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 Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens and all of Northwest Alabama and Southern Tennessee.

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 It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice.

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 The Boomo Bugg Show.

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 Your exclusive inside track to the Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC.

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 Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score.

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 Good afternoon and welcome in to the Boomo Bugg Show.

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 I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brent Beard.

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 Thank you so much for giving us a free ride around the Tennessee Valley.

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 Brent Beard, welcome in.

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 Well, I think it's safe to say welcome to Christmas in March if you love yourself some college basketball.

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 Brent Beard, welcome in.

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 And can you say, are you ready for a little stream music in the music city?

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 Going to be a lot of it today.

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 It actually started yesterday for some conferences.

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 The SEC men's tournament just started in Nashville and Kentucky leads LSU 25-21 with about seven minutes to play.

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 UNA women's coach Kenny Whitaker is leaving UNA to become the next head coach at Kansas City.

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 And the voice of the UNA Lions, Benjamin Ray, is here to update us on a busy, busy week for UNA Athletics.

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 That is the man, Benjamin Ray.

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 He is, to reiterate your point, the voice of the UNA Lions, Athletics Assistant AD as well.

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 Ben, welcome in.

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 How are you?

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 You know, I'm at that time of the year where I don't know what day of the week it is.

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 But I know basketball season finished up for us.

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 We're full force into spring sports, baseball, softball rolling.

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 So we're kind of on the downward slope of our athletic calendar right now.

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 Let's start with some news that a lot of us from this side of the fence didn't see coming.

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 But nobody knows more about it than you do.

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 And that is, A.D., Dr. Josh Looney officially announcing that Candy Whitaker will be leaving the UNA women's basketball program to head West Young Man to Kansas City.

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 Your thoughts?

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 You know, it's bittersweet.

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 We hate to lose Candy Whitaker.

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 What she did in two years was truly remarkable.

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 This team, I don't think, is getting enough recognition for everything they overcame this year with losing four senior starters to injuries at various points throughout the season.

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 And she still had them playing into the quarterfinals of the A-Sun tournament with a shot in the fourth quarter against a really good Central Arkansas team.

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 So she accomplished so much in two years and just got too good of an opportunity to pass up, to go home, almost an offer that she could not refuse under her family and her.

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 We've seen that really exclusively the last eight years since we've gone to Division I.

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 These coaches come to the Shoals area and they don't want to leave.

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 But sometimes the offer's too good.

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 You know, that's a special area to her.

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 That school means a lot to her.

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 Kind of helped launch her career.

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 And so she gets an opportunity to go back home.

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 And so we're sad to see her go.

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 But just like always, we're always happy when our coaches, our people within UNA, get those opportunities.

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 So it's going to be great for her.

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 And I think Dr. Josh Saloni has shown he's got a track record for finding good coaches.

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 And I expect no doubt that he's already got his phone, his ear to the phone, phone to his ear.

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 I'm sure he's been getting blown up right now.

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 Benjamin, the UNA men's basketball and Tony Pujol is not going anywhere.

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 Unfortunately, he had a tough season.

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 They lose in the first round to Florida Gulf Coast last Wednesday in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.

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 And we're going to talk with him a little bit later today.

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 But he doesn't give a lot of excuses.

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 But I'll give one for him.

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 They've had a short bench for nearly a month.

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 They were able to get a couple players back late.

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 But injuries just really decimated the team for a while.

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 Did they play as well as last year at the end of the season?

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 No.

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 But again, they gave it their best effort.

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 But now, as so many of the other tournaments are beginning, UNA sitting at home.

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 I know he is chomping at the bit to go out recruiting and have a better year next year.

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 But injuries really derailed the season.

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 You know, injuries.

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 And I don't believe we played more than two, three conference games at full strength.

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 You know, it started with the flu bug at the start of conference play, which every team goes through the flu bug at some point.

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 When you get that many people together, at some point it's going to go through your roster.

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 And it hit UNA early, which is a blessing and a curse.

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 And this team kind of dug a hole through some of that.

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 And everything that could have gone wrong went wrong.

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 Everything that they didn't need to go wrong went wrong.

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 You lose Cannon Jefferson for all of February.

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 Just as the team kind of really began clicking.

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 And so it's going to be interesting to see what happens.

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 I know this.

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 Tony Pujol is one of the most competitive people I've ever met.

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 And I believe it was year four.

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 We had a down year.

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 Not very good.

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 And then what happened?

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 Well, he went out and found some dudes.

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 And the next three years were some of the best that we've experienced with UNA basketball in the last decade.

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 Highlighted by the ASUN Championship game appearance last year.

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 So there's no doubt in my mind that he's going to get things back on the right track.

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 And it came this year at a time when the league finally showed UNA respect.

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 We've probably been the least respected team in the last eight years.

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 We knew last year's team was going to be good.

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 They didn't reflect that in the preseason poll.

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 And media people like the preseason poll.

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 Coaches do not like the preseason poll.

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 This year picked first in the preseason poll.

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 I imagine next year we'll be picked low.

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 And that's actually what Tony Pujol likes is to be picked low.

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 He likes his players to have a little bit of a chip on their shoulders.

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 So I think it will be a re-energized group next year.

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 And there's no doubt about it.

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 That staff will work tirelessly to get it back going.

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 Because one thing that Coach Pujol has done in his eight years is he's worked and served in this community.

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 And this community has supported UNA basketball.

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 And you had a 12th-place team this year that led the league in attendance.

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 I mean, that's unbelievable.

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 And so he wants to do it for this Scholes area.

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 And there's no doubt about it that they're going to bounce back.

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 And you mentioned his community involvement.

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 I saw where he was out supporting the UNA softball team against Ole Miss.

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 Before we get to baseball, let's talk a little bit about the schedule starting there with the softball team.

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 Fresh and taking on Ole Miss.

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 I mean, a lot of long-time UNA fans remember they were taking on all these teams from Arkansas, the Delta, Mississippi.

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 And now you look, regardless of the sport, you're looking at taking on an SEC team.

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 Let's talk about that, just the schedule and where UNA is now on the national map.

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 I mean, no disrespect to the Division II schools we played,

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 but it's a lot more exciting when you bring in a Ole Miss on a Tuesday as opposed to a Union or Liberty on a Tuesday, right?

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 And no disrespect to those schools.

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 We have great relationships with them.

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 But you're just bringing in a team that was into last spring playing in the College World Series for the first time ever in program history.

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 I mean, that speaks volumes to Ashley Cozart's program, but that just shows you the conversation that this university is in now.

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 And there's a lot of factors to consider, but every year since we've gone to Division I, enrollment has continued to climb at UNA.

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 And again, a lot of factors to consider, but there's no doubt about it.

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 Athletics has played a part in that.

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 Athletics is the front porch to the university.

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 And the fact that Ole Miss has enough respect to come in, I mean, it's groovy.

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 It's really remarkable in what it does.

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 I mean, we had nearly 700 people come out on a Tuesday night when the weather was decent.

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 You know, the sun wasn't completely out.

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 Daylight savings.

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 Everybody's still dragging a little bit.

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 But nearly 700 people came out to watch that ball game last night.

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 So it just continues to show what it's done, not just for this university, but for the community as well.

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 And listen, the UNA softball's been on a heater.

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 The loss ended the seven-game win streak.

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 I believe they're 17-5 and gave Ole Miss fits.

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 Katie Simon had a tremendous showing against Ole Miss.

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 But listen, they have had, so far, they've had a tremendous season.

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 But, you know, that game against Ole Miss, it was almost like they had Madonna at the plate in the seventh.

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 And just with like a prayer, they hit the home run to tie it.

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 And Katie Simon won't get the win.

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 I think she got the loss.

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 But that was one of the most remarkable pitching performances I've seen at UNA in some time.

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 And we've had greats like Hillary Carpenter, local product, Megan Garsh, pitcher of the year.

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 And what Katie Simon did against a very talented SEC offense was unbelievable.

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 And you just hurt for that team, the way that they lost that ball game.

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 This team's good.

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 I think it might be one of Ashley Cozart's deepest lineups at the Division I level.

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 I mean, two through six, she's got a bunch there that they can really bop the softball.

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 And they are one of the best hitting teams in the Atlantic Sun right now.

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 And Riley Dover, a local product from Loretto, Tennessee, she's a third-year junior at UNA.

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 I mean, right now she's in the conversation for Ace Sun Player of the Year.

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 And Ashley Cozart always has local products every single year, going back to when she started it in, what, 2013, I believe it was.

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 And that just speaks to this region and, one, the support they have for UNA.

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 But how good this area is in terms of softball.

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 And she keeps the hometown talent here.

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 And then you see what they did against an SEC team.

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 It makes you really excited heading into conference play starting this weekend.

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 That town of Loretto can turn out some pictures, I guarantee you.

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 Just ask the Weathers family.

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 Benjamin Ray hooking up with a fine voice of the Lions.

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 Ben, I would imagine you and a lot of other folks are enjoying the new home for the UNA baseball team this season.

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 Let me tell you, that baseball facility, Bank Independent Stadium, Mike D. Lane Field, it is top tier.

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 In every school that has been here, the likes of UAB and others, they have all said, this is incredible.

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 This is so amazing that a mid-major baseball program get this kind of investment from the university.

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 And Jack Bratniak's put together a really good team.

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 Now you say, well, they haven't been playing good lately.

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 Well, look who they've been playing.

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 They played Southern Miss this past weekend, and Southern Miss will be hosting a regional at the end of the year.

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 But he's got some big bats in his lineup, too, including, and you guys have been covering UNA for a long time.

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 And he's got a third baseman that transferred in from Delta State.

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 And I think that has got to be the first ever Delta State baseball player to transfer in to UNA.

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 We all know the old rivalry between North Alabama and Delta State.

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 But he's been hitting the cover off the baseball.

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 Petey Kraska over at first base, a sophomore, a team captain.

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 He's on pace to have another all-conference caliber year.

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 And the pitching staff, led by Jacob James, he's now the pitching coach at UNA, all-time leader in career strikeouts.

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 David Mervis, the previous pitching coach, got hired by the New York Mets to go work in their organization.

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 And that speaks volumes to the caliber of coaches we have around here that you lose a coach to the Mets.

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 But the pitching staff has been much improved.

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 And so Jack Bratniak has really turned this baseball program around.

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 And we feel like they've got a chance to make some noise in the A-Sun this year.

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 Before we let you go, to have excellent and very good athletic problems, you've got to have some money.

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 The top fundraiser for the year, coming up, the Lion Pride Dinner and auction.

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 Again, let me remind our listeners and UNA fans, it's not in August.

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 It's May 19th, which will be here next time we turn around.

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 The Wizard of Oz, Ozzie Newsom, tied in at Alabama, played at Cleveland.

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 General manager with the Ravens for years will be the guest speaker.

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 We talked to Megan Dye about this last week.

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 Again, if you'd like to be a sponsor or get some tickets, I think individual tickets were going on sale this week.

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 Tell us again about Ozzie Newsom, the Wizard of Oz, coming to the Shoals May 19th.

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 I mean, how exciting is that?

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 A homegrown product that, to me, probably doesn't get enough credit for being one of the best football people to ever live in terms of the caliber player he was in college and in the NFL.

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 And then what he was as a front office executive there with the Baltimore Ravens.

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 I mean, I'm super excited.

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 I've never met Ozzie.

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 I've never heard him speak.

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 I am so excited for this as someone who grew up in the Shoals area and has always heard the legends of him back in the day in Calvert County, what he did in Alabama.

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 And so it's going to be an unbelievable night.

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 And, again, if you're in the Shoals area, you need to be proud about what Ozzie Newsom has done.

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 You need to be proud about what UNA has done.

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 And what better way to take in both by coming to the dinner and auction.

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 Reach out to Megan Dye.

199
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 I think her extension is 4615.

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 With UNA, go to RoarLions.com.

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 You can get some more information on that.

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 But it's always the best night of the year.

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 Normally it's in August and it's a kickoff event.

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 This year it will be more of a celebration event.

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 So either way, it's going to be a great night.

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 Absolutely.

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 But, yeah, I believe it's 256-765-4615.

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 But go to RoarLions and you can quickly pick that up.

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 Listen, thank you for taking a few minutes out from an incredibly busy schedule.

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 I always get amused at people who think, well, for sports, radio, and athletics in general, the fall is the busiest time.

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 I think you might beg to differ on that.

212
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 Tell us again as we're leaving the varsity out as far as broadcasting games.

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 And, listen, that's changed a little bit.

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 That's kind of universal now throughout the country.

215
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 But where can we get online and also where can we get online to listen to the games?

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 Yeah.

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 So over the next three months, we'll be wrapping up our broadcast schedule, our athletic schedules.

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 We'll be on ESPN Plus with baseball, softball, and some beach volleyball as well.

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 And then our RoarLions Productions, which streams on the Varsity Network app, which will be really big during March Madness.

220
00:15:07,380 --> 00:15:13,000
 If you don't have that, you can download that and listen to pretty much every school radio broadcast during the NCAA tournament.

221
00:15:13,700 --> 00:15:15,960
 You can catch us on the Varsity Network app.

222
00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:17,780
 And then all of our social media handles.

223
00:15:18,060 --> 00:15:19,440
 We're on Twitter, Facebook.

224
00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:20,840
 I know it's X.

225
00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:21,660
 I still call it Twitter.

226
00:15:21,780 --> 00:15:24,480
 Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube.

227
00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:29,820
 Something called Twitch, which the young people in the office have hooked us up on Twitch.

228
00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:31,720
 I still don't know what it is, but we're on Twitch.

229
00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,340
 And then you can catch it on RoarLions.com as well.

230
00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:41,780
 So we want to be where people are, and that is on their phones mostly, and it's a great way to keep up with us.

231
00:15:42,900 --> 00:15:44,220
 You sound busy, man.

232
00:15:44,300 --> 00:15:48,920
 Listen, man, thank you so much for taking time out of that busy schedule and sharing some time with us today.

233
00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:51,240
 Keep it up, and thank you so much for your time, buddy.

234
00:15:52,020 --> 00:15:55,040
 Hey, as always, we appreciate you all and what you do for you and A and the community.

235
00:15:55,980 --> 00:15:56,540
 Thank you, bud.

236
00:15:56,540 --> 00:15:56,860
 All right, back at you.

237
00:15:56,980 --> 00:15:59,640
 Fine voice of UNA, Benjamin Ray.

238
00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:04,300
 Coming up, talking about hometown boy doing good in Henderson, Tennessee.

239
00:16:04,620 --> 00:16:06,240
 Coach Drew Statt next.

240
00:16:06,340 --> 00:16:06,780
 Stay with us.

241
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 All rights reserved.

267
00:17:15,120 --> 00:17:16,760
 This is March Madness.

268
00:17:16,860 --> 00:17:17,800
 Richardson against Padula.

269
00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:19,480
 Straight away gets a screen from Kohler.

270
00:17:19,580 --> 00:17:20,060
 Dribbles left.

271
00:17:20,120 --> 00:17:20,700
 Turns the corner.

272
00:17:20,860 --> 00:17:21,620
 Up to the rim.

273
00:17:21,980 --> 00:17:22,740
 Lays it in.

274
00:17:23,100 --> 00:17:24,220
 Spartans by two.

275
00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:25,120
 Great offense.

276
00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:27,400
 They got Dre Davis on the switch.

277
00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:29,280
 And he beats him to the rim with ease.

278
00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:34,240
 Michigan State outlasted Ole Miss last year to deliver Coach Tom Izzo his 11th trip to the Elite Eight.

279
00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:39,900
 Stay tuned for Westwood One's exclusive coverage of this year's NCAA Men's and Women's Tournament right here.

280
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281
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289
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290
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 I can't believe the deal we got on these seats for the game.

291
00:18:20,140 --> 00:18:21,720
 Wow, they must be pretty high up here.

292
00:18:21,940 --> 00:18:23,080
 I think my ears just popped.

293
00:18:23,340 --> 00:18:24,200
 Yeah, here, put this on.

294
00:18:24,620 --> 00:18:26,220
 Is that an oxygen mask?

295
00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:28,240
 An official team oxygen mask.

296
00:18:28,300 --> 00:18:30,200
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297
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298
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303
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304
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332
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333
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334
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335
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 For more information, check out Kiwanis Club of Florence AL on Facebook.

336
00:20:40,500 --> 00:20:41,460
 The score.

337
00:20:41,460 --> 00:20:46,700
 Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.

338
00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:47,960
 Welcome back, kid.

339
00:20:48,020 --> 00:20:54,500
 It is time to open the door and say hello to the man who knows more about Lions than anyone short of Barnum and Ring the Circus.

340
00:20:55,060 --> 00:21:03,300
 Drew Stutz back in the day at UNA after a proud graduate of Mars Hill over at Northwest Shoals Community College, later at UNA,

341
00:21:03,300 --> 00:21:10,480
 and now the head coach of the Lions at Freed Hardeman College in Henderson, Tennessee.

342
00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:12,020
 Coach Drew Stutz, welcome in.

343
00:21:12,060 --> 00:21:12,560
 How are you?

344
00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:13,700
 Yes, sir.

345
00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:15,260
 I'm doing well.

346
00:21:15,380 --> 00:21:23,360
 This is a busy time of the year, but just working and prepping for this weekend, getting ready to hopefully make a little run here in March.

347
00:21:24,660 --> 00:21:27,580
 Again, we should say, Coach, you've already had a pretty good run.

348
00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:33,220
 Talk to us about wrapping up yet another Mid-South Conference Championship title.

