Boomo Bugg Show 050626

[0:00] Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens and all of Northwest Alabama and Southern Tennessee. It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice. The Boomo Bugg Show. Your exclusive inside track to the Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC. Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9, The Score. Good afternoon and welcome in to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us a free ride around the Tennessee Valley. Brett Beaird, welcome in where the Auburn Tigers continue to be on fire at the SEC baseball tournament and Braves fans are mourning the loss of a legend.

Good afternoon, welcome in and how are you? Happy Wednesday to you and the listeners. Boy, you're right. He was a maverick 30 years ahead of his time. Ted Turner, founder of CNN and TBS broadcasting and the former owner of the Atlanta Braves died today at 87 years old. Harold, just a quick weather note. Lauderdale County Schools, as well as Mars Hill Bible, will dismiss early today at 1230, in fact, because of the potential weather concerns we've got this afternoon. But we are absolutely delighted to have bringing in Stuart Sink, who won the Regents Tradition last week and many more this season at Greystone Golf and Country Club joining us right now.

You know what's amazing about it, that we do not, this is just the way it works sometimes. Nobody knows, mentioned Ted Turner, no one knows the Atlanta area better than Stuart Sink, and no one knows Lauderdale County better than Stuart Sink. I'm going to go on record right now and say, I'm just going to go out and say it. He's the best golfer to ever come out of Bradshaw High School. Stuart Sink, he's got a place down at Home Depot adding yet more space to his trophy case.

Stuart, welcome in. Stuart, it is an absolute pleasure. How are you? I'm doing great, fellas. It's so good to be on with you. And you know I love checking in with my homies up in North Alabama from time to time. I tell you what, Stuart, I don't even know where to begin with this. My goodness gracious, you are a living testament. Stay in shape. Always keep the gas tank loaded. You are on the PGA Champions Tour, you're racking it up right and left. Most recently, as Brent mentioned, down at the Regents.

Where do you start in breaking down this year and the secret to the sauce, Stuart? Well, to be honest, yeah, I've had a productive six months or so here with wins, and it's been awesome. But really, the turning point probably came about two years ago at a tournament in Tucson, Arizona, where I had the lead. And it would have been my first win on the Champions Tour early on in my career out here after turning 50. And I lost. I played really bad on the back nine.

The pressure got to me a little bit. The expectations certainly did. I hit the ball out of play several times. And it was a real wake-up call. So it was a great time for that to happen. It aligned my expectations a little bit more properly and gave me a real good roadmap for what I need to do to get things a little more on the rails, so to speak. And so now I feel like I'm actually being able to implement a lot of the changes I was able to make.

And, you know, it's been night and day from that back nine in Tucson, which felt so terrible, to, you know, like last Sunday at Greystone, where, you know, my driver really has been the most important weapon for me in winning tournaments. Keeping the ball in play and with power and making the golf courses play easier. You know, simple as that. Let me just throw it down and put it in perspective, Stuart. You were the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 1997. People are saying, I can, that's been a while ago.

And here we are still ranking it up. Let me just, this is a modest list. The PGA Tour Champions at the Charles Schwab Cup winner this year. PGA Tour Champions, oh, by the way, money list winner, 2025. PGA Tour Champions Player of the Year 2025. Consistency. Folks, in any job, I don't care, you play golf. We've got people working in a factory, people right now that's in the plumbing business. How do you stay so consistent, Stuart? Well, I think the key has been, and it's not just this last half a year or so where I've been having some success, but overall in my career, I learned, especially towards the latter half of my career, that you cannot depend on the results in golf.

It's like a lot of things we do, you know, you can't depend on the results. You guys, you can't, you got, I just heard the announcement before I came on. You got schools letting out in Lauderdale County early. You're going to miss a lot of your afternoon audience at the radio show, so you can't depend on that kind of stuff. All you can do is prepare the best show you can every day, get the best content, and make it run the smoothest possible on the back end.

[5:18] And that's what I do in golf, you know. I take care of the little stuff, I work hard, I dial things in, and I go out there and I try to get out of my own way. And let the results happen, and therefore, the results and the wins kind of sneak up on you. And I just learned that trying to go out there and wrestle that fair to the ground just didn't work as well. Stewart, putting, you mentioned that you were tremendous off the tee at Greystone.

What's the most improved part of your game this year? It's that part. Without question, it's the driver. And I keep up with my stats, not on my own, but I have a, there's like a little stat service, an app that anybody can use. And I use it just to kind of like measure my overall shot quality and the importance of each category in golf to my scoring. You know, because a lot of people think if you shoot low round, like let's say you go out there and shoot 65, well, you must have putted great.

It's not always true. And that's what this statistical deep dive has kind of helped me figure out is that like my driving has been as important or more important than any other part of my game. When I drive it well, I shoot low. I don't have to putt great. And so it tells me that it's not just a weapon, but it's a weapon being used effectively and at the right times and on the right courses. And I'm, I've always been pretty good at setting up the game plan on the courses, you know, uh, basically what it boils down to is my caddy, Chris Jones and I, we try to take, we try to select the easy shot and make golf as easy as it can be.

Cause it's hard. We all know it's hard. And so we try to select the easiest shot. And, um, if I can hit a good drive, then that there's a lot of more attractive, easy shots after that than there are. If I hit poor drive. I was saying Occam's razor. I think it is always start with a simplicity of it and figuring out any problem. And usually it's, that's where it starts, but here's one thing I really admire about you, Stuart. It's like Casey Casey and the former great DJ said, keep your feet on the ground, keep reaching for the stars.

And no one, I think lives with that mantra better than you. You've reached the stars, but you've always managed to keep your feet on the ground for all of us hackers. I've asked you this before, but we've got a new audience. What advice people think, well, if I go and I buy this set of clubs and I go do this, this, and this, I can be good at golf just for the average golfer. You've got a God talent. So it may be a hard question for you to answer, but for us mortals, what advice would you give who love golf, but we're just not that good at it?

Well, the business and the sponsorship side of me wants to say, go buy a new club because that's why I have a job. But I can't honestly say that's the only thing, of course. I mean, yeah, it's nice to have the clubs. It's nice to be fit. That's a good starting point. Right. And what I mean is to be fit for the clubs, you know, to have the clubs fit to you. But really, the game of golf, it depends what you want out of it. Do you want to just have fun whacking the, you know what, out of the ball, off the tee?

Okay. Then your score probably isn't really that important to you. Then go get a new driver and have fun whacking it. But if you really want to get better at golf, then it's going to come down to the scoring and learning to get that handicap down. And the way you do that is from the closer you are to the hole, the more important the shots are. So you need to learn how to hole out from five feet regularly. You need to know how to not three-putt as often.

You need to know how to only chip once at any time you miss the green. We don't want to be missing the green with our chips. So the closer you are to the hole, the most important those shots are to your score. Unfortunately for most golfers, it's also the most mundane part of practice is to go out there and just over and over and over routinely roll in those five-footers. No, we're doing that. We're doing that, the ones out here that are playing for our life.

We're doing that because we know it's important. But if you want to get better at golf or if you want to have more fun, those approaches are a little bit different. If you want to get better, you need to practice your putting around the green. If you want to just have fun, then there's a lot of different ways to have fun. I mean, it's fun to whack the driver. It's fun to hit it close with an iron shot. But it's also fun to beat your friends with a 76 when they shoot 82.

Let me ask you this, Stuart. You obviously, you've got a lot of God-given talent, but I'm going to throw three names at you. You tell us how important this has been to your success. Lisa, Connor, and Reagan. All three of them have been very, very important. And Lisa, she's my wife. She's a North Alabama native and went to the same high school, Bradshaw. Go Bradshaw Bruins with me. And she's like a de facto sports psychologist in a way. I mean, she's been around this golf thing for so long.

And she's seen me. She's seen where I struggle. She has a perspective I don't have. She understands how the personality and the emotion kind of tie into performance. And, you know, get yourself locked up out there on the golf course. And she's just so helpful and amazing. Reagan, my younger son, is like a chip off of my DNA. I mean, we're like the same person. We like the same things. We laugh at the same jokes. We play golf all the time. You know, he's a serious golfer.

[10:37] And he caddied for me for two years. We got two PGA Tour wins when I was in my late 40s. And then Connor, my younger son, was born when I was in college. And just him being born helped me learn how to focus at a time when all my friends were, like, watching movies and throwing the football. And I was like, I got 40 minutes to get my entire practice done today before I have to go to daycare. That was, like, huge, teaching me how to turn my schedule into a quality over quantity and get a lot out of my practice without having much time.

And my game just improved so much with him being born when most of my world was saying, hey, you know, you're going to have a kid in college. You can pretty much forget about golf. It just didn't turn out that way. So all of them had a unique, heavy input into my career. Stuart, we know you've got to run. You've got a busy schedule. We're just flattered that you could carve time out of that busy schedule and join us today. Life is good. Man, continued success, too.

And I know I echo the sentiments of a lot of folks right here at Florence Country Club, Turtle Point, every course in North Alabama. They're your biggest fans. And I know that they mean a lot to you. And thank you so much. And, listen, continued success out there, my friend. All right. Well, I appreciate that very much. It's good to talk to you all. And hello to everybody out there in North Alabama. Love you. And I was so proud to get a win last week in my home state.

It meant so much. Graystone, one of the prettiest courses around. By the way, the residence, the fellow by the name of Michael Jordan, back in the day, Stuart Sink, PGA Tour champions. He is number one, by the way, on the Champions Tour. And he calls North Alabama home. Coming up, speaking of the state of Georgia, Mr. College Football himself, he knows TDs, he's TBs. Tony Barnhart on deck. Stay with us. Spring is in the air, and a leaf's long-lasting pain relief is here to keep you moving.

