Boomo Bugg Show 051326
93.9 The Score WYTK - May 13, 2026
https://www.939thescore.com/boomo-bugg-show-051326/

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

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Now, get ready to roll Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of Northwest Alabama and Southern Tennessee. It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice.
The Boomo Bugg Show. New exclusive inside track to the Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC. Now your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Good afternoon and welcome in to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us a free ride around the Tennessee Valley. Brett Beaird, welcome in. Where can you say welcome to the coaching shuffle in the shows? Good afternoon, welcome in and how are you?
Happy Wednesday to you and the listeners. You are exactly correct. Brooks football coach Tim Bowens was officially hired last night as assistant athletic director at Florence High School.
Florence also picked up former Auburn star baseball player Hunter Morris to be the baseball coach.
One of the best coaches in North Alabama, Jeff Mason at Lauderdale County football coach has stepped down.
And Morris Hill boys basketball coach Jeremy Pounders is now headed to Southside Gaston to be the girls coach.
In baseball last night, Morris Hill Bible sweeps Red Bay 21-6 and 4-3 to advance to the Class 2A Baseball Championship Series.
And Jimmy's here right now to talk all things Alabama.
I wonder if Jimmy's called two men in a truck too. It seems like everybody's on the move.
We'll check and confirm or deny that with Mr. Jimmy himself.
Jimmy Stein, co-host of Locked On Bama, part of the Locked On Network.
Jimmy, welcome in. Are you still with us or are you on the move too?
Nope. I'm sitting right here in Tuscaloosa. There's only 84 days until practice starts.
I'm not going to lose my spot.
Jimmy, let me ask you this. For that September opener, is it bacon and eggs and pigskins?
Brett Beaird's favorite kickoff time.
11 o'clock in early September. Can life get any better, Jimmy?
Well, with someone that sits in the stadium, I'm not in the press box of games.
I don't want to be. I like sitting in the crowd and someone that will be baking with the rest of everyone else.
It's not exactly my favorite kickoff time either, especially for the early September game.
But I'm so hungry for football by that time of the year.
Hey, bring it on. I'm just ready to watch the ball.
Your thoughts about what Alabama is going to take in this opener.
Last year, do you get the feeling, Jimmy, that maybe all the talk, there's so many verbal bouquets thrown around
that I think some of these players actually believed what they were reading,
that we're great and Florida State's not.
We saw what happened. It set the tone that day and for the season as well.
What lessons? Forget about the balance of the season.
Let's start with first things first.
It's East Carolina. They're not a brand name like sometimes Alabama will kick off.
Certainly under Nick, they did.
He loved to go out and get that momentum going early and get all the verbal bouquets himself and publicity.
But your thoughts just from a mindset of how Alabama is going to approach this one against the Pirates from East Carolina.
It's a little different than last year.
Last year, starting out on the road against the Power Four team.
And we all know how the game went five ways.
I think in retrospect, and I had re-watched the game actually not too long ago, a couple weeks ago.
You know, I think some say, well, Alabama just wasn't ready to play.
I don't really believe that's the case because Alabama came out playing well right out of the gate.
They had an offensive possession that was, frankly, one of the better drives of the year, a 16-play drive.
They used three backs.
They threw it.
They ran it.
It was an impressive offensive drive to start the year.
And then defensively, they get Florida State to a fourth down.
It was a penalty.
They kept that drive alive that Florida State would eventually score.
I think there's a difference between not being ready to play and not being ready to respond to adversity.
I don't think the team was ready to get punched in the mouth and get back up.
Now, they would later in the year, and they rebounded really well.
But really, that first game was about the game went sideways, and Alabama didn't have an answer, couldn't respond.
I don't think it was that they weren't ready to play.
Now, I think this year's opener is much different in that you're not playing the brand Florida State.
You're at home, not on the road.
But what I would hope Alabama fans realize is last year in the home opener, Alabama absolutely crushed a terribly outmanned team, Louisiana Monroe.
I think it was, I don't know, 73 to nothing.
I forget what it was.
It was a whole lot to nothing.
Well, East Carolina may not have a name, but that's a pretty good football team.
It's not Louisiana Monroe from 2025.
East Carolina won nine games a year ago.
They beat Pittsburgh in the bowl game.
They played other power four teams fairly close.
They beat Memphis.
They beat Tulane.
They have two veteran quarterbacks who played big-time football, including Miami Hurricanes' number two quarterback.
He's likely to be the starter, but he's battling a guy that was at Wake Forest and, I think, Texas Tech.
So, they're going to have a veteran, older quarterback.
Their new offensive coordinator was the OC of the number one offense in college football a year ago.
So, I'm not warning Alabama fans, you know, be on upset alert or anything like that.
I'm not doing that.
I'm just saying this isn't going to be like 73 to nothing against Louisiana Monroe.
I think East Carolina is too good for that, and that's a good, you know, that's good for Alabama.
You need to have some questions answered in game one because week two up in Lexington, Kentucky, you better be ready to play.
So, maybe East Carolina presenting some level of challenge will be good for Alabama.
Jimmy, just to reiterate your point, not only did they win nine games, but this year they've got a new offensive coordinator, Jordan Davis,
who is with North Texas, and you're exactly right.
North Texas last year, first in FBS and scoring 512 yards per game.
The quarterback, Mitch Griffiths, he's competing with Emory Williams.
Griffiths is 25 years old, and then they've got a veteran team.
They've got 22 redshirt seniors, or actually, what they've got is four seniors and 20 redshirt juniors.
That's a veteran team, Jimmy.
It really is.