349
00:21:34,420 --> 00:21:37,460
 Yeah, I mean, this has been just an incredible year.

350
00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:42,660
 You know, we've got a lot of new guys this year, and so really unsure about how this season was going to go.

351
00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:53,520
 Going into the year, but we've rolled off 26 wins in a row and just finished winning our fourth Mid-South Conference Tournament Championship in a row.

352
00:21:54,500 --> 00:21:56,460
 And just a great group of guys.

353
00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:58,500
 This season's been super fun.

354
00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:02,380
 You know, one of my favorite groups to coach.

355
00:22:02,460 --> 00:22:03,640
 Our culture's really good.

356
00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:08,340
 We play 10 guys, and I think we play a pretty fun brand to watch.

357
00:22:08,340 --> 00:22:15,520
 And so when you put those things together, good people, some good ball, some special things can happen.

358
00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:17,200
 So it's been a really fun year.

359
00:22:17,340 --> 00:22:21,820
 I've just thoroughly enjoyed coaching these guys, and I'm excited for the success they've had this year.

360
00:22:22,380 --> 00:22:27,180
 Talk to us about something that doesn't make the stats cheat as much, in my opinion, as it should.

361
00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:28,500
 Crue me if I'm wrong.

362
00:22:28,900 --> 00:22:33,440
 In that win that wrapped up the title, you forced 18 turnovers.

363
00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:36,540
 Any coach would love to know your secret to make that happen.

364
00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:40,360
 And the other thing that I don't think gets enough attention is your bench.

365
00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:44,280
 These guys practice just as hard as the starters and those stars.

366
00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:49,920
 But when they have the right attitude and you can force 18 turnovers, you've got to love the formula.

367
00:22:51,260 --> 00:22:55,480
 Yeah, to be honest with you, I really don't even think about those guys as being bench players.

368
00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:57,940
 You know, I understand the question.

369
00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:02,380
 But, I mean, we've kind of got a platoon of five guys in, five guys out.

370
00:23:02,500 --> 00:23:05,280
 And then later in the second half, we'll mix and match some of them.

371
00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:10,480
 But, I mean, really, to be honest with you, we've just got two separate groups of guys that play and happen, you know,

372
00:23:10,540 --> 00:23:14,720
 five of them happen to start the game and five of them happen to come in about three minutes later.

373
00:23:14,900 --> 00:23:16,560
 But we're a really deep team.

374
00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:22,380
 You know, I think those guys buying into team and understanding their role.

375
00:23:22,860 --> 00:23:29,360
 You've got a lot of guys on this team that could go play 36, 38 minutes somewhere else and be a star player.

376
00:23:30,180 --> 00:23:31,660
 But they want to win.

377
00:23:31,660 --> 00:23:33,400
 You know, that's why those guys came here.

378
00:23:33,580 --> 00:23:38,740
 That's what we recruited them on was to win at the highest level and hang another red banner.

379
00:23:39,220 --> 00:23:40,620
 And they've bought into that.

380
00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:48,040
 And as far as the turnovers, yeah, you've got a little bit of time in between the conference tournament championship and the opening round.

381
00:23:48,580 --> 00:23:51,180
 And so I've had a chance to kind of look back at our numbers.

382
00:23:51,300 --> 00:23:55,360
 We're forcing right at 21 turnovers a game, which is awesome.

383
00:23:55,360 --> 00:24:04,260
 But when you couple that, yeah, I mean, you couple that with we're number one in the nation in defensive field goal percentage overall at 37%.

384
00:24:04,260 --> 00:24:11,840
 We're number one in the nation in three-point field goal percentage and then number one in the nation in turnovers force per game.

385
00:24:11,980 --> 00:24:15,900
 That's an extremely just rare thing.

386
00:24:16,020 --> 00:24:21,900
 You know, usually if you're turning folks over 21 times a game, it means you're probably giving up some easy points at times.

387
00:24:22,460 --> 00:24:34,320
 But we just found the right, you know, the right guys and I guess the right strategy game in and game out to put these guys in areas where they can really defend and keep the ball out of the basket,

388
00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:38,000
 but also be aggressive and create some turnovers, which lead to easy points.

389
00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:44,820
 So, I mean, all that goes back to buy-in and guys playing hard, and this group has definitely done that.

390
00:24:46,340 --> 00:24:50,660
 No wonder you're 29-1, ranked number one.

391
00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:57,300
 Let me ask you about some of the players against Bethel in a game you won 72-64.

392
00:24:58,060 --> 00:25:07,140
 Phil Horton led the team in the 14, Rodney Henderson, 13, Jamarcus Powell, some dirty work, nine rebounds.

393
00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:12,120
 Horton grabbed six boards, and again, it's across the board.

394
00:25:12,260 --> 00:25:24,280
 Did you mention when you play that many players a game, believe me, a lot of college teams, Division I would love to be playing 10 guys and have a bench like that.

395
00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:27,800
 Talk about some of the players and the personality they bring to the team.

396
00:25:29,060 --> 00:25:30,020
 Yeah, I mean, that's the thing.

397
00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:33,220
 You've got to put together a team that complements each other.

398
00:25:33,820 --> 00:25:39,540
 At our level or even, you know, probably the low Division I level now, you've got to put together complementary teams.

399
00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:47,380
 If you're banking on always hitting on stars and having one or two guys with the best two players, it's going to be a rollercoaster ride.

400
00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:50,620
 You know, you're going to have years where you're going to have really talented guys on the floor,

401
00:25:50,620 --> 00:25:56,540
 and you look really good as a coach, and there's going to be years where that talent leaves and goes somewhere else

402
00:25:56,540 --> 00:25:57,520
 and gets paid a lot of money.

403
00:25:58,060 --> 00:26:00,640
 And in those years, you look like you don't know what you're doing.

404
00:26:00,780 --> 00:26:08,280
 So I really just try to build complementary teams, guys that buy into our system and our style, but more importantly, our culture.

405
00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:13,640
 And, you know, I think culture is just created with guys that are good guys, you know,

406
00:26:13,700 --> 00:26:19,020
 guys that are high-character guys that want to do things the right way and be part of something special.

407
00:26:19,980 --> 00:26:24,300
 So to me, you know, culture wins, and these guys have bought into it.

408
00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:25,880
 I mean, you mentioned Phil Horton.

409
00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:26,820
 I'll bring him up.

410
00:26:27,500 --> 00:26:28,720
 You know, he's a fifth-year guy.

411
00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:29,660
 That's rare.

412
00:26:30,540 --> 00:26:35,160
 In college basketball this year, he probably had an opportunity to leave and, you know,

413
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:39,560
 go play at least high Division II or low Division I last year, and he chose to come back.

414
00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:43,640
 And, you know, Phil's been with us and has developed.

415
00:26:44,220 --> 00:26:45,500
 And so I'm super excited.

416
00:26:45,580 --> 00:26:46,660
 He was the MVP of the tournament.

417
00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:52,560
 I'm super excited for him to, you know, see the fruits of the labor that he's put in for the last five years

418
00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:57,740
 because he's a really hard worker and a great kid, and it's great to see him have success.

419
00:26:58,980 --> 00:27:01,780
 Coach Drew Stutz, Fred Hardeman University.

420
00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:08,240
 Coach, I know the regular season, the conference title's great, but I'm just guessing that the work's not done.

421
00:27:08,700 --> 00:27:10,220
 Talk to us about the next hurdle.

422
00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:14,400
 Well, you just got to take it one game at a time.

423
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:19,740
 NAI basketball is a lot higher level than probably what a lot of people know,

424
00:27:20,260 --> 00:27:24,620
 and there's a lot of really, really good players and teams across the nation.

425
00:27:24,860 --> 00:27:29,940
 One thing I love about NAI that's a little different than Division II, it's a national tournament.

426
00:27:29,940 --> 00:27:34,780
 You know, you've got teams from one coast flying to the other coast,

427
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:38,880
 and it's a true 64-team tournament nationwide.

428
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:45,880
 And so this weekend we've got some good teams coming in, a team from Chicago, a team from Kansas,

429
00:27:46,700 --> 00:27:49,120
 and a team from Louisiana.

430
00:27:49,900 --> 00:27:51,240
 And so three really good teams.

431
00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:56,020
 We'll start with a team from Illinois, Gov State, 22-7 on the season.

432
00:27:56,980 --> 00:28:01,620
 And, you know, the way you do it is just keep doing what you've been doing all season

433
00:28:01,620 --> 00:28:05,600
 and take it one game at a time because as soon as you start looking too far ahead

434
00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:08,400
 or worrying about who your next opponent is going to be, you know,

435
00:28:08,460 --> 00:28:11,360
 one of these 16 seeds or nine seeds will upset you.

436
00:28:11,360 --> 00:28:15,820
 So all eyes on Gov State right now and just trying to get ready for them

437
00:28:15,820 --> 00:28:18,960
 and if we're fortunate enough to win that game, then we'll move on to the next one.

438
00:28:19,540 --> 00:28:23,780
 Well, it is a very good brand of basketball.

439
00:28:23,780 --> 00:28:25,900
 It has been for many years.

440
00:28:26,060 --> 00:28:29,980
 And congratulations again on incredible success.

441
00:28:30,140 --> 00:28:35,280
 Harold and I hear from some of your biggest fans on a routine basis,

442
00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:39,160
 and you've got a lot of those in North Alabama.

443
00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:45,320
 A lot of people know your background at UNA and some of the other things that you've done.

444
00:28:45,500 --> 00:28:47,100
 Listen, I know we know you're busy.

445
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:49,220
 Thank you so much for coming on with us.

446
00:28:49,740 --> 00:28:54,680
 We see the absolute best of luck, obviously, this week in the postseason.

447
00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:58,480
 And I hope it's another national championship for you.

448
00:28:59,180 --> 00:29:00,520
 I hope so as well.

449
00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:02,280
 And I appreciate you guys' time.

450
00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,780
 North Alabama is home for me in a special place.

451
00:29:06,180 --> 00:29:11,360
 And, you know, I hope to be on the phone with you guys here again in a few weeks.

452
00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:14,060
 And maybe we've got another red banner and another national championship.

453
00:29:15,220 --> 00:29:16,320
 We have your number.

454
00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:17,340
 You have our number.

455
00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:18,120
 Let's do it, Coach.

456
00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,340
 In the meantime, all the best on the hardwoods, okay?

457
00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:21,680
 Thank you so much.

458
00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:22,520
 You guys have a great day.

459
00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:23,780
 You do the same.

460
00:29:23,900 --> 00:29:28,040
 Coach, Drew Stutz, Freed, Hardeman University, NAI basketball is good.

461
00:29:28,260 --> 00:29:29,780
 You remember K.O. Willis over at UAH?

462
00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:30,220
 Oh, yes.

463
00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:34,340
 He took UAH out to Kansas City one year to the national tournament.

464
00:29:34,540 --> 00:29:36,380
 The sports director for our work was Jim Bonds.

465
00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:37,240
 He went out and covered it.

466
00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:39,560
 He took a resume to take with him in state.

467
00:29:39,620 --> 00:29:40,360
 He got the job.

468
00:29:40,460 --> 00:29:43,500
 The station lost Jim Bonds to the NAI tournament.

469
00:29:44,700 --> 00:29:48,880
 Coming up, the search is all for you in another championship in Tuscaloosa run.

470
00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:49,460
 You are next.

471
00:29:49,540 --> 00:29:49,940
 Stay with us.

472
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490
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493
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494
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495
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496
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515
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 Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93.9.

516
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 The score.

517
00:32:30,180 --> 00:32:32,280
 SEC basketball tournament action today.

518
00:32:32,380 --> 00:32:36,920
 The Auburn Tigers are set to play as Auburn will take on Mississippi State.

519
00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:38,680
 The winner meets Tennessee tomorrow.

520
00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:40,560
 Alabama the two-seed in the tournament.

521
00:32:41,060 --> 00:32:43,800
 The Crimson Tide will play Friday in the quarterfinals.

522
00:32:44,060 --> 00:32:48,600
 In college baseball action yesterday, the Auburn Tigers crushed UAB 17-2.

523
00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:50,980
 Auburn is now 14-2 on the season.

524
00:32:51,460 --> 00:32:53,800
 Alabama was the winner over Troy 7-3.

525
00:32:53,940 --> 00:32:55,180
 Alabama 15-3.

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529
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530
00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:06,520
 The score.

531
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 A KFC tale in the pursuit of flavor.

532
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533
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534
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535
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536
00:33:26,220 --> 00:33:29,080
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537
00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:31,780
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538
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556
00:34:10,460 --> 00:34:11,360
 The Score.

557
00:34:11,860 --> 00:34:16,460
 Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9, The Score.

558
00:34:17,460 --> 00:34:18,600
 Welcome back in.

559
00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:21,560
 He is a busy boy these days in Tuscaloosa.

560
00:34:21,740 --> 00:34:24,420
 Rodney Orr is the founder and editor of TiterInsider.com.

561
00:34:24,580 --> 00:34:26,320
 His book is called Bigger Than Bama.

562
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:28,100
 Rodney, welcome in.

563
00:34:28,180 --> 00:34:32,620
 Do you need more than 24 hours to keep all the balls juggling in the air in your backyard?

564
00:34:32,780 --> 00:34:33,280
 How are you?

565
00:34:34,860 --> 00:34:36,060
 Doing pretty well, Harold.

566
00:34:36,060 --> 00:34:36,620
 How are you?

567
00:34:37,220 --> 00:34:37,760
 How are you guys?

568
00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:40,000
 Probably not as busy as you, man.

569
00:34:40,060 --> 00:34:41,460
 You got a thing called basketball.

570
00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:42,520
 They're rocking and rolling.

571
00:34:42,660 --> 00:34:45,660
 And word is football opened up a can this week.

572
00:34:45,780 --> 00:34:48,460
 Rodney, I love this question this time of the year.

573
00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:51,480
 I don't know what you can find out from a team wearing a bunch of shorts.

574
00:34:51,640 --> 00:34:54,000
 But, Rodney, what are you hearing so far in camp?

575
00:34:55,780 --> 00:35:02,500
 Well, I mean, it's been kind of quiet, obviously, because, you know, it has been closed so far.

576
00:35:02,740 --> 00:35:06,060
 We do get a viewing period later this week, tomorrow, in fact.

577
00:35:06,240 --> 00:35:06,380
 Right.

578
00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:07,700
 Be brief.

579
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:09,940
 So, it's kind of hard to tell much.

580
00:35:10,100 --> 00:35:11,840
 I mean, obviously, they do send out video.

581
00:35:12,020 --> 00:35:15,280
 They do send out pictures, photos that we can look at.

582
00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:17,260
 Whatever you can deduce from that.

583
00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:18,880
 Not a lot.

584
00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:25,120
 But, I'll tell you, it does sound like, so far, they've really had a good attitude.

585
00:35:25,420 --> 00:35:31,060
 They had a great off-season, fourth-quarter program, and a lot of new faces, Harold and Brett.

586
00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:33,260
 I mean, tons and tons of new faces.

587
00:35:33,980 --> 00:35:36,060
 That means a lot of question marks, obviously.

588
00:35:37,380 --> 00:35:43,680
 You know, of course, there's a few tidbits trickling out, but it's just so early that how can you make much of it?

589
00:35:44,580 --> 00:35:45,580
 And that's the point.

590
00:35:45,700 --> 00:35:47,260
 It's the sweet and sour stories of not.

591
00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:51,760
 When you have new faces like that, to me, I'm not much on potential.

592
00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:53,040
 I'd rather you show me what you got.

593
00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:54,260
 I've kind of got some Missouri in me.

594
00:35:54,340 --> 00:35:55,240
 Show me what you got.

595
00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:57,040
 Look at Indiana last year.

596
00:35:57,100 --> 00:36:01,020
 They didn't have a lot of cachet coming in, but they squeezed all the juice out of that orange.

597
00:36:01,460 --> 00:36:11,320
 But on the other side of the coin, sometimes it takes away a lazy approach because you know that if you don't show up to your job, the next guy up is going to be getting that job.

598
00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:13,120
 And you have open competition like that.

599
00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:22,500
 Your thoughts on that, starting with the quarterback room, I think there's a strong assumption that just because of, as far as time with the staff, that Mack may have the inside track.

600
00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:30,480
 Or, not so fast, my friend, because if Russell is as good as advertised, it's going to be hard to keep that kid on the bench, is it not?

601
00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:35,840
 Yeah, I think, you know, you kind of laid it out there pretty well.

602
00:36:36,020 --> 00:36:38,760
 I think, you know, Austin Mack obviously has been in the system.

603
00:36:38,900 --> 00:36:40,260
 He's going on year number four.

604
00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:43,000
 You know, so he's got that experience there.

605
00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:45,400
 Of course, he doesn't have a lot of playing experience.

606
00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:45,740
 Right.

607
00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:48,720
 But I will say this about Austin Mack.

608
00:36:49,460 --> 00:36:52,100
 Obviously, he's really gifted himself.

609
00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:58,320
 I mean, clearly, you know, Keelan Russell, we've heard about all the tools and how good he can be, the potential.

610
00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:00,800
 But I think Mack has a lot of potential, too.

611
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:15,320
 Plus, the things you hear about Mack's ability to kind of manage the offense, make calls that he has to make, whether they're offensive line protections or different things that you have to do as a quarterback to manage the offense.

612
00:37:16,040 --> 00:37:20,360
 And I think Mack has a little bit of an edge there simply based on that experience.

613
00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:22,960
 Keelan Russell just loaded with talent.

614
00:37:23,340 --> 00:37:26,480
 I mean, but again, is he ready to be the guy?

615
00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:28,460
 You know, who knows?

616
00:37:28,540 --> 00:37:29,580
 We don't know that yet.

617
00:37:30,020 --> 00:37:41,540
 But I would kind of, if you just want to go on giving somebody the edge based on the experience and being able to manage the offense right now, I think you would go with Austin Mack.

618
00:37:41,680 --> 00:37:42,860
 But there's a long way to go.

619
00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:44,300
 I mean, you've got a lot of practices.

620
00:37:44,900 --> 00:37:46,100
 This spring's still left.

621
00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:47,420
 What, 13's still left?

622
00:37:47,900 --> 00:37:52,160
 And then you've got all of fall camp before they're going to make a decision, I think.

623
00:37:52,500 --> 00:37:52,640
 Right.

624
00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:56,720
 Ronnie, again, we talk about this a lot.

625
00:37:56,720 --> 00:37:59,000
 You win games at the line of scrimmage.

626
00:37:59,240 --> 00:38:03,820
 Alabama brought in a lot of these guys on the offensive line.

627
00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:11,720
 Jabin James, Michigan transfer, Ty Haywood, who a lot of people thought was coming to Alabama a year ago.

628
00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:13,960
 But Michigan opened up the bank account.

629
00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:16,820
 Kane Strayhorn, Nick Brooks.

630
00:38:16,860 --> 00:38:22,140
 I think a lot of people think Ray Sondale Gaudi from Cal Poly will eventually be the center.

631
00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:25,940
 Kane Strayhorn is also good.

632
00:38:26,560 --> 00:38:35,460
 And on the defensive line, I think the secondary may be the best in college football with their length and their athleticism.

633
00:38:35,800 --> 00:38:38,640
 They've got some big boys now on the defensive line.

634
00:38:38,780 --> 00:38:40,780
 Terrence Green at 6'6", 330.

635
00:38:41,700 --> 00:38:43,920
 Devin Tompkins, 6'5", 290.

636
00:38:44,420 --> 00:38:48,060
 Kendrick Bingley-Jones, who've got another year of eligibility.

637
00:38:48,940 --> 00:38:54,120
 And then, as you and I both affectionately call him, Desmond Hugh from South Carolina.

638
00:38:54,520 --> 00:39:00,920
 But, again, I know when I want to talk about quarterbacks, Alabama's got some talented skill positions.

639
00:39:01,240 --> 00:39:04,420
 But, Ronnie, as we know, this team's going to get more physical.

640
00:39:05,100 --> 00:39:07,940
 You win the line of scrimmage, you win football games.

641
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:09,440
 Exactly.

642
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:13,160
 And I think that's where a lot of the new faces are going to be.

643
00:39:13,300 --> 00:39:15,960
 And I think that's where you have to say there's some uncertainty.

644
00:39:16,720 --> 00:39:24,520
 I mean, Michael Carroll comes back as your leading returning starter in terms of the number of reps he got last year.

645
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:28,180
 And then, William Sanders is out at left guard this spring.

646
00:39:28,540 --> 00:39:32,540
 And he was your second leading returner in terms of reps.

647
00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:35,600
 So, you've got a bunch of new faces.

648
00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:38,800
 You've got a bunch of guys that weren't even on your roster last year.

649
00:39:39,260 --> 00:39:40,700
 And you mentioned several of them.

650
00:39:41,180 --> 00:39:46,200
 And, you know, Jackson Lloyd, I think, has been running first team the first couple of practices at left tackle.

651
00:39:46,420 --> 00:39:51,340
 We know that Javin James, the transfer from Mississippi State, has started nine games at left tackle.

652
00:39:51,700 --> 00:39:56,680
 For them last year, he's going to certainly really push for that job as well.

653
00:39:57,080 --> 00:39:59,880
 Ty Haywood, the transfer from Michigan, could push.

654
00:40:00,240 --> 00:40:01,740
 Or he could also play guard.

655
00:40:01,740 --> 00:40:05,180
 You know, we'll see if they experiment a little bit with him this spring.

656
00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:07,400
 And then, you mentioned Delgatti at center.

657
00:40:07,860 --> 00:40:09,320
 I think he's a real key there.

658
00:40:09,700 --> 00:40:15,940
 Straight horn can play center, whether it's a backup or, you know, kind of a swing guy.

659
00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:18,040
 Certainly could push for guard.

660
00:40:18,620 --> 00:40:20,840
 Nick Brooks right now is running two at left.

661
00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:21,680
 I'm sorry.

662
00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:25,740
 Running with the ones mostly at left guard is my understanding.

663
00:40:26,100 --> 00:40:27,980
 Even though practices, like I said, have been closed.

664
00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:30,920
 And then at right guard, you've got Casey Poe.

665
00:40:31,500 --> 00:40:36,640
 And that's a guy that is a, you know, Saban signee from a few years ago originally.

666
00:40:36,860 --> 00:40:37,020
 Yep.

667
00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:39,820
 That a lot of people kind of counted out.

668
00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:45,540
 But now he looks like he's trying to at least, you know, be in a position to compete to start.

669
00:40:45,800 --> 00:40:47,680
 And then, of course, Carroll at right tackle.

670
00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:49,600
 And then you mentioned the defensive lineman.

671
00:40:49,820 --> 00:40:52,560
 I think that's where you have to have, you know, some guys come through.

672
00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:56,420
 So, just a lot of new faces up front on both sides of the ball.

673
00:40:56,520 --> 00:40:58,400
 And that's going to be a real key for Alabama.

674
00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:04,680
 Well, on your tighter insider.com, one of the jobs of that line is to do what couldn't happen last year.

675
00:41:04,740 --> 00:41:06,560
 And that's open holes for the running game.

676
00:41:06,720 --> 00:41:07,880
 How much of it was on the line?

677
00:41:07,940 --> 00:41:10,520
 How much of it was on the running game itself?

678
00:41:11,280 --> 00:41:16,220
 And I still believe Ty Simpson took a lot of hits and a lot of criticism because of that reality.

679
00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:20,960
 In your opinion, where is the room, the running back room now compared to last year coming in?

680
00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:23,980
 And you would assume Daniel Hill might have the front spot there.

681
00:41:24,460 --> 00:41:27,600
 But the question is, there's Kevin Riley and others, but the question is,

682
00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:30,580
 Crowell is all that in a bag of chips in high school.

683
00:41:31,180 --> 00:41:33,900
 How serious of a push will he put on this team?

684
00:41:34,220 --> 00:41:36,320
 In your opinion, it's all we got here in March.

685
00:41:36,820 --> 00:41:39,020
 If he lives up to his potential, where will Crowell?

686
00:41:39,260 --> 00:41:41,860
 Probably the beginning of the year, we know where he's going to be on the jump charts.

687
00:41:42,340 --> 00:41:43,920
 Where do you think he'll be mid-season?

688
00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:49,000
 I think he's got a chance based on, you know, some things I hear coming out of the building.

689
00:41:50,120 --> 00:41:58,820
 They certainly are really, I think, pleased with the off-season that Kevin Riley and Daniel Hill have had.

690
00:41:59,940 --> 00:42:02,440
 And then A.K. Deer has a lot of tools.

691
00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:08,420
 I mean, but the thing is, you know, you've got to do everything else besides just carry the ball.

692
00:42:08,640 --> 00:42:10,320
 And so that's a big thing with him.

693
00:42:10,900 --> 00:42:13,400
 Crowell is extraordinarily talented.

694
00:42:13,400 --> 00:42:17,780
 I mean, 5'11", I think he measured at 5'11", 220, 221.

695
00:42:18,300 --> 00:42:18,660
 Perfect.

696
00:42:19,200 --> 00:42:22,400
 Big, speed, power, all of those things.

697
00:42:23,700 --> 00:42:28,440
 You know, here's the thing, Harold and Brett, just let's put this into perspective real quickly.

698
00:42:29,740 --> 00:42:35,920
 Here's a 17-year-old guy that should be going back to school for his senior year in high school.

699
00:42:36,180 --> 00:42:36,900
 Having problems.

700
00:42:36,900 --> 00:42:42,840
 You know, we've got you and I and all the rest of us are talking about, you know, can this guy be the guy?

701
00:42:43,040 --> 00:42:44,500
 Can he, you know, can he step in?

702
00:42:45,260 --> 00:42:51,120
 Just a few years ago, Saban had him stacked up three or four deep that had, you know, experience.

703
00:42:51,860 --> 00:42:55,540
 And this is kind of how this situation is now, the difference in it.

704
00:42:55,900 --> 00:43:01,120
 You know, it's hard to get those guys and keep them in your program nowadays.

705
00:43:01,740 --> 00:43:05,700
 So, you know, the running back room is not quite what it used to be.

706
00:43:05,900 --> 00:43:10,780
 But I do think that, you know, Crowell can certainly help this offense this year.

707
00:43:12,460 --> 00:43:17,260
 Ronnie, I mentioned the four linemen transfers that came in.

708
00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:22,240
 But I'm going to be curious to see, again, we know London Simmons is going to be out.

709
00:43:22,240 --> 00:43:33,360
 But Isaiah Faga, Jeremiah Beeman, Edrick Hill, Steve Em, and Henry, I'm going to be curious.

710
00:43:33,480 --> 00:43:39,780
 Those guys have got some time under their belt, SEC games under their belt.

711
00:43:41,300 --> 00:43:44,640
 Yeah, I hear, you know, there's certainly a lot of potential there.

712
00:43:44,760 --> 00:43:48,700
 But I'm going to be curious to see a lot of eyes on the transfers.

713
00:43:48,700 --> 00:43:51,420
 But some of these guys have been here for a year or two.

714
00:43:52,080 --> 00:43:53,680
 This is a big year for them.

715
00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:55,740
 I think so.

716
00:43:56,000 --> 00:43:59,020
 I mean, I thought the defensive line made some improvement last year.

717
00:43:59,060 --> 00:44:04,000
 Of course, you lost some of those guys, quite a few of them, three of the starters, in fact.

718
00:44:04,400 --> 00:44:08,780
 So it is a huge year for those guys that you mentioned that have been in the program

719
00:44:08,780 --> 00:44:11,440
 that have a chance to really take that next step.

720
00:44:12,380 --> 00:44:18,340
 Whether or not any of the true freshmen will contribute, I don't know, because you're not

721
00:44:18,340 --> 00:44:22,500
 bringing in guys with that size that are ready to play.

722
00:44:22,620 --> 00:44:27,700
 Now, maybe a guy can play on the edge or something, but I don't know that they've got anyone that

723
00:44:27,700 --> 00:44:29,360
 can play on the interior that's young.

724
00:44:29,360 --> 00:44:35,000
 So the guys coming back, along with the guys in the portal, really important.

725
00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:37,240
 Those guys have to take a big step.

726
00:44:37,520 --> 00:44:42,180
 You know, they've been solid, but, you know, no one's really kind of stood out.

727
00:44:42,360 --> 00:44:48,780
 And I know when you mention some of those names, especially like Steve M., you know, look,

728
00:44:48,880 --> 00:44:50,560
 he's got incredible potential.

729
00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:52,580
 He's a great athlete.

730
00:44:52,800 --> 00:44:59,440
 He's 300-plus pounds, but, you know, now it's time to take a step.

731
00:44:59,680 --> 00:45:01,560
 It's time to, you know, see some development.

732
00:45:03,180 --> 00:45:08,280
 Rodney, you remember the old, back-in-the-day music guy, the artist formerly known as Prince?

733
00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:13,580
 Well, talk to us about the man formerly known as Ryan Williams, who used to wear number two.

734
00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:18,700
 Let's talk about Ryan Coleman Williams, wearing now number one on his jersey.

735
00:45:18,920 --> 00:45:22,580
 And according to the Street Report, he's, quote, on another level.

736
00:45:23,040 --> 00:45:27,220
 Rodney, are you hearing the same thing about Ryan Coleman Williams this spring?

737
00:45:28,060 --> 00:45:32,760
 Well, just, you know, the feedback we got yesterday, kind of we put it in our little notes.

738
00:45:32,880 --> 00:45:33,600
 We have some notes.

739
00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:36,900
 And just that he has started out really, really well.

740
00:45:37,520 --> 00:45:42,380
 Looks like he's back on track to what he was doing early in his freshman year in terms of

741
00:45:42,380 --> 00:45:45,900
 catching the ball, you know, making some plays, all of that.

742
00:45:45,900 --> 00:45:50,040
 And, again, it's been early, but I think they feel like he's got his confidence back

743
00:45:50,040 --> 00:45:53,240
 and not really sure exactly what happened last year.

744
00:45:53,780 --> 00:45:58,940
 But it does sound like he started off pretty well, and I know that they're very encouraged with that.

745
00:46:00,320 --> 00:46:07,040
 Rodney, again, another transfer that gets overlooked a lot, maybe because he was the first one.

746
00:46:07,040 --> 00:46:14,700
 And I really like this guy, Josh Ford, from Oklahoma State, all of 6'6", 260.

747
00:46:15,700 --> 00:46:24,820
 CJ Dupree, Josh Quavis, how productive they, Quavis in particular, in fact, that hurt Alabama in November.

748
00:46:25,680 --> 00:46:27,020
 Rodney, we'll see.

749
00:46:27,240 --> 00:46:29,560
 But, man, does he have the size?

750
00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:35,980
 Stats were not impressive for several reasons, but I know you were high on him.

751
00:46:36,480 --> 00:46:38,060
 Boy, he is a good-looking dude.

752
00:46:38,860 --> 00:46:39,500
 Josh Ford?

753
00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:40,280
 Yeah.

754
00:46:40,340 --> 00:46:40,640
 Yes.

755
00:46:40,700 --> 00:46:41,160
 He is.

756
00:46:41,160 --> 00:46:51,660
 You know, last year when, I guess, early September, late September, when the guy at Oklahoma State,

757
00:46:51,860 --> 00:46:55,820
 Gundy, got let go, whatever happened exactly with him.

758
00:46:56,460 --> 00:46:58,600
 You know, Ford hit the portal right away.

759
00:46:59,520 --> 00:47:01,300
 So, he got in there early.

760
00:47:01,860 --> 00:47:03,300
 Alabama got in on him early.

761
00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:10,700
 Yes, physically, he gives Alabama a presence up front at his size, 6'6", 260.

762
00:47:11,700 --> 00:47:12,860
 Really good athlete.

763
00:47:13,340 --> 00:47:18,420
 I think they're extremely pleased with where he is right now coming in.

764
00:47:18,880 --> 00:47:21,020
 I think they feel really, really good about him.

765
00:47:21,080 --> 00:47:21,480
 Mm-hmm.

766
00:47:22,620 --> 00:47:25,060
 Rodney, is anyone talking about Alabama basketball?

767
00:47:25,660 --> 00:47:27,740
 And does Nate Oates get enough credit?

768
00:47:28,100 --> 00:47:32,680
 Are we getting to a point in his tenure that it's almost like taking for granted that today

769
00:47:32,680 --> 00:47:34,160
 the tournament gets rocking and rolling.

770
00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:35,500
 Alabama doesn't play today.

771
00:47:35,640 --> 00:47:38,020
 They don't play tomorrow because they had a good regular season.

772
00:47:38,140 --> 00:47:41,900
 They're the number two seed behind a team probably on the Boston Celtics

773
00:47:41,900 --> 00:47:43,260
 that's going to beat the Florida Gators.

774
00:47:43,360 --> 00:47:47,980
 But your thoughts about this Alabama basketball team heading into the SEC tournament,

775
00:47:48,100 --> 00:47:49,760
 well, yet to be determined opponent.

776
00:47:51,280 --> 00:47:56,800
 Well, you know, they've hit their kind of peak at the right time.

777
00:47:58,140 --> 00:48:02,960
 Obviously, they won nine of their last ten in the SEC, which is pretty amazing, actually,

778
00:48:03,120 --> 00:48:04,120
 the run that they've had.

779
00:48:05,140 --> 00:48:08,220
 And, you know, Georgia just kind of caught them at a good time, I think.

780
00:48:08,400 --> 00:48:09,560
 They might have won all ten.

781
00:48:11,480 --> 00:48:16,400
 But, yeah, I mean, I think with the guard play that they have, the way they shoot the basketball,

782
00:48:17,120 --> 00:48:22,880
 you know, the high-scoring team in America, those types of things, I mean, they're a challenge for anybody.

783
00:48:23,440 --> 00:48:28,960
 And I think the emergence of Aidan Shirell on the inside has been really big for them.

784
00:48:30,060 --> 00:48:34,400
 You know, again, Harold and Brett, it's hard to gauge right now.

785
00:48:34,480 --> 00:48:40,680
 I think it just all depends on what your draw is, who you go against the matchups.

786
00:48:40,740 --> 00:48:42,160
 It's such a game of matchups.

787
00:48:42,160 --> 00:48:49,580
 And, you know, eventually they would run into a big physical team or a team that can handle them in the paint.

788
00:48:49,680 --> 00:48:53,060
 And I think that's the biggest concern to me.

789
00:48:53,820 --> 00:48:58,020
 But, listen, they're playing right now at a very high level.

790
00:48:58,280 --> 00:49:01,540
 So, you know, there's a chance they could make a really good run.

791
00:49:03,120 --> 00:49:08,720
 Ronnie, I still say this is not his best team since he walked in the door in Tuscaloosa.

792
00:49:09,140 --> 00:49:15,420
 But I think it's his best coaching job to be able to navigate all of the injuries.

793
00:49:15,420 --> 00:49:24,920
 We had Brian Passink on the show earlier this week, the basketball analyst on the Crimson Tide Sports Network.

794
00:49:25,160 --> 00:49:28,520
 And he said this team may be healthier right now than they've been all year.

795
00:49:29,660 --> 00:49:35,700
 And if they can get a little bit out of the bench, London Simmons had 11 against Auburn.

796
00:49:36,160 --> 00:49:38,720
 Mallett does a lot of very good things.

797
00:49:38,820 --> 00:49:39,420
 We'll see.

798
00:49:39,620 --> 00:49:41,140
 But you're right.

799
00:49:41,880 --> 00:49:45,220
 They are hitting their peak when the time they needed to do it.

800
00:49:45,860 --> 00:50:03,300
 Where can we get online and get the best coverage of Alabama sports 24-7 message board, some recruiting, spring practice updates, basketball, the whole nine yards for a very nominal price?

801
00:50:04,260 --> 00:50:04,560
 Right.

802
00:50:05,320 --> 00:50:06,160
 Tidereinsider.com.

803
00:50:06,540 --> 00:50:08,180
 It's only $48 a year.

804
00:50:08,300 --> 00:50:11,060
 And you can get instant access with your credit card if you prefer.

805
00:50:11,480 --> 00:50:13,320
 There is an address there to send a check.

806
00:50:13,320 --> 00:50:15,180
 And that gives you all our premium information.

807
00:50:15,360 --> 00:50:20,380
 But also the All Sports Forum, which is what you alluded to, the nonstop discussion there.

808
00:50:20,620 --> 00:50:25,040
 We've had a lot of, you know, good mixture there right now.

809
00:50:27,060 --> 00:50:28,100
 Basketball, obviously.

810
00:50:28,600 --> 00:50:29,400
 Spring football.

811
00:50:29,940 --> 00:50:31,820
 A lot of, hey, how about that softball team?

812
00:50:32,400 --> 00:50:32,760
 There you go.

813
00:50:33,120 --> 00:50:33,580
 23-0.

814
00:50:34,300 --> 00:50:36,860
 And baseball started out pretty well also.

815
00:50:37,080 --> 00:50:41,440
 So it's pretty much nonstop right there on Tidereinsider.com.

816
00:50:42,500 --> 00:50:43,860
 Rodney, you got it all covered.

817
00:50:43,980 --> 00:50:45,940
 Put some more lead in your pencil and keep it up.

818
00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:47,700
 And thank you so much for your time today, buddy.

819
00:50:48,800 --> 00:50:49,620
 Appreciate it, guys.

820
00:50:49,700 --> 00:50:50,140
 Take care.

821
00:50:50,460 --> 00:50:50,980
 Thank you, bud.

822
00:50:51,060 --> 00:50:52,660
 You are Tidereinsider.com.

823
00:50:52,660 --> 00:50:56,580
 BB, what's the latest in Nashville at the SEC basketball tournament?

824
00:50:58,060 --> 00:50:59,400
 24-24 remaining.

825
00:50:59,640 --> 00:51:02,080
 The Kentucky Wildcats, 49.

826
00:51:02,500 --> 00:51:05,200
 The LSU Tigers, 47.

827
00:51:05,820 --> 00:51:06,540
 There you have it.

828
00:51:06,580 --> 00:51:08,860
 We'll update that and a whole lot more coming up in the second hour.

829
00:51:09,000 --> 00:51:11,840
 We'll talk about, speaking of that, Mr. LSU himself, Ron Higgins.

830
00:51:12,300 --> 00:51:14,160
 Judy Armand is going to be on board as well.

831
00:51:14,520 --> 00:51:18,540
 And Tony Poole looking in the rearview mirror at UNA's basketball season.

832
00:51:18,660 --> 00:51:19,920
 And a sneak peek ahead.

833
00:51:20,380 --> 00:51:22,580
 And it is all ahead in the second hour of the Boomwell Bug Show.

834
00:51:22,660 --> 00:51:23,260
 Stay with us.

835
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836
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845
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846
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847
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 Cheers!

848
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853
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878
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 With credit card debt at all-time highs,

879
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889
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 For this free information, call the relief hotline at 800-499-6744.

890
00:54:27,760 --> 00:54:46,200
 A captain within the U.S. Navy Reserves, Morgan Murphy, has now announced that he will be dropping out of the Republican Senate primary race here in Alabama.

891
00:54:46,580 --> 00:54:52,300
 Murphy says that Republicans do not need to waste time or money fighting each other in this crowded field.

892
00:54:52,840 --> 00:54:59,220
 Instead, Murphy says he's going to focus on flipping one of the two U.S. House seats here in Alabama that is currently being held by Democrats.

893
00:54:59,500 --> 00:55:03,000
 Murphy is also endorsing U.S. Congressman Barry Moore in the Senate primary.

894
00:55:03,420 --> 00:55:07,800
 Moore is up against Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and former U.S. Navy SEAL Jared Hudson.

895
00:55:08,140 --> 00:55:10,520
 I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this.

896
00:55:10,520 --> 00:55:18,120
 Some of the greatest blessings is just having people that care about you, to have someone that's just going to love you and make you feel important.

897
00:55:18,480 --> 00:55:20,160
 They encourage you to be in church.

898
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 They encourage you to be in prayer.

899
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 They encourage you to be in your Bible.

900
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 Now it's a part of my day every day.

901
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 My house parents planted seeds in me that you can see where those seeds have sprouted in my life and helped change my life.

902
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 Big Oak Ranch, a Christian home for children needing a chance.

903
00:55:39,020 --> 00:55:48,940
 The National Weather Service out of Birmingham is going to deploy teams to Winston, Tuscaloosa, and Jefferson counties to serve a storm damage caused by thunderstorms that came in on Monday night.

904
00:55:48,940 --> 00:55:54,240
 The NWS will be looking for signs of tornadoes touching down, as well as extreme wind damage.

905
00:55:54,480 --> 00:55:57,140
 No injuries or fatalities have been reported from those storms.

906
00:55:57,740 --> 00:56:02,920
 Alabama native Jesse Holmes is going to go for a repeat win in the Iditarod race in Alaska.

907
00:56:03,360 --> 00:56:08,840
 Holmes won the 1,000-mile sled dog race last year after starting with dog sled racing back in 2018.

908
00:56:09,480 --> 00:56:15,220
 The Iditarod has been conducted since 1973 with dog sleds racing from Anchorage to Nome.

909
00:56:15,780 --> 00:56:24,160
 The Underwood Elementary School in Lauderdale County is being closed for the next two days due to high levels of sickness and subsequent absences of student and staff.

910
00:56:24,560 --> 00:56:25,400
 I'm Andrea Tess.

911
00:56:25,400 --> 00:56:30,000
 For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com.

912
00:56:30,180 --> 00:56:33,000
 And while you're there, subscribe to the daily newsletter.

913
00:56:35,520 --> 00:56:37,300
 This is the story of The One.

914
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915
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916
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917
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918
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919
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920
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921
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922
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923
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924
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925
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926
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927
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928
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929
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930
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931
00:57:36,520 --> 00:57:42,000
 Valley Broadcasting Corporation, WITK-FM, Rogersville, Athens, Decatur, The Shores.

932
00:57:42,200 --> 00:57:44,420
 Sports Radio 93.9 The Score.

933
00:57:46,600 --> 00:57:48,220
 This is March Madness.

934
00:57:48,320 --> 00:57:49,800
 Richardson against Padula straightaway.

935
00:57:49,900 --> 00:57:50,940
 Gets a screen from Kohler.

936
00:57:51,040 --> 00:57:51,520
 Dribbles left.

937
00:57:51,580 --> 00:57:52,180
 Turns the corner.

938
00:57:52,320 --> 00:57:53,080
 Up to the rim.

939
00:57:53,440 --> 00:57:54,200
 Lays it in.

940
00:57:54,560 --> 00:57:55,680
 Spartans by two.

941
00:57:55,980 --> 00:57:56,660
 Great offense.

942
00:57:56,800 --> 00:57:58,860
 They got Dre Davis on the switch.

943
00:57:59,060 --> 00:58:00,740
 And he beats him to the rim with ease.

944
00:58:00,960 --> 00:58:05,700
 Michigan State outlasted Ole Miss last year to deliver Coach Tom Izzo his 11th trip to the Elite Eight.

945
00:58:05,700 --> 00:58:11,360
 Stay tuned for Westwood One's exclusive coverage of this year's NCAA Men's and Women's Tournaments right here.

946
00:58:14,300 --> 00:58:16,380
 Can't get enough of your favorite sports talk?

947
00:58:16,700 --> 00:58:21,840
 Now you can download 93.9 The Score's free mobile app and stay connected to the station 24-7.

948
00:58:22,340 --> 00:58:23,960
 Miss an episode of the Boomo Bugg Show?

949
00:58:24,120 --> 00:58:26,340
 Not a problem with the 93.9 The Score app.

950
00:58:26,620 --> 00:58:30,900
 All of our local shows can be listened to anytime, anywhere alongside the live stream feature.

951
00:58:31,300 --> 00:58:34,660
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952
00:58:35,160 --> 00:58:38,840
 93.9 The Score's app is available through the Apple App Store and Google Play.

953
00:58:39,840 --> 00:58:42,020
 93.9 The Score weather.

954
00:58:42,580 --> 00:58:46,840
 Today a 50% chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms with a high around 70.

955
00:58:47,500 --> 00:58:52,440
 Tonight showers and thunderstorms overnight with a chance at up to 25 mile an hour wind gusts and a low near 40.

956
00:58:53,140 --> 00:58:55,560
 Tomorrow sunny and windy with a high around 60.

957
00:58:56,120 --> 00:58:58,140
 Tomorrow night clear with a low near 35.

958
00:58:58,720 --> 00:59:01,040
 And for your Friday sunny with a high around 70.

959
00:59:01,420 --> 00:59:04,040
 Your weather from 93.9 The Score.

960
00:59:05,240 --> 00:59:13,700
 Now, get ready to roll Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of northwest Alabama and southern Tennessee.

961
00:59:14,340 --> 00:59:17,660
 It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice.

962
00:59:20,660 --> 00:59:23,220
 The Boomo Bugg Show.

963
00:59:23,560 --> 00:59:25,660
 Your exclusive inside track to the Tide.

964
00:59:25,800 --> 00:59:28,760
 Tigers, Tennessee, and the rest of the SEC.

965
00:59:29,580 --> 00:59:35,000
 Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score.

966
00:59:35,860 --> 00:59:36,520
 Welcome back again.

967
00:59:36,580 --> 00:59:37,720
 Now, it's here to the Boomo Bugg Show.

968
00:59:37,820 --> 00:59:39,380
 I'm Harold Bugg, alongside Brett Beaird.

969
00:59:39,480 --> 00:59:42,520
 Thank you so much for giving us a free ride around the Tennessee Valley.

970
00:59:42,600 --> 00:59:43,520
 I'll tell you what.

971
00:59:44,200 --> 00:59:50,600
 Coming into this SEC basketball tournament happening even as we speak up in a place called Nashville, Tennessee.

972
00:59:51,620 --> 00:59:55,760
 Kentucky fans probably thought, well, it's Kentucky and LSU stinks this year.

973
00:59:55,900 --> 01:00:01,700
 But at last report, Kentucky fans probably right now are starting to chew some nails up there, BB.

974
01:00:02,160 --> 01:00:11,440
 Well, it's 64 to 62, 11 minutes, 48 seconds remaining in the second half.

975
01:00:11,700 --> 01:00:20,200
 LSU's been playing better basketball as of late, and I think a lot of these games in the next two days, in particular, are going to be close.

976
01:00:20,640 --> 01:00:22,100
 Your thoughts, what happens?

977
01:00:22,800 --> 01:00:30,160
 Can you imagine, heaven forbid, of all the years, first of all, Kentucky never opens a can of the SEC basketball tournament.

978
01:00:30,320 --> 01:00:33,800
 Translated, you didn't have a good year if you're the opening act.

979
01:00:34,220 --> 01:00:36,400
 The Rolling Stones never came out first, BB.

980
01:00:37,320 --> 01:00:42,660
 LSU has been, at least reputation-wise, a doormat all year, near the bottom, if not at the bottom.

981
01:00:43,300 --> 01:00:47,080
 Can you imagine if Kentucky bows out early in the tournament?

982
01:00:47,180 --> 01:00:50,700
 Number one, the fans are not going to be happy, and the merchants up there are not going to be happy.

983
01:00:50,940 --> 01:00:59,580
 Because if you've ever been to one of these things and have seen Kentucky show up, you know they bring the most loyal fan base of any team in the SEC.

984
01:00:59,980 --> 01:01:05,760
 It's not going to be a good Wednesday night for Mr. Pope if Kentucky winds up on the short end here.

985
01:01:05,960 --> 01:01:16,240
 Well, yeah, I can assure you the motels and restaurants in Nashville want Kentucky to have a deep run every year in the SEC tournament.

986
01:01:17,840 --> 01:01:26,020
 McKinnon of LSU at 20 points, that kid reminds me a little bit of Pete Maravich, the way he plays the game.

987
01:01:26,020 --> 01:01:33,200
 But, yes, if Kentucky were to lose this game today, Olway has got 16 for the Cats.

988
01:01:33,880 --> 01:01:35,720
 It would not be a good week.

989
01:01:35,840 --> 01:01:37,460
 Now, Kentucky's going to make the tournament.

990
01:01:37,700 --> 01:01:37,960
 Right.

991
01:01:38,100 --> 01:01:40,340
 They're going to be a sixth or seventh seed.

992
01:01:40,580 --> 01:01:44,080
 But, yeah, Kentucky fans are a little irate right now.

993
01:01:44,400 --> 01:01:49,460
 Well, and especially in this NIL era, I mean, they went out, they broke the bank, put this roster together.

994
01:01:49,520 --> 01:01:56,380
 And I think it goes back to what Coach Drew Stutz said earlier from Freed Harmon, a Shoals native who's doing doggone good up in Henderson, Tennessee.

995
01:01:56,560 --> 01:02:01,800
 And he said, basically, in effect, you've got to get complimentary players.

996
01:02:02,220 --> 01:02:05,840
 Translated, as he put it, and I totally agree with this.

997
01:02:06,080 --> 01:02:15,300
 How many of these coaches get caught up in getting this five-star and that five-star and then basically just fill out the roster and the budget with players that might or might not hit?

998
01:02:15,700 --> 01:02:17,280
 I agree with Drew.

999
01:02:17,460 --> 01:02:20,600
 Go out and get guys who are going to play as a we, not a me.

1000
01:02:20,700 --> 01:02:21,600
 Get 10 guys.

1001
01:02:22,020 --> 01:02:22,780
 You go to the bench.

1002
01:02:22,820 --> 01:02:23,900
 You keep everything fresh.

1003
01:02:24,260 --> 01:02:27,160
 Everybody can go to the stat sheet after the game and say they contributed.

1004
01:02:27,660 --> 01:02:30,380
 To me, in this modern era, it's always been that way.

1005
01:02:30,380 --> 01:02:37,240
 But especially in this modern era, if somebody's making $5 million and you're making five cents, it's hard to have a team spirit, BB.

1006
01:02:37,760 --> 01:02:42,640
 Well, Kentucky reportedly has a $20 million roster for basketball.

1007
01:02:43,100 --> 01:02:43,320
 Yeah.

1008
01:02:43,500 --> 01:02:48,820
 The return on the investment hasn't exactly been there yet.

1009
01:02:49,140 --> 01:02:54,640
 And as Drew Stutz mentioned, he had a player who's been with him five years.

1010
01:02:54,640 --> 01:03:02,040
 Dallas Howell has been with UNA for six, which is a real rarity.

1011
01:03:02,440 --> 01:03:06,600
 But that's the reason why you've got to be careful with these mid-majors.

1012
01:03:06,980 --> 01:03:11,300
 A five versus 12 seed, some lower seeds.

1013
01:03:11,940 --> 01:03:17,160
 Harold, these guys have been playing on the same team with the same grade for four to five years.

1014
01:03:17,300 --> 01:03:18,060
 They're veterans.

1015
01:03:18,220 --> 01:03:19,360
 They've seen it all.

1016
01:03:19,920 --> 01:03:22,760
 You've got to be careful playing some of these mid-majors.

1017
01:03:23,080 --> 01:03:24,200
 And they know how to balance life.

1018
01:03:24,300 --> 01:03:28,440
 A lot of these kids get caught up in their names and lights, and they fail to live up to their potential.

1019
01:03:28,520 --> 01:03:30,080
 They have a good night or a good show.

1020
01:03:30,460 --> 01:03:34,660
 But then after that, they get caught up in the headlines, and they don't always deliver.

1021
01:03:34,740 --> 01:03:39,880
 And I think by the time you reach this stage of your life, 22, 23 years old, you've had enough bumps in the road.

1022
01:03:39,940 --> 01:03:42,420
 Now you know how to kind of balance things out a little bit more.

1023
01:03:42,520 --> 01:03:45,800
 And if you think you're going to do that in your 20s, just wait until you get on up in the years.

1024
01:03:46,080 --> 01:03:50,380
 You're really going to find out how to take that road grader out there and smooth things out.

1025
01:03:50,780 --> 01:03:52,440
 But, B.B., you mentioned Coach Tony Pujo.

