Boomo Bugg Show 022526
93.9 The Score WYTK - February 25, 2026
https://www.939thescore.com/boomo-bugg-show-022526/

This transcript was generated automatically from the broadcast audio. Names and some words may be misspelt; the audio is the official record.

------------------------------------------------------------

Now, get ready to roll Shoals, Decatur, Athens and all of Northwest Alabama and Southern Tennessee.
It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice.
The Boomo Bugg Show.
Your exclusive inside track to the Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC.
Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Good afternoon and welcome here to the Boomo Bugg Show.
I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird.
Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley.
Brett Beaird, welcome in where a rough night for the Auburn Tigers.
Alabama, Brett, for their date with state tonight.
And Braves fans, a whole new way to see the Braves play in 2026.
Good afternoon, welcome in and how are you?
Happy Wednesday to you and the listeners.
Some breaking news from Ben Thomas of AL.com.
Scott Bateson, head football coach at Muscle Shoals, announced this morning.
He is stepping down after 18 seasons and 170 wins.
Wow.
Very interesting going on this morning.
We'll get more details about that.
Four teams from the Shoals have advanced to the Final Four in Birmingham next week.
The Morris Hill Bible Girls, Lauderdale County Boys, the Descent Boys, and the Red Bay Boys.
We'll have that schedule for you a little bit later in the show.
But right now, David Weathers, good friend, is here to talk about sports and life.
That's a thick book.
I guarantee you.
The legend of Loretto, almost two decades in a thing called Major League Baseball with the Yankees, the Mets, the Reds, the Brewers.
He is a legend.
David Weathers, welcome in.
How are you?
Good, guys.
How are y'all?
Man, we're doing all right.
David, a lot to get to today.
But here's a trivia question.
How many folks, especially from our neck of the woods, ever get to put on the pinstripes of the New York Yankees as a player?
And then let's break it on down.
How many folks ever get to do it as a dad and now see their son be able to put on the same pinstripes of the New York Yankees?
For the folks who might have missed it, Ryan Weathers is on the move, David.
Yeah, I tell you, I had less nerve when I was throwing the pinstripes on, I can tell you that.
It's good.
You know, Kelly and I are down here.
He pitched it tonight.
And so we're excited about his first spring training outing and putting on the uniform and all those kinds of things.
But, you know, it's truly an honor to put that uniform on.
I think growing up, maybe in our area, kids grow up wanting to put a Braves uniform on.
But universally, throughout, you know, anyone who plays baseball, to put on a Yankees or Dodgers uniform is pretty special.
And fortunately, in our family, we're going to have two that are going to have the opportunity to do that.
So we're very blessed.
And we know his goal is to do like Dad and get some jewelry called a World Series ring.
You've got one.
David, talk to us about that.
Obviously, an interesting journey.
High draft pick coming out of high school, goes to San Diego, goes to the Marlins.
Ironically, a similar path as far as the Marlins and the Yankees.
What's the difference playing for a team where, in some ways, can it be said to be like playing football at James Madison as opposed to Alabama?
It is.
You know, when I first got traded over, it's my favorite story to tell, is when I got traded, I met the team in Kansas City.
And then we, and I pitched like c***, showed back up to New York and walked in the locker room.
And George Steinberg walked up to me and says, hey, this is, I didn't want to trade for you.
This is Bob Watson and Joe Torrey's deal, by the way.
Could you lose 20 pounds and welcome to the real big league?
That literally is how I was introduced.
So, Ron got a much better introduction to the organization.
But there is.
There, honestly, and I don't mean any disrespect.
Right.
But, you know, when you play for a team like the Yankees, it is like playing for Alabama.
Yep.
It's like playing for Notre Dame or Ohio State.
Yep.
Yep.
It's like playing for the Cowboys.
No matter what they've done, right?
Right.
Right.
It's the Pittsburgh Steelers.
And so, you know, and I hate to keep using teams, but it's the Lakers.
It's the Celtics.
And what it carries is with you is you're the most watched franchise in that particular sport.
Yep.
It doesn't mean people have to like it or agree with it, but it's a fact.
There's a reason they get the 7 o'clock primetime usually on Sunday night.
Right.
It's why during the postseason they get the primetime.
And so you have to understand that, you know, there's a lot of baggage and weight that comes
with that.
And part of that is you've got to have alligator skin.
You've got to be able to go out and do your job.
But, man, the perks far outweigh the negative side.
David, I read a report yesterday that said that Ryan was, quote, already throwing 98 miles
an hour.
And I know you're not big on velocity, but what about his health?
I know he's had to work through, had to rehab, some health issues.
How is he feeling right now in spring training?
He feels great.
He told me the other day it's the best he's felt probably since 2020, 2021.
Now, the thing that we have to realize, and Kelly and I talk about this all the time, is
it's awesome how the Lord put me through all of these things and put Kelly through all
these things.
When she played college basketball and I played professional baseball, it's all three of our
kids are experiencing things that we haven't so we can help them with them.
Every thing we have to realize is every path is different.
You know, I built Ryan as a player growing up in the way I was built as a big leaker.
So, everything we did, we did, like, focus on, like, this is what's going to happen down
the road.
We're not worried about you going to Summertown High School or Wayne County High School and
going to shutout.
We're not worried about that.
You know, what's after that is what we've always been concerned with.
And so, once we got him to the point where he got drafted, now, you know, his journey began.
Yep.
And so, you have all these things you think and how it's going to go and it doesn't go
that way.
So, what do you do?
You know, you go to plan B and you adjust.
And so, what he's had to do is he's had freak injuries.
None of them have been where, you know, it's just straight up, he just got hurt.
It's been, you know, these ligaments in your fingers that only rock climbers get.
It's getting hit in the head by your catcher at 90 miles an hour in the back of your head.
And you go out there and you lose a little bit of your ability to think and your mechanics
get all messed up.
And by doing that and as hard as he throws, you mess your ladder.
So, I think, to answer a long story, a long answer for a short question, but he feels great.
He has worked his tail off this all season so he can stay as healthy as possible.
He's doing everything he can, possibly, to make sure that he can get through a season.
And what's ironic is I'm not a velocity guy, but, you know, I'm not going to get on a guy
that can throw 99.
And he told me the other day, he goes, Dad, they keep saying let's back off a little bit.
And he goes, I just don't know how to throw soft.
And I'm like, well, go watch videos of your dad and you'll find out how you can throw softer
than you do.
But he's good, man.
He feels great.
Yeah, well, if he wants to get even more of an education, see some of my old videos.
He doesn't really know how to throw soft.
But you mentioned we can't wait to watch, David.
But, David, on the topic of the business side, the Braves announced today.
They're ditching their old TV partner.
They're going to Braves Vision.
The reason we bring that up, do people realize if the baseball pie had 10 slices, how many of
those, money-wise, belong to TV?
Oh, not.
Yep.
You know, make no mistake about it.
A lot of these changes you're seeing with, you know, runner on second and extra innings,
you're seeing the challenge rule now.
All of these things are to facilitate the TV companies because they want a more entertaining
broadcast to put out.
And so, you know, you see a lot of these little subtle things that people really don't understand
how much they hurt the, you know, authenticity of the game.
We're talking Major League Baseball, and you're putting an extra runner at second base instead
of having to earn it.
That's for entertainment purposes.
And that's for, you know, to me, it hurts the integrity of the game.
But, like, the Braves going in their own way, I don't blame them.
If you have the ability to have your own network and people have to sign in to watch your network,
you know, Valley Sports and all these other people have tried to get in the game,
and they're all folding, right?
Yep.
Because you can't, honestly, you can't compete with the bigger companies.
You look at the Yess Network for the Yankees, why that works is what?
It covers the Yankees.
Yep.
They're a nationwide team.
The Atlanta Braves are a nationwide team.
Yep.
And how many of the teams in Major League Baseball are national brands?
Not many.
Not many.
And so, if you have your own brand, like the Braves are doing, their revenue stream is going
to improve.
Yep.
Because people in California who love the Braves or in the state of Washington or in Texas
or wherever, guess what they're going to subscribe to is the Braves network.
Not only do you get their games, but you're going to get the little awesome little stories
they do about each player, and you get to know your team.
So, it's, and Harold, you and I and Brett, we've all lived through the era of what I would
consider in the late 80s to probably about four years ago, five years ago, the most awesome
time ever for college football.
Yep.
That's gone.
That's gone.
Like it or not, it's the truth.
He's right.
And you and I can't be the old men and get off my yard.
We've got to figure out a way.
How do I fall back in love with what I used to love?
Because I don't enjoy what I'm watching.
And not only just college football, but college baseball, college basketball, college, all of
like it's so shifted from what you and I were raised on.
Yeah.
And so, you know, you just got to figure out, you know, how do I watch it?
Yeah, absolutely.
Listen, you and your wife probably know this by now, but the SEC sent out a press release
this morning.
Carly Weathers was named to the SEC Community Service Team.
Great.
It's certainly no surprise to us whatsoever.
And by the way, the team she plays for, the University of Alabama, had a big win over
Florida.
They've got, I think, Bandy in Texas this week before the SEC Women's Tournament begins
next week in Greenville.
David, how's Carly doing?
She's doing great.
We were, I just got off the phone with her before you guys called and, you know, we're
so proud of her for that award.
And because, you know, she puts in a lot of hours and does a lot of different things that,
you know, obviously I'm not going to talk about, but she does for no recognition.
And obviously by that happening to her this morning, what an awesome thing for her.
Brett, she's doing great.
Like, here's your good for example of her life.
So we're down, we watch her play at Florida.
So she plays 38 or 39 minutes.
Comes out, I had a bunch of cousins up there, watch her play.
She hops on the plane, flies in back to Tuscaloosa to get something to eat.
She has to be at the hospital at 6.30 that morning.
She works a 12-hour shift for her preceptor.
So she's constantly, man, you know, she has to get 180-something hours in for a certain
date of her preceptorship and at the same time be a full-time basketball player.
However, that's who she is.
She's driven and she's handling it like a champ and super proud of her.
David, I know she's smart.
You said she's in nursing school.
I married a nurse.
So that's the smartest thing I've ever done.
I've learned a lot over the years.
So I know she's got a smart future ahead of her.
Listen, man, we know you're trying to get back to business down there.
Enjoy an incredible family.
We could go on and on and on.
You're extremely blessed.
I know you agree with that.
But Dale Ryan and the whole family, we said hello.
And safe travels back home, okay?
All right, Harold.
Thank you guys for having me.
Thank you, David.
Thank you to have it.
David Weathers.
Boy, you're talking about a family, BB.
How do you top that, huh?
That's amazing.
Double A, Ma, is going to give it a shot.
Speaking of Florida, she's checking in from Florida and ESPN on deck.
Stay with us.
I'm Chris Stewart for Elliott Johnson Insurance.
Elliott Johnson has a great partner in auto owner's insurance.
Auto owner's makes it easy to get life, home, car, or business insurance.
Auto owner's insurance aligns themselves with great agencies like Elliott Johnson Insurance,
knowing the best local agents only add to your convenience.
Let Elliott Johnson Insurance find the auto owner's policy that makes a difference for your life.
Call Elliott Johnson Insurance at one of their three locations, Florence, Loretto, and Lawrenceburg.
Elliott Johnson Insurance, moving forward for our clients every day.
You like saving money, right?
We all do.
That's why Allstate just lowered the price of car insurance.