And, again, obviously Alabama's going to be favored by a lot of points, and Alabama should beat East Carolina by a lot of points.
But I think fans, and you hope not the team, but the fans see that name, East Carolina, and they don't think much of it.
I think East Carolina has an outside shot to be one of the better G6 teams in 2026, and maybe make a run even at that one playoff spot that they get.
I think they can be that good.
Now, is that a team that should play with Alabama and keep it close for four quarters?
Of course not.
Alabama should win and pull away.
But, again, what my point is, I don't think we're going to see 73 to nothing like we saw in last year's home opener.
As they say, stay tuned and stay locked in with Jimmy Stein at Locked on Bama.
Jimmy, let's talk recruiting.
Alabama going shopping in the volunteer state and picking up a young man with deep roots to the volunteers in Tennessee.
Kenneth Simon II, Kenneth Simon I, was a two-time All-SEC player under Phil Fulmer at Tennessee.
Later on, Director of Player Development at Tennessee.
And what does his son say, I'm on my way to play in Tuscaloosa, the four-star linebacker from Brentwood, Tennessee Academy.
What can you tell us about Kenneth Simon II?
Yeah, even more interesting, Harold, he tells his mother, told Andrew Bone over BOL this week,
that actually he picked Alabama over Georgia, so Tennessee didn't even finish in second half for Kenneth Simon.
Which is certainly, I mean, that's interesting, because you would have thought, you know,
when I first, you know, became aware of this prospect several months ago, like everyone else,
you just kind of assume, well, this kid's going to go to Tennessee like his dad.
And then it became pretty apparent on his visit that he was extremely open to considering other places.
He did visit Georgia, he visited Alabama.
Alabama just remained the favorite all along.
Very good prospect.
I think he's a national top 150 type prospect.
That makes him pretty elite in the recruiting ranks.
He's an off-ball linebacker.
Up 6'2", 210, played safety.
His ninth and tenth grade years at Brentwood Academy in Nashville.
Really good prospect like his dad.
His dad was a 245-pound player, so you can't help but think Kenneth Simon's going to get bigger.
Again, he's up to 6'2", 210, but all that growth is late.
Again, he played safety in the ninth and tenth grade, so getting bigger.
Obviously, you've got to like the DNA.
Dad was an all-SEC player.
This was a good pickup for Alabama because he's a player that can play in space.
You know, off-ball linebackers in the modern game, they're sort of like big safety.
I mean, they've got to drop.
They have to play laterally.
They're asked to do a lot of things, not just trade paint with a fullback in the hole like they used to back in the old days.
But, you know, today's off-ball linebacker is an athlete's first, and Kenneth Simon really fits that description.
Jimmy, Andrew Bones also told us on the show Alabama was signed a smaller line class.
Last year, five offensive linemen, five defensive linemen.
Now, the ones they're looking at are quite impressive.
Antonio Berry from Tupelo, Mississippi.
Ismael Kamara from Gilmore, Texas.
And on the defensive line, I think I've asked you,
about a couple of these dudes.
Mitchell Turner from Louisville, Mississippi.
Antoine Jackson from Memphis.
And K.J. Green from Stone Mountain.
We'll see when the dust is cleared.
But after it, with 10 last year, this will be a smaller class.
Yeah, and you have to expect that the year after oversigning.
I mean, you can't just pile them all into one room.
They signed a number of linemen last year.
Normally, the year after you do that, it's a smaller group, just to make the numbers work.
The targets are pretty impressive players, though.
You know, obviously, quantity doesn't matter as much as quality.
And they are aiming pretty high for the linemen in the group, particularly like Mitchell Turner,
who I think, you know, has a chance to be a top 50 player, even nationally.
The two offensive linemen that you mentioned are, again, super elite-type players, both Kamara, you know, and Barry from Tupelo.
It's interesting, you know, in 2028, when you're probably getting back to signing a more regular-sized group,
two of the better offensive linemen that Alabama are recruiting are from North Alabama, both from the Huntsville area,
and Joey Fleming and Samuel Bailey, who are maybe two of the better offensive line prospects in the South.
They just both happen to be from the Huntsville area.
That's in 28, though.
I do think it's going to be a smaller group.
One other thing to keep in mind, though, not just a smaller group at the line of scrimmage,
but maybe a smaller class overall, in part because of the expected rule change this fall,
the five-for-five rule change, meaning if that happens and it's expected to,
every player in college football will have five years of eligibility.
So now you're losing.
Now some of your seniors actually will have another year to come back.
I think that's going to operate to make a lot of schools' recruiting classes smaller
because you're probably getting more guys back than you expected.
That's a very good point, Jimmy.
Let's switch gears.
It's hard to believe the end is near for the regular season in the SEC baseball.
Alabama pulling the curtain on that part of the schedule against Ole Miss.
I'm assuming Lane Kiffin will not be there rooting for Ole Miss.
Jimmy, your thoughts about this Alabama team getting ready for the SEC tournament?
You know, as bad as Alabama has been at points this season, and I'm not being melodramatic there,
Alabama baseball at times has been a pretty bad baseball team.
Yet we look up, and now Ole Miss is coming to town.
And if you somehow, some way, find a way to win two or three against Ole Miss,
Alabama is not only hosting a regional.
They're in position to potentially host a super regional.
But if they can win the regional in their own part, that's amazing considering how many times they've been swept,
how many times they've looked terrible in the midweek game.
Yet here you are, and why?
Because at times they're really good.
This team, their highs are really high, and their lows are really low.
But it's all worked out in the wash to where they could be a top-ten team heading into the postseason,
which is just amