last year, I mean, two years ago, the White Sox won only 41 games. Yet here we are in 2026. The A's are now better than a lot of those teams in the West. Everybody in the West just took them a few years, and the White Sox are better than teams like the Angels.

So things can turn around pretty quick. By the way, one other note, Tarek Skubal's injury, first of all, takes him out of the Detroit rotation maybe until September or certainly until after the All-Star break. That changes the AL Central somewhat. It also changes the AL Cy Young race. I've got a guy to watch here, a long shot. Davis Martin of the White Sox. I watched him again last night. He just toyed with the Angels. Now he's not going to play against the Angels all the time.

But look at the numbers he's putting up. This is a much better team, the White Sox, and I think the AL Cy Young race is wide open. You get a really fat price on that guy to win it. I think that may be worth a flyer. You're such a historian in so many sports. Baseball lost an icon yesterday. And John Sterling played by the Yankees and the Braves. Were you a fan of John's? Yes, I was, and I got to listen to him only occasionally because I wasn't in the East that much.

But once he could get the Yankees on a serious, until a couple years ago, because I guess 2024 was his last year. I enjoyed him and the Yankees winning and all that. And he was colorful because he had all his phrases. The guys who had homers, he had different things for them. Very colorful. And I listen to a lot of these guys now, and a lot of them sound not bad, but I mean, there's very few of these guys with real personalities. Cookie cutters. Yep. Yeah, they're cookie cutters.

Sterling had a personality. He'll be missed. And I guess he hadn't been doing the Yankees for a couple years and then sadly passed. But, you know, I wish there were more guys like him who were kind of colorful. There just aren't as many as those play-by-play guys like that anymore. Well, I wish there were more guys like Bruce Marshall. We always thoroughly enjoy the conversation. A lot of stuff going on entering May. The gold standard, the gold sheet, Wager Talk. Where can we get online to get all the great stuff?

Yeah, Brett, thanks. My stuff, all is under the WagerTalk.com umbrella. That's gold sheet, too. We'll get some more of that coming up towards football season. But right now, we've also got WagerTalk.com. All my picks have a really good run. NBA, baseball's going really good. NHL. And also Winners and Winers and picksandparlays.com. But it's all there. And picks also at WagerTalk.com. Speaking of baseball, always a home run, Bruce. Keep it up, and thanks so much for your time today. Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you, bud.

[52:32] Bruce Marshall's gold standard Vegas from baseball to softball. Now final Auburn sixth, Missouri two. First win in the SEC tournament for the Auburn Tigers softball team since 2023. They will now take on Texas A&M in the Bank Internet special again tomorrow morning, starting at 10 o'clock hour time up in Kentucky. Coming up in the next hour, we'll take you to Kentucky. Speaking with Joe Cox. He's going to cover the entire SEC on Saturday down south. Andrew Adelson from ESPN. And Coach Josh Feller from Central Florence High.

It's all straight ahead. Stay with us. Hello, I'm Eddie Buckley, president of Certified Alarm. No matter where travels take you, Certified Alarm will help you be worry-free. Our security systems have all the latest technological features. Certified Alarm has North Alabama's only UL-listed central station. Our Halo Alarm transmitters give the fastest and most secure monitoring available. Certified Alarm since 1960, keeping the Shoals secure and in touch. Call 256-383-1225 or online at Certified-Alarm.com. T-Mobile has an exclusive bundle for customers 55 and up. I'm Sarah Bull. Yeah, I'm Frank Bull.

A reliable network is key for us. And with T-Mobile, it's been wonderful. And going to the 55 Plus plan saved us so much money. A lot. And that's important. Trying to keep costs down. The home internet's been perfect. It's fast. It's quick. The setup was so easy. It took less than 15 minutes. It was like, ta-da! If you want simplicity, coverage, reliability, you want the whole package, T-Mobile has it. Right now, T-Mobile customers 55 and up can get two phone lines on America's best network. Plus, America's fastest 5G home internet for just $30 each.

$30 per month each line with auto pay plus taxes and fees. Minimum age 55. Pricing for home internet. Rely in two lines of essentials. Choice 55. $35 connection charge per line required. Best mobile network and fastest 5G home internet based on analysis by Okla of Speedtest Intelligence Data 2H 2025. All rights reserved. My dad passed away unexpectedly. Of course, it was awful in every way. But we are very grateful that he had life insurance. So even after he was gone, he was still able to provide for us. And that's why I have life insurance for my family.

Ethos.com. They make it fast and easy to get covered. It's 100% online. You get a quote in seconds. You can apply in minutes. You get covered the same day. Get your free quote at ethos.com slash game. That's ethos.com slash game. Paid spokesperson. Time spent on application may vary. Online health questions required. Rates may vary. Montgomery lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow for special primary elections to be held for two state Senate districts in the Montgomery area if the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals permits Alabama to use a previously approved Senate redistricting plan for these upcoming elections.

State Senator Chris Elliott is the one who offered the bill on Monday on the first day of a special legislative session that was called by the governor. This bill would allow for the governor to call a special primary for Senate districts 25 and 26 if a court ruling does come out, but it's after this upcoming normal primary election. Elliott said the bill preserves Alabama's option to return to maps that were passed by the state legislature, which occurred before District Judge Anna Monasco ordered that those two Senate districts be redrawn.

I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this. Some of the greatest blessings is just having the people that care about you, to have someone that's just going to love you and make you feel important. They encourage you to be in church. They encourage you to be in prayer. They encourage you to be in your Bible. Now it's a part of my day every day. My house parents planted seeds in me that you can see where those seeds have sprouted in my life and helped change my life.

Big Oak Ranch, a Christian home for children needing a chance. New leadership is now running the Pine Rest Funeral Home and Memorial Park in Foley. 1819 News reported on a series of customer complaints claiming that they have never received the headstones that they paid in full four. The former manager of that Pine Rest Funeral Home, Tim Street, is no longer in charge. New management says they are working on completing these headstone orders. A family of three in the town of Clay was able to escape a house fire with their lives.

The family was able to get out of the blaze after a smoke detector went off and woke them up. The house is totally destroyed. I'm Andrea Tux. For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com. And while you're there, subscribe to the daily newsletter. Alabama's beauty belongs to all of us. And keeping it that way starts with you. Participate in an Alabama Pals project and help people against a littered state make a lasting impact. Teach litter prevention through our Clean Campus program. You can request school visits, supplies, and participate in the annual Clean Campus contest.

[57:35] In April, join thousands of volunteers in all 67 counties for Don't Drop It on Alabama, our statewide spring cleanup. And mark your calendars for this year's coastal cleanup on Saturday, September 19th. Help protect our shorelines during the state's largest one-day volunteer event. Together, we're making a difference. Visit alpals.org to register today. That's alpals.org. Sponsored by Alabama People Against a Littered State, ALDOT, the Alabama Broadcasters Association, and this station. Did you know VA home loans are a key to home ownership for those who served? It was a personal goal of mine to try and purchase a home before the age of 30.

I do remember the first moment I walked into my home. I remember that real clearly, actually. I walked in, and I could hear my footsteps echo off the back wall. And the first thing I thought in my head was, man, furniture is going to be real expensive. The VA not requiring any down payment prior to buying the home is actually really beneficial because it allowed me to take that money I had budgeted to go out and buy furniture, food, cleaning supplies, pretty much everything I needed.

Using the loan itself wasn't too complicated. It's very user-friendly, and the VA was really helpful showing me what I needed to do and how I would go about it. Purchasing a home is scary. There's a lot of moving parts. There's a lot of things that are new to you and that you won't understand. But ultimately, it's not impossible, and they make it so that anybody can do it. I'm extremely glad I did it. It was one of the best things I could have done for myself, I think.

To learn more about VA home loans, visit va.gov forward slash home loans. Valley Broadcasting Corporation, WITK-FM, Rogersville, Athens, Decatur, The Shores, Sports Radio 93.9, The Score. 27 tournament trips, five journeys to Omaha, 72 major leaguers. It's good to be a Bama baseball fanatic. Swing and a fly ball lifted high in the air. Deep left field. A go-ahead do-run homer over the high left field wall at Auburn. Alabama's favorite pass time plays right here on your home for Alabama baseball. The Crimson Tide Sports Network from Learfield. This week, Alabama goes on the road to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Airtime Saturday is 11.45 with the first pitch at noon here on 93.9, The Score. Everybody, Bill King, Bill King, show, listen to me. 9 until noon, 93.9, The Score, Monday through Friday as we talk college football like nobody else does. Because he listens in Florence. Our show's, Charlie, our show's on down there. Bill King, show, Monday through Friday, 9 until noon. Every league, every big topic is covered. 93.9, The Score. 93.9, The Score weather. Today, a 30% chance of midday showers with a high around 75. Tonight, mostly cloudy with a 60% chance of showers and thunderstorms overnight with a low near 65.

Tomorrow, showers and possibly a thunderstorm with a high around 75. Tomorrow night, mostly cloudy with a 90% chance of showers overnight and a low near 55. And for your Thursday, mostly cloudy with a 30% chance of afternoon showers and a high around 70. Your weather from 93.9, The Score. Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of northwest Alabama and southern Tennessee. It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice. The Boomo Bugg Show. Your exclusive inside track to the Tide, Tigers, Tennessee, and the rest of the SEC. Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9, The Score.

Welcome back in, hour two to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg, alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us a free ride around the Tennessee band. And one of the little known facts, BB, you cannot spell ESPN without two A's. Did you know that? That's correct. Andrea Adelson checking in from ESPN. Double A, welcome in. How are you? Oh, I'm doing great, fellas. How are y'all doing? Good. Well, we have a question. Yeah. Andrea, have you got your itinerary plan for your girls?

They're about to get out of school. Have you got the detail itinerary plan? Because as I say on the straight corner, the end is near. Yeah, the end is near. And, fellas, I have got a daughter graduating high school. No! I know. It's hard to believe because I sound like I can't be a day over 25, right? I was thinking 24, but if you say so. That's okay. You know, I appreciate that. But, yes, the time has come for our dear oldest daughter to have all the pomp and circumstance and move on to great college.

[1:02:40] And we're very proud of her. But, yes, you know, I can't think about it because if I think about it, I need a box of tissues to help me make it through the day. But, you know, she's great and we're proud. But, yes, she's going to have a busy summer working, fellas, because she needs to save up some money for college. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, I got that same memo. A lot of us did years ago. So, some things have never changed. But, you know, speaking of that, even as we speak, the SEC baseball or softball tournament is underway up in Kentucky.

Auburn, pressure knocking off Missouri. The reason we bring that up, if you've ever watched a softball game, it's contagious, is it not? It's a whole different vibe. Guys are getting a dugout. They're serious. They're over there doing this and doing that. The girls, they've got their hats turned around. They're dancing. And the other side of that, the people really get – we asked this question earlier. The people in our neck of the woods give people like Pat Murphy enough credit for putting Alabama softball firmly on the map.

No doubt about that. I think earlier today was at the Mizzou softball team was eating popcorn, and they've got something about popcorn in their dugout that I was watching earlier. But, yeah, you're absolutely right. I'm actually going to be doing a little bit of softball coverage for us. You guys know I've done that off and on over the years for ESPN. And you're absolutely right. In the years I've been doing this, the standard has been Alabama or Florida, quite frankly, in the SEC. And the fact that they're ranked, what, top three right now, continue to do a phenomenal job with that program.

Even in this new era where it's a lot harder because of NIL and other programs out there that are, you know, going out and spending money on rosters. The fact that they've got this consistency with Pat, the fact that they continue to have elite pitching staff, the fact that they continue to put themselves in position year after year to make return trips to Oklahoma City is simply outstanding. And truly, it's one of the most consistent programs in college softball. And looking forward to seeing whether these young ladies can make a run this year.

Let me ask you about a school we've talked about with you for years, and that's Virginia Tech. There are a lot of alumni in North Alabama. Hokey Tiger Mike's one of our favorite listeners. Long-time athletic director, Whit Babcock, announced recently his upcoming retirement. James Franklin is now in the house. Virginia Tech also announced $230 million investment, primarily in football, over four years. It's amazing to me, AA. Virginia Tech has had one, one 10-win season since 2012. Wow. Zero ACC championships. AA, it's time for a reboot at Virginia Tech.

Yeah, there's no doubt about that, and a shout-out to Hokey Tiger Mike for all the years of listening. Look, this is not a surprise. I think that a lot of people thought that this would be coming for Whit Babcock, and I think it's time for an overall athletic department reset. And quite frankly, there's going to be a university reset because their president announced last month he would be stepping down. One of the interesting things here, right, is Whit Babcock was obviously very involved in getting James Franklin to come to Virginia Tech, and so was President Sands.

But, you know, since essentially September, there's been this urgency to get Virginia Tech athletics, but football in particular, right. And a lot of it is driven by the fact that this era that we're in can easily leave programs even more far behind than they already were. And Virginia Tech's been behind, right? And one of the things that James Franklin told us when we visited there last month was, it's hard to catch up with teams that already have a 12-year head start on you. And that's exactly what has happened.

You know, Virginia Tech did not want to invest because they wanted to continue to do things the way Frank Beamer did them, ignoring the fact that in the last years under Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech wasn't very good. And there was a reason why they had to make that transition, but even under Justin Fuente and then Brent Pryde, there wasn't the investment in football that other programs around them were making. And suddenly, you're looking at all the teams around the country, NIL and Reds there, and you're like, wait a minute, like, where do we rank?

Oh, we rank near the bottom of our own conference, which isn't even among the best in the entire country, right? So that's why since September, there's been this urgency. That's why they poured more of the money in. And because Whit Babcock was the leader while Virginia Tech was being left behind, there was the thought that, okay, we need to make a change here. James Franklin knows what it looks like. Coming from Penn State. So I think at least from that vantage point, they're going to know exactly what they have to do to be able to keep up with the Joneses, so to speak.

[1:08:01] The question is, is going to be making sure they've got that same alignment, wants to hire the new president and the athletic director to make sure they're all on the same page with James Franklin. Hokey Tiger, Matt, we totally agree with that, I guarantee you. Andrea, speaking of that, what's, in your opinion, let's say that neck of the woods in general, what's the most intriguing story? James Franklin coming down with his name, Brand, from Penn State. A guy by the name of Dabo down at Clemson.

And, oh, what was that guy's name who was at the Kentucky Derby over the weekend? I think his name is Belichick in North Carolina. What is, of those three, what's the most intriguing storyline? Oh, my gosh. Well, I, wait, see, you've asked me a softball question before, and I'm thinking I'm going to get softballs, but no, that was a fastball down the middle right there. You know, that's a great question. I do feel like some of the curiosity with Belichick has kind of worn off a little bit going into this year.

And I think there's probably a lot of people who are wondering what James Franklin is going to do at Virginia Tech. But you all know as well as I do that Dabo Sweeney continues to make headlines despite the fact that his team has fallen off the pace a little bit from where they were at the end of the 2010s, right? And so, to me, because of what Clemson did last year, because of what happened in the draft, having nine teams drafted but only winning seven games, to me there's a lot more curiosity about Clemson because, hold on, you had that many players drafted.

They didn't even come close to competing for a championship. And you did. We were close to making Clemson, right? Yes, and they went into the portal a little bit more. We don't know what the quarterback situation is going to look like. They are raving about a true freshman named Tate Reynolds. I would not be surprised if he eventually becomes the starter this season. They went, you know, back of the way, way back machine to bring Chad Morris back to town. I think there are so many questions but so much intrigue about Clemson.