Not, but wait, there's a catch.
Lower, actually lower.
So if you're shopping around or just want to see how much you can save,
check Allstate first for a new lower auto rate that could save you hundreds.
You're in good hands with Allstate.
Not available in every state, only applicable for new auto insurance business.
Rates will vary by several factors, including how you purchase the policy.
Potential savings vary.
Allstate North American Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois.
DQ presents the spicy menu.
For a limited time, try the new flamethrower chicken strip basket for $6.99
with spicy, bold strips that heat you up.
Served with a side of famous DQ soft serve as a dip to cool you down.
That's right.
Dip those spicy chicken strips right into soft serve.
Plus fries and toast, all for just $6.99.
And add a new pineapple lemonade sparkler or cooler made with tahini.
It's the limited time only swicy menu.
Get it delivered in the DQ app.
Happy tastes good.
Participation may vary.
A SoFi personal loan is here to help you achieve something once thought impossible.
Overcoming high interest credit card debt.
Walk the tightrope of your finances with one low fixed rate monthly payment,
no fees required, and as soon as the same day funding.
That's right.
Pull off your own debt defying stunt with a SoFi personal loan.
Visit SoFi.com slash trick to learn more.
Loans originated by SoFi Bank, N.A.
Member FDIC.
Terms and conditions apply.
NMLS 696891.
My name is Whitney Allen, and I'm a widow.
My husband, Ryan, died.
We never thought we'd ever have to use life insurance, but the unexpected happened.
With Ethos, signing up was fast and 100% online.
You can get a quote in seconds, apply in minutes, and get same-day coverage.
No medical exams, and you can get up to $3 million worth of coverage.
I am grateful we were prepared.
Get your free quote at ethos.com slash game.
That's ethos.com slash game.
Paid spokesperson.
Time spent on application may vary.
Online health questions required.
The Florence Kiwanis Club is having their 74th annual Pancake Day, Friday, March 13th from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
and Saturday, March 14th from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Florence Lauderdale Coliseum.
Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door, $9 for bundles of 10 or more, or $6 for children under 12.
Tickets are available at Florence locations of Bank Independent.
For more information, check out Kiwanis Club with Florence AL on Facebook.
From the University of Alabama, this is Crimson Tide Today.
It's a daily update on Bama sports, and it's brought to you by Conecuh Sausage,
a true Southern flavor since 1947, and the official smoked sausage of the Crimson Tide.
Order online at ConecuhSausage.com.
Hello again, everybody.
I'm Roger Hoover.
On yesterday's edition of Crimson Drive, driven by NASCAR,
we were joined by Alabama men's basketball guard, Houston Millett.
And I just want my teammates to know I was, like, the best teammate.
I was never going to have, like, I tell people this all the time,
like, the nickname that I guess VA calls me is, like, no off switch,
because I'm never turning the switch off.
I just, it's always on.
No matter what it is I'm feeling, if I'm upset, if I'm down, whatever, like, it's my job.
It's my calling to pour life into this team and see how far we can go.
And, I don't know, I have phenomenal teammates.
I have phenomenal coaches.
I don't think there's anybody that prepares the way we do.
And I'm just, I'm just excited to keep this thing going and keep the momentum moving forward.
I'll have more in a moment.
Favorite jeans, favorite shirt.
Yeah, I can make a sausage and I'm firing it up, yeah.
Everybody knows.
That's how I get my grill on.
You can smell that flavor up and down the road.
It's a little taste of heaven.
And everybody knows.
That's how I get my grill on.
Canucket sausage.
It's just a little taste of heaven.
We've got you covered tonight for Alabama men's basketball against Mississippi State.
Tip-off from Coleman Coliseum is set for 8 p.m. central with our coverage on the network starting at 7 p.m.
You can listen on our full radio network, the Varsity Network app, as well as watch the basketball booth cam presented by NASCAR and all CTSN social media platforms at UA underscore CTSN.
Crimson Tide Today is brought to you by Canucket sausage.
Crimson Tide Today is a production of the Crimson Tide Sports Network from Learfield.
The score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in.
It's a pleasure for us to go ahead on down to where the sun is always shining, or is it?
It is now.
They plugged it back in finally.
Down to the Sunshine State where we go with AA Andrew Adelson from ESPN.
AA, welcome in.
Is it finally summertime in your backyard again?
Well, I may have a blanket on my lap, but hopefully this is it.
Hopefully this is the last cold front of the season, guys.
It is going to be 70 today, so I don't have too much to complain about.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're willing to trade any time, Andrew.
Let's talk a little bit about finance here.
You cover those boys up the road in the state capital called Tallahassee, home of the Florida State Seminoles.
Andrew, did I see these numbers right, or do I need to go back to the eye doctor again?
Florida State is swimming underwater to the tune of almost a half billion, that's with a B as in bug, dollars in debt for the athletic department.
Is that true?
And why is it up over 2,000 percent?
Again, correct me if I'm wrong on my numbers here, since like 2017, 2018.
And are you writing checks to get them back to the surface?
Well, you know, I think my University of Florida degree would be revoked if I wrote them checks to get them back.
But, you know, you must have known before you called that I was just watching the Florida State Board of Trustees meeting in which this came up.
And I have to tell you, the board chair, Peter Collins, not happy with the media coverage and folks lambasting Florida State for having so much debt.
And he repeatedly said throughout the course of the comments that athletic director Michael Alford presented to the board that the reason for the debt is because Florida State has made significant investments in football.
They renovated their football stadium, and they needed a bond for that, and they made it a little smaller, but they increased their capacity for their luxury seating.
And according to the numbers that Michael Alford presented there today, they were able to make already over $5 million more just this past season on revenue off the football stadium than previously.
The other part of it is they built an entirely new football facility that cost well over $100 million.
And so when you are making those types of investments in football, you're going to have debt.
Now, they believe it is worth the investment.
They had to bring Florida State up to speed.
I mean, how many times did we discuss previously on this show how far behind Florida State was from a facility perspective?
And they even showed a chart during this meeting that they were in 2022.
As recently as 2022, they were in the bottom third of the ACC in terms of available square footage for football.
So I don't want to come off and sound like a Florida State defender.
I am certainly not on the payroll, but I literally just watched this meeting.
And so I'm offering their perspective.
And for those who are wanting to know, in terms of the overall percentage of their athletic budget, the debt service is at 12%.
So that's, what did they say, $20-something million a year, I think I wrote down.
So that's where they're at.
They felt it was worth the investment.
I understand, however, why other people have a different opinion on where Florida State Essex is right now.
Double A, the other end of the spectrum here is on 3.com with an article yesterday.
These anonymous surveys, anonymous surveys about SEC general managers and budgets across the board,
pretty much all of, I don't know, any of the day of 10 or 15, LSU has got the top budget at $40 million
for NIL and Texas Tech is not far behind them.
But on the opposite end, the scale, double A, but once again, that's where we are in college football now.
Makes you wonder how all of those deals that went over the rev share cap got through NIL Go, doesn't it, fellas?
And I know that the CSE briefly looked at LSU and said, oh, there's nothing to see here.
But they're not the only ones.
And you're right, Texas Tech is up there.
I'm sure there are other programs who have spent money over the last few years that have increased their own budgets.
I mean, we can think off the top of our heads which schools we're spending more than others,
Oregon, Ohio State, Miami, right, LSU, Texas Tech.
So not surprising at all.
I think the biggest thing about all of this is, you know, we all know that the rev share in the cap is going to increase every single year.
It's how much further can all of these deals go with the NIL and some of the other outside compensation that I just mentioned that it all looks like it's, quote, above board.
And maybe I'm Pollyanna.
Maybe I'll never look above board.
Maybe these budgets will just continue to skyrocket by 10% to 20% every single year until we, you know, get to Never Never Land.
But I do know that there are some, you know, within the athletics community that would like to see a little bit more policing in place in terms of what some of these deals look like.
Tampering, obviously, through the portal that may have allowed some of these guys to change schools.
You know, and maybe a little bit more transparency and clarity on how these deals get structured and how schools do get to a place where they're at $40 million.
Because when you look at rev share alone, right, it's $20.5 million last year.
It's going to be somewhere in the $21 point something million for this year.
Well, football is not getting all of that, right?
They're getting about 75% to 80% depending on the school.
So that's, what, $15 million roughly.
So that means $25 extra million are coming from NIL, endorsement, other deals that players are getting.
I think if there was more clarity, it would be helpful for the average fan to understand how are these budgets coming to be.
But there's also schools that don't want that clarity because they want to keep operating the way that they are in order to give themselves a leg up.
Double A, Andrew Adelson, ASPN.
And speaking of NIL, interesting comments from your boy and, I guess, ours, by extension there at Florida, John Summerall from North Alabama and your backyard at Gainesville.
He is kind of holding the feet to the fire of these NIL guys, is he not?
Here's what's interesting.
His quote, in the modern world of college sports, they need to work like pros.
They need to be held accountable.
This is after John donated $100,000 to the NIL fund from his old school at Tulane.
Your thoughts about John's approach to the NIL, at least speaking of transparent, he basically is calling them in and says,
if you're going to be paid like a pro, you need to be at like a pro.
I love hearing that, quite honestly, because I think that should be the approach for all coaches out there.
Because, as we just mentioned, if your budget or payroll is $40 million for a football team, well, you kind of want to expect some sort of return on that investment, right?
At least $40 million.
Right, exactly.
Maybe winning a conference or national championship, right?
I mean, you want to put in the work to be able to say, well, it's worth all of this money that we are shelling out to X player.
Because then what is the point of it all, right?
Then you're just spending money to keep up with the Joneses.
So I know there are some who believe it's harder to have accountability because once you pay guys the money, they're just going to take the money and be happy about it.
But I do think there has to be some sort of incentive to want to be able to work hard.
And being able to get that paycheck, even though it's not pay-for-play, wink-wink, nudge-nudge guys, you want these guys to prove why they're worth the investment that you've made in them.
So I appreciate the comments.
I will say this, though.
When you started mentioning Gainesville, I thought you were going to bring up the Mario Kirby roast throwdown.
That was on day.
On Monday.
Okay.
All right.
I got ahead of my skis.
I'm sorry.
I got ahead of my skis.
All right.
All right.
Go ahead.
No, you go ahead and talk about it.
The tannet light is on.
Double A, go.
Okay.
You know what, guys?
I wonder if, like, Coach Furrier wrote all the jokes for each of them because they were very Furrier-esque.
The ribbing that they gave each other.
More of this, please.
Right?
I mean, how fantastic was it that each of these guys were poking fun at each other?
Everyone was laughing.
Nobody took themselves too seriously, right?
It's okay to have some fun in college football, right?
It's okay to be Steve Spurrier every once in a while.
And I have seen this side of Mario off camera.
And I'm glad the country has seen this side of Mario for just, like, a few milliseconds because there's this image of him.
And it's the same for Kirby, right?
You've got this image of these two guys who are on a football sideline who look like they're ready to tear your head off at any given moment.
You could be up 45-0.
It could be a 20-20 tie game in the fourth quarter, right?
But both of these guys are known for their trademark intensity, their will to win, their competitiveness, their anger, their fire.
To see them tell a few jokes and get a few laughs.
I mean, come on.
Like, it helps soften the image up a little bit.
And I think we can all agree that that image that's projected on a sideline doesn't tell you the full story of a guy or a coach or a gal or a player or anything like that.
So, I enjoyed it.
I'm glad we got to see it.
And I'm certainly glad it happened in the presence of the king of the one-liner, Steve Spurrier, guys.
There you go.
Devil A, you're stamped at a great job this week.
One of them was what college football game are you looking forward to the most?
That's about his no-brainer to me is LSU at Ole Miss.
That's going to be ten times worse than when Nick Saban went to Baton Rouge the first time he was a coach at Alabama.
And that's the one you nominated.
And also, most interesting hire for the coordinators, blast from the past, names on the rise.
Very good stuff there.
Devil A, where can we get online and get those articles and a lot more?
I appreciate that, fellas.
You know, talking about blast from the past.
How about Bobby Petrino working with Bill Belichick?
I still cannot, like, wrap my brain around that.
And I think folks probably have forgotten that and will be reminded as we get closer to football season.
But that's all in there and more.
ESPN.com, college football page.
And our Inside Access show this week on the ACC Network features a great interview with new Wake Forest quarterback, Gio Lopez, who just came from Bill Belichick in North Carolina.
So tune into that if you guys can.
How to embarrass a fly on the wall and be in the room with Belichick and Petrino's stories.
Hey, Double A, it's always good to hook up with you.
Thanks so much for your time, Dan.
Have a safe rest of the week, okay?
All right, fellas, I appreciate it.
Take care.
Thank you, dear.
Double A, Andrew Adelson, ESPN.
Kind of the paraphrase exchange between Cristobal and Kirby.
Cristobal alluded that the reason that they're now in NIL, that Kirby was using the NIL system before it became legal.
And then Kirby fired back.
You do know that Steve Spurrier has more national championships for the head coach at Duke than you do at Miami.
There you go.
Alabama's got a few of them in the trophy case.
Rodney Orr with the latest inside town on deck.
See you.
It's not March Madness.
It's Mad Marchness at Sam's Sports Grill in Florence.
Every game, every bracket buster, every unbelievable buzzer beater all on wall-to-wall TVs.
Fuel your picks with quality food, ice-cold drinks, and game day energy that hits harder than a full-court press.
From crave-worthy favorites to unbeatable drink specials, Sam's is where Florence comes to watch, cheer, and win.
So grab your crew, lock in your bracket, and experience Mad Marchness the Sam's way.
Make our place your place.
Getting the kids to practice on time.
Remembering if it's your day to bring snacks.
Making it to the game with a clean jersey.
Why are simple things sometimes so complicated?
Thankfully, with auto owners, insurance doesn't have to be one of them.
Auto owners works with independent agents who answer when you call,
so you can worry about more important things,
like whether your kid is going to run toward first or third base.
That's simple human sense.
In Florence, see Luke Brown at Hinderger-Johnson & Layton Insurance.
Call 256-764-8682.
Florence Utilities offers several ways to view and pay your utility bill.
Log into your account to sign up for paperless, auto pay, text pay to make your life easier.
When you go green and go paperless, you will no longer have paper bills to fill up your mailbox,
and you'll be helping the environment.
To continue receiving a paper bill and an electronic bill notification,
sign up for text pay.
Add your email address to your account.
Easily view and pay your bill by clicking on the link in the text or email notification.
Visit FlorenceAL.org and select Utilities to register for an account.
Or call 256-760-6512 for more information.
Whether it's day or night, hot flashes due to menopause can be unpredictable.
That's why there's Vioza, a prescription treatment proven to reduce the number and severity of hot flashes day and night
that can start working in as early as one week.
Based on clinical studies measuring efficacy at 4 and 12 weeks, individual results may vary.
Talk to your healthcare provider about what this may mean for you.
For moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms or hot flashes and night sweats due to menopause,
Vioza can cause serious side effects including liver problems.
Your doctor will do blood tests before and during treatment.
Stop Vioza and call your doctor if you have symptoms of liver problems,
such as feeling more tired than usual, decreased appetite, nausea, vomiting, itching,
yellowing of the eyes or skin, pale stool, dark urine, or stomach pain.
Don't use Vioza if you have cirrhosis, severe kidney problems, kidney failure, or take ZIP-182 inhibitors.
Ask your doctor about Vioza.
To learn more, call 1-866-239-1637 or go to Vioza.com.
That's V-E-O-Z-A-H dot com.
And power!
Tim collects bobbleheads.
A lot of bobbleheads.
Baseball bobbleheads.
Race car bobbleheads.
Little chihuahua bobbleheads.
He's got an entire room strictly for bobbleheads.
Does he need them?
No.
Is his wife mad about it?
A little.
But Tim works with Empower and he got good at money.
So he can be a little bad.
Ooh, horse bobblehead.
Classy, Tim.
Empower.
Invest well.
Live a little.
Start today at Empower.com.
Rich Eisen here.
For small businesses, every hire counts.
And so does your time.
Hiring can quickly become overwhelming, from sorting applications to figuring out who's truly qualified.
That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro helps.
It streamlines the process so you can focus on connecting with the right candidates, not managing the noise.
Hire right the first time.
Post your job and get $100 off towards your job post at LinkedIn.com slash Eisen.
That's LinkedIn.com slash Eisen.
Terms and conditions apply.
Progressive presents the sports flash on 93-9, the score.
Men's hoops last night.
The Auburn Tigers fell at Oklahoma, 91-79 in the loss.
Kevin Overton with 26 points, 7 rebounds.
Auburn is now 15-13 on the year and 6-9 in SEC play.
Troy Trojans last night.
Winners at home over Louisiana, 78-59 in the victory.
Gerald Bellamy with 25 points.
Troy is now 19-11 on the year and 11-6 in the Sun Belt.
College baseball action yesterday.
Alabama fell at 12th ranked Southern Miss, 14-4.
Alabama is now 7-2.
North Alabama fell to Samford, 6-5.
The Lions are 6-3.
Samford is 3-5.
Bundle auto and home, renters or condo, and save with Progressive.
I'm John Thayer with the sports flash presented by Progressive on 93-9, the score.
Progressive presents a guided meditation.
Hear the birds sing.
A chipmunk nibbling on an acorn.
Smell the pine needles gently falling into your living room
as the breeze blows through the gaping hole in your roof.
Gaze up that broken tree branch and relax
because you bundle your home and auto with Progressive
and have the peace of mind of 24-7 protection.
So relaxing.
Progressive Casualty Insurance Company of billions and other insurers.
Not available in all states or situations.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9, the score.
The score.
Welcome back in.
He is in the middle of living in a busy place
and about to get even busier.
Rodney, we're checking in from a place called Tuscaloosa
as the founder and editor of tighterinsider.com.
His book is called Bigger Than Balance.
Rodney, welcome in.
How are you?
Doing well, Harold.
Brett, how are you guys?
Man, a lot to get to, Rodney.
You've got all kinds of stuff on your plate there.
Going to talk about tonight's game on the hardwoods.
But it's always a headline.
It's hard to believe why just two weeks away from the spring drills.
Rodney, it's almost a rhetorical question.
When's the last time Alabama had this many questions coming into spring count?
Yeah, man, that is a great question.
You know, I wouldn't even include 2007 because that was just a coaching transition there.
I mean, we knew what was the deal then, right?
But, you know, Harold, I mean, geez, I mean, there are a lot of question marks when you've got a quarterback battle.
You probably have four spots open on the offensive line.
You probably have a spot or two at wide receiver.
I mean, obviously you've got Brooks and Ryan Williams coming back, but you've got Noah Rogers as a new player.
You've got, you know, some other guys are going to have opportunities to be in that rotation.
You've got a whole new defensive line.
Yeah, running back.
You've got a whole new defensive line.
You've got, you lost your top three inside backers.
You've got a transfer and you've got Caden Jones coming back.
And then you've got three of the young guys that they signed a year ago that they were so high on.
Duke Johnson, Luke Metz, and Abdul Sanders.
Of course, you've got the transfer from Virginia Tech, Caleb Woodson.
You know, the secondary really looks to be the main spot, I think, that has depth and quality on your team
because they've recruited a lot of numbers there.
They've recruited a lot of high-quality players.
So, other than that, Harold, I mean, there's just about a question mark everywhere.
And before we even get to special teams, basically, it's a complete facelift there in some ways.
Sure looks like it.
I mean, you think about the offensive line.
You've got a new coach.
You've got, potentially, there are four new starters on that offensive line that weren't even on your roster last year.
Wow.
Not saying that's how it's going to turn out, but, you know, potentially you could have a left tackle that was at Mississippi State.
You could have, you know, a center that was at Cal Poly.
And you could have, you know, a couple of new guards that weren't on the roster.
Maybe Caden Strayhorn being one of those.
You know, we'll see.
But certainly you could have a lot of new faces, you know, on that offensive line.
And then, like I said, I think that possibly two of the three starters on the defensive line are going to be guys that weren't on your roster last year.
So, you kind of get the drift.
And then you probably, now look, they signed a place kicker out of the portal they're really high on.
Orkin Quinn, you know, whether or not he unseats Talti or not, we'll see.
But, you know, there's a lot of things to look at in terms of, you know, what Alabama might be next year.
Ronnie, you mentioned linebackers.
I thought that was the one area that they should have brought in at least one more guy from the portal.
You mentioned the three inside linebackers moving on.
Now, outside linebackers, Yonse Pierre, Justin Hill.
I think Justin Hill's got tremendous potential.
Desmond Yu, coming in from South Carolina, who has played a lot of football.
And you mentioned the other linebackers.
And, Ronnie, again, Caden Jones has played a little bit more.
QB Reese.
All those guys, Sanders, Duke Johnson, Caleb Woodson, I think, has got a lot of experience that's really going to help.
I thought the linebacker position inside and out was in particularly one area.
They should have brought in at least one or two more.
I couldn't agree more, especially on the inside.
I thought, you know, if they could find the right guy, you'd get another experienced guy.
But, you know what?
Listen, they're going to roll with what they have.
Apparently, they must feel confident in those guys.
So, you know, we'll see.
I know they're really talented.
I mean, I think it's just an experience factor there.
And you talk about outside backer.
I mean, obviously, Yonsei Pierre is really talented.
You lost a couple of guys.
You lost Quay Roussau.
You lost Noah Carter.
Both those guys transferred out.
Which I thought, you know, obviously, they were good players.
And I thought Noah Carter had a chance to be really good.
So, yeah, I mean, I do agree with that, Brett.
And, look, I mentioned the offensive line.
Let me mention a guy, too, because I don't want to forget Nick Brooks who transferred in from Texas.
I think he's got a chance to be a pretty good player, maybe, on the interior of that offensive line.
So, they did get some guys, no doubt about it.
I mean, in the portal, I think, on the defensive line, you're talking about Terrence Green,
Kedrick Bingley-Jones, Devin Tompkins, Desmond Yu, as we call him, Des Yu,
who's probably going to be an end.
So, they got some guys.
But, you know, it's just so many new faces.
We're on your titleinsider.com, which goes to the other side of the coin, Rodney.
To me, that's true.
So much peach fuzz, if you will.
A lot of young guns, all kinds of potential.
But, you know what to say about potential.
It can make you poe if you don't live up to it.
Your thoughts about maybe one of the X factors, and it seemed like yesterday,
this kid was a 17-year-old coming out of high school.
Ryan Williams, how important is it for Ryan Williams to step up
and be the leader on this team next season?
Because he's got a natural charisma about him,
but charisma doesn't win ballgames.
Talent does.
Your thoughts about the role of Ryan Williams.
Yeah, I mean, you know, Ryan obviously had a really sophomore slump,
if you want to call it that.
I mean, he wasn't quite what we know he can be.
I won't be surprised if Ryan bounces back and has a big year.
Again, a lot of it's going to depend on what happens around him,
the quarterback, the offensive line, the other receivers.
And I think, you know, so I think Ryan, I would be surprised if he doesn't bounce back
and have a really big year.
And I think, yeah, you're right.
He does have to be a leader.
Man, it's just somebody's going to have to step up, no doubt about it,
on that side of the ball, and more than one guy.
But here's the thing, too, as I'm saying all this stuff.
This isn't just an Alabama thing.
Thank you.
This is pretty much an everybody thing.
Now, with all the movement that goes on due to the portal,
there's a lot of transition, a lot of teams in transition.
So I'm not really trying to make any excuses because there shouldn't be.
You know, you've had three years to kind of put your roster together.
You've recruited well.
You've got the guys out of the portal.
When you go get guys out of the portal,
you should expect those guys to be able to come in and contribute right away
and help you win games.
So there's really not any excuses because there are a lot of other teams,
and most of them on Alabama's schedule are kind of in that same situation
in terms of transition.
Yeah, I look at Tennessee, some interesting stuff there
with their quarterback spot.
And speaking of which, now that they inherited Ty Simpson,
and if you want to comment on Ty at the end of the season
with his health issues, feel free to do so.
But also, as far back to the P-word potential,
does anybody have a more promising quarterback room than Alabama?
The question is, how do you keep them all happy?
Yeah, I mean, you know, again, I think a lot of youth there.
I mean, obviously, Mack has been around.
Austin Mack's been around a while.
This is going on his fourth year in this system with the board and Grubb.
Of course, the one year Grubb was gone, Sheridan.
But, you know, he's got a lot of experience in the system.
I mean, obviously not a lot of playing experience.
I thought when he got into the game, he handled himself really well in the Rose Bowl.
And then, you know, Keelan Russell is just a guy that obviously has a tremendous amount
of ability and potential.
Now, listen, if he is as good as people think and say,
and he can come in and be a Bryce Young type guy in terms of what Bryce did in 2021 with,
hey, Bryce didn't have much more experience than Keelan Russell.
I mean, he didn't play a ton, actually.
Keelan's thrown more touchdown passes, threw more touchdown passes as a true freshman than Bryce did.
If you remember, Bryce only threw one.
But I say all that to say, you know, if he can come in and be that guy
and you can get adequate, good offensive line play, you can improve the run game,
then all of a sudden, a quarterback with that kind of ability can elevate everybody around him.
Now, I'm not trying to put all this pressure on Keelan Russell.
I'm just saying why Alabama might be better than some people think.
Perhaps it's Austin Mack.
Perhaps he's the guy that does that.
I mean, I'm not going to rule that out.
But I am saying that based on the things we've heard about Keelan Russell,
if he's that special and if he's ready,
then he could be a guy that really elevates his team to another level.
So, you know, we'll see.
Ronnie, I know you get this question about every three hours on the board
and it has just turned into nearly an obsession with some Alabama fans.
But with the two new additions, Adrian Clem coming in, the offensive line coach,
Richard Owens is the tight end coach, but he's coached offensive line twice.
Brian Ellis now a quarterback coach.
And it's the same question that we hear too.
And we'll have a little bit better idea during spring.
I believe they begin March the 9th.
It's the annual question of Ronnie, can they run the ball more effectively?
Well, I think they're sure going to try.
I mean, Clem has a reputation as developing physical offensive lines that run the ball
and are productive running the football.
They've had some really good pass protection offensive lines.
He had one team, I think it was at Oregon, that gave up the fewest sacks in the country that year.
And I mean, it was under 10.
That was pretty amazing.
So he's had a lot of success at times building offensive lines.
So that's a good question, Brett.
And I think it's one of the big questions that this Alabama team will face next year.
I mean, one of the questions that this offseason, this spring, how are they going to develop that?
And, you know, obviously they've got Daniel Hill coming back, Kevin Riley coming back, running back.
And then they've got the young players.
A.K. Deer has a lot of talent, as does E.J. Crowell.
So they've got some backs.
They just don't have a real established back, you know.
And, again, that's one of the question marks.
As you start to, you know, kind of list these question marks, that's another one of them.
They don't have a real established back.
I know some of these guys, Riley played some.
You know, Hill had some success.
But they don't have those two or three backs that Saban had, that we're used to Alabama having, you know,
a depth chart full of running backs that have good experience.
So that's an issue, too, I think, as you go into spring.
Yeah, Crowell, Ronnie, may have that potential down the road.
A.K. Deer could be an explosive running back, as we all know.
But they've still got to learn how to block, pick up the blitz, et cetera.
We'll see where it goes.
Alabama basketball going for their seventh consecutive win tonight against Mississippi State.
I'm sure you've got recruiting tidbits down the road, transfer portal, at least put to band for a while,
and then spring practice beginning, I believe, in about another 10 days or so.
Ronnie, where can we get online and get 24-7 access to the message board, all the great stuff, for a very nominal price?
Right, it's tighterinsider.com, and it's only $48 a year, and you can get instant access with your credit card,
or if you prefer, there is an address there to send a check, and, you know, that gives you all the premium stuff.
And, you know, right now it's been kind of slow, but we've certainly got a lot of stuff going on on our all-sports forum,
a lot of talk, a lot of communication, information being exchanged there,
and it should be a wild one tonight once this game gets tipped off.
So look forward to that.
And in about 10 days, I've got a feeling it's really going to pick up there as well.
Rodney, listen, man, thanks so much.
Enjoy the game tonight, and stay safe down there, okay?
Appreciate it, guys.
Take care.
Thank you, bud.
You're a founder and editor, tighterinsider.com, and, again, the book is called Bigger Than Bama.
Coming up in the next hour, Drew Diarmus is going to be on board, Nathan Keene,
talking to the Auburn Tigers, and Rodney would tell you that it's always a sad time.
Senior night right next door, Coach Tony Pujol on that and more straight ahead.
Stay with us.
Hi, I'm Maria, salon owner.
You know the jingle?
Now discover the facts about Ozempic, a GOP-1.
There's only one FDA-approved Ozempic.
Made by Novo Nordisk.
Learn about the real thing.
Talk to your health care professional today.
Call 1-833-OZEMPIC or visit ozempic.com to view the medication guide and to learn more about Ozempic.
Semaglutide injection 0.5, 1, and 2 milligrams.
Shopping with your parents can be embarrassing.
Why would they sell jeans with holes in them?
I'm going to speak to the manager.
Mom!
That hoodie is giving.
You should get it.
YOLO.
Thanks to the Chase mobile app, your kid can shop independently while you keep an eye on their spending.
So you can go from...
We can be twinsies.
To...
Power shopping.
Saw you stayed on budget.
Thanks, Mom.
Freedom for kids.
Control for parents.
That's family banking from Chase.
Account subject to approval.
Chase mobile app is available for select mobile devices.
Message and data rates may apply.
JPMorgan Chase Bank NA.
Member FDIC.
My name is Whitney Allen, and I'm a widow.
My husband, Ryan, died.
We never thought we'd ever have to use life insurance, but the unexpected happened.
With Ethos, signing up was fast and 100% online.
You can get a quote in seconds, apply in minutes, and get same-day coverage.
No medical exams, and you can get up to $3 million worth of coverage.
I am grateful we were prepared.
Get your free quote at ethos.com slash game.
That's ethos.com slash game.
Paid spokesperson.
Time spent on application may vary.
Online health questions required.
Rich Eisen here.
For small businesses, every hire counts, and so does your time.
Hiring can quickly become overwhelming, from sorting applications to figuring out who's truly qualified.
That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro helps.
It streamlines the process so you can focus on connecting with the right candidates, not managing the noise.
Hire right the first time.
Post your job and get $100 off towards your job post at linkedin.com slash Eisen.
That's linkedin.com slash Eisen.
Terms and conditions apply.
Rich Eisen here.
As you all know, I care deeply about pediatric cancer research and awareness.
That's why I'm proud to talk about Hyundai Hope on Wheels.
For over 27 years, every Hyundai sold has helped fund life-saving pediatric cancer research.
Together with over 850 dealers nationwide, they've raised more than $277 million,
supporting over 25,000 kids in their fight against cancer.
At Hyundai, hope isn't optional.
It comes standard.
Visit HyundaiUSA.com and search Hyundai Hope on Wheels to learn more.
Alabama's members of Congress attended the State of the Union Address last night at the Capitol Building.
President Trump spoke for nearly two hours, addressing the state of the nation when it comes to the economy, national security,
and the bravery being exhibited by Americans of all ages.
U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt praised the president's speech while also condemning the Democrats who attended the speech
but would not stand or applaud for some of the Americans that the president was recognizing.
Tuberville called it a d*** shame, especially when Trump made it clear that the first duty of the American government
is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.
Senator Britt also commented on Democrats' refusal to protect Americans, saying that they have apparently still not gotten the memo.
Congressman Barry Moore thanked the president for standing for the truth in making that statement.
I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this.
Did you know that 70% of people experience a potentially traumatic event in their lifetime
and that 6 out of every 100 adults face PTSD every day?
Help us bring hope to these survivors by signing up for your Alabama Distinctive PTSD Awareness License plate today.
The great thing is you can sign up no matter when your current plate renews, and the first year is complimentary.
All you need is your FIN number on hand.
Drive awareness, drive hope, and customize your plate today at atease.org.
A Huntsville man is facing charges of child sex crimes involving two children under the age of 12.
37-year-old Jordan Barnes was arrested this week following an investigation that started back in January
after he visited a friend's home where the children were.
There's a group of women from central Alabama who are stuck in Mexico as unrest continues among cartel gang members
who are furious after their cartel leader, El Mencho, was killed by the Mexican military.
WIAT News has been in contact with the women.
Seven women are not sure when they'll be able to access an airport and fly home.
I'm Andrea Tice.
For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com.
And while you're there, subscribe to the daily newsletter.
Wendy's has a new Girl Scout Thin Mints Frosty Fusion.
With Girl Scout Thin Mints cookie pieces, rich, creamy, frosty, and a mint chocolate cookie sauce.
Which means Girl Scout Thin Mints and Wendy's Frosty, yeah, they're basically best friends now.
It's like two delicious desserts just high-fived, snapped a few too many friendship selfies,
and then rode a tandem bike down a never-ending road of mint chocolate frosty perfection.
So, swing by Wendy's and try the new Thin Mints Frosty Fusion.
Limited time only.
Participate in U.S. Wendy's.
My name is Whitney Allen, and I'm a widow.
My husband, Ryan, died.
We never thought we'd ever have to use life insurance, but the unexpected happened.
With Ethos, signing up was fast and 100% online.
You can get a quote in seconds, apply in minutes, and get same-day coverage.
No medical exams, and you can get up to $3 million worth of coverage.
I am grateful we were prepared.
Get your free quote at ethos.com slash game.
That's ethos.com slash game.
Paid spokesperson.
Time spent on application may vary.
Online health questions required.
Billy, your gas light's on.
We need to stop and fill up.
No way, Jen.
Gas around here is too expensive.
We can make it a little further.
Billy, listen to your big sister.
You don't need to drive all over searching for the lowest gas prices.
Do what I do and use Upside.
Upside?
