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 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.

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 The Boomo Bugg Show. New Exclusive Inside Track to the Tide, Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC. Now your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score.

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 Good afternoon and welcome here to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us a free ride around the Tennessee Valley. Brett Beaird, welcome in where Gus says it's time to park the bus. Meanwhile, a good weekend for UNA. Auburn looks to bounce back and Alabama fans saying, is it time to look in the mirror? Good afternoon. Welcome in and how are you?

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 Happy Monday to you and the listeners. Brian Matthews of AuburnSports.com will talk about Auburn basketball and football and losing a legend on the plains.

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 Andrew Bone updates us about Junior Day and another transfer portal will pick up for Alabama.

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 Adam is here right now to recount the SEC basketball weekend and tell us a little bit more about Buckyball that is coming to Tuscaloosa Wednesday night.

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 Adam's got it all covered. He's Adam Spencer. He's busy there at Saturday down south. Saturday tradition in sports betting time. Adam, welcome in. How are you?

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 Hey guys, I'm doing great. How are you?

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 Hey, we're doing all right. We alluded to the top there, Adam. Everybody thought once Bediaco gets in the saddle, this Crimson Tide team was going to live up to their name and roll.

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 What so far they've done is they've rolled to a 1-2 record under Bediaco since he returned.

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 They are basically, right now, if you go by the numbers, this is not sitting here and putting any edges to it.

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 If you're even Steven, you're an average team. They're 500 in league play.

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 Adam, your thoughts, not only getting beat, it's no shame to lose the defending champ, but when you lose the way they did,

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 then you basically, a lot of folks say it may be time to sit here and reshuffle some decks.

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 Yeah, I mean, having Florida score a historic amount of points in the paint was certainly not a good look there.

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 So, yeah, Bediaco, I mean, you know, he wasn't playing a ton.

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 You know, he was, like, I would say that the, frankly, I would say that the G League is less competitive than going to Florida and playing the defending national champions.

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 You know, like, I just think that the G League, I'm, like, just not as high on the G League as some people,

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 and I just think that there's a lot of guys in there who are there because they, you know, either couldn't land a college spot that was big enough for them

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 or, you know, they're just not NBA-caliber players.

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 And Florida has three or four NBA-caliber players that will probably go in the first round next year.

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 I mean, Condon and Hawk are almost certain to go in round one.

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 I would bet that Chinuelu can work his way into the late round one mix.

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 And, you know, Buki Fland is, he was projected as a lottery pick going into it last year at Arkansas.

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 And he still has a ton of talent.

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 So, it was foolish to think that Bediaco was going to come in and just make Alabama a defensive juggernaut.

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 But you also would have hoped to have seen better results than what they've gotten so far.

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 So, there's still a lot of work for Nadeau and company to do.

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 But, you know, he's only been there for three games.

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 And, you know, we'll see.

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 I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now and say that he'll, you know, be a lot better by the time the calendar flips to March

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 than he is now that the calendar flipped to February.

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 Yeah.

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 Charles Bediaco was only one of five reasons Alabama lost that debacle to Florida.

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 Now, this Alabama team is just not built in the front line to be able to stand up to the Gators.

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 Got off to a five and four start, and they've been rolling ever since.

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 Alabama doesn't have much time to get ready.

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 Again, they've got Auburn on Saturday and Bucky Ball coming to Tuscaloosa Wednesday.

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 And you wrote a very good article about how Bucky Ball has come in and basically re-changed Texas A&M basketball.

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 Buzz Williams has gone off to Maryland.

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 They're having a terrible year.

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 And a lot of people thought, well, it's going to take him a year or so to get the players to buy into the system and get rolling.

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 And they're already rolling.

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 Yeah, I mean, he inherited a roster that only had one player returning, and he was one of the latest hires in the cycle.

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 So he was, you know, behind the eight ball a bit when it came to assembling a roster at all.

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 You know, so he, I think that that actually kind of worked out in his favor, though.

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 He got a lot of guys who were desperate to prove themselves at the SEC level.

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 He got a lot of guys who were unselfish and, you know, were motivated by, you know, maybe not receiving a ton of offers earlier in the portal cycle.

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 You know, Rashawn Aggie, who's been a leader for that team, like, he came over from USC.

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 I mean, you know, I saw him play when he was with USC last year, made the trip down to Illinois to watch him play the Illini.

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 And he was really good in that game.

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 He was solid from three-point land, which he's continued this year.

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 And, you know, was just a really good complimentary player alongside Desmond Claude, who had, like, 30 points against the Illini in that game last year.

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 So, you know, he's been a leader for this team.

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 There's some other guys that they've found that have really fit what he wants to do, what Bucky wants to do.

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 And that's run and gun and, you know, play a lot of, you know, full-court defense and just be constantly on the move.

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 And I think that you've got the right guys, and when you get the right guys for your system, you can have success at any level of basketball.

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 Interesting, is it not in college sports this year?

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 Texas A&M is the buzz, if you will, in basketball, and Indiana was the buzz in football and what have in common.

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 Coaches at one time would have been laughed at if you brought their names up and said they'd have this kind of success.

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 Adam Spencer, Saturday down south.

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 Adam, talk to us about Auburn.

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 Obviously, coaches don't look ahead.

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 But Auburn right now, obviously, it's no shame to go to Tennessee and lose.

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 Who doesn't lose there for the most part?

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 But your thoughts about the Auburn Tigers?

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 Yeah, I think that, you know, the change from Bruce to Stephen Pearl was always going to have a few growing pains.

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 It's different to be, you know, the number one guy.

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 Like you said, Tennessee is hitting its stride right now.

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 I mean, Nate Amant has been just incredible and is living up to the hype as a potential top-five pick here.

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 I mean, what's looking like an absolutely loaded NBA draft class here.

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 So, you know, I think that Tennessee, it says more about Tennessee that Tennessee won that game than it did about Auburn.

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 Like, this is still a really good team.

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 Pettiford is still, you know, one of the better ball handlers and playmakers in the league.

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 You know, Keyshawn Hall is just, you know, he's a lot of fun to watch score, which he does very, very often and very, very well.

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 And, you know, I think that there's still plenty of talent on this team.

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 You know, the coaching change and, you know, all of the key players, basically.

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 You know, this was a veteran Auburn team last year.

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 They had, you know, Pettiford was the guy that they needed to work in.

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 And now he's, like, pretty much the only veteran on the team because you lost Chad Baker-Mazzari.

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 You lost Dylan Cardwell.

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 And, most importantly, you lost Janai Broom.

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 So, you know, this is always going to be a bit of a growing year.

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 But they got some good guys in the portal.

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 And I think that this is another team where, you know, you don't want to press the panic button.

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 Just get to the work on, you know, locking down a potential NCAA tournament spot

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 and then do what you can to improve your seed and, you know, try to get to that maybe that sixth seed line

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 And if you can, seventh seed, eighth seed, either of those are fine.

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 You know, you just want to take it to the dance and go from there.

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 And I think that this is a tournament-quality Auburn team.

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 Yeah, Tennessee's got a kid by the name of Dwayne Brown.

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 How do we know him?

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 He was an All-State at Hoover.

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 And Alabama and Auburn, quite frankly, overlooked him.

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 And he signed with Tennessee.

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 And believe me, Nados could use him right now.

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 Another team that's playing better is the Kentucky Wildcats.

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 Got off to an 0-2 start, Adam.

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 And Kentucky fans were ready to run him out of Lanchington.

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 But after winning five in a row and I believe six out of the last seven, they beat Arkansas 85-77.

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 77, Oteco Owe, he's really playing well.

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 Malachi Marino, Denzel Aberdeen.

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 The kids are playing pretty well right now, Adam.

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 Yeah, they kind of made me look foolish, though, last week because I moved them up to number three in my SEC power rankings.

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 And they got the doors beaten off of them in Nashville.

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 And, you know, that's just this team, though.

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 Like, this team is a top-three talent-level team in the SEC.

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 But sometimes they play like they're the 14th most talented team.

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 You just cannot predict that.

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 You need to get – I mean, that's just the most important thing for Mark Pope right now is to get some more consistency from his team.

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 And so, I mean, I think that, you know, they've shown that they can beat anybody.

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 They've shown that they can go into a hostile environment like Bud Walton Arena and get some wins in tough environments.

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 But now they just need to do that consistently.

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 Like, you've just got to – it's beyond the time of the year where it's acceptable to just completely no-show at Vanderbilt.

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 Now, you can go into Vanderbilt and lose.

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 That's fine.

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 Vanderbilt's a really, really good team.

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 But you just can't not play hard and show the effort that they showed if you want to be taken seriously.

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 So, now that they've got another big win under their belt, I'll be interested to see how they move forward and see if they, you know, can develop a little bit more consistency.

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 Adam, it's interesting.

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 You look at this league.

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 I'm sitting here looking at the standings.

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 In Texas A&E, I'm right now.

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 They're the king of the hill, obviously.

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 Florida's right there knocking on their doors.

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 But you look after that, and you've got a wad of teams at 6-3.

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 There's three of them.

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 Bandy, Arkansas, Kentucky.

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 John Calipari, pick your poison there, huh?

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 Then you've got a host of 5-3 and 5-4 teams.

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 My point is, over half the league is basically in the middle of the pack at 6-3, 5-4.

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 It looks like an NFL set of standings where the NFL doesn't want anybody to run away with it.

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 Maybe one team so they can talk about it.

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 But they want everybody else to be competitive so they can hold the interest.

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 But the standings vary at what everybody's talking.

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 This league basically is a game apart.

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 And in one week, you can flip from the lower third of the standings to the upper third of the standings.

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 Yeah, I mean, I think you made a great point there with comparing it to the NFL standings

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 because I think that that is kind of, you know, what this NIL era, you know, where your salary caps is up.

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 Like, you're basically ensuring parity.

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 And we're seeing that, you know.

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 Last year was an extreme example of it because 14 teams made the NCAA tournament.

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 But, you know, this year, it's, yeah, anybody in that group, as long as you're not, you know,

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 in that 3-6 and below group, you have a chance to win the tournament.

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 And even a couple of those 3-6 teams still have a shot to make the NCAA tournament.

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 And there are teams that you're not going to want to see, you know, come SEC tournament time either.

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 But, yeah, this is a deep league.

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 It's not as – it doesn't have the level of elite talent that it had last year.

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 But there's still plenty of good teams.

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 And there's still – it wouldn't surprise me one bit if in April in Indianapolis, it's an SEC team cutting down the nets.

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 Adam, Arkansas lost to Kentucky.

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 One of the reasons they missed 10 free throws.

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 And they were 3 out of 14 from three points.

154
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 But Darius Acuff has had a very good year.

155
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 Arkansas 16-6, 6-3.

156
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 Calipari, Malik Thomas is playing well.

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 Acuff, as I mentioned, Calipari has forgotten how to coach.

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 No, he's got a couple of dynamic freshmen and Acuff, you know, kind of reminds – I saw a comparison to another guy that he coached, you know, Derek Rose.

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 I think that that's, you know, not the craziest comp out there.

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 I mean, Darius Acuff, you know, he's got the ball in his hands all the time.

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 He can score.

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 He can pass.

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 He can, you know, do whatever you need him to do.

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 So, I mean, I think that he's a really good player.

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 Malik Thomas is a nice sidekick for that.

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 And they've got some guys who can't contribute inside Brazil, U.N.

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 You know, they've got some big guys who they need some more consistency from.

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 I mean, yeah, you can't miss 10 free throws.

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 It happens sometimes, especially with Calipari teams, it seems.

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 But, you know, I think that come March, guards win in March.

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 And they've got a couple of really, really good young guards in Acuff and Thomas.

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 Well, Saturday Down South is really, really good with their stories.

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 Joe Cox on tomorrow.

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 Conor O'Gara on that line of other friends.

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 Adam, where can we get online to get yours and everybody else's stuff?

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 Yeah, SaturdayDownSouth.com.

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 I'll have my updated SEC basketball power rankings out tomorrow.

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 We've got one of our writers has some bracketology coming out this afternoon.

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 So, we've got you covered with hoops and football leading up to the Super Bowl here this weekend, too.

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 What?

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 A Super Bowl?

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 We're going to research that and see what that's all about, Adam.

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 But we'd have a little time.

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 Listen, man, thanks so much and have a super week, okay?

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00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:49,040
 Yeah, you too, guys.

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 Thanks for having me.

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 Thank you, man.

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 All right.

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00:13:50,540 --> 00:13:51,560
 Thank you, Adam Spencer.

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 Saturday Down South.

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 Coming up, a huge weekend for football recruiting visits.

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00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:00,140
 And what about the basketball team?

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 Talking tight across the board with Andrew Bone on deck.

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00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:03,260
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279
00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:20,420
 Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9, The Score.

280
00:19:20,660 --> 00:19:21,220
 The Score.

281
00:19:21,220 --> 00:19:26,420
 Welcome back, and I'm sure just another laid-back, nothing-to-do weekend for Andrew Bone,

282
00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:30,660
 fine columnist, recruiting editor of Bama Online, part of the Yon3.com family,

283
00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:32,940
 and his book is called The Road to Bama.

284
00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:34,300
 Andrew, welcome in.

285
00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:37,840
 A lot of kids on the road to Bama this weekend on the recruiting trail, right?

286
00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:38,420
 How are you?

287
00:19:39,460 --> 00:19:40,000
 Hey, guys.

288
00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:40,560
 Doing great.

289
00:19:40,620 --> 00:19:41,040
 How are we doing?

290
00:19:41,100 --> 00:19:41,300
 Good.

291
00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:42,740
 Man, we're doing all right.

292
00:19:42,820 --> 00:19:44,360
 Obviously, it's the Monday after.

293
00:19:44,860 --> 00:19:48,660
 Before we talk about some of the visitors over the weekend,

294
00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,800
 your thoughts about the makeup of this class.

295
00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:58,140
 They add a former Tennessee slash Appalachian State running back, Khalifa Keith.

296
00:19:59,420 --> 00:20:04,580
 Interesting makeup with its expanded rosters, not only for Alabama, but other teams.

297
00:20:04,620 --> 00:20:06,820
 You don't see a lot of guys coming down from Appalachian State

298
00:20:06,820 --> 00:20:09,260
 and some of these other places, but it is 2026.

299
00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:19,840
 Well, I think you see guys that are coming from smaller schools that put up a lot of good stats.

300
00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:26,000
 They might be all Americans at different places, FCS level, Division II level, stuff like that,

301
00:20:26,020 --> 00:20:31,100
 but it's not often that you see kind of your smaller school guys that are going to come in

302
00:20:31,100 --> 00:20:34,500
 that don't have a lot of stats, and they might be a little bit older,

303
00:20:34,500 --> 00:20:42,220
 and you start to wonder, you know, why is Alabama or another school taking, you know, a guy that doesn't have,

304
00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:46,460
 he's got experience as far as being on the practice field and stuff like that,

305
00:20:46,500 --> 00:20:48,380
 but doesn't have a lot of game experience.

306
00:20:48,620 --> 00:20:56,000
 You know, when I look at the running back position for Alabama and everybody, I think, automatically goes to Hollywood Smothers

307
00:20:56,000 --> 00:21:03,020
 and the way that situation kind of unfolded, and we told our subscribers at the beginning of the portal season,

308
00:21:03,620 --> 00:21:06,480
 Alabama's going to take a swing for an elite guy.

309
00:21:06,660 --> 00:21:11,140
 You know, one of their, one of the top, you know, two or three guys that are on their recruiting board

310
00:21:11,140 --> 00:21:16,840
 trying to get a guy that's got a lot of experience playing time, and obviously Hollywood Smothers

311
00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:25,820
 was a first team all ACC back, they felt good about him, and then it obviously, you know, unfolded the way it did,

312
00:21:25,860 --> 00:21:32,860
 and he flipped to Texas, but I don't think they necessarily were going after another, you know, impact guy as far as a starter.

313
00:21:33,420 --> 00:21:37,260
 You know, they feel really good about the guys that they have on their roster right now.

314
00:21:37,320 --> 00:21:41,220
 You bring in Xavier Kroll, so you got some good players that are there,

315
00:21:41,220 --> 00:21:45,240
 and I don't think they really looked around and saw a lot of guys who were out there

316
00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:48,160
 that were better than what they have on campus.

317
00:21:48,380 --> 00:21:54,460
 I know everybody just always wants to get, you know, a guy who can come in and be a game changer,

318
00:21:54,460 --> 00:22:00,280
 but you're also kind of weighing who you have on your team currently based on what you've seen

319
00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:05,600
 from all of these other guys, you know, maybe what they want from a, you know, financial standpoint

320
00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:11,360
 and all that other stuff, but I think over the last two weeks after Smothers went to Texas,

321
00:22:12,060 --> 00:22:14,180
 you know, Alabama probably looked at it and said, you know,

322
00:22:14,260 --> 00:22:17,760
 we don't have to go out and get a starter, but we want to get some depth.

323
00:22:17,900 --> 00:22:22,780
 We want somebody to come in and, you know, at least provide some, you know,

324
00:22:22,780 --> 00:22:27,640
 some veteran leadership to the backfield, and there's not a lot of guys that are out there

325
00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:33,340
 that are looking to come and be a, you know, a backup in the transfer board.

326
00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:42,360
 Especially if you're going to be a junior or senior, you know, those guys are looking to start and make an impact right away.

327
00:22:42,460 --> 00:22:48,660
 And I think, you know, this is a situation where Alabama has plenty of scholarships still available.

328
00:22:49,660 --> 00:22:53,440
 He's an in-state kid from Birmingham originally, played at Parker High School.

329
00:22:54,540 --> 00:22:57,980
 So you get a guy that, you know, they know a little bit about.

330
00:22:58,100 --> 00:23:01,660
 He's 6'1", 235 pounds, kind of a big physical back.