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You said best college town in the country? You're not going to Tuscaloosa, Bill? No, I'm going to Athens. I ain't never been to Tuscaloosa. Somebody in Boston can come there. Bill, you know, after our last conversation, Brett and I, we have been on a guilt trip, and we agree that we do not talk enough about the Atlanta Hawks, Bill. We don't. Bill, here's your chance. Oh, now you're going to talk about it. Well, what I'm just saying, you told us to talk about the Hawks, so the platform is yours.

Yeah, thanks a lot. Now, now you're going to talk about them, yeah. Okay, you're humiliated. Now you want a whole segment on the Hawks. It's never too late. What do you mean? The Boomo Bugg Show, weekdays, noon to two, on 93.9 The Score. This is Braves Country, where history lives and legends rise. And now, the next chapter begins, because the Atlanta Braves are back. Swung on and felt it. Deep right field. Gone. Today, don't miss Ronald Acuna Jr. and your Atlanta Braves taking on Cal Raleigh and the Seattle Mariners, live from T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

[16:01] Braves Radio is on the air at 255 Eastern, 155 Central on the Braves Radio Network. Brought to you locally by the law firm of Johnson Pasture, Medley and Virtual, J.C. Hammonson, First Metro Bank, Nationwide Insurance Agents Michael Doe and Bill Cochran, Medford Jewelers, Valley Credit Union, Certified Alarm, Lost Pizza, and Alabama Health Guidance. Atlanta Braves baseball, this afternoon, versus the Seattle Mariners on 93.9 The Score. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in, BB. It just seems like today it is the state of Georgia, fresh.

I'm talking to, I would say, probably the best golfer to ever come out of Georgia Tech, certainly to be born on the neck of the woods, Stewart's sink. And while we're at it, why don't we just go to a guy who's a scratch golfer himself in the state of Georgia, Tony Barnhart, a.k.a. also Mr. College Football, TMG College Sports, fine contributor there to 680 The Fan. Where else? In Atlanta, Georgia. Tony, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing well, and nobody's ever called me a scratch golfer, so God bless you.

Tony, I'm sure over the years you had a chance to go to charity tournaments. I was a scratch golfer. Every time I showed up for a foursome, they would scratch me from their foursome. That's right, that's right. We're scratching him from the lineup. There you go. Like a Kentucky Derby race. Tony, we had a lot to get to, but you know this is live stuff here, and boy, I tell you what, the state of Georgia, what's the reaction today to the news of the passing, truly the one and the only Ted Turner?

You know, you talk about visionaries. I had a chance to meet Mr. Turner a couple of times over the years, and he would look at things and he would see potential in things that other people didn't see. I mean, a 24-hour news network? Are you kidding me? What a stupid idea that is. I mean, why would you do that? And so, yeah, it was, he was, he was a great, he was a visionary, and we throw that word around a whole lot, but it's true when you talk about Ted Turner.

Not only that, Tony, he started, he bought a, basically a money loser, what was it, Channel 17 back in the day when UHF television stations were like laughable. It was like FM radio back in the day when AM was king. He bought it and said, let's launch a satellite here, call it the super stations, put the braids on, and as they say, the rest is history. Speaking of the braids, Tony, before we get to your bailiwick college football, what about the foundation laid by Ted Turner? How do you explain this turnaround from last season?

Well, you don't. I mean, I think injuries had a lot to do with it, and this good fortune has a lot to do with it. But right now, they are playing lights out, lights out baseball. It's interesting. I had a chance to talk to Leo Mazzoni, the old pitching coach, not too long ago, and I just said, what was it like going back to doing the days in Glavin and all the, you know, every day you would go to the ballpark, you expected to win because you had the best pitching staff in baseball.

It wasn't even great. He said it was great because you expected to win every time you went out because you didn't expect those guys would ever lose. Absolutely. Tony, I've had several people suggest to me that Tony Barnhart should be the commissioner of football. There you go. And particularly for the last two or three years. And, Harry, you've got Harold and I vote, but the American Football Coaches Association came out yesterday with some criteria or suggestions to move forward. And I'm glad someone is doing something.

I don't know how much pull they've got. But, Tony, they want max participants in the college football playoff. What that means in English is they want to go to 24. They want to end the conference championship games, which have been very lucrative, or the conferences. They want to end the season by the second week of January. Now, I know a lot of our listeners would agree with a lot of that. Tony, are they at least going in the right direction? Well, they're going in the right direction.

And the coaches are always going to say, we want more access. Well, of course you want more access. It's called job security. And then the more access you have, the more playoff spots there are. And you can say, well, you can't fire me. I went to the playoffs last year. I was one of 24. So, I am not at all in any way supportive of the 24-game playoff. I don't want to do six, but I understand the math, how it works. I don't want to do 16, but I think that's probably going to happen.

That's going to be the compromise. But what I found interesting is that the coaches just right out flat out there and set it for everybody to hear. The conference championship games have got to go. And they could stay at 16. They certainly couldn't stay at 24. And so, I'm anxious to see kind of where it plays out from here. But 24 just, you know, it just hits me the wrong way. I agree with you, Tony. That's a resume. All that is is a resume. I went to the playoffs.

[21:30] Like you said, you can't get rid of me. Tony Barnhart and Huddle with us. Your moniker is Mr. College Football across the country. Your thoughts about what's going on across the country relative to the Big Ten, the SEC. You've got this great debate going on. The Big Ten owns the world. The SEC said, no, it's an outlier. We owned it. Yeah, over the last couple of years, they got it. But going forward, Tony, where are you with a great argument, the Big Ten with all that money?

The SEC's got money, too. But where are you as far as the great debate between the two? Let's face it, only two conferences right now that really matter when it comes to big money and championships. And things are cyclical. We know that, guys. And for the SEC had their incredible run, you know, seven straight national championships. The numbers in the draft, once again, were in favor of the SEC. It was funny, after the first round of the draft, when the Big Ten got ten and the SEC took seven, I thought they just wanted the SEC to give up football.

They didn't need to play football anymore. That's right. No point in doing it. And then the SEC comes back, and for the, I think, 20th consecutive year, had more total players drafted than any other conference. So, listen, the Big Ten deserves all the credit that they're getting right now. They've earned those national championships, and they've got the money to spend, boys and girls. So, good for them, but it's not going to last forever. We'll see. Tony, you know. I predict the SEC will have football that is worth watching this year.

I predict that. And the ESPN guarantees. That's where the big chance coming in. They don't sign off on losers. I guarantee you. But, Tony, let's start with the team that's in your neck of the woods, the Georgia Bulldogs. Your thoughts about how Kirby is navigating these modern waters. I see a lot of Nick in him, obviously, but I think at the same time, he's not going to take Dabo's grip and not shop. But your thoughts about Georgia and how Kirby is handling the climate now. He knows exactly what he wants to do.

He's not going to be bringing in 25 or 30 portal guys. He's not going to do it. His view of the portal, which makes sense, is you use it to spot recruit. Within this position, we're going to go out and shore up through the use of the portal. And that's what he does. And, you know, his recruiting will always be based on gathering really, really good high school players. But you've got to be smart about it, too. He will spot recruit using the portal, and he's very good at it.

Tony, your thoughts on Cal and DeBoer going into year three. You know what the standards at Alabama are. Believe me, Harold and I hear about it. It's a national championship or bust. They did improve last year, won a playoff game. I know a lot of fans get disgusted with some of these losing by double-digit favorite to a non-ranked opponent. But I thought he did well in the transfer portal. I think he's got a better coaching staff now. But, again, he's got a brutal schedule. One more conference game this year with only one bye.

Tony, your thoughts on Cal and DeBoer going into year three. I think Alabama's going to be fine. You know, they had some issues last year, but they did make the playoffs. They have recruited well. I don't know much about the recruiting rankings, but based on that, they've done well. So, I think Alabama's going to be fine. Now, tell me where they're going to be. It's Elon Russell, the guy quarterback. He is. Great athlete. Anxious to see him play. And so, we'll see how it goes. But I think it's Alabama, guys.

Okay? It's Alabama. Alabama's going to be fine. Tony, your thoughts about, I think it used to be called the University of South Florida, the University of North Florida, a.k.a. Auburn, coming up this season. Oh, well, I think there's a lot of excitement over there. They're bringing in their quarterback, obviously. They are upbeat and go at a great, great pace. And, again, they've got their quarterbacks. And so, I'm anxious to see how that turns out. You know, Auburn's got some work to do. But I think at the end of the day, they're looking at a good season, not a great season.

Let me ask you about the last year. Most people know 50 years of covering college football, and certainly memories in the SEC. I know one of your goals was to write another book. We'll talk about the 19th grade in a minute. But Mr. College Football, 50 years of SEC memories. Under plans, will that be coming out late this year, early next year, Tony? And, secondly, you've got your golf tournament, ironically, next week. Yeah. Something that near and dear to your heart. I was looking at some of the former Georgia players coming.

[26:52] Tell us about plans for your next book, 50 years of SEC memories, and the upcoming golf tournament. Well, thanks for asking about both. As far as the memory book goes, 50 years of SEC football, I turned the manuscript in two weeks ago. And you talk about Miss Scarlett. It was wonderful to birth that baby. It was incredible. But I'm very happy with the way the book turned out, and we'll see. We'll go through the process. And I think early next year is when it sort of worked out that way in the schedule.

