Boomo Bugg Show 021126

[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 tie, Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC. Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9. The story. Good afternoon and welcome here to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg, normally joined by Brett Beaird. Not here today, it looks like the weather is still good in the south of France. But we're proud that you're able to join our little huddle.

And for Ron Higgins to do the same. Hall of Fame columnist of the Shreveport Bossier Journal. And a man who knows his stuff when it comes to LSU, college football and, of course, curling in the Olympics. Ron Higgins, welcome in. How are you? I'm good. I've never covered the Winter Olympics. I've done summer, but I always want to do the winter just to, you know, catch all the tension of the curling contest. And the thing is, I like it too, Ron, because it's like a lot of sports.

People don't normally watch golf, but they'll watch the Masters. They don't like tennis normally, but they'll watch Wimbledon. It's one of those things where you don't understand it, but you'll watch for two weeks just because, at least in the old days, you're rooted for the USA. Yeah, I mean, I wonder in curling if, like, they trained janitors to do that. That's good with the broom, right? That's a Cinderella story. The guy was a janitor for 15 years, but all of a sudden he came out of curling, and now he's here at the Olympics.

What a story. Yeah. He's cleaning up in more ways than one. Ron, have you got your Mardi Gras outfit picked out yet starting next week down the road from you? Yeah, I'm dressed up as Lane Kiffin, and people are throwing money at me. My goodness gracious. Let me ask you this, and I think you may agree with this. A lot of guys and girls do. Some may say there's no such thing as a perfect marriage, but is this it? Mardi Gras and Lane Kiffin, how's that marriage going so far down there?

You know, he's really enjoying it. He's getting out with his family, and they're going different places and eating, so he's learning about South Louisiana cuisine, which is like none other. So it's been good. You know, he finished the transfer portal and got great guys like everybody anticipated he would. Everybody's just eager for spring practice to start. We don't know when that's going to happen. So right now, this week, we're dealing with a huge women's basketball game on Saturday here in South Carolina. We'll start a baseball on Friday.

LSU is right in the wrong time. And they're trying to pass the hat and see if there's enough money to fire their women's basketball coaches. That's what's going on. I want to ask you about that, because that's the nice thing about LSU. A lot of schools pretty much put all their eggs in one basket. You guys, all you do from fall to winter to spring, it's pretty much always competitive. Yeah, a chance to go for the brass ring. But in the meantime, Ron, you've seen a lot of coaching changes, as some of us with a different color of hair, and we started out in this business over the years.

But none had Lane's power of the blank check with NIL. Would you agree? Your thoughts about the new dynamic when you put Lane Kiffin's personality, whether you love it or hate it, with basically a blank check. Your thoughts? I'm wondering, like, Louisiana's printing their own money with Lane's face from $100. That's a bill. Yeah. Why don't they get this? I mean, look, I think this is part of something that if you get a coach that people really like and have faith in, they're going to give money.

That's right. And I think that's what's going on here. I mean, when they announced he was going to be coached, they had a lot of new contributors, a lot of old ones ended up. And so they put together a war chest, obviously, to, you know, really rebuild the entire roster and with quality people. And, you know, he wouldn't give up on guys. You know, he'd get on a plane, go chase them down after a visit. And, yeah, I mean, it was pretty incredible. You know, everybody just kind of was, you know, after the first two days inside by in the parlay, everybody was like, what's going on?

Then all of a sudden he just refused with it, and he knew what he was doing. And, you know, they had to kind of do it without a staff because staff, you know, was dealing with old business until late. I mean, they finally got some people in there. But, yeah, I mean, it's a good marriage. You know, I tell people Louisiana vented crazy and it fits kind of Lane Kiffin and Mardi Gras and everything like that. So, yeah, they're just eager for spring to start and see what they have.

[5:08] But I think Lane understands there's a little honeymoon period here. You've got to win. You know, you bought everybody in sight, and now you've got to win. I think that's why he came to LSU to, you know, people say, well, he has more pressure on him than anybody else in America. That's true. But I think he wanted that. That's why he came here. He knew if he came here, that's what would happen. And we'll see what happens. But I think that's why he came here, to have an unlimited budget, to give whatever he needed, to give all the tools he could to win immediately.

And now, you know, we'll see what happens. You know, I had a friend over the years, a big Alabama fan. He was just a blue-collar guy like a lot of us. And he went to every game. I didn't care if he was on Timbuktu or the moon. And we asked him, he said, Ron, how do you afford that? He says, it's simple. I'm just cashing out my kid's college fund. They can do it on their own when they get to that point in life. I'm going to the game in the meantime.

And I imagine that's the way it is down in crazy Cajun country, too. What are fans now saying about the governor? And what about new players behind the scene, including a new president? They call it the LSU system, Wade. And I'll let you pronounce his last name. But what are fans now saying about, at one time, a governor who was, by many accounts, crazy down there? They still don't like him. They still don't like the guy. They still don't like him. They still don't like him.

It's not like he meddles too much. And he probably does. Like, you know, once you start to run the state, don't run the football program, Huey Long Jr. But, again, you know, they took a big swing and get in lane. And they got him. And then, you know, they told him, I think the attraction for Lane was, we'll give you whatever you need to win. And nobody else would say that. Florida didn't say that. And then he was looking at LSU and Florida. Florida didn't say that.

Florida said, hey, we're going to hire a general manager for your program, a general manager. Lane's like, uh-uh. And LSU says, Wayne, you can do whatever you want. He goes, okay, great. Sounds good to me. So, I mean, that's the way to get a coach to say, you know, you can do whatever you want. You know, make sure you got the money to do it with. And so far, they have. And so that's, again, everybody's looking forward to that. And you're looking forward to the start of baseball season.

On Friday, LSU is absolutely loaded again. They'll be pick number one and some poll number two and others. So, the Fender National Championship. Men's basketball is really awful. Just awful, awful, awful. Matt McMahon's in his fourth year. They haven't gotten any better. They got worse. They bought better players this year and got worse. Wow. And they got to decide what they're going to do with him because they got to figure out where the money's going to come to buy him out. It's going to be, I mean, he's got three years left.

They gave him a seven-year contract because they had the NCAA violations under Will Wade. Right. And they gave him a seven-year contract to be patient with him. But they're awful. And so they're trying to gauge with some of their boosters. Are some of their boosters enough, you know, angry enough to ante up to pay him off? I think between $6 million and $8 million, something like that. Wow. And the interesting thing is that, you know, a lot of people were like, Will Wade, to come back. And Will Wade, he's in his first year at North Carolina State.

He's had a h*** of a good year so far. And the interesting year that Will Wade's buyout after April 1st is just $1 million. Wow. Which basically is, you know, cost of an offensive lineman, basically. Or the pizza fee, if you will, for some of these football players over the course of a year. Let me ask you this, Ryan. All the new kids on the block, of course, they're big. I look at this LSU football roster and picking up, number one, this position, that position across the board with the big checks.

But can it be possibly overstated just how big it is to get the top quarterback on the board in Mr. Sam Levitt? No, it can't be overstated, even though, you know, he's got a foot problem that's going to keep him out of spring practice, he'll throw. But it's like Lane covered all the bases. I mean, you know, he didn't just get the first guy quarterback in the portal. He also got the number eight quarterback in the portal, the guy from USC, who I'm sure he recruited previously.

So they, you know, so he's like, and they have another guy from a D2 school who was really good. But he has a backup plan for, you know, in case, you know, Levitt slow out of the gate. And they don't think he'll be, but they got a guy who's like the number seven rated guy. Wow. So he's pretty much covered all the bases here. He wouldn't, you know, you got the best offensive lineman in the portal, Jordan Seaton. Best guy within the portal. I mean, best, he got three of the top five rated guys overall in the portal.

[10:29] Wow. You know, Prince, well, I can't remember how that is. I mean, I got all the best he got. He's one of his all-best guys. But he got people all around being just, he covered every position just about. I don't think he got a lot of cornerbacks. I don't think that's something he didn't need. But, I mean, he really thoroughly covered everything he could get. He got like eight wide receivers, I think three tight ends. I mean, just a bunch, a bunch, a bunch of talent that you thought he would get.

But, you know, I guess people were skeptical if, you know, he could actually, you know, go get all these people. And he's done it. I mean, basically, he's had to, honestly, rebuild the whole roster. I mean, that's what he had to do. He signed 59 new players. He's signed 59 new players, 43 finishers, 16 high school, and hired 13 new coaching and support staff members. My goodness. I mean, I think he's got something there, but he's got a punter, a place kicker, a snapper. He's got six safeties, four cornerbacks, two linebackers, five defensive ends, five defensive tackles, three tight ends, 12 offensive linemen, four running backs, 12 wide receivers, three quarterbacks.

And a partridge in a pear tree and probably somebody driving is so fair. Ron, as always, good stuff. Before you jump off, a couple of questions. How does your wardrobe compare with Kim's? And where can we jump online to get the very latest with the Hall of Famer? I like a little sparkle in my wardrobe, a little sparkle every down, man. I got to tell you. Sprucing it up a little bit, yeah. A little sparkle. You go to Ron Higgins. You go to ShreeportBossierJournal.com. I'm on there, on vronhiggins.org, on Twitter, at Ron Higg.