For how many years now have we been asking? Is Clemson, like, what is the situation? 300 and counting. Right? It's what it feels like. I don't think those questions have gone away. So while I feel like James Franklin may be the shiny new toy and what's it going to look like at Virginia Tech, nobody moves the needle in the ACC, at least in my opinion, from a what-the-heck-is-this-going-to-look-like perspective to Davos Sweeney. And I don't think that's going to change heading into this year. Devil A, so many questions going into the summer, now that all the spring game is pretty much over with.

Will the NCAA adopt the five years to play five? Are we going to start week one? Week zero is going to be week one. Are we skating past 16 to get to 24? And many others, how many of those questions will be answered before the season begins? Oh, my gosh. If I was to guess, I would say the five for five would be, like, number one to be answered because that one is coming up for a vote soon. And it feels as though, based on conversations I've had, there's a lot of support for that to be passed, right?

You get five years, and that's what you get. Five years, you could play five, you could not, but we're going away from the waiver process. We're going to try and make it more standardized when it comes to what eligibility looks like. I feel like that has the greatest chance of being answered before the season starts. I don't know that we're going to get an answer on playoff expansion. I just feel like there's still too many people with a lot of questions about what exactly is this going to look like and what is it going to mean for all these other parts of our calendar.

Week zero potentially could get an answer as well when some of these come up for a vote in the next few months. But if I were to guess, I think I would put the five for five on the top of the list as something that is going to get done sooner rather than later. Well, it's going to be an interesting summer. I know a lot of people want some answers to many, many questions. Congratulations on your daughter graduating. I feel like we've watched her grow up.

Where can we get articles like Virginia Tech and many others with you and the team? Well, I appreciate that, fellas. ESPN.com. Just click on the college football page. And we have got a phenomenal file up there right now for my colleagues, Eli Letterman, Max Olsen, and Adam Rittenberg, breaking down every single team's offseason, ranking them in their individual conferences, who had the best, so on and so forth. Tons of work those guys did. Extremely comprehensive. This is your cheat sheet for who left, who's now in, and what things look like after spring.

So highly recommend, folks. Check that out. Bookmark it. You'll want to keep coming back to that. As you refresh your memory, when we get closer to the season, I'll wait. Who's on my team again? Oh, yeah, that's right. Now I remember. Andrea, I echo Brett's sentiments there. It's not true that she's going to be going to Florida State or Miami right after college? No, she is leaving the state of Florida. I'm not going to have a future gator, but that's okay. You know, we all know the gatordom lives in my heart, and it doesn't need to go past the generations.

[1:13:31] But we're just very proud, and, you know, she's going to be off to do great things, guys. Good luck with the Kleenex, and thanks so much for your time today, Andrea. All right, fellas. Appreciate you guys as always. Thanks so much. Double A at ESPN, Andrea Adelson. Softball tournament time in the state of Kentucky. Why don't you say we just go there ourselves next with Joe Cox. Stay with us. An official message from Medicare. I turned 65 this year. I knew it was time to figure out Medicare, and I had questions.

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You're not going to Tuscaloosa, Bill? No, I'm going to Athens. I ain't never been to Tuscaloosa, because nobody can come there. Bill, you know, after our last conversation, Brett and I, we have been on a guilt trip, and we agree that we do not talk enough about the Atlanta Hawks, Bill. We don't. Bill, here's your chance. Oh, now you're going to talk about them. Well, what I'm just saying, you told us to talk about the Hawks, so the platform is yours. Yeah, yeah, thanks a lot.

Now, now you're going to talk about them. Yeah, okay, you're humiliated. Now you want a whole segment on the Hawks. It's never too late. What do you mean? The Bumbo Bug Show, weekdays, noon to 2, on 93.9 The Score. Speed on the bases, power at the plate, gold glove defense across the diamond. The stars of Atlanta are ready to take the field. Michael Harris going to spread back, and he somehow makes the catch, Willie Mays style, and goes into the wall. Tonight, stay up for some Atlanta Braves baseball from the left coast, as Austin Riley and the Braves get another shot at the Seattle Mariners.

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Got it all covered there. It's Saturday down south. His book's called A Fine Team Man. Joe, welcome in. How are you? Hopefully, we'll be able to hook up with Joe here in a second. I tell you what, baby, after that Kentucky Derby run over the weekend, I imagine everybody's pretty much speechless. Did you see that race? You go from worst to first. What a finish. I actually did see it. You're right. It was incredible what Golden Temple did. And also, we were not the only people watching it.

[1:18:42] I think it was the highest ratings in history of the Derby. And the thing is, history was made, the first female trainer to ever win there. So, history made over the weekend. Hopefully, we'll be able to get up with Joe after that weekend. Who knows what's going on? We mentioned earlier, Kentucky's kind of the hotbed for sports over the last few days. The Derby last weekend with all the mint juleps. And softball tournament's going on up at Lexington. They're hosting it. Auburn earlier, in case you missed it, knocking off Missouri by the count of 6-2.

And now, they will take on Texas A&M tomorrow morning. Again, a 10 o'clock start. Your thoughts. This is big for Auburn. The first time they have won a tournament game, that is, the SEC, since 2023. This is a program that's been down, baby. So, there's only one direction to go for the Auburn softball team. Well, Harold, that was a big win today for another reason. They lost 25-0. Wow. I'm serious. Over the weekend. And they needed a, quote, reboot. But you're right. The softball program, which used to be very, very good, has gone down a little bit the last couple of years.