1026
01:03:52,720 --> 01:03:54,380
 Obviously, an effort to hook up with him.

1027
01:03:54,420 --> 01:03:55,620
 He's had a little bump in the road there.

1028
01:03:55,700 --> 01:03:56,620
 He's got a busy schedule.

1029
01:03:57,360 --> 01:04:00,120
 But after this game, Auburn and Mississippi State.

1030
01:04:01,060 --> 01:04:05,200
 This is not a glamorous matchup unless you're an Auburn or a State fan.

1031
01:04:05,780 --> 01:04:11,580
 But I'll tell you what, if you're an Auburn fan, this game has so much riding on it, B.B.

1032
01:04:11,900 --> 01:04:18,700
 Well, Stephen Pearls mentioned all week long, his team's going to have a sense of urgency.

1033
01:04:19,120 --> 01:04:20,420
 Again, they lose.

1034
01:04:20,420 --> 01:04:28,660
 I don't believe there's been a team with 16 losses who's ever made the NCAA basketball tournament.

1035
01:04:28,820 --> 01:04:33,500
 And if they lose to Mississippi State today, it's going to be a rough offseason.

1036
01:04:33,960 --> 01:04:37,560
 One of his keys is going to be how many of these kids come back.

1037
01:04:38,160 --> 01:04:40,200
 But Mississippi State's already done this.

1038
01:04:40,340 --> 01:04:44,020
 Again, I know a lot of Auburn fans are looking at this as a revenge game.

1039
01:04:44,220 --> 01:04:50,500
 But Josh Hobart, obviously, is going to be the number one target in trying to hold him down.

1040
01:04:50,600 --> 01:04:54,520
 Again, he scored 35 against Auburn in the first half.

1041
01:04:55,160 --> 01:04:59,100
 The first, when they played him and finished with 46.

1042
01:04:59,980 --> 01:05:03,620
 But again, Auburn's got the advantage, I believe, inside.

1043
01:05:04,320 --> 01:05:06,020
 Pettiford is a great player.

1044
01:05:06,200 --> 01:05:07,460
 He can hit the three.

1045
01:05:07,880 --> 01:05:11,900
 The two Keyshawn boys, it's going to be critical for them to have a good game.

1046
01:05:12,500 --> 01:05:20,140
 So if things, even if they win this game, there's a class of folks out there who said the odds are still against them barring and getting hot and winning the tournament.

1047
01:05:20,240 --> 01:05:21,520
 Then you've got an automatic bid, of course.

1048
01:05:22,120 --> 01:05:28,700
 But if they do miss the tournament this season, BB, where are you objectively going forward with this basketball program?

1049
01:05:28,760 --> 01:05:32,920
 And the reason I say that is everybody's going to be throwing darts at Stephen Pearl.

1050
01:05:33,060 --> 01:05:37,900
 And he's had his, like any first-year coach with that kind of resume as far as head coaching experience.

1051
01:05:37,940 --> 01:05:38,740
 You're going to make mistakes.

1052
01:05:38,820 --> 01:05:39,480
 You get that.

1053
01:05:40,120 --> 01:05:43,440
 But you give the reality of what his dad gave him.

1054
01:05:43,440 --> 01:05:52,040
 And when he gave it to him, things just basically had to fall just right for Stephen Pearl to have the year that would meet the expectations.

1055
01:05:52,040 --> 01:05:53,200
 That did not happen.

1056
01:05:53,980 --> 01:06:02,320
 So where are you as far as being able to make a level-headed decision, factoring all the things that he inherited going forward?

1057
01:06:02,380 --> 01:06:07,080
 Because at the same time, if you're in business, sometimes you've got to make that tough decision.

1058
01:06:07,080 --> 01:06:10,940
 Is he the man to get Auburn basketball back to the standard?

1059
01:06:10,940 --> 01:06:13,280
 I think we'll know more next year.

1060
01:06:13,520 --> 01:06:29,280
 Again, when Bruce Pearl decided to retire about three days before practice began, John Coyne had no relief or no recourse but to, again, let him coach.

1061
01:06:30,240 --> 01:06:33,160
 They couldn't bring in another coach that late in the game.

1062
01:06:33,160 --> 01:06:36,480
 But this was a Bruce Pearl schedule.

1063
01:06:37,220 --> 01:06:40,460
 These were Bruce Pearl players.

1064
01:06:41,080 --> 01:06:51,520
 And their biggest problem, and every time you and I talk to an Auburn beat writer or media, they keep saying the number one thing with this team.

1065
01:06:51,620 --> 01:06:53,000
 They can't play defense.

1066
01:06:53,660 --> 01:07:00,180
 And the Rodney thing about it is they played one of the best games in college basketball defensively when they beat Florida.

1067
01:07:00,720 --> 01:07:03,800
 And they defensively have not been the same team.

1068
01:07:04,420 --> 01:07:07,320
 I've mentioned several times that maybe an aberration.

1069
01:07:07,580 --> 01:07:12,620
 Now, Stephen Pearl's got to go get players that fit his system.

1070
01:07:13,000 --> 01:07:18,260
 But a lot of this, I think John Coyne will certainly let him have one more year.

1071
01:07:19,120 --> 01:07:20,340
 Certainly, maybe two.

1072
01:07:20,480 --> 01:07:22,280
 But next year is going to be a key year.

1073
01:07:22,640 --> 01:07:25,260
 He needs to go get the players to fit his system.

1074
01:07:25,700 --> 01:07:39,660
 When you listen to Auburn fans, Big John's name gets invoked a lot because you look at this program, not just taking a slice of the pie called Auburn Men's Basketball, but you look across the board to football where it's been over the last few years.

1075
01:07:40,340 --> 01:07:43,820
 Your thoughts about the state of the Auburn Athletic Department overall.

1076
01:07:43,820 --> 01:07:47,740
 Right now, the saving grace seems to be the Auburn baseball team.

1077
01:07:48,400 --> 01:07:50,480
 Well, Butch Thompson is a good coach.

1078
01:07:50,680 --> 01:07:53,940
 And if they can stay healthy, they're hitting the cover off the ball.

1079
01:07:54,100 --> 01:07:59,460
 The McCrane boys are hitting the ball very well.

1080
01:07:59,560 --> 01:08:01,340
 They've got tremendous pitching.

1081
01:08:02,580 --> 01:08:08,900
 Now, they're going, you know, we'll see what happens with them as they enter SEC play.

1082
01:08:08,900 --> 01:08:14,100
 But, see, Bruce Pearl more or less set a standard for basketball.

1083
01:08:14,340 --> 01:08:17,460
 They obviously haven't lived up to that this year.

1084
01:08:17,600 --> 01:08:20,300
 I mean, they've been to the Final Four with Bruce.

1085
01:08:20,400 --> 01:08:21,580
 They've won a lot of games.

1086
01:08:21,740 --> 01:08:26,620
 They've had some upsets, and particularly Yale upset them a couple years ago.

1087
01:08:27,840 --> 01:08:32,780
 But, really, overall, for Auburn Athletics, a lot of the fans are disappointed.

1088
01:08:33,100 --> 01:08:39,620
 Football was a dismal failure with Hugh Freeze, and they finally ended that experiment.

1089
01:08:40,480 --> 01:08:42,480
 Basketball certainly has been a disappointment.

1090
01:08:42,700 --> 01:08:44,840
 But, yes, baseball has done quite well.

1091
01:08:45,500 --> 01:08:47,800
 Back to your point about what Bruce did.

1092
01:08:47,900 --> 01:08:54,480
 In a way, Bruce had a mitt for his right hand, and he handed his son a mitt for the left hand.

1093
01:08:54,540 --> 01:08:56,740
 That just wasn't a good fit for his style of play.

1094
01:08:56,820 --> 01:09:00,700
 The bloodline's there, but I don't think the players matched up to his scheme.

1095
01:09:01,180 --> 01:09:03,320
 BB, let's stay with the SEC basketball tournament.

1096
01:09:03,460 --> 01:09:06,660
 We mentioned Kentucky and LSU in a dogfight, in this case a catfight up there.

1097
01:09:06,720 --> 01:09:08,140
 Auburn and Mississippi State this afternoon.

1098
01:09:08,220 --> 01:09:12,660
 They'll take a little bit of a break, and then tonight, a game that Alabama fans are going

1099
01:09:12,660 --> 01:09:17,520
 to have a close eye on, Texas and Ole Miss, because Texas and Ole Miss take on each other

1100
01:09:17,520 --> 01:09:18,640
 in the early evening game.

1101
01:09:18,700 --> 01:09:23,600
 The winner there will take on Georgia, and then the winner of that game, Georgia, against

1102
01:09:23,600 --> 01:09:28,040
 this winner, Ole Miss and Texas, will face, I'm out of breath, Alabama on Friday.

1103
01:09:28,240 --> 01:09:30,420
 First things first, Texas and Ole Miss tonight.

1104
01:09:31,200 --> 01:09:33,640
 Texas really needs to win this game.

1105
01:09:34,480 --> 01:09:43,720
 They really don't have a lot of bad losses, but that would be a devastating loss for Texas.

1106
01:09:44,360 --> 01:09:45,920
 They really need to win this game.

1107
01:09:46,020 --> 01:09:51,940
 I think they need to win two games, certainly one today, to get in the SEC tournament.

1108
01:09:54,180 --> 01:09:58,940
 They've got a good team, a lot of size in the post.

1109
01:09:58,940 --> 01:10:00,700
 They did beat Alabama.

1110
01:10:00,940 --> 01:10:03,880
 They played very well that night, but this is a game, Texas.

1111
01:10:04,180 --> 01:10:07,300
 This is a must win for the Longhorns.

1112
01:10:08,260 --> 01:10:13,780
 To me, one of the more interesting matchups is in the nightcap with what many believe is

1113
01:10:13,780 --> 01:10:16,940
 you're talking about two teams going in opposite directions.

1114
01:10:17,720 --> 01:10:22,900
 Oklahoma right now seems to be the proverbial team that's on fire, the most fire down the

1115
01:10:22,900 --> 01:10:24,460
 stretch against South Carolina.

1116
01:10:25,180 --> 01:10:29,540
 Wouldn't it be nice if you're a South Carolina fan, if the men could learn from South Carolina

1117
01:10:29,540 --> 01:10:31,020
 women, baby, on the hardwoods?

1118
01:10:31,020 --> 01:10:35,160
 Well, Lamont Paris is coming back for another year.

1119
01:10:35,320 --> 01:10:37,400
 They really like him.

1120
01:10:37,620 --> 01:10:39,300
 I know they've had some injuries.

1121
01:10:40,020 --> 01:10:41,100
 It was just not there.

1122
01:10:41,180 --> 01:10:44,060
 Now, they played a lot of close games.

1123
01:10:44,740 --> 01:10:52,200
 But, yeah, Harold, he is coming back for South Carolina.

1124
01:10:52,560 --> 01:10:56,540
 Now, the baseball team, Palmineri, is struggling.

1125
01:10:56,840 --> 01:11:01,980
 The football team did not have a very good year either, even though Alabama was lucky to pull

1126
01:11:01,980 --> 01:11:06,240
 that game out in the last minute of the game.

1127
01:11:06,240 --> 01:11:13,540
 But Paris is a good guy, and they want to give him one more year to see if he can get it done.

1128
01:11:13,660 --> 01:11:16,160
 But I'm telling you, Oklahoma is hot.

1129
01:11:16,280 --> 01:11:19,360
 They've won four consecutive games, six out of the last eight.

1130
01:11:19,480 --> 01:11:22,900
 Porter Moser has basically turned that team around.

1131
01:11:23,060 --> 01:11:25,160
 They're defending very well.

1132
01:11:25,280 --> 01:11:26,460
 They're shooting the three.

1133
01:11:26,680 --> 01:11:31,300
 They may be the most improved team in the SEC in the last month.

1134
01:11:32,140 --> 01:11:35,640
 Bobby Bowden back in the day, and I still remember the words he said,

1135
01:11:35,700 --> 01:11:37,480
 it ain't what you've done, it's what you've done lately.

1136
01:11:37,580 --> 01:11:39,280
 And right now, Oklahoma's getting it done lately.

1137
01:11:39,740 --> 01:11:44,700
 Just quickly on this, are you a little bit perplexed at where the eggs are in the basket

1138
01:11:44,700 --> 01:11:49,340
 at Oklahoma and Texas because they've got money, but it looks like from the surface anyway,

1139
01:11:49,440 --> 01:11:51,960
 they put so much money into their football program.

1140
01:11:52,360 --> 01:11:57,340
 Are you a little surprised that they're not a little bit better in both Oklahoma and Texas

1141
01:11:57,340 --> 01:11:58,380
 when it comes to basketball?

1142
01:11:58,380 --> 01:12:03,380
 Well, I think they're going to probably keep him, particularly if he wins a couple of games

1143
01:12:03,380 --> 01:12:04,580
 in the SEC tournament.

1144
01:12:04,800 --> 01:12:07,900
 I think Porter Moser is going to be able to come back.

1145
01:12:09,660 --> 01:12:11,780
 You know, we'll see where that goes.

1146
01:12:11,920 --> 01:12:19,460
 Darian Reed is another player for Oklahoma who was in Alabama for a year, and he came back.

1147
01:12:20,820 --> 01:12:26,500
 I think both basketball programs, now Texas has got the best baseball program in the country.

1148
01:12:26,500 --> 01:12:33,920
 And I think that will continue, but I think both Oklahoma and Texas for basketball next year

1149
01:12:33,920 --> 01:12:34,740
 is going to be better.

1150
01:12:35,240 --> 01:12:40,040
 When you said he played at Alabama at one time, when you hear the broadcasters in all these games

1151
01:12:40,040 --> 01:12:45,180
 and talk about all the transfers, a lot of folks says it's kind of like growing up in a small town.

1152
01:12:45,300 --> 01:12:47,400
 At the end of the day, you end up dating everybody, right?

1153
01:12:47,500 --> 01:12:48,840
 Before it's not said and done.

1154
01:12:49,080 --> 01:12:52,100
 At least once, maybe not twice, but at least once.

1155
01:12:52,100 --> 01:12:57,660
 Coming up, the voice of the LSU Tigers when it comes to the man behind the scenes, Ron Higgins,

1156
01:12:57,760 --> 01:12:59,580
 checking in next here on the Boomo Bugg Show.

1157
01:12:59,840 --> 01:13:00,500
 Stay with us.

1158
01:13:04,720 --> 01:13:06,200
 It's not March Madness.

1159
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 It's Mad Marchness at Sam's Sports Grill in Florence.

1160
01:13:09,920 --> 01:13:15,340
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1161
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1162
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 From crave-worthy favorites to unbeatable drink specials, Sam's is where Florence comes to watch, cheer, and win.

1163
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 So grab your crew, lock in your bracket, and experience Mad Marchness the Sam's way.

1164
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 Make our place your place.

1165
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1166
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1167
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1168
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1169
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1170
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1171
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1172
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1173
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1174
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 Working on the farm, my heart kept skipping a beat.

1175
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 I didn't think much of it, but my daughters made me get checked out.

1176
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 Turns out I have atrial fibrillation, which increases the risk of stroke about five times.

1177
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 Symptoms like irregular heartbeat, heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, or lightheadedness can come and go.

1178
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 But if it's AFib, the risk of stroke remains.

1179
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 If you have symptoms, contact a doctor.

1180
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1181
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1182
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1184
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1185
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1186
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1187
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1188
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1189
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1190
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1192
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1193
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1194
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1195
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 Call 800-568-2790 or BigLou.com.

1196
01:15:36,900 --> 01:15:40,200
 From the University of Alabama, this is Crimson Tide Today.

1197
01:15:40,600 --> 01:15:48,980
 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.

1198
01:15:49,320 --> 01:15:51,600
 Order online at ConecuhSausage.com.

1199
01:15:51,900 --> 01:15:52,560
 Hello again, everybody.

1200
01:15:52,740 --> 01:15:53,480
 I'm Roger Hoover.

1201
01:15:53,480 --> 01:16:00,220
 On yesterday's edition of Crimson Drive, driven by NASCAR, we were joined by Alabama baseball outfielder Bryce Fallon.

1202
01:16:00,460 --> 01:16:02,740
 I get a text from Torres and he was like, yeah, I'm coming back.

1203
01:16:02,840 --> 01:16:08,780
 And then Brady's coming back and I'm like, I think it's a no-brainer at that point, especially with that core group.

1204
01:16:08,940 --> 01:16:11,180
 Like, we had a good squad last year.

1205
01:16:11,280 --> 01:16:18,140
 You bring these guys back and then go get the pieces you need out of the portal or Juco or wherever they were getting the pieces from.

1206
01:16:18,620 --> 01:16:19,880
 I think it was a no-brainer.

1207
01:16:19,880 --> 01:16:32,500
 So, I legit remember calling, texting Coach Vaughn and I sent him the, there's like a little gif on text message of the Alabama elephant and he's like dancing in the stands and I sent it to him and it's just like roll tide.

1208
01:16:32,760 --> 01:16:34,680
 And he was like, he was like, let's go.

1209
01:16:35,180 --> 01:16:36,500
 So, it was just, it was great, man.

1210
01:16:36,560 --> 01:16:39,000
 You know, obviously super close with those guys.

1211
01:16:39,120 --> 01:16:46,920
 But once it kind of, like I said, once it started, it was just a domino effect and it was kind of like a no-brainer for me to just come back in one last year and enjoy it.

