Boomo Bugg Show 062626

[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 here 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 Valley. Brett Beaird, welcome in where Alabama keeps it down home because on the recruiting trail and the Big Orange loses a big piece of their defensive puzzle.

Good afternoon, welcome in and how are you? Happy Friday to you and the listeners. Yeah, we're going to talk about that 12th Alabama commitment with the other Brett in just a second. Penn State transfer Ed's Chance Coleman, the big money offseason portal addition for Tennessee, has been medically disqualified and is no longer a part of the team. The Braves had a terrible month of June and Bill Shanks is going to tell us why. But Brad is here right now to talk about that 12th commitment that happened this morning and a possible 13th commitment tomorrow.

I kind of feel like the odd man out here from one Brett to another Brett. Brett Greenberg is the recruiting guru with Bama 24-7, part of the 24-7 sports family. Brett, welcome in. How are you? Absolutely, guys. Thank you for having me. Kyle, like you guys just said, I'm ready for this calendar to 5th of July because it has been a brutal month for the Atlanta Braves, by Atlanta Braves. Man, I think, you know what, Brett, just before, obviously, we're going to get into the topic de jure here, but just a short time ago, it seemed like just boom yesterday, we were saying if the Braves could just play 500 ball from that point to the end of the regular season, they're guaranteed almost 90 wins.

Right now, a lot of Braves fans are trying to get them to 500 ball. We never thought we'd say that, just basically a week ago. Yeah, it's a lot of injuries. San Diego, Petco Park has not been nice to Atlanta for the last couple years, so I have to get out of there. Hopefully a little bit of success out west. I say, like you mentioned, good 500, just win your series. Obviously, they didn't do that over the week, but just win your series and hopefully take care of itself.

I'm trying to ignore these Phillies and how hot they are, but they're inching closer, which I never, ever like to take. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Brett, your bailiwick commitments for Alabama football. Your thoughts about, correct me from wrong, but the 12th commitment for this class, and basically Alabama didn't have to spend a lot of money, they didn't have to go to Hawaii to get them, did they? No, they did not have to spend a lot of money, and they don't have to spend any bit of travel fee or anything like that.

You're referring to Jeremy Beverly, who made this decision to commit to Alabama on Friday morning out of Hillcrest, Tuscaloosa. So the second Hillcrest, Tuscaloosa guy to commit. Last year, they had Day Hall on the linebacker. This year, you've got Jeremiah Beverly, 6'2", 235-pound edge. And, you know, we talk about it a lot, I know you guys do, and I bring it up, so you want guys that want to be part of the program, that aren't worried about the money. They just want to put on that crimson and white, and he's a perfect, perfect example of that.

Not a lot of big-time offers. Alabama's his only SEC offer. I could see others following suit after this decision and into the fall. But this kid that, you know, I talked to him over the last couple weeks, he used to go to the two-a-day Nick Saban camp every single year growing up. Had kind of constant contact with Christian Robinson over the last couple years and earned that offer on campus on June 8th, and it was done from there. He felt like that, you know, his lifelong opportunity, his lifelong dream was checked, so he went ahead and committed to Alabama.

And that's a kid that certainly has the frame, may, you know, take a year, a year or two, more of a developmental project. But a guy who wants to be in the building, would talk with him, I have a story up on Bama 247. He's like, I'm just not going to take a single day for granted. I'm going to walk into that facility with a smile on my face and just know that I have an opportunity that a lot of other people in his position, especially locally, don't have.

Brad, it's been a good week for Alabama as far as sheer numbers of recruits committing. It started Sunday with Darius White, the three-star cornerback from Fairburn, Georgia. I've been impressed with some of the clips I've seen of him. And then the Daily Double on Tuesday, Tyler Younger from Greater Atlanta Christian, 6'5", 230. I've been impressed with him. He's got a lot of potential down the road. Stafford Willis from our neck of the woods and A-Rab, a three-star offensive lineman. We'll get to Asani Gales in a minute.

[5:02] But before we do that, as far as numbers, Alabama picking up four commitments this week. Yeah, it's been a good week. It was kind of one new circle that it felt like at the end of June that we're going to get that numbers up. Again, it's going to be a smaller class dealing with 12 right now. You mentioned we'll get to Asani Gales. That could look like 13 by the end of the week. So not a whole lot of spots left. But Darius White was a guy that, you know, again, might be rated as a three-star.

But this staff, Coach Moe Linguish, has had quite a good success on the recruiting trail. He's another guy that's 6'3", another long-length corner. A guy they targeted for many, many, many months. Took his official visit to kick off the summer. And quite frankly, I thought a commitment would have happened then. But, you know, he just kind of went quiet, kind of looked over some things, and ended up Alabama, you know, the school that had all the buzz, the longest time for the kid out of the Peach State, ended up getting his commitment on Sunday afternoon.

And then they followed up, like you mentioned, the two-for-Tuesday, if you will. Tyler Younger, it's just a great point you brought up. You look at his measurables. The kid is just an absolute freak. Has a lot of a big frame that he can grow in. He's 6'5", 220-plus pounds right now. That can get up, you know, he can gain 20, 25 pounds, just like a guy like Xavier Griffin has done at his freshman year. But it's interesting with Tyler Younger, he originally was a wide receiver. Then he played a little bit of linebacker.

Now he's moved into that edge role. So he has that versatility. He has that athleticism. And we'll talk with some 2-4-7 national analysts that really firmly believe if he has a good year, he could jump into that top 2-4-7 and be a four-star. Absolutely. It's just that length, that athleticism, the versatility, the quick twitch that he possesses. Once he puts it all together, it could be a very, very big piece for Coach C-Rob, Christian Robinson at the outside linebacker, Wolf position. And then Stafford Willis, you mentioned in your neck of the woods again, and we've talked about it over and over.

It's going to be a very, very, very small class, very small offensive line class. You look at the kind of group as a whole. There's two quarterbacks, two running backs, two tight ends. But beyond that, it's kind of going to be one or two like that at each position in Stafford Willis. Again, you mentioned kids that want to be in the fold, kids that grew up Alabama fans, aren't set on starting year one. And if they don't, they're going to transfer out. They're all about the developmental factor.

And I think it also speaks to what Adrian Clem has done. I know that's only his first commitment, and it looks like that might be his only in the class. But Stafford Willis absolutely raved about Adrian Clem and his demeanor and his career, his resume, what he's done at both the NFL level and producing guys, whether it's at Oregon or USC at his coaching staff. And it's also paid dividends early on for a lot of 2028 kids. There's two in the state specifically that Alabama is already in a good position for.

There's a lot of other guys. So I think it's encouraging to see that Adrian Clem has that recruiting prowess. And I know some people say, you know, wait, what do you mean? Like, you know, Stafford is a three-star. There's a couple other guys that maybe Alabama has kind of missed on. Those are guys that are commanding absolutely insane numbers to go to certain schools, and Alabama is just not in that position to do so. But kind of all in all, four commitments so far, looking like there could be a fifth on Saturday.

But there's a guy that, before they added, there's a guy that they've coveted that they really feel strongly about being potential playmakers down the road. So you've got to be pretty, I think, excited if you're Alabama. Brett Greenberg hooking up with us. Bama 24-7, part of the 24-7 sports family. Brett, I was listening to it here. Yeah, it's pretty wild out there and common that Alabama will have a small class. I think a lot of folks can accept that. But a lot of fans, this is recruiting fanatics country here.

If it's going to be small, I think a lot of folks will say, why would it not go with more four and five stars? Well, you hit on it there. They come with a higher price tag. And Alabama's philosophy is we're going to sink or swim with this. For the critics of this class who's saying three-star after three-star, Brett, what does this coaching staff know that recruiting fanatics do not know? Yeah, I mean, I'm not to play both sides of the fence here. But I think it's an absolutely fair criticism.

If you're going to have a smaller class, why not potentially go out and spend a lot of money on one or two guys that you have in the fold? Again, you do have Elijah Haven in the fold. You've got Trent Seymour in the fold. But I think it shows to what the staff thinks they have in their 2025 and 2026 classes, who are both top three classes overall. And what most people, I think, understand, but also it's worth repeating, those guys, the Justin Hill, the Michael Carroll, Jackson Lloyd, you're going to have to pay those guys again.

As much as people hate that, that's the name of the game. So I think they're confident in their development and they're guys that want to be in the building. They've only lost one of those commitments over the last two cycles. So the retention factor, I think, is worth pointing out. You're going to have to pay them. The guys that are going to want to stick around, I think a lot of them will. And then also, I think there's going to be a lot of money allocated to the transfer portal next fall or next offseason.

[10:04] It was a big haul this year where there are as many marquee guys that, you know, Alabama fans would have liked. I would probably agree with no, but I think they're showing they're going to allocate a little bit more money into the portal and getting, you know, a proven defense alignment, if you will, with years of experience rather than paying kind of a similar price for a high schooler that, you know, hasn't played a snap college football yet. Let me ask you about two possible commitments for Alabama.