And on, what else am I on? I'm on everything. Instagram at SEC Ron. Or if you're like Brent and I on probation. So, hey, listen. Ron, as always, stay safe down there. And we know you're from Louisiana. We say Bossier. Everywhere else, it's Boozer. So, now, everybody knows the right way to say it. Ron, listen, man. Thanks so much. And stay safe down there. And enjoy Mardi Gras. And behave yourself, okay? Good part of Bossier City is a Boozer City. I believe you. I'll tell you.

Okay? There you go. All right. We'll see you. Ron Higgins checking in from the Shreeport Bossier Journal. Coming up, can you believe this? The boys are reporting the baseball camp this week. And the boys familiar here on 939 All Summer Long. Ben Ingram, the voice of the Braves. Next. Stay with us. Florence Utilities now offers new bill pay options. Sign up for paperless, auto pay, text pay, and more to make your life easier. When you go green and go paperless, you'll no longer have paper bills filling up your mailbox, and you'll be helping the environment.

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Welcome back in. Really appreciate free ride around the Tennessee Valley. And for Ben Ingram, taking time out of his busy schedule, and may I add, about to get even busier as the voice that comes out of the radio here on 93.9 and across the Atlanta Braves radio network. Ben Ingram, also busy there at 6A, the fan, the powerhouse there in Hotlanta. Ben Ingram, welcome in. It's always good to hear your voice because it means one thing. You've got to make a lot of Braves fans happy listening right now.

How are you? I'm doing great, man. Thanks for having me. Good to chat with you. You, too. First of all, the players get it. So do you. How was the offseason with you and the family? I had a great offseason. Did a lot of traveling. Did a lot of hunting. Got to see a lot of college football and a lot of time around family. So that's really all you could ask for. It's my stretch of the season, or the stretch of the year, I guess you might say, where I get to have a life.

So I had a lot of fun having a life for a few months. It's about to get busy. It's hard to believe it's not, Ben. You look up. Here we are. Everybody's getting to camp this week. And a week from Saturday, the games began. Before we jump in, though, with the X's and the O's, can we talk about a new chief, the former Huntsville star. I covered him when he was a kid, a star shortstop with the Huntsville stars, played with a guy named Canseco and McGuire and Steinbach and all those guys over there, taking over for the snit.

Talk to us about Walt Weiss. You know, when the move happened, it was really interesting, the timing of it all, I feel like, because once we knew that snit wasn't coming back and we're seeing a week pass, two weeks pass, three weeks pass, I think we all came to the conclusion that the Braves are going to hire somebody who is outside the organization and more likely than not someone who's currently in a role with a team that's in the postseason. And then when we got 30 days down the line and the decision was to be Walt Weiss, I was very pleasantly surprised just because I'd come to the conclusion that it wasn't going to be anybody in-house.

For me, selfishly, I have a great relationship with Walt, so I knew that was going to be a lot of fun. But I also think from the players' perspective and with the guys that I've spoken with, I was talking with Austin Riley and Matt Olson about Walt just the other day, and their eyes lit up when I mentioned the move, and they just said how excited they were that it was going to be Walt. I don't think the players really had any idea what direction this team was going to take, but knowing that it was Walt, knowing he can be a guy who has lots of competitive fire, a guy who wants his team to win, a guy who has been in this organization as a player and also as a bench coach, and already has a rapport, an established relationship with the current team, I think it was a very popular move.

So the fact that he has managerial experience is great. I mean, he managed the Rockies for four seasons, and he's been with us since 2018 in his role as a bench coach. So I think it's a great hire, and I can't wait to see Walt running this team. Can't wait to hear the voice of Ben Ingram coming out of the radio here on 93.9 as well. Obviously, a new year means new faces, not only the skipper. Talk to us about the 2026 Braves roster. I think you have to start with what you're looking at who's healthy more than anything.

Obviously, Jerickson Topar was part of the team last year, but he missed half the season, so having him for a full season will be great. I'd love to say the same thing about Ha Sung Kim, because he looked good in the final five weeks of the season, but we're not going to have him for the first few months of the season, because that's really unfortunate. As far as the big moves that were made, to me, the addition of Suarez is the biggest. It's a bullpen that certainly needed some strengthening and needed to – we needed some flamethrowers.

We needed to have some guys that are going to come in there and be really good at shutting the door at the end of the game, and I think adding Robert Suarez was enormous. That, to me, was a big step in the right direction for the bullpen. A move like Mike Yastrzemski isn't one that really gets a whole lot of attention, but I think he's a solid ball player. I think there was a movement with some of the additions that they have made, and maybe some of the names that they're not bringing back, that there was more of an intentionality behind getting guys who are going to make contact.

[21:13] The Braves led the league last year in men left on base, and I've said it before, that's not necessarily a bad thing, because you're getting those opportunities. You just want to come through with more opportunities like that, and the Braves struck out too much. There was too much non-contact, and they just need to do a better job of getting them on, getting them over, getting them in, making contact. And Mike Yastrzemski is a guy who can do that. Mauricio Dubon, I think, is a guy who can play in multiple positions, so that's good.

We've seen Jorge Mateo around a little bit, so he's a good addition to the team. And I think from the bench perspective, it's significantly better than where you were this time a year ago. Ben, talk to us about the bugaboo, and that is the injury bug. Schwellenbach, I saw a 60-day, starts the season, 60-day list. Got a bone spur in his right elbow. I saw today Joe Jimenez, also on the 60-day injured list. You bring over an infielder, Brett Wisely from Tampa Bay. But what have they got to do to get Hawkeye in the MASH unit in here to keep these boys healthy?

I think that's the most unsettling part of it all, because every team's going to experience injuries, right? And the Braves saw their fair share of injuries last year. But if anything, when it comes to this time of year, right before camp starts, right before spring training begins, what you want more than anything from what you experienced a year ago is a turning of the page, is a departure, a fresh start. And when you have this news with Spencer Schwellenbach, and you have this news with Joel Jimenez, and so on and so forth, you can't help but think, well, here we go again.

We're snake-bitten, we're cursed. And it's one thing to contain that feeling to last season. You want a fresh start this year, and it seems like that's kind of leaking over. So psychologically, I think that's what hurts more than anything, is you're just thinking, well, this could be the same song on a different verse. Between that and Ha Sung Kim and all that, it's so disheartening, and these other guys are going to have to step up. And it's one thing to be saying that the rest of the rotation has to step up when we're in July or August, and you expect injuries.

It really hurts to be saying that on February the 11th. That's really a kick in the gut. So I felt like it was a team that needed to add to the rotation anyway. I felt like even before this news with Spencer Schwellenbach, they still needed to add a piece on the mound. Well, now that's blatantly obvious, and in my opinion, and I don't expect this to happen, but in my opinion, I think they need two more arms, to be quite honest with you. So it puts you behind the eight ball for sure and puts a heavy load on some of these other guys as well.

Ben, before we jump off of the latest from the Olympics, the Braves fans would sit here and tar and feather me if I didn't ask you about the latest on Spencer Strider this season. Strider is going to be a guy that you just watch and see. And the reason I say that is because where he finished the season last year, he still wasn't exactly where he wanted to be in terms of his healing and getting back to where he wants to be. When you have the operation that he had, and look, what I'm expecting for Spencer Schwellenbach is very similar to what we're talking about with Spencer Strider, and therefore I don't know that I expect anything out of Schwellenbach at all this season.

But these injuries take a lot of time, and this wasn't a full-on Tommy John. This was an elbow brace, and this is a brand-new technology, so we don't have a whole lot of returns on exactly what this looks like two and three and four and five years down the road. So I'm very interested to see what his arm looks like, not necessarily just at spring training, but what does he look like once he's 50 innings in or 100 innings in? I'm expecting a guy who can succeed, but I think he's going to have to do it in ways that he's never done it before.

He used to be able to throw 98-99. You could miss location with 99 and still get a swing and miss. You can't do that with 94-95, and if you're running out there as a two-pitch pitcher, missing locations with 94 and your slider isn't quite as devastating. You're talking about a completely different brand of pitcher, a completely different pedigree of pitcher at that point. So location's got to be better, and we'll see what that third pitch develops. Quick, before we jump off, it's always fun to ask, what about the new kids on the block?

Maybe 30 seconds or so, what about the new kids on the block? Well, we got to see a little bit of that last year, especially on the mound. I mean, I'm really excited for Hurston Waltrip, and I think the strides that he made last season were terrific, and I think he's certainly going to play a big role in what we see on the mound this year for the team. I think he's going to have a good spring. I would hope that once we got towards the end of the season, we're hearing good things about A.J. Smith-Schauver and his bounce back from his operation.

Obviously, Drake Baldwin's still extremely young and won the Rookie of the Year last year, so that's great. And guys like J.R. Ritchie and other young prospects, I know we'll see a lot of them in spring training, and I can't wait to see what another year for those guys looks like because they're going to be getting closer and closer to the big leagues, and we could see some of those guys early in this season. Ben, it's always good to hook up with you. It's going to be a fun season.