331
00:23:02,260 --> 00:23:03,360
 So you bring him in.

332
00:23:03,740 --> 00:23:05,900
 Is he going to be an impact player?

333
00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:07,560
 Probably not.

334
00:23:07,620 --> 00:23:11,960
 But is he going to be somebody that is going to be a good practice player?

335
00:23:12,100 --> 00:23:17,300
 Is he going to be able to provide some leadership in a room that's, for the most part, pretty young?

336
00:23:17,980 --> 00:23:20,400
 You know, you've got a couple guys that are going to be juniors this year,

337
00:23:20,460 --> 00:23:26,100
 but still it's a young group for the most part, and they need some depth players.

338
00:23:26,100 --> 00:23:27,600
 So I see him.

339
00:23:28,020 --> 00:23:36,500
 I'm not going to compare him to Richard Young, but, you know, kind of in the same body type.

340
00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:42,320
 And I think with Alabama, you know, just being able to bring in a guy like him

341
00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:44,280
 and potentially a couple others.

342
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,680
 I still think that there are some other position groups that are out there

343
00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:53,600
 that they could still add a player or two over the course of the next week or so

344
00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:56,000
 because there's still a lot of players in the transfer group.

345
00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:02,100
 Guys that are just kind of hanging out, waiting, seeing if anybody, you know, makes a call.

346
00:24:02,100 --> 00:24:07,340
 And, you know, it's a little bit more so than a walk-on these days

347
00:24:07,340 --> 00:24:09,700
 because you are able to provide that scholarship.

348
00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:17,260
 But I think that what a lot of people just don't understand or think about too much

349
00:24:17,260 --> 00:24:21,180
 is a lot of the guys who are coming in from the transfer portal,

350
00:24:21,260 --> 00:24:23,460
 all those guys aren't going to be your impact guys.

351
00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:24,340
 They're not going to be starting.

352
00:24:24,340 --> 00:24:30,780
 They may not even be second-team guys, but you have to get good practice players

353
00:24:30,780 --> 00:24:32,460
 on your roster.

354
00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:35,760
 And, you know, I think this is a guy that they really like.

355
00:24:37,220 --> 00:24:38,580
 Andrew, it's amazing.

356
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,600
 Wednesday is National Signing Day.

357
00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:48,480
 And I think there is more excitement for Groundhog Day this morning

358
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,160
 than it is Wednesday because so many people,

359
00:24:52,120 --> 00:24:55,980
 so many programs signed all their players in December.

360
00:24:55,980 --> 00:25:02,120
 Now, reportedly, Alabama is going to officially sign two receivers,

361
00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:06,800
 Maurice Matthews Jr. and Aubrey Walker.

362
00:25:07,780 --> 00:25:10,380
 A.B., will they sign anyone else?

363
00:25:10,780 --> 00:25:12,940
 Again, we've talked about transfer portal,

364
00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:18,280
 but this used to be such an incredibly busy week, I know, for you.

365
00:25:19,260 --> 00:25:23,180
 Auburn and Tennessee, we've been told they're not even going to sign anyone else.

366
00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:26,700
 Will Alabama make it official with these two,

367
00:25:26,820 --> 00:25:29,240
 but will they add to what they've already got?

368
00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:36,420
 Probably not, unless there's just some surprise over the course of the next 48 hours.

369
00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:39,940
 I mean, we're not really hearing any other names at this time.

370
00:25:40,020 --> 00:25:44,880
 They brought in Aubrey Walker for his official visit this past weekend,

371
00:25:45,340 --> 00:25:50,720
 so they were happy to get him on board here recently as another receiver.

372
00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:56,460
 It kind of gives them a little bit more depth there heading into fall camp

373
00:25:56,460 --> 00:25:58,760
 because he won't be here for the spring, but Maurice Mathis,

374
00:25:59,060 --> 00:26:01,760
 even though he was a late addition committed this month,

375
00:26:02,060 --> 00:26:04,380
 he was actually able to go ahead and enroll.

376
00:26:04,580 --> 00:26:09,140
 So I do think they'll probably announce him as a signee on Wednesday,

377
00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:11,580
 but he is already enrolled on campus.

378
00:26:11,900 --> 00:26:15,400
 So those are probably the only two that we kind of see right now

379
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:19,000
 as being announced as new signees,

380
00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:23,740
 but I don't necessarily see anybody else being added.

381
00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:27,520
 So it's kind of a slow signing day this week.

382
00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:35,280
 It certainly has changed a lot since I think the last time there wasn't an early signing period

383
00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:38,320
 was 2017, so nine years ago.

384
00:26:38,860 --> 00:26:45,380
 So it's crazy that, you know, I think the first couple years that we had that early signing period,

385
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:48,180
 a lot of people, you know, still kind of waited.

386
00:26:48,380 --> 00:26:50,800
 They wanted to take those official visits still in January,

387
00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:58,420
 and now it's kind of happened where everybody pretty much signs during that December period,

388
00:26:58,420 --> 00:27:02,880
 and even the majority of them enroll early as well.

389
00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:08,200
 Andrew Bone, busy, busy there at Bama Online, part of the On3.com family.

390
00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:10,100
 You mentioned the visitors over the weekend.

391
00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:11,900
 Overall, how did it go?

392
00:27:11,980 --> 00:27:14,660
 Because they did have some five-stars sprinkled in there.

393
00:27:16,100 --> 00:27:18,240
 Yeah, so Alabama had its junior day.

394
00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:25,880
 You know, sort of, I would say, the unofficial kickoff of the next recruiting cycle.

395
00:27:26,300 --> 00:27:29,840
 There's obviously a lot of relationships that are built early on,

396
00:27:29,900 --> 00:27:32,780
 guys that have, you know, come in for spring practice a year ago

397
00:27:32,780 --> 00:27:35,980
 or summer camps, you know, they come in for games.

398
00:27:35,980 --> 00:27:42,160
 But now, you know, all the focus is on them instead of the 26th class that just signed.

399
00:27:42,420 --> 00:27:46,520
 So they are the priorities now for Alabama, along with, you know,

400
00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:47,740
 every other school in the country.

401
00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:52,880
 And, you know, Alabama was able to get a lot of their early top targets on campus this weekend.

402
00:27:53,180 --> 00:27:55,520
 You kind of look back at last year's junior day.

403
00:27:56,460 --> 00:28:00,480
 I think they had one commitment heading into it.

404
00:28:00,820 --> 00:28:05,440
 And I think they only got one over the course of the next couple weeks.

405
00:28:06,020 --> 00:28:12,120
 But then, overall, they had about 30 players overall that were on that junior day,

406
00:28:12,160 --> 00:28:14,360
 and they ended up signing seven of those guys.

407
00:28:14,580 --> 00:28:19,460
 So that's a big number, considering the amount of talent that was on campus.

408
00:28:19,660 --> 00:28:23,520
 And I think that's probably going to be similar to this year.

409
00:28:23,980 --> 00:28:27,580
 You know, a lot of early guys that are on their recruiting board were in town,

410
00:28:27,660 --> 00:28:34,660
 such as five-star quarterback Elijah Haven, five-star wide receiver Monsoon Sales from Indianapolis.

411
00:28:34,860 --> 00:28:38,760
 You know, the number one overall player in the country, John Meredith,

412
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:43,260
 who's a five-star cornerback from Texas in Tuscaloosa, and several others.

413
00:28:43,580 --> 00:28:45,860
 So I think things went extremely well.

414
00:28:46,420 --> 00:28:50,120
 Sales is a kid that grew up an Alabama fan.

415
00:28:50,260 --> 00:28:56,620
 He's from Inslee originally before he moved to Indianapolis and has been very high.

416
00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,760
 So, you know, Alabama is his dream school.

417
00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:06,320
 He did visit Auburn on Sunday, but I don't think he's going to make a decision anytime soon.

418
00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:08,640
 I think he's going to wait it out, probably take some official visits.

419
00:29:08,900 --> 00:29:12,620
 But Alabama is in a really strong position early on with him.

420
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:20,540
 John Meredith, a kid that has continued to grow his relationship with Alabama.

421
00:29:20,540 --> 00:29:25,020
 He has a top two of the Crimson Tide in Texas A&M.

422
00:29:25,220 --> 00:29:28,700
 A lot of people think he's sort of a lock to Texas A&M.

423
00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:30,300
 He's an in-state kid over there.

424
00:29:30,540 --> 00:29:36,780
 But Moe Linguist has done just a tremendous job recruiting defensive backs

425
00:29:36,780 --> 00:29:39,060
 through the last couple years.

426
00:29:39,780 --> 00:29:44,700
 I think he's signed at least one five-star the last two recruiting cycles.

427
00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:50,380
 And I think he's really put Alabama in a strong position with John Meredith,

428
00:29:50,540 --> 00:29:52,220
 especially after this weekend visit.

429
00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:54,620
 He's probably going to decide sometime this spring.

430
00:29:56,060 --> 00:30:00,100
 I'm not going to say Alabama is the favorite right now,

431
00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:02,860
 but I'm also not going to say they're behind the A&M.

432
00:30:03,060 --> 00:30:05,180
 I think it's a really tight race.

433
00:30:05,340 --> 00:30:06,600
 I think they've done a good job.

434
00:30:06,780 --> 00:30:10,440
 And there's certainly a lot of focus on Meredith.

435
00:30:10,700 --> 00:30:15,000
 And they had another defense back on campus that I'll mention that I think they really love

436
00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,540
 is Darius White.

437
00:30:17,780 --> 00:30:21,460
 I mean, it's a kid that they just recently offered a couple weeks ago.

438
00:30:21,580 --> 00:30:29,100
 He's 6'3", 180 pounds, kind of the same mold that they like their defensive backs these days.

439
00:30:29,660 --> 00:30:34,760
 As we've seen the last few recruiting cycles, you see Dijon Lee at 6'4",

440
00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:39,780
 Jordan Edmonds, who just came in as a freshman, 6'3".

441
00:30:39,780 --> 00:30:46,840
 So they really kind of target those taller, lengthier defensive backs at the cornerback position.

442
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:51,320
 So I would really look for Darius White as a potential guy that we could see in this class.

443
00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:57,380
 But overall, I think they really liked the group they had on campus.

444
00:30:57,660 --> 00:31:02,180
 It was two days before the month-long dead period, so now we're in that period.

445
00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:07,060
 And now they kind of reconvene and look at the overall recruiting board.

446
00:31:07,980 --> 00:31:09,480
 Because it wasn't just junior day.

447
00:31:09,660 --> 00:31:15,020
 I mean, over the last few weeks, they were out on the road doing the winter contact period,

448
00:31:15,020 --> 00:31:20,680
 but also kind of evaluations as far as meeting a lot of these kids for the first time,

449
00:31:20,780 --> 00:31:24,080
 going through their academics, meeting with their families, meeting with their coaches,

450
00:31:24,500 --> 00:31:29,300
 getting as much feedback as they possibly can on any of these potential guys

451
00:31:29,300 --> 00:31:36,100
 that they're going to consider top targets or consider making a financial offer to down the road.

452
00:31:36,340 --> 00:31:42,480
 So I think that's what they're going to be doing over the course of between now and March

453
00:31:42,480 --> 00:31:48,040
 when things open back up and kids start coming back to campus for spring practice

454
00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:49,720
 and scheduling their official visits.

455
00:31:49,720 --> 00:31:54,640
 Alabama's really going to be positioning their overall recruiting board.

456
00:31:54,740 --> 00:31:57,040
 Who are our top five targets at running back?

457
00:31:57,140 --> 00:32:02,440
 Who are the top five targets at wide receiver after we've really evaluated it?

458
00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:06,760
 It's not really about the guys that, let's say, have been offered for over a year

459
00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:10,100
 because those guys may have fallen off their board by now.

460
00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:15,480
 They're going to go back and make sure that they've properly evaluated these guys

461
00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:19,680
 and make sure that they're targeting the right players that fit their program.

462
00:32:19,820 --> 00:32:21,600
 So that's what the next month is going to be all about.

463
00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:28,720
 Well, and I know you and Tim Watson, the gang, will have everything covered for National Signing Day

464
00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:32,980
 if there's any surprises, additional transfer portal dudes.

465
00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:38,860
 And I know you do a great job of going in depth as far as giving us more information

466
00:32:38,860 --> 00:32:42,340
 about some of these juniors who visited campus.

467
00:32:42,340 --> 00:32:45,340
 A.B., where can we get online to get all the great stuff?

468
00:32:46,380 --> 00:32:49,380
 Yeah, please come visit us at BamaOnline.com.

469
00:32:49,540 --> 00:32:54,940
 I mean, we obviously have a ton of great coverage over there, whether it's football team.

470
00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:57,920
 We're going to have a lot of spring previews and stuff like that.

471
00:32:58,100 --> 00:33:03,460
 You know, basketball coverage, you know, everything that's still happening on the recruiting front.

472
00:33:03,660 --> 00:33:06,600
 So I think we even got a softball preview coming out tomorrow.

473
00:33:06,860 --> 00:33:11,340
 So everything people want to know about Alabama, you know, athletics,

474
00:33:11,500 --> 00:33:14,580
 they can come to BamaOnline.com and, you know, read the content,

475
00:33:14,780 --> 00:33:20,740
 but also, you know, be a part of our community, our roundtable, the BLL message board.

476
00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:25,860
 That's where we live every single day and communicate with our fans and, you know,

477
00:33:25,860 --> 00:33:29,160
 kind of let them know what's going on, but also talk to them about life in general.

478
00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:30,120
 So it's a lot of fun.

479
00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:31,480
 Come check us out at BLL.

480
00:33:32,420 --> 00:33:33,580
 One-stop shop.

481
00:33:33,700 --> 00:33:35,120
 Andrew, listen, man, thanks so much.

482
00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:39,000
 Hopefully this weather will break one of these days and we all get back and go full of strength here.

483
00:33:39,060 --> 00:33:42,060
 But in the meantime, thanks so much for your time, Dave, and have a great week, okay?

484
00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:43,680
 You guys do the same.

485
00:33:43,820 --> 00:33:44,300
 Appreciate you having me.

486
00:33:44,300 --> 00:33:44,760
 Thanks, buddy.

487
00:33:45,220 --> 00:33:48,860
 Andrew Ball, looking up with us, BamaOnline, part of the On3.com family.

488
00:33:48,860 --> 00:33:50,720
 In the book, it's called The Road to Bama.

489
00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:55,260
 Coming up, time to head on down the road to Auburn and talk Tigers with Brian Matthews on deck.

490
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 Stay with us.

491
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494
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495
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496
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506
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516
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518
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523
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528
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529
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546
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 Progressive presents The Sports Flash on 93.9 The Score.

547
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 Smith's basketball action this weekend.

548
00:37:07,580 --> 00:37:10,740
 The Auburn Tigers lost at 10-to-C, 77-to-69.

549
00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:15,440
 Auburn is now 14-8 on the year and 5-4 in the SEC.

550
00:37:16,140 --> 00:37:20,900
 Yesterday, Florida pulled away from Alabama to beat the Tide 100-to-77.

551
00:37:21,380 --> 00:37:26,180
 Alabama with the loss drops to 14-7 on the year, 4-4 in the SEC.

552
00:37:26,820 --> 00:37:30,000
 Troy was blown out at home by App State, 66-44.

553
00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:32,500
 Trojans are 8-3 in the Sun Belt.

554
00:37:32,500 --> 00:37:37,200
 And South Alabama, winner over Georgia State, 69-to-67.

555
00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:42,240
 South Alabama now 16-6 on the year, 7-3 in the Sun Belt.

556
00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:46,720
 North Alabama, winner at Stetson, 68-to-66.

557
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558
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580
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581
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 The score.

582
00:39:10,300 --> 00:39:16,420
 Welcome back in Monday after another busy weekend for Brian Matthews there at Senior Editor for AuburnSports.com.

583
00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:17,400
 Brian, welcome in.

584
00:39:17,460 --> 00:39:18,520
 Happy Monday to you.

585
00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:19,100
 How are you?

586
00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:20,820
 I am doing great.

587
00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:21,720
 Thank you for having me on.

588
00:39:21,820 --> 00:39:22,120
 You're good.

589
00:39:22,460 --> 00:39:25,040
 Man, you got a lot of stuff on your plate when it comes to Auburn.

590
00:39:25,140 --> 00:39:30,280
 But the story of the day comes from Arthur Gustavo Malzahn III.

591
00:39:30,660 --> 00:39:33,100
 Gus says it's time to park the bus.

592
00:39:33,240 --> 00:39:36,400
 Your reaction to Gus Malzahn saying, I'm hanging it up.

593
00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:37,200
 Or is he?

594
00:39:38,240 --> 00:39:39,580
 I think he is.

595
00:39:40,020 --> 00:39:43,800
 And just what a wonderful career he's had.

596
00:39:44,220 --> 00:39:52,820
 And, you know, what he was able to do to start out in high school ranks and then become a, you know, a top college head coach and coordinator.

597
00:39:53,060 --> 00:39:54,480
 Just an amazing career.

598
00:39:55,420 --> 00:40:04,500
 You know, looking back on his time at Auburn, you know, he, it was not perfect, but boy, was it exciting and had some great teams.

599
00:40:04,780 --> 00:40:12,420
 You know, he was the architect of that offense that won the national championship in 2010 with Cam Newton and those guys.

600
00:40:12,420 --> 00:40:23,040
 And then he came back in 2013 and nearly won another one, you know, and had those incredible, you know, finishes against Alabama and Georgia there at the end of that season.

601
00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:28,300
 And, you know, just what a great guy to cover.

602
00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:30,280
 What a great coach.

603
00:40:31,220 --> 00:40:32,780
 And then even a better person.