That was a big win for them. They can make some noise in Lexington. And if you're wondering about Alabama, they don't play until Thursday. And you can catch that game here on 93.9 The Score. But, Bob, while we're on the topic of the tournament, BB, obviously, the state of Kentucky hosting it this year. But the folks over in the Madison slash Huntsville area, when you start talking about something this big, it's not just Huntsville and Madison. This is going to be a party for the entire North Alabama area.

That's big news for this area in general to be able to host the upcoming SEC softball tournament. Yeah, that was announced a couple of weeks ago. Trash Pandas, Toyota Field, their capacity is actually 7,500. But, Harold, there are a couple of advantages. Again, the stadium is five minutes literally from an international airport. Could almost walk. Yeah, it's centrally located. Lexington is really not – and I know they moved it around, but they were looking for basically a venue, Harold. They've been having it in the respective conference stadiums, and they wanted to find a neutral site.

Right. They made their contract in Madison, and, boy, they are excited about that. Going to be curious to see, literally this time next year, action will be taking place at Toyota Field. It's going to be fascinating to see the response and the economic impact there. Well, it also shows you how aggressive those folks are over there when it comes to landing these type deals, because if you haven't been over there in the last few years, it would be amazing if some of the grand folks could come back take a drive out of the Shoals area or the general Shoals area and drive through that neck of the woods there on I-565.

I mean, it's just – it's almost like somebody just dropped a bomb and exploded. They got all kinds of restaurants in there. They got all kinds of amenities. So it's more than just going to a field. It's almost like going to an event. And I got a feeling once they get over there and experience that, and it all comes back to attendance, but they hit their numbers on that, BB. As you mentioned, the airport, all these teams can come in from Timbuktu. That's – again, we're not joking.

You could almost walk over there. Certainly, these kids, it's that close. With all the hotels – in other words, you don't have to travel all over creation to get to it, and once you get there, there's something to do just about for every age group and everybody. But let's talk a little bit more about the other side of the coin, BB, and that is the upcoming Alabama baseball team and the Auburn baseball team, the SEC tournament. And before we do that, I like the fact of the strike zone challenges coming to the SEC tournament.

To me, when I first heard this in the world of Major League Baseball, I was a little skeptical it's going to be one of those deals where they're going to drag this thing out and go back and forth. But you get two challenges, and to me, just one person's opinion for what that's worth, to me, it's added to it, and that's going to be fun to see how it impacts the SEC tournament. Well, Major League Baseball, Harold, to me, the two biggest changes in the Major League in the last two or three years is the pitch clock, which is shaved off 30 minutes, and this year is the ABS Challenge.

Now, they've got three. The SEC's going to have three. And, again, these umpires get it right a lot more than they get it wrong, but I think that's going to be huge in critical situations. And Alabama's playing well. They really needed that sweep over Vandy. Harold, Ella, it's amazing at the discrepancy to me between Alabama and Vandy. Alabama's got a 5 RPI. Vandy's got a 71. Wow. Vandy's got coming up. They have got South Carolina, Missouri, two of the worst teams in the SEC. And Alabama's got South Carolina, then finish with Ole Miss at home.

[1:23:52] But that was huge. That 5 RPI will help Alabama as far as hosting a regional. And Auburn has won five consecutive series. They surprised a lot of people in SWELP, Texas A&M, on Saturday. They're really hitting the ball. They have good pitching, as Alabama does. I think Alabama and Auburn are both in good shape for the SEC tournament in Hoover and also hosting a regional. Well, to put it in perspective, Auburn right now is filth in the league. They're 14 and 10. Alabama is 6. They're 13 and 11. Let me ask you about this Bama team.

If they could just sit here and plug up some of the holes in that Swiss cheese defense, how far could this team go? Well, Harold, one of the holes is a shortstop who may be drafted in the top 10 of the major league draft. And he struggled at the plate. And so, I think that's the one area. Kanter has been pretty solid. But, yeah, that's what they really needed to work on because they booted the ball all over the guard against Tennessee when they lost two out of three the previous weekend.

But once, again, I mentioned it earlier, they had that three-run homer from Eric Hines who tied the Vaney game, 4-4, and Vaney and Alabama would on to win that game. And they swept on Tyler Faye to not have his best game. But that's the key to me. If Alabama can continue to improve their defense, they've had very solid pitching with Adams and Faye. If they can continue doing that, this team may make some noise in Hoover and the postseason. Well, I think you get a good read starting tonight against Troy because it's not a conference game.

And you get a team that's focused. It doesn't matter who you're playing. You're still going to go out and be pretty consistent. But sometimes, if you're not taking on a team with a reputation as far as baseball in the way of Vanderbilt, it's easy to lose your focus. So, it's going to be interesting to see how they focus tonight against Troy trying to get some big moe heading into the postseason. You mentioned Tennessee, B.B. They are filth from the bottom. And the reason I bring that up, obviously, Tony Vitello, he was the energizer.

Bunny Rabbit, now with the San Francisco Giants, you're not going to say no to that. Because, first of all, he's going to be able to go to the MLB. Whether it works out or not, he's going to have a set financially going forward. And even if it doesn't work out, you know Arkansas is chomping at the bits. If they ever make a change, that's probably where he would land. He can always come back and get a plum job in the college ranks. But your thoughts about Tennessee, and to me, the sidebar story to this, sometimes programs take things for granted.