So it's fine. As far as the golf tournament is concerned, it's the 10th annual HOI. HOI stands for Honduras Outreach International Golf Tournament to benefit the folks from Honduras. Maria and I went there about 10 years ago, and it changed our lives forever. And so we have a good tournament every year. A lot of great Georgia Bulldogs stepped up, some Georgia Tech guys stepped up. And it is a good, good mix of football players and personalities. And we're excited. And that's Monday at the Atlanta National Golf Club.

We've got a good turnout. Good turnout. Tony, for the folks who want to get your book, go ahead and give it up. Tell us where we can find it. We had a little bit of a hiccup there with Tony. We'll talk a little bit more about that as we get to the end of the show here. But Tony Barnhart, Mr. College Football, hooking up from the great city of Atlanta, Georgia. Again, check him out. TMG College Sports on 6A to the fan, also in Hotlanta. Coming up, let's go down to Tuscaloosa and check in with Rodney Orr on deck.

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[32:16] Save up to 40% on Camp Ready must-haves. And enter to win a new RV. Don't miss the red, white and new trade event at your local Camping World. May 14th through the 17th. We'll see you there. The score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. The score. Welcome back to the end time. Head on down to T-Town and say hello to Rodney Orr. He's a founder and editor of TiterInsider.com. His boat's called Bigger Than Bama. Rodney, welcome in. Rodney, how are you? I am doing well, Harold.

Brett, how about you guys today? Man, we got some concerned eyes on you. I don't know what these folks in the weather department know that we don't. But I tell you what, it doesn't look good as far as the forecast down there. Hopefully, you guys are ready. And I know it hasn't been that too far removed as far as a date from a few years ago. Rodney, good luck with the weather this afternoon and tonight down there. Yeah, I appreciate it, Harold. I mean, hopefully, you know, hopefully it's not as, well, I don't even know exactly what they're predicting right now.

But, you know, I did talk to someone over in Mississippi that said it's coming this way. And he said it wasn't quite as bad for them as what they expected. So, hopefully, it's kind of the same for us. Good deal. And you guys. I don't know how bad it's supposed to be up there, but you guys as well. Well, we appreciate it. They've already been at school, so obviously, they're thinking that it could be bad. So, we're not going to speculate on it. Just hope, hope for the best.

But, Rodney, in the meantime, as they say, the show goes on. Camp is now over. Now that the dust has settled and you've had a little time, not only to reflect personally, but listen to the Titer Insider family. Rodney, what is the gut feeling about this team coming out of spring drills? You know, Harold, I think that's a really good question. I think that there is a degree of optimism. But I also think there's a degree of this, let's wait and see how it all unfolds.

And part of that goes back to a year ago, you know, back in the summer when we heard so much hype. A lot of stuff was coming out of the building. A lot of optimism. And, you know, generally when we heard that optimism under Nick Saban during his tenure, you know, it was always a little more reserved. Always kind of closer to the vest. But you knew if you were hearing some optimism coming out of there that something special was about to happen. And then I think last year we kind of took that to mean that, hey, this group, this coaching staff is, you know, there's a difference, you know.

I mean, they're just really optimistic. And then all of a sudden you go to that Florida State game and they flopped. And I think a lot of people, listen, I know you guys probably heard the same thing, but I see it on tighter and sider. Well, you know, you misled us, talking about me. Well, I'm basically repeating what's being said from the building. They were very optimistic. Yeah, very optimistic. So, I say all that because I want to be very cautious when I start to talk about this team.

I think they've got a lot of talent. They do. I think it's going to come down to how do some of these new players that they got out of the portal, how do they produce on the offensive line? How do they produce on the defensive line? And I think, you know, the run game obviously has to improve. They have to be a lot more physical, the mentality. And, you know, Harold and Brett, here's the thing. I'm not saying it can't happen, but you have to kind of see it first.

Because I think when you look at what they did at Washington and all that, they had a fantastic offense, but they've never really been a team, when you're talking about the worst teams, I think, that really had a physical, physical mindset that it takes to be successful in the SEC. So, what's the difference? I saw one of the reports today, and it's modern era. You take everything kind of with a grain of salt. But with Clem coming in on the O-line, we don't know until time passes.

But as far as the gut, a lot of folks are wanting to buy into the fact that DeBoer saw the problem, smart management recognizes the problem, they've fixed the problem the best they know how. Your thoughts about bringing in fresh blood there to coach that offensive line, starting with that, between the ears, before they get between the hash time marks. Well, I'm going to draw you a parallel here. And I'm going to go back to Gene Stallings, when he brought in Homer Smith. Right. There were a lot of people back then that said, you know, for Alabama to be successful, they're going to have to become more balanced offensively.

And he brings in Homer Smith, and you're thinking, okay, Gene Stallings' physical mindset, his physical run game mixed with the creativity and the genius of Homer Smith. This could be something special. Right. But now, okay, he hired the right guy, but did he allow him to do it his way? Thank you. That's it. And so, I'm going to say the same thing with Clem. I think Clem wants to line up and knock people in the mouth. I think he wants a physical running game. Now, how that's going to really develop and how much that comes to fruition, again, I'm not predicting anything, Harold and Brett, to be clear.

[37:52] I'm just saying that we have to see it. I mean, I think you have to see it to kind of get a feel for how much Kalen DeBoer is going to kind of adjust and shift his offense. Not just having an effective running game, which is what some people say, well, you just have to be effective. Well, I don't know really what that means, but what I would say is they've got to be a lot more physical in the run game. One thing we do believe this staff can do is recruit.

They certainly have shown that as far as the recruit rankings. You take that with a grain of salt all you want to, but they seem to be, again, as you listed, the official visitors coming in in late May, Memorial Weekend, and then in June. It's an incredibly, just insanely talented guys coming in. And one of the trends I've noticed with this group, Rodney, is they're doing really well in the state of Georgia. Pick up Xavier Griffin, Jordan Edmonds, and Jamarian Matthews. He transferred from Spartan to Gainesville.

And they're in on this year, number two edge K.J. Green, running back Nigel Newkirk, Darius White, another tall. I tell you what, Moe Lindquist amazes me at how tall and long the secondary is. Darius White from Fairburn, Georgia, and M.J. Burnett. Now, they've got to get those guys, but they've all got official visits coming in. They've done quite well in the state of Georgia last year and beginning to look again this year. Yeah, it is. They really are doing well. And you mentioned Jordan Edmonds, of course, last year and all the other guys.

And, you know, they went in there and Edmonds is a fantastic cornerback prospect, man. I had somebody over there that I really trust that, you know, he was a player at Alabama, a former player. And, you know, he spends a lot of time at practices and knows what he's looking at. And he told me, he said, look, I saw Patrick Sertain come through here as a true freshman. And he said, I think Jordan Edmonds is cut out of the same cloth as Sertain as a true freshman.

Now, I'm not saying he's Sertain right now, but just his potential. You know, so I like him, but, you know, you're right, they do. And those guys, and I'd really watch Newkirk, the running back. You know, obviously, he was teammates with Matthews and Griffin in high school. So, I would really keep an eye on him. And I think he's obviously one of the top targets, maybe the top running back target Alabama has right now. But I will say this, you talked about the visitors list. And the one thing that really stands out to me, and again, I'm just speaking from my perspective.

Harold and Brett, I think unless you're going to really emphasize the portal with linemen, I do think that there's a – I'm a little concerned about the number right now of offensive and defensive linemen they're recruiting. And listen, they may say we're loaded, and that's fine. Maybe they have multi-year contracts with some of these guys or agreements. I don't really know. But I just think you have to be careful because the portal – what if you have of your 16 returning offensive linemen next year, you know, six or seven or eight of them hit the portal.

So, did you sign enough? Did you get the portal hard? And again, I'm sure they have a great plan. But it does look to me like once Coach Kapp left, the offensive line coach, and Clem came in, and again, it's not Clem, but with Kapp leaving, all those guys that he had relationships with are really going to make it difficult. And they only have one, Antonio Berry, from Tupelo, who now some are saying is going to emerge as a five-star. Now, I'll tell you this too, fresh hot off the press.

I just spoke to someone in Mississippi right before you called who's extremely tied in over there, knows the state, and he said, look, when it comes down to it for a guy like Antonio Berry, what's going to happen is it's Alabama and Ole Miss, and it's going to come down to a money deal. So, how much are – who's going to be willing to give the best offer? And it's probably – if you just look at it, it probably would be Ole Miss. So, you know, there's a lot of challenges.

So, you have to be on a lot of guys to be able to land a couple. You bring up a good point, Rodney, because you can have the mention, whether it's 16, whatever it is, but everybody out there – two things. One, everybody wants a lineman. There's not a school out there, including Ohio State, Texas, you name it. Exactly. And the other one is they know that if you've got Alabama on your resume, that you must be pretty doggone good. So, that combination – these guys, they're not dumb.

They come to Alabama, sit on the bench, and their value still goes up because if I can't play here, I can cash chicks there. So, that's a good point. But another name that's on the list, Rodney, a kid out of – up in the Nashville area up there, I think Brentwood Academy, Simon, legacy player, supposed to be making his announcement. Legacy is in Tennessee. His dad was deep roots there. He lives in Tennessee. Has anything changed there? Because the last time we checked, the winds seemed to be blowing Alabama's way.

[43:20] Yeah, I mean, it's – based on what I've heard, Harold, it's pretty much a done deal. Now, again, I say done deal, you know what that means. You could change it any time soon. But I think Kenneth – I think Kenneth Simon is – that's almost basically a foregone conclusion that he's committing to Alabama. He'll pick Alabama. And, again, that's barring some kind of unforeseen change. So, he's a really good linebacker prospect. I talked to someone who, you know, frankly, is coached on the highest levels. And they know, they're familiar with Kenneth Simon.