[26:21] Can't wait for your calls here on 93.9. Good luck, and thanks so much for your time today. My pleasure. I appreciate you having me. Ben Ingram, fine broadcaster, the voice of the Atlanta Braves, and also busy there at 680, the fans. Hard to believe. We're coming up on about a quarter of the Olympics, now in the books. What's the latest, as they say in song, the staple singers, was it? We'll take you there next. Stay with us on 93.9, the score. Gold medal, her teammate Jalen Koff took the silver, as she did four years ago.

Also in Beijing, Ryan Cochran-Siegel won a silver medal in Alpine skiing, the Super G, another silver today for the son of Barbara Cochran, who won a skiing gold medal for the U.S. in 1972. She was in Cortina today. The gold in that Super G went to Franyo Fong Van Allen from Switzerland. He earlier won the downhill and the combined three gold medals. First skier to do that since Jean-Claude Keeley in 1968. Men's hockey underway. Slovakia has beaten Finland 4-1. Sweden getting ready to play Italy. The U.S. plays Latvia tomorrow.

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Mets basketball action last night. The Auburn Tigers lost at home. They fell to 19th-ranked Vanderbilt, 84-76. Tahad Pettiford had 21 points in the loss as Auburn drops to 14-10 on the season and 5-6 in SEC play. Mets basketball action tonight. Alabama's on the road to play at Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide 16-7 on the year. 6-4 in the SEC. Ole Miss is 3-7 in the conference. 11-12 on the season. Tonight in the Sun Belt, Troy is on the road to play at Texas State. The Trojans 9-3 in the Sun Belt.

Tomorrow night, South Alabama is on the road to play at Southern Miss. 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. It's tax time, y'all. If you want to file free, this next one's for you. Now taxes is so free. TurboTax, free edition only. Roughly 37% of file is qualified. Triple form, 1040 returns only. Now this is tax free. Love that jam. Up next, commercial. Intuit TurboTax, free edition. See if you qualify at TurboTax.com slash free.

No schedules except for earned income tax credit, child tax credit, student loan interest, and schedule 1A. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93-9, The Score. Welcome back in. It is an absolute pleasure for us to say hello to Rodney Orr. He's kind of busy there. His founder, nettrick, tighter, insider.com. His book is called Bigger Than Bama. Rodney Orr, welcome in. How are you? Harold, I'm doing well. How are you? Man, we're doing all right, Rodney. I just assumed that Greg Sankey and Judge Daniel Pruitt will not be the next mayor in Tuscaloosa.

Am I right on that, Rodney? Uh, yeah, I think that's probably a pretty safe bet. You know, I mean, again, it was a, you know, really, the process that kind of got us to where we are right now, Harold, has been kind of actually confusing, I guess you could say. Because, I mean, isn't everybody a professional now? I think that's the question that a lot of Alabama fans are kind of asking. Here's another thing they're asking, Rodney. This dude named Greg Sankey makes a lot of money to make the tough decision.

He doesn't exactly wash dishes. His job is to make tough decisions. Why didn't he say at the headwind of this thing, this is not going to happen, I'm putting the brakes on, instead of coming on and dilly-dally, wishy-washy, let it play out, and then just, it seems like anyway, I don't know. It seems like when he saw the way the winds were blowing, that's the way he was going, and all of a sudden he jumps on the board, gives his endorsement. It's kind of like people in politics, they wait to sue the front-runner, and then they write to check for that candidate.

Why, if it's wrong now, why wasn't it wrong then? Yeah, I agree with you, Harold, because listen, I think we both know, common sense tells you, that Greg Byrne and Nate Oates wanted to run this through the SEC office first, and kind of get, so I don't think Sankey was blindsided by any of it, and I think Alabama probably had a pretty good feel what Sankey was thinking about it. So, I don't really think, this is just me, I'm pretty sure Greg Byrne and Nate Oates, they would not have moved forward if they hadn't felt like that, you know, Greg Sankey at least had given them some sort of an approval, and I don't know if approval is the right word, but some sort of a, hey, I understand this, and I'm not against it, whatever it is.

[37:25] So, that's a good question, Harold. I mean, I think, I would say Alabama was probably a little blindsided by his actions. Well, not only blindsided, now they don't know what's behind door number two as far as the repercussions of this. I mean, what are you hearing? I'm not going to put you on the spot, Rodney, the only time is going to tell, but if you're going to speculate, there's talk out there, maybe they got, they, being the NCAA and those geniuses and Mensa Society of Presidents, may want to vacate Bama's wins.

How can you do that when it was on, in effect, an injunction? I'm not a lawyer, but an injunction to me is kind of like an appeal, if you will, once you find the final verdict, then you act, but in the meantime, you're playing with the parameters that you're given. What are you hearing about the possibility of vacating wins under Betty Yacob? Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen based on some things I've heard. I think the original, the temporary restraining order or temporary injunction that they had, the preliminary injunction was that Judge Roberts ruled that, you know, this couldn't, that they couldn't come back on Alabama for this.

So I think that probably, and again, I'm like you, Harold, I'm not, certainly not legally minded. So I would have to kind of stay, stay away from that a little bit. But I don't think based on things I've heard from some attorneys that that's going to happen. Rodney Orr, founder and editor of tighterinsider.com. Whether you love it, whether you hate it, the show goes on. What now, Rodney, for this team beginning tonight at a very loud place. It ain't the biggest place, but it's the loud place at Ole Miss.

Right. I mean, I just think, again, I know Ole Miss hasn't probably been what they hope to be. And I think this is a game going on the road that you have to kind of try to figure out a way to win. You know, I mean, this is, Alabama's now got a couple of wins. I think, you know, being able to stack some wins would be really important for this team. It looks like they're kind of on a roll right now. I mean, you know, again, I thought the Texas A&M win was really big, Harold, for no other reason than the fact that it kind of got you back in a positive groove.

Stop the bleeding. The win at Texas A&M. And then, you know, to be able to go, I think it set them up to be able to go back, go down to Auburn with a positive mindset, kind of end up in more of a rhythm. And they gutted out another win down there. So, this is not really surprising. We talked about this, I think, last week. But, you know, it just seems like when Nate Oates' teams have their backs to the wall, they always seem to respond in a positive way.

So, yeah, this is going to Ole Miss, another big opportunity, I think, for this basketball team to take another step. Trying to believe only eight games left in the regular season. Rodney, on the flip side, Kalen DeBoer getting some good news of all places from the NCAA. How about that? Granting a seventh year of eligibility to Mississippi State, at least former Mississippi State defensive lineman, Kendrick Bingley-Jones. Yeah, and I think that's a big deal because, you know, not only is he experienced, he's an older player, but I think, Harold, too, just talking to people over in Mississippi that have watched him play the last couple of years there at Mississippi State.

You know, he originally started out as a four-star recruit that went to North Carolina, and then he transferred over to Mississippi State. But the people at Mississippi State said, you know, had he been able to stay healthy, they thought he was going to be really good, and they think he is. They think he can be a real factor for Alabama. So, that's good, an interior defensive lineman, and that was one of the things that we felt like in the portal they needed to do was to shore that interior up a little bit.

And I think with Bingley-Jones and then also, you know, Terrence Green from Oregon, 6'6", 330, and Bingley-Jones is 6'4", 320. You've got you a couple of, you have a duo there on the interior that could be really good for Alabama next season. Rodney, I don't know how much of the Super Bowl you saw, but whatever you saw, I think we all came to the same conclusion. If you looked at it, can we overstate the importance of a stout defensive line? How, at least on paper, in your opinion, does this unit stack up with last year's DL?

Well, that's a good question. I mean, we're going to find out. I think, you know, obviously you lost James Smith. You lost all three of your starters. I mean, Tim Keenan was the heart and soul of your defense, I think. And then James Smith left, and then, of course, L.T. Overton's gone. He's moving on to the NFL. So you lost some really experienced players that were good players in the heart and soul. But I just think that, Harold, we don't know. I mean, we'll see what Bingley-Jones and Terrence Green bring to the interior.

You've got London Simmons, who I think had a really good freshman year. You know, hopefully Jeremiah Beeman will be back and ready to go full speed, which I think he is. And I think the addition of Devin Tompkins, they'll put him at probably the position where James Smith was, is what I would expect. And then you have, you know, another end coming in from South Carolina. I can just call him Des U. So you're bringing some guys in that I think certainly could help you. But until we actually see them, it's kind of hard to predict.

[42:57] On behalf of the late Kenny Stabler, I miss the guys who were named Smith and Jones back in the day. Too many syllables now. Of course, tons of talk on the other side of the ball, Rodney. We know that. I thought it was interesting that new O.L. coach, Adria Clem, is getting glowing reviews from former Bama quarterback A.J. McCarron. Rodney, if I understood A.J. right, he says, this guy ain't playing. He's going to come in and say, man up. This other stuff, everybody gets a trophy.

If you break a nail, you're going to cry. If you do, leave. It seems like there's a new sheriff in town on that side of the ball. Well, you know, again, I understand that and I hear that. And, you know, it's kind of like we said after speaking to several coaches that have worked with him and know him really well, that he is a guy that believes in lining up and kind of going jaw to jaw with you. I mean, he believes in, you know, physical style up front, which is good.