604
00:40:33,020 --> 00:40:51,200
 And, you know, when he had the players on offense, he could do some great things, you know, whether it was just running over teams or, you know, getting a dual threat guy like Cam Newton or Nick Marshall or, you know, even able to, you know, get a guy like Jared Sidham or Bo Nix and throw the ball over the place.

605
00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:53,640
 So, just a terrific offense of mine.

606
00:40:55,080 --> 00:41:07,860
 Being that, we can get into basketball in a few minutes, but wanted to note an Auburn legend's passing in the last couple of days, Phillip Marshall.

607
00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:17,540
 When you go back and look at his bio, I think he nearly worked for every major paper in the state of Alabama.

608
00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:28,720
 Of course, he already had a 17-year stand at the Huntsville Times, but the Huntsville News, Birmingham Bosch Herald, even the Tuscaloosa News, Montgomery Advertiser, Decatur Daily.

609
00:41:29,400 --> 00:41:42,480
 And one of the things, and I've seen a lot of articles about him, you write about him, the passing of a legend in Monday Musings, was his ability to pivot from newspaper to the Internet.

610
00:41:43,120 --> 00:41:47,180
 A lot of guys could not do that or they were slow in doing that.

611
00:41:48,320 --> 00:41:51,620
 But he had a way with words, as you all know.

612
00:41:51,780 --> 00:41:58,260
 I know he's been a friend of yours for decades, but Auburn lost a legend last week.

613
00:41:59,840 --> 00:42:02,020
 Yeah, he was incredible.

614
00:42:02,460 --> 00:42:03,620
 An incredible career.

615
00:42:04,600 --> 00:42:05,820
 It's wild to think about.

616
00:42:05,980 --> 00:42:10,760
 You know, he's a guy that, when he started out, he was covering guys like Bear Bryant, you know, Pat Dye back in the day.

617
00:42:11,640 --> 00:42:16,920
 And, of course, he ended up, you know, working, I guess, up until, you know, his final days.

618
00:42:17,080 --> 00:42:18,580
 So, an incredible career.

619
00:42:19,140 --> 00:42:21,580
 As you mentioned, an incredible storyteller.

620
00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:30,320
 Not just, you know, pen to paper or on the website, but, you know, if you're around him in person and got him going.

621
00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:43,060
 You know, he had moments and things that happened and was an incredible storyteller and had a lot of great stories about some of those old times.

622
00:42:44,260 --> 00:42:48,260
 Thing is, the industry's lost two legends over the past few months.

623
00:42:48,520 --> 00:42:52,140
 Phillip, obviously, his mentor was John Pruitt when he was with the Huntsville Times.

624
00:42:52,220 --> 00:42:55,320
 He's now gone, so it's definitely the passing of an era.

625
00:42:55,940 --> 00:42:58,220
 Switching gears a little bit and going inside.

626
00:42:58,520 --> 00:43:01,140
 Brian, your thoughts about this Auburn basketball team?

627
00:43:01,260 --> 00:43:05,900
 I mean, obviously, not the kind of results you want at Tennessee, but this is the SEC.

628
00:43:06,260 --> 00:43:14,320
 And when you play one of the upper echelon teams on their home courts, and you've got a guy that's probably going to go to the top five of the NBA draft, not to mention the snow outside.

629
00:43:15,320 --> 00:43:18,920
 Your thoughts about the weekend at Tennessee and this team overall right now?

630
00:43:19,460 --> 00:43:21,600
 Well, you know, a lot of teams lose at Tennessee.

631
00:43:21,880 --> 00:43:25,880
 I think Auburn is like 9-61 and 9-62 now, something like that.

632
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:29,000
 So, that's not, you know, not too surprising.

633
00:43:29,360 --> 00:43:37,140
 And I thought what, you know, Stephen Cole said afterwards, how, you know, Tennessee did to Auburn, what Auburn's been doing to other teams is exactly correct.

634
00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:47,080
 You know, they drove the ball, they took it right at them, played really, really physical, played really good defensive ball, and just made it really tough on Auburn.

635
00:43:47,160 --> 00:43:51,080
 And Auburn settled for two, three-point shots, and, you know, that's not what Auburn does well.

636
00:43:51,340 --> 00:43:52,920
 So, but that happens.

637
00:43:53,280 --> 00:43:59,360
 And, you know, this is a string of nine games for Auburn, two a week, SEC play.

638
00:43:59,460 --> 00:44:02,080
 It's been a really physical stretch for them.

639
00:44:02,140 --> 00:44:04,440
 They get a week off to prepare for Alabama at home.

640
00:44:05,220 --> 00:44:08,320
 The second half, their schedule is five home games and four away games.

641
00:44:08,820 --> 00:44:09,940
 I think that's an advantage.

642
00:44:10,140 --> 00:44:14,820
 I think through that first half of the SEC schedule, I think Auburn knows who it is now.

643
00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:17,180
 It knows the recipe for success.

644
00:44:17,180 --> 00:44:20,180
 I think that's going to help them in the second half of the season.

645
00:44:21,180 --> 00:44:23,980
 You noted this in many musings also.

646
00:44:24,440 --> 00:44:27,440
 I thought Jovic really helped Auburn in the second half.

647
00:44:27,540 --> 00:44:31,960
 Quite frankly, he kept them in the game with some offensive rebounds.

648
00:44:32,120 --> 00:44:36,960
 Sebastian Williams-Adams certainly has been a pleasant surprise.

649
00:44:37,100 --> 00:44:39,960
 Everybody knows about Keyshawn Hall, how well he's played.

650
00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:46,280
 Murphy, since recovering from an early injury, seems to be playing much better.

651
00:44:46,620 --> 00:44:52,880
 But, again, I think you've got to give Steven Pearl and Steph a little bit of latitude.

652
00:44:53,520 --> 00:44:57,480
 But for the first year, and believe me, it's not easy.

653
00:44:57,560 --> 00:45:00,060
 Even if you're sitting next to your dad on the bench,

654
00:45:00,060 --> 00:45:04,360
 it's different when you're making the decisions every day.

655
00:45:04,700 --> 00:45:10,020
 But, Matt, you can see this team coming together and the individual players improving.

656
00:45:10,840 --> 00:45:11,880
 You really can.

657
00:45:12,640 --> 00:45:15,760
 I think you pointed out some of the guys, certainly.

658
00:45:16,620 --> 00:45:17,700
 That have improved a lot.

659
00:45:17,820 --> 00:45:21,800
 There's two freshmen, Jovic and Sebastian Williams-Adams.

660
00:45:22,500 --> 00:45:24,260
 You can see them taking steps forward.

661
00:45:24,380 --> 00:45:27,000
 You can see they've still got room to continue growing.

662
00:45:27,820 --> 00:45:29,600
 That's exciting, I think, for this team.

663
00:45:31,120 --> 00:45:34,340
 Keyshawn Hall said he came to Auburn to learn to play defense better.

664
00:45:35,140 --> 00:45:36,260
 And you can see he's doing that.

665
00:45:36,360 --> 00:45:37,320
 He's rebounding better.

666
00:45:37,440 --> 00:45:39,040
 He's being more of a physical player.

667
00:45:39,640 --> 00:45:44,860
 So, you can see that difference in him and, you know, some other guys, too,

668
00:45:44,980 --> 00:45:48,060
 are certainly stepping up Elijah Freeman, making that transition.

669
00:45:48,240 --> 00:45:50,980
 You can still see that he has steps he can take.

670
00:45:51,140 --> 00:45:53,060
 So, there's progress being made.

671
00:45:53,440 --> 00:45:56,520
 And, you know, you can see this team getting better.

672
00:45:56,600 --> 00:45:58,400
 They can certainly shoot the ball better, right?

673
00:45:59,160 --> 00:46:02,440
 They're one of the worst shooting teams, the three-point shooting teams in the conference right now.

674
00:46:02,440 --> 00:46:05,140
 And they've got guys that can shoot a lot better than they are.

675
00:46:05,360 --> 00:46:11,440
 So, that's an area I think they can improve on as long as they stick to their goals of being physical,

676
00:46:12,260 --> 00:46:15,340
 you know, getting offense out of defense, hitting the boards,

677
00:46:15,520 --> 00:46:18,000
 and not relying on taking too many three-pointers.

678
00:46:19,480 --> 00:46:22,260
 Coach Pearl's dad does not shout out his opinions,

679
00:46:22,380 --> 00:46:25,520
 whether it's politics or the current state of things across the state.

680
00:46:25,520 --> 00:46:29,600
 And this weekend's visitors from Alabama, Bruce Pearl, NCAA quote,

681
00:46:29,700 --> 00:46:34,680
 should consider banning Alabama from the NCAA tournament over Charles Mediaco.

682
00:46:34,920 --> 00:46:38,160
 That just adds some extra spice to this weekend's Iron Bowl date, does it not?

683
00:46:38,920 --> 00:46:40,320
 I've not seen that quote.

684
00:46:40,480 --> 00:46:41,480
 I wasn't aware of it.

685
00:46:41,760 --> 00:46:44,300
 So, yeah, I guess it does.

686
00:46:44,600 --> 00:46:47,960
 I just, you know, that's Alabama's issue.

687
00:46:48,180 --> 00:46:49,240
 People want to get mad about it.

688
00:46:49,240 --> 00:46:49,740
 That's fine.

689
00:46:49,900 --> 00:46:54,260
 But, I don't know, people probably don't want to hear me saying this,

690
00:46:54,260 --> 00:46:58,300
 but this is the Wild West in recruiting and college athletics.

691
00:46:59,140 --> 00:47:03,420
 There are no rules, and if there are rules, they can be challenged in court.

692
00:47:03,820 --> 00:47:09,280
 So, if you are a coach or an AD or whatever, and you want to win,

693
00:47:09,900 --> 00:47:13,900
 this is the time that you need to push the boundaries and do what it takes.

694
00:47:14,160 --> 00:47:17,220
 So, you know, maybe it is wrong that what Alabama's doing,

695
00:47:17,360 --> 00:47:26,420
 but to me, I want, you know, I thought I would want, if I was a, you know, a fan or whatever,

696
00:47:26,640 --> 00:47:29,520
 I would want to fight for us being aggressive and do what it takes.

697
00:47:29,700 --> 00:47:35,000
 So, yeah, I think there are many sides to this issue, so to speak.

698
00:47:35,100 --> 00:47:39,360
 But I'm not going to sit here and, you know, be too critical of it.

699
00:47:39,580 --> 00:47:43,900
 I understand why Auburn fans want to be critical of it and certainly have fun with it and stuff.

700
00:47:44,220 --> 00:47:45,500
 And, you know, we'll see.

701
00:47:45,700 --> 00:47:49,160
 I think the courts are going to rule on it again.

702
00:47:49,280 --> 00:47:54,000
 There's going to be some more, you know, hearings or something this week.

703
00:47:54,060 --> 00:47:56,640
 So, that will be interesting going into that game Saturday.

704
00:47:57,960 --> 00:48:03,080
 Wednesday is National Signing Day, but a lot of our listeners didn't even know that

705
00:48:03,080 --> 00:48:05,780
 because most of them was signed in December.

706
00:48:06,980 --> 00:48:11,320
 B, Matt, do you, you know, we talked to Justin Ferguson,

707
00:48:11,540 --> 00:48:15,460
 some of the other guys last week, and they pretty much crossed the board.

708
00:48:16,060 --> 00:48:20,400
 They said, unless it's a surprise, it appears right now,

709
00:48:20,500 --> 00:48:24,660
 Golich, I know, said, look, we're about done with the transfer portal.

710
00:48:24,920 --> 00:48:31,960
 Are you aware of Auburn signing anyone extra come Wednesday on National Signing Day?

711
00:48:32,620 --> 00:48:33,240
 I'm not.

712
00:48:33,460 --> 00:48:35,200
 So, if they are, it's going to be a surprise.

713
00:48:35,540 --> 00:48:36,620
 I never rule that out.

714
00:48:37,280 --> 00:48:40,720
 You've always got to be careful when it comes to recruiting or portaling or whatever

715
00:48:40,720 --> 00:48:43,240
 to say anything is definitive, right?

716
00:48:43,460 --> 00:48:45,460
 That'll put you in the behind.

717
00:48:45,900 --> 00:48:50,220
 So, don't know of anything, and it would be a surprise, but, you know,

718
00:48:50,640 --> 00:48:52,100
 you never know sometimes.

719
00:48:52,860 --> 00:48:55,160
 I got amused at Justin Ferguson.

720
00:48:55,400 --> 00:48:57,880
 He had a quip on Friday about Phillip Marshall.

721
00:48:58,060 --> 00:49:02,080
 He said, I was talking to him about three weeks ago, and I asked him,

722
00:49:02,140 --> 00:49:06,540
 well, we were talking about Alex Golich and some of the former coaching hires,

723
00:49:06,860 --> 00:49:12,260
 and Justin said, well, I asked Phillip, how many coaching hires have you covered

724
00:49:12,260 --> 00:49:14,740
 in your tenure with Auburn?

725
00:49:15,020 --> 00:49:19,020
 And Phillip didn't mince words and said, all of them.

726
00:49:20,840 --> 00:49:22,600
 Yeah, that's about right.

727
00:49:23,300 --> 00:49:24,840
 Daddy back to John Heisman.

728
00:49:26,160 --> 00:49:28,920
 Well, we would joke with him about those things all the time.

729
00:49:29,300 --> 00:49:31,260
 So, JVJ would give him a really hard time.

730
00:49:31,680 --> 00:49:33,320
 But, yeah, that's just the problem.

731
00:49:33,460 --> 00:49:36,260
 But, you know, we like to go back and forth with each other and have some fun, too.

732
00:49:36,440 --> 00:49:42,720
 So, yeah, just an incredible career by Phillip Marshall, one of the best ever,

733
00:49:43,420 --> 00:49:48,420
 and, you know, not just a great writer, not just a great journalist and newsbreaker,

734
00:49:48,780 --> 00:49:54,720
 but just had impact on a lot of people that, you know, he had relationships with, too.

735
00:49:56,320 --> 00:49:56,720
 Absolutely.

736
00:49:57,020 --> 00:50:01,760
 Where can we get online, be mad, and get, if there is a surprise Wednesday,

737
00:50:01,980 --> 00:50:06,680
 any additional portal, basketball, and, heaven forbid, baseball.

738
00:50:06,940 --> 00:50:09,760
 I heard a rumor it's going to start here pretty soon.

739
00:50:10,300 --> 00:50:13,680
 Where can we get online and get all of the teams' good stuff?

740
00:50:14,480 --> 00:50:18,780
 Baseball week from Friday, and Auburn had a big junior day Sunday.

741
00:50:18,780 --> 00:50:24,200
 So, I think we've got six or seven stories up from that, at least, so far.

742
00:50:24,300 --> 00:50:28,320
 So, you can get the news of all the highly ready kids that came to visit Auburn

743
00:50:28,320 --> 00:50:30,660
 and Coach Goldish and guys this weekend.

744
00:50:31,060 --> 00:50:34,840
 And, of course, basketball coverage and anything else that pops up,

745
00:50:34,920 --> 00:50:38,880
 AuburnSports.com, follow me on Twitter, slash X, at BMATAU.

746
00:50:39,680 --> 00:50:40,300
 Sounds great.

747
00:50:40,340 --> 00:50:43,620
 If you throw some baseball weather to go with that baseball, we'd appreciate that, too.

748
00:50:43,720 --> 00:50:46,240
 Brian, listen, man, thanks so much, and have a great week, okay?

749
00:50:46,780 --> 00:50:47,580
 All right, y'all take care.

750
00:50:48,200 --> 00:50:48,700
 Thank you, bud.

751
00:50:48,700 --> 00:50:51,100
 Brian Matthews, sitting here at AuburnSports.com.

752
00:50:51,140 --> 00:50:55,880
 Better weekend for UNA BB down in what used to be warm Florida,

753
00:50:56,000 --> 00:50:58,180
 but UNA bringing the heat themselves this weekend.

754
00:50:58,660 --> 00:51:02,420
 Beat Stetson at 68-66.

755
00:51:03,360 --> 00:51:07,460
 Kane and Jefferson had a very good game, 10 points, 10 assists.

756
00:51:07,640 --> 00:51:11,220
 Dallas Owl does his thing with 18 points.

757
00:51:11,660 --> 00:51:14,940
 That was a very good win for UNA to get off the snide.

758
00:51:15,360 --> 00:51:21,420
 In fact, they've got trips on Wednesday to Central Arkansas, still on the road this week.

759
00:51:21,520 --> 00:51:25,460
 Central Arkansas Wednesday, Austin Peay on Saturday.

760
00:51:25,900 --> 00:51:29,800
 Frequent flyer miles for this UNA basketball team.

761
00:51:29,920 --> 00:51:33,300
 Coming up next time, we're going to fly all the way down to College Station, Texas.

762
00:51:33,300 --> 00:51:34,880
 Only can they be talking Aggies.

763
00:51:34,980 --> 00:51:37,840
 Vince Farrar in Knoxville, if they dug out yet.

764
00:51:38,040 --> 00:51:42,240
 And Ben Thomas all over the state of Alabama, straight ahead of the Boom Up Buck Show.

765
00:51:42,320 --> 00:51:43,060
 Stay with us.

766
00:51:49,320 --> 00:51:53,400
 No matter the size of your team or your fan crew, Lost Pizza's got you covered.

767
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 We're talking wings, salads, and the one and only Monster Pizza.

768
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 Perfect for team dinners, watch parties, or post-game celebrations.

769
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 Big plays deserve big flavor, and nobody delivers like Lost Pizza.

770
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771
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772
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775
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776
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777
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778
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779
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780
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781
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782
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 These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

783
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784
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785
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786
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 Mom!

787
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 That hoodie is giving.