One, we've alluded to, Sonny Gales from IMG Academy. When he canceled his official visits to Tennessee and Notre Dame, I said, hmm, he may be a big priority for Alabama and has been. He's going to announce tomorrow. It appears the tea leaves say he's going to choose Alabama. And then three-star Kyron Caldwell is going to announce on the 4th of July. Three-star from Lake City, Florida, 6'1", 175. I've heard a lot of good things about him. Will those two be Alabama's next verbal commitments? Yeah, I really do think so.

In this day and age of recruiting, you never want to, like, fully commit to it until it's announced. But everything you're kind of hearing, particularly with Sonny Gales and the way Derek Nix has prioritized him since joining the staff this winter, all signs reporting to the Crimson Tide, getting this one done on Saturday afternoon, I believe it's 3 o'clock Central time. You guys can watch that. Alabama fans can watch that decision on the CBS Sports College Football YouTube channel. He's out at the opening finals in Eugene, Oregon, right now.

And he continues to, you know, make plays out there and press the 247 sports scouting team. And I do want to bring up, just while we're talking about receivers, I know a lot of attention is on Monson's sales. Indiana, Texas, probably a little bit of a better position. I think, you know, I could already see, you know, you get a commitment from O'Sonny Gales. What does it mean for Monson? I want to, you know, O'Sonny Gales has every point, every potential to be in that five-star ranking by the time the final rankings are released in January.

Kind of that Swiss Army Knights, going to play that slot at Alabama, should he choose Alabama. A little bit of Jalen Waddle vibes. I know that's a strong comparison, but a lot of people have mentioned that to me. O'Sonny Gales is a great, great player. Now, Washington, Stanford also involved. He plays at IMG Academy, but is a West Coast native. So you never want to count out those schools. But everybody I've talked to over the last couple weeks continues to feel more and more confident that the Crimson Tide are going to get O'Sonny Gales, who's the number seven wide receiver in the country, and a very, very good talent.

And I think Alabama fans should be very, very happy about it. And then the other receiver you mentioned, yeah, Kyron Caldwell out of Lake City, Florida. You mentioned 6'1", 175 pounds, kind of that burner. Another guy that can play in the slot and eventually move out wide as long as his career goes at the University of Alabama. He said to commit on July 4th, Mississippi State and Maryland are kind of the other two shooters. But all signs pointing to Alabama, getting that one done, getting some fireworks, if you will, on the 4th of July on the recruiting trail.

Got a crystal ball prediction put in for Alabama to eventually land Caldwell on the 4th of July. And he's another guy that with a good senior season could absolutely find his way in the top two, four, seven as well. So I think if you look at this offensive ball between Elijah Haven, Trent, and Keyboard, and you knock it out of the park there. I know a lot of people are high on it, including myself, Nigel Newkirk, and Ty Phillips. Those guys are completely shut down, are going to be at every home game this year.

You always like to see that. And then the two tight ends that Richard Owens likes, I think you like that. And you throw in O'Sonny Gales, Kyron Caldwell. I think it's a pretty good offensive ball after two very impressive calls at those positions over the last few cycles. You're going to have the absolute latest, Maura, on O'Sonny Gales. And I'm like you, I do think he will pick Alabama. Tell us where we can get online. And you keep us updated just as fast as you can.

And number one, online, where can we find you? Number two, Junior Tupo from Thompson, a tremendous defensive back. We'll choose at 3 o'clock today from Texas, Alabama, Indiana, Auburn, and Oregon. I know Alabama was in there for a while, but I think the Texas NIL may eventually win him over, if not Oregon. Where can we find you online, and where do you think Tupo announces this afternoon? Yeah, everything that I've kind of mentioned, and in between, live updates, everything's over at damage247.com. So come and join us.

You've got active boards all day long, whether it's NFL coverage or college baseball, college baseball, whatever it may be. Come on over. Recruiting season is in full swing. So we've got a bunch of things on there, a bunch of topics, who could be next, as we talked about. But you mentioned Junior Tupo, who is an outstanding, outstanding safety, 6'3", 190-plus pounds, out of Thompson High School. Alabama's already got Trent Seaborn out of the national. National Powerhouse. Alabama, you know, was in a good spot. But then, you know, he gets to Texas in the spring, takes an official visit.

[15:13] And the Longhorns, as you mentioned, I've mentioned over and over on this show, and people who follow recruiting know, they've got some deep pockets over at Texas. And what I've been told, the safety position is a major, major, major need for the Longhorns when you look at the roster outlook. So, again, nothing's for certain, but I put a little note on Thursday night that I feel like the Longhorns are going to eventually get that one done. And I continue to feel like Texas is going to be able to post Junior Tupo from the state of Alabama and Indian State.

But I don't think Alabama gives up. There's a long way to go until December. You've got Trent Seaborn, like I mentioned, in his year daily, and he's, you know, 45 minutes from campus. So, a potential trip in the fall, despite, you know, potentially being committed to Texas, wouldn't be surprising. And I think he's going to be wanting to fall all the way until December. The power of gold, as they say. Brad, listen, man, it's always good to catch up with you. I know it's going to be a busy weekend.

Got eyes on you. And stay safe out there. And thank you so much for your time today. Absolutely, guys. Appreciate you. Thank you, bud. Thank you, Brad. Brad Greenberg, cooking up with us. Busy there at 24-7 Sports. Coming up, let's keep it Southern. Michael Southern on deck. Stay with us. I know that hiring can be challenging. You sort through tons of resumes and you get too many so-so applicants. You're just waiting for someone to match your role perfectly. Well, now, there's a place where you can meet them fast.

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Michael Southern, welcome in. How are you? Hey, I'm doing great today, guys. How are you doing? Hey, Boone. Man, we're doing all right. You know, anytime there's a, how can we put this, a juicy job opening up in the world of college basketball, especially if it's got roots to the state of Michigan, we know what name pops up to Tuscaloosa. So, Michael, your thoughts about Nate Oates, and to me, this is the way when your name comes up and you're trying to build momentum, is it safe to say that Nate Oates knows how to handle it, and before that, Greg Byrne knows how to put out a fire before it ever gets really raging?

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, they already put this to arrest months ago, so this is a non-story. I believe he already swatted it down already on ESPN radio. Guys, let me ask you this. Did you ever think you would see the day when the basketball coach has a higher buyout than the football coach? Exactly. The times, they are changing. That, to me, guys, that's the most shocking thing out there. I never thought I would ever see anything like that, but, I mean, as far as college jobs are concerned, I mean, I really, the only one I've ever heard or just heard a little bit of, maybe rumblings about, maybe to be concerned one day, but always depends on circumstance and timing, like anything else, the Michigan State, I'm not even concerned about Michigan.

As we joked about that, that buyout is pretty substantial, and again, he has made it clear that he is very happy here. He has gotten the commitment. Now, obviously, you know, the basketball team is like the football team. They're not going to outbid anybody. They're going to be competitive. They're going to sell you on the program of development, and this is where we can best suit you to get you to the next level, and you've got a nice practice facility based on basically the Boston Celtics practice facility, so why not come here?

So, that's their selling point. So, I think he's got everything that he wants right now, and I think he's very happy, and again, he's still got two daughters that are still not in college, so that's another part of everything that kind of keeps him tied to the area for right now. Michael, that may be the most important part. Any dad out there with two daughters knows, don't sit here and take that point lightly, and he probably remembers those winters in Michigan, and the winters compared to Tuscaloosa.

No, by the way, the word is, he likes that short jaunt down to the Gulf Coast as well, which would be a problem. I don't think Lake Michigan offers the same vista as Gulf Shores. No, and look, I've run into people all the time from the north and the south. If you go up north, very rarely do you run into people that move from the south to go to the north. Thank you. He usually doesn't happen at all. And the top money up there, too. Absolutely.

There's no doubt about that. Yeah, you're right. The buyout for Nate Oates, and again, this goes back to Greg Byrne nipping this in the bud a couple of months ago. Nate Oates' buyout is $15 million. Now, that jumped once he signed a $7.25 million contract. Cuddling DeBoer's buyout now has jumped, too, but it's only $10 million. So you're exactly right. Now, one thing Nate Oates does really well is put players in the NBA draft. Only two, Alabama basketball only had two NBA first-round draft picks over a 22-year period prior to Nate Oates.

Since he walked in the door in Tuscaloosa, he's had five LeBaron fine line going 22 to the Philadelphia 76ers. Was he actually picked a little lower than you thought he would be? Yes, because I saw a lot of mock draft projections that had Phylon anywhere from the fringe end of the lottery, which I believe is pick 14, all the way down to 14 to 20. So technically, maybe he slipped a little bit. But I got to tell you, even though that's kind of a crowded backcourt with Tyrese Maxey and Vijay Edgecombe, I actually like the fact that he fell to a contender.