1212
01:16:47,460 --> 01:16:48,340
 I'll have more in a moment.

1213
01:16:48,340 --> 01:16:49,680
 Hello, Tide fans.

1214
01:16:49,840 --> 01:16:52,240
 This is Chris Stewart for Conecuh Sausage.

1215
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 Conecuh's an Alabama fan favorite we all know and love.

1216
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 It's made from the finest cuts of pork, their patented blend of seasonings, and smoked over a pure hickory fire for that true hickory smoked southern flavor.

1217
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1218
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 Pick up a pack and enjoy your family's favorite recipes at any meal of the day.

1219
01:17:12,420 --> 01:17:18,480
 Conecuh Sausage, a game day tradition and the official smoked sausage of the Crimson Tide.

1220
01:17:18,480 --> 01:17:27,980
 Join us tomorrow for Crimson Drive, driven by NASCAR, streaming live at 2 p.m. central on all CTSN social media platforms at UA underscore CTSN.

1221
01:17:28,420 --> 01:17:31,020
 Crimson Tide Today is brought to you by Conecuh Sausage.

1222
01:17:31,320 --> 01:17:35,180
 Crimson Tide Today is a production of the Crimson Tide Sports Network from Learfield.

1223
01:17:35,960 --> 01:17:37,000
 The Score.

1224
01:17:37,400 --> 01:17:42,180
 Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.

1225
01:17:42,520 --> 01:17:43,000
 The Score.

1226
01:17:43,060 --> 01:17:44,480
 Welcome back in, folks.

1227
01:17:44,840 --> 01:17:46,960
 We really appreciate you joining us.

1228
01:17:47,240 --> 01:17:50,920
 Please keep your eyes on the road while we keep an eye on the sky.

1229
01:17:51,080 --> 01:17:52,800
 BB, severe thunderstorm warning.

1230
01:17:53,520 --> 01:18:01,060
 Bottom line right now, if you have any plans heading west, young man, say it over Iyuka, Corinth, up to Savannah, net neck of the woods.

1231
01:18:01,420 --> 01:18:05,120
 Please be aware it's looking kind of like a rainbow over there on the radar, BB.

1232
01:18:06,020 --> 01:18:10,620
 Harold, a lot of the schools in the shows let out early, and I'm glad they did.

1233
01:18:10,860 --> 01:18:13,640
 Yeah, it's the thing you used to say.

1234
01:18:13,700 --> 01:18:19,160
 It looks like a Christmas tree coming in these line of storms.

1235
01:18:20,400 --> 01:18:22,900
 Again, the air, it's been muggy.

1236
01:18:23,100 --> 01:18:24,200
 I've been saying this.

1237
01:18:24,220 --> 01:18:26,520
 It's too warm for early March.

1238
01:18:27,080 --> 01:18:32,420
 But, yeah, please be weather aware because there's a pretty tough system coming in.

1239
01:18:32,520 --> 01:18:38,380
 And, by the way, Kentucky's beginning to pull away from LSU a little bit, as our next guest knows.

1240
01:18:38,840 --> 01:18:41,160
 6.25 remaining in the game.

1241
01:18:41,300 --> 01:18:42,760
 Kentucky 77.

1242
01:18:43,460 --> 01:18:44,620
 LSU 68.

1243
01:18:45,180 --> 01:18:53,500
 Who knows more about LSU, whether you're on top of the mountain or down there, than Ron Higgins, Hall of Fame columnist, Shreveport Bossier General.

1244
01:18:53,600 --> 01:18:54,600
 Ron, welcome in.

1245
01:18:54,680 --> 01:18:55,600
 How are you?

1246
01:18:56,300 --> 01:18:56,920
 I'm good.

1247
01:18:56,960 --> 01:18:57,620
 How are you, man?

1248
01:18:58,380 --> 01:19:02,660
 Much better than the LSU basketball team this day, this season.

1249
01:19:02,800 --> 01:19:06,580
 Ron, where do you start talking about the LSU Tigers?

1250
01:19:08,160 --> 01:19:15,640
 Well, goodness gracious, it's starting, you know, there's spring practice late.

1251
01:19:15,860 --> 01:19:18,560
 I think it's March 23rd for football.

1252
01:19:19,120 --> 01:19:22,600
 Which, I think, you know, every coach has their own way of doing it.

1253
01:19:22,600 --> 01:19:27,420
 Some coaches like starting their practice, and then they have spring break, and they come back to practice.

1254
01:19:28,220 --> 01:19:33,940
 Some coaches start their spring practice after spring break, which is what Tiffin is doing.

1255
01:19:34,080 --> 01:19:35,880
 I think it's a good idea not to break it up.

1256
01:19:37,560 --> 01:19:45,560
 And I think everybody's just looking forward to seeing their team on the field for the first time and see how the pieces fit or begin to fit.

1257
01:19:47,340 --> 01:19:48,960
 So, they're excited about that.

1258
01:19:50,220 --> 01:19:55,000
 Baseball team held a little losing slump last week, but they're back winning again.

1259
01:19:56,960 --> 01:19:57,880
 They're on the basketball.

1260
01:19:58,100 --> 01:19:58,940
 I mean, they're on the basketball.

1261
01:19:59,200 --> 01:20:00,860
 They'll host a region.

1262
01:20:00,960 --> 01:20:01,940
 We'll see how far they go.

1263
01:20:02,520 --> 01:20:06,680
 And men basketball probably at the end of the road today, unless they rally here.

1264
01:20:07,100 --> 01:20:12,040
 And that's the big question right now, Baton Rouge is, will they get rid of that big man?

1265
01:20:12,900 --> 01:20:13,120
 Yeah.

1266
01:20:13,320 --> 01:20:22,540
 Can they find enough booster interest to get the money to buy him out and the staff out?

1267
01:20:23,040 --> 01:20:27,120
 And that's kind of like the deal.

1268
01:20:29,120 --> 01:20:32,500
 I think five years is enough.

1269
01:20:32,680 --> 01:20:38,420
 I know he had to dig out of a hole a little bit because of the Will Wade stuff.

1270
01:20:39,940 --> 01:20:46,460
 It's ironic that LSU fans won't go Wade back badly.

1271
01:20:46,460 --> 01:20:46,860
 That's right.

1272
01:20:47,660 --> 01:20:48,040
 Exactly.

1273
01:20:49,420 --> 01:20:50,880
 What's the likelihood of that, Ron?

1274
01:20:53,500 --> 01:20:54,920
 I'm not discounted at all.

1275
01:20:55,600 --> 01:20:55,800
 No.

1276
01:20:55,800 --> 01:20:56,800
 I'm not discounted at all.

1277
01:20:57,140 --> 01:20:57,380
 No.

1278
01:20:58,960 --> 01:21:02,180
 Will Wade was a good coach.

1279
01:21:02,840 --> 01:21:08,280
 And the only thing he did wrong was, way before his time of NIL, he went and bought players

1280
01:21:08,280 --> 01:21:09,220
 for legal.

1281
01:21:09,740 --> 01:21:13,000
 You can't cheat now, though, because there's no such thing as cheating, Ron.

1282
01:21:13,560 --> 01:21:13,960
 Yeah.

1283
01:21:14,140 --> 01:21:20,000
 I mean, like I always say, he bought better players illegally than Matt McManus bought

1284
01:21:20,000 --> 01:21:20,420
 legally.

1285
01:21:23,060 --> 01:21:25,400
 And they'd like him back.

1286
01:21:25,400 --> 01:21:38,060
 I think now when you look to hire a coach, probably in football or basketball or men's basketball,

1287
01:21:38,860 --> 01:21:45,260
 I think you have to have a coach not only who knows how to win, but knows how to inspire donors.

1288
01:21:46,560 --> 01:21:52,700
 Which is why, you know, they hired Kiffin, they started getting donations everywhere.

1289
01:21:52,980 --> 01:21:56,500
 I mean, people never donated before, started donating money.

1290
01:21:57,340 --> 01:22:01,720
 I think it's kind of something the athletic director has to consider now.

1291
01:22:01,880 --> 01:22:04,840
 It's like, you know, okay, I love this guy.

1292
01:22:04,880 --> 01:22:05,340
 It's an experience.

1293
01:22:05,440 --> 01:22:05,880
 He coached.

1294
01:22:05,880 --> 01:22:06,020
 He's a coach.

1295
01:22:06,520 --> 01:22:11,740
 Can he inspire people to donate money for NIL purposes?

1296
01:22:13,240 --> 01:22:14,720
 Will Wade's that guy.

1297
01:22:15,100 --> 01:22:16,740
 This fan base loves Will Wade.

1298
01:22:16,820 --> 01:22:17,720
 They still love him.

1299
01:22:20,700 --> 01:22:22,860
 You know, he's passionate, enthusiastic.

1300
01:22:25,040 --> 01:22:28,860
 You know, took his team to the NCAA tournament every year except one.

1301
01:22:29,880 --> 01:22:32,960
 I think his first year that went to NIT, even the last time they're in the NCAA except for

1302
01:22:32,960 --> 01:22:33,660
 the COVID year.

1303
01:22:35,760 --> 01:22:36,160
 Yeah.

1304
01:22:36,520 --> 01:22:37,740
 He made out with us every year.

1305
01:22:38,480 --> 01:22:43,100
 They like him, but whether they can shake him loose from North Carolina State is another

1306
01:22:43,100 --> 01:22:43,640
 deal.

1307
01:22:44,120 --> 01:22:45,920
 Whether he'd like to come back is another deal.

1308
01:22:48,300 --> 01:22:49,780
 But there's always this.

1309
01:22:52,060 --> 01:22:59,800
 When he left McNeese, the president of McNeese loved him, and that president of McNeese is

1310
01:22:59,800 --> 01:23:01,020
 now the president of LSU.

1311
01:23:03,120 --> 01:23:07,780
 What would that be like, Ron?

1312
01:23:07,820 --> 01:23:13,280
 When you got Wade and Lane Kiffin, when it'd be a Spicer-athletic department, that's got

1313
01:23:13,280 --> 01:23:18,880
 to be a reporter's dream to have those kind of personalities off the field and court and

1314
01:23:18,880 --> 01:23:20,580
 what they can do potentially on.

1315
01:23:20,960 --> 01:23:22,080
 But you mentioned Lane.

1316
01:23:22,840 --> 01:23:27,020
 How, what kind of, your wordsmith, what kind of adjective would you use on this spring

1317
01:23:27,020 --> 01:23:30,360
 compared to springs of past in Baton Rouge?

1318
01:23:32,980 --> 01:23:36,400
 I'm curious, optimistic and curious.

1319
01:23:37,300 --> 01:23:37,360
 Yeah.

1320
01:23:39,100 --> 01:23:43,640
 It's funny, you know, people talk about Lane's personality.

1321
01:23:45,320 --> 01:23:50,940
 Lane's personality is more comfortable with social media than it is in front of a microphone.

1322
01:23:52,060 --> 01:23:52,220
 Yeah.

1323
01:23:53,100 --> 01:23:59,960
 If you're watching him in front of a microphone, any kind of, you know, we had him on signing

1324
01:23:59,960 --> 01:24:07,920
 day, we had him, like 30 minutes, and he was, he was almost uncomfortable behind, like, almost

1325
01:24:07,920 --> 01:24:09,200
 like shot behind a microphone.

1326
01:24:09,340 --> 01:24:13,580
 You can't control it for one thing, like he can't social media.

1327
01:24:13,800 --> 01:24:15,500
 He's a control freak in that sense.

1328
01:24:15,880 --> 01:24:25,500
 Yeah, and he just, it's not, he just really measures his words, and it's just like, it's hilarious

1329
01:24:25,500 --> 01:24:29,420
 because you get on social media, like, oh yeah, I'm on the ripper, I'm just ripping word here.

1330
01:24:30,540 --> 01:24:31,420
 That's unusual.

1331
01:24:31,920 --> 01:24:33,340
 That's the difference between he and Will.

1332
01:24:33,920 --> 01:24:35,780
 Will couldn't care less about social media.

1333
01:24:36,000 --> 01:24:39,460
 Will's, if I get him out of microphone, he's face fine.

1334
01:24:40,760 --> 01:24:43,160
 But yeah, it's interesting about Lane.

1335
01:24:43,440 --> 01:24:47,180
 I knew that about him anyway, but when you see it up close and personal, it's like, wow,

1336
01:24:47,340 --> 01:24:53,660
 he really is hesitant or shy, which is how you describe it.

1337
01:24:53,980 --> 01:24:57,020
 But they don't care because, you know, he wins games.

1338
01:24:58,440 --> 01:25:02,920
 You know, it's, it's interesting about it.

1339
01:25:02,920 --> 01:25:04,060
 I was reading some story today.

1340
01:25:04,060 --> 01:25:12,080
 I forgot, I don't know what writer I wrote, a respected guy, and he went behind the scenes

1341
01:25:12,080 --> 01:25:20,880
 and talked to a lot of coaches off the record about Kiffin and, you know, most of the head

1342
01:25:20,880 --> 01:25:23,840
 coaches he talked to want to see Lane Kiffin lose.

1343
01:25:25,400 --> 01:25:29,800
 I'm just like, because he left Ole Miss when he did.

1344
01:25:30,740 --> 01:25:34,560
 And I want to say to those coaches, you don't think you do the same thing.

1345
01:25:34,920 --> 01:25:36,880
 I mean, you sank the money to the son of the guns.

1346
01:25:37,300 --> 01:25:38,940
 You don't think y'all do the same thing.

1347
01:25:39,420 --> 01:25:45,320
 If you've been in a place six years and this offer came along and you wanted to say, you know,

1348
01:25:45,380 --> 01:25:51,920
 and you've never been on that level before of pressure and you wanted to test yourself.

1349
01:25:52,000 --> 01:25:53,500
 You still think you would do that?

1350
01:25:56,060 --> 01:26:03,460
 It's interesting, you know, all of a sudden this guy's the absolute villain of college football.

1351
01:26:04,400 --> 01:26:09,000
 You know, I mean, everybody wants to see LSU get beat.

1352
01:26:09,120 --> 01:26:10,200
 Everybody hates LSU.

1353
01:26:10,800 --> 01:26:11,420
 It's funny.

1354
01:26:11,740 --> 01:26:19,320
 It's just like you hire one guy and all of a sudden LSU's hated because they did something

1355
01:26:19,320 --> 01:26:20,060
 and nobody else did.

1356
01:26:20,140 --> 01:26:23,080
 They went and got the guy they wanted and paid for him.

1357
01:26:23,900 --> 01:26:31,820
 And the guy left at a time where, again, Ole Miss forced a hand.

1358
01:26:32,600 --> 01:26:35,540
 Kiffin was willing to coach Ole Miss in the playoffs.

1359
01:26:36,080 --> 01:26:37,100
 And they said no.

1360
01:26:37,240 --> 01:26:38,440
 So what's the guy supposed to do?

1361
01:26:38,500 --> 01:26:39,040
 Sit around?

1362
01:26:39,600 --> 01:26:42,400
 And then win the playoffs over to sign a contract?

1363
01:26:42,600 --> 01:26:43,660
 He signed a contract.

1364
01:26:45,700 --> 01:26:46,900
 And it's just kind of funny.

1365
01:26:47,040 --> 01:26:49,540
 It's just like, I mean, you know what?

1366
01:26:50,020 --> 01:26:51,500
 I don't think it bothers him.

1367
01:26:51,700 --> 01:26:55,340
 I mean, and people say, well, you know, he's under pressure.

1368
01:26:55,460 --> 01:26:58,440
 He's like, you know, have to go to playoffs this year.

1369
01:26:58,720 --> 01:27:00,640
 You know, he's under pressure.

1370
01:27:00,720 --> 01:27:01,400
 All the players he bought.

1371
01:27:02,000 --> 01:27:03,040
 He knows that.

1372
01:27:03,500 --> 01:27:04,780
 That's why he came here.

1373
01:27:06,100 --> 01:27:11,420
 He wanted to see what it was like in a place where there was pressure every single day to win.

1374
01:27:12,520 --> 01:27:18,880
 You know, a place where I'd put in 102,000 people in games, not 60-something thousand like Ole Miss.

1375
01:27:20,000 --> 01:27:24,920
 You know, LSU has more pressure to win than Ole Miss does.

1376
01:27:25,100 --> 01:27:25,860
 They just do.

1377
01:27:26,440 --> 01:27:29,220
 And I think he wanted to find out what that level was, and that's why he's here.

1378
01:27:29,340 --> 01:27:31,300
 And the people just don't get that.

1379
01:27:31,520 --> 01:27:32,960
 They think it was strictly for the money.

1380
01:27:32,960 --> 01:27:37,900
 The money was part of it, but this was a chance at 50 years old to find out, okay,

1381
01:27:38,360 --> 01:27:41,140
 this is my chance to see what I got at a place like LSU.

1382
01:27:43,120 --> 01:27:48,180
 It must be interesting to be a member of the LSU media.

1383
01:27:49,140 --> 01:27:50,720
 You've got Lane Kiffin now.

1384
01:27:51,060 --> 01:27:56,300
 If Will Wade came back, and then you've got Kim Mulkey with her Elton John outfits,

1385
01:27:57,120 --> 01:28:00,080
 you never know what you're going to hear in a press conference.

1386
01:28:01,100 --> 01:28:03,200
 With Kim, you're always going to have something honest.