And they say, look, you know, he's a really good player. But like a lot of these players, he's got a lot of development to do. So, you're probably going to see a lot of hype. Exactly, and you're going to see a lot of hype on a lot of these kids from recruiting networks because they're trying to sell memberships, of course. Right. But the fact is that a lot of these guys, it's about development, you know, once you get them out of high school. So, you know, again, I think he probably falls into that category, got to get bigger, stronger, and faster.

But the one good thing is that he certainly has a lot of the tools. Ronnie, I mentioned at least one of these guys a little bit earlier. But you mentioned the state of Mississippi, Mitchell Turner, four-star defensive lineman, Alabama seems to be in on. Now, he's taking visits, certainly, to other schools, as you would guess. Three-star edge, Antoine Jackson out of Memphis, Tennessee, coming in for a visit, too. Again, Mississippian, as you mentioned, this usually always comes down to bidding war with Ole Miss sooner or later.

I've heard a lot of good things about these two. Your thoughts again, Ronnie, on Mitchell Turner and a Louisville, Mississippi, and Antoine Jackson out of Memphis. Yeah, and again, speaking about Mississippi source today, he felt pretty good about Alabama there, you know, still. I mean, I think that's everyone has felt that for a while. Alabama got in on him early. Now, like you said, there's some schools now that are starting to push harder and harder. So, you know, maybe Alabama's early connection there is going to pay off.

You know, we'll see. He's probably not as tall as what some people say, you know, based on what I was told. He might be 6'1", 6'1 1⁄2", but he's a football player. You know, he's a very productive football player. You look at him, he's aggressive. I mean, he's really good, great feet, all of the things, quickness. You know, you can't take anything away from him. But, and you also asked about Antoine Jackson out of Memphis. And, yeah, big, tall kid. I mean, he's, you know, what, 6'6", 230, 235, 40, something like that.

Got a great, great frame. Probably not ranked as high as he should be just if you just based it on potential. But, yeah, he's a fantastic-looking prospect, and I think Alabama's in great position with him. Rodney Orton, insiderinsider.com. He's the, I guess you could say, the EF Hutton of Tuscaloosa. When he speaks, people listen, talking about one Nick Saban. His couple of things to paraphrase in quote. The quote was, talking about DeBoer, he's, quote, done a pretty good job managing the program transition. The other part, to paraphrase, Alabama fans, stop your griping.

You need to get behind this guy if you want to win a championship. Your thoughts about Mr. Saban's comments of late. Yeah, you know, and I think that's good. I mean, I think he wants to keep a positive face, and certainly that's good because, you know, you want to encourage the fans, I think, to be supportive. And, you know, I think that's what he was doing. But also, I think, Harold and Brett, the comments that Saban made to me, and not to me, but the ones that stood out to me, and really haven't been talked about as much, was when he got off on the run game, and not alluding to him.

A little bit of a hiccup there with Rodney. We'll try to get the big iron out and get that wrinkle out of it. Just commenting there about Nick Saban. And while we get Rodney back, BB, your thoughts. Because Nick was always an expert at cryptic messages. When he says something, he would not always say it directly. He'd be the implicit master of it, trying to get a message out without actually saying it. Sometimes he would, but sometimes he would lead you down that road and let you draw your own conclusions.

Well, nobody knows about the pressure of coaching in the University of Alabama than Nick Saban. Now, he was able to meet those demands year after year after year with his incredible standards, instead of looking at the scoreboard. We've heard that 100 times, but he does understand the game has changed. And I know one of the things he's been talking about in the media is leveling the playing field instead of going to these $40 million rosters that we're headed in that direction if we're not already there. But he knows the stress.

[48:24] He knows what DeBoer's done. And again, he's also smart enough to realize Harold Vince Lombardi could have come in after Nick Saban. He would have had issues, and he certainly understands that part of it. See if Rodney's back. Rodney, are you back with us, or did Nick yank the phone out of your hand when we asked that question? Well, he told me to talk about what I perceive to be the most enlightening comments that he made recently. And I think that Harold and Brett, to me, and I don't know where you lost me, but to me, the recent comments that he made that really struck the chord was when he talked about the reemergence of the run game.

And I'm not talking about Alabama's run game. I'm talking about in the game of football and how people have gone to smaller defensive players quicker, trying to be disruptive, and all of these things with these spread offenses or whatever. And, you know, now people are starting to trend back to power running. You saw Miami do it. You saw Indiana doing it. You've seen Kirby really hasn't gotten away from it. And you see it in the NFL, too. So, I think that the one thing that I really took from his comments was, you know what?

Run the football. Yeah, that's it. Run the football. And that's something that I think is going to be interesting from this program under Kalen DeBoer. Will they be able to do that? I always enjoy when you go back and reminisce a little bit. And you did that this week about the 1978 season. And you made a great point with this. That season was spurred on by the end of 77. And I've said this for many, many years. Alabama got screwed more in the polls in 77 than they did in 1966.

And you talked about the year. That was the fuel that team used to go through. They lost to an incredibly talented USC team. But you just, a little bit off the side, mentioned the Alabama-Washington game. I actually watched that game in Coleman Coliseum. They put the game on the scoreboard. And there were 7,000 fans there. And Washington had a player by the name of Spider Gaines. And you mentioned him. He was an Olympic sprinter. And late in the game, Alabama punted. And the ball hit him in the face mask.

And Alabama recovered that and held on to win 20-17. I'll never forget that. And, of course, that led up to the Penn State, the incredible game. I was there. And you brought up another good point. Everybody talks about the stop on fourth and one. Don McNeil's play on second down, when it looked like the Penn State receiver, Fitsky, was going to walk in the end zone to knock him out of bounds at the one-yard line. As you put it, it may be the most underappreciated play in the history of Alabama football.

Yeah. Yep. And Gaines dropped a touchdown pass. He caught two in the game. And he dropped a touchdown pass late in the game. That would have been a deep ball. And that probably would have won the game for Washington. Fortunately, he dropped it. They were a great team back then. Don James, man. That was Saban's mentor, right? So, yeah, but that was a great game and a great win. And then you talked about the goal line stand at the end of the year and the play that Don McNeil made.

And so, yeah, second down. Penn State was inside the 10 at about the 7 or something. And Fusina found him crossing. He came out of the – he was kind of in an H-back position almost, you know? He was off on a wing. And he just kind of flared out. And he was open. And for some reason, Harold and Brett, thankfully, Fitsky, all he had to do was fall forward. And it's a touchdown. I mean, nobody's around him. And he takes a step or two, a couple of steps, parallel to the goal line.

And Don McNeil came up. They measured this seven yards deep out of the end zone from the time he caught the ball. He came up seven yards deep out of the end zone off another receiver to knock Fitsky out of bounds at the goal line to set up the third and fourth. Now, listen, if it's not for that play, there's no goal line stand probably, right? I mean, because Fitsky should have scored. I mean, I'm sure Scott Fitsky to this day is saying, why not just stick the ball over the goal line?

I mean, that's how free he was to score. So that was huge. Yeah, that was really huge. I remember turning to my dad and saying, what in the world did he do? He could have walked in the end zone. But, yeah, that's a play that will remain in Alabama lore for years. And you can read about that play in the season in Bigger Than Bama. Get online and get the 24-7 message board, football, basketball, baseball, Bama going down the stretch in baseball. Where can we get online for a very nominal price and get the website and buy your book?

[53:56] All right, it's TiderInsider.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. And it gives you all our premium information. But also our all-sports forum, again. That's our community there. A lot of discussion. A lot of things going on right there. Gary Harris, by the way, on Tide 100.9 down here, he had a fantastic interview with John Copeland, the former number one pick for the Bengals. Of course, he was a key cog on Alabama's defensive line in 92.

It's there at the top of the all-sports forum. He's going into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame this weekend. So, yeah, it's a great interview, guys. And so, it's that kind of thing that we provide there on the all-sports forum. And in the book, of course, Big and Bama, you can find that at Amazon.com or RodneyOr.com. No off days for you, Rodney. Always busy and always thankful that you can take time out and join us today. Keep it up, okay? Okay, guys. Appreciate it.

Take care. RodneyOr at TiderInsider.com. Quick update. SEC softball tournament. Auburn on fire against Texas A&M. Brett Beaird. They're playing well, Harold. They've scored more runs in the past two games than they have, I think, in the last three weeks. 11 to 8 winners today. Five home runs for Auburn. Now, now, take on the Gators. Coming up, you guessed it, the Brunt Special again, 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. But first, going to lead things off with the pride of Mars Hill, UNA, and Major League Baseball world. Josh Willingham and more straight ahead.

Stay with us. Hello. My name is Leslie Johnson, and I'm an attorney with the law firm Johnson, Passeur, Medley, and Burchill. Why call an out-of-town lawyer when you can call our law firm, which has over 100 years of combined experience in all areas of the law? Check us out first by calling us at 256-766-3131. No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers. T-Mobile has an exclusive bundle for customers 55 and up.

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And that's why I have life insurance for my family. Ethos.com. They make it fast and easy to get covered. It's 100% online. You get a quote in seconds. You can apply in minutes. You get covered the same day. Get your free quote at ethos.com slash game. That's ethos.com slash game. Paid spokesperson. Time spent on application may vary. Online health questions required. Rates may vary. This is the story of the one. As a maintenance tech at a university, he knows ordering from multiple suppliers takes time away from keeping their arena up and running.