[25:41] Granted, they have injury issues themselves when it comes to Joel Embiid, but I like the fact that, look, we know what kind of town Philadelphia is. It's a good-sized media market. It's not the largest, but it's one of the larger ones, and it is a blue-collar town. So who is the best embodiment of blue-collar grittiness than LeBaron Phylon? I mean, the guy practically had to beg and fight his way to Tuscaloosa via Auburn and Lawrence, Kansas. And then his freshman year, the coaches were hitting like, hey, maybe would you consider a red shirt?

He had to put that to rest in fall camp. So there's no one that grinds and fights like LeBaron Phylon. And I think the people of Philadelphia will appreciate that. We know that's a blue-collar town. One thing about it, you better be good up there, because this is a town that booed back in the day Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt at third base and Santa Claus. They're not shy up there, Michael. So he's got to perform every night. Michael, your thoughts. You mentioned a key phrase there, offseason.

If you follow Alabama basketball, that's been about as big an enemy for Alabama basketball as the season itself. Schedules, Don, and talk about that. But what would be different this offseason to keep the injury bug from biting Alabama from the word go? Well, I mean, you know, like anything else, once fall camp starts, you know, all bets are off. That's when all the injuries happen. You know they go like full contact karate. They don't hold back. They do. I mean, they're diving for loose balls. I mean, he wants them to instinctively just go after it.

So, I mean, that's why he recruits the way he does. He wants to have, basically, you'll see in the non-conference schedule, guys, remember, he plays 10 to 12 players in the non-conference, because that's what he's wanting. He wants the depth. He wants the experience. He wants them to hustle. And he wants them to earn their spot. So, I don't think anything's going to change from that. You know, I was looking at the SEC schedule, the home and away. Obviously, we don't know the dates yet. But, you know, this is a daunting road schedule, depending on how it falls with the dates.

But this is going to be tough. I really think this basketball team has the potential to be a better team, but could have a worse record just based on the schedule. So, I mean, you already know you're at Arkansas and Auburn. Mississippi State, eh, not worried about that. But you're at Tennessee for the fifth year in a row. You're at Kentucky. You're at both Texas schools. And both Texas schools are rising like a rocket. So, those are going to be two tough trips. And then you say, well, you got Florida at home.

Well, you know what? This year, I would have no problem if they played at Gainesville again. If you give me one of those Texas schools back in Tuscaloosa, I would swap that. But you can't do it. So, we'll see how it falls. So, it is a very, very difficult road schedule this year for the basketball team. Boy, it sure is. And they've got Tennessee and Knoxville again. I think that's in the SEC bylaws that Alabama basketball plays in Knoxville every frigging year. Tide Hoops History, the 32-part series of Nate Oates Technicals, number 26.

Nate Oates slams a clipboard. And one of the officials did not miss it. And I thought when I saw Don Daly, who's an Alabama all-time favorite as far as an official, would slap Nate with a T. It was someone else. But you've had a great series here. This was a game in Missouri that Missouri won actually going away. But it was the infamous slamming or hitting the clipboard. Yeah. So, remember, Missouri caught Alabama at the most perfect time. It was a midweek home game for Missouri.

And Alabama was already coming off that tough home loss to Auburn in that monumental one versus two. So, you knew they were going to be a little bit flat. But, yes, the infamous slamming the clipboard when that happened. So, that was a pretty big event. We were joking. You know, when I go back and I've done this and I look at the – you know, I list the officials for each game. You know, you can tell. Like, there's some of the games where you basically have, like, Doug Shows and Don Daly.

Right. Or you have Don Daly and Pat Adams. Yep. And I'm thinking, like, oh, good Lord, if you ever see a lineup with any of those two in it, you know there's a key coming for Nate O's. It's a given. And, heaven forbid, it's like the officiating trinity of if you had Doug Shows, Pat Adams. Oh, Lord. And Don Daly. Shoot, Nate will get ejected. He'll be ejected before halftime. That's exactly correct. Great stuff. Listen, where can we – we always enjoy the conversation. Where can we get online to get all your good stuff?

Oh, yeah. So, we've got six more installments left for the Nate O's to, you know, look at all the technical files they had. So, six more to go. So, come on out there. And you can catch up on the other ones, too. But we're at Bama History on X. So, come take a look. We've had a blast doing this. And I've had a lot of fun splicing together the video packages, too. Some of the stuff I'd actually forgot how funny some of it was. So, it's been really good.

He's going to have to open up a fresh can come this season. Michael sees some fresh stuff next season. As always, good to catch up with you. Thank you so much. Have a great and safe weekend, Michael. All right. You, too, guys. Take care. Thank you, bud. Michael Southern hooking up with us, amongst other places. The Blue Collar Podcast. Coming up. Bill Shanks is not in a good mood these days, Phoebe. Would you agree? Yes, that is correct. And details straight ahead of the Bama Bug Show.

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Or go to Sleep Number dot com. Sleep Number to a good life sleep. Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93.9 to a good life. After a day off yesterday, the Atlanta Braves are back in action tonight. They're in San Francisco at Oracle Park when they take on the Giants. Braves are 48-31. Ronaldo Lopez will start for Atlanta. He's 3-1 with a 3.50 ERA. Trevor McDonald will start for San Francisco. The NASCAR Cup Series back in action on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway in California for the Toyota Save Mart 350.

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And it comes this month's Atlanta Braves. Nobody has a bigger, thicker book than on that than Bill Shanks. He's host of the Bill Shanks Show on 93.1 FM in Macon, Georgia, online at theesuperstations.com. And on the tube at 41NBC. Bill Shanks, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing well. Good afternoon. Hey, Boone. Bill, Braves fans are spelling the Braves, T-R-O-U-B-L-E. Obviously, a lot of questions, a lot of injuries. Baseball fans, longtime baseball fans know it's a rollercoaster sport. It's not a sprint. It's a marathon. You've got some highs.

You've got some lows. Bill, where are you as far as being a longtime baseball fan with this latest chapter of the Braves in June? Well, they're in trouble. I mean, I think when you've lost six and a half games in the standings and you've gone from a ten and a half game lead to a four game lead, you're in trouble. The midway point of the season is tomorrow night. After the game in San Francisco, there'll be a game 81. So we'll be halfway through the regular season.

First part of it was great. Couldn't have been better. Now, the last 20 games have been rough and the last 13 games have been rougher. So they've got to snap out of this pretty pronto or if not, they're going to look up and see the Phillies in first place by the All-Star break. Well, if there's ever a chance to do it, it would be this weekend. Let's face it. The Giants have got all kinds of problems. Time permitted, we can talk about some of that stuff on the field and off.

But if the Braves need a reset here, as you mentioned, near the halfway mark of the regular season, this is a golden opportunity. It's up to them to take advantage of it, Bill. Well, they've just kind of played better ball. And their pitching has been pretty brutal. In the month of June, the starting pitcher, ERA, is 5.72. You combine that with the fact they're last in baseball in runs scored and in home runs and in OBP and in OPS, and that's going to give you a bad record.

They're probably lucky they're not worse than they are at 8-11 in the month of June. And they lost the last game of May, so they're 8-12 in their final last 20 games. So they're probably lucky it's not worse than that, to be honest with you, considering those two stats. So, yeah, they just have Ron Acuna's out. We've got Eli White in the right field. So we're dealing with the same kind of thing we dealt with last year. When you have to call on your reserves, your bench, to play more than they need to, to play where they're…

I mean, Eli White is a very good reserve, but when you have to start it, you're in trouble. For example, you know, that's kind of part of it. And you could get by with that maybe for a couple days, but when it's an extended period of time and your lineup is that drastically impacted by it, and not to mention the fact that you have a shortstop, who I call Kardashian, because he's real expensive and he's worthless. And, you know, I think you couple that $20 million being down the drain, you've got a problem.

One of the stats I always look at is scoring with runners in scoring position. They're hitting 154 in the last 13 games. They're 14-491. Now, I know Drake Baldwin came back and hit the longest home run in the major leagues, and since then, he's about one for 31 with 19 strikeouts. And as you mentioned, with Acuna being out, I mean, it just kind of piled on top of each other. But that's the one thing I always look at, is they get runners in scoring position and they just can't drive them in.

Well, they're just not a very dangerous lineup right now. They just, you know, Baldwin was brought back after one, he had one… Yeah. …game in his rehab stint down in Jacksonville for AAA Gwinnett, hit a home run in that game, and they're like, oh, well, he's fine. Let's just bring you back. Hit a home run in his first at-bat, the longest home run in baseball this year. Everybody's like, oh, well, he didn't need to be down there. And now he can't hit, and you're like, well, maybe you should have left him down there a little bit longer.