But, again, how is that exactly going to fit in with what they're going to do or what they do? That's the interesting part because, you know, they do a lot of different things, I think. I'm talking about DeBoer and Grubb in their offense. It doesn't really call for lining up and going jaw to jaw. So, we'll see. It's going to be interesting. But, you know what, look, it may be an indication that, you know, Alabama is going to make some changes a little bit into what they do and, you know, hopefully become a more physical team up front and also be able to run the ball effectively because, listen, Harold, if they can generate some run game in one of these two quarterbacks and these two guys are both loaded with talent.

They don't have experience. We know that. But Austin Mack, Keelan Russell, one of those two guys, they're both loaded with talent. We'll see which one wins, you know, the battle. And it's only going to start this spring. I'm sure it's going to carry over into August. But whoever it is, if one of those guys can be what their talent indicates they could be, then this Alabama team could be a lot more difficult to deal with if they can get some things shored up on the line than what maybe people think or are expecting right now.

Well, you bring up a good point, Rodney. And I saw a post earlier today that somebody summed it up best. As far as talent, Alabama at the quarterback spot has got as much talent as anybody promising, but they lack experience. But here's the other side of that coin. Go across the SEC and look. There's some out there. Don't come to mind off the top. But a lot of coaches and a lot of teams and fan bases are going through the same thing, whether it's bringing a brand-new quarterback through the ranks in high school and developing them or bringing them in via the portal.

A lot of teams right now at the quarterback spot got question marks as far as can these kids live up to their promise because they're brand-new in a lot of cases. No doubt. I mean, like you said, I think sometimes Alabama fans, of course, we see it on tighterinsider.com. I can be guilty of it, too. We're focused on what Alabama's doing and has. And you forget, most of these teams are kind of going through the same thing. Exactly. There's a lot of transition because of the portal and guys leaving and that type of thing.

So, yeah, there is a lot of transition. And that's why I think it makes it really difficult, Harold, if we just sit here and try to predict what's going to happen. Because, I mean, we really don't know. You know, we just simply don't know. But I would say this. I am encouraged by some of the offensive linemen that Alabama's brought in. And I'm encouraged by Adrian Clem based on what I've heard. And I think if you can put it all together on the offensive side and if you can be as good as you were defensively last year, then, you know, maybe this team takes a step.

You do a good job, Rodney, obviously following recruiting. A lot of back and forth. And after all is said and done, if you go by some of the services, Alabama wound up with the number one class in the SEC, number two nationally. And as far as you look down the list of spring and summer visitors, it's a pretty impressive list, is it not, including the X-Men. I'll let you pronounce the name that sounds familiar, Mr. Saab, as some calls him. He's coming in this summer. He's the number one athlete in the country.

Your thoughts about the class and some of the visitors coming in. Well, I mean, I think they've done a great job. Listen, connecting with a lot of these players that they have had come in and that have Alabama listed very highly. Again, it's early, but they've certainly put themselves in a great position again with a tremendous number of players. And, again, I look at this, Harold, I look at this, and I say this again. I look at just about every position. You mentioned Saab, Xavier Saab, out of New Jersey, Glassboro, New Jersey.

He might be the number one athlete. He's certainly a guy that you probably would project as a receiver. To go with Manchan Sales, out of Indianapolis, again, a 6'5 receiver. It's one of the tops in the country. Alabama, Ohio State, Indiana, among the teams in the running for him. I think Alabama's in the lead. So you start getting those kind of athletes to go with some of the offensive linemen that they're recruiting, that they have a chance at. I know that the Matthew Hiller kid is a guy that, you know, is Pennsylvania.

[48:11] He has Alabama really high on his list. So there's a lot of offensive linemen that are highly rated that are looking at Alabama. But, Harold, like we've talked about before, the defensive line, you know, how does Alabama do with some of these high school kids? They've got two 60 miles within 60-mile radius here. They need to at least get one of them, Carlos May at Ramsey, and then Donovan Moore at Hueytown, which I think Moore is leaning strongly to Auburn. So, I mean, you've got some guys in your backyard that you need to be able to reel in.

So we'll see what happens. But also, you know, they're going over to Mississippi with some guys like Mitchell Turner and so forth. So they're not in bad shape. But I still think, you know, one area where they need to continue to improve recruiting is the interior defensive line on the high school level. Before we jump off, Rodney, I'm assuming you've got April 11th at 1 o'clock circled on your calendar. The question is, what kind of spring fling are we going to see in Tuscaloosa in your backyard?

Yeah, that's a good question because, I mean, there's some doubt about that, whether it's going to be another practice or is it going to be a scrimmage type thing. You know, I think to really generate, it'd be nice to generate some enthusiasm if they could, you know, and have a scrimmage type setting there where, you know, people could come in and watch this because that's really what people want to see rather than a practice. But, you know, we'll see what they do. In the meantime, you've got it all covered, Rodney.

Where can the folks come and get the very latest with you online anytime and your book? Right, it's tighterinsider.com. It's only $48 a year, and you can get instant access with your credit card if you prefer. There is an address there to send a check. It gives you all our premium information, but also our all-sports forum. That's our community of Alabama fans there. It's a lot of discussion right now, Harold. You know, it's really nonstop there. And, of course, the book, Bigger Than Bama, it's available on Amazon.com.

You can go there, just plug it in, Bigger Than Bama. Or you can go to RodneyOr.com. It's RodneyOr.com. And you can find it there. And all the details there, if you're interested, you can find out there how to place your order. Rodney, as always, knocking it out of the park. Thanks so much for your time, Dan. Have a great rest of the week, buddy. Harold, I appreciate it. You take care. Thank you, buddy. Rodney Orr, who's going to be with us. Founded and entered at tighterinsider.com.

The book is called Bigger Than Bama. Coming up in the next hour, in Double D, Drew Jarman is going to be talking Tide and Tigers. Andrew Adelson checking in from ESPN. And the hometown hero, a fellow by the name of Josh Willingham, leading off the lineup in the next hour. Stay with us. Getting the kids to practice on time. Remembering if it's your day to bring snacks. Making it to the game with a clean jersey. Why are simple things sometimes so complicated? Thankfully, with auto owners, insurance doesn't have to be one of them.

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[53:12] Paid spokesperson. Time spent on application may vary. Online health questions required. Progressive presents the passionate sports fan checklist. Signed jersey of your favorite bench warmer? Check. 14 bobbleheads that look nothing like the players they're emulating? Check. Twin TVs so you can watch the game on two different networks simultaneously? Check. Life-size wall sticker of your favorite player that routinely freaks you out at night? Check. A second life-size wall sticker. So after the first one freaks you out, you see the second, and you're like, oh right, the wall stickers.

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Call 1-800-294-0222. Donate your unwanted or unused car. Call 1-800-294-0222. This advertisement was paid for in partnership with Cars RS and Find the Children. 1819 News. The Alabama House has passed a bill that gives top state leaders the authority to remove and replace members that they first appointed to a board or commission. House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter and Speaker Pro Tem Chris Pringle sponsored HB 220. The measure states that board appointees serve at the pleasure of the official who appointed them, including the governor, the House Speaker, and the Senate President Pro Tem.

Pringle said the bill ensures that officials can remove members who fail to attend meetings or carry out their duties. The bill now moves to the Alabama Senate for consideration. I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this. Did you know that 70% of people experience a potentially traumatic event in their lifetime and that 6 out of every 100 adults face PTSD every day? Help us bring hope to these survivors by signing up for your Alabama distinctive PTSD awareness license plate today. The great thing is you can sign up no matter when your current plate renews and the first year is complimentary.

All you need is your FIN number on hand, drive awareness, drive hope, and customize your plate today at at ease.org. Two arrests were made in Bessemer after the shooting death of a 16-year-old boy. The shooting of Cordary and Sims occurred on January 31st. The U.S. Marshal's Gulf Coast Fidgetive Task Force found and arrested 21-year-old Jalen Robinson and 29-year-old Michael Bonner. Both are facing capital murder charges and are being held without bond in the Jefferson County Jail. Montgomery County is now committing $17.5 million to support Jackson Hospital as it works to emerge from bankruptcy.

County commissioners approved the funding on Tuesday, offering an initial $10 million payment this week. Commission Chairman Doug Singleton says the money will help the hospital continue operations, pay bills, and address critical infrastructure needs. The remaining $7.5 million will be paid in installments throughout 2029. I'm Andrea Tice. For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com. And while you're there, subscribe to the daily newsletter. Valley Broadcasting Corporation, WITK-FM, Rogersville, Athens, Decatur, The Shores. Sports Radio 93.9, The Score. West 1-1 Sports presents this special update of the 2026 Winter Games. Jordan Stolls is considered the best American speed skater since Eric Heiden, who says Stolls is better than he was.

And all Heiden did was win five gold medals in 1980. Stolls is favored to win four. And the 1,000 meters is considered his best event. He has won the gold today. He set a new Olympic record. Heiden was in attendance. The other day, Austrian snowboarder Anna Gasser went for a gold medal three-peat in the big air. She fell short, so still, no snowboarder has ever won three straight golds, but Chloe Kim of the U.S. can in the halfpipe. She recently hurt his shoulder, but she looked fine today in the qualifying.

Kim was cheered on by her boyfriend, Miles Garrett, of the Cleveland Browns. Figure skating right now has the conclusion of the ice dance, and the U.S. husband-and-wife team of Evan Bates and Madison Schock will be going for the gold. Well, this Winter Games Update, John Stash, that one. Let's do it once for us. Woo-hoo! Hear that? That's what having fewer hot flashes and night sweats can sound like. Vioza! Vioza is the number one prescribed hormone-free treatment FDA-approved for moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms, also known as hot flashes and night sweats, due to menopause.

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[58:20] That's V-E-O-Z-A-H dot com. Paid for by Estella Sparma. Join us for UNA Basketball Night from 7 to 8.30 p.m. on Monday nights from Lost Pizza Shoals. Go inside the UNA Basketball programs with head coaches Tony Pujol and Candy Whitaker, plus hear from UNA players and get full recaps from Atlantic Sunplay each Monday night at Lost Pizza Shoals for UNA Basketball Night from 7 to 8.30 p.m. right here on 93.9 The Score. Roar Lions. 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 two-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. 93.9 The Score weather. Today cloudy through mid-morning, then gradually clearing with a 60% chance of showers on a high around 60. Tonight mostly clear with a low around 35. Tomorrow partly sunny with a high near 60. Tomorrow night mostly cloudy with a low around 40. And after Friday partly sunny with a high near 60.

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. Our tour to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg. Normally joined by Brett Beaird. He is out today working on his new NIL deal. He's holding out for a fresh order of fries.

We'll keep you posted on that. But in the meantime, a pleasure for us to welcome in the legend from the Shoals, Josh Willingham. Former Major League Baseball player. 11 years in the show. Minnesota, Washington, Florida, Kansas City, Oakland, you name it. Legend at UNA. Legend at Mars Hill. And now the head baseball coach at Mars Hill. Josh Willingham. Welcome in. How are you? Harold, I'm doing good. How are you? It looks like you and your beautiful wife, Ginger. They've been busy, including, cray me if I'm wrong, a big recent trip to, where was it, Mexico?

I'm sure it was rewarding for you. Yes, it was. We had a really good trip. Took a lot of our college kids from church to Mexico. Did a little mission work and things like that. So it was a great trip. Josh, do I have this right? This is your fifth year at Mars Hill. First of all, congratulations. What about being able to return home? Very few people get to live the life, the dream that you have. You played there. You went to the bigs. And now you're back on the home turf, again, after 11 years in the big leagues.

That has to be a special feeling for you. It really is, Harold. You know, I try not to take it for granted. I love these kids. And, you know, trying to give them a little bit of the knowledge that I may have as a baseball player. And just try to help them develop as players, as men, hopefully, you know, future husbands and fathers and all that good stuff. So it's been a learning experience for me as well. So, but, man, it's just been a lot of fun.

Yeah, I'm going to brag on you a little bit because anybody that knows you knows you'd never do it. You're an inspiration for a lot of us folks who may think you can't go big from growing up around here. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, Josh. But you came out of UNA as shortstop, of all things, as a 17th-round pick, 471st pick overall in the MLB draft, picked up by the Marlins, and as they say, the rest is history, Silver Slugger Award winner, World Series ring with KC and the Royals, and tons of good memories.

You are an inspiration, Josh, to say, and who better be a coach when these kids think they can't? You could say, yes, you can. You're looking at one of the reasons for that. Yeah, well, I mean, you're right, Harold. I mean, it was always a dream of mine to play, play college ball, to play in the minor leagues, to play in the big leagues. You know, it's just one of those things where, you know, I had an opportunity that a lot of kids don't have, obviously had some talent.

But, you know, these kids, they're going to need an opportunity. They're going to need a break at some point in their life, whether it be, you know, this year on my baseball team or, you know, when they're out in the real world and get a job and got to be ready to take advantage of it, you know, just try to preach to these kids, you know. You've got to have high character. You've got to have all the intangibles, you know, that you can't teach. You've got to do all that stuff well and just be prepared.

[1:03:35] But, I mean, you're right. I've got to live the American dream, you know, for 11 years in the major leagues. And I definitely don't take that for granted. It's something that, you know, it's just when you're in the middle of it, it's a job and it's what you do. But when you get a chance to step back and you're done and now you're, you know, about to be 47 years old, you're like, wow, that was really cool. You know, I got to do that for a long time.

So, definitely feel blessed for sure. Do you ever just feel like maybe now I know what those poor old coaches that I've played under are going through? Because, you know, let's face it, Josh. You bring up a good point. And a show of hands, folks listening right now, if you go back to school, remember this. You were in a class and as a kid, you said, what do these old people know? And you look back now, they were in their 30s and 40s. Yeah. And you go, maybe they weren't so old after all.

But, you know, what kind of lessons can you tell them? Because kids, I will say this, Josh, kids have always had pressure. But the social media thing going on now, I can't imagine the pressure some of these kids are under. What do you do as far as that part? You can tell them to talk, talk. You can tell them, all right, here's what you do with a fastball, what you do on three and two count. But as far as that part of the game, what lessons can you tell them having been at the highest level?

Yeah, well, that goes back to all the stuff, you know, away from the baseball field. And it goes, you know, all the stuff that we try to, you know, preach to them, you know, that has nothing to do with baseball. Because those ultimately are the most important things for them to learn. You know, I think you've got to have the respect to the kid, number one. Like, they've got to believe you. They've got to know that you have their best interest at heart. And sometimes they still don't listen to you.

But let's face it, you know, when I was a child and now, or a high schooler, and now the high schooler, there's a lot more at their disposal, like you were touching on. They have a lot more things out there that can get them in trouble, that can occupy their time and energy. And we just went outside and played ball all day, you know, in the summertime. That's all we knew. That's all we really had to do. So just getting them to understand, you know, what's going to carry them on through life, what's going to be the most important thing, whether it be values or, you know, their work ethic, just all those things, just stuff that we try to hammer into their heads, you know, starting in the middle school level in seventh grade.

Where I grew up, Josh, we had a big budget. We had a broken broomstick and a lemon. Now, if you go to the grocery store, those plastic lemons, that was our budget, and that's how we played until the sun went down and sometimes played into the twilight. So let's brag a little bit about your team this year, Josh. Obviously, you guys have been playing at a high level. Talk to us about the 2026 Mars Hill Bible baseball team. Yeah, well, any good team that I've ever been a part of, whether it be coaching or playing on it, needs to have good pitching.

Like, that's where it starts. Yep. And I feel like that's where our team is going to be successful is if we get good pitching. And we have, you know, multiple guys that can do it. You know, Brooks Campbell was hurt last year for the majority of the season, and he had been our previous number one for the two seasons before that. So he's getting healthy, which is going to help us a lot. You know, Bo Willis is a senior that's had a lot of experience, that's going to have a good year for us on the mound and in the field.

And then, you know, Luke Fowler is a position player that made All-State last year. Noah Hamback's a junior that has come back that started all year for us. So then we had several freshmen that played a lot last year that got a lot of experience. So our sophomore class is really strong. So, you know, I think the talent is there. I think the pitching is there that we need. Had a couple of injuries. Malin Moore tore his ACL in football. He started every game at shortstop, which happened.

You've got to overcome those things. So hopefully we'll get him back at some point during the season. But I'm excited about our ball club, and, you know, it's not really from the ability standpoint. It's just the kids just love to be around each other, and they love the game, and they're a pleasure to coach. And if you have that kind of team that loves to be there, that's going to work hard, then it really makes your job easy as a coach. And you know what, Josh?

It's really never a job. If you enjoy what you do, it's never work. It's just it's time, but it's never what to call work. Speaking of times, it's safe to say you and your beautiful wife, Ginger, blinked and boom. Rhett, Ryder, and Rogan, your three sons, are now young men. Mm-hmm. That's right. Now I got one in college at UNA and then a sophomore and a seventh grader. So I guess the next time we blink, everybody will be out of the house. You'll be buying grandkids' presents.

No, that's true. Life happens fast, Harold. You know that. It happens fast, and it goes too quickly at times. It seems like yesterday I was in my playing career, and, you know, now I'm icing my arm after I throw BP. So time definitely takes a toll on you. You mentioned that. I looked at the percentage, Josh, and we'll get to David here in a second, up in the red or David Weathers. Probably less than 1% of kids, as you mentioned, who play in their friend's backyard at the dark, make it to the big leagues.

[1:09:01] What is the one thing that you may miss? Let's face it. It's a job. It's big business. And after a while, you find that out, and you get called in and say, Josh, we love you, but you're going to be traded to Timbuktu for a player to be named later. What's the biggest thing that you miss as a former player? Yeah, well, that's one question that the answer is going to be the same pretty much regardless of who you ask that has played, you know, a lot of years in sports professionally, and that's the clubhouse.

I mean, you miss the clubhouse. You miss being around the guys. You know, you miss the jokes. You miss the camaraderie. You miss the brotherhood. That's what you miss. And that's pretty much going to be your answer. And it's not a – you know, it's an answer that comes from the heart. And that's what coaching kind of gives you. It gives you that same kind of feel to some extent where you're still in the game. You're part of that brotherhood that's, you know, trying to pull the rope in the same direction, if you will.

But that's the main thing that you miss when you get out, for sure. Well, but sometimes you get to still see those guys. A little birdie tells me you and fellow former major leaguer, the aforementioned David Weathers, recently teamed up to help the folks up in Loretto. Talk to us about the meeting. Yeah, well, they asked me to come speak at their preseason baseball banquet, and I obviously went up there and hopefully said something that they took from the speech. So I got to visit with David and all those players up there, and, you know, they do a great job up there at Loretto.

Yeah. You know, David is about as class act as you can get and a great baseball man. And we talked about Ron and, you know, just basically caught up because we haven't been able to do that probably for a couple years. So it was good to go up there and catch up with him. I'm sure you have to be proud of your time with David and the Bs, but you and Ginger also have something to be proud of, and that's your foundation. Josh, talk to us about what your foundation means to so many in the Shoals.

Sure. Well, I appreciate that. Yeah, we started a foundation several years ago, and the sole goal of the foundation was just to help kids around this area. And, you know, we do fill a lot of backpacks every week. We fill between 200 and 300 depending on the week and give them out to kids that need it, families that need it. And, you know, Harold, we got so many people that help us with this and so many churches and organizations that are passionate about helping kids as well. And we just could not do it without the support.

So it's been an awesome thing to be able to give back a little bit. Well, you've got it going on, Josh. For the folks who want to jump on and help you who may be listening now, what can you tell us as far as phone numbers, all this stuff online? What can you tell us? The easiest thing would be to get online and go to djoshwillinghamfoundation.org, and that's how you can find out a lot of information about what we do, our food, our backpack program, donations, different things of that nature.

You should be able to get all the information you need. Sounds great. I feel guilty. I'm keeping you away from the baseball field. Listen, all the best this season. Thanks so much for joining our little huddle today, Josh. Yeah, I appreciate it, Harold. Thanks for having me on. The one, the only, Josh Willingham. To the big house of sports ESPN's Andrea Adelson on deck. Stay with us. Prohibition is over, and the good times will flow once again at the Florence Wine Fest, February 20th and 21st.

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Tickets are available at Florence locations of Bank Independent. For more information, check out Kiwanis Club with Florence AL on Facebook. From the University of Alabama, this is Crimson Tide Today. It's daily update on Bama sports, and it's brought to you by Conecuh Sausage, a true Southern flavor since 1947, and the official smoked sausage of the Crimson Tide. Order online at ConecuhSausage.com. Hello again, everybody. I'm Roger Hoover. On Tuesday's edition of Crimson Drive, driven by NASCAR, we were joined by Alabama basketball legend, Jemichael Green. He's kind of reminding me of the new Saban, basketball, you know, basketball-wise.

The way he came in and turned the program around and what he's doing, he's doing a great job. I think he was the perfect fit for the program and excited to see the continuance of the greatness that he's bringing to the program. So the way we're shooting the ball right now, you know, that's something that we lacked. When I was at the university, we didn't have too many three-point shooters, so the way we're shooting the ball right now and shooting it consistently, I like that. We're more up-tempo as a team.

You know, I just love what he's bringing. I love what he's bringing. Would you have liked playing in this style of system? I would have. That's all I was missing. I'll have more in a moment. Hello, Tide fans. This is Chris Stewart for Conecuh Sausage. Conecuh's an Alabama fan favorite we all know and love. It's made from the finest cuts of pork, their patented blend of seasonings, and smoked over a pure hickory fire for that true hickory-smoked southern flavor. Conecuh Sausage is always great on the grill and perfect for tailgating.

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The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. The latest from the Olympics at the bottom of the hour. But first, pleasure for us to welcome in the perennial gold medal winner from ESPN, Andrea Adelson. Andrea, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing great. How are you doing today? We're doing all right. Listen, now, sorry. Can you believe Britt opted for a colonoscopy today over joining us? Are you sure he's not just home watching the Olympics? Because I feel like maybe that's what he's doing.

Or at a dental appointment. That sometimes gets those confused, though. I'm just a sportscaster. You know what I'm saying. I'm not in the medical field. Andrea, you're preparing for a rarity, a big heating bill this time around. Oh, my gosh. I finally turned the heat off in my house today. I think it was on for three straight weeks. It's like a record for me in Orlando. And I'm not kind of like, I know. Feel bad for me, everyone. I live in Florida for a reason. Okay, I know.

First world problems. First world problems. Okay, Judge Andrea, was the right verdict rendered in the Charles Bediaco case? Well, I mean, I know who the audience is here. Am I allowed to give my opinion without people getting mad at me? Look, I mean, there have to be eligibility rules, right? I mean, there has to be a line in the sand that gets drawn. And we have seen so many of these cases that have challenged what exactly is eligibility? How many years do I get? Does it count if I go to a JUCO?

[1:19:48] Does it count if I play one or two games on an NBA developmental team? Like, I feel like there have to be limits and lines here or else what is collegiate athletics, right? I mean, is it collegiate athletics at this point? And we're going to let anybody and everybody play who wants to be able to play? So I think the ruling was correct. I'm sure there are folks in your listening area that are yelling at the radio right now, telling me I'm a moron, and that's fine.

But it feels as if there has to be some delineation for, okay, these are the rules in college, and I get we're paying players now. But it's a whole different ball of yarn for me when you go to a professional organization, even if it is a developmental organization. That, I think, should cut the eligibility. Andrew, here's a problem for a lot of folks, and I think a lot of people would agree with you, but if you're a big shot, a.k.a. Greg Sankey, the commish, why don't you just say this up front?

Nope, you're not going to do it. Instead of dragging it out and then saying it was wrong, what changed from the beginning of this story to now for Greg Sankey? That's a great question. I would love to know the answer to that because I agree with you, right? It didn't have to come to this. They could have just said, no, you're not allowed, and set a precedent and moved on, right? I mean, there are NCAA rules that need to be followed. So I understand why there is anger over that part of it because you're for something before you are against something.

Isn't that like what politicians are usually famous for? I was more of the war before I was against it. In this case, for it, before he penned that letter and decided, well, you know what? This may open up a whole big can of worms that I'm not ready to open up for the rest of collegiate athletics because if it's being challenged in this case, in this sport, you know, think about baseball players, right? Who has maybe played a game or two in minor league baseball and want to come back.

And that's slightly different because we've had instances as it relates to that, quarterbacks like Chris Winkie who've come back and done it. But you could just extrapolate this for so many other sports. And if you're setting a precedent right now with this, what does it mean for all the other sports in collegiate athletics? And, of course, the big question about vacated wins, I don't think any of us can answer that. Time will tell. But, meanwhile, what about you Gators, Andrea? Remember when Florida was a football school?

Kind of. I mean, my memory is getting, like, faded by the year. I know. Exactly. When I was in school, nobody wants to – I don't want to remember that far back from when I was in school and we were a football school. But basketball is doing great, right? I mean, look, football has to get it right. I don't think there's any doubt about that. And I've seen the stories coming from the Associated Press, from John Summerall. They took the names off the jersey. Okay, that's all well and good.

We're just going to, you know, do all of these things to try and be motivational. But football has to catch up with where basketball is. I don't think there's any doubt about that. And that's kind of where it was, quite honestly, when Billy Donovan was there. Toward the end of that era for football, things started to go into a bit of a downslide until Tebow and Urban Meyer came in. But there's no doubt that Florida has to find its way again in football because as great as basketball has been and as great as basketball is playing now after a bit of a slow start, What energizes the fan base more in Gainesville than football trying to compete for a championship?

No offense to basketball. That's just the way of the world in Gainesville. Before we jump off, speaking of that, are fans starting to warm up to the North Alabama boy, John Summerall? We'll see, right? I mean, it's always a honeymoon period, as you know. He's saying and doing all the right things right now. But I believe Billy Napier was saying and doing all the right things when he first came aboard. So, you know, people were excited when he was kind of revamping the staff, Billy, and adding more support staff.

And, oh, this is what Florida needed. And, oh, finally the standalone football facility is being built. So, okay, well, four years later they've got that facility and football is not any better. And all the additions to the support staff really didn't do anything in the grand scheme of things. So we'll see, right? Obviously there's going to be a change at quarterback, new offensive philosophy. We'll see if Florida can surprise people. But, you know, here's the other thing about it, too, is when folks look at what Kurt Signetti did at Indiana, right?

Now, suddenly, for all of these first-year coaches who are coming from places that had success, like a Tulane, like a John Summerall, it's like, well, Kurt Signetti did that. We need to do that. Like, the pressure's on, right? Like, how come Indiana's doing that? We're Florida. We should be able to do that in year one and two. So I think that just adds to the pressure and expectation level when you see a program like that have the type of success that they had. Andrew, in like 30 seconds or so, is Dabo listening to the old bowl, Coach Steve Spurrier telling Dabo, Oh, hey, Dabo, there are no rules now.