That's why he counts on Granger to get everything he needs from lighting and HVAC parts to plumbing supplies all in one place. And with fast, dependable delivery, he's stocked and ready for the next tip-off. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. My name is Whitney Allen, and I'm a widow. My husband, Ryan, died. We never thought we'd ever have to use life insurance, but the unexpected happened. With Ethos, signing up was fast and 100% online. You can get a quote in seconds, apply in minutes, and get same-day coverage.

No medical exams, and you can get up to $3 million worth of coverage. I am grateful we were prepared. Get your free quote at ethos.com slash play. That's ethos.com slash play. Paid spokesperson. Time spent on application may vary. Online health questions required. One state lawmaker here in Alabama is making no bones about it when it comes to what he wants for congressional districting here in Alabama. State Senator Donnie Chestein spoke recently to the Houston County Republican Party and said that he wants to see all seven congressional seats in the U.S. House be represented by Republicans.

Chestein believes that this can and should be done following the ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court in a redistricting case out of Louisiana that is similar to the redistricting legal challenges that have been going on here in the state of Alabama. The ruling from the highest court will directly impact Alabama and its future congressional district maps. Chestein was speaking to the Houston County Republican Party after his second day within the special legislative session that Governor Ivey called to deal with these congressional maps. Chestein said that he and other state lawmakers will do everything in their power to get two more congressional seats held by Republicans.

[59:27] I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this. Where I was living was not a great place to live anymore. I began to pray for a place to go, praying for all of these things that a nine-year-old would want. I wanted horses, big house with a bunch of people my age. I wanted parents. I wanted a mom and a dad. Before I even prayed it, the Lord had already answered my prayer with the Big Oak Ranch. Who would that nine-year-old be if she never came to the Big Oak Ranch?

I would be trying to fight for survival instead of fighting to break a cycle. Big Oak Ranch, a Christian home for children needing a chance. A suspect in a big drug bust in Jefferson County is now being held on a bond worth over $3 million. 20-year-old Kevon Atkins was arrested this week by the Birmingham SWAT team. Authority seized 373 grams of methamphetamines, 9 grams of fentanyl, along with Xanax and ecstasy pills. A person has died in Lauderdale County after their vehicle started to hydroplane near the Shoal Creek Bridge, then went off the road and into the waters below.

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. 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 pastime plays right here on your home for Alabama baseball. The Crimson Tide Sports Network from Learfield.

This week, Alabama goes on the road to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks. Airtime Saturday is 1145 with the first pitch at noon here on 93.9, The Score. Everybody, Bill King, Bill King Show. Listen to me. Nine until noon. 93.9, The Score. Monday through Friday as we talk college football like nobody else does. Because he listens in Florence. Our show's, Charlie, our show's on down there. Bill King Show. Monday through Friday, nine until noon. Every league, every big topic is covered. 93.9, The Score. 93.9, The Score of weather. For today, a 100% chance of showers and thunderstorms high around 75.

Tonight, a 90% chance of showers and thunderstorms low near 55. Tomorrow, cloudy skies then becoming sunny, high around 70. Tomorrow night, partly cloudy skies low near 50. And Friday, sunny skies high around 75. 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 alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us a ride around the Tennessee Valley. And, baby, do we recognize how much talent has come through our neck of the woods? We're always talking about, you know, of course, the weather family up in Loretto. We talked earlier today with Stuart Sink. And now, obviously, a British Open winner. And now we've talked to a man who can sport some World Series rings from the Major League Baseball world. And he's got other things on his mind these days.

Josh Willingham, now head baseball coach at Amars Hill. Josh, welcome in. How are you? Doing good, guys. How are you? Yeah, we're doing all right. Josh, it's amazing, isn't it? Now, we had the pleasure of speaking with Stuart earlier. Do we realize how much talent? I'm talking about relative to the population centers across the country. How much quality talent at the pro level, whether it's, in your case, baseball, Stuart's case, golf, other guys, do we realize how much talent has come through our neck of the woods over the years?

Yeah, I think when you start looking at it, like it really is, it's a good, good talent pool has come through here through a lot of different sports. So, yeah, when you compile all the names that have been able to go, you know, a long ways in their careers, it looks good for this area for sure. I would imagine you've got memories of your days in the Major League Baseball world. But, Josh, something tells me you've got other concerns this day and time. It's still baseball, and it's come full circle, a place you know very well as a former player at Mars Hill.

Talk to us about now the coach at Mars Hill and back playing baseball in this time of the season. The county turns to May, and there's Mars Hill Bible right back in the thick of things. Josh, talk to us about it. Yeah, well, this is my fifth year to do it, and this is the most exciting time of the year, especially for our players. You know, you work hard, you know, starting in the offseason, and the goal is to be playing your best baseball when the playoff series gets here.

[1:04:49] And, you know, we're lucky to have played well the first two rounds, and, you know, we've got a big challenge this year. But this is what every player and coach looks forward to. This is the fun time of the year. We want to talk to you about Lindsey Lane, who's one of the most pleasant surprises in the state of Alabama. But talk about winning the three games you won, the rubber match against Vincent, who they were the state champions last year, and then the year before that, Mars Hill.

I know you've played them the last three years, and every series is a dogfight. You won the third game, and this is also on the road, 9-1, Stamps, Filters, 1-2 with a double. The Willis boys have played really well. Bo Willis was 2 out of 5, can pitch a little bit too. Noah Handback. Talk about the series, winning a tough series on the road against Vincent. Well, that's the third year in a row that we've had to go down there, and they do a good job. It's a really good environment to play in.

You know, they won a state title last year, maybe had a better team the year before when we beat them. Every series has gone three games. I feel like I don't even have to use my GPS to get there anymore. That's how many times I've been down there. But this year, you know, was another tough series. They have two really good arms. You know, one of them was up to the, you know, up to 88 against us, and we were fortunate to beat him. And the second guy just really pitched well.

We couldn't do a whole lot with him. I felt like, you know, the third game, we came out and jumped on him a little bit and just was able to continue to add and continue to put pressure on him. And, you know, Carson on the mound did a really good job of pounding the zone, and we made plays behind him. But, you know, it's always a tough environment to play in, especially on the road in the playoffs. Josh, talk to us about as a coach. And I'm sure now it makes you appreciate all your coaches and managers back in the day even more than you did then.

But the challenge, especially in high school, you get a good team, and sometimes we ask the coach, and they say, well, we've got 10 seniors. This is their year. But you're there every year. How do you put together at the high school level consistency when every year you're graduating X numbers and the blueprint is still the same? You've got to get good arms. You've got to play defense. What is your secret to be so consistent and Mars Hill to put together? Like Vincent, obviously, they've got a secret down there, too.

You just mentioned it. But your thoughts about how you put together a roster and how you managed it with all the changes at the high school level. Well, I think it starts at the younger ages. I think you start developing the players, you know, in middle school. And, you know, that's where it starts. That's where the formula is built, I guess, and the expectations are set. You start at the middle school level. And then when they're around the program, and hopefully they're developed, and then when they get to the high school, you know, they're ready.

They feel like it's their turn to step in and do the same thing. But, you know, I think that's where it starts. And then year to year, it's different. You know, when you're coaching 16- to 18-year-old kids, you know, it's about trying to, number one, get the most out of them every single day. Number two, help them develop them the very best that you can as far as their skill set and their mind when it comes to baseball. Because that's almost more important than, you know, the physical attributes that the game requires.

But I think those two things. But I think, you know, one of the things when I took the job five years ago, I didn't, I mean, I felt like I know baseball, but I didn't know anything about coaching. But I just knew that at the younger age groups, the younger levels is where it, you know, needs to start. So we try to start in the middle school program. And then, you know, as competition grows, which I think is one of the most important part of the program, is to have competition.

Have people behind your starters that are pushing them to where they know if they're not doing right, then there's somebody there that's ready to take their place. I think that has a lot to do with it as well. I think Guy Nick Sable would agree with you back in his day, Dan Tuscaloosa. Josh, talk to us. When we talk about names, everybody can recite players with the Braves, the Yankees, whatever your favorite team is. But high school, I've always said, Josh, and I think you would agree with this.

These kids put in as much work from the heart as the Major League Baseball guys. They may not have the same talent. But one thing they don't have, and that's the recognition. Josh, we don't want to put you on the spot, but can you give us some of the highlights of this roster this year, some of the kids' names? Yeah, well, I think it starts with your seniors. You know, those are your leaders. Braden Kaffelman does not play a whole lot for us, but he is a great teammate and one of the key contributors in that way for our team.

And then you've got Luke Fowler, who was the second-team All-State selection last year, who's had another good year for us. And then Bo Willis, you know, both offensively and on the mound, is a key cog for our team. But I think it always starts with your leadership, what kind of team you're going to have. And I'm not talking about from the coach's perspective. I'm talking about the players, because you have to have player leadership. You know, we've got a lot of juniors that help as well, and you named a couple of them.

[1:10:00] Brooks Campbell is another one that's had a really good year for us. Noah Hambach has had a good year. We have, you know, Cody Willis, who's a sophomore, and Malin Moore, and Cole Agee, and some of those guys have had good years for us. And then, you know, some freshmen have had good years for us as well. Carson Wynn's done a really good job of stepping up on the mound and being a real bright spot for this team. Tell us about Lindsey Lane. I knew when Robbie Parker went there, they would essentially have a good baseball team.

Former head coach at Bob Jones, 32-6. They swept Cole Springs, 4-0, 13-3. When their pitchers, Wyatt Wallace, pitched a complete game. This is a good team. They haven't been playing for, they don't have a 50-year tradition, but they're very good. You know this. Tell us about Lindsey Lane. Oh, they're a very good team. They do a very good job on the mound. I think that's where it starts with them. They got guys that can, you know, they pound the zone with multiple pitches with good stuff.