So, you know, there's just a rush on all these things. You've got to rush the pitchers, you've got to rush the batters back from injuries, and so that was a mistake. But, you know, the problem was they weren't getting any help at catcher from Sandy Leon and the others. They paraded in and out of there. Austin, whatever his name was, I mean, it's been hard to keep up with it. And now they have Joey Bart, who is the former number one overall pick, or excuse me, number two overall pick out of Georgia Tech for San Francisco.

[41:28] Played at Pittsburgh. They fired him. He had a home run the other night, so he's a little bit better option. But, you know, they rushed Drake Baldwin, and they paid for it. And so, you know, the last two years have been awful. They've fallen apart, and injuries are a big reason for that. And you know what? I hate to say it, but here we go again. Yep. Check out Bill Shanks, leadsuperstations.com. Bill, the other thing, too, that's going to be interesting this year compared to years past, and that is, let's face it, you basically got a brand new manager.

It's not like his first rodeo. As a skipper, I had time back in the day with Colorado, but this is going to be a test, because it's easy to sit here, and people point fingers in the clubhouse. It's up to Walt Weiss' decision to say, guys, look, the sky's not falling. We're having a rough period. We had a good period. So it shows you that you can be up, you can be down. Your thoughts just about how Weiss is going to handle this chapter to keep him in, and hopefully soon to get him back on track.

Well, he had a team meeting, evidently, right when they were kind of going good, and everybody was like, well, that was probably a good thing to have that kind of reaction to trying to keep him somewhat level-headed and everything, and then I would imagine there's been a meeting or two since then, but he's also got hope that there's some leadership in that clubhouse. Who are the leaders? We asked this question last year. Who are the leaders in that clubhouse? I don't know who they are, and so that's the problem.

That is the problem right there, and so they just got to figure that out, and I really don't know who it is. I don't. I wish I did. I mean, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't know if there is one. That's why five years ago, he had to go get one with Jock Peterson, who was kind of your SOB, for lack of a better term, that could kind of go through the clubhouse and start pointing fingers and not care if somebody said, who are you?

Well, he would say, I'm Jock Peterson, and I'm telling you, you know, I mean, I have that sometime in a clubhouse. Regardless of the sport, regardless of the level, he's going to have that. At least the perception, you know him better than we do, Bill. You would think that he would step up and take over that role. Well, maybe he's just a Mr. Nice Guy. No, he doesn't have that personality. I mean, he just doesn't. You know, there's some people who can do that. He's a follower, yeah.

Well, I'm not saying he's a follower. I just don't think he's got that demonstrative personality to take the reins and, you know, sometimes you do need somebody to go throw something in the clubhouse to get p***** off. They didn't have that last year. Like a Reggie Jackson. Well, you know, sometimes it's not a bad thing. And you go through and look, and I'm not trying to be graphic here, but I mean, sometimes a team needs an SOB, sometimes you need somebody, and there's no other way to put it.

You can say, well, it does not mean that he's a bad guy, right? It just means someone who can kind of be that guy who's like, man, what a son of a guy. And it's like, okay, who is that? And because you do need, I asked Mike Kastrzemski in spring training, because of the situation that happened last year, I asked him, I said, look, you're a new, you're a veteran. Can you be that type of player? And he said, well, you know, you have to kind of read the clubhouse a little bit.

You don't know if you can kind of stand up and be a new guy. You have to kind of feel your way. How he feels now after being there for four months, I don't know, you know, but it is kind of a dicey situation because you don't want people to say, well, who the heck is he? You know, but you've got to have that guy who doesn't care. You've got to have that guy who, I mean, John Peterson, I can't hold him in high regard for what happened in 2021 over everybody in uniform.

And I'm not kidding. They would not have won the World Series if not, you know, Soler and Rosario and Tyler Magic and Max Freed and Freddie, fine. But they're all contributing, they're all part of the story. There's no question. They would not have won that World Series without John Peterson, period, in the story. Partly because he was that SOB. Tell me your thoughts on the starting rotation. Grant Holmes. Yeah. Grant Holmes at times can be solid. Bryce Elder's turned into Bryce Elder. Lopez pitches tonight, which I know that thrills you.

Chris Sale's still one of the best pitchers in the game. And I'm like you. I like J.R. Ritchie very much, but he's got to throw strikes. And I think they've sent him down. Your thoughts on the starters? Well, number one, sending J.R. Ritchie down is stupid. Yeah, I agree. Young pitchers on a yo-yo is not going to help them. Yeah. You're confident. Yep. Number two, Reynaldo Lopez starting tonight is stupid. You had him in the bullpen because he couldn't go deep in games. You think he's all of a sudden, I mean, you think he's going to go more than four innings tonight?

[46:29] Yeah. I'll be shocked. Yeah. I mean, they've had one pitcher all month go more than 6.0 innings. Wow. And Bryce Elder in the first game of the month of June on June the 2nd. Yeah. All the rest of them have been below six innings. And half, rather, I'm sorry, 10 of the 19 games, they've had a pitcher go five innings or less as a starting pitcher. Mm-hmm. This rotation has, thank God it hadn't ruined the bullpen yet because it's unusual for your rotation to be so good at 5.7, or rather so bad at 5.72 ERA, and your bullpen ERA to be the best in baseball.

Because usually you're going to wear your bullpen out. Thank you. They've changed the bullpen a little bit, brought in Ian Hamilton, brought in James Kerenchak, that's helped a little bit. You know, Didier Fuentes' role, in my opinion, is ridiculous. I mean, he's got 30 innings through half a year. You're pitching him once a week. I just, look, I, you know what I said Jock Peters was in 2021 to the Atlanta Braves? I am that when it comes to the use of pitchers in baseball today. And I want to tell you something, I don't care if it's Jeremy Hefner, the Braves pitching coach, or last year's pitching coach, Rick Kerench, or anybody to try to convince me that what is done today in baseball with pitchers is, is correct.

I don't agree with it. I don't like it. And you can talk to me until you're blue in the face and you're talking to a brick wall. And you know what, I'm, I'm proven right because number one, the pitchers aren't staying healthy and consistency is out the window and the revolving door with their, with their transaction wire, because of how you have to change these pitchers out because, you know, I mean, the other day, I can't remember what day it was, one day in San Diego, Monday, maybe Monday, they had three relievers in the bullpen, three, they had three people available in the bullpen.

And, and so, you know what, let them continue doing, and I, and it's not just the Braves issue now. No, it's trying to be baseball. This is not just the Braves issue. It's not just the Braves who are doing these things that make me as someone who loves pitching and scratch my head because I, I mean, but it's like, if you've gone three weeks and you had one starting pitcher go more than 6.0 innings, you've got a problem. Yeah. I'd love to see, Tim McCarver always said funny stories when he went to the mound, they want to take Bob Gibson out of the mound.

Here's the guy in 1968, went every game, complete games. He winds up with a 1-1-2 ERA, I believe it was. And I'd like to see somebody take Bob Gibson or Nolan Ryan. You just don't get that kind of mentality anymore, Bill. Well, you don't, I interviewed Warren Spahn six months before he died and I asked him about it. I can't, I can't, I can't give you his response. Yeah. Greg fine $500,000. So, I mean, um, it's awful. I mean, but, but they've developed these pictures to where they go deep in game.

Right. They're not, they're not conditioned to go. It's not like you say, it's not like you sit down and say in screen training, Hey, look, you're, you're, you're going to make, you're going to make 25 starts. I want you to have at minimum of, of 150 innings at minimum and tell them that if you're not at 150 innings, you're going to, you're going to look at this year as a failure. Well, first of all, the pitching coaches won't go deep in games because they're afraid that if the pitcher gets hurt on their watch, they're going to get fired.

So, you know, what are the pitching coaches supposed to do? And then they're on these strict pitch counts, which haven't kept people from getting hurt. I mean, again, and I, I know I sound like just an old fart who's sitting there complaining about it, but what they're doing is not working. That's correct. The, the J.R. Ritchie thing. I mean, I love J.R. Ritchie. Okay. And I know J.R. Ritchie's gotten too many walks and he needs to be better with that. But what is, what, what's the big picture deal on sitting him down for a third time?

Yeah. I mean, it's just not, look, they screwed that around and did that with Kyle Wright and, and that, and it, what didn't work. They finally left him alone in, in, in triple A Gwinnett for a full year. He came up and the next year he, he won 21 games. Of course, the next year he blew his arm out, but I mean, still, you know, the yo-yo stuff just doesn't work. So, um, anyway, it's almost football season and Georgia's going to whip Alabama's a**. That's the most important thing, Brett.