1387
01:28:03,420 --> 01:28:10,820
 Because she's, you know, if you've seen some of her halftime interviews,

1388
01:28:11,460 --> 01:28:14,380
 you know, she'll say, this is just a terrible game.

1389
01:28:14,600 --> 01:28:16,460
 You just want some streetball going out here.

1390
01:28:16,740 --> 01:28:17,920
 We're playing streetball.

1391
01:28:19,980 --> 01:28:22,340
 I think you'll get, and Will was like that.

1392
01:28:22,480 --> 01:28:26,440
 Will was honest in what he said.

1393
01:28:26,440 --> 01:28:31,200
 I think Lane's probably a little more reserved to measure those words.

1394
01:28:31,660 --> 01:28:32,020
 Yes.

1395
01:28:32,720 --> 01:28:33,860
 It'd definitely be good.

1396
01:28:33,980 --> 01:28:35,620
 I mean, we have Kim.

1397
01:28:35,760 --> 01:28:38,040
 We have a baseball coach who's a really good interviewer.

1398
01:28:38,440 --> 01:28:42,360
 He may not be quite as outlandish as, say, Will Wade or Mulkey,

1399
01:28:42,480 --> 01:28:48,960
 but Jay Johnson is good with the, you know, the media.

1400
01:28:50,940 --> 01:28:59,220
 And I think he even quoted the Miami Tropics.

1401
01:29:02,960 --> 01:29:09,240
 Yeah, even he quoted Jackie Moon, he quoted Jackie Moon after a game last year.

1402
01:29:09,760 --> 01:29:17,960
 So, but I do think the modern-day AED has to look at hiring a guy.

1403
01:29:18,760 --> 01:29:20,780
 They used to call it winning the press conference.

1404
01:29:21,180 --> 01:29:22,420
 Now it's called winning the boosters.

1405
01:29:23,420 --> 01:29:27,780
 And I think it's crazy how it's evolved that way,

1406
01:29:27,960 --> 01:29:34,080
 but you want to get somebody who inspires boosters to believe this guy's dynamic.

1407
01:29:34,580 --> 01:29:35,480
 Figure he's going to win.

1408
01:29:35,920 --> 01:29:38,160
 Let's get money to go buy good people.

1409
01:29:38,620 --> 01:29:39,880
 And I think that's part of it now.

1410
01:29:40,420 --> 01:29:40,580
 Yep.

1411
01:29:40,860 --> 01:29:41,020
 Yep.

1412
01:29:41,860 --> 01:29:42,340
 Absolutely.

1413
01:29:42,940 --> 01:29:46,240
 I'll say one thing for the LSU men's basketball team.

1414
01:29:46,380 --> 01:29:48,060
 McKinnon is fun to watch.

1415
01:29:48,340 --> 01:29:51,500
 He's got 27 points and four rebounds.

1416
01:29:52,440 --> 01:29:57,220
 Kentucky now 81-76 lead with 226.

1417
01:29:57,880 --> 01:30:00,380
 McKinnon's got a little Pete Maravich in him, Ron.

1418
01:30:01,080 --> 01:30:03,640
 I've enjoyed watching that kid play.

1419
01:30:04,320 --> 01:30:06,020
 And particularly when he goes to the rim,

1420
01:30:06,140 --> 01:30:08,180
 you never know how he's going to do it,

1421
01:30:08,240 --> 01:30:11,540
 but he's been a lot of fun to watch this year.

1422
01:30:11,660 --> 01:30:15,580
 But where can we get online and get all of Ron Higgins' good stuff?

1423
01:30:16,720 --> 01:30:17,280
 Well, you know, of course,

1424
01:30:17,360 --> 01:30:21,260
 Max has been watching my basketball tape on how to shoot the ball, so it helps.

1425
01:30:21,260 --> 01:30:21,840
 That's right.

1426
01:30:22,440 --> 01:30:25,440
 He's the only thing they've really got, honestly.

1427
01:30:25,660 --> 01:30:27,420
 I mean, he's been really, really good all year.

1428
01:30:27,880 --> 01:30:30,520
 Ron Higgins, you go to streetportbojourjournal.com,

1429
01:30:31,540 --> 01:30:37,720
 bronhiggins.org, on Twitter or exit Ron Higgins, and on Instagram at SEC Ron.

1430
01:30:39,380 --> 01:30:42,300
 Ron, listen, man, it's always good to hook up with you.

1431
01:30:42,400 --> 01:30:43,200
 Thanks so much.

1432
01:30:43,300 --> 01:30:45,600
 Kick back and enjoy, and let's do it again soon, okay?

1433
01:30:46,280 --> 01:30:46,820
 All right, guys.

1434
01:30:46,900 --> 01:30:47,260
 Take care.

1435
01:30:47,300 --> 01:30:47,760
 We'll see you.

1436
01:30:47,980 --> 01:30:48,480
 Thank you, Ben.

1437
01:30:48,560 --> 01:30:53,060
 Ron Higgins, streetportbojourjournal, and these ADs now, Ron laid it out there.

1438
01:30:53,120 --> 01:30:59,400
 It's kind of like these political parties selecting a candidate who can raise the most mojo, baby.

1439
01:30:59,960 --> 01:31:01,540
 You got the inside track.

1440
01:31:02,220 --> 01:31:04,240
 Coming up, Rudy Armas got the inside track.

1441
01:31:04,320 --> 01:31:05,000
 Cross the board.

1442
01:31:05,080 --> 01:31:05,740
 He's on deck.

1443
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 Stay with us.

1444
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1478
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1479
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1480
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1481
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1484
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1485
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1486
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1487
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1488
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1489
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1490
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 Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93-9.

1529
01:34:46,920 --> 01:34:47,580
 The score.

1530
01:34:47,940 --> 01:34:52,480
 In college baseball action yesterday, the Auburn Tigers crushed UAB 17-2.

1531
01:34:52,620 --> 01:34:54,860
 Auburn is now 14-2 on the season.

1532
01:34:55,340 --> 01:34:57,700
 Alabama was the winner over Troy 7-3.

1533
01:34:57,820 --> 01:34:59,060
 Alabama 15-3.

1534
01:34:59,180 --> 01:35:00,320
 Troy is 6-10.

1535
01:35:00,680 --> 01:35:02,840
 SEC basketball tournament action today.

1536
01:35:02,940 --> 01:35:07,480
 The Auburn Tigers are set to play as Auburn will take on Mississippi State.

1537
01:35:07,560 --> 01:35:09,220
 The winner meets Tennessee tomorrow.

1538
01:35:09,420 --> 01:35:11,120
 Alabama the two-seed in the tournament.

1539
01:35:11,620 --> 01:35:14,340
 The Crimson Tide will play Friday in the quarterfinals.

1540
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1564
01:36:31,700 --> 01:36:36,480
 Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.

1565
01:36:37,000 --> 01:36:37,220
 The score.

1566
01:36:37,220 --> 01:36:37,860
 Welcome back again.

1567
01:36:37,920 --> 01:36:39,940
 It's a pleasure for us to say hello to Drew DeArmond.

1568
01:36:40,020 --> 01:36:42,340
 He's behind the mic there on host of Talking Ball.

1569
01:36:42,420 --> 01:36:44,500
 And this was 97.7 FM The Zone.

1570
01:36:44,600 --> 01:36:45,600
 Drew, welcome in.

1571
01:36:46,020 --> 01:36:46,580
 How are you?

1572
01:36:47,740 --> 01:36:48,880
 How are you guys doing?

1573
01:36:49,480 --> 01:36:49,800
 Hey, man.

1574
01:36:49,840 --> 01:36:50,800
 We're doing all right.

1575
01:36:50,900 --> 01:36:52,160
 Drew, a lot to get to today.

1576
01:36:52,320 --> 01:36:54,060
 We know you're ready for March Madness.

1577
01:36:54,240 --> 01:37:04,500
 But before we talk about what's going on on the court, your reaction to the news of a young man from our neck of the woods who has unlimited potential.

1578
01:37:04,640 --> 01:37:05,800
 You know where I'm going with this.

1579
01:37:06,380 --> 01:37:08,800
 The former Buck from Buckhorn High, Caleb Holt.

1580
01:37:08,960 --> 01:37:11,360
 A lot of folks thought Alabama had the inside track.

1581
01:37:11,460 --> 01:37:13,160
 Maybe some of the other ACC schools.

1582
01:37:13,300 --> 01:37:16,320
 We know it's been a long time since he was at Buckhorn.

1583
01:37:16,380 --> 01:37:16,960
 He's that good.

1584
01:37:17,080 --> 01:37:20,720
 All these all-star high school programs across the country have been courting him.

1585
01:37:20,740 --> 01:37:22,140
 And he's gone to some of them.

1586
01:37:22,620 --> 01:37:27,100
 But this week, committing to U of A, but not the University of Alabama.

1587
01:37:27,100 --> 01:37:29,040
 The University of Arizona.

1588
01:37:29,600 --> 01:37:30,440
 Drew, your reaction?

1589
01:37:31,600 --> 01:37:31,900
 Two.

1590
01:37:33,160 --> 01:37:33,520
 Yeah.

1591
01:37:33,800 --> 01:37:35,500
 Caleb Holt, I believe his name.

1592
01:37:36,300 --> 01:37:36,580
 Yeah.

1593
01:37:37,480 --> 01:37:39,280
 Didn't talk about him this morning.

1594
01:37:39,700 --> 01:37:41,600
 So, good luck to him and his family.

1595
01:37:42,060 --> 01:37:42,840
 Great player.

1596
01:37:43,500 --> 01:37:45,480
 Alabama spent a long time recruiting him.

1597
01:37:46,400 --> 01:37:51,960
 He's been chasing money since he left Buckhorn back, you know, two years ago.

1598
01:37:52,400 --> 01:37:54,700
 He chased the money to Grayson, Georgia.

1599
01:37:54,700 --> 01:37:56,820
 He chased it to Prolipic Prep.

1600
01:37:57,100 --> 01:37:58,780
 He's still chasing it now.

1601
01:37:59,080 --> 01:38:02,240
 And, you know, he's certainly a great player on both ends.

1602
01:38:02,320 --> 01:38:05,100
 And I'm sure he'll help Tommy Lloyd in this program.

1603
01:38:05,800 --> 01:38:08,160
 But he's about as dead to me as Trendon Watford.

1604
01:38:10,600 --> 01:38:13,720
 Well, obviously, in this day and time, it is a business decision.

1605
01:38:13,820 --> 01:38:20,120
 But the other side of that coin, Drew, is you look at what Nate Oates did and you look at the numbers.

1606
01:38:20,120 --> 01:38:25,320
 And Nate Oates, I mean, it's still expensive, but it's all relative to the competition.

1607
01:38:25,880 --> 01:38:30,440
 Alabama didn't spend as much money as a lot of folks thought to put this team together.

1608
01:38:30,700 --> 01:38:32,540
 And they wind up with number two.

1609
01:38:33,020 --> 01:38:39,580
 As a coach, when you put together a roster, you've got to sit here and say, do we want to go after this guy and spend money for his potential?

1610
01:38:40,220 --> 01:38:45,220
 Or do you want to do what we had Coach Drew Stutz on earlier today from Freed Hardeman?

1611
01:38:45,360 --> 01:38:49,980
 And I don't care if you're playing at Freed Hardeman, if you're playing at Duke, the principle is still the same.

1612
01:38:50,320 --> 01:38:52,660
 Get a good roster that wants to play as one.

1613
01:38:53,200 --> 01:38:54,940
 Your thoughts about Nate Oates' strategy?

1614
01:38:56,040 --> 01:39:01,160
 Well, I mean, I think he's done as good a job as anybody in the country at building rosters, certainly.

1615
01:39:01,800 --> 01:39:04,820
 The portal class this year wasn't as productive as they'd hoped.

1616
01:39:04,960 --> 01:39:06,460
 Some of that had to do with injury.

1617
01:39:07,060 --> 01:39:11,440
 But I think the kids' attitudes, like Noah Williamson, have been good.

1618
01:39:11,660 --> 01:39:12,700
 Like Jaleel Bathea.

1619
01:39:13,240 --> 01:39:15,360
 Certainly, Bull Bowen got banged up.

1620
01:39:16,000 --> 01:39:18,340
 And it hasn't worked out with Keaton Bristow.

1621
01:39:18,560 --> 01:39:24,440
 But they're far from the only ones that have not hit on every portal target, certainly.

1622
01:39:25,100 --> 01:39:26,840
 And you can ask Auburn about that.

1623
01:39:26,880 --> 01:39:28,420
 That happened to them some this year.

1624
01:39:28,900 --> 01:39:30,640
 It's a tricky process.

1625
01:39:31,560 --> 01:39:34,520
 And, again, certainly no ill will toward Caleb Bolt.

1626
01:39:34,600 --> 01:39:37,820
 He made the business decision that he felt like was best for him.

1627
01:39:38,000 --> 01:39:40,640
 And certainly it's a great program right now in Arizona.

1628
01:39:41,260 --> 01:39:42,880
 Tommy Lloyd's done a great job.

1629
01:39:43,260 --> 01:39:45,260
 They've been number one, number two in the country.

1630
01:39:45,880 --> 01:39:48,380
 They whipped Alabama and Birmingham.

1631
01:39:48,380 --> 01:39:50,280
 They beat Alabama two years ago.

1632
01:39:51,140 --> 01:39:52,440
 But I'll just say this.

1633
01:39:52,880 --> 01:39:56,160
 Alabama's been to more Final Fours than Arizona in the last 30 years.

1634
01:39:56,680 --> 01:40:02,940
 And they haven't been back since they won it all in 1997 under the great Lute Olsen.

1635
01:40:03,460 --> 01:40:05,620
 And they won his only national title.

1636
01:40:05,820 --> 01:40:11,020
 But they're certainly more of a basketball school, even though I think Alabama is a championship school.

1637
01:40:11,460 --> 01:40:12,380
 That's what I would call them.

1638
01:40:12,460 --> 01:40:16,680
 I think Nate Oates has proven that he can win at the highest level in college basketball.

1639
01:40:16,680 --> 01:40:17,800
 He's been to a Final Four.

1640
01:40:17,920 --> 01:40:19,340
 He's been to two straight Elite Eights.

1641
01:40:19,900 --> 01:40:21,880
 Certainly Tommy Lloyd's been to an Elite Eight.

1642
01:40:22,260 --> 01:40:24,460
 He's got that program going in the right direction.

1643
01:40:25,080 --> 01:40:28,340
 But, again, I don't think, you know, and I mentioned Trendon Watford.

1644
01:40:28,420 --> 01:40:31,160
 And the reason I mentioned that is he was a great, great player.

1645
01:40:31,280 --> 01:40:32,060
 He's in the NBA.

1646
01:40:32,700 --> 01:40:34,240
 But Alabama was just fine.

1647
01:40:34,700 --> 01:40:42,240
 And the thing is, Trendon didn't have a lot of success against Alabama with his LSU team led by Western Union.

1648
01:40:42,560 --> 01:40:44,320
 And so they were really good.

1649
01:40:44,400 --> 01:40:45,400
 But Alabama was better.

1650
01:40:45,500 --> 01:40:50,280
 And I still think Alabama's got a really good class built in the top five in the country.

1651
01:40:50,280 --> 01:40:57,120
 And they've set themselves up, as Nate Oates says, to be, you know, one of the best programs in the country.

1652
01:40:57,120 --> 01:41:03,740
 He said today, with the money that's going to be delivered through both Redshare and NIL, we're in as good a place as anybody in the country.

1653
01:41:04,000 --> 01:41:10,360
 So, you know, while you're not getting Caleb Hull, it allows you maybe more money for retention of your roster.

1654
01:41:10,860 --> 01:41:14,720
 Maybe Amari Allen comes back, as I know a very fine line did.

1655
01:41:14,920 --> 01:41:17,840
 And, you know, maybe they've retained more of their roster this year.

1656
01:41:17,980 --> 01:41:22,760
 In the last couple of years, it's been more like keeping a core of four or five or six.

1657
01:41:23,100 --> 01:41:24,760
 Maybe more is kept this year.

1658
01:41:24,840 --> 01:41:25,360
 We don't know.

1659
01:41:25,440 --> 01:41:26,700
 But I know they've signed three.

1660
01:41:27,260 --> 01:41:30,540
 And I would expect them to add at least maybe three pieces in the portal.

1661
01:41:30,700 --> 01:41:33,840
 But I still think they're going to have a very good roster next year.

1662
01:41:34,000 --> 01:41:35,320
 And good luck to Caleb Hull.

1663
01:41:35,400 --> 01:41:37,800
 But I think Alabama basketball is going to be just fine.

1664
01:41:38,280 --> 01:41:41,820
 And to put this in perspective, Alabama spent $8 to $10 million.

1665
01:41:42,680 --> 01:41:45,520
 That's right there with Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

1666
01:41:46,100 --> 01:41:49,000
 Kentucky, by comparison, $22 million.

1667
01:41:49,960 --> 01:41:53,060
 And they're in a dogfight with LSU right now.

1668
01:41:53,260 --> 01:41:54,880
 So, that kind of puts it in perspective.

1669
01:41:55,140 --> 01:41:57,620
 Alabama's near the bottom as far as spending on their roster.

1670
01:41:57,840 --> 01:42:00,240
 So, that tells you something about the coaching there.

1671
01:42:00,320 --> 01:42:03,640
 But your thoughts, speaking of that, Alabama's had a good regular season.