Do you live under a rock, Billy?
Upside is the hottest cash back app out there.
It's free to download, and you get real cash back for every gallon of gas you buy.
Top users make between $200 to $300 per month.
You can make that kind of cash back just for buying the gas you have to buy anyway?
Yes, I'm looking at the Upside app now, and there's a gas station at the next exit offering
25 cents per gallon cash back.
Okay, I'm stopping to download Upside and fill up my tank.
Download the free Upside app now to earn cash back every time you buy gas.
Use promo code GOOD25 to get an extra 25 cents per gallon on your first tank.
You can cash out any time right to your bank, to PayPal, or a gift card for Amazon and other brands.
Just download the free Upside app and use promo code GOOD25 for a 25 cents per gallon bonus on your first tank.
That's code GOOD25 for a 25 cents per gallon bonus.
Valley Broadcasting Corporation, WITK-FM, Rogersville, Athens, Decatur, The Shores.
Sports Radio 93.9, The Score.
Tide fans.
Here comes the Tide.
Let's move.
At one for the win.
Ball game, ball game, ball game, and the win.
Grab your hard hats and tune in for blue collar basketball with the Crimson Tide all season long on your home for Alabama basketball.
This Wednesday, Alabama welcomes the Mississippi State Bulldogs to Coleman Coliseum.
Airtime is 7 p.m. with a tip at 8 here on 93.9, The Score.
Brought to you locally in part by...
...Nationwide Insurance Agents Michael Noe and Bill Cochran, Gardner Pierce Auto, the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, Bob's Tire and Alignment, Alta Insurance Agents David Jordan, Mike Mitchell, and Matt Henry, Fake Independent, Champion's World Famous Fried Chicken, Carnet Electric, and Elliott Johnson Insurance.
Alabama and Mississippi State, this Wednesday night at 7 on 93.9, The Score.
93.9, The Score.
For today, a 20% chance of afternoon showers high around 60.
Tonight, a 70% chance of showers, maybe a thunderstorm low near 55.
Tomorrow, an 80% chance of showers, maybe a thunderstorm high around 65.
Tomorrow night, a 40% chance of showers low near 45.
And Friday, sunny skies high around 65.
Your weather from 93.9, The Score.
Now, get ready to roll.
Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of northwest Alabama and southern Tennessee.
It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice.
The Boomo Bugg Show.
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.
Welcome back in.
I was here to the Boomo Bugg Show.
I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird.
Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley and for checking in on the 93.9, The Score app.
And with that, we say hello to the boss of UNA Men's Basketball, Coach Tony Pujo.
Coach, welcome in.
How are you?
Harold, how are you guys doing today?
Yeah, we're kind of melancholic a little bit, Coach, because is it time for the old artist Prince to move over?
It's purple rain time tonight at CB&S Arena.
And I would imagine as a head coach, it's a bittersweet night.
Where's time gone?
The last home game of the season for you guys.
Coach, talk to us about senior nights and what it means to you and at least four seniors, three players, and let's face it, one of the most important parts of any team, guys on the bench.
Yeah, 100%.
Thank you for bringing that up because I think it's so important in today's dynamic where we have three special guys that are going to play their last home game today, but one in particular, right?
You've got Jamal Albritton, who's been here for three years.
You know, Dante Bacchus, who's been here for two, but one of the coolest things on our team is the fact that we have the only Division I basketball player that's been in college for six years.
You know, he was here during COVID, and he got hurt last year and got a medical lecture, which gives him those two extra years.
And he's the only one that's been at Division I level that's been in college for six years at the same school.
You know, and to me, that's something you don't hear about.
Most kids that are in school for five or six years have transferred.
And Dallas Howell has been here the whole time.
It's just a great day to honor these three individuals, especially Dallas, who's been with us for six years.
Can we expand on that a little bit?
Because it is a rarity in this day and time when kids have so many options.
The first time someone talks to the wrong side of the mouth, they'll transfer out on you.
But to stay six years anywhere, what does that say?
We see numbers and stats, but, Coach, you see them as a person.
Talk to us about the person.
Oh, well, you know, to me, all three of them are just fantastic human beings, right?
Like, they're all three of them.
Jamal's been with us for three years, and, you know, he was a JUCO transfer.
He got hurt last year also, which got him another year.
And then, obviously, Dante came over from Sneak State.
He's been with us for two.
But Dallas has been here through everything, right?
He was here his first year on campus was COVID year.
So he got to deal with us, you know.
And then, you know, after that, he's been here through the, after we got, you know,
released from the NCAA, you know, those four-year probation where we're not allowed to play in the postseason.
He was part of the team that won the most games in Division I history when we won 18 games the year after we got out of that probationary period.
And then, obviously, unfortunately, last year, he was obviously part of the team, but obviously tore his ACL, but was always around the team, around the program.
He was like another coach on the sideline when we won the regular season championship, which was the first team at UNA during the Division I era to win a team championship, regular season champions of the eight suns.
So, you know, all I can tell you about Dallas is, you know, he is by far a culture guy in our program.
He's a pillar of the program, and he is definitely one of the guys that are going to go down in history as one of the best to have played here.
So, I'm just very thankful to have been his coach during that time.
In fact, he's almost played as long as I've coached here.
So, I coached here for eight years.
He's been here for six.
So, you know, I'm just thankful to have Dallas not only as a player, but just a human being in our program.
Tony, when you look at the final score against Lemscombe, and it's 73-51,
a casual fan would say, well, UNA got smoked in that game.
That's not correct.
You led for over 15 minutes.
You had a 26-24 lead at halftime, and then Lemscombe scored 49 points on 20 of 27 shots from the field.
That's 74%.
Not too many teams are going to shoot 74% in the second half.
Lipscombe did, but I thought to myself, that may be a little bit of a microcosm of the season.
You lead, there were nine lead changes.
You're leading at halftime, and then the second half went another way.
Yeah, well, I can tell you this.
If you look at all the games, especially that we've played in the last six to eight games,
we've either been leading during the game or definitely leading in the first half.
And when you're playing seven scholarship guys, you know, it's hard, right?
You've got a few guys that are out.
Obviously, Cannon Jefferson hasn't played in about three and a half weeks.
Darkon King hasn't played in over a month.
You know, these are guys that are instrumental in your nine-man rotation.
And unfortunately, right now, for us, these seven guys have to kind of play the entire game.
And I know it weighs on them.
You know, they do a good job, but it's hard for them to sustain for 40 minutes when you're
playing just seven guys.
And my thing moving forward is, you know, we've got to just continue to hammer away.
Hopefully, we're getting news that maybe we'll have a few, two of these guys come back
right before tournament time.
So that hopefully will, you know, bring some, you know, just bring some of those minutes
that are so desperately needed for these guys to just get a little bit of rest.
I think Bacchus is averaging like 36 minutes, 38 minutes a game.
Cornelius Williams up in the upper 30s.
Kevin Dekovicic also.
So we just, if we can get a couple of these guys, I think our guys would definitely benefit
from that.
You bring up a good point, Coach, because you know, if we know that, the opposing coaches,
it's almost like a no-brainer how to approach you to things, get your big guys in foul trouble
because you've got a short bench.
And like Alabama, play jackrabbit ball, run their tongues out to get to the second half.
So if you've got a short bench, it's kind of a no-brainer.
Your thoughts on that, and let's face it, sports, anyone who's been around as long as all of us,
it's a roller coaster.
Some seasons, what's the old saying, some days you're the windshield, some days you're the bug.
Your thoughts, what have you learned this season?
And what, as far as comparing to last year when everything went right, this year, like you said,
you're down to seven scholarship players, the lessons learned, and then how do you counter,
knowing that the other coach is going to sit here and try to get you guys in foul trouble
to get you into the second half?
Yeah, I mean, you know, what I've learned is, you know, especially us and our staff,
is no matter what we, no matter what type of adversity hits us or challenges, we've got to keep moving, right?
Like, we've got to keep coaching these guys.
We've got to keep bringing energy, bringing our effort, knowing that it's going to be enough for these guys, right?
Like, we can't, if we're going to tell these players to move on to the next play or, hey, man,
take the challenges on and break them and move forward, we as coaches have to do the same.
I mean, we can't, you don't want to be hypocritical here, right?
You want to make sure that you're giving them the same type of information that you expect them.
So us as coaches, one of the things that I know we've learned is, you know, how can we best help these guys with what we can do, right?
So we, any little thing that we can help them with, even going into the game, how do we help even with timeouts,
maybe to give them a break in between sessions, you know, like, it's just something that we've been kind of working on.
And like I said, if you look at the game, Central Arkansas, we were up 13 at one point, just kind of ran out of gas.
We beat each other in overtime, you know, on national television.
We're right there.
We just got to keep telling these guys to keep hammering away.
In fact, every goal that we have set for ourselves is still attainable, which is to win the 8th Sun Tournament, right?
Which, that's the, we're a one bid league.
So let's position ourselves, let's continue to get better every day so that we can, that we can move forward.
So if you're asking me what I've learned, is that just be persistent and just stay with and be positive.
Tell you one thing that is consistent is Cornelius Williams leading the 8th Sun in rebounding.
Did it last year, averaging 9.6 rebounds a game this year.
West of Georgia's Shelton Williams drying his second, but Cornelius continues to clean up on the boards.
Yeah, and, you know, that's the thing.
Cornelius has done a really good job of just being him, right?
Now he's supporting Cass, needs to join him.
But he's another one, you know, Brett, he's another one that, you know, is playing a lot of minutes, right?
Yeah, I'm sure.
We just got to make sure that, you know, we keep these guys with their head on right.
But as far as what Cornelius does, Cornelius is going to do what Cornelius is going to do.
You know, he's going to rebound, he's going to defend.
He's just a force down there.
And he sees the difference between last year and this year.
You know, when the second leading rebounder last year was Tate Fields, who was only a few rebounds behind him.
Cornelius doesn't have that with him this year.
So he's getting a lot of double teams.
He's getting a lot of, like, they're really physical with him down there.
And even with that, he's still leading the league in rebounding, which is pretty amazing.
Coach, obviously, you would love to see a full house last regular season game come early, stay late.
It's a twin bill.
Your thoughts about the message to the fans and the matchup tonight on the court?
You know what?
I'll be honest with you both.
I don't have to send a message.
The fans in our community have been outstanding.
Guys, all you've got to do is look at the attendance records in our league.
It's amazing.
But North Alabama, our men's basketball, leads the league in attendance.
And you know what that tells me is that we don't have fair-weather fans.
We have fans that want to go through the complete experience with these young men, regardless to what the outcomes are.
And I know, like everybody else, everybody likes to win.
But, man, they keep showing up.
And our guys really do appreciate it.
And all I can tell you is there's no way that anybody can tell me that this is not just unique and really, I mean, just an unbelievable community, how they support not only our team, how they support every team at our university.
So, again, just very thankful, very grateful to be a part of the Florence community.
There's no message that I've got to send out because I know they're coming.
And I want them to know that I'm very, very thankful, very grateful for that.
Well, Tony, another one I know you want to say thanks to, and we've talked about it during the course of the season, is Lost Pizza, being able to sponsor the UNA Coaches Show.
We're proud to be able to broadcast every night.
And now with the season coming to the end, so is the show.
But I know that's been a lot of fun, and a lot of people have come down and enjoyed some good UNA basketball talk and pizza.
Unbelievable.