I think one of your guests mentioned that yesterday on your, on your show, didn't he? Oh yeah. Brett Beaird said Georgia's going to whip Alabama's a**. It was on tape. If you go find it on my list. No, no. I think you've got that kind of, uh, backwards there, but yeah, I can't remember that in some ways. Well, now I know you sleep better at night, knowing Rob Manfred, your favorite commissioner of all time is in charge of baseball. He's a d********. I mean, he's just ridiculous.

That's an insult to d*********, Bill. Oh my Lord. Let me tell you, next year, I know we all, you and I, we all talk about spring football. Well, we're going to talk junior varsity spring football next spring because we ain't going to have no baseball to talk about. I can tell you that. That's exactly right. We're going to be doing spring practice. No, you're right. Every high school in our listing area, because there ain't going to be no d*** baseball going on. Oh Lord. Well, listen, uh, try to keep those guests with their filthy mouth off your show.

[51:55] Uh, who have you got on the show today? And where can we tune in with our incredible listeners who call you on a frequent basis? I hope they'll call more often. Uh, Tyler Rucker from those ceilings, NBA.com will help me continue to, to, uh, look back on the hog strap, which I know I'm sure the previous segment was talking about. No question. No, it's coming up the next hour. Maybe, maybe, maybe later. Y'all are just so anti-basketball around there. Oh man. Unbelievable. But, uh, the, the super stations.com.

Bill, listen, let's hope for a better, uh, outcome tonight in that great city of San Francisco for the Braves, kick back and have a safe weekend. Okay. Great city for you. I ain't going there. Never been, never will. Bill Shanks with these super stations.com coming up the next hour. Going to be taking you everywhere. But San Francisco, Kevin Starbenstein is going to be on board along with Doug Segrist, Mike Huganen, and the one, the only Elmer Pierce. It's all straight ahead. Stay with us. Hello, Shoals.

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Valley Broadcasting Corporation, WITK-FM, Rogersville, Athens, Decatur, The Shores. Westwood One Sports presents this world soccer update. A sour end to the group stage for the United States with last night's loss to Turkey on the final shot of the match. But head coach Mauricio Pochettino, who rested several starters, isn't focused on the result. Do you think it's going to change the mood of the player or what they think? Because we conceded in the last moment a goal that is possible to concede. We should score before and win the game.

[56:55] It's going to change my mood, my momentum. No. Winning this game or not winning this game is not going to change. The most important is that we compete. The U.S. will take on Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32 Wednesday in San Francisco. Today's schedule starts an hour from now. France and Norway will play for first place in Group I. Tonight, Spain and Egypt can win their respective groups with victories. With this 2026 World Soccer Update, I'm Brad Heller, Westwood One Sports. You know, I used to think all money managers were the same until I spoke with Fisher Investments.

Really? How different are they? Fisher's investment counselors are dedicated to service, not sales, keeping clients up to date on their portfolio. Well, they probably just invest in a bunch of mutual funds like I do. Nope. They build a tailored portfolio based on their clients' personal goals, helping them stay on track for a comfortable retirement. Well, they must make commissions selling products. Actually, Fisher doesn't sell any commission-based products. They're a fiduciary, and they believe that's a conflict. Then they have some kind of complex fee structure. Nope.

Fisher has a simple, transparent fee that's a percentage of their clients' portfolio. So they do better when their clients do better. Hmm. It sounds like Fisher really is different. Couldn't have said it better myself. Fisher Investments. Clearly different wealth management. Learn more at fisherinvestments.com slash different. Investing in securities involves the risk of loss. Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Is it ever too early to get to those ACC football power rankings? Never. Never. This is from on3.com. Fodding Lang Kiffin's spread beard are at number six ahead of the Alabama Crimson Tides.

They're basically in the middle of the pack. Can you imagine a few years back saying Alabama is in the middle of the pack right now? Well, I've said this for months. The reason Alabama, Harold, is anywhere from 10 to 15, they don't have a veteran quarterback. If Ty Simpson would have come back, Alabama would have probably been third in the SEC and eight or ninth in the majority of the national polls. A lot of these polls, the guys that put them together, can't get past an experienced quarterback.

I think that's why they're there. Auburn is 13. You agree with that? Harold, I think they won't have a good year. They're going to have a winning season. Again, they already know their identity, Harold. They're going to run the frigging ball, as Alex Golding said in the preseason. What kind of ball are they going to run, Brent? The boom old bug show, weekdays noon to two on 93.9 The Score. 93.9 The Score weather. Today, mostly sunny with a high around 90. Heat index values as high as 100. Tonight, partly cloudy with a low near 75.

Tomorrow, mostly sunny with a 20% chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms with a high around 90. Tomorrow night, mostly clear with a low near 75. And for your Sunday, sunny with a high around 95. 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 boom old bug show. Your exclusive inside track to the tie. 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 boom old bug show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley. And pat yourself on the back. You made it. It's Friday, which means it's a great opportunity to say hello to Mike Hewitt. And the National College Football slash basketball analyst down in Orlando, Florida. Mike, welcome in. How are you? Doing well. Hey, bud. Mike, let's kick things off with something that I think a lot of folks in Big Orange Country are not that surprised, but probably disappointed.

You go out. You roll the dice on the portal. You bring in what you think is a big piece to the defense and Chaz Coleman. The kid comes down from Penn State with his teammates, following Jim Knowles from there, defensive coordinator now at UT. And this morning, finding out that he's been medically ruled ineligible. That's a lot of money. And if any position is big, but his position on defense, that's especially big, especially at this point in the cycle, Mike, your thoughts about what that sends a message to other coaches when you go out and get these guys in the portal and what it may or may not do for Tennessee's defense right now.

Oh, I think the, I don't think it's going to change the way people recruit out of the portal. I think it does change Tennessee's defense. I think that we're counting on Coleman to be a, one of the best pass rushers in the SEC. You're one of the best pass rushers in the SEC. That makes you one of the best in the country. Um, I think now, you know, I think he, his ceiling was, you know, double digit sacks. I think now you have to go back to the well and find a handful of guys that can chip in with four or five.

[1:02:17] And, you know, Jim Knowles has been around for a long time. Um, he has seen a lot of offenses. He has developed a lot of defenses. Um, he's developed some books packages. I think now that, you know, Coleman's not going to play that you, and I'm thinking they've already sort of realized this. I'm thinking they have some, some things to do in mind. The timing is not great, obviously, but it's, you know, still, this isn't the first week of the season. And you're finding out a guy who's not playing, you're finding this out in mid June.

Um, it gives you some time to prep. Um, but you, but you know, Jim Knowles is better than Tim Banks. His defenses can be extremely complex. Um, but at the same time, when his defenses are at peak efficiency, they are lethal to an opposing offense. So, um, I, if I'm a balls fan, yeah, I'm disappointed. Coleman's not playing, but I'm thinking, okay, Jim Knowles, um, you're making a lot of money for a reason, let's see, you earn your money. And there's a couple of guys on the roster now that you have your opportunity.

Um, it's time to step up. Let me ask you about the NCAA. We talked, uh, several times about the five years to play five. That seems to be, uh, moving again. A lot of this stuff's got to be adopted, I believe in August, but they also this year whittled down the, uh, transfer portal window. We've gone from two windows at 45 days. Now, now down to one window, their proposal is only for 10, January the 4th through the 13th. Again, that's going to be adopted, uh, which is interesting.

Um, I know people keep asking, uh, some of this is academics. Why don't we wait until after the national championship game? And then the other thing this week is OTAs, basically replacing spring practice, spring games. Mike, your thoughts on some of the proposals levied this week? Yeah, I think the, the idea that they're going to become more like the NFL, no spring practice, but off season team acting, um, that's fine. I think that spring practice, it's practice at any time of the year is important, but I think if the presumption is the coaches are cool with this change, uh, NFL coaches certainly like it.

So I don't see that as a big negative. I think also if you have freshmen and transfers now who enroll in January, at least they're able to be a little bit more acclimated before they, the spring practice starts. Um, you know, they spread it out. So I think that's fine. It's become more like the NFL. The 10 day transfer portal window. I, I am blown away by the idea that, okay, like you said, they had two transfer windows until this year, one transfer portal and let's shorten it even more.

That's ludicrous because you also have coaches exceedingly upset with tampering. Let me say this. If you have a 10 day transfer portal, tampering is going to increase a hundred percent. You cannot tell me that a kid from state, you who plays in conference USA or the mountain west or the Mac or the sunbelt is going to all of a sudden decide in December, I'll think I'm going to go into the portal. He's going to have been contacted in September, October, and November about going in. You're going to see more players going in with a do not contact sign that it's, you know, it's like, Oh my God, we gave the player so much power with the transfer.

We got to get it back. We got to reel this back in. It's, it's, it's ludicrous. And again, if coaches think a 15 day transfer portal window is hectic, we're going to wait towards 10 days. Stay tuned. Mike, you're in a great spot down in the heart of Florida there in Orlando to maybe answer this question. Listen to different people. We've always been asking about the dark horse in the SEC. A lot of folks are taking a guy who coached right down the interstate from you last year and by the name of Alex Gullish at Auburn, a lot of folks thought the next coach at Auburn will be Jon Sumrall.

He's going to be now in the state coaching the Gators up the road from you there in Gainesville. Your, your thoughts about Gullish being the dark horse at Auburn and who got the better deal, Florida or Auburn? Well, I think Florida did, um, Sumrall's got a little bit more of a track record or season as a head coach, four seasons in, in a conference title game, Gullish's offense, um, is exceedingly fun to watch. And he bought Byron Brown with him. I think the one thing that makes me worry a little bit about Gullish and his success at Auburn, he also brought a ton of staffers with him and USF was a solid program in the American um, SEC programs are vastly different.

[1:07:32] Um, I think you look at what, what Sumrall did with his staff. He brought two guys from, from playing with him and then hired a bunch of guys with some SEC experience. Um, I also think that the talent base at Florida that Sumrall took over is better than the one that Gullish took over at Auburn. I don't think people realize how awful Billy Napier was. Um, and yes, you, he wasn't exactly a world beater at Auburn, but I think there's more talent in Gainville than I do at Auburn.

Um, but I will say if you're an Auburn fan who was perturbed by your offense the last couple of years and why wouldn't you have been, I think what Gullish is going to put on the field offensively is going to be a market improvement over what freeze did. Um, same defensive staff in place. Um, but I, I still think that Florida is going to be better than Auburn this fall and they play too. So that'll be interesting. Let me ask you about another dark horse and Alabama plays this team at second game of the year in Lexington.

And that's obviously Kentucky. Kentucky needed to reboot. Uh, listen, I think Mark Stoops did a really good job there for years, but the last couple of years, they had gone down. Will Stein's come in from Oregon with his high octane offense, uh, and he's got Mincy, the backup quarterback from Notre Dame. He's thrown for all of 212 yards, but, uh, is this a good reboot for Kentucky? I think it's a big swing. Um, you know, in 2019, Will Stein was a high school offensive coordinator. That's, uh, seven years ago, high school offensive coordinator.

Now he's the head coach of the school in the SEC. Um, his offenses at Oregon were exceedingly prolific. Um, let's just say that the talent level at Kentucky, um, the talent level between Kentucky and Oregon is about as far as the mileage is between Kentucky and Oregon. Um, I, Mincy certainly has, from what people tell me, a very high end, what everybody reads, he's got a lot of potential. Um, well, potential is one thing. Let's see if it, if it comes to fruition, um, Kentucky, I'm not sure how much really they're spending on their football program.

They're still more worried about basketball as they should be. Um, I think it was a, yeah, I think it was an interesting swing. Um, you're taking a guy who's never been a head coach anywhere to, to be a head coach of an SEC school in his 30s. So it's a big swing. It could pay off big. It could also be, you know, a, a, a three pitch strikeout too. So, um, I, I, I think the Kentucky talent level is such that I, I don't think they'd get to 500 this year.

Um, I, I just think though, that's, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's a move. Kentucky had to make, there's no question, but that Mark Stoops went stale. So like shelf life had passed. Um, and again, I think Will Stein has an interesting way, uh, to run an offense. Let's, let's see if that works. But again, he's going to, it's an interesting way to run an offense when you've got NFL caliber players. He does not have NFL caliber offensive players. Mike, before we jump off, you know, our zip code is now under three months for a chance for Alabama to do revenge on Florida state.

We know what happened last year in Tallahassee, first game of the year. What's going to happen to third game of Florida state schedule this year in Tuscaloosa? It's hard. You know, last year I said, if Alabama were to somehow lose to Florida state in the opener, it was going to be a horrendous season because FSU was horrible. I'm going to say the exact same thing. I think FSU might be worse. Really? Ashton Daniels is not a, not a high level quarterback. Um, I think Auburn fans would agree with me.

Um, I know Alabama is breaking in a new starting quarterback. They need to reinvigorate their ground game in a big way. Um, but again, Florida state, their defensive front is undersized. Their linebackers aren't good. Um, their offensive line is totally new. Deuce Robinson's a really good receiver. Micah Hedanze can fly. I'm not sure that Ashton Daniels will get them the ball consistently. Um, I, if you ask me right now, I think that's a three touchdown win for Alabama. I think a lot of people probably agree with that.

They also agree that Mike Huguenin is a great guest. Always enjoyed the conversation about the NCAA or the upcoming season. Have a great weekend, Mike. Let's do this again as soon as possible. Mike Huguenin, who's going to be with us? This is their national college football slash basketball analyst down in Orlando. Let's go down 65 to a place called Birmingham and check in with Doug Segrist on deck. Stay with us. Nothing says legendary like the Atlanta Braves, but here in the Shoals, there's another hometown legend you can taste.

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Feel up to 12 hours of arthritis pain relief with one dose. Feel Aleve. Use is directed for minor arthritis pain. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in time. Head on down I-65 to BHAM and say hello to Doug Segrist, former tri-host of The Zone, ABC 3340 in Birmingham. Named as one of 50 legends of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. And his book is called A Storm Came Up. Doug Segrist, welcome in. How are you? I could not be better. Are you world cupping, Doug?

Are you a world cupper? I'm a world cupper. I just think this has just been an incredible couple of weeks. And now the real fun is about to start. It's real impressive with Team USA so far. You know, I always, and I bet you you're a wordsmith. We've been misspelling the word turkey for a long time, have we not? Are you going to have, for Thanksgiving, are you going to have that kind of turkey we saw last night for the spelling, Doug? Yeah, I'm going with the old-fashioned American.

[1:18:19] Yes. Doug, a lot of folks from Tuscaloosa and Alabama fans, they want to go the old-fashioned recipe for putting together a recruiting class, i.e. under one Nick Saban. Doug, what message can you send to Alabama recruiting fans who are seeing the three stars fall on Alabama? Patience. It's very much a new world. It is not about high school recruiting anymore. It's a hybrid. It's about, you know, guys you get in and you develop. It is about getting, filling needs in the portal. This is, I think, what everybody's missing.

The last two classes, 49 players, 48 are still on campus. Yep. So the last thing you need is 25 new players who aren't going to play in. You've got to kind of fill needs and then go to the portal and, you know, kind of fill in the gaps there. And, listen, this is a bold new strategy. We've kind of seen Georgia do the same thing. Indiana has just done the opposite. But I think right now you just need patience because the last two recruiting classes, by every measure, were two of the best in the country.

In fact, number two and three in the country. So the talent on hand, it's a good roster. I'm not sure right now you just need to throw, you know, a million dollars a pop at another 25 guys who aren't going to play. And then they end up somewhere else in two years. Well, to your point, what you're saying is Alabama's strategy is to reinvest what you've already got and not go out and do the two. The burden of hand usually is better than two in the bush.

And the example of that, Doug, is what happened to Tennessee over the last few hours. Jazz Coleman, he came down with a premium price from Penn State. He was going to be a big piece of that defensive puzzle. And now he's not going to play, quote, medical register or medical ineligibility. All that money, all that time. And now you've got to go out and spend more money and take a roll of the dice to get that big piece filled on the defensive side of the ball.

Yeah, and I'm not sure what's going to be left in the two months until training camp starts. So this really hits Tennessee hard. If you've got the talent on the roster, you've got a better chance of developing it than filling it this late need. And I'll say this, too. You know, there's no guarantee it's going to work. But I think it also shows you a lot about the culture they're building, that 48 out of 49 guys are still there. That's unheard of in this day and age. That's an incredible stat that we have not heard anyone else mention this week.

And I'm glad that you said that. And isn't it amazing, four years ago, if I had to ask you what does the general manager of a college football team does, you would have looked at me like I was absolutely crazy or crazier. Yeah, isn't it amazing now? These coaches must have a general manager to construct a roster. Absolutely. And you've got to have a guy who, A, can recognize talent. B, have the contacts so that you can retrieve the talent when they go somewhere else. C, can manage money.

You know, and this is another thing Alabama's doing. Georgia's doing something similar. They're not going to be top 10 in terms of, you know, expenses on rosters. They've just decided not to go. Still, listen, they're spending a lot of money. There's no question about that. But it's not going to be Texas A&M, Texas size. Really? Ohio State, Michigan size. So you've got to really have a good eye for talent. And, again, that's where Kalen DeBoer's kind of put a lot of faith in Courtney Morgan. But the thing about him is he's known a lot of these guys since they were eighth graders.

So he's kind of got his ear to the ground of who can help and who might be available down the road. The NCAA this week's been busy not defending themselves in court, but actually coming up with some proposals. The five-year to play five, we've discussed that with you, and we've been talking about that on and off for years. They've whittled down the window for transfer from 45-2 now to one window in only 10. And then the OTAs, and I think I'm actually one who enjoyed the spring games, but the OTAs are going to be coming in NFL style.