788
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789
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790
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791
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792
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793
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794
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795
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796
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797
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798
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799
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800
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801
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802
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803
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804
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805
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806
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807
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808
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809
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810
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811
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812
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 Learn more at umgc.edu.

813
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814
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 Out on the course, they're the PGA Tour's best players.

815
00:53:48,100 --> 00:53:50,220
 But in the arena, they're prime time.

816
00:53:50,440 --> 00:53:55,000
 And season two of TGL presented by SoFi is back with lights, cameras, action.

817
00:53:55,240 --> 00:53:59,540
 We're talking big moments, big personalities, big names in the stands, all on the big screen.

818
00:53:59,540 --> 00:54:03,940
 Big time matchups, shot clocks, hammer drops, timeouts, overtime, and playoffs.

819
00:54:04,140 --> 00:54:07,060
 It's city versus city, squad versus squad.

820
00:54:07,320 --> 00:54:09,060
 This sport just hits different under the light.

821
00:54:09,320 --> 00:54:10,760
 It's TGL presented by SoFi.

822
00:54:10,940 --> 00:54:11,380
 Keep up.

823
00:54:11,620 --> 00:54:12,140
 It's golf.

824
00:54:12,420 --> 00:54:14,640
 Tune in to every match, only on ESPN.

825
00:54:15,140 --> 00:54:18,060
 Life is full of choices, some big, some small.

826
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827
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830
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832
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834
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 For life outside the box.

835
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 Get started at hrblock.com.

836
00:54:46,560 --> 00:54:47,760
 1819 News.

837
00:54:47,900 --> 00:54:51,620
 A new leader has been appointed within the U.S. Space Command at Redstone Arsenal.

838
00:54:51,620 --> 00:54:57,200
 Major General Terry Grisham is an Alabama native who will now lead the program management office.

839
00:54:57,480 --> 00:55:01,620
 Grisham comes to this position with 40 years of service within the Alabama National Guard

840
00:55:01,620 --> 00:55:04,060
 and the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command.

841
00:55:04,520 --> 00:55:08,560
 The new position for Grisham was announced by Space Command General Stephen Whiting.

842
00:55:09,080 --> 00:55:11,640
 I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this.

843
00:55:11,900 --> 00:55:14,640
 Where I was living was not a great place to live anymore.

844
00:55:14,960 --> 00:55:16,880
 I began to pray for a place to go.

845
00:55:17,060 --> 00:55:19,560
 Praying for all of these things that a nine-year-old would want.

846
00:55:19,560 --> 00:55:23,220
 I wanted horses, big house with a bunch of people my age.

847
00:55:23,360 --> 00:55:24,140
 I wanted parents.

848
00:55:24,240 --> 00:55:25,220
 I wanted a mom and a dad.

849
00:55:25,540 --> 00:55:29,320
 Before I even prayed it, the Lord had already answered my prayer with the Big Oak Ranch.

850
00:55:29,500 --> 00:55:32,500
 Who would that nine-year-old be if she never came to the Big Oak Ranch?

851
00:55:32,680 --> 00:55:37,480
 I would be trying to fight for survival instead of fighting to break a cycle.

852
00:55:37,720 --> 00:55:38,420
 Big Oak Ranch.

853
00:55:38,620 --> 00:55:41,100
 A Christian home for children needing a chance.

854
00:55:41,100 --> 00:55:48,760
 The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, along with the Mobile County Sheriff's Office, are asking for the public's help in locating two missing children.

855
00:55:49,120 --> 00:55:57,620
 Seventeen-year-old Nikura Choke and two-year-old Anthony Garcia were last seen on January 30th in the town of Theodore in the Ben Hamilton Road area.

856
00:55:58,000 --> 00:55:59,740
 Both are of Hispanic origins.

857
00:55:59,900 --> 00:56:04,400
 Anyone with information on the two should call 911 or the Mobile County Sheriff's Office.

858
00:56:04,940 --> 00:56:08,820
 A smuggling operation of prison contraband was busted up in Macon County.

859
00:56:09,020 --> 00:56:15,060
 The Alabama Department of Corrections arrested six people in connection to smuggling the contraband into the St. Clair Correctional Facility.

860
00:56:15,200 --> 00:56:17,700
 This included knives, cell phones, marijuana, and meth.

861
00:56:17,700 --> 00:56:20,580
 Multiple law enforcement agencies took part in this operation.

862
00:56:21,220 --> 00:56:26,020
 The Decatur Police Department retired one of their canine officers after joining the department back in 2018.

863
00:56:26,460 --> 00:56:34,080
 Bain is a Belgian-Malinois-German Shepherd mix who has partnered with Officer Reynolds and was recognized for his hard work and loyalty to that department.

864
00:56:34,640 --> 00:56:35,440
 I'm Andrea Theis.

865
00:56:35,680 --> 00:56:40,220
 For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com.

866
00:56:40,380 --> 00:56:43,220
 And while you're there, subscribe to the daily newsletter.

867
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 Valley Broadcasting Corporation, WITK-FM, Rogersville, Athens, Decatur, The Shores, Sports Radio 93.9, The Score.

884
00:57:56,860 --> 00:57:59,480
 The Seahawks are going to Super Bowl 60.

885
00:58:00,320 --> 00:58:06,080
 It's a rematch with the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60 in Santa Clara.

886
00:58:06,720 --> 00:58:10,780
 Sunday, February 8th, complete coverage of the big game is on Westwood One.

887
00:58:11,280 --> 00:58:12,520
 Hi everybody, I'm Scott Graham.

888
00:58:12,520 --> 00:58:18,240
 Join Kevin Harlan, Kurt Warner, Laura Oakman, Gene Steratore, Ryan Harris, and me for all the action.

889
00:58:18,580 --> 00:58:21,400
 If it's Super Bowl 60, it's on Westwood One.

890
00:58:26,340 --> 00:58:30,300
 The road back to the postseason begins at spring training.

891
00:58:30,620 --> 00:58:35,860
 The Atlanta Braves are reloaded and ready to remind the league that you can't sleep on Atlanta.

892
00:58:36,180 --> 00:58:38,200
 Into the chop-outs, a home run.

893
00:58:38,200 --> 00:58:43,760
 As the Braves report to camp, they're dialed in for spring training and a return to prominence in the east.

894
00:58:44,020 --> 00:58:49,800
 The biggest coverage from Florida and an epic opening day in Atlanta against the Royals on March 27th.

895
00:58:49,800 --> 00:58:53,640
 All right here on the Atlanta Braves radio network.

896
00:58:56,640 --> 00:58:58,900
 93.9, The Score weather.

897
00:58:59,440 --> 00:59:01,440
 Today's sunny with a high around 50.

898
00:59:02,120 --> 00:59:04,080
 Tonight, partly cloudy with a low near 30.

899
00:59:04,540 --> 00:59:09,000
 Tomorrow, mostly cloudy with a 30% chance of afternoon showers and a high around 55.

900
00:59:10,060 --> 00:59:14,220
 Tomorrow night, cloudy with a 70% chance of showers overnight and a low near 40.

901
00:59:14,760 --> 00:59:19,200
 And for your Wednesday, mostly cloudy with a 30% chance of showers and a high around 45.

902
00:59:19,780 --> 00:59:22,440
 Your weather from 93.9, The Score.

903
00:59:26,440 --> 00:59:35,180
 Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of northwest Alabama and southern Tennessee.

904
00:59:35,840 --> 00:59:39,180
 It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice.

905
00:59:42,240 --> 00:59:44,700
 The Boomo Bugg Show.

906
00:59:45,060 --> 00:59:50,260
 Your exclusive inside track to the Tigers, Tennessee, and the rest of the SEC.

907
00:59:51,060 --> 00:59:56,480
 Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9, The Score.

908
00:59:57,440 --> 00:59:58,160
 Welcome back in.

909
00:59:58,200 --> 00:59:59,340
 I was here to the Boomo Bugg Show.

910
00:59:59,440 --> 01:00:01,020
 I'm Harold Bugg, alongside Brett Beaird.

911
01:00:01,100 --> 01:00:03,880
 Thank you so much for giving us a free ride around the Tennessee Valley.

912
01:00:03,980 --> 01:00:07,980
 Bibi, I heard Blair there said the temperature is going to get back into the mid-40s.

913
01:00:08,220 --> 01:00:11,280
 Is Ben Thomas sending us some of that mobile weather or what's up there?

914
01:00:11,520 --> 01:00:12,620
 You know, it's amazing.

915
01:00:12,760 --> 01:00:18,060
 It was colder in Gainesville, Florida yesterday afternoon than it was in North Alabama.

916
01:00:18,060 --> 01:00:26,580
 I don't know about the hotbed of Mobile in that area, but it was an amazing weekend for a lot of people.

917
01:00:26,920 --> 01:00:28,780
 Yeah, look out for that global warming, right?

918
01:00:28,940 --> 01:00:34,900
 Ben Thomas has got it all covered from one end of the state of Chile, Alabama to the other with AL.com.

919
01:00:34,940 --> 01:00:36,020
 BT, welcome in.

920
01:00:36,480 --> 01:00:37,160
 How are you?

921
01:00:38,420 --> 01:00:39,080
 I'm doing good.

922
01:00:39,200 --> 01:00:42,120
 I don't know, Brad, if I would describe it as an amazing weekend.

923
01:00:42,340 --> 01:00:44,280
 It was a cold weekend.

924
01:00:44,480 --> 01:00:50,860
 If I sent you any of the weather down here, I think it'd be about the same as you had up there.

925
01:00:51,080 --> 01:00:54,560
 But warming up a little bit down here now, so that's good.

926
01:00:55,300 --> 01:00:57,900
 I don't think many bathing suits on the beach this past weekend.

927
01:00:58,120 --> 01:01:00,000
 Ben, obviously a big powwow.

928
01:01:00,520 --> 01:01:02,960
 It's been an interesting time in Alabama high school sports.

929
01:01:03,060 --> 01:01:04,340
 Let's just jump into it.

930
01:01:04,800 --> 01:01:07,320
 A big powwow down in Montgomery.

931
01:01:07,740 --> 01:01:12,620
 This past Friday morning, AHSAA split controversy.

932
01:01:12,840 --> 01:01:14,140
 The private school is huddling.

933
01:01:14,740 --> 01:01:19,080
 Ben, how much public information can you tell us about that private school powwow?

934
01:01:20,000 --> 01:01:21,780
 That's a good way to phrase it, Harold.

935
01:01:21,780 --> 01:01:30,040
 Yeah, I was there, private, the independent schools, 58 of them that are members of the AHSAA Met on Friday at Faulkner University.

936
01:01:30,240 --> 01:01:37,040
 And I was up there anyway for the Alabama Football Coaches Association meeting, which was a great event there in Montgomery.

937
01:01:37,260 --> 01:01:38,220
 So I went over there.

938
01:01:38,340 --> 01:01:40,700
 I was over there for – they did not let me in.

939
01:01:41,800 --> 01:01:43,140
 They closed the doors.

940
01:01:44,280 --> 01:01:45,980
 Did you tell them you knew Brett Beaird?

941
01:01:46,780 --> 01:01:49,240
 No, I might try to turn that in.

942
01:01:49,240 --> 01:01:49,500
 I don't know why they closed it.

943
01:01:50,080 --> 01:01:54,020
 I might could have slid that in.

944
01:01:54,300 --> 01:01:54,980
 Yeah, that's right.

945
01:01:55,000 --> 01:01:57,020
 Of course, too many people knew me in there.

946
01:01:57,700 --> 01:02:03,080
 And one of them saw me at the door and said, yeah, we're going to have to ask you to stay outside.

947
01:02:03,800 --> 01:02:09,360
 And so that's what I did along with a couple of TV reporters and a few other media.

948
01:02:09,360 --> 01:02:14,380
 We waited for – man, I guess the meeting started at 11, and I think it didn't get over until 1.30.

949
01:02:14,900 --> 01:02:19,300
 I told my fellow media representatives, I'm like, well, look, the good news is,

950
01:02:19,780 --> 01:02:21,400
 I don't think they have any food in there.

951
01:02:21,520 --> 01:02:22,640
 So they're not going to stay.

952
01:02:22,760 --> 01:02:24,320
 I mean, they're going to be ready to eat lunch.

953
01:02:24,400 --> 01:02:25,740
 So they're going to come out eventually.

954
01:02:26,120 --> 01:02:27,680
 And they did.

955
01:02:27,840 --> 01:02:30,060
 They sent out a representative to talk to us.

956
01:02:30,460 --> 01:02:32,140
 Justin Costanza was his name.

957
01:02:32,200 --> 01:02:35,960
 He's the president of Montgomery Catholic School in Montgomery.

958
01:02:37,500 --> 01:02:40,040
 And really what they said is they were unified.

959
01:02:40,040 --> 01:02:44,680
 They want to stay in the AHSAA, which is good news, I think.

960
01:02:45,140 --> 01:02:51,960
 I asked him three times, Harold and Brett, to see if I could get it clearly, some aspect of, all right,

961
01:02:52,040 --> 01:02:59,240
 so the private schools plan on playing in the current classification as designated by the AHSAA this year.

962
01:02:59,320 --> 01:03:00,020
 Is that correct?

963
01:03:00,760 --> 01:03:03,560
 And he never did come out and say yes, but that's my understanding.

964
01:03:04,160 --> 01:03:06,520
 That's what my understanding of what's going to happen.

965
01:03:06,640 --> 01:03:07,380
 They're going to play.

966
01:03:07,900 --> 01:03:09,240
 I think they're going to go back.

967
01:03:09,560 --> 01:03:13,740
 They said they're going to go back and they've met with Mr. Harmon or at least the lieutenant governor has.

968
01:03:13,820 --> 01:03:21,340
 And I think they're going to go back and maybe offer some suggestions for how it might be tweaked to make a little bit better.

969
01:03:21,560 --> 01:03:34,100
 I know he didn't tell me this, but some of the other private school people I talked to outside of it said they would like to be a part of designating the structure of the playoffs for the private schools.

970
01:03:34,260 --> 01:03:40,780
 You know, that hasn't even been announced yet, how many teams will make the playoffs and what that playoff bracket would look like.

971
01:03:40,780 --> 01:03:46,220
 So I think the private schools want to be a part of that, contribute to how that might look.

972
01:03:46,960 --> 01:03:52,440
 And we'll see, there's been some talk about, you know, maybe, you know, travel is obviously one of the major concerns.

973
01:03:52,600 --> 01:03:53,040
 Yes.

974
01:03:53,840 --> 01:04:02,320
 There are some private schools over in the Phoenix City area and over in the Wiregrass that are going to have long travel several times a year.

975
01:04:02,400 --> 01:04:08,140
 And there's been some talk about, all right, well, maybe they could go to area play to help some of those teams.

976
01:04:08,140 --> 01:04:10,880
 But I'm not sure that would help.

977
01:04:11,040 --> 01:04:16,880
 I mean, if you go into an area, let's say if you even had a four-team area, that gives you three games.

978
01:04:17,060 --> 01:04:18,940
 Well, who are you going to play the other seven weeks?

979
01:04:19,080 --> 01:04:19,320
 Yeah.

980
01:04:19,420 --> 01:04:23,860
 Most of those weeks, you know, most of those weeks, the other teams are going to be playing a region game.

981
01:04:24,240 --> 01:04:26,700
 So I'm not sure that's going to work out.

982
01:04:27,720 --> 01:04:29,200
 But right now they all seem unified.

983
01:04:29,340 --> 01:04:30,720
 I don't think we've heard the end of it.

984
01:04:30,800 --> 01:04:33,520
 There's another central board meeting scheduled for this Friday.

985
01:04:34,680 --> 01:04:37,120
 Be interesting to see what may come out of there.

986
01:04:37,500 --> 01:04:47,220
 They may go ahead and do the classifications and areas for the winter and spring sports, which they could do because there's no competitive balance or multiplier anymore.

987
01:04:47,600 --> 01:04:49,020
 So we'll see.

988
01:04:49,140 --> 01:04:53,220
 But I would guess we'd have some news coming out on Friday from that board meeting.

989
01:04:54,580 --> 01:04:57,220
 Listen, tell us about the coaching convention.

990
01:04:57,580 --> 01:05:00,680
 Now, they should have been inviting Ben Thomas every year.

991
01:05:01,040 --> 01:05:04,860
 But they allowed you to come in this year.

992
01:05:05,060 --> 01:05:11,620
 And you did a lot of networking with a lot of the high school coaches that you knew previously and didn't know.

993
01:05:12,260 --> 01:05:19,880
 Some of the star-studied college football coaches, such as Kalen DeBoer, Golich, John Summeroff from Florida.

994
01:05:20,020 --> 01:05:22,560
 He felt right at home in the state of Alabama.

995
01:05:22,780 --> 01:05:23,560
 They spoke.

996
01:05:24,680 --> 01:05:30,160
 We'll talk about the coaching awards in a few minutes because two of them from North Alabama won it.

997
01:05:30,220 --> 01:05:33,280
 But tell us about the visit to the coaching convention.

998
01:05:33,420 --> 01:05:35,020
 I'm sure you enjoyed that.

999
01:05:35,360 --> 01:05:36,520
 I really did.

1000
01:05:36,640 --> 01:05:37,060
 I really did.

1001
01:05:37,140 --> 01:05:40,940
 I don't know that I – I don't think it wasn't that I wasn't invited previously.

1002
01:05:40,940 --> 01:05:42,380
 This was the 21st one.

1003
01:05:42,540 --> 01:05:47,860
 But it always seems to come at a time when, you know, like this week was Senior Bowl week down in here in Mobile.

1004
01:05:48,280 --> 01:05:51,940
 I mean, there always seems to be something else going on, you know.

1005
01:05:52,040 --> 01:05:58,720
 But this year I actually went – I promised Jack Wood, the executive director of the coaches association, that I would come this year.