You know, they're low 80s, maybe even mid-80s. And they don't walk you. They don't give you anything. So I think that's kind of where it starts with them is on the mound. And then when you go back and look at some of their averages that their lineup has, you know, you've got a guy hitting 500, several in the 400s. I mean, it's going to be a very, very tough challenge for us as a team. We're going to have to go out there and pitch it very well.

And then we're going to have to, you know, catch the baseball on defense, which we've done a very good job of this year up to this point. And then offensively, you know, it's not going to be easy. You know, they got good arms and play good defense. So we're going to have to execute and be able to put some things together and string at-bats together, as I like to call it, to be able to score runs. I think it should be a very competitive series. And, you know, these guys are young, too.

It's not like they're graduating 10 seniors. You know, they start a freshman and a sophomore on the mound that are very good. So, you know, it's going to be a team that we'll know a lot about because they're going to be in our area the next two years. So it's a very good team, very well coached. I would imagine you probably don't have to, but it would be nice, I'm sure, as a coach to see a lot of fannies in the stands. You can't have enough fans root for Marceau.

What message would you like to tell the fans of Marceau coming into this series? Well, our fans know what kind of series this is and what it means, you know, to our playoff push if we're going to go any farther. So I think we'll bring it. I think Lindsey Lane will bring a good crowd as well. But, yeah, I encourage our fans and our area to come out and support us. You know, we as coaches know how hard that our kids work and, you know, they really want it.

And so the support would be there, what needs to be there this week. Let me ask you before we let you go, the Josh Willingham Foundation, Isaiah's call, 58. I ask you about this every time you come on. Hunger is still an issue in the world. It still amazes me with all the resources. Your group provides backpacks for children in Lauderdale, Calvert, and Franklin counties. I think this is tremendous. I know you've got a lot of volunteers. Josh, tell us what's your foundation, particularly Isaiah's call. Yeah, well, I appreciate you guys asking about that every year.

This is actually, I think, our last week to do it. We start in August and we end in May. We've added another school or two since the last time that I talked to you guys. So, you know, we're up to, you know, I think it's 300 a week that we're filling for families of four. And the support that we have around this community is unbelievable. It's the reason that we can continue to do this and continue to, you know, put this mission at the forefront of our brains.

And hopefully the support is the only way that we can do it. So that's from churches, from individuals, financially, from donating food. So, you know, the Lord's really blessed this foundation through a lot of different people in their hearts and willingness to help. But, yeah, our goal, guys, is just to, if there's a need out there and, you know, we're made aware of it, we want to be able to fill it and just bridge the gap for these kids and these families so that they can get through the weekend during the school year and then come back to school with, you know, a sharp mind and a full belly.

When you put super talent with a super heart, the sky is the limit. Josh, listen, man, can't thank you enough for taking time to have your busy schedule. All the best on the Diamonds over the next few days. And let's do it again as soon as possible, okay? Hey, I appreciate it, guys. Always good to talk to you. Thank you, Joe. You too. The one and the only, Josh Willingham. Coming up, he knows the SEC from A to Z. Joe Cox on deck on the Boomo Bugg Show.

[1:15:00] Stay with us. Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Time to take a little road trip to the Peachtree State, and that is Georgia. The king of it is Bill Shanks, host for the Bill Shanks Show. Bill, welcome in. How are you? I am doing great. I'm headed to the best college town in America, Athens, Georgia, right now. You said best college town in the country? You're not going to Tuscaloosa, Bill? No, I'm going to Athens. I ain't never been to Tuscaloosa. Nobody invited me to come there.

Bill, you know, after our last conversation, Brett and I, we have been on a guilt trip, and we agree that we do not talk enough about the Atlanta Hawks, Bill. We don't. Bill, here's your chance. Oh, now you're going to talk about them. Well, what I'm just saying, you told us to talk about the Hawks, so the platform is yours. Yeah, yeah, thanks a lot. Now, now you're going to talk about them. Yeah, okay, I'm just humiliated. Now you want a whole segment on the Hawks.

It's never too late. What do you mean? The Boomo Bugg Show, weekdays noon to 2 on 93.9 The Score. People don't realize that glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness. Because there are often no early symptoms, nearly half of those with glaucoma may not even know they have it until vision loss has occurred. I was diagnosed with normal tension glaucoma in July of 2020, and what we found out at that point was I had already lost 40% of my sight. You think it only affects people that are, you know, 75 or older, retired grandparents, and that's not the reality of it.

I didn't think at all glaucoma was going to affect me, because I didn't know of anyone that had glaucoma, no one in my family. When you have glaucoma, you can't get back that sight that you lost, and so early detection and treatment is vitally, vitally important. Don't miss life's most beautiful moments. Schedule an eye exam today. National Glaucoma Research, a bright, focused foundation program, offers free resources and tips for healthy vision. Learn how to protect your sight at stopglaucoma.org. This is Braves Country, where history lives and legends rise.

And now, the next chapter begins, because the Atlanta Braves are back. Swung on and belted. Deep right field. Gone! Today, don't miss Ronald Acuna Jr. and your Atlanta Braves taking on Cal Raleigh and the Seattle Mariners. Live from T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Braves Radio is on the air at 255 Eastern, 155 Central on the Braves Radio Network. Brought to you locally by the law firm of Johnson Pasture, Medley & Virtual, J.C. Hammonson, First Metro Bank, Nationwide Insurance Agents Michael Doe and Bill Cochran, Medford Jewelers, Valley Credit Union, Certified Alarm, Lost Pizza, and Alabama Health Guidance.

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To join their mission, visit their website at wheelchairsforwarriors.org. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. The Score. Again, what do you say we hit to the focal point of the entire Southeastern Conference world this week when it comes to softball? That is a state, the great state of Kentucky, where Joe Cox calls home. He's got the entire SEC covered there at South Saturday Down South, and his book is called The Fine Team Man. Joe Cox, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing all right.

You know, you talk softball. I covered the inaugural softball team at my alma mater, Western Kentucky, just down the road here. And the one thing that I really learned about it is I could have hit those girls with a 20-foot pole. No! No! I love it. I mean, and they're so loose. They're fun. It's a fun sport to watch. And, except for yesterday, Joe, all due respect to Auburn, but when I saw the kid from Kentucky and the manner in which she lost, I mean, it's refreshing in a way to see that players still have emotions.

Nowadays, you see these guys, they lose. It's like they go over there and shake hands. It's like, okay, we're still going to get paid. But yesterday, the kid just cried her eyes out. This is, if you haven't watched, I would assume you would highly recommend the tournament going on in your backyard. Oh, absolutely. It's such an intense sport. And, yeah, I'm with you. You know, there's so much of the world now that everything's NIL and, you know, I went to this school next year and I'll turn around and go to their rival next year for another half a million.

[1:20:11] It's not that way there. And, yeah, I really do encourage people. You know, if the big sports get too big for you, go a little bit more off the main travel route and you're still going to see the same stuff you know and love. So, colleagues, there are 17 within two games of each other. There's a lot in the middle, 13 and 11, down to 11 and 13. There are 17. It's two weekends to go. A lot's still going on. The Georgia Bulldogs, 18 and 6, 38 and 11. They're on a heater. That six-game winning streak, they're going 8 to 10.

You need to update us on the home run total if it's close to 130 by now. We'll see how it goes over and plays Georgia next weekend. It's going to be a very interesting series. Will Georgia win the regular season? Yeah, Georgia has just been amazing. 131 homers. It's still kind of funny to me that Vanderbilt is the SEC team that's second in that home run race just because it's the opposite of what it's been over the years. Meanwhile, you take Auburn, and they're near the bottom in it, but they've found a way to push runs across without doing as much slugging.

But, yeah, it's really looking like Georgia's world, and that's going to be important because they're serious to wrap up. You've got a couple of teams that their situations are a little more fluid, and Georgia will have a lot to say about what happens with LSU and then with Auburn. Joe Cox, Saturday down south. Joe, obviously, you know, our zip code here, if you'll indulge us. I'm looking at the standings. The last time I looked at the standings, Alabama and Auburn, in terms of NASCAR, they're swapping paint.

They're pretty much in the same position. Maybe a game separates them as far as the standings. And your baseball is all about momentum. Going back to what we talked about, the softball tournament, I think Auburn lost 25-0 just a few days ago, and now they're heading to the quarterfinals after wins in the first two rounds. So that's just softball or baseball. The blueprint is the same. It's about momentum. In your opinion, right now, who's setting up better heading into the postseason? Would it be, in your opinion, Alabama, Auburn, or is it pretty much still the same, neck and neck?

You know, it's going to be close just because you would think that Auburn, you know, they're the team, I think, that a lot of people expect to see in that top eight set up to host a super regional. But they really do have a brutal run to finish the regular season here. You've got to go down to Starkville, and then you host Georgia. And meanwhile, Alabama, yeah, as you know, they're one game behind them, and they get to go to South Carolina and then finish at home with Ole Miss.

So, you know, it could well end up in a situation where Alabama has the better regular season record, but I think Alabama's got a tougher road to hoe just as far as trying to set up for a good postseason situation. I think Alabama's still probably in pretty good shape in terms of getting a hosting bid, but they've got a long way to go toward that top eight that Auburn's pretty well entrenched in. So, you know, Alabama may end up on top on the standings, but Auburn may set up better for the NCAA tournament.