And I definitely want to send out a shout-out to Chuck McCarty, the owner of Lost Pizza, and Ike Fowler, the owner of Alabama Health Guidance.
Those two have spearheaded this whole thing, and they've made it a unique opportunity for all of us to get engaged with our community.
I mean, it's a packed house every night.
The enthusiasm there, not only for myself, but, you know, for Coach Whitaker, our women's coach, and even our other sports, right, like baseball, softball.
They've been out there, you know, talking to folks and now leading into the spring sports.
Those two men, again, Chuck McCarty and Ike Fowler, very, very thankful for them for just the way that they put that together.
It's top-notch.
Coach, they're both class-backs and wonderful men in our community that did a tremendous job with the show.
Again, very grateful for those two guys and everything that Lost Pizza's done.
I know they appreciate the shout-out.
Coach, again, senior night, grab a box of Kleenex and get a win, okay?
Yeah, that's the plan, brother.
That's the plan.
Thank you, Tony.
Get a men's basketball coach, Tony Pujol.
By the way, the night gets started at 545.
The women, UNA women, they take on Central Arkansas.
They will have their senior night coming up Friday against West Georgia.
Meanwhile, what's going on down the plains?
The king, Nathan King, talking Tigers next.
Stay with us.
Yo, Harvey, Zoe, group selfie.
Ooh, nice new iPhone 17, Drewski.
Let's do a triangle formation.
I'm in front.
With a center stage front camera, everyone fits in the shot.
We got it at T-Mobile.
But switching takes forever.
Not anymore.
Now you can switch to T-Mobile in just 15 minutes.
Focus, people.
Nail your pose.
And you get a new iPhone 17 on them.
No way.
Yes way.
No way.
Yes way, guys.
Switch to T-Mobile and get iPhone 17 on us.
And right now, we'll pay off your old phone up to 800 bucks.
I'm grabbing my phone and switching to T-Mobile right now.
Get back, Harvey.
We're taking a phone.
Ah, let's go again, y'all.
With 24 monthly bill credits, finance agreement, 256 gigabytes, $830.
Eligible trade in example iPhone 13 and new qualifying lines.
$60 plus per month plan with auto pay plus taxes and fees.
For well-qualified customers plus tax and $35 device connection charge.
Credit end and balance due if you pay off earlier, cancel.
Contact us.
$800 via virtual prepaid card.
Card typically takes 15 days after rebate submission.
No cash access and card expires in six months.
Check out in 15 minutes per line.
Visit T-Mobile.com.
My name is Whitney Allen and I'm a widow.
My husband, Ryan, died.
We never thought we'd ever have to use life insurance, but the unexpected happened.
With Ethos, signing up was fast and 100% online.
You can get a quote in seconds, apply in minutes, and get same-day coverage.
No medical exams, and you can get up to $3 million worth of coverage.
I am grateful we were prepared.
Get your free quote at ethos.com slash game.
That's ethos.com slash game.
Paid spokesperson.
Time spent on application may vary.
Online health questions required.
My name is Whitney Allen.
Spring savings start early at Lowe's.
Get a cobalt 24-volt max leaf blower for just $99.
It's powerful, lightweight, and ready to go.
Plus, get four bags of stay green one-cubic-foot garden soil for just $10.
Don't wait.
Get everything you need to start on your spring projects today.
Our best lineup is here at Lowe's.
Bell at the 3-4.
Soil offer excludes a wide.
Selection varies by location.
All supplies last.
Empower.
Tim collects bobbleheads.
A lot of bobbleheads.
Baseball bobbleheads.
Race car bobbleheads.
Little chihuahua bobbleheads.
He's got an entire room strictly for bobbleheads.
Does he need them?
No.
Is his wife mad about it?
A little.
But Tim works with Empower, and he got good at money.
So he can be a little bad.
Ooh, horse bobblehead.
Classy, Tim.
Empower.
Invest well.
Live a little.
Start today at Empower.com.
I'm Boomer Esiason.
My mom died from cancer.
She was only 37 years old.
She didn't have life insurance, and that was devastating for my family.
That's why having life insurance is so important to me.
Ethos makes it fast and easy.
Get a quote in seconds, apply in minutes, and get same-day coverage.
You can get up to $3 million in coverage with no medical exam.
Get your free quote at ethos.com slash play.
That's ethos.com slash play.
Paid spokesperson.
Time span on application may vary.
Online health questions required.
Finding great candidates to hire can be like, well, trying to find a needle in a haystack,
but not with ZipRecruiter.
Its powerful technology actively finds and invites qualified candidates to apply to your job.
So while other companies might deliver a lot of hay, ZipRecruiter finds you the needle in the haystack.
See why four out of five employers who post a job on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day.
Try ZipRecruiter for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash free.
That's ZipRecruiter.com slash free.
ZipRecruiter.
You like saving money, right?
We all do.
That's why Allstate just lowered the price of car insurance.
Not, but wait, there's a catch.
Lower.
Actually lower.
So if you're shopping around or just want to see how much you can save,
check Allstate first for a new lower auto rate that could save you hundreds.
You're in good hands with Allstate.
Not available in every state, only applicable for new auto insurance business.
Rates will vary by several factors, including how you purchase the policy.
Potential savings vary.
Allstate North American Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois.
My name is Whitney Allen, and I'm a widow.
My husband, Ryan, died.
We never thought we'd ever have to use life insurance, but the unexpected happened.
With Ethos, signing up was fast and 100% online.
You can get a quote in seconds, apply in minutes, and get same-day coverage.
No medical exams, and you can get up to $3 million worth of coverage.
I am grateful we were prepared.
Get your free quote at ethos.com slash game.
That's ethos.com slash game.
Paid spokesperson.
Time spent on application may vary.
Online health questions required.
Time is valuable.
That's why Lowe's Blueprint Takeoffs turn blueprints into quotes faster.
Bring us your plans, and we'll generate itemized material lists to make quoting easier so you can get back to building.
Plus, at the Lowe's Pro Desk, you get access to thousands of building materials not sold in store.
And when your order's ready, we'll deliver everything to the job site.
Improving is easy at Lowe's.
For 70 years, the Humane Society of the United States has worked to end animal cruelty.
Now, we're continuing that mission as Humane World for Animals.
Help make change for animals.
Visit HumaneWorld.org.
The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9, The Score.
The Score.
Welcome back, kid.
Really appreciate free ride around the valley.
And for Nathan King, taking time out of his busy schedule, following the Auburn Tigers there at 24-7 Sports,
part of the Auburn Undercover family.
Nathan, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm doing good.
How are you guys?
Yeah, we're doing all right, Nathan.
I tell you what, are any of us smart enough to figure out any SEC basketball team this season?
One minute, you're on top of the mountain, and the next minute, you're down at the bottom seeing an avalanche coming at you.
Talk to us about the emotions of this Auburn basketball team from Saturday to last night, Nathan.
Yeah, I mean, you just hit on it.
The inconsistency is the biggest thing about this team.
You know, none of us are necessarily surprised that this is not a SEC contender this season.
That was not what we expected in year one under Stephen Farrell.
It's not what we expected with a completely, almost a completely brand-new roster.
But maybe you would expect them to have figured some things out at this point in the season.
But to your point, it's so up and down.
But I think, unfortunately for this team, it may be only down on the defensive end of the floor.
That was just my biggest takeaway from last night is that, you know, they have had some solid moments on defense this season.
I think it led to that win over Florida.
I think their defense is ultimately what got them that win over Kentucky because of how well they played in the second half.
But on the whole, guys, this is a very, very poor defensive team.
Oklahoma starts last night shooting 9 of 12 from 3.
Stephen Farrell said it after the game that, you know, of their first 10 makes from 3, he thought 8 were just, you know, terrible defensive rotations.
You know, maybe they made two toughies, but teams are going to do that.
And how many times have we heard that this season, guys?
I mean, it was almost an error image of the Josh Hubbard game for Mississippi State of just a team chucking up a bunch of threes and making everything.
At some point, you cannot just chalk that up to difficult shot making anymore.
At some point, it's a systematic defensive issue.
I think we reached that point a month ago with this Auburn team.
We'll see what they're able to do because their defense continues to fail them.
Nathan, the obvious question is, you look at this resume, and it's like a shotgun, is it not?
You got Florida, you got Kentucky, close against Houston, and then you got games like last night.
Oklahoma's not exactly going to win a national championship.
It's on the road.
But the obvious question, Nathan, what does this do?
Where does this put this Auburn basketball team with the obvious question as far as the postseason?
Well, this is why that Kentucky game carried so much weight.
This kind of result is exactly why you had to beat Kentucky at home because that was another quality win for your resume.
That was a quadrant one win that I think puts you in the field assuming you can take care of business here down the stretch.
And look, I think maybe what was misconstrued by some people is we talked about that Kentucky game and said,
hey, you know, got to win this one if you want to get in the NCAA tournament.
It was never you have to win this one and you have to go beat a quad one Oklahoma game on the road.
So I think still, and I know people maybe don't want to hear this, but this is a special case, this Auburn team.
This is a team that could finish 8-10 in the SEC if they win these next two home games and lose to Alabama.
And I think they're in, and I don't really think there's much discourse about it.
I wrote about it today, and you've seen some statistics.
This team's schedule is just absurd.
They've played five games against top seven Ken Palm teams.
All of those have been on the road.
They're 6-11 against teams that are currently in the field.
That's a pretty decent number of teams that are currently projected to be NCAA tournament teams.
They're almost 500 against those teams.
They've played more quad one games than anybody in the country, and they've got five quad one wins.
I kind of wrote about it today.
The bubble is so weak that when you start to compare this Auburn team to, let's say, Missouri, let's say, UCLA, let's say, TCU,
you know, high major teams that are, quote, on the bubble, it's not even close, guys.
It's not even a competition.
Auburn has more quad one wins, and their schedule is just miles ahead.
I mean, they have the number one schedule in the country and the number one strength of schedule in the net rankings in the entire country.
These other teams are talking about don't have as many quad one wins, and their schedules are in the 40s and 50s.
So, it's like the selection committee will take that into very serious account.
This is an Auburn schedule that was absolutely murderous.
And, look, they would like to have had some more wins with the way I've been kind of putting it is, imagine how many wins this Auburn team would have if they had these other teams' schedules.
If their toughest game, if they're Missouri, your toughest game in the non-conference is Minnesota, how many more Auburn wins would they have this season?
Would they have four or five more wins in the non-conference?
And then we'd be having a much different conversation right now.
Right.
Well, Nathan, that's what I was going to say.
Auburn has beaten Florida.
They beat St. John's, who's now won 13 consecutive games.
They beat North Carolina State.
They lost Houston by one.
And going back to the theory on defense, Auburn's 313th out of 365 and allowing nine three-point makes per game.
And you mentioned this.
I was reading your stuff this morning, and I'll quote you.
The team's personnel includes too many poor defenders, and Stephen Pearl is unable to be the all-out dedicated defensive coordinator like he used to be as an assistant.
Yeah, I think that's it.
I mean, I think it's pretty simple at this point in the season, the kind of personnel this team has.
Look, guys, like, there is no Denver Jones on this team that you can just send out there and say,
all right, bud, the opposing team's best guard, go shut him down.
You know, there is no Chad Baker Mazzara, who's a 6'8 wing, who's lightning quick and can defend on the perimeter.
There's no Dylan Hardwell that you can say, hey, man, your only job is to get defensive rebounds and block shots.