1006
01:05:59,500 --> 01:06:02,760
 I thought it was – I hope I can go back every year.

1007
01:06:02,900 --> 01:06:05,520
 I mean, that's how impressed I was with it.

1008
01:06:05,540 --> 01:06:06,620
 They did such a good job.

1009
01:06:06,620 --> 01:06:11,100
 It was mostly a Thursday, Friday event, and then the bank went on Saturday.

1010
01:06:12,100 --> 01:06:22,080
 But Thursday night, I mean, they estimated, I think, guys, that there were about 1,100, maybe a little over 1,100 high school and college coaches there.

1011
01:06:22,340 --> 01:06:25,640
 The Embassy in Montgomery, yeah, I think it's the biggest crowd they've ever had.

1012
01:06:26,300 --> 01:06:29,100
 So, obviously, I got to see a lot of high school coaches.

1013
01:06:29,740 --> 01:06:30,900
 Some I see a lot.

1014
01:06:31,000 --> 01:06:31,640
 Some I don't.

1015
01:06:31,780 --> 01:06:37,440
 I got to meet a few, not just head coaches, but, you know, other high school staffers.

1016
01:06:37,620 --> 01:06:40,560
 And then you mentioned those three coaches that came, Brett.

1017
01:06:40,560 --> 01:06:45,800
 Also, most of the coaches – most of the college coaches in the state were there.

1018
01:06:47,000 --> 01:06:51,320
 Golesh, the Auburn coach, brought the entire Auburn staff there for now.

1019
01:06:51,320 --> 01:06:55,400
 They didn't stay the whole time, but for Thursday night when he was speaking, they were all there.

1020
01:06:55,480 --> 01:06:58,700
 Cody Burns, D.J. Durkin, all those guys were there.

1021
01:06:59,620 --> 01:07:05,020
 Kalen DeBoer bought Ryan Grubb, the offensive coordinator, and Kane Womack, the defensive coordinator.

1022
01:07:05,900 --> 01:07:06,760
 So, it's important.

1023
01:07:06,880 --> 01:07:13,920
 John Summerall came in and, obviously, being from North Alabama, having played at Grissom, coached at Troy.

1024
01:07:14,780 --> 01:07:21,160
 He knew everybody, and he did speak – I actually sat in on his speech, which I thought was really good.

1025
01:07:21,620 --> 01:07:25,460
 I mean, he did a lot of – like, showed a lot of, here's what we do on special team stuff,

1026
01:07:25,460 --> 01:07:30,860
 which I didn't think I'd be particularly interested in, but it was pretty cool to hear him talk about that

1027
01:07:30,860 --> 01:07:34,100
 and just hear how fired up he is to coach football.

1028
01:07:34,500 --> 01:07:38,100
 And it really was – he said, look, I like just coming here to see friends.

1029
01:07:38,300 --> 01:07:40,020
 So, it was a great event.

1030
01:07:40,100 --> 01:07:40,900
 It went into Friday.

1031
01:07:41,000 --> 01:07:46,280
 I missed most of Friday, unfortunately, because I was at that private school meeting, hanging out in the hallway.

1032
01:07:46,900 --> 01:07:51,340
 But hopefully next year I won't – hopefully next year I won't miss the whole Friday.

1033
01:07:51,340 --> 01:07:51,920
 Oh, me.

1034
01:07:53,480 --> 01:07:56,540
 That reminded me back when there was a news reporter, not a sports reporter.

1035
01:07:56,600 --> 01:07:58,100
 You have to go cover these court cases.

1036
01:07:58,700 --> 01:08:01,900
 And the phrase was, while the jury was deliberating, was hurry up and wait.

1037
01:08:01,960 --> 01:08:05,260
 And it kind of sounds like what you had to do is hurry up and wait out in that hallway.

1038
01:08:05,360 --> 01:08:06,160
 That is frustrating.

1039
01:08:06,480 --> 01:08:07,620
 Let me ask you about Golesh.

1040
01:08:07,640 --> 01:08:09,680
 Obviously, he is the X Factor here.

1041
01:08:10,280 --> 01:08:16,460
 What was your impression – he is right now, as the old saying in Alabama goes, you ain't from around here, are you, boy?

1042
01:08:16,820 --> 01:08:19,880
 Your impression of Golesh meshing with this culture?

1043
01:08:21,200 --> 01:08:23,300
 Well, I mean, I was pretty impressed with him.

1044
01:08:23,420 --> 01:08:27,680
 You know, he's actually going to be down here in Daphne, I think, on the 18th, speaking to a group here.

1045
01:08:28,180 --> 01:08:29,380
 I may be able to go to that.

1046
01:08:29,500 --> 01:08:33,200
 But he – you know, obviously I know John Summerall pretty well.

1047
01:08:33,200 --> 01:08:33,340
 Yeah.

1048
01:08:34,100 --> 01:08:38,620
 I was kind of thinking, you know, as an Auburn grad, kind of hoping that he was going to get the job.

1049
01:08:38,620 --> 01:08:44,520
 Just because, like I mentioned, all the relationships he already has with the high school coaches across the state of Alabama,

1050
01:08:44,520 --> 01:08:45,880
 I thought would be a big benefit.

1051
01:08:46,040 --> 01:08:47,520
 I think he'll do a good job at Florida.

1052
01:08:47,820 --> 01:08:50,880
 But I like what I've seen so far from Golesh.

1053
01:08:51,520 --> 01:08:54,700
 You know, obviously we'll see how it plays out on the field.

1054
01:08:54,780 --> 01:08:58,780
 But I talked to him about a couple of the sign-e's he had.

1055
01:08:58,820 --> 01:09:05,060
 I'm actually working on a story now about they signed Deshaun Fairland, wide receiver Deshaun Spencer, who had a great year.

1056
01:09:05,060 --> 01:09:08,760
 And I think he was committed to Duke for a long time.

1057
01:09:09,040 --> 01:09:12,260
 But Golesh, they had a pretty good chance to get him at South Florida.

1058
01:09:12,800 --> 01:09:15,000
 They were always recruiting him at South Florida.

1059
01:09:15,260 --> 01:09:16,920
 And so they came in.

1060
01:09:17,040 --> 01:09:24,340
 And ironically, he said his first day on campus was Spencer's last day of his official visit at Auburn.

1061
01:09:24,540 --> 01:09:27,320
 So he thought it was a good get to get him.

1062
01:09:27,420 --> 01:09:28,560
 He's going to be a slot player.

1063
01:09:28,660 --> 01:09:32,240
 Really, I think he had 1,700 yards receiving for Sarah Land.

1064
01:09:32,240 --> 01:09:34,960
 And so he did good.

1065
01:09:35,040 --> 01:09:38,120
 And like I said, I think it was a good move for them to bring all that Auburn staff.

1066
01:09:38,260 --> 01:09:43,180
 I mean, obviously, you know, DJ Durkin and Cody Burns, some of those guys know a lot of these coaches.

1067
01:09:43,180 --> 01:09:45,620
 But there are other coaches on that staff who don't.

1068
01:09:45,780 --> 01:09:48,040
 So I think it was good for them to get in front of all these.

1069
01:09:48,320 --> 01:09:52,640
 I mean, you couldn't walk around in that lobby, guys, without bumping into somebody, you know.

1070
01:09:53,300 --> 01:09:56,400
 And a lot of it, you know, a lot of it was just glad-handing.

1071
01:09:56,500 --> 01:09:57,980
 I interviewed a lot of people.

1072
01:09:58,240 --> 01:10:02,680
 But, you know, some of it was just chatting and kind of hearing what's going on.

1073
01:10:02,720 --> 01:10:07,980
 And, of course, everybody wanted to talk about a lot of the same things, which is the current situation in the HSAA.

1074
01:10:09,120 --> 01:10:16,380
 One of the great things the convention does every year, as you well know, is they name the coaches of the year in each classification.

1075
01:10:16,900 --> 01:10:25,460
 And two guys in North Alabama for Class 6A, Scott Baston is the coach of the year, of course, at Muscle Shoals.

1076
01:10:26,100 --> 01:10:30,080
 18th season, they went to the Class 6A semifinals.

1077
01:10:30,920 --> 01:10:33,240
 And Brett Mask at Lexington.

1078
01:10:33,840 --> 01:10:39,660
 In fact, a great picture of him and his dad, Steve Mask, on AL.com.

1079
01:10:40,440 --> 01:10:45,460
 Brett is an assistant coach at Florence, Calvert County, now at Lexington.

1080
01:10:45,580 --> 01:10:46,640
 They had a great year.

1081
01:10:47,100 --> 01:10:52,460
 And BT, another thing, and I'm sure they've been doing this for years, the assistant coaches of the year.

1082
01:10:52,460 --> 01:10:58,640
 These guys work 100 hours a week during the season, and they deserve some accolades themselves.

1083
01:10:58,940 --> 01:11:04,060
 But I know you've got the coach of the year for every class.

1084
01:11:04,200 --> 01:11:07,000
 But that, to me, is one of the highlights of the weekend.

1085
01:11:07,820 --> 01:11:08,900
 I thought it was cool.

1086
01:11:09,000 --> 01:11:10,760
 So they do that on Saturday afternoon.

1087
01:11:11,520 --> 01:11:14,080
 About 11.15 is when they started the banquet.

1088
01:11:14,320 --> 01:11:15,320
 And so, yeah, they recognized.

1089
01:11:15,580 --> 01:11:16,720
 And it was really good, guys.

1090
01:11:16,720 --> 01:11:22,820
 They had a video presentation of each coach and head coach and assistant coach of the year.

1091
01:11:23,880 --> 01:11:26,340
 And it was good to see, obviously, Brett Mask.

1092
01:11:27,620 --> 01:11:27,860
 Yeah.

1093
01:11:28,100 --> 01:11:34,200
 Two head coach of the year with his father, Steve Mask, was there with him in the picture and congratulating him on the award.

1094
01:11:34,300 --> 01:11:37,060
 Scott Bazden, a well-deserved award for Muscle Shoals.

1095
01:11:37,200 --> 01:11:38,140
 Had a great year there.

1096
01:11:38,940 --> 01:11:41,260
 I thought it was really a high-class event.

1097
01:11:41,380 --> 01:11:45,120
 I really do, as you guys mentioned, I really do like the assistant coaches of the year.

1098
01:11:45,220 --> 01:11:45,720
 Yep, yes.

1099
01:11:46,080 --> 01:11:50,580
 I think that's a great way to recognize some guys that don't get recognized a lot.

1100
01:11:51,320 --> 01:11:54,500
 And this is different now from the Alabama Sports Friars Association.

1101
01:11:54,660 --> 01:11:56,660
 This is the Alabama Football Coaches Association.

1102
01:11:56,660 --> 01:12:00,940
 We had our head coaches of the year, and some of those were different than some of these.

1103
01:12:01,180 --> 01:12:01,980
 But it was cool.

1104
01:12:02,080 --> 01:12:09,440
 And then the other thing was they awarded three Lifetime Achievement Awards for three very well-known coaches.

1105
01:12:10,020 --> 01:12:13,800
 Curtis Coleman was a long-time Birmingham area coach.

1106
01:12:14,040 --> 01:12:19,660
 People probably know him as Andre Smith, head coach at Huffman when Andre was there.

1107
01:12:19,840 --> 01:12:22,560
 And he actually was at Leeds helping out this year.

1108
01:12:22,980 --> 01:12:32,000
 Then obviously Danny Powell, great coach down here up Highway 43 at Leroy and Jackson, offensive innovator.

1109
01:12:32,000 --> 01:12:38,300
 And then the great Terry Curtis, eight state titles at UMS Wright, current president of the central board.

1110
01:12:38,480 --> 01:12:42,780
 So they did really nice presentations for those guys as well.

1111
01:12:42,860 --> 01:12:45,400
 So it was a good way to cap off the weekend.

1112
01:12:46,320 --> 01:12:49,200
 Then Thomas, A.L. Continent Coach, for the most interesting year,

1113
01:12:49,260 --> 01:12:53,820
 had to be, would you agree, Phillip Rivers, high school coach, NFL quarterback,

1114
01:12:54,120 --> 01:12:55,880
 interviews for the Buffalo Bills job.

1115
01:12:56,300 --> 01:12:58,040
 What's next for Phillip Rivers, Ben?

1116
01:12:59,580 --> 01:13:00,800
 Well, that's a good question.

1117
01:13:01,080 --> 01:13:07,720
 I mean, I think I've talked to Phillip one time since he got back from playing in the NFL.

1118
01:13:09,160 --> 01:13:14,360
 You know, he did interview and then took himself out of consideration for the Bills job.

1119
01:13:14,360 --> 01:13:20,900
 So I think, you know, if you'd asked me this in the last summer, I think my answer would have been different.

1120
01:13:21,020 --> 01:13:24,240
 But I think eventually we see him as an NFL coach somewhere.

1121
01:13:24,680 --> 01:13:25,840
 I would have said that.

1122
01:13:26,080 --> 01:13:28,180
 I would not have said that in the summer.

1123
01:13:28,420 --> 01:13:31,500
 I mean, I think he, you know, he really did want to be all along.

1124
01:13:31,580 --> 01:13:37,280
 I think after his playing career was over, his goal was to be a high school football coach, just like his dad was.

1125
01:13:37,400 --> 01:13:45,120
 And he's obviously done that the last five years at St. Michael, done a great job there, took him to the state semifinals the last two years,

1126
01:13:45,140 --> 01:13:50,780
 and probably would have been state champion had they not been playing in the same classification with Jackson, you know, those two years.

1127
01:13:50,780 --> 01:13:57,020
 But obviously his son's going to be, his oldest son, Gunnar, is going to be a senior this next year.

1128
01:13:57,120 --> 01:13:58,580
 I think he wants to be a part of that.

1129
01:13:58,660 --> 01:14:07,840
 But he told me when he got back from his NFL comeback that one thing he realized is that he could have an impact not just on kids high school age,

1130
01:14:07,920 --> 01:14:11,020
 but on college players and NFL players a lot.

1131
01:14:11,260 --> 01:14:15,540
 I think that really, I think that return really piqued his interest again in the NFL.

1132
01:14:15,860 --> 01:14:21,180
 So I don't know when it'll be, and I don't know if he'd be interested in being a coordinator, offensive coordinator.

1133
01:14:21,880 --> 01:14:24,420
 I have a feeling that he would just want to be a head coach.

1134
01:14:24,640 --> 01:14:29,960
 But I think down the road, I think down the road we might see him at that level.

1135
01:14:31,380 --> 01:14:33,100
 BT, a lot of things going on.

1136
01:14:33,500 --> 01:14:38,320
 Basketball going down the stretch drive, got area play, and then sub-regional, regional.

1137
01:14:38,320 --> 01:14:40,740
 Next time we turn around, you'll be in Birmingham.

1138
01:14:41,200 --> 01:14:46,180
 The girls saw the girls' power 10 this morning.

1139
01:14:46,400 --> 01:14:49,480
 Tim Miller leaves Hazel Green, and another Miller comes in.

1140
01:14:49,580 --> 01:14:50,620
 They're 22-2.

1141
01:14:51,320 --> 01:14:58,160
 They haven't missed a beat since Tim retired and went to St. John Paul.

1142
01:14:58,760 --> 01:15:02,040
 The boys will probably be up this afternoon or tomorrow.

1143
01:15:02,180 --> 01:15:06,140
 What else have you got on the agenda we can read about this week?

1144
01:15:07,020 --> 01:15:10,420
 My February calendar looks like a mess, I'll just tell you guys.

1145
01:15:11,240 --> 01:15:13,960
 Obviously, we've got all the basketball going on.

1146
01:15:14,060 --> 01:15:21,340
 This is basketball tournament month, so they'll get a lot of attention, depending on what happens with the reclassification stuff, I guess.

1147
01:15:21,480 --> 01:15:24,800
 And then mid-February, we start baseball, softball.

1148
01:15:25,960 --> 01:15:27,160
 So that's coming up.

1149
01:15:27,220 --> 01:15:28,460
 So we'll have all that stuff.

1150
01:15:29,420 --> 01:15:35,700
 I did talk to some of those college coaches and about some recruits that I'm working on those stories this week.

1151
01:15:35,860 --> 01:15:43,740
 So a lot of good stuff coming on AL.com, or you can follow me at BenThomasPreps on the Twitter, or the hex, whatever we call it these days.

1152
01:15:44,740 --> 01:15:46,580
 The B and Ben stand for busy.

1153
01:15:46,700 --> 01:15:49,480
 Stay safe out there, and thanks so much for your time, Dave Ben.

1154
01:15:49,960 --> 01:15:50,980
 All right, thanks, guys.

1155
01:15:51,040 --> 01:15:51,660
 Y'all have a good week.

1156
01:15:51,740 --> 01:15:52,180
 Stay warm.

1157
01:15:52,280 --> 01:15:52,780
 You too, Ben.

1158
01:15:53,300 --> 01:15:53,920
 You too.

1159
01:15:54,000 --> 01:15:54,580
 Ben Thomas.

1160
01:15:54,920 --> 01:15:56,000
 AL.com.

1161
01:15:56,240 --> 01:15:58,820
 It was hard to stay warm up in East Tennessee.

1162
01:15:58,960 --> 01:16:03,280
 A lot of snow and a lot of basketball and a lot of Ben Serrara on deck.

1163
01:16:03,360 --> 01:16:03,760
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1164
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1165
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1166
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1167
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1168
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1169
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1170
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1171
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1172
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1173
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1174
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1175
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1176
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1177
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1178
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1179
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1180
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1181
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1182
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1183
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1184
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1185
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1186
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1187
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1188
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1189
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1190
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1191
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1192
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1193
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 That's linkedin.com slash Eisen.

1194
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 Terms and conditions apply.

1195
01:18:08,700 --> 01:18:13,820
 Welcome back to Winter Hack Radio, the place for clever hacks to survive the season.