[1:24:57] Yeah, he probably should. But I have been told that the NCAA is looking into the allegations of tampering from Ole Miss and linebacker Luke Farrelly. So if the NCAA comes out and actually does something in this case, maybe there are rules. That is right now. It feels like there are not. I hate rules. I know you do, too. Andrew, listen, for the folks who want to get online with you, we recommend ESPN. Thank you so much. And good luck with that heating bill, okay? All right.

Thanks for having me again. Appreciate it. Double A, Andrea Adelson, ESPN. Coming up, the latest from the Olympics on 93.9. The score. Stay with us. Have you ever seen those halftime scholarships where you have to nail a 40-yard field goal? Yeah, this isn't that. I didn't have to write a long essay or audition or make a half-court shot. I just had to open a bank independent account, use my debit card, sign up for online banking, and have a positive balance. That's it. A 20% scholarship to UNA. When bank independent invests in students like me, they're investing in all of us and the future of our community.

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[1:29:59] Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93.9 The Score. This weekend in college baseball openers, Alabama will open the season at home as the Crimson Tide take on Washington State in a series that gets underway on Friday. Auburn Tigers will be at home as they host Youngstown State in a three-game weekend series. Troy Trojans will open up the season on the road in Macon, Georgia. They'll take on the Mercer Bears in a three-game set in South Alabama set to host South Carolina Upstate starting on Friday. The NASCAR Cup Series is set to open up the season this week.

The duels at Daytona are set for tomorrow night with the Daytona 500 set for Sunday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway. 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. Working as a dedicated Fidelity advisor, I always ask, what's important to you? A look at those priorities and goals alongside your full financial picture to build a comprehensive plan designed to help grow and protect your wealth. With proactive portfolio insights and an eye on taxes, I'm here to help you make the most of your money.

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Taxes and fees apply. Plan purchase required for free phone offers. Copyright 2026 Verizon. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. It is a pleasure. Press say hello to Double D. Drew DeArman. He's host of Talking Ball and Hustle's 97. 7 FM The Zone. Drew, welcome in. How are you? I'm good, Harold. How are you? Man, we're doing all right. Appreciate you taking time out. Drew, it's safe to say a very interesting week in the courts for Alabama's basketball team. Your thoughts? Yeah, it's a tough decision for Alabama.

You know, I know when they originally decided to make this move with Charles, I think they were confident they could get an injunction to allow him to play out the rest of the season and finish his career at Alabama. You know, there was a lot of national outrage slash hypocritical, you know, commentary and a lot of the national pundits and, of course, the NCAA and others seem to kind of just box in and just to really harp on this particular situation just with Alabama, not with Gonzaga.

And Tyron Baker, he's a kid that got an injunction to play his final year. Tyron Stokes, excuse me, he's playing his final year with Gonzaga, and he got an injunction to play his final season. They're not talking about that. They're not talking about James Najee anymore at Baylor, mainly because, you know, in my opinion, Baylor's not very good. And, again, the crutch is that he, quote-unquote, didn't sign a two-way contract, but he certainly had been overseas and in the G League, and he got four years of eligibility.

So, to me, it was just kind of hypocritical, a lot of the criticism, but it all started kind of turning, I think, when they had the judge refuse himself, had Judge Pruitt put in place, who, of course, has been presiding over the Darius Miles case. And then, also, when Greg Sankey, I think that was kind of the final straw. When Greg Sankey, what I had heard, had previously said Alabama, of course, you know they would. They would advise Greg Sankey they were going to make this move, and he initially okayed it and said, okay, I understand what you're doing.

And then, you know, he decides to go along with the National Herd and sign that affidavit, you know, not wanting Mediaco to be eligible. I kind of think you can just read the tea leaves, you know, and even though Tyron Baker-Stokes and these guys are playing, and then you've got, you know, a 23-, 24-year-old shooting guard at Texas A&M that's got three years of eligibility that came from overseas. Heck, Alabama's going to play against a point guard tonight that was a pro for several years in France for Ole Miss.

So, but everybody seemed to just kind of pile on and say, make Alabama out to be the villain in this situation. And once, you know, Sankey kind of signed off and then you saw the change in judges, I didn't think you could kind of read the tea leaves of what was going to happen. And it's tough, Charles is not going to be there, but, you know, the thing is, and the thing you have to realize is he was only there for five games. Alabama went three and two.

[1:35:21] They went 13 and five and beat some really high-level teams before, you know, he came back. And then, now they kind of have to restart again, but it's going to, guys like Noah Williamson, he's going to have to get back in the rotation. He had pretty much been eliminated. He's going to have to give them five to ten minutes a game. And then, you know, they need to get healthy with their, you know, in their guard play as far as Latrell Reitzel. He missed most of the last game against Auburn with a knee.

You need to get him back tonight. You need to get as healthy as you can. They're not going to have as much depth in the post. But, again, they never had a lot of depth to begin with. And certainly it hurts to lose a guy like Betty Aco. But I think if they go with a smaller lineup with maybe a little more skill, it's certainly not going to help them on the glass. But they weren't a good rebounding team anyway. So, you know, Nate Oates and the coaching staff, I admire Coach Oates.

He said, look, we're paid to figure this out. We're going to figure it out. And it's going to be a very interesting night tonight in Oxford because they're not a great team, but they're certainly not a bad basketball team. They're coached by one of the better, you know, guys in the country, in my opinion, Chris Beard. But Alabama's schedule is pretty conducive going forward if they can stay healthy. And so it will be interesting. But it has been a tough week in the court system for Alabama, no question.

I wish, thank you, would go to the microphone and say, here's what changed from my initial feeling about this to now. I mean, I don't think he's out mowing grass or washing dishes. So he's got time, I would say, to go in and fully explain what changed from the beginning of this process to now. And you mentioned something interesting, Drew. I saw today a quarterback at Montana. He's got one of those names you can't pronounce if you're from down here. He's getting a ninth year. A ninth year of eligibility.

People in the NFL don't play nine years. I mean, what's the baseline for making decisions going forward? What makes it right and what makes it wrong? Yeah, that's the thing. And I think that's what Coach Oates was talking about yesterday during his media availability. And that's the problem I think everyone has, especially Coach Oates, is there is no transparency. They don't. The NCAA is arbitrary. They don't make the same decision for everyone. You know, like, for example, Alabama with Kedrick Bingley-Jones, the defensive tackle from Mississippi State.

He had signed with Alabama and had transferred in the portal, but was still waiting upon word if he would get his last year of eligibility. Well, he got his last year of eligibility yesterday. And it was his seventh year, Harold. Seventh year. And his seventh year. Yeah. And so, you can't get Charles Bediaco five years within his window because he supposedly was a quote-unquote pro. But I don't see the difference in him being a pro and these kids overseas. And then other G League players like Najee and the young man at Louisville that have all played in the G League.

And they've been given years of eligibility. And a lot of times, three or four years. And yet, Bediaco was just trying to play a semester. And because, quote-unquote, he signed, you know, with a two-way contract, he's supposed to be ineligible. And here's the cynic in me. I wonder if he was at Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, Duke, or UCLA. Northwestern. He would be standing on the sidelines. I think he would probably be eligible. But that's just me. And I think that's the frustration where it lies with a lot of coaches is they don't seem to judge things the same.

And I'll say this not just from an Alabama perspective. If Bingley Jones is getting a seventh year for Alabama, why in blue blazes is Trinidad Chambliss not getting a sixth for Ole Miss? Thank you. I don't understand it. He missed two years. One was a red shirt legitimately for injury. And then the area, excuse me, to get bigger and stronger. And then the other one was, quite frankly, because he had a medical condition. So I really don't understand how the NCAA works here. And I understand the frustration of coaches around the country, no question.

Well, the simple solution, what's the old acronym, KISS, keep it simple, stupid, is five for five. You've got five years, boys. Whatever how you want to chop it up, you've got five years to get it in. After that, no exceptions to the rule. But that probably makes too much sense. You mentioned Bingley Jones. Drew, how big of news is that for the Alabama's defensive line? Well, I think it's pretty big, Harold, no doubt about it. I mean, he's a big physical kid, and he's an older guy.

You know, they signed him and Terrence Green out of Oregon. I think both of them can make impacts. And as you know, they lost Tim Keenan. Tim Keenan was basically the heart and soul of the defensive line and was a big part of, you know, the physicality that they did play with when they played well. And so you've got to replace those guys, you know. And so I think having an older guy who's been through the wars, and he's been in the SEC. So certainly he played at Mississippi State.

[1:40:29] Green played at Oregon, which is a very high-level program, you know, and has been in the college football playoff. He wasn't a starter, but he was a rotational piece. So to me, those are two big-time physical presences that you need on the inside, no doubt about it. And so – and then – and I'm going to call him Zulu from South Carolina. It's Don Zulu, and he's – you know, he kind of can help replace L.T. Overton and Keon Keeley. I mean, you're not replacing both, but at least you have a guy that you think has a chance to be an impact guy on the edge that can come out there and probably play that bandit spot.

So – and then there's going to be some more – it'll be interesting to see, you know, in the freshman class if any of those guys can come in and play early, especially at the – you know, you know, on the outside, you know, on the edge, you know, like Xavier Griffin, you know, perhaps, you know, he comes out and he can – he can maybe back up Yonsei Pierre and develop and Justin Hill. You know, so we'll see. But it'll be interesting. But I think those are – I think Bingley Jones and Green from Oregon, I think they're both really good additions.

You mentioned Griffin over in Georgia. I saw a message the other day of his mom. He's only been there basically a little over a month. She says he's already gained 18 pounds. Drew, I didn't know I had something in common with a five-star athlete. Yeah, I mean, it's so interesting because Nate Oates made this point, you know, when they were calling Betty Aco a pro, he was actually – and acting like he was a grown man, he actually pointed out that Charles had lost weight since he had turned pro.

And it's not like he had gained strength because, as he said, when you're in the G League, you don't have as much – you know, you're certainly being coached, but there's not as much player development going on from the standpoint of a nutritionist, a strength coach, being able to get – you know, to eat three proper meals a day and to be able to have as much, you know, solid work in practice because you don't practice as much in the professional ranks, and then you're always on commercial flights.

So Charles was actually, I think, benefiting from being back at Alabama in that regard, being back in the structure. He's still going to continue to be a student at Alabama. They have him on scholarship because that's another thing people are not thinking about. Yes, he's made some money playing professionally, but without them leaving him on scholarship, he couldn't afford to stay in school. So they're allowing him to stay in school and hopefully finish his degree. And so the whole angle of the narrative of Nate Oates being selfish, and I know – I really thought that was mystifying that Bruce Pearl would come out and say that.

Of course, I don't know if it had anything to do with the fact that Nate Oates is 1-0 against his son, but, you know, I don't know. But maybe. I mean, I'm a cynic and all. But – and then – and sometimes, you know, if you live in a glass house, you shouldn't throw the first stone because I think we know if you look at Bruce Pearl's background, he's far from perfect. I think a lot of folks would agree with that. I don't always have the ability to answer all questions, but I can answer this one now.

When is Alabama's spring football game, or whatever you want to call it, mark April the 11th, 1 o'clock. Obviously, an interesting spring in Tuscaloosa. Drew, what kind of show are they going to put on down there on April the 11th? Well, I think that's to be determined, Darrell. I mean, I agree with everyone else. When they put out the release today, it's interesting they didn't say a day game. Right. I think it's going to be more of a football celebration. I think they would like to play a game, but you don't know who's going to be available via injury.

You don't know what your numbers are going to be. So, there'll be an open practice or a workout or maybe some sort of game. We'll see. But I think it's ironic, and I think it's probably happened during my lifetime. I just don't remember it. This is the first time, at least in a very long time, because lately the A-Day games have been the third or even the last week of April, mostly the third. So, I thought it was interesting, but it's going to fall on my birthday, so I'll be turning 51 on A-Day, 2026.

But we're looking forward to it, and I think, honestly, and this is around college football as a whole, and you guys cover it every day on the Boomo Bugg Show, but with the transfer portal and NIL and so much player movement, you know, spring practice takes on a new emphasis because you're trying to build your team, and you've got so many new pieces. For example, I think I was told today LSU is going to have 60 new players. So, I know Bama and Auburn are going to have 40 or at least close to that.

So, you better have yourself a roster sheet when you go to these spring celebrations or spring games because there's a lot of new pieces everywhere around the country. One thing that's going to be interesting, the quarterback battle, but also, Drew, your thoughts about A.J. McCarron's verbal bouquets for the new O.L. coach, Adrian Clem. At least according to A.J., Alabama got an upgrade there. Well, and I like A.J. because he's not afraid to speak his mind and give a strong opinion, and I do agree with him that I think Alabama had lost their edge along the offensive line, but I'll be honest, even toward the end of Nick Saban's tenure in Tuscaloosa, I think that had already started to happen.

[1:45:55] I do, too. I think, I mean, hopefully if you're Kaelin DeBoer, you stop the bleeding with Adrian Clem and this past season was kind of bottoming out of the deal. So, even though you had a talented player in Parker Brelford and certainly a guy in Caden Proctor who should play in the NFL a long time, but the guard spots weren't very good, right? Tackle wasn't very good at times. Mike Carroll was young and kind of learning to play that position after, I think, being more of an interior prospect.

But we'll see. I mean, he has a very good resume, Harold. I mean, he's considered a very good recruiter, and hopefully he's going to be a much better fit for, you know, what Kaelin DeBoer and the staff want to do than Coach Kapp. Well, I think Coach Kapp recruited Coach Chris Kapelik, recruited very well. I'm just not so sure coaching style-wise he meshed with Ryan Grubb and Kaelin and hopefully Adrian Clemwell. He certainly has worked for a lot of great coaches, and he's done a lot of great work, especially on the college level as a recruiter and coach.

So, hopefully the offensive line starting this spring will start coming together and gelling and be much improved next year because that's the main way Alabama is going to take a step forward offensively is, of course, to be better up front. Drew, before we jump off, your thoughts about the balance of, as far as the health tonight for Ole Miss and your thoughts about Auburn, the basketball team, it's rare to beat Auburn any time, but for them to lose two at home, that's rare in itself. Well, you know, Auburn is going through in basketball what Alabama's been going through in football.

I mean, Bruce Burrell, you know, we just got through talking about his comments, but I didn't really appreciate and I thought were kind of inappropriate in a lot of ways, you know, what he said about Nate Oates. But the one thing I won't dispute either is his hire was maybe the most important in the history of the state of Alabama from the standpoint of what he accomplished at Auburn, which was unprecedented, the best coach in their history and reaching the Final Four twice and winning SEC tournaments, SEC titles, which we'd never seen done, even under Sonny Smith.

And so I think, you know, it caused Alabama to move on from Avery Johnson and hire Nate Oates. And so we'll see. But I think Stephen Burrell, you've got to be patient. Certainly his dad thought he left him a really good roster, and I think it's good. I don't know if it's quite as good as they thought. But there are going to be some growing pains if you have a first-year head coach. They played as difficult of a schedule as Auburn's ever played. They're in a little bit of a rut right now, but when you look at their schedule, I still think there's a chance for them to win 10 SEC games and go 19 and 12.

And, you know, I thought, and I've said this this week on Talking Ball, that both Alabama and Auburn were top-20 teams. But I think Auburn's schedule is only conducive for them to probably be in the 7, 8, 9, 10 area as far as seed goes, and that would put them with, you know, having to play a 1 or a 2 in the second round should they win if you get to the round of 32. But that's just kind of how the cookie crumbles because they have a more difficult back end of the schedule than Alabama, even though it's manageable.

But certainly they should still be solidly in the tournament. Now, they can play their way on to the bubble, but they have the second-highest schedule strength in the country, number one, in Alabama. So they should still be in solid shape. It's just, I think, going forward, they can't afford any more bad losses. They've got to beat the LSU, the Oklahomas, the Mississippi State, and they need to be solid. And when Kentucky comes to Auburn later this year, they need to win that game because you've already given up two to Alabama and to Vanderbilt.

So you need to find a way to kind of beat a quality opponent in Neville down the stretch. Stay tuned. Drew, for the folks who want to stay tuned to Drew DeArmond, where can you take us? Well, you can certainly connect with me at 977ESPN. Or, of course, you can connect with us on 977ESPN.com for all our content. And if you want to listen on our SoundCloud page, it'll be 97.7 The Zone, ESPN, 977 The Zone. And then we also have WZZN TV where we live stream all of our content.

You can go back and watch those live broadcasts if you want to, you know, have proof that I have a face for radio. So certainly you can do that, too. And then, of course, and then I think tonight, just one for my final comment, I think tonight will be tough for Alabama. I think it's going to have to be a game decided in the last four minutes. And if Alabama is going to win the game against the Rebels tonight, I think, you know, Aiden Shirell is going to have to play well.

And I think they need a double-double out of him, and I think they need good performances. But we saw in Auburn by LeBaron Phylon and, of course, Aiden Holloway. If they get those, I think they can win an 8175-type game. But I still think it's going to be tough because this is never going to be a good defensive team at Alabama, and they're going to have to play well on the offensive end to win games. Stay tuned. Drew, listen, man, thank you so much for your time, Dave, and stay safe out there, okay?

[1:51:03] Thank you, Harold. Appreciate it. Rudy Arman, host, Talking Ball in Huntsville's 97.7 FM, The Zone. Double shot of basketball. You mentioned Alabama and Ole Miss. Pre-game, 5 o'clock. Game at 6 or 939 to score. Or if you want to watch UNA in person, it's coming up at 6 tonight over at the CB&S Bank Arena against the boys from West Georgia. Going to take care of business right now on behalf of BB. He'll be back tomorrow, we think. Greg James Blair, the entire crew here. Carol Buck, thank you so much for your time today.

Let's do it again tomorrow, noon to 2 for the Boom on Buck Show. Back here on Sports Radio, 939 to score.