Joe, one thing about it, I always call it the Red Cross special. If you're full of charity, you're not going to win a lot of ballgames, a.k.a. if your defense keeps giving them four and five outs in the inning, I don't care who it is, South Carolina or Zip City, you're going to lose. Your thoughts, how do you explain Alabama's leaky defense? In one minute, they look like the New York Yankees, and the next minute, they look like the Washington Generals in basketball. You know, it's funny just because it's not been a rough season for the Tide.

I mean, I think they're happy, not thrilled, but happy with where they are. But you start to look at numbers, and, you know, you get the most errors in the SEC. The batting average is next to worst in the SEC. So it's kind of mysterious, like, how are we having a decent season here? And I think the thing is, you know, defense is such a focused thing. It's going to be key for Alabama to tighten up in all phases. And, you know, they've got the talent, they've got the players, and they'll produce when the chips are down.

But you've got to eliminate the little mistakes, and you've got to do that on the defensive side of things. And certainly then, you know, at the plate, you've got to be dialed in. And it's even in college, it's a long season. It's obviously longer in MLB. But, you know, it's time to just get everybody on the same page and moving ahead. It's not crazy, though, Joe. I mean, one of the things that you want to do is win a championship. But you go back, Ole Miss, Tennessee, a host of other schools, Mississippi State.

And then the next year, it's almost like they go from first to worst. Your thoughts about some of the name, premier names in baseball, what's going on at LSU, Florida, by their standards, not where they want to be. Your thoughts, Vanderbilt, this is a perennial powerhouse, Alabama freshmen, sweeping them. Your thoughts just how crazy the SEC is, year in and year out. Well, it is crazy, and it's because it's so good. But it's also because we are starting to really see the transfer portal have an impact.

[1:25:37] It wasn't as clear that the portal would be a big deal in baseball. Obviously, in basketball and in football, just with the numbers of players coming and going, it was pretty evident right away that you could see some wild swings from a team because it's not really the same team. It's really getting close to that in baseball. And, you know, that's obviously going to be a thing moving forward. The good news is if you're bad, you can get good in a hurry. You don't have to be in the basement forever.

But the bad news, yeah, if you're LSU, you know, you came into this year riding high. And unless they really pull a rabbit out of their head in this series at Georgia this weekend, I really don't see a way that they're going to make the NCAA tournament. So, you know, I guess don't get too high, don't get too low, and recruit, recruit, recruit. What we can do is get online and check out your work and your book. Joe, where can we find them? We have Saturday down south all the way through baseball and into that, you know, oblong, uneven-shaped ball that's going to come our way after baseball and softball are done.

And as far as my books, I always appreciate the support. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, any of those type places. Joe, as always, good to hook up with you. Enjoy SEC tourney time there in your backyard this week. By the way, it's coming to our neck of the woods in the near future over to Madison. It's a great event. Enjoy it, Joe. And thank you so much for your time today. Absolutely. You guys take care. Joe Cox is going to win us Saturday down south.

His book, again, is called A Fine Team Man. We're heading into Bray's free game. You're on 93.9 to score. But first, a dose of Double D. Drew DeArmond on deck. Stay with us. Since 1952, J.C. Hammond Sons has been keeping the Shoals comfortable year-round. As the oldest family-owned heating and air business in the Shoals area, they've built a reputation for a reliable service you can trust, whether it's for your home or your business. Need installation, repair, or maintenance? The experienced team at J.C. Hammond Sons is ready to help with all your residential and commercial heating and cooling needs.

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Trojans held the Crimson Tide to four hits. Jason Torres homered for Alabama, while Stephen Meyer had three hits and an RBI for Troy. Alabama will face South Carolina Friday, while the Trojans will host South Alabama. Auburn defeated UAB in Birmingham 10-2. Tigers had 13 hits. Eric Guevara, three RBIs. Bub Terrell also drove in three. Auburn is currently ranked sixth in the latest D1 baseball poll. North Alabama, they fell to Samford 8-2 on Tuesday, dropping their third straight. They'll be on the road Friday to begin a three-game series against Central Arkansas.

And in Major League Baseball, the Atlanta Braves beat Seattle 3-2. They'll wrap up the series this afternoon. Coverage on the score starts at 155. The Sports Update brought to you by Progressive Bundle Auto and Home, Renters or Condo, and Save with Progressive. I'm Tony Dezzeri on 93.9 The Score. Shop the Sherwin-Williams Sale and get 30% off duration, woodscapes, and super deck products May 1st through the 11th. Whether you're refreshing your interior or exterior, we've got the colors to bring your vision to life. And with delivery, getting everything to your door is easier than ever.

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[1:30:50] Again, not a person, just an online tool that helps you find great home coverage. A real pioneer. Okay, fine. Just do the thing. Yeah! Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and third-party insurance. Impressive rates on available in all states or situations. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in moments away from hooking up with the Braves. Pre-game, bat on the left coast, taking on set. We're trying to make it back-to-backs out on the west coast. In the meantime, Drew DeArmond, host, Talking Ball on Huntsville's 97.7 FM The Zone.

Drew, welcome in. How are you? Hey, how are you guys doing? Man, we're doing all right, Drew. We just got done talking about the craziness of baseball and softball. You can get blown out and just look like a nut one day and come back and look like a king the next. Auburn is the case of that with softball. And bear with me for a moment to get to the point. They're now heading into the quarterfinals after a terrible finish to the regular season. And for that matter, overall, if you're playing the first round of the season, not good.

They beat Texas A&M today. I think it was 8-5, something like that. Five home runs. The reason we bring it up, Drew, is this tournament is in Kentucky, Lexington. They want to move it campus to campus. But then starting down the stretch, we won't have to go that far to see this tournament. The job that they do in a greater Madison-Huntsville area to bring a tournament of this stature to this neck of the woods, it has to be a tremendous pat on the back, Drew.

Well, it has. No doubt about it. It's the best softball in the world. You know, we had Caleb Jones on talking to Auburn softball this morning. And that's just a huge win for Auburn. I mean, I don't think it's – it's not too much to say it's their biggest win of the year. You know, to get to the quarterfinals now and take on Florida tomorrow morning, basically, in my opinion, if they upset Florida and get to the semifinals of the tournament in Lexington, they're going to go to the NCAA tournament.

I mean, they're – they're at 500 now. I believe it's – and on the season, they're 27 and 27. And if they get above 500 with a win tomorrow and get to the semifinals, you know, they're going to finish with no worse than a 500 record after the tournament. I think they're very likely in because they're from the SEC, so – and because they'll be hot as well. I mean, and this is remarkable because, honestly, they've spent the regular season playing very poorly. I thought it was a mistake when I saw it that they lost 25 to nothing in five innings in LSU.

I mean, I could not believe that. I'd never seen anything like it. So, it's a credit to these young ladies and how they're fighting and they're fighting for their – for their coaches in the Malvos because that's just a great, great run. I would have – I would have bet anything that they probably weren't going to be able to, you know, even beat Missouri yesterday. But they came back late, you know, scored six runs to, you know, win the game after they were down 2-0. And then to do that today, to show that power, you know, and go on that power surge and beat a really good Texas A&M team.

Yeah. That's remarkable. And so, now, to be honest with you, if they can beat Florida tomorrow, I really, really like their chances of getting into the NCAA tournament. And that would be tremendous because they've made it 13 years in a row. And, you know, there would be a chance they could play somebody named Alabama in the semifinals of that tournament if the Tide could win on Thursday as well. So, how remarkable and unlikely would that have been just a few days ago? Quickly, a shout-out to Alabama.

Conversely, the shoes on the other foot, they've had a great season, ranked amongst the best in the country. Your thoughts about the job Pat Murphy and these girls are doing. Well, I think he's the coach of the year. He won it, and I think rightfully so. He's a Hall of Famer. He's one of the best to ever do it. I mean, they're 47-6 right now. They've got the double bye. They've only lost one series all year, and that was on the road at Tennessee. And they won the first game.

The Lady Vols came back and won the last two. But they've just done remarkable things. I had a chance to interview him a couple weeks ago, right after Madison was announced at the site for the SEC softball tournament, which is the best softball in the world. And, you know, I told him about the coach. He's done this a long time. But this may be the best group of freshmen and newcomers because Brooke Wells, of course, came from Houston and was in the transfer pool that he's ever had.

I mean, and they have a deep pitching staff. Vic Moten has done really well from Daphne as a freshman, you know, and a young lady from Michigan as well. She's done a nice job. They have some depth in the circle. But their lineup's been really, really good. And, you know, he likes to tinker with it. But he's got good depth in his lineup. And, you know, I know she's kind of cooled off a little bit, but he figured out that Pafillo, who, of course, is in her second year from Northern Iowa, she's kind of been an unconventional leadoff in her, but she's done the job.

[1:36:20] And so he's just done remarkable things. And they've got a really good shot to get back to Oklahoma City. And they're definitely going to be a host in the regional and supers if they are fortunate enough to get to the super regional. And if they can get back to the college world series, I think it would be the 16th time. It's just remarkable. And he's just done amazing things. And to be 47-6 right now is tremendous. And it certainly would be, you know, amazing stuff if they can get a win tomorrow.

But I know they're waiting on the winner of Mississippi State and Arkansas. And I know that game was going to be right after the Auburn game. And Mississippi State and Arkansas, I know that the Hogs did beat Alabama one game in that series earlier in the regular season in Tuscaloosa. But they had them play in Mississippi State. And State, of course, you know, has a really good pitching staff. Drew, Drew, I'm going to hook up with us. 97.7 FM is on a switch gears through. Now that the dust has settled across the spring camps, where do you start and what your gut tells you about Alabama and Auburn?