1196
01:18:14,140 --> 01:18:14,860
 Icy driveway?

1197
01:18:15,220 --> 01:18:17,920
 Well, try spreading sand or bird seed to help with traction.

1198
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 Snowy puppy paws?

1199
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 Well, grab a whisk, brush it off, done.

1200
01:18:22,240 --> 01:18:23,300
 Catch COVID-19?

1201
01:18:23,580 --> 01:18:24,580
 Well, just get...

1202
01:18:24,580 --> 01:18:27,800
 Actually, there's no hack for COVID-19.

1203
01:18:28,100 --> 01:18:31,220
 But if you test positive, prescription medications for COVID exist.

1204
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 Ask your doctor if they're right for you.

1205
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 Visit PfizerForAll.com to learn more.

1206
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 Sponsored by Pfizer.

1207
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 Oh, oh, oh, Ozempic!

1208
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 Hi, I'm Chef Franklin Becker.

1209
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 You know the jingle.

1210
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 Now discover the facts about Ozempic, a GLP-1.

1211
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1212
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 Learn about the real thing.

1213
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 Talk to your healthcare professional today.

1214
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 Call 1-833-OZEMPIC or visit ozempic.com to view the medication guide and to learn more about Ozempic.

1215
01:18:59,440 --> 01:19:02,560
 Semaglutide injection 0.5, 1, and 2 milligrams.

1216
01:19:08,560 --> 01:19:16,480
 From the University of Alabama, this is Crimson Tide Today.

1217
01:19:16,480 --> 01:19:19,440
 It's a daily update on Bama Sports and it's brought to you by Guthrie's,

1218
01:19:19,520 --> 01:19:23,300
 America's original chicken finger restaurant and a proud partner of the Crimson Tide.

1219
01:19:23,660 --> 01:19:25,840
 Order online at Guthrie'sChicken.com.

1220
01:19:26,140 --> 01:19:27,780
 Hello again, everybody. I'm Roger Hoover.

1221
01:19:28,120 --> 01:19:31,680
 Here are postgame thoughts from Alabama men's basketball head coach Nate Oates

1222
01:19:31,680 --> 01:19:34,420
 after Alabama's loss at Florida on Sunday.

1223
01:19:34,740 --> 01:19:37,120
 I give Florida a lot of credit. They came right to play.

1224
01:19:37,620 --> 01:19:40,720
 Great environment here. The crowd was great. Their energy was great.

1225
01:19:41,480 --> 01:19:45,060
 Turned us over 18 times. Boogie ends up with eight steals.

1226
01:19:45,260 --> 01:19:47,840
 You got to credit their guards. They play well.

1227
01:19:47,960 --> 01:19:52,100
 You know, everybody's afraid of Florida's frontcourt and rightfully so.

1228
01:19:52,240 --> 01:19:53,720
 I mean, they're tough. They're good. They're skilled.

1229
01:19:53,720 --> 01:19:59,480
 You know, Chenilu is one of my favorite players in the league in 14-17, which is a ridiculous number.

1230
01:19:59,620 --> 01:20:04,420
 17 rebounds. But, you know, the guards really kind of controlled this game here.

1231
01:20:04,520 --> 01:20:05,700
 And I'm a little disappointed.

1232
01:20:05,920 --> 01:20:11,920
 We didn't have better guard play with the amount of turnovers and they didn't turn the ball over.

1233
01:20:12,180 --> 01:20:13,300
 I'll have more in a moment.

1234
01:20:13,300 --> 01:20:17,020
 This year, we honor the most important anniversary ever.

1235
01:20:17,540 --> 01:20:19,900
 An event that reshapes civilization as we know it.

1236
01:20:20,280 --> 01:20:23,780
 A day that would lead to something so flawless that nothing could ever really compare.

1237
01:20:24,420 --> 01:20:26,560
 People have tried to match it, but have failed.

1238
01:20:27,220 --> 01:20:30,240
 This year, we celebrate the 60th anniversary of Guthrie's.

1239
01:20:30,540 --> 01:20:32,340
 The home of the original chicken finger.

1240
01:20:33,060 --> 01:20:35,020
 Just talking about it gets me all choked up.

1241
01:20:35,660 --> 01:20:37,100
 And hungry for a chicken finger.

1242
01:20:38,180 --> 01:20:40,820
 Guthrie's. An original obsession for 60 years.

1243
01:20:40,820 --> 01:20:51,120
 Join us tonight for Hey Coach and the Nate Oates Show, live from Baumhauer's Victory Grill in Tuscaloosa at 6 p.m. Central, presented by Alpha Insurance.

1244
01:20:51,600 --> 01:21:01,680
 You can listen to Hey Coach across our full radio network, the Varsity Network app, as well as catch a video stream on all CTSN social media platforms at UA underscore CTSN.

1245
01:21:02,100 --> 01:21:04,480
 Crimson Tide Today is brought to you by Guthrie's.

1246
01:21:04,760 --> 01:21:08,400
 Crimson Tide Today is a production of the Crimson Tide Sports Network from Learfield.

1247
01:21:09,260 --> 01:21:10,260
 The score.

1248
01:21:10,700 --> 01:21:15,440
 Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.

1249
01:21:16,340 --> 01:21:17,120
 Welcome back in.

1250
01:21:17,160 --> 01:21:18,640
 We got our chains on our tires.

1251
01:21:18,860 --> 01:21:22,200
 I think it's safe for us to head on up to East Tennessee now and say hello to Vince Ferrara.

1252
01:21:22,320 --> 01:21:26,940
 He's busy there at 99.1, the sports animal in Knoxville and on the Ball Radio Network.

1253
01:21:27,540 --> 01:21:28,740
 Vince Ferrara, welcome in.

1254
01:21:28,820 --> 01:21:31,640
 How did Daphne and her dad do this weekend during the blizzard?

1255
01:21:31,780 --> 01:21:32,360
 How are you?

1256
01:21:33,360 --> 01:21:34,360
 I'm good.

1257
01:21:35,120 --> 01:21:36,160
 Daphne's at the vet now.

1258
01:21:36,220 --> 01:21:37,120
 That's where I'm at.

1259
01:21:37,220 --> 01:21:39,140
 So, we'll see afterwards.

1260
01:21:39,140 --> 01:21:41,400
 But, no, she loves the snow.

1261
01:21:41,660 --> 01:21:46,040
 She's constantly wanting to go outside in it a lot more than dad, who's like, it's warm in here.

1262
01:21:46,100 --> 01:21:46,660
 I'm good.

1263
01:21:47,280 --> 01:21:49,580
 But, no, now it's just the parking lots.

1264
01:21:49,740 --> 01:21:53,760
 Now, you know, all the roads are clear, thankfully, for the most part.

1265
01:21:54,240 --> 01:21:56,140
 You just got to watch your step in the parking lot.

1266
01:21:56,220 --> 01:21:57,900
 It's a little slippery and slushy and icy.

1267
01:21:58,740 --> 01:22:04,660
 Yeah, that may be why you wipe the bed on a Monday after staying out in the snow all weekend, so be careful there, Daphne.

1268
01:22:04,660 --> 01:22:07,380
 You know, let's go from snowballs to basketballs.

1269
01:22:07,440 --> 01:22:11,300
 Tennessee, it looks like they're speaking cold weather.

1270
01:22:11,420 --> 01:22:13,700
 It looks like they're turning up the heat during this stretch of late.

1271
01:22:14,500 --> 01:22:16,300
 Oh, what a professional segue.

1272
01:22:17,080 --> 01:22:18,340
 Stuff about the basketball.

1273
01:22:19,180 --> 01:22:19,880
 You're the best.

1274
01:22:20,660 --> 01:22:27,980
 No, it was impressive, you know, for Tennessee to, you know, to get another victory at third straight.

1275
01:22:28,240 --> 01:22:32,820
 You know, Bruce Pearl had had an awful lot of success against Rick Barnes.

1276
01:22:33,380 --> 01:22:37,540
 You know, we had talked about how Rick Barnes had given Nate Oates a lot of trouble.

1277
01:22:37,540 --> 01:22:39,900
 Bruce Pearl has given Rick Barnes plenty of trouble.

1278
01:22:40,120 --> 01:22:43,380
 He was Auburn's coach, and that was not the case for Steven.

1279
01:22:44,360 --> 01:22:48,120
 And, you know, Steven Pearl even said afterwards, he was like, they punked us.

1280
01:22:48,800 --> 01:22:51,120
 You know, and Tennessee dominated on the boards.

1281
01:22:52,220 --> 01:22:56,540
 And, you know, Auburn shot, I think, 7 of 31 from three.

1282
01:22:57,060 --> 01:23:01,780
 And Tennessee did not make, this is crazy, Tennessee did not make a three-pointer.

1283
01:23:02,220 --> 01:23:04,780
 In the final 35 minutes of the game.

1284
01:23:05,140 --> 01:23:05,580
 Wow.

1285
01:23:06,360 --> 01:23:11,740
 They made four of eight in the first five minutes of the game.

1286
01:23:12,060 --> 01:23:18,420
 They only took three more three-point shots the rest of the game, went 0 for 5, and still won the game.

1287
01:23:18,980 --> 01:23:21,300
 And that's how good their inside play was.

1288
01:23:21,600 --> 01:23:24,500
 And that's how much improved they were at the free-throw line.

1289
01:23:24,900 --> 01:23:27,520
 And, look, that's old-school Rick Barnes basketball.

1290
01:23:27,980 --> 01:23:29,120
 It wasn't pretty at times.

1291
01:23:29,280 --> 01:23:30,720
 Tennessee still had too many turnovers.

1292
01:23:31,060 --> 01:23:37,640
 And, you know, Rick Barnes had the comment, you know, that kind of went viral Saturday that you guys might have seen.

1293
01:23:38,180 --> 01:23:44,560
 He's like, with some of the turnovers we commit, I wonder if our guys are betting on games.

1294
01:23:45,040 --> 01:23:46,800
 And he immediately was like, oh, sorry.

1295
01:23:47,400 --> 01:23:47,900
 Oh, sorry.

1296
01:23:47,900 --> 01:23:53,860
 It was a moment of honesty for him.

1297
01:23:54,420 --> 01:23:56,860
 And he jokes with his guys like that.

1298
01:23:57,480 --> 01:24:01,200
 But, you know, unfortunately there's been real cases of that in the sport.

1299
01:24:01,580 --> 01:24:03,520
 So he immediately said that.

1300
01:24:03,640 --> 01:24:10,960
 But, anyway, it is head-scratching for him to the point that he doesn't understand why they have those breakdowns.

1301
01:24:11,020 --> 01:24:13,700
 But they were much better at the free-throw line.

1302
01:24:14,140 --> 01:24:17,760
 They were, you know, they didn't have Felix Alparo, which is another thing that was impressive.

1303
01:24:18,280 --> 01:24:21,280
 Dwayne Brown, Jalen Carey, those guys were better.

1304
01:24:21,440 --> 01:24:23,240
 J.P. Estrella was in foul trouble.

1305
01:24:23,600 --> 01:24:29,740
 And they were able to execute without their leading scorer in Jacoby Gillespie, who was in foul trouble.

1306
01:24:30,400 --> 01:24:33,060
 Rick Barnes even practiced last week.

1307
01:24:33,580 --> 01:24:39,820
 He held Jacoby Gillespie out of team practice sessions so they could learn to play without him.

1308
01:24:39,940 --> 01:24:40,380
 Thank you.

1309
01:24:40,380 --> 01:24:43,980
 And then they had to use them for extended periods, and they performed pretty well.

1310
01:24:44,720 --> 01:24:48,180
 You bring up a good point, V-Man, because I love what you said there.

1311
01:24:48,260 --> 01:24:50,820
 They didn't depend on the arc for survival.

1312
01:24:51,340 --> 01:24:56,280
 And I think if you look at Alabama, when their threes rain down, they can beat the Boston Celtics.

1313
01:24:56,800 --> 01:24:59,440
 And when they're not, they can't even beat the Boston Symphony.

1314
01:25:00,000 --> 01:25:04,200
 Your thoughts about old-fashioned basketball, where you look at what Florida,

1315
01:25:04,380 --> 01:25:07,360
 and you look at any team that's got size, and they just handle Alabama.

1316
01:25:07,560 --> 01:25:08,920
 Purdue, we can go up and down the list.

1317
01:25:09,040 --> 01:25:09,720
 Arizona, others.

1318
01:25:10,460 --> 01:25:13,420
 Your thoughts just about going back to, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

1319
01:25:13,500 --> 01:25:16,580
 Go inside, take the two, play good defense.

1320
01:25:16,860 --> 01:25:18,160
 There's nothing wrong with that.

1321
01:25:19,360 --> 01:25:20,140
 Not at all.

1322
01:25:20,140 --> 01:25:25,580
 And Rick Barnes joked to the media, the press conference, he was like,

1323
01:25:25,680 --> 01:25:31,160
 Mike Keith said to me about the stat in the three of the last 35 minutes if I was surprised.

1324
01:25:31,560 --> 01:25:33,860
 And he's like, you forget how old I am.

1325
01:25:34,000 --> 01:25:36,420
 I still believe I'm a single week in football.

1326
01:25:36,420 --> 01:25:36,620
 Thank you.

1327
01:25:38,200 --> 01:25:44,860
 So, but he is always, for him being such a veteran and being, you know, one of the winningest coaches,

1328
01:25:45,260 --> 01:25:50,640
 and especially active, he still can adjust to the game today.

1329
01:25:51,340 --> 01:25:59,880
 And now his players, it took them a while for this group of players to get some toughness to be able to handle adversity within a game.

1330
01:26:00,220 --> 01:26:04,380
 But, you know, after some hard lessons learned, I think he's gotten through to them.

1331
01:26:04,380 --> 01:26:10,640
 But in terms of strategy, absolutely, he can always adjust to what people are throwing at him.

1332
01:26:11,640 --> 01:26:20,460
 See, Tennessee does not beat Auburn without Jalen Carey, who came off the bench, 13 points, 8 rebounds.

1333
01:26:21,120 --> 01:26:27,600
 Now, Estrella, I believe, has been starting as of late, but he's 4 or 5 for 8 points.

1334
01:26:28,520 --> 01:26:39,320
 And Nate Oates and Stephen Pearl probably looking back and say, you know, we may have needed to look at Dwayne Brown a little closer when he was playing for Hoover.

1335
01:26:39,960 --> 01:26:45,520
 Dwayne Brown at 10 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals, and a block.

1336
01:26:46,120 --> 01:26:51,360
 In 32 minutes, those dudes coming off the bench, the man, were impressive.

1337
01:26:52,320 --> 01:26:59,980
 Yeah, and Brown was starting for a good part of the year, but then with Aparra out with a calf strain,

1338
01:27:00,040 --> 01:27:07,860
 don't know how long he's going to be out, but it was Brown that got the call to go back in the starting lineup in the frontcourt with Estrella.

1339
01:27:08,640 --> 01:27:13,740
 And Dwayne Brown had kind of been on a little bit of a freshman funk for a while.

1340
01:27:13,980 --> 01:27:22,640
 That's why Estrella kind of took his place in the starting lineup, but then with Aparra down and Jalen Carey coming back from an injury he suffered against Alabama,

1341
01:27:23,220 --> 01:27:28,460
 it was Brown that got the opportunity, played over 30 minutes, and played his best ball in a while.

1342
01:27:28,880 --> 01:27:32,800
 And you mentioned Jalen Carey, he didn't look healthy against Georgia, he looked much better.

1343
01:27:32,940 --> 01:27:35,180
 And when he comes in the game, they feed him the ball.

1344
01:27:35,620 --> 01:27:39,560
 And that's what I love, and he just lowers that shoulder and creates room.

1345
01:27:39,800 --> 01:27:43,440
 And they're really good at ceiling on drives as big.

1346
01:27:43,540 --> 01:27:44,860
 Tennessee does that as good as anybody.

1347
01:27:45,320 --> 01:27:48,340
 I wish they would drive more and let their big seal for them.

1348
01:27:48,800 --> 01:27:55,080
 And the last thing on Estrella, he actually, they were in some offensive funks a couple of times,

1349
01:27:55,380 --> 01:28:01,780
 and it was him with a bucket inside that would kind of break them, break the ice a little bit for them.

1350
01:28:01,780 --> 01:28:09,120
 So his contributions have been even beyond the box score in really the last three games since he started.

1351
01:28:10,060 --> 01:28:15,740
 The V-Man, 99.1, the Esports Animal in Knoxville, going outside where it's cold of football.

1352
01:28:15,920 --> 01:28:17,980
 Talk to us, V-Man, about one of the latest.

1353
01:28:18,100 --> 01:28:20,840
 I like the quote from Miami quarterback transfer Richard.

1354
01:28:21,360 --> 01:28:25,580
 He commits to the Vols, excited to play for finally an expert in Coach Knowles.

1355
01:28:25,640 --> 01:28:27,160
 I'm hoping his old coach didn't read that.

1356
01:28:27,540 --> 01:28:32,100
 But your thoughts about where Tennessee is at this point on the transfer portal calendar.

1357
01:28:33,180 --> 01:28:34,180
 Yeah, it's pretty crazy.

1358
01:28:34,280 --> 01:28:37,420
 Probably talking about a position coach, I would imagine, because they, you know,

1359
01:28:37,420 --> 01:28:40,580
 they did get to the national championship, so they did something right.

1360
01:28:41,080 --> 01:28:42,140
 Yeah, but look at B.

1361
01:28:43,420 --> 01:28:47,920
 Yeah, and when you're not getting playing time, then maybe that's an issue.

1362
01:28:49,220 --> 01:28:54,720
 Well, no, they needed another corner body in that secondary in the portal addition.