Your thoughts on transfer, OTAs, and the five-year to play five? I think these are all common-sense moves. And, again, we love spring football in the past. You know, everybody loved the spring game. It was free. You could kind of see players you haven't seen before. But there's a problem with that. Nobody wants those players to play in front of big crowds now because, boom, somebody starts recruiting them away. I just think OTA is better. You've got more of a year-round connection with your players. It's not all at one time.

[1:23:39] It's periodic. You're making sure they're keeping up with more than just the weight room. And, you know, it's – I mean, in a lot of ways, high schools do that with a seven-on-seven. So, again, I think these are three just common-sense moves that shows that, you know, when they're pressured, the NCAA schools do smart things. In case you're wondering, OTA organized team activities. Doug, have you got any juice left in either your right arm or the left arm? And, if so, can you join the Atlanta Braves?

I could throw a 50-mile-hour four-seamer for a strike right now. I have no doubt. I was just – that was an incredible pitcher for, like, three weeks in high school. Before I'm putting everything out. You know, they're about to get Waldrop back. Smith-Schauber is about to start. But they're going to have to trade. I mean, there's just no question. There's some interesting – I mean, they now are loaded again with prospects just out of the blue. Yeah. And, you know, I'm all about the long-term. And so, do you go out and get a Tarek Skubal, you know, and give up three players and then only have him for three months?

I don't know if that's something you do or do you go get veterans like Sonny Gray and Casey Mize, which is the deal that really kind of excites me, too. Veteran arms, and you don't have to give as much. And, oh, by the way, the increase in salary, you're saving that with Profar, with his suspension. Yeah. So, I kind of like that. I don't like giving up a lot of prospects. Well, Sonny Gray would probably come with a discount. You've lacked him. He's from Murfreesboro, so basically Atlanta would be home for him.

Say that again? I said, Sonny Gray, you might get a bit of a discount there because it'd be like him coming home. He's from Murfreesboro. So, it'd be playing close to home in terms of Major League Baseball world. Absolutely. Same with Casey Mize being from Springfield. I mean, those, you know, you've seen these guys come home. And, I mean, look at Joey Bart, you know, somebody we never paid attention to with Bart, and he's already making an impact. You know, these guys grow up Braves fans, and sometimes they'll even take a discount just to be, you know, in familiar surroundings.

Yeah, absolutely. Now, I want to ask you if this thought has gone through your head this week. Careful, careful, careful, careful. Tomorrow, Saturday, is going to be the first Saturday, young man, since mid-August. There has not been a college sports event on TV. Now, I know you're a World Cupper, and you've got the refreshments ready and the TV tested out. But your thoughts, has that thought crossed your mind that tomorrow will be the first Saturday in umpteen months that we do not have college sports on TV?

Yeah, it crossed my mind, what was it, Monday night when Oklahoma won the national title. You know, this is why I get vacation. This is why I get out of the house, because there's just not much, you know, or as much going on. But, you know, that's another change we need to see, where they have the 14 weeks dating back from Thanksgiving so that we don't have to even wait to Labor Day. I'm ready for week zero to become the norm. I'll tell you what, can you be the commissioner of college football?

Harold and I are going to vote for you to be able to do that, or college sports in general. Listen, have a great weekend watching the World Cup and relaxing, and let's do this again with you again real soon. I look forward to it. Remember, free wings and pizza for everyone. What a slogan. The one and the only, Doug Sigrist, busy there as one of the named 50 tops in the state of Alabama. Coming up, speaking of a fellow who knows Alabama and Auburn pretty well, Kevin Scarbenstie on deck.

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To a good life's sleep. Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93-9. The score. U.S. men's national team did not go perfect in group stage. They were beaten by Turkey in the 98th minute last night. However, U.S. moves on to the knockout round. They will play Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday in the round of 32. After a day off yesterday, the Atlanta Braves are back in action tonight. They're in San Francisco at Oracle Park when they take on the Giants. Braves are 48-31. Ronaldo Lopez will start for Atlanta.

He's 3-1 with a 3.50 ERA. Trevor McDonald will start for San Francisco. The NASCAR Cup Series back in action on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway in California for the Toyota Save Mart 350. 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. Shop the Sherwin-Williams 4th of July sale and get 30% off paints and stains June 26th through July 6th. Whether you're refreshing your interior or exterior, we've got the colors to bring your vision to life.

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When you're in Progressive's protection zone, get a quote at Progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and third-party insurers. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. You know, Brent, some people can do TV. Some people can do radio. Some people can do newspaper with a pen and paper. Yeah. Some folks online. It is rare to find someone who can wear all those hats, but by golly, I think we may have found him, BB. No question, Harold. Okay, Mr. Scarbinsky, busy there on TV in the Birmingham market.

Also, he has all kinds of award-winning articles there at AL.com, the Birmingham News. He is the face and voice of the Alabama High School Football Super 7 and State Basketball Finals. And did we mention, online, anytime, at Scarbo Knows. Kevin Scarbinsky, welcome in. How are you? I'm good, guys. How are you today? Man, we're doing all right. Kevin, we are exhausted. We finally have come to you because you've got all those things juggling in the air. If you could sit down with your vast experience of all these coaches over the years, especially at Alabama in this case, what message would you send Kalen DeBoer here in June before year number three as a head football coach at Tuscaloosa?

[1:34:00] Stop talking about being physical and running the ball and just do it. Just run the ball? I've seen T-shirts where they dress it up differently, Kevin. Have you seen those T-shirts about running the ball? Yeah, I think there's an adjective in it. Before the word ball. Look, I appreciate the fact that he is open and is willing to do interviews, and he's done a number of them lately. But when you're talking to people like Martin Houston, who paved the way for a lot of Alabama running backs to gain a lot of yards, and then Cole Kubelik, who did the same thing as a center at Auburn, and you're talking about your experience at Sioux Falls and winning national championships in the NAIA, and you still have some of the same principles that you had then because you played in the cold and you had to be able to run the ball.

Stop. Just stop. We saw your running game the last two years, especially last year. Well, we looked for it last year. We didn't see much of it. And so there's nothing he can say on that subject that is going to change anyone's mind about whether his football team is – we won't call them soft. We'll call them finesse. Whether they're a finesse football team or whether they're a physical football team. We know what they were, especially last year, and we will see what they are this year.

But I would – again, I would advise him to talk about something else rather than that. Kevin, the numbers don't lie, I don't think, at least in this case. You look at the running game last year, they were 125th in the country, 126 as far as yards per carry on the average. How did they go from the next seven days of having Heisman Trophy winners at the running back spot with offensive linemen going to the NFL to that? And the more important question, Kevin, if that was the deal last year, what realistically – you can talk, you can preach all day, but in this neck of the woods, you better practice what you preach.

What are they going to do different to improve those numbers this season? Well, I think that's what we all want to see, don't we? Because, you know, in his interview with Martin Houston, he said it's all about being physical is about mindset and execution. Well, we've watched his offense, and I don't know that they have that physical grind it out, you know, ground and pound when you have to mentality. I'm not saying you have to run the ball 60 times a game. I'm not saying you have to run a Gene Stallings type of offense, but you have to be able to get yards between the tackles at times.

And you have to be able to do it without putting a 350-pound left tackle in the backfield as a gimmick and either handing him the ball or tossing him the ball on the perimeter. And that is mindset and execution. And they're going to have a very different offensive line this year, which remains to be seen how physical those guys will be. They have somewhat of a different cast of characters in the backfield. That's one – if you ask me, along with DeBoer's emphasis on the passing game, I think the biggest difference is they haven't had a real difference maker in the backfield.

Jim Miller was a serviceable back, Daniel Hill. I mean, those aren't game-breakers. Those aren't explosive guys. And I think E.J. Crowell has the potential to be that. Saw him play a number of times in high school for Jackson as they won back-to-back state titles. And that guy, to me, looks like he's cut from the Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson mold, both physically and from a mentality standpoint. He can gain the hard yard. He can break tackles. He can run away from people. He can run through people.

I don't know how healthy he'll be. He's been dealing with – he's been coming back from an injury. So we'll see how healthy he is when they get to the first game. But he's a guy that, again, could help bring that running game back to respectability, which is where it has to get to respectable before he gets to admirable. That's exactly right. Kevin, when sports fans in Alabama get to May and early June, what they're basically doing is looking at Lindy Sports Magazine or the preseason magazines yearning for football.

But this May and June was a little bit different. And you chronicled that in a great article, Why Do I Love College Baseball? Because it still feels like college sports. Troy in Alabama in the College World Series. Auburn in the Supers. There was a buzz in this state for about a month, and you detail that pretty well on AL.com. Well, thank you. And some of it was personal to me as an undergrad graduate of Troy many years ago to see the Trojans. I went to the first game they played in the Super Regionals, and it was very surreal.