Like, they just don't have players like that on this team.
And I don't think it's necessarily – people have been talking about it this week.
I don't think it's a failure in roster construction or anything like that.
I don't know if they could have anticipated Keyshawn Hall being this bad of a defender.
He is the – you know, he is the focal point of this team.
And it's just, man, when him and Tahod Pettiford aren't going, this team has a lot of problems.
A guy like Kevin Overton can try to make up for it.
You know, he had five three-pointers last night, which was impressive.
And, you know, other guys in this rotation have had their moments this season.
But this is just not – I just – I think a lot of it comes down to personnel.
And I don't know if that's necessarily a huge deal for this team.
This was a weird offseason.
They had to put this roster together to replace ten guys.
And then, oh, on top of it, the head coach who's there right now isn't even the head coach who put the roster together.
And I'm sort of tired of people saying, well, Stephen Pearl had a big hand in creating this roster.
And it's like, okay, how much do you think the head coach does in putting together a roster as opposed to maybe the top assistant?
I mean, that's probably an 80-20 ratio we're talking about there.
So, I mean, it would have been a difficult season for anybody.
I think it would have been a difficult season for Bruce Pearl to put together.
Maybe he would have squeezed out a few more wins right now.
But, yeah, I mean, I think the defense at this point, they just are what they are.
I don't think they have any elite defenders on this team.
I think Sebastian Williams Adams as a freshman has the potential to be that.
But he's still an 18-, 19-year-old in a college freshman's body.
So, you know, it's difficult for him night in and night out.
And that just means they're going to have to get really, really efficient offensive performances here down the stretch.
And that means Taha Pettiford and Keyshawn Hall need to be more consistent.
Nathan King, Auburn undercover.
You bring up a good point.
I'm old school.
If you don't have defense, I don't care.
Unless you're just like Alabama the other night and you score 120, then you can give up 118.
But you better be able to score 120.
But the other side of that schedule dilemma is, when you look at it, Nathan, is it safe to say two of the next three games are definitely winnable?
First of all, both are home.
One's against Ole Miss coming up this weekend.
The other one is the following Tuesday night against LSU.
Neither one's going to win a national championship.
And then the emotions will take care of itself in the season, regular season finale, in the Iron Bowl of basketball at Alabama.
Your thoughts about the closing schedule here in the regular season?
Yeah, the Alabama game just becomes gravy for this team.
I mean, it's a road game.
It's against a quad one opponent.
It's against the top.
I haven't looked at Alabama, but I would think they're approaching three or four seed territory in the NCAA tournament.
That's going to be a really, really difficult outing.
So it all comes down to these next couple games, and honestly, the schedule works out nicely for you here.
I mean, the fact that you have two home games, not to mention you're playing two of the worst teams in the league, but you get them both at home.
Ole Miss, so Ole Miss won three in a row before they played Auburn in that game last month in Oxford, the game that Auburn won.
So they won three in a row before that.
They have not won since.
They have lost eight straight games since then, and if you look at the metrics, they are playing worse than anybody in the SEC, even worse than South Carolina, who is absolutely dreadful.
And then LSU has lost eight of their last nine games.
So what is that?
What is that?
You know, 15 of their last 16 games combined, these teams have lost.
Now, they're going to see each other tonight.
They're going to play each other tonight.
Ole Miss and LSU are, so somebody's got to win that game.
But, yeah, I mean, you're exactly right.
These next two games, it almost feels silly to even call them must-win.
It's more like a can't-lose because, obviously, they're must-win games.
But it's like, you lose one of these, you're done.
You know what I mean?
You're absolutely done.
It's a quad three home loss when you're already a team on the bubble, and it adds to this narrative we've been talking about of, hey, Auburn, you know, isn't consistent.
And that probably speaks to the committee as well of, like, hey, this team's just not good right now, and they're taking losses that they shouldn't.
So, yeah, absolutely must-win those two games at home.
Obviously, Auburn is probably going to be close to a double-digit favorite in both games, but they've got to go out there and perform in the Tuesday's game behind them.
And like we were talking about, I think if you win those two games, I think you're in the tournament.
Now, maybe are you a first-four team?
Maybe.
We might be having that conversation, but I really cannot see an Auburn team that has five quad one wins and has six wins against the field that has played more quad one games than anybody, has the number one strength of schedule, and came out of it with a decent resume, all things considered.
I can't see that team being left out of the tournament.
I really can't.
Nathan, Auburn, baseball, one thing is for sure, they're playing well.
It's going to be Kansas State, number nine, Florida State, number 15, Louisville.
Last weekend at Globe Life Field, I know Jason Conwell's got the baseball side of it covered.
Recruiting, transfer portal now put to bed for a while.
But a lot of things going on, spring practice, next time we turn around.
Nathan, where can we get online to get your stuff and the teams?
For sure.
Auburnundercover.com, still running 50% off if you're not a member.
You guys mentioned the notebook I wrote today on basketball.
That's a VIP piece, so if you'd like to access that and everything else we have to offer, like you mentioned, baseball and softball are off and running.
We've got coverage of that, recruiting, and spring practice will be here before you know it, and so will the SEC and NCAA tournaments.
So if you want all that coverage and more, head over to auburnundercover.com.
Sounds like a buffet of Auburn coverage.
Nathan, thanks so much for taking time out of that busy schedule and joining us today, and stay safe, okay?
Thanks, guys.
Appreciate y'all.
Thank you, bud.
Nathan King, busy 24-7 sports, Auburn undercover.
Coming up, he is D-squared.
Drew DeArmond on deck.
Stay with us.
Hi, this is Christy with J.C. Hammond Sons.
Did you know that J.C. Hammond Sons is the oldest family-owned hitting-air business in the Shows area?
Over the years, we have helped thousands of customers achieve ideal home comfort.
If you need help with your home comfort system, give us a call at 256-764-7386 or stop by our new location at 2536 Florence Boulevard.
J.C. Hammond Sons, your comfort professionals.
Serving the Shows since 1952.
Alabama license 833-91.
You like saving money, right?
We all do.
That's why Allstate just lowered the price of car insurance.
Not, but wait, there's a catch.
Lower.
Actually lower.
So if you're shopping around or just want to see how much you could save, check Allstate first for a new lower auto rate that could save you hundreds.
You're in good hands with Allstate.
Not available in every state.
Only applicable for new auto insurance business.
Rates will vary by several factors, including how you purchase the policy.
Potential savings vary.
Allstate, North American insurance company and affiliates.
Northbrook, Illinois.
DQ presents The Swicey Menu.
For a limited time, try the new Flamethrower Chicken Strip Basket for $6.99 with spicy, bold strips that heat you up.
Served with a side of famous DQ Soft Serve as a dip to cool you down.
That's right.
Dip those spicy chicken strips right into Soft Serve.
Plus fries and toast, all for just $6.99.
And add a new pineapple lemonade sparkler or cooler made with tahini.
It's the limited time only Swicey Menu.
Get it delivered in the DQ app.
Happy.
Tastes good.
Participation may vary.
Empower.
Tim collects bobbleheads.
A lot of bobbleheads.
Baseball bobbleheads.
Race car bobbleheads.
Little chihuahua bobbleheads.
He's got an entire room strictly for bobbleheads.
Does he need them?
No.
Is his wife mad about it?
A little.
But Tim works with Empower and he got good at money.
So he can be a little bad.
Ooh, horse bobblehead.
Classy, Tim.
Empower.
Invest well.
Live a little.
Start today at Empower.com.
Rich Eisen here.
For small businesses, every hire counts.
And so does your time.
Hiring can quickly become overwhelming from sorting applications to figuring out who's truly qualified.
That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro helps.
It streamlines the process so you can focus on connecting with the right candidates, not managing the noise.
Hire right the first time.
Post your job and get $100 off towards your job post at LinkedIn.com slash Eisen.
That's LinkedIn.com slash Eisen.
Terms and conditions apply.
Furnished by IntelliBrands.
Have you ever felt leg pain, restlessness, cramps, tingling, swelling, numbness, itchiness, or coldness?
Then you need the new patented Legsercise Pro.
The natural circulation booster that uses continuous automatic leg movement to soothe pain and promote healthy circulation.
The natural, drug-free way.
Using Legsercise made walking painless again.
Legsercise Pro's patented walking simulator propulsion technology moves your feet back and forth along its concave track, creating constant movement and flex in both the knee and ankle joints.
It's like having a physical therapist right in your own home.
I have much less swelling and no more tingling.
Call right now and order your very own Legsercise Pro, the new proven automatic leg mover that soothes pain and naturally promotes healthy circulation.
Call 800-555-1212.
That's 800-555-1212.
800-555-1212 now.
These statements and products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition.
Progressive presents The Sports Flash on 93.9 The Score.
College baseball action yesterday.
Alabama fell at 12th-ranked Southerner Miss, 14-4.
Alabama is now 7-2.
North Alabama fell to Samford, 6-5.
The Lions are 6-3.
Samford is 3-5.
Men's Hoops last night.
The Auburn Tigers fell at Oklahoma, 91-79 in the loss.
Kevin Overton with 26 points, 7 rebounds.
Auburn is now 15-13 on the year and 6-9 in SEC play.
Troy Trojans last night.
Winners at home over Louisiana, 78-59 in the victory.
Gerald Bellamy with 25 points.
Troy is now 19-11 on the year and 11-6 in the Sun Belt.
Bundle auto and home, renters or condo, and save with Progressive.
I'm John Thayer with The Sports Flash presented by Progressive on 93.9 The Score.
Confidence is knowing you're ready to handle whatever comes your way.
That's what it feels like to take on your workday with Cintas.
They make sure your AEDs are up to date, your fire extinguishers are tested and inspected,
your floor mats are cleaned and delivered, and your workwear looks good, feels good,
and is freshly laundered with the Cintas Apparel Plus program.
So are you ready to take on today?
Visit Cintas.com.
Oh, I'm ready!
And get ready for the workday.
The second I see that Chick-fil-A text in the group chat, I'm throwing my shoes on and
running out of the door.
Hey, I'm Layla.
And I'm Kaylin.
And a little thing we love about the Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuit is how it feels like an easy-going
morning.
The chicken adds the most flavor.
It's juicy and seasoned.
The biscuit is just very light and airy and fluffy, just like a cloud.
I also love to put jelly on mine so it's sweet and savory.
It's a good start to the day.
Mornings are a little bit brighter with the Chick-fil-A Chicken Biscuit and Simply Orange Juice.
Available on the Chick-fil-A app.
Real guests paid for their testimonials.
The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
The Score.
Welcome back in talking about a busy boy.
He's always busy over a 97.7 FM zone.
Drew DeArmond, he's host talking ball there.
Drew, welcome in.
How are you?
Obviously, like I said, he's a busy boy.
Does anybody cover the Crimson more than Drew, BB?
They've got the Crimson Panthers and the Crimson Tide.
He's a busy boy, is he not?
Yeah, Drew works with Huntsville on a regular basis.
That, to me, was the game of the tournament.
Hoover won again for the third consecutive year, 61-54.
Harold, both these teams lost a lot of players.
We've talked about Mr. Basketball, Dwayne Brown.
Salim London also left Hoover.
They regrouped and rebooted.
So did Huntsville.
Simon Walker now playing for Auburn, Braden Rivers, North Carolina, Asheville, Gossett, Bowman, Eli Stapler.
And a lot of people, including myself, thought Huntsville would win this year.