1363
01:28:54,720 --> 01:29:00,860
 So he's the fourth corner they added in the portal, and they needed that depth.

1364
01:29:00,980 --> 01:29:03,040
 They've added four safeties as well.

1365
01:29:03,960 --> 01:29:07,540
 I think, I don't think he's a starter right now.

1366
01:29:07,660 --> 01:29:11,760
 Obviously, we have to see these guys on the practice field to have a true read on what they look like.

1367
01:29:12,120 --> 01:29:19,060
 But I think there are going to be seven starters from the transfer portal on Tennessee's defense right now.

1368
01:29:19,740 --> 01:29:22,320
 And, you know, that can change here and there.

1369
01:29:22,740 --> 01:29:25,660
 But I think it's going to be so much different in personnel.

1370
01:29:26,720 --> 01:29:30,740
 And then, you know, obviously, they're going to be coached differently, too.

1371
01:29:31,000 --> 01:29:34,060
 I think they're going to upgrade in a number of ways.

1372
01:29:34,520 --> 01:29:38,180
 Still, though, I don't think they added enough on the defensive line.

1373
01:29:38,300 --> 01:29:42,200
 I don't know who you can bring in at this point to change that.

1374
01:29:42,260 --> 01:29:43,740
 But they're going to be extremely young.

1375
01:29:43,820 --> 01:29:45,500
 Got some former five-stars in there.

1376
01:29:45,840 --> 01:29:48,120
 So there's talent on paper.

1377
01:29:48,840 --> 01:29:53,120
 But, man, they're going to be even younger than they were in the D-line rotation last year.

1378
01:29:53,620 --> 01:29:53,820
 Wow.

1379
01:29:54,560 --> 01:29:55,700
 V, two things.

1380
01:29:55,880 --> 01:30:00,980
 One, when is the spring game for the University of Tennessee?

1381
01:30:00,980 --> 01:30:06,580
 And, number two, I did see Daphne rollicking in the snow on Facebook.

1382
01:30:07,000 --> 01:30:09,620
 Hopefully, that checkup will go well.

1383
01:30:10,200 --> 01:30:14,220
 V, where can we get online and check up or check out the V-man?

1384
01:30:15,520 --> 01:30:16,520
 You know what?

1385
01:30:16,600 --> 01:30:22,420
 Unless something broke here today, I have not seen a date on the spring game.

1386
01:30:22,660 --> 01:30:27,100
 If it hasn't been announced by Wednesday, we're hoping to get Danny White back on our show.

1387
01:30:27,820 --> 01:30:34,440
 So I imagine it will be sometime in April, and, you know, those things, unfortunately, mean less and less these days.

1388
01:30:34,800 --> 01:30:46,000
 But, yeah, and then, yeah, you can find the videos of Daphne hopping around like a bunny in the snow on my social.

1389
01:30:46,000 --> 01:30:52,660
 It's Vince Sports, V-I-N-C Sports, on Instagram, on Facebook, and on Twitter, slash X.

1390
01:30:52,700 --> 01:30:53,320
 She loves it.

1391
01:30:54,160 --> 01:30:56,600
 Good luck there with the event visit.

1392
01:30:56,720 --> 01:30:59,520
 We took hours, the wife and I, to the vet last week.

1393
01:30:59,520 --> 01:31:03,180
 We're now going out collecting Coke bottles and paying for it in installments, so.

1394
01:31:04,480 --> 01:31:06,200
 I hear that, for sure.

1395
01:31:07,400 --> 01:31:08,600
 Good luck up there, V-man.

1396
01:31:08,700 --> 01:31:10,620
 Stay warm, and thanks so much for your time today.

1397
01:31:11,460 --> 01:31:12,580
 Always a pleasure, guys.

1398
01:31:12,660 --> 01:31:13,060
 Appreciate it.

1399
01:31:13,080 --> 01:31:13,840
 Have a great rest of the week.

1400
01:31:13,840 --> 01:31:14,200
 Thank you, buddy.

1401
01:31:14,340 --> 01:31:15,140
 You do the same.

1402
01:31:15,220 --> 01:31:18,540
 V-man, Vince Sororan, 99.1, the eSports Animal.

1403
01:31:19,000 --> 01:31:22,520
 Please tell us that it's warmer in the heart of Texas.

1404
01:31:22,660 --> 01:31:24,720
 We'll take you there with the OB show.

1405
01:31:24,820 --> 01:31:25,800
 Owen Buchanan on deck.

1406
01:31:25,880 --> 01:31:26,400
 Stay with us.

1407
01:31:28,680 --> 01:31:46,480
 Silicone carbide was discovered in 1893 when a meteorite crashed to the earth in Arizona.

1408
01:31:47,280 --> 01:31:50,760
 It was discovered by a French chemist named Henri Messon.

1409
01:31:51,120 --> 01:31:52,680
 And originally, he thought it was a diamond.

1410
01:31:53,000 --> 01:31:55,600
 When he realized it wasn't, he named it after himself.

1411
01:31:55,980 --> 01:31:57,860
 That's right, moissanite is meteor.

1412
01:31:58,240 --> 01:32:02,200
 I know we've all kind of been divided here lately, but I think we can all agree from deep

1413
01:32:02,200 --> 01:32:04,900
 down in our soul that we all hate Valentine's Day.

1414
01:32:05,300 --> 01:32:07,940
 It is the most fabricated and made-up holiday ever.

1415
01:32:08,140 --> 01:32:13,780
 So, in celebration of that, I'm now declaring moissanite the official anti-Valentine's Day gym.

1416
01:32:13,940 --> 01:32:18,580
 And at Medford Jewelers, we are going to be running one-carat emerald-cut moissanite bezel set

1417
01:32:18,580 --> 01:32:21,700
 in both pendant and earrings for $75 each.

1418
01:32:21,820 --> 01:32:24,920
 Or you can get the pendant and earring pair for $125.

1419
01:32:25,780 --> 01:32:30,520
 At Medford's, we wish everybody health and love and happiness whenever and wherever you can find it.

1420
01:32:30,580 --> 01:32:35,980
 And we are proud to be the anti-Valentine's Day headquarters since 1945.

1421
01:32:37,560 --> 01:32:38,760
 It's game day.

1422
01:32:39,280 --> 01:32:44,300
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1423
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1424
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1425
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1426
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1427
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1428
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1429
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1430
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 Tell your doctor about any flu-like symptoms or vaccines.

1431
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1432
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1433
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1434
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1435
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1436
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 Those who qualify and enroll for this relief program will only have to pay back a fraction of what they owe.

1439
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1440
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1441
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1442
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1443
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1445
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1446
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 For this free information, call the relief hotline at 800-499-6744.

1447
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1448
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1449
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 What if your instincts could pay off?

1450
01:34:39,940 --> 01:34:44,720
 With Robinhood Prediction Markets, you could put your sports IQ to work on the games you know best.

1451
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1452
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1453
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1454
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1455
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1456
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1457
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1459
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 This is the story of the one.

1460
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 As an HVAC technician, he and his digital multimeter are in high demand.

1461
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 So when a noisy office HVAC turns out to be a failing blower motor, he doesn't break a sweat.

1462
01:35:21,160 --> 01:35:27,760
 With Grainger's easy-to-use website and product information, he selects the product he needs to keep everything humming right along.

1463
01:35:28,500 --> 01:35:31,940
 Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by.

1464
01:35:32,640 --> 01:35:35,000
 Grainger, for the ones who get it done.

1465
01:35:37,280 --> 01:35:41,240
 Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93.9 The Score.

1466
01:35:41,320 --> 01:35:47,500
 The NASCAR Cup Series is set for an exhibition race on Wednesday at Bowman Gray Stadium.

1467
01:35:47,860 --> 01:35:55,260
 The cookout clash after it was postponed yesterday due to historic snowfall in North Carolina over the weekend.

1468
01:35:55,660 --> 01:35:57,820
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1469
01:35:58,140 --> 01:36:02,300
 Bundle auto and home, renters or condo, and save with Progressive.

1470
01:36:02,460 --> 01:36:07,880
 I'm John Thayer with the Sports Flash, presented by Progressive on 93.9 The Score.

1471
01:36:12,520 --> 01:36:15,600
 A KFC tale in the pursuit of flavor.

1472
01:36:16,160 --> 01:36:22,260
 The Colonel made his $10 Tuesday bucket so full with eight pieces of juicy, crispy chicken or tenders

1473
01:36:22,260 --> 01:36:26,640
 that it might just last you till Wednesday, if you've got that kind of self-control.

1474
01:36:27,300 --> 01:36:29,060
 I mean, some people want leftovers.

1475
01:36:29,760 --> 01:36:31,400
 Others are more into right now-ers.

1476
01:36:32,100 --> 01:36:34,480
 The Colonel lived so we could chicken.

1477
01:36:35,040 --> 01:36:40,080
 Ten bucks, eight pieces, one big deal with KFC $10 Tuesdays.

1478
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 Prices and participation may vary.

1479
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 Taxes, tips, and fees extra.

1480
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 Finding great candidates to hire can be like, well, trying to find a needle in a haystack,

1481
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1483
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1484
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1485
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1486
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1487
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1488
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 ZipRecruiter.

1489
01:37:13,140 --> 01:37:14,340
 The Score.

1490
01:37:14,760 --> 01:37:19,560
 Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.

1491
01:37:20,060 --> 01:37:21,040
 Welcome back in.

1492
01:37:21,160 --> 01:37:23,740
 We ain't gonna stop until we find someplace that's warm.

1493
01:37:23,840 --> 01:37:25,120
 What about the heart of Texas?

1494
01:37:25,120 --> 01:37:25,980
 We'll take you next.

1495
01:37:26,120 --> 01:37:27,280
 Olin Buchanan standing by there.

1496
01:37:27,360 --> 01:37:33,120
 He's got the Texas A&M Aggies all covered at what better place than texags.com.

1497
01:37:33,840 --> 01:37:35,120
 Olin Buchanan, welcome in.

1498
01:37:35,180 --> 01:37:35,940
 How are you?

1499
01:37:36,780 --> 01:37:38,280
 Doing well, actually.

1500
01:37:38,720 --> 01:37:39,740
 It's warming up here.

1501
01:37:40,440 --> 01:37:41,920
 The temperature and the basketball.

1502
01:37:43,480 --> 01:37:47,900
 All of the folks who drive on I-65 in their neck of the woods between Decatur and Athens,

1503
01:37:48,440 --> 01:37:52,340
 they want to know if Buc-ee's is named after Texas A&M's new basketball coach.

1504
01:37:52,340 --> 01:37:57,660
 What a coincidence that Buc-ee's, it's a Buc-ee world in College Station these days, is it not?

1505
01:37:58,480 --> 01:37:59,100
 Well, it is.

1506
01:37:59,220 --> 01:38:03,900
 You know, the guy, the founder of Buc-ee's is an Aggie.

1507
01:38:03,920 --> 01:38:04,400
 That's right.

1508
01:38:04,760 --> 01:38:06,260
 So, yeah, it all works.

1509
01:38:07,920 --> 01:38:19,060
 We're hoping that the basketball Buc-ee can be as successful as the gas stop Buc-ee.

1510
01:38:19,780 --> 01:38:21,320
 He's got his work cut out for him.

1511
01:38:21,340 --> 01:38:23,540
 He's off to a good start, but Olin, what a story.

1512
01:38:24,000 --> 01:38:28,360
 I mean, let's go back, as they say, like anything, to the beginning of the story.

1513
01:38:28,880 --> 01:38:32,020
 What was the initial reaction from the A&M fan base?

1514
01:38:32,060 --> 01:38:37,740
 You guys got more money than Washington's got apples, and you got all this money to throw at a coach,

1515
01:38:37,820 --> 01:38:44,480
 and you go bring a guy in from a small college in Alabama who came from a big high school in Alabama.

1516
01:38:44,480 --> 01:38:49,280
 It was just a short time ago, and as I say, the rest is history, but first things first,

1517
01:38:49,340 --> 01:38:53,160
 who had the guts or maybe some other anatomical part to pull the trigger on that hire?

1518
01:38:54,000 --> 01:38:55,900
 That was Trev Albers, the athletic director.

1519
01:38:56,060 --> 01:38:57,880
 You know, A&M went after Chris Beard.

1520
01:38:58,540 --> 01:39:02,040
 He has a Texas background, and of course, he's been very successful.

1521
01:39:02,700 --> 01:39:08,340
 And I think Chris Beard's people let A&M know that he was, at least just the way I think it worked out,

1522
01:39:08,380 --> 01:39:12,740
 but he was interested, and what he was interested in was getting a big raise from Ole Miss.

1523
01:39:13,440 --> 01:39:13,900
 Thank you.

1524
01:39:15,300 --> 01:39:22,440
 So he got that, and Trev Albers, like, right away, his next target was Bucky McMillan.

1525
01:39:22,800 --> 01:39:25,280
 And now we call him Bucky Makesby, and then he's earning them.

1526
01:39:27,660 --> 01:39:33,800
 And so, yeah, Trev was just aware that, you know, Bucky had had a lot of success at Stanford

1527
01:39:33,800 --> 01:39:39,360
 and, you know, dang near beat Kansas in the NCAA tournament and said, you know,

1528
01:39:39,420 --> 01:39:42,240
 I don't mind taking a chance and brought him in.

1529
01:39:42,680 --> 01:39:48,240
 And I think, you know, coaches always, new coaches always win the press conference.

1530
01:39:48,440 --> 01:39:57,660
 But in Bucky's case, you know, he not only won it, man, he dominated it just because his personality is such

1531
01:39:57,660 --> 01:40:05,480
 that he's a very welcoming, warm kind of guy that just seems like a normal person

1532
01:40:05,480 --> 01:40:10,860
 as opposed to the previous basketball coach here who was kind of an odd guy

1533
01:40:10,860 --> 01:40:16,860
 that once in a press conference went on and on about he doesn't go to church or go out to eat

1534
01:40:16,860 --> 01:40:18,720
 because he doesn't want people talking to him.

1535
01:40:19,560 --> 01:40:20,200
 That's true.

1536
01:40:20,320 --> 01:40:20,640
 Jeez.

1537
01:40:20,920 --> 01:40:27,420
 So now you got this guy coming in, and, I mean, he's just relatable in every way

1538
01:40:27,420 --> 01:40:32,120
 and was talking about how much fun his style of basketball is going to be.

1539
01:40:32,220 --> 01:40:32,720
 And what do you know?

1540
01:40:32,740 --> 01:40:33,560
 He told the truth.

1541
01:40:33,840 --> 01:40:39,760
 So here at College Station, we're now, you know, counting buckets and getting excited about that

1542
01:40:39,760 --> 01:40:46,300
 instead of counting offensive rebounds because, you know, that was such a big deal on the previous day.

1543
01:40:46,420 --> 01:40:48,180
 We're going to leave the nation offensive rebounds.

1544
01:40:48,180 --> 01:40:51,920
 That means he must be pretty low in shots made.

1545
01:40:54,180 --> 01:40:55,920
 Yeah, you're exactly right.

1546
01:40:56,100 --> 01:40:56,540
 Buzz Williams.

1547
01:40:59,620 --> 01:41:06,260
 No, I'm just going to add Buzz Williams is out to, I think, off to a sparkling 1-8 record in the Big Ten.

1548
01:41:06,440 --> 01:41:11,960
 So for Olin, as you well know, absolutely.

1549
01:41:12,560 --> 01:41:20,400
 He brought in, Bucky brought in 12 transfers, which, number one, tells me they're a more veteran team.

1550
01:41:21,200 --> 01:41:28,360
 So, Ray-Sean, a G or A-G, the captain is being nine double-doubles.

1551
01:41:28,900 --> 01:41:34,140
 Rylan Griffin, who played for Alabama, transferred to Kansas now with Texas A&M.

1552
01:41:34,960 --> 01:41:41,760
 Ja'Core Lane, we know very well because he played basically in our backyard at North Alabama at UNA.

1553
01:41:41,900 --> 01:41:51,460
 Marcus Neal, you got a couple of dead-eye three-point shooters, but these guys are defensive specialists.

1554
01:41:51,460 --> 01:41:55,400
 They average 15 or more turnovers a game.

1555
01:41:55,940 --> 01:41:58,000
 Tell us who he's got on the roster, Olin.

1556
01:41:58,800 --> 01:42:02,480
 Yeah, he had one player left.

1557
01:42:03,720 --> 01:42:07,220
 Because Buzz took guys, and Buzz put together a team.

1558
01:42:07,340 --> 01:42:09,400
 He was clearly not planning on coming back.

1559
01:42:09,860 --> 01:42:12,640
 I think he had decided that probably before the season started.

1560
01:42:13,100 --> 01:42:19,840
 Hey, they, while Buzz was here, they retired Wade Taylor's number while Wade was still playing.

1561
01:42:19,940 --> 01:42:20,780
 Whoever does that.

1562
01:42:21,220 --> 01:42:25,580
 So it was obvious that he was on his way out even before the season was done.

1563
01:42:25,920 --> 01:42:29,400
 And he left them with one player who wasn't on scholarship.

1564
01:42:30,060 --> 01:42:31,340
 And Buzz put him on scholarship.

1565
01:42:31,340 --> 01:42:33,520
 Hey, if you're going to hang around, then come on.

1566
01:42:33,720 --> 01:42:34,600
 And then he went out.

1567
01:42:34,920 --> 01:42:36,680
 And, you know, here's the deal.

1568
01:42:36,960 --> 01:42:42,520
 By the time Bucky was hired here, a lot of the top guys on the transfer portal were already taken.

1569
01:42:43,100 --> 01:42:43,540
 Right.

1570
01:42:43,640 --> 01:42:51,240
 And then the best guy he got, the most high-profile guy, was McKenzie Imbago from Indiana.

1571
01:42:51,820 --> 01:42:53,800
 And he broke his foot, and he's out for the year.