Tennessee baseball, they pretty much fit on auto pilot under Tony. And you can see some football programs. I won't mention any that's had a good run. And I'm not saying that's going to happen here. But the point I'm trying to make is, don't take anything for granted. Head coaches matter, baby, obviously. Well, it does. Harold, isn't it amazing? Ole Miss and Mississippi State win a World Series. And then a year later, they fall apart. Yeah. Well, she was 9-15 with one of the best coaches in the game.

And they're probably not going to make a regional right now unless a minor miracle happens. As you mentioned, Tennessee's 11-13, 31-17. They lost the series over the weekend. One of the reasons, they couldn't hit their way out of a paper bag. Had runners in scoring position one game, there were something like 3 out of 12. Well, the pitching's been there, but Tennessee's got to get going the next few weekends. Have you talked with our friend Bill Shanks? I mean, how humble is Bill now? The top dog in the SEC is a team near and dear to Bill's heart.

If you're with us on Fridays, you know that. He's kind of shy about it, I'm sure. Have you talked with Bill about Georgia basically grabbing hold of the brass ring and not letting go this season in baseball, not football? Harold, their power is amazing. They've hit 130 home runs. They've got a six-game winning streak. They've won eight of their last ten. Listen, Bill Shanks, when it comes to Georgia, he can't be humble about anything when it comes to Georgia. But I'm telling you, this Georgia team is really good.

How many home runs again? They're close. They may be over 130 now. Wow. High school coaches would like that, including Josh Scheller. He's a ball set at Central Florence, and he is on deck on the Boomo Bugg Show. Stay with us. Spring is in the air, and Aleve's long-lasting pain relief is here to keep you moving. The days are longer, and the flowers are blooming. Whether it's gardening, yard work, or just spending more time outdoors, spring is a way of getting us moving despite any body pain.

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Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93-9, the score. The score. Welcome back in. If it's Senko De Mayo, let's put it another way. A lot of good baseball teams are still rocking and rolling in the high school diamonds, including out at Central Florence High School, where we're taking it with head coach Josh Fowler. Coach, welcome in. How are you? Yes, sir. I'm good. Good to join y'all. Hey, Coach. Good to have you on board. First of all, congratulations. How sweet is it to turn the calendar, and here you are in May still playing baseball.

Yeah, appreciate it. It has. It's been a special year. You always want to still be playing at this time, and it's been two years in a row we found ourselves in the third round, so we're excited to be here. Coach, let's talk a little bit about that, because for the folks who don't follow the program as religiously as some impressive is the way you can describe it. Correct us if we're wrong, but the last time Central reached the quarterfinals in back-to-back years, and that streak had a four-year streak, was from 1995 to 98.

It just shows you how tough it is. That's a long, dry spell. Talk to us just about what it means to be a part of history out there. Yeah, it's exciting. This is my sixth year out here, and when I took over, I remember that tradition. I went to Deschler and remember growing up and having some battles with Central in the late 90s and early 2000s, so I knew what this program had been, and it is exciting to get back, but like you guys said, it's so tough.

Our area has been brutal the last several years. We've had a five-team area, and we've said for several years now, if we can just sneak in, we feel like we can compete just because our area is so tough, but we're very fortunate we definitely don't take it for granted because it is very tough to do. Let me ask you about the team. You swept Plainview 7-0 and 7-4. Reed Bruce, a four-hitter in game one. You're 25-12 on the season. Mason Myers had knocked in two runs.

Reed Nix. Colin Barnes scored two runs. Cole Wilkinson had a one-hit shutout through six innings of game two. Very impressive. Talk about some of the guys who've been your leaders in your produce for you this season. Yeah, we've got a special group. We've got 10 seniors, and this group, we've got some guys that have been kind of up and down all year, and I think that's what's allowed us to be so successful is we don't have to just count or rely on one or two guys. We've got 10 seniors, and it seems like every week these couple of guys are stepping up, and then you know how baseball is.

[1:35:05] It's a roller coaster. You're hot for two weeks, and then you feel like you can't catch it up and hit it, but we've done a really good job of just different guys stepping up, and you named off several guys just being, that's the way it's being all year, just different guys stepping up. Last week, we played about as good a baseball as we played all year. Plainview was tough and really better than I was expecting. We got there, and the arms they threw, and we played really, really well.

We were very fortunate to get out of that series. That's a long trip, too. I guarantee you. Coach Josh Fowler hooking up with us. Talk to us about that, Coach, because as you mentioned, baseball, like so many sports, but maybe in baseball sometimes more than others because it is such a long season. It's a roller coaster. You're up, you're down, you're sideways. Talk to us about the timing of it. It's all about getting hot at the right time, and I've seen teams. They get to the postseason.

They got very impressive records, maybe even unbeaten or anything, and then the first time they had to face adversity on that stage, they fall apart. You've been up, and you've been down. Talk to us about how the schedule has gotten you prepared now when basically there's no choice. If you want to keep rocking, you've got to keep winning. Yes, you're exactly right. We've had, if you look at our schedule, it has been a roller coaster. We started off pretty hot. I think we were 8-1, and then we went through a stretch where our schedule got tougher, and we lost some close games.

I think at one time we lost 11 out of 14. I just kind of kept telling the guys, hey, hang in there, hang in there. We do. We felt like our schedule would battle test us, and I think that's been true. We've won now 13 in a row, and we have. We've kind of gotten hot at the right time. Some guys stepping up at the plate. We've been fortunate enough to score some runs, so we have gotten hot at the right time. I've had teams before where you feel like you peak in the middle of the year.