It was just their time.
But, again, I give Hoover a lot of credit.
They were able to hold off Huntsville at the end to win 61-54.
Well, we'll get Drew on with us, obviously, BB.
Teams closer to us, Lauderdale County, Morris Hill, the girls, the boys, in this case, the boys and the girls.
They're getting busy to keep on trying to keep on rocking and rolling to head on down to state, BB.
Well, I think they're going to do that.
Scores yesterday, Harold, Morris Hill, Bible girls, 71, Lauderdale County, 62, Bell Hill with another tremendous game.
Manus and Mobile led Lauderdale County with 19.
Lauderdale County boys beat Morris Hill boys, 74-43.
In fact, Red Bay, there are four teams.
It's Red Bay, Lauderdale County boys, Morris Hill Bible girls, and the Desher boys.
They're going to Birmingham next week.
We'll be talking about them in a little bit more detail tomorrow and Friday.
And, Bimmy, while we're on the topic of high school, for the folks who might have missed the top of the show,
I tell you what, are things that you're talking about the coaching deck shuffling in the Shoals area,
first of all over at Morris Hill, Daryl Higgins.
Now, obviously, if you're close, real close, it's like, okay.
But a lot of folks said, are you kidding me?
Leaving Morris Hill ultra successful there, heading down to Russellville.
And then this morning, at least, becoming public, I think a lot of folks at Muscle Shoals right now
are trying to process the news coming out of Muscle Shoals football.
Scott Baston, BenThomasofale.com, my friend, had a...
Scott Baston put on social media this morning, the Muscle Shoals football site,
that he is retiring after 17 years, close to 180 wins.
He has done an incredible job as being the dean of coaching in the Shoals.
I know Daryl Higgins was at Morris Hill Bible for 10 years.
Scott Baston in Muscle Shoals is stepping down.
We'll be curious to see maybe a promotion from within, but we'll see how everything works out.
But Scott Baston, who has been a pillar of coaching for many, many years in the Muscle Shoals,
announcing his retirement this morning.
Well, the one thing you do know, football, like a lot of places,
and you can put Muscle Shoals right in there with amongst them.
It's very serious.
So you know this is going to be a serious search.
It's going to be interesting to see who winds up trying to fill those big shoes of Scott
out at Muscle Shoals.
Of course, as it becomes available, we'll keep you up to date here.
Meanwhile, BB, obviously coming up tonight, Alabama, Mississippi State.
And do you think that Nate Oates right now is saying,
the one thing that I don't want these kids to hear is what a lot of folks are saying out there.
Let's get through this game.
The big ones this weekend against Tennessee.
If you're a coach, nothing, and I mean nothing, infuriates you more than to sit here and take an opponent.
I don't care who they are, what's on their jersey, what their record is.
Nothing infuriates the coach more than that dialogue, BB.
Well, yes, again, that status quo pretty much when you've got a huge game coming up,
particularly when Alabama hasn't beaten in five consecutive games.
But I think this team is going to be focused.
Phylon is a little bit of a question mark, whether or not.
I'm guessing he may not play very much again.
He really got beat up in the Arkansas game.
Can London Jemison continue to help them?
Yeah.
Ainsurel stay out of foul trouble.
Again, it's another maturity game.
But here, I think this team's pretty focused as far as concentrating on Mississippi State tonight.
Well, I mean, if you go with a book and you've played this game of basketball, it's a no-brainer what the approach is.
You double-team Josh Hubbard because that's going to leave somebody else open.
Okay, if that other person gets hot, then you've got to put – it's a roll of the dice.
But if I'm Nate Oates, I don't think I have to tell him this.
He's making a lot more money than me, and we'll get to his honors here in a second about going on to the national team.
But you double-team Josh Hubbard, and you take your chances, BB.
Well, Harold, that's the difference in the game tonight, whether Hubbard scores 12 or 32.
He is perfectly capable, scored 46 against Auburn last week, but off on 30-something against Alabama in Starkville last year.
But that's the key to him.
Again, you can't forget about the other four players, but you've got to focus on guarding him, getting him out of his lane.
And again, when he hits one three, he heats up and can hit about six in a row.
But certainly, I know that that's been a lot of discussion in the pregame game plan is, what are we going to do to slow down Josh Hubbard?
Well, and I think Nate Oates, also part of his strategy is, if he can, protect Phylon and kind of put bubble wrap on him because these next two games, he wants to wrap up and protect that number three seed.
As far as a postseason, they're safe as it can be, but he's trying to get to that three and stay off that five line.
So, in a perfect world tonight, he double-teams.
Hubbard keeps him within human terms.
You're not going to stop him.
All you can do is try to contain him and do his best to keep Phylon on the bench to get him as healthy as possible for those final two regular season.
Well, they've done a good job with turnovers this year.
I know they had 18.
It seemed like 38 against Florida, but they have really cut down the number of turnovers.
Can Bo Bowen come in, the transfer from Florida State, and help them on the boards?
They've got to, again, stay out of foul trouble.
They got into a little bit of that against LSU in Baton Rouge.
But, again, this team's been slowly coming along.
I mean, they're averaging 97 points a game in this six-game winning streak.
Of course, 117 kind of helps the average.
But, again, if they can continue to improve defensively, they've got a shot to be, I think, a four seed, certainly maybe a three.
You know, we mentioned earlier, our Alabama fans may be taking Nate Oates for granted like they did this guy named Nick Saban back when he was on his run.
And the reason I'm bringing it up is a short time ago, Alabama was just trying to get to the tournament now.
It's almost automatic.
You don't have to wait and get all the drama on Selection Sunday.
But here's the other irony about it.
Nate Oates will be part of the coaching staff for the 2026 USA Basketball Men's Under-18 National Team.
He will be serving as an assistant coach, and you know where I'm going with this.
In case you missed it, he will be serving as an assistant coach to Anthony Grant.
Where do we remember that name, BB?
Well, former head basketball coach in Alabama, and I'll give you another tip on this.
He's not doing this just out of fun, out of you-know-what and giggles.
That's a very talented 18-and-under group, and he would like to see some of those guys firsthand, and we'll have the opportunity to do that.
How do you think he's going to close?
We know we've seen some guys from North Alabama come through here and go on to these basketball factories to that end.
How do you think he's going to close, and how is Nate Oates going to use the same, if you will, blueprint as other coaches
trying to mix these hotshot five-star high school kids with the portal going forward?
Well, the transfer portal guys, Harold, have not worked out very well.
Bo Bowen keeps trying.
He's a little bit undersized.
Noah Williamson played well against Kentucky, and they're trying to bring him up to speed with this.
DeLille Bethea scored 20 in a non-conference game.
He's not come close to that since, but Harold, he knows that.
A lot of people are questioning about Caleb Holt.
He should be making a decision in the next 30 days.
He was at Buckhorn, then transferred to Grayson in Georgia.
But Nate understands you've got to have a mix of top high school players and transfer portal.
I think they may be a little more choosy in the transfer portal.
Again, brought four guys in, and they really have not given him what he wanted.
Coming up, it is the final word.
Again, you can catch that game with Bama and Mississippi State later on tonight.
You're on 93.9 to score.
Back after this timeout.
Hi, this is Ike Fowler with Alabama Health Guidance.
Whether you are looking for a Medicare health plan, or you are under 65 and exploring individual health care options,
Alabama Health Guidance can help you find the plan that fits your needs.
Our local agents make it simple, so stop by our office at 885 Florence Boulevard,
or give us a call at 256-648-5710.
Again, that's 256-648-5710.
At North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic, our shoals' roots run deep.
We provide quick access and familiar, friendly faces, so you never have to feel just like a number.
From sports medicine to joint replacement, expert care happens right here at home.
As UNA Athletics' choice for orthopedics and the trusted orthopedic team of the shoals' families,
for over 30 years, North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic is here for you.
Learn more at nabjc.com.
Hello, my name is Adam Birchall, and I'm an attorney with a law firm of Johnson, Passeur, Medley, and Birchall.
Why use an out-of-town lawyer when you can call our law firm,
which has over 100 years of combined experience in all areas of the law?
Check us out first by calling our office at 256-766-3131.
No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed
is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other lawyers.
If you're tired of hearing scary ads about the IRS,
Tax Relief Advocates wants you to know you don't have to be afraid.
No matter what challenging life situation you're facing while owing 10 or even hundreds of thousands
in back taxes to the IRS, we have a solution.
TRA has already negotiated over $1.5 billion in taxes owed by over 180,000 struggling taxpayers since 2017,
earning over 1,000 five-star Google reviews and an A-plus rating with the Better Business Bureau.
Generous tax debt forgiveness programs are currently available that can end your tax nightmare
and may reduce or eliminate what you owe the IRS.
If you're facing collections or an audit, don't lose hope.
Act now to check what tax relief you may qualify for.
Simply visit TRA.com or call 800-583-4890.
800-583-4890.
Again, that's 800-583-4890.
Tax Relief Advocates.
Real solutions for real people.
Whether it's day or night, hot flashes due to menopause can be unpredictable.
That's why there's Vioza, a prescription treatment proven to reduce the number and severity of hot flashes day and night
that can start working in as early as one week.
Based on clinical studies measuring efficacy at 4 and 12 weeks, individual results may vary.
Talk to your healthcare provider about what this may mean for you.
For moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms or hot flashes and night sweats due to menopause,
Vioza can cause serious side effects, including liver problems.
Your doctor will do blood tests before and during treatment.
Stop Vioza and call your doctor if you have symptoms of liver problems,
such as feeling more tired than usual, decreased appetite, nausea, vomiting, itching,
yellowing of the eyes or skin, pale stool, dark urine, or stomach pain.
Don't use Vioza if you have cirrhosis, severe kidney problems, kidney failure, or take CYP-182 inhibitors.
Ask your doctor about Vioza.
To learn more, call 1-866-239-1637 or go to Vioza.com.
That's V-E-O-Z-A-H.com.
The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in quickly, Bibi.
What's on that high school postseason menu for you?
Herald, beginning next week, the Final Four, beginning on Tuesday,
Morris Hill Bible Girls will play No. 1 St. James in the state semifinals at 9 a.m.
at the BJCC.
Immediately following that would be the Lauderdale County Boys.
They will meet Montgomery Academy at 10 a.m.
Later that afternoon, the Fairfield Boys will meet Dessler, who beat West Morgan earlier in the week.
That will be at 4.30.
And also on Monday, another team in the show is the Red Bay Boys.
Yeah.
They're 25-5.
We'll face Lafayette or Lafayette at 4.30.
They're 26-7.
So, and I know we're going to be broadcasting, I believe, three of those games.
But four teams in the shows have advanced to the Final Four in Birmingham.
If you're rolling through the shows tonight, looking for something to do at CBNS Bank Arena at 545.
The UNA women take on Central Arkansas, the night cap.
It's senior night for the men.
They take on Bellarmine.
It follows the women again.
Their senior night is going to be coming up on Friday against West Georgia.
And, of course, you can, speaking of games, you can check out here on 93.9 The Score.
It's Bama and Mississippi State with their date tonight down in Tinetown.
You can catch it right here on 93.9 The Score.
It's going to take care of business for now on behalf of BBE, Greg, James Flair, the entire crew here.
Harold Buck, thank you so much for your time today.
Let's do it again tomorrow on noon to two for the Bumble Buck Show.
Back here on Sports Radio, 93.9 The Score.