1572
01:42:54,340 --> 01:42:54,700
 Wow.

1573
01:42:55,100 --> 01:42:57,580
 So, you know, you think about he had one player to start with.

1574
01:42:57,580 --> 01:43:01,160
 He got a big-name transfer, and that guy broke his foot and was out for the year.

1575
01:43:01,520 --> 01:43:03,980
 And everything else he was doing was trying to catch up.

1576
01:43:04,700 --> 01:43:06,740
 And none of this makes sense.

1577
01:43:07,300 --> 01:43:11,140
 When you, you know, here's the second choice and all those things, none of it makes sense.

1578
01:43:11,280 --> 01:43:17,280
 And yet, you know, they've just – and, you know, they got off to really a nice start.

1579
01:43:17,440 --> 01:43:25,720
 You look, their schedule really weak against Mississippi Valley State and Manhattan and Prairie View and, you know, Texas Southern.

1580
01:43:26,440 --> 01:43:36,080
 But he had to do that because a lot of the – there was a tournament they were supposed to be in, but that contract for that tournament in Las Vegas was with the coach.

1581
01:43:36,300 --> 01:43:39,680
 So, they – you know, Bucky had to come up with a schedule.

1582
01:43:40,680 --> 01:43:41,380
 My gosh.

1583
01:43:41,760 --> 01:43:48,460
 And, you know, so – so, you know, they had a nice record, but they get into the SEC players thinking, okay, now reality is going to set in.

1584
01:43:48,720 --> 01:43:49,540
 They beat LSU.

1585
01:43:49,640 --> 01:43:50,860
 Well, LSU's not very good.

1586
01:43:51,080 --> 01:43:52,780
 And then they just kept winning and kept winning.

1587
01:43:52,980 --> 01:43:56,520
 And then I – you know, they beat Texas and dang near beat Tennessee.

1588
01:43:56,520 --> 01:44:02,160
 You had a – should have won that game over there, lost it in double overtime, had two chances to win it.

1589
01:44:02,620 --> 01:44:09,820
 And now, you know, you win that game at Georgia and they're just – they're just playing at a really high level.

1590
01:44:10,080 --> 01:44:10,780
 And I don't know.

1591
01:44:10,860 --> 01:44:13,380
 I don't necessarily know if they're going to beat Alabama.

1592
01:44:13,700 --> 01:44:14,620
 I think they'll give them a run.

1593
01:44:14,700 --> 01:44:16,020
 And then they got Florida after that.

1594
01:44:16,100 --> 01:44:17,160
 I doubt if they'll beat Florida.

1595
01:44:17,280 --> 01:44:25,300
 I mean – but, you know, they're a team that really now I'm starting to think this is going to be an NCAA tournament team.

1596
01:44:25,900 --> 01:44:27,240
 And it makes no sense.

1597
01:44:27,240 --> 01:44:31,560
 I heard somebody say Bucky McMillan was a coaching savant, and I'm starting to believe it.

1598
01:44:32,300 --> 01:44:34,660
 Yeah, Bucky's more than lucky, I guarantee you.

1599
01:44:35,060 --> 01:44:38,320
 Olin, talk to us a little bit more about the homeboy, Jakari Lane.

1600
01:44:38,440 --> 01:44:44,320
 He was – he played basically in high school terms at the basketball factory at Lehigh over in Huntsville.

1601
01:44:44,920 --> 01:44:48,220
 He was a 5A player of the year, and obviously a lot of people passed on him.

1602
01:44:48,280 --> 01:44:50,800
 He goes to UNA and just does wonders.

1603
01:44:51,320 --> 01:44:56,480
 And, again, it just shows you to me – coaches in Indiana is an example of this in football.

1604
01:44:57,180 --> 01:44:59,120
 Don't always go by these recruiting services.

1605
01:44:59,120 --> 01:45:01,280
 Sometimes go by your own evaluation.

1606
01:45:01,560 --> 01:45:05,040
 I think it's safe to say he can do that in Indiana when it comes to football.

1607
01:45:05,240 --> 01:45:07,220
 Bucky is looking for somebody to fit his system.

1608
01:45:08,060 --> 01:45:13,320
 And if you look at UNA, your thoughts about basically this kid living a dream,

1609
01:45:13,440 --> 01:45:19,180
 transferring from UNA to Texas A&M at the SEC level and, quite frankly, doing pretty well for himself.

1610
01:45:20,120 --> 01:45:26,320
 Running the show at the point guard position and, you know, obviously knew the system and the style of play

1611
01:45:26,320 --> 01:45:29,360
 and it helped guys come along and playing really well.

1612
01:45:29,500 --> 01:45:33,280
 7.9 points, you know, from your point guard, I'll take that.

1613
01:45:34,440 --> 01:45:36,000
 He just plays really well.

1614
01:45:36,140 --> 01:45:40,960
 And, you know, the other night when they were playing Georgia – or the other day, it was Saturday –

1615
01:45:40,960 --> 01:45:43,540
 and they got up 22-2.

1616
01:45:44,400 --> 01:45:49,480
 And, of course, Georgia, one of the highest scoring teams in the country, comes back

1617
01:45:49,480 --> 01:45:57,600
 and they cut that A&M lead with about nine minutes to go and had all the momentum.

1618
01:45:58,100 --> 01:45:59,500
 And who comes in and nails a three?

1619
01:46:00,660 --> 01:46:01,400
 There you go.

1620
01:46:02,340 --> 01:46:07,720
 And it starts a 15-3 run that settled the issue.

1621
01:46:07,880 --> 01:46:12,060
 And it all started with Ja'Kari Lane being a guy like, hey, I've got to settle this thing down.

1622
01:46:12,500 --> 01:46:14,020
 I'm going to pick up and shoot a three.

1623
01:46:14,180 --> 01:46:14,820
 And he nailed it.

1624
01:46:17,060 --> 01:46:23,600
 Just to finish with the football transfer, two former Alabama players, Isaiah Horton,

1625
01:46:23,700 --> 01:46:27,560
 is coming over to match up with Mario Craver.

1626
01:46:27,740 --> 01:46:30,200
 I'm sure Marcel Reed's happy about that.

1627
01:46:30,900 --> 01:46:33,080
 Alabama's will could form be a tackle.

1628
01:46:33,220 --> 01:46:34,620
 He plays some guard, too.

1629
01:46:35,260 --> 01:46:39,260
 And just looking over the list, I'm sure some of these are death pieces,

1630
01:46:39,440 --> 01:46:41,800
 but they also got pretty good credit.

1631
01:46:42,060 --> 01:46:44,040
 Olin, your thoughts on the transfer portal?

1632
01:46:45,460 --> 01:46:47,940
 Yeah, but they addressed their needs.

1633
01:46:47,940 --> 01:46:52,000
 They, you know, lose four starters off the offensive line.

1634
01:46:52,680 --> 01:46:58,340
 So they brought in four guys who started on SEC teams at LSU.

1635
01:46:58,520 --> 01:46:59,180
 You mentioned Formby.

1636
01:46:59,260 --> 01:47:00,900
 And then one from South Carolina.

1637
01:47:01,680 --> 01:47:05,660
 Try to mesh in with some of the holdovers they have on us, see what they can do there.

1638
01:47:07,020 --> 01:47:11,300
 Then they had to boost the defensive line.

1639
01:47:11,840 --> 01:47:15,420
 And the pass rush brought in Anto Seca from Northwestern.

1640
01:47:15,980 --> 01:47:18,660
 He only had like three and a half sacks last year.

1641
01:47:18,660 --> 01:47:24,560
 But the folks that agree with him and the scouts say that there's a lot more to him than that.

1642
01:47:24,920 --> 01:47:25,560
 So we'll see.

1643
01:47:25,680 --> 01:47:30,620
 Hopefully he can come in and be a nice, adequate replacement for Cassius Howell.

1644
01:47:32,360 --> 01:47:36,060
 And, you know, they believe he's such a good cornerback.

1645
01:47:36,420 --> 01:47:37,500
 He's done here.

1646
01:47:37,780 --> 01:47:45,460
 And they got this kid, Ricky Gibson, from Tennessee that I'm told that he's a high-level corner that was hurt almost all last year.

1647
01:47:46,420 --> 01:47:48,060
 So, you know, they feel good about it.

1648
01:47:48,060 --> 01:48:05,840
 Here's the thing about Elko the last two years has given us reason to trust Elko, not necessarily to get in the guy that's the great guy, because they were interested in Cam Colbin, didn't get him.

1649
01:48:06,500 --> 01:48:07,640
 But they got Isaiah Horton.

1650
01:48:09,560 --> 01:48:11,400
 You know, really good about that, right?

1651
01:48:11,960 --> 01:48:13,380
 Yeah, he's a tall drink of water.

1652
01:48:14,820 --> 01:48:16,280
 They can use a big receiver.

1653
01:48:17,320 --> 01:48:21,800
 Not only just to replace Casey Concepcion, but Casey's not a big guy either.

1654
01:48:22,220 --> 01:48:24,440
 So, you know, they can use that big receiver.

1655
01:48:24,440 --> 01:48:29,240
 So, I think Elko's really good at, look, here's the places we got to get better.

1656
01:48:29,600 --> 01:48:30,360
 Let's address them.

1657
01:48:30,740 --> 01:48:31,400
 And you know what?

1658
01:48:31,760 --> 01:48:38,520
 The guy that's not necessarily the player at that position may not be the best player for us.

1659
01:48:39,100 --> 01:48:41,720
 And that's what he's done so well.

1660
01:48:41,840 --> 01:48:49,760
 So, you have an open mind, you know, that maybe you didn't get the top-name player.

1661
01:48:49,760 --> 01:48:54,460
 You know, maybe they're not getting the girl to date, but they're getting the girl to marry.

1662
01:48:56,520 --> 01:48:57,860
 That's a good way to put it.

1663
01:48:58,720 --> 01:48:59,740
 No more than one.

1664
01:48:59,840 --> 01:49:00,580
 If you know what I mean.

1665
01:49:01,640 --> 01:49:06,060
 If you can, he's sitting here giving us love advice.

1666
01:49:06,220 --> 01:49:07,200
 Hey, it's Valentine's Month.

1667
01:49:07,200 --> 01:49:10,300
 Oh, you've been around it a while.

1668
01:49:10,740 --> 01:49:13,040
 Talk about the SEC with all the stuff.

1669
01:49:13,160 --> 01:49:17,240
 I mean, obviously, this day and time, people go out and basically, let's face it, they buy a team.

1670
01:49:17,720 --> 01:49:20,040
 Lane's putting together the checkbook over in Baton Rouge.

1671
01:49:20,180 --> 01:49:22,260
 Your friend's up the road there in Austin.

1672
01:49:22,400 --> 01:49:23,380
 They've got a lot of money.

1673
01:49:23,440 --> 01:49:24,920
 They're putting together an all-star cast.

1674
01:49:25,040 --> 01:49:26,380
 It's kind of level with money.

1675
01:49:26,600 --> 01:49:29,640
 Your thoughts about this coming season across the league?

1676
01:49:31,520 --> 01:49:35,000
 Well, it's kind of, you know, I think A&M's still going to be pretty good.

1677
01:49:35,100 --> 01:49:36,720
 I don't know if they'll be as good as they were last year.

1678
01:49:36,820 --> 01:49:38,140
 Texas is going to be really good.

1679
01:49:38,520 --> 01:49:41,140
 Texas has more billionaires than A&M, and they all want to win.

1680
01:49:41,920 --> 01:49:44,400
 So, I don't like that, but I can respect that.

1681
01:49:46,680 --> 01:49:49,240
 You know, I think, you know, Georgia's always going to be good.

1682
01:49:49,620 --> 01:49:53,100
 You know, the team I wonder about, you guys can tell me more about it than I would.

1683
01:49:53,200 --> 01:49:54,460
 I wonder about Alabama.

1684
01:49:54,940 --> 01:49:55,800
 Because I know that Alabama.

1685
01:49:55,800 --> 01:49:57,240
 A lot of folks are holding.

1686
01:49:58,000 --> 01:50:03,480
 I know that Alabama wasn't pleased with, I mean, still had a good year, but I know that's not good at Alabama.

1687
01:50:03,760 --> 01:50:11,360
 You know, when you look at the guys that have left early for the draft and some of the guys that I think completed their eligibility, who knows these days.

1688
01:50:11,520 --> 01:50:16,220
 I mean, the next thing you know, Alabama's going to be bringing a guy in from the NFL, since they already did from the NBA.

1689
01:50:17,840 --> 01:50:18,880
 Two of them, I think.

1690
01:50:18,980 --> 01:50:19,420
 Two of them.

1691
01:50:19,680 --> 01:50:20,560
 One on each end.

1692
01:50:21,900 --> 01:50:25,140
 You never know, but you guys tell me.

1693
01:50:26,100 --> 01:50:35,260
 I'm not saying Alabama's going to be bad by any means, but why will Alabama be better than they were this year?

1694
01:50:36,480 --> 01:50:40,080
 Well, obviously, that's a good question, and I think only time's going to tell.

1695
01:50:40,080 --> 01:50:47,320
 I mean, not only that, you're losing the experienced quarterback that is supposedly projected to go in the first round of the NFL draft.

1696
01:50:47,420 --> 01:50:51,840
 You're bringing someone with almost zero experience, so I think it's a legitimate question, Olin.

1697
01:50:52,700 --> 01:50:53,900
 And then LSU, yeah.

1698
01:50:53,980 --> 01:51:03,160
 Look, I know they're spending a lot of money on football players because I was driving to see my son this weekend, and I know they're not spending it on their highway.

1699
01:51:06,520 --> 01:51:08,660
 I mean, I felt like I was driving by Braille.

1700
01:51:08,660 --> 01:51:09,720
 You've got to have your priorities.

1701
01:51:10,560 --> 01:51:11,500
 Where's your priorities?

1702
01:51:11,580 --> 01:51:13,060
 You've got Mardi Gras and football.

1703
01:51:13,220 --> 01:51:14,480
 What else is important, okay?

1704
01:51:14,780 --> 01:51:15,820
 There's really nothing.

1705
01:51:17,000 --> 01:51:25,780
 So, I'll say that, look, I don't want it to be the case, but I think LSU can do real well with LSU.

1706
01:51:26,700 --> 01:51:34,700
 He's just a good football coach, and I know they're going to have good players over there, but, you know, let's see how they rebuild that offensive line.

1707
01:51:35,220 --> 01:51:38,860
 So, that was the problem there of that team last year.

1708
01:51:40,120 --> 01:51:40,400
 Absolutely.

1709
01:51:40,820 --> 01:51:48,880
 Olin, bringing it to the day, buddy, on various and sundry subjects, listen, I was great to catch up with you, buddy.

1710
01:51:49,120 --> 01:51:50,820
 Glad things were warming up.

1711
01:51:51,700 --> 01:52:01,160
 Listen, where can Aggie fans and SEC fans get online and get the absolute latest football, basketball, recruiting, you name it.

1712
01:52:01,220 --> 01:52:01,760
 You got it.

1713
01:52:02,740 --> 01:52:05,180
 Yeah, I guess I'm excited about Groundhog Day.

1714
01:52:06,060 --> 01:52:11,920
 Yeah, we like to think that we are the preeminent outlet for Texas A&M Sports.

1715
01:52:12,040 --> 01:52:15,960
 So, if you can go online and give us a look at texags.com.

1716
01:52:16,040 --> 01:52:18,920
 That's just an abbreviated version of Texas Aggies.

1717
01:52:18,920 --> 01:52:20,320
 It's texags.com.

1718
01:52:20,580 --> 01:52:24,460
 It's the same place on Twitter or X or whatever you want to call it.

1719
01:52:25,000 --> 01:52:29,600
 So, if you're inclined to give us a look, we'd appreciate it if you did.

1720
01:52:30,340 --> 01:52:31,300
 And it's February.

1721
01:52:31,620 --> 01:52:32,560
 It's Valentine's Month.

1722
01:52:32,600 --> 01:52:33,840
 You're giving out that love advice.

1723
01:52:33,960 --> 01:52:35,080
 You're giving out Godiva.

1724
01:52:35,240 --> 01:52:38,800
 We're giving out Russell Stover and Whitman Sampers up here, okay, Olin?

1725
01:52:38,860 --> 01:52:40,860
 So, keep up the Godiva advice, okay?

1726
01:52:42,060 --> 01:52:45,180
 You know, we'll do the best we can.

1727
01:52:45,400 --> 01:52:49,180
 You know, I'm not going to ride Beckett on a horse.

1728
01:52:49,880 --> 01:52:50,540
 There you go.

1729
01:52:51,040 --> 01:52:52,100
 I'll give out the time.

1730
01:52:52,520 --> 01:52:53,400
 Oh, my goodness.

1731
01:52:55,000 --> 01:52:59,040
 One and done, Olin.

1732
01:52:59,100 --> 01:52:59,420
 One.

1733
01:53:00,220 --> 01:53:02,440
 Stay safe down there and off the horse, all right?

1734
01:53:04,060 --> 01:53:04,760
 Enjoy the guy.

1735
01:53:05,540 --> 01:53:08,420
 That's hard to do in Texas, right?

1736
01:53:10,820 --> 01:53:12,420
 That's going to take care of business for today.

1737
01:53:12,520 --> 01:53:15,220
 On behalf of B.B., Greg, James, Larry, the entire crew here.

1738
01:53:15,600 --> 01:53:17,440
 Harold Buck, thank you so much for your time today.

1739
01:53:17,440 --> 01:53:19,780
 Let's do it again tomorrow at noon to two for the Boom on Buck Show.

1740
01:53:19,920 --> 01:53:22,280
 Back here on Sports Radio, 93.9 The Score.

1741
01:53:25,000 --> 01:53:25,500
 you