Well, I think that Alabama's got a chance to have a really good, you know, football team. I think, you know, they, you know, Noah Rodgers getting injured certainly didn't, that didn't help things. But he won't be back probably for the start of the season. It was a teller tendon issue in his knee. But certainly, I think Ryan Coleman-Williams had a good spring. He's going to have to keep that, you know, going. Lodger Brooks is going to be a big part of what they're doing. You know, they, I do think that they've still got a chance if Rico Scott can be more consistent to have a good wide receiver room.

I love Keelan Russell. I think Austin Mack's really solid as well. I think the quarterback room is really good, despite what Joel Platt thinks, you know. And I think, and certainly I think the offensive line is going to be the key. They've got to continue to make progress there with the guys up front. And certainly, you know, I think they're off to a good start there, you know, in the spring. And I think Adrian Clems has done a nice job. But they've still got to keep working and increase their consistency.

And I think defensively, you know, if they can continue to grow up front, I think they have some, you know, quality, you know, transfer portal, you know, additions along the defensive line. And I think they need to, you know, get some of their guys that were out hurt and, you know, like a Jeremiah Beeman who did not play last year. He needs to be back and be consistent. I think it was good that Steve Bolo had a good spring and started making some progress. Because when he came in from junior college, he certainly looked the part last year.

He's going to have to be good. But I think they have the tools there. And I think they're going to be better in the kicking game because of the 14th win. I think he's going to give them one of the better kickers in the SEC, if not the country. We'll see, you know, how they can improve in that area because it wasn't consistent a year ago. And then with Auburn, I think it's just a matter of, you know, I think we didn't see nearly what they're going to be because it couldn't show a lot in the spring.

They're going to run the football, I think, much better than they've run it, even though I think they ran it better than people think a year ago. But I think the QB run game is going to be the key. And, you know, I think Byron Brown is going to be a guy that is going to be very effective. He was very effective in South Florida. You didn't get to see his total package. I know he struggled throwing the ball a little bit in the spring, but his game is running the ball.

And I think they're going to run it from the QB spot. And I think they have a lot of continuity back defensively with C.J. Durkin and his staff back there. Certainly, I think they felt like they had a really strong spring. And they've got some key holes to build with Keldrick Falk moving on to the NFL. But I think they're going to be, you know, pretty good up front still. And I think the key is going to be their offensive line, just like Alabama. They've got to continue to get better in that regard, more consistent heading into fall camp.

Drew, Jerry, I'm at 97.7 FM Zone. Back to Bama for a moment, Drew. Do you get the same feedback that we get? Most Bama fans believe Austin Mack may get the starting nine, but he's going to have a short leash. Keelan Russell's in the bullpen warming up at any moment. We don't know that. I'm just saying that's basically the consensus of what we're hearing across the nation, the feedback we get. But here's an interesting comment. This is from Bray Hubbard. You are no better than any of us here.

This is kind of a quote here, the best I can tell. He, that is Keelan Russell, gets us all the time with some of his balls. I'm like, wow, that takes a really impressive arm to throw. You can hear the ball sizzle when he throws it. Rarely do you hear somebody when the competition is as tight as it seems to be in Tuscaloosa so that a fellow teammate will come out and basically say, this guy is special? No, Keelan Russell is special. I think he's going to win the starting job.

[1:41:40] Nothing against Austin Mack. I think Mack has tools, no question. But Keelan, I wouldn't trade him for Arch Manning. If I were Alabama, and Arch certainly has as much potential as anyone in the country and finished strong last year. But I think Keelan Russell has too, a Tunga-Vailoa type talent. I think he can throw the football. I think he's got outstanding mobility. I think he's as good a young prospect as anybody. I know there's been some criticism of Alabama's quarterback spots, saying they don't have any starts.

Well, neither did Ty Simpson. He did pretty well. He was drafted 13th overall. And, you know, before he started getting banged up, was probably the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy. And certainly I think that Los Angeles Rams have a pretty good organization and can judge quarterbacks. So I think Keelan Russell, with his mobility, his ability to play off script and to extend plays is going to be key. Because this offensive line is going to be a work in progress. But I think he's also accurate. I agree with Bray Hubbard.

I think he has outstanding arm strength, has a very quick release, and can get the ball out and be very, very, you know, I think can stretch the field, too. I think one thing, Ty, is Ty's struggling with the deep ball. I think Keelan Russell or Austin Mack, whoever wins the starting job. But I think, again, my opinion is Keelan Russell. I think they'll be able to stretch defenses with that deep ball and make a lot of plays. You know, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to say this, but one thing that would help, obviously, the offensive line improving drastically from last year.

But the other thing is to have E.J. Crowell live up to his potential. What are you hearing as far as the timetable? The last time I saw it, Drew, it looked like he was on pace to get back without any major problems or time lost. What are you hearing about Crowell, which would add, obviously, a huge element to that offense? I would expect Crowell. I mean, the injury wasn't nearly as serious as Noah Rodgers. I think he'll be ready by June. So, without any setbacks, I think he's going to be ready to go and continue to get better and ramp it up this summer.

He'd be good to go for their opener against East Carolina. I'd expect him to be on the field. I think he's a special talent as well. He's another one that they didn't see a lot of. That's why it kind of humors me when I see people like Joel Klatt already saying they, first of all, correct me if I'm wrong, you know, I'm not very good at math. But when you win nine one year and 11 to next and you win one playoff game in that second year when you didn't win any to next, I call that improvement.

Wouldn't you? Is that called improvement? I mean, I think so. I mean, even for someone as elementary as me with math, I mean, I think, I think Alabama, you know, with B.J. Crowell, they haven't seen a lot of him. We only saw a very brief highlight of him in the spring. His reps were kept under wraps and he was a little banged up with the lower leg issue. It's kind of a groin or so. But I think, you know, I think he's going to be healthy and bargaining setbacks.

And I think he has a very special talent winning Mr. Football as a reclassified senior. I think he's going to bring some explosiveness. And it goes back to what Kaelin DeBoer said. They didn't make a lot of explosive runs last year. I think he and the other three freshmen, Brown, out of Huntsville, Texas, I think that both those guys are going to bring that kind of element to the running game. And I also think, you know, no question that, you know, the returnees, you know, in the backfield can help as well.

They both seem to be in better shape. And I think overall, when you look at it, I think the running game will be improved. It can get worse. Let's be honest there. But if it is better and more explosive, you know, with a guy like E.J. Crowell, I think it can go a long way to make an Alabama that much more effective, you know, as an offensive football team, Harold. Well, you want to believe that this coach is how smart to take the lessons learned last year and say, what did we do wrong and correct him?

We've had a lot of time to do it. We'll see just how smart and talented they are. But let's go to the other side of the coin, Drew, if you will. Drew DeArmond, 97.7 FM, Lazon, and talk a little bit more about Auburn while we have the time here. The knock on Alex Gullis right now, he's saying all the right things. Auburn fans are on fire. They can't wait for the season, a brand new start. The critics say, yeah, that's good. But he has success at South Florida.

He knocked off Florida. But now he's about to gravitate to week in and week out taking on an SEC coaching staff, an SEC roster. I think both things are true. A lot of success at South Florida. He did knock off Florida last year. But what is your objective critique and realistic expectations under Gullis? I think to have a winning season, get to a bowl game, potentially win said bowl game. They haven't won a bowl game since, I think, 2018. And you've had five straight losing seasons. So you need to learn to walk before you run.

[1:46:53] And I think they've got to just be more consistent, more physical along the line, both lines of scrimmage. They've struggled in developing offensive lines since the end of the Malzahn era. They need to develop some consistency there. And then, again, they need to run the football, stop the run a little bit more consistently. I thought Durkin's group was solid at times, but then at times wasn't consistent. But I think you've got to get back to the little things. You've got to be able to run the football, Harold.

You've got to do a better job of protecting it. They did do a better job last year. You know, in year two under Hugh Freeze, they turned over way too much. But they've just got to be more consistent, you know, running football. And they've got to be better in the red zone. When they get down there, they've got to score touchdowns, not kick as many field goals. And then you've just got to learn to win close games. I mean, Auburn put themselves in position to win a lot of games last year.

They've just got to learn to finish. Quickly, before we jump off, Talks, looks like we're getting closer to a 2014 field in football, basketball going to 76. Your thoughts, to me, this has got one thing written on it, money. Television wants more inventory, even if it dilutes the product. Your thoughts overall? And if you're a coach, you've got to love it because, hey, I made the playoffs. Well, I'd be more in favor of keeping the conference championship games as kind of the opening round and going to 16, but it looks like some of these coaches want to go to 24, a lot of them, and eliminate the conference championship games, and just put an emphasis on the regular season champion.

I think 24 is watering it down a little bit, so we already saw blowouts last year in football. And in basketball, I love the 64, honestly. 68 was working. 76 seems to kind of water it down, too. But like you said, Harold, it's all about the money. Quickly, before we jump off, Drew, where can we get the very latest with you anytime online? They can connect with me at 9770STN in our station account, or, of course, they can connect with us at 9770STN.com. And if you want to get any of our content, if you've been talking ball, you can certainly go to our SoundCloud page, 97.7 The Zone.

And we always enjoy being on the Boomo Bugg Show. We hope all your listeners stay safe out there in the weather. And enjoy your weekend, and we appreciate you having us all once again on this Wednesday. Sam, right back at you. Stay safe and enjoy the Braves taking on Seattle. Free games straight ahead on behalf of BB, Greg, James Blair, and the entire crew here. Harold Buck, thank you so much for your time today. Let's do it again tomorrow. Starting to get new for the Boomo Bugg Show.

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