[1:39:03] Having been on that campus a lot of years ago when they were a Division II program, having tried to walk on to that baseball team as a true freshman and not getting very far under the legendary Chase Riddle. As he was just starting to build a mini dynasty there in D2, he would later win a couple of national championships in Division II in baseball. But this state, you guys know, this state has a proud history in baseball. But it has certainly taken another step in recent years, and this year was hopefully not the culmination, but the beginning of a long run of trips to Omaha.

And hopefully somebody will break through and win a Division I national championship. And it does feel, and that's one of the things, and one of my favorite events that I get to cover every year is the SEC baseball tournament. And there's just something, I don't know if it's the nature of the sport of baseball, it's seeing players from different teams, you know, going to the concession stand and getting an ice cream, you know, talking to little kids and signing autographs. There seems to be a connection between the teams, the players, and the fans that you don't always get to see in other sports.

And that's just, again, it just brings it down to earth that makes the guys seem more relatable. Now, look, a lot of those guys are getting paid, and they're getting paid well. They're not getting paid football quarterback money, but they're making, but it just, I don't know why, it just does seem different. And to see those schools have the success that they've had, and Jack State, you know, Jack State got to the regional. Alabama State got to a regional. We had five teams in the regionals, which I think is a record in Division I.

So, no, it's fun to see, and I hope it will continue. And given the coaches that are in charge at all those schools, I think it will continue. It used to be called America's Pastime until ESPN got involved and shoved the NBA and the NFL down their throats. So, let me ask you this, Kevin, your thoughts. What's your take on the Dusty Mays news and the timing of it, saying goodbye to one of the premier schools with lots of money at Michigan and going to the NBA in the Mark Cuban world?

And you've got a close connection from UAB to Michigan, but what message is Mays sending? A lot of folks says he's fed up with the way in the direction of college sports in general. I don't want to babysit these guys. I'll just go to the NBA and take my chances there. What is your take on the news? And, again, talking about a guy who can identify a talent, Dusty Mays does, by coming to your backyard at UAB, does he not? Yeah, and he started out as an assistant.

He didn't start out. He'd been in the coaching profession before that. But Mike Davis hired him as an assistant when Mike became the head coach at UAB. And Dusty has a good relationship with Andy Kennedy, even though he took his best player, Yaxel Lindeborg, a couple of years before last year. But I will say this. I give Yaxel Lindeborg all kinds of credit. And UAB absolutely should claim him as one of their own because he spent two years there. He got his undergraduate degree there. He grew up and developed there more than anywhere else.

And Michigan was the beneficiary. And Yaxel was the beneficiary because he got paid handsomely to go there. And you can't fault him for that decision. But I don't know that I'm fully buying Dusty May and other people, you know, arguing that, well, this is the terrible state of college athletics. And it's pushing coaches like him to the pros. He didn't have to go. He could have stayed in Michigan. And by the way, Michigan is probably one of the easier places in the country to recruit because they have the resources.

They're willing to spend the resources to bring in guys like Yaxel Lindeborg. I mean, they had, what, three of the top 12 draft picks in the NBA, three of the top 11 or 12. And all three of them were transfer guys that they brought in through the portal, including Yaxel Lindeborg. So I'm not weeping for a guy like Dusty May, who was exceedingly well paid at Michigan. He had one of the better recruiting situations of anyone in the country. You don't have to chase high school guys for three or four years when you're at Michigan.

You can go get Ade Mara from UCLA. You can get Mara's Johnson from, where did he come from, Illinois. You can get Yaxel Lindeborg from UAB. And, again, they did have some high school guys, but they also had their point guard, Elliot Cadeau, came from North Carolina. And we could go on. But, look, he had a great opportunity, and he took it. That doesn't mean college basketball is collapsing. There are a lot of coaches that have been doing it a long time that are still doing it.

And, yeah, they have frustrations with the state of the game and the uncertainty, the unequal application of NCAA eligibility rules, decisions of courts, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But it's still – and that's why I admire Nate Oates, who is still at Alabama. He's had opportunities to go elsewhere. He could have been the Kentucky coach if he wanted to be a couple years ago, but he decided to stay in Tuscaloosa. He could be the Michigan coach today if he wanted. You think Michigan wouldn't have hired Nate Oates if he said, hey, if his agent hadn't called him up and said, you know what, I'd love to come back to the upper Midwest and coach again.

[1:44:22] But, no, he's staying in Tuscaloosa. So, good luck to Dusty May in the Western Conference where, in the same state, you've got to deal with San Antonio and Victor Wimbanana. And not that far up the road, you've got to deal with Oklahoma City, who's not going away either. So, good luck to him. And good luck to him developing Cooper Flagg. I think Cooper Flagg is a very good player. I'm not sure he's the guy you build a championship roster around. Time will tell. Well, we build a championship roster around Kevin Scarbinsky and have for years always a pleasure and a delight to talk with you about anything under the face of the sun.

And where can we get online to get all your great stuff? Well, I appreciate that. I always appreciate you guys. Best thing to do, follow me on Twitter or X, at Kevin Scarbinsky. Keep up with my columns in the Birmingham News. You can find links to those on AL.com as well. And go to YouTube. Check out my channel there. It's Kevin Scarbinsky-SkarboKnows. You can subscribe. It doesn't cost anything, but you'll get notifications every time I put out a new episode. I put out a couple this week about actual football on the field.

Guys, one about Auburn, one about Alabama. And we've talked too little about football on the field and too much about football in courtrooms in Washington, D.C. That's almost sacrilegious to talk about something on the field. Kevin, as always, good to have a great week. And remember, run the ball, okay? Amen. Put it on my seat. Thank you, bud. See you guys. Subject of Kevin's next article, I'm sure. Kevin Scarbinsky, again, Scarbinsky knows, in case you're wondering. Elmer Pierce knows a good deal when he sees one.

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And you know how it works in the recruiting world. It's always, who's next and when is it coming, Brett Beaird? Well, Harold, the one they got today, the 12th commitment for Alabama is Jeremy Beverly. Ed's rusher at Hillcrest High School. He's about 6'4 and 230. Again, I think he's a pretty good prospect. What they are getting tomorrow that they know is a good prospect is Ossani Gales out of IMG Academy. He's a slot, very fast, very elusive, does a good job of running routes. I believe he announces tomorrow afternoon at 2 or 3.

[1:49:50] But Alabama, with their fourth commitment this week, they got three-star edge, Jeremiah Beverly from Hillcrest High School. In fact, he's former teammates with Jay Hall, who's on the Tuscaloosa campus now. But I think they're going to pick up Ossani Gale tomorrow, the wide receiver from IMG. Let's not kid ourselves. This class right now is not exactly knocking it out of the park as far as stars compared to Nick Saban. But to be fair, what we're trying to do here is tell all the stuff minus all the sugarcoating and everything like that.

I thought Doug Segers brought up a good point to kind of put Alabama fans at ease a little bit. That basically, if you look at the numbers and you just do facts and take the emotion out of it, out of the 49, 48 are still on the roster. He gave the time frame. Put another way, what Alabama's strategy is. Let's go out and spend the big money where we need it. But let's sit here and supplement it and put money back into the roster as opposed to going out, rolling the dice, and bringing in the latest hotshot five-star, BB.

Well, in the hotshot five-star, Harold wants $1 to $3 million, depending upon the position. That's an incredible stat when you think about it. They've been able to keep 48 of 49 players. And again, most of those guys could come back. Now, all of them are not, obviously. But, yeah, we'll continue to follow recruiting, follow up with Gales, certainly on Monday. But, yeah, I'm well aware you and I hear both about what fans, and they're so used to having a top three class with Nick Saban. This one is a little tough to handle.

I think it's an absolutely brilliant strategy if it works, Brett Beaird. Will the Braves get back to work tonight against the Giants? They've got to get it going again. They've, again, with runners in scoring position, they've been abysmal, as the beloved Bill Shanks mentioned earlier. The pitchers rarely have gone past six innings this month. Bryce Elder, I think, is pitching tomorrow. We'll see. Hopefully, I know the Giants are reeling themselves, so hopefully the Braves can take advantage. Well, they've got to keep the fields at bay.

It's all relative. As someone had said, at the halfway mark of the regular season, when you take the Braves being in first place by four games over the fields, most folks would say, yeah. Yeah. But after that hot start right now, Braves fans are saying, what? The fields are only four back? It's all relative. See how they add to or take from later on tonight on the West Coast here on 93.9 The Score. It's going to take care of business for now. On behalf of BB, Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here, Harold Buck, thank you so much for your time today.

Let's do it again Monday, noon to two for the BIMO Buck Show. Back here on Sports Radio, 93.9 The Score.