1672
01:42:03,780 --> 01:42:07,380
 Drew, where are you with Alabama heading into the postseason starting Friday night

1673
01:42:07,380 --> 01:42:11,380
 against yet-to-be-determined opponent at the SEC tournament?

1674
01:42:12,280 --> 01:42:13,820
 Certainly not an easy draw.

1675
01:42:14,020 --> 01:42:18,780
 I mean, unless Ole Miss pulls a rabbit out of a hat, you're going to get Georgia or Texas.

1676
01:42:18,780 --> 01:42:25,720
 And if both of them beat you, and we will see, you know, what place Alabama's in roster-wise going into that game.

1677
01:42:26,200 --> 01:42:30,160
 Certainly, I think Alabama has been playing well.

1678
01:42:30,640 --> 01:42:37,420
 I thought they bounced back from a lackluster effort against Georgia to beat, you know, Auburn soundly.

1679
01:42:37,560 --> 01:42:39,700
 I don't think it was as close as the score indicated.

1680
01:42:40,340 --> 01:42:47,120
 But if they can win that game, potentially, you're setting yourselves up, you know, for a rematch with Arkansas.

1681
01:42:47,860 --> 01:42:52,700
 And, you know, and the best player in the league, you know, I think no question about that.

1682
01:42:52,740 --> 01:42:55,300
 He would have got my vote for player of the year.

1683
01:42:55,400 --> 01:42:59,480
 And he put on a show against Alabama in Darius Acuff.

1684
01:42:59,980 --> 01:43:01,500
 He's a tremendous player.

1685
01:43:01,640 --> 01:43:05,580
 But I think a lot of people would like to see a second meeting with Alabama and Arkansas.

1686
01:43:06,280 --> 01:43:10,820
 And if you can get by that, then you're potentially maybe playing, you know, the Florida Gators.

1687
01:43:10,940 --> 01:43:15,100
 Because right now, I think Florida's, you know, a step above everybody in the league.

1688
01:43:15,480 --> 01:43:16,460
 And there's no guarantee.

1689
01:43:16,800 --> 01:43:17,860
 It's a very deep conference.

1690
01:43:18,040 --> 01:43:20,260
 But Florida's playing exceptional basketball.

1691
01:43:20,560 --> 01:43:23,160
 And so I just think it's going to be difficult to beat them.

1692
01:43:23,240 --> 01:43:26,480
 But if you're Alabama, you're trying to get to the third seed line.

1693
01:43:26,480 --> 01:43:29,040
 And I think the best way to do that is to reach Sunday.

1694
01:43:29,560 --> 01:43:30,940
 It's not going to be easy to do.

1695
01:43:31,080 --> 01:43:33,740
 But you'd have a chance to beat two quality opponents.

1696
01:43:33,900 --> 01:43:37,540
 And if you're able to do that, then I think you could reach the third seed line.

1697
01:43:37,640 --> 01:43:45,660
 And if you do that, then you avoid a one seed like a Michigan and Arizona or a Duke or potentially a UConn or Florida.

1698
01:43:45,880 --> 01:43:49,900
 If Florida wins the SEC tournament, I certainly think they deserve a one seed.

1699
01:43:50,040 --> 01:43:52,240
 But it's not going to be an easy draw for Alabama.

1700
01:43:52,440 --> 01:43:54,580
 But looking forward to them competing in Nashville.

1701
01:43:54,580 --> 01:43:59,340
 And it does look like the Kentucky $22 million Cats are going to win one game.

1702
01:44:00,540 --> 01:44:02,560
 D2, the bench.

1703
01:44:03,740 --> 01:44:10,560
 We know that that's another thing that Nadeau should have had a little more consideration coach of the year.

1704
01:44:10,660 --> 01:44:15,960
 They've been able to navigate a myriad of injuries with this team.

1705
01:44:16,360 --> 01:44:19,600
 Jalil Bethea, nine minutes against Auburn.

1706
01:44:20,120 --> 01:44:22,380
 An incredibly athletic putback.

1707
01:44:23,060 --> 01:44:26,620
 Went up, got the rebound, and put it back in one fell swoop.

1708
01:44:27,460 --> 01:44:30,200
 Houston Millett does so many little things.

1709
01:44:30,720 --> 01:44:33,120
 Can they get a little bit more at a Bo Bowen?

1710
01:44:33,820 --> 01:44:36,140
 London Jimson had 11 points.

1711
01:44:36,400 --> 01:44:43,020
 When you're playing possibly three games in three days, you need a little help from the bench.

1712
01:44:43,320 --> 01:44:44,100
 Can they get it?

1713
01:44:45,320 --> 01:44:46,860
 Well, I mean, we would hope so.

1714
01:44:47,000 --> 01:44:51,640
 I mean, I think they've been getting a little more each time out of Jalil Bethea.

1715
01:44:52,740 --> 01:45:03,640
 You know, I think Jalil has really kind of, I think Houston Millett, who has been in and out of the starting lineup, but mostly coming off the bench, has really played, you know, his tail off.

1716
01:45:03,680 --> 01:45:08,620
 And I think his example has rubbed off on a guy like Jalil, who's kept a really good attitude.

1717
01:45:09,440 --> 01:45:19,500
 And I thought his nine minutes or so was very impactful against Auburn, including that Michael Jordan-type putback, because he has such great athleticism.

1718
01:45:19,940 --> 01:45:24,180
 Certainly, they need to get a little bit out of Noah Williamson, and they did against Auburn.

1719
01:45:24,260 --> 01:45:25,880
 We'll see if they can get more.

1720
01:45:26,000 --> 01:45:29,180
 And then Taylor Bo Bowen, who's been banged up.

1721
01:45:29,500 --> 01:45:32,480
 If they could get a little bit more out of him, I think that would be huge.

1722
01:45:32,480 --> 01:45:40,120
 Because I think he's someone that has been a guy that, especially on the defensive glass, that the coaches can count on.

1723
01:45:40,520 --> 01:45:45,280
 So, if you could get eight, nine guys contributing, I think it'd be, you know, immeasurable.

1724
01:45:45,880 --> 01:45:46,800
 But we'll see.

1725
01:45:46,940 --> 01:45:48,200
 I mean, that's going to be a key.

1726
01:45:48,660 --> 01:45:51,500
 Nato just said today that nobody is injured.

1727
01:45:52,020 --> 01:45:54,540
 So, it looks like they're as healthy as they've been.

1728
01:45:54,660 --> 01:45:58,600
 We'll see what, you know, who's available on Friday.

1729
01:45:58,600 --> 01:46:02,720
 And we've also seen Kentucky move on, 87-82.

1730
01:46:03,180 --> 01:46:06,320
 And, you know, they could have easily been in the top four.

1731
01:46:06,460 --> 01:46:09,100
 But, you know, the last Saturday was a little crazy.

1732
01:46:09,240 --> 01:46:10,720
 So, they end up playing on Wednesday.

1733
01:46:11,240 --> 01:46:13,120
 And they're going to be a very dangerous team.

1734
01:46:13,240 --> 01:46:14,300
 I mean, they're very talented.

1735
01:46:14,720 --> 01:46:16,420
 They played Florida tough twice.

1736
01:46:16,660 --> 01:46:19,020
 And so, I think it shows to the depth of the league.

1737
01:46:19,360 --> 01:46:23,360
 And it wouldn't surprise me, you know, if Kentucky got to the weekend.

1738
01:46:25,040 --> 01:46:27,460
 Live by the three, die by the three.

1739
01:46:27,460 --> 01:46:34,400
 We hear that always from a lot of national media about Nate Oates' philosophy.

1740
01:46:35,160 --> 01:46:36,880
 But Auburn took away the three.

1741
01:46:37,080 --> 01:46:41,880
 Alabama didn't shoot the ball in particularly well from the three against the Tigers.

1742
01:46:42,580 --> 01:46:45,700
 But they got to the rim with a lot of success.

1743
01:46:46,840 --> 01:46:50,000
 Alabama is going to need to be able to do both, obviously.

1744
01:46:50,300 --> 01:46:53,620
 But 50-something plus points in the paint.

1745
01:46:54,720 --> 01:46:59,300
 And I know some of the shots, they were just not there for the three.

1746
01:46:59,400 --> 01:47:00,940
 But they did everything else.

1747
01:47:01,680 --> 01:47:08,220
 And, again, we know they don't have the size of Florida inside and some of the other teams.

1748
01:47:08,220 --> 01:47:11,300
 But they can go to the rim and they can be successful.

1749
01:47:12,360 --> 01:47:14,680
 Well, yeah, they had 58 points in the paint.

1750
01:47:14,940 --> 01:47:17,660
 You know, a big key in the SEC tournament is going to be the production.

1751
01:47:18,140 --> 01:47:20,900
 Out of Aiden Sherell, you know, he needs to play well.

1752
01:47:21,180 --> 01:47:23,580
 He needs to be able to play inside and out.

1753
01:47:23,900 --> 01:47:26,280
 And especially be a presence on the defensive glass.

1754
01:47:26,660 --> 01:47:30,260
 I thought it was big in the game against Auburn to get Amari Allen going again.

1755
01:47:30,280 --> 01:47:31,680
 He had 16 points.

1756
01:47:31,760 --> 01:47:33,120
 He had had two off games.

1757
01:47:33,260 --> 01:47:38,320
 He certainly rebounded better and got to the rim and got on the glass

1758
01:47:38,320 --> 01:47:43,060
 and did a nice job with a lot of great back cuts to the rim

1759
01:47:43,060 --> 01:47:47,460
 and getting to the glass and going hard to the basket.

1760
01:47:47,660 --> 01:47:48,820
 I think that's going to be a key.

1761
01:47:49,740 --> 01:47:51,460
 And certainly a Mo Barron's byline.

1762
01:47:51,600 --> 01:47:55,500
 If you're going to get to Sunday, he's going to have to play like what he is.

1763
01:47:55,540 --> 01:48:00,840
 He's a first-team All-SEC player and a guy that's a second-team All-American.

1764
01:48:01,320 --> 01:48:02,420
 He's had a tremendous season.

1765
01:48:02,420 --> 01:48:06,860
 He's going to have to be big time if Alabama's going to go on a run.

1766
01:48:07,320 --> 01:48:10,180
 You know, they're going to have to – and the strength of this team is the guard.

1767
01:48:10,600 --> 01:48:14,280
 They're going to have to get really good guard play from their foursome.

1768
01:48:14,780 --> 01:48:19,280
 You know, of all those guys, they need to shoot the basketball well.

1769
01:48:19,640 --> 01:48:24,320
 And if they do, then I think Alabama's got a chance to be successful starting on Friday

1770
01:48:24,320 --> 01:48:28,080
 then going into Saturday, which will be a little bit of a quick turnaround.

1771
01:48:28,760 --> 01:48:31,520
 But Alabama will take it considering they've got the double bye.

1772
01:48:31,580 --> 01:48:33,580
 We're going to jump off, Drew.

1773
01:48:33,720 --> 01:48:38,240
 Coming up just shortly, the Auburn Tigers taking on those dogs from Mississippi State.

1774
01:48:38,440 --> 01:48:39,600
 What happens there?

1775
01:48:39,920 --> 01:48:43,440
 And as far as the future, what happens to Auburn?

1776
01:48:44,440 --> 01:48:53,120
 Well, I mean, I think Auburn definitely has to win this game to avoid, you know – and I'm not – here's the funny thing.

1777
01:48:53,260 --> 01:48:59,020
 If they lost today, I'm not even sure they'd get an NIT bid because then they would be 500.

1778
01:48:59,720 --> 01:49:00,280
 That's right.

1779
01:49:00,340 --> 01:49:08,180
 You can get – you can get – I think you can get an NIT berth with a 500 record, but it certainly would – I don't – I'm not even sure they would take one, though.

1780
01:49:08,240 --> 01:49:20,640
 They might just, you know, go hire the general manager, blow this thing up, and go into Steven Pearl's second year with a – you know, a – much like this year with a almost completely new roster.

1781
01:49:20,640 --> 01:49:27,820
 They might keep three or four of these guys, but, you know, 75% of it would be new dudes, and I would think Rod Pettiford would move on.

1782
01:49:28,280 --> 01:49:29,700
 I still think he probably will.

1783
01:49:29,800 --> 01:49:34,000
 I'm not sure he and Steven Pearl were ever on the same page, even though he's an outstanding player.

1784
01:49:34,180 --> 01:49:36,020
 But I think they need to win this game.

1785
01:49:36,100 --> 01:49:44,140
 I think they need to get to at least the semifinals to feel good about a potential first four or a berth of the NCAA tournament period.

1786
01:49:44,520 --> 01:49:47,060
 Now, if they get to Sunday, it's locked up.

1787
01:49:47,120 --> 01:49:52,500
 It doesn't even matter if they win because they would have beaten Florida twice, in my opinion, at that point.

1788
01:49:52,500 --> 01:49:55,220
 And nobody's done that in college basketball.

1789
01:49:55,360 --> 01:50:01,080
 But I think they at least need to get to the semifinal round on Saturday.

1790
01:50:01,540 --> 01:50:07,760
 If Auburn can get three wins, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, gets them to 19, and I think they've got a really solid shot.

1791
01:50:07,880 --> 01:50:15,500
 I know some people say the SEC tournament doesn't matter, but in Auburn's case, I think it'll be huge, and it's going to start by trying to get a win today.

1792
01:50:15,620 --> 01:50:16,800
 And I think they can get one.

1793
01:50:17,060 --> 01:50:19,420
 They've just got to do a better job against Josh Hubbard.

1794
01:50:20,260 --> 01:50:21,140
 No question.

1795
01:50:21,140 --> 01:50:25,120
 The SEC tournament is very important for quite a few teams.

1796
01:50:25,620 --> 01:50:29,840
 The Texas Longhorns, for one, we'll see how that goes.

1797
01:50:29,980 --> 01:50:31,820
 Always enjoy the conversation.

1798
01:50:32,040 --> 01:50:39,820
 We're looking forward to Nashville and Alabama on a Friday and the SEC play throughout the week.

1799
01:50:40,360 --> 01:50:43,120
 Steve, where can we get online to get all the good stuff?

1800
01:50:43,940 --> 01:50:47,660
 Yeah, you know, you can connect with me at 977 ESPN for our station.

1801
01:50:48,320 --> 01:50:53,200
 If you missed talking ball, Scott Tyson's on assignment this week, but Steve Moulton's been with me.

1802
01:50:53,300 --> 01:50:54,300
 We'll have Joe Hunk tomorrow.

1803
01:50:54,620 --> 01:51:00,320
 We actually had a great conversation with John Summerall earlier this week, who's settling in as Gator head coach.

1804
01:51:01,080 --> 01:51:10,560
 You know, and certainly we also had Antoine Pettway on with Kennesaw State bringing their team to Huntsville in this Conference USA tournament.

1805
01:51:10,960 --> 01:51:20,320
 They'll play tomorrow in the quarterfinals against Western Kentucky, so we're looking forward to that for the third straight year being the home of both the men's and women's tournament.

1806
01:51:20,800 --> 01:51:27,820
 You know, Jack State got a good women's win, had a tough one loss on the men's side, but still, it's going to be a great tournament.

1807
01:51:27,960 --> 01:51:32,540
 They do a great job with Huntsville Sports Commission and the Visitors Bureau of putting on that event.

1808
01:51:32,660 --> 01:51:44,120
 They've just signed a three-year extension, but if you miss anything, you can certainly check out our SoundCloud page, pardon me, at ESPN 97.7 The Zone or 977ESPN.com.

1809
01:51:44,260 --> 01:51:48,340
 We always enjoy being on with you guys, and it's going to be a great tournament in Nashville.

1810
01:51:48,340 --> 01:51:58,280
 We look forward to being there on Friday and seeing the Crimson Tide in action and seeing if Nade Oates and crew can increase their seed line, if Auburn's still alive, and what's all going on.

1811
01:51:58,340 --> 01:52:08,100
 I think Oklahoma, though, is the ultimate sleeper with the way they've been playing, and I think they'll beat South Carolina tonight, and we'll see what happens with Bucky Ball the next day.

1812
01:52:09,120 --> 01:52:10,540
 Same travels to and from.

1813
01:52:10,700 --> 01:52:12,460
 Thanks so much, Drew, for your time today, buddy.

1814
01:52:13,220 --> 01:52:13,900
 Thank you, guys.

1815
01:52:14,480 --> 01:52:14,900
 Thank you, buddy.

1816
01:52:14,900 --> 01:52:25,160
 You see Jon Sumrall's comments, B.B., he said, my wife is celebrating her 40th birthday or 15th year anniversary.

1817
01:52:25,340 --> 01:52:33,860
 We had planned to go to Italy to celebrate, but I've got too much to do here, so that's Jon Sumrall, the new getter.

1818
01:52:33,920 --> 01:52:39,240
 Guys, keep an eye on the sky, particularly up in the Collinwood, Lawrenceburg, Waynesboro area.

1819
01:52:39,720 --> 01:52:43,760
 Just moments from now, it looks like you might get a pop-up there, so if you've got plans for traveling that area,

1820
01:52:43,760 --> 01:52:46,360
 make sure you keep an eye on the sky.

1821
01:52:46,900 --> 01:52:48,960
 And the radio right here is going to take care of this for now.

1822
01:52:49,040 --> 01:52:53,920
 On behalf of B.B., Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here, Harold Black, thank you so much for your time today.

1823
01:52:53,980 --> 01:52:58,640
 Let's do it again tomorrow on noon to two for the Bumble Bug Show back here on Sports Radio from 93.9 to score.