I feel like that happened to us last year. We had a good group. You know, middle of the year, about spring break, we were playing our best baseball, and just for whatever reason, you know, come playoff time, we just, the sticks kind of went a little cold, and we just, we weren't playing terrible. We just wasn't as, you know, playing our best baseball, and I feel like this year it's been different. We just had that lull in the middle, and we're able to kind of turn it around and get hot at the right time.

So, it's our schedule, I do think. If you look back, we've played a tough schedule, and that was by design. Again, 10 seniors. I thought it was a group that could handle us losing some games and being able to bounce back, and they've done exactly that. Let me ask you about your opponent. You're going to be hosting Alexandria, the Valley Cubs, one of the best names in hosting sports in the state of Alabama. Listen, as you all know, when you get to the quarterfinals, there are no bad teams.

They swept Fayette County 7-0, 9-6. They had a kid, Sawyer Coggins, who had a no-hitter in game one. Zach Welch is a very good coach there. Tell us a little bit more about the team you've got coming in, Alexandria. Yeah, we've got a lot of respect for Alexandria. Historic program. I had some battles with them. I went to Dester, and we played. They actually put me out my sophomore and junior year, and once in the semis, once in the quarters, Zach Welch was actually a big-time player for them on those teams.

So I've had some run-ins with Coach Welch as a player and now as a coach. But, yeah, great, great program. We've got a lot of respect. They're going to do things right. They're going to be well-coached. They're going to put pressure on you and bunt and play small ball and run. So we'll have to be ready to defend that. But, yeah, a lot of respect for Coach Welch and that Alexandria program. We're going to have our hands full for sure. You talked about Alexandria. Let's talk about your team.

Obviously, they've been there and had their medal tested. Talk to us about some of the players. I know it's one of the situations where you've got so many, but to the extent you can, talk to us about some of the personalities on this team. Yeah, 10 seniors, which, again, those are our leaders. And, like I mentioned earlier, it really has been, and I felt like it was going to be the case, we've got guys that have just stepped up in different spots of the season. And, you know, each one of them brings their own thing to our team and allows us to be who we are.

Reed Bruce has kind of been our, he's been our most steady guy all year long. He's hitting over 400. We give him the ball game one. We've been doing that since he's been a sophomore. So he's thrown game one for us for several years now. We've got a lot of confidence in him. I'll tell you a guy that probably don't get as much credit as he deserves is Cole Wilcoxon. Cole's been throwing game two for us. He also catches every time he doesn't pitch, and he's done that for several years now.

[1:40:15] Too tough kid. He's kind of been banged up all year, and you wouldn't know it. I mean, there's times where I'm thinking, man, you know, he's not going to be able to go today. And he says, coach, I'm fine. He just keeps going out there. So tough kid, again, another senior. But he's been really good for us. And then we've just had some different guys. Like right now, Colin Barnes and Brock Price kind of hit the bottom of the order for us. But they've been as hot as anybody.

Elijah Lambert leads out for us and has been a great player for us. Just a lot of different guys are stepping up and kind of make us go. Coach, if you don't mind, talk to us about the secret for any team out there. And that is, I'm old-fashioned. It comes down to strong pitching and defense. Talk to us about where you are as far as pitching coming into. If you've got one A's, that's great. If you've got two in a bullpen and some good leather to back them up, you can go as far as you want to go sometimes.

But talk to us about your pitching and how it's setting up for the postseason. Yeah, that's kind of my philosophy, too. I always want to throw strikes and play good defense. You know, when I took over out here, that's something that we kind of harped on. We've had some really good arms. We haven't thrown as much strikes, you know, with previous teams as we've wanted to. And we've just, you know, that's something we've preached from really day one. And I think this group has finally kind of bought in and just, hey, we're going to try to eliminate the walks.

We're going to give up a few more hits than maybe other teams. We don't have guys that are going to go out and, you know, strike out 10 or 12. We don't have the guys that are going to throw mid to upper 80s. But we try to pound the strike zone and we try to be really athletic on defense, especially up the middle. And so far, our guys have been able to do that. Again, Bruce and Wilcoxson have been strike-throwing machines for us. And our guys up the middle defensively have been really good for us, especially as of late.

So that's – I agree. That is definitely the formula for success, and lately, especially, we've done a good job with throwing strikes and making plays. But that's very important to our team and our success. You've alluded to it a couple of times, playing a tough schedule, which you had. The areas, the area region's tough enough. But when you look across the board with teams that are in the quarterfinals, we've got two – we've got a couple of teams in Madison County. Bob Jones has been there. Limestone has got, I believe, four.

East Limestone, Lindsay Lane, Athens Bible, Hartzell's there every year. As you well know, when you play these guys week in and week out, I keep telling people, football, it may be south of Birmingham, but when you come to basketball and baseball, North Alabama, Phil Campbell is another team that's there every year. The teams – it's not by accident. Teams in North Alabama, particularly in basketball and baseball, are very good. Yeah, I agree. I've been saying that for years. We've tried to go different places for spring break.

We actually went to Baton Rouge this year and played some teams. We went to Knoxville last year. The year before, we went to Nashville. And we play some really quality teams. And I get on Game Changer and I look at their records and their schedule, and I'm thinking, man, this team's going to be really good. But we're able to go compete. I don't think people really understand how good baseball is in our area. We may not, you know, be sending guys to Division I places left and right and may not have those guys that are, you know, hitting 10 and 12 home runs and are, you know, lighting the radar gun.

But there's some really good coaches and there's some really good players in our area. And I do think, you know, this time of year that shows itself. And like I said, when we've been able to go and play teams from out of state or different parts of the state, I think it allows me to reflect and say, man, we have some pretty good baseball in our area. Coach, obviously in football, they call it the 12th man. In baseball, let's call it the 10th man. How important is not only still be playing, but where you're playing.

You keep the bus parked. You get the home cooking against Alexandria. And back to the 10th man, your message to the fans, I would imagine it's get there early and get you a seat. Your thoughts about having the home cooking against Alexandria and what it means for a community like Central to still be here with what all is on the table. Yeah, very exciting. You know, we've traveled the first two rounds. Last year we made it to the third round, but we only got to host once.

Very excited. I don't know. I need to check back. I'm not sure when the last time we've hosted a third round. It's been several years. Our fans are great. You know, win or lose, we have good crowds. And we've been a little better lately. They've shown up. So I anticipate having a big crowd. And, again, it's definitely an advantage to be able to play where you're comfortable and, you know, what you know and playing in front of your friends and family and students. We're very excited and anticipate having a big crowd.

[1:45:46] Heaven forbid. Okay. Heaven forbid. But we know we're in North Alabama, which means the weather's going to do what it's going to do. What kind of contingency plans if, and I'm hoping I'm dead wrong on this, if the weather's a factor tomorrow, or, I'm sorry, Thursday? Yeah. We actually originally had Wednesday penciled in. I think that's what the state, you know, kind of penciled in for 4A. And just talking with Coach Welch, I just thought tomorrow would not be ideal. You don't want to get in a situation where you start and then you have to pause.

It happened to us a couple of years ago at corner and kind of messes everybody's pitch in and up. And it makes it tough. So we did bump it back a day. And, you know, if it does just continue to rain or comes in a little later, we'll just keep backing it up and play it as early as we can. But I think as dry as it's been, I think a little rain tomorrow might do our field some good. And hopefully we'll be able to go on Thursday.

But worst case scenario, we would just bump it back and go Friday. But I think we're going to be okay. Let me close with this. I tell people all the time, I think Central Athletics is one of the most underrated programs in North Alabama. You're in the quarterfinals for two consecutive years. Your softball team is 40-11. Now, Heath Wood, I believe he's been there 15 years. They were only 5-5 last year. But he's had some very good seasons. Basketball is very competitive. You've got a lot of multi-sport athletes, which has kind of crossed the board.

Look, I know how good Dashler is, Mars Hill, Muscle Shoals, in Florence. But, Josh, listen, a lot of these programs don't – Central is very competitive in all sports and I think very underrated. Yes, I appreciate you saying that and we think the same thing. And I think a lot of it just has to do with, number one, our principal, Dwayne Keener, he is – he's a sports guy. He gets it. He's very involved. I mean, you're not going to come to really any sporting event. But I think he's been to pretty much every baseball game that we played.

And if he hadn't, softball was playing. He didn't get to come last week. But softball was playing in big – hosting the area tournament on Friday. So, it starts with him and just our coaches. We all get along. We do have to share players. That's just part of it, being at a 4A program. You know, we've got to share. We work well together. And I think the success in one sport builds with the other and he kind of adds on. So, you know, I feel like when we have good baseball seasons, it's because, you know, the football team's been competitive and the basketball team's been competitive and those guys are, you know, competing and winning.

And so, we are very fortunate. But I think it starts with the coaches. And then we just got good kids, good families, hard workers. Very fortunate to be where I'm at. This is your exact right. It's a very special place. Listen, thank you so much for taking some time to tell us about the program, about the school. Good luck against Alexandria, as Harold mentioned. I hope the rain holds off. God bless you and the players and the team. Hopefully, the plan's going to have a lot to celebrate.

Come Thursday or Friday. Listen, good luck and bring back a blue map in a couple of weeks. Yes, sir. Appreciate you guys. And thanks for covering us. And I appreciate you having me on. Absolutely. Thank you so much for taking time out of a pretty doggone busy schedule these days. Coach Josh Feller at Central High. BB, are you ready for some Atlanta Braves baseball tonight? Do you get a nap? How do you handle that, by the way? Well, yes. I advise that strongly as you and I are a little bit above 39 now.

Yeah. It should be. I think the Braves rebound tonight. They had a 4-0 lead. Seattle came back, scored five runs. The bullpen, a bummer in particular, was bummed out. But I think the Braves rebound tonight. Start tonight. Eight and a half up on both Washington and Miami. Elder will take the man. Watch out for the fields right now. They got a new skipper in there. And he knows a thing or two about winning baseball. So, but watch out for the fields. The Mets still 11 and a half.

And that doesn't bother us one bit to say the Mets are 11 and a half behind the Braves. As they start the night, again, you're on 93.9 The Score. It's going to take care of business for now. On behalf of BB, Greg, James Flair, the entire crew here. Harold Buck, thank you so much for your time today. Let's do it again tomorrow at noon at 2 with Stuart Sink. Scheduled to join us right here on the Boomwell Buck Show on 93.9 The Score. We'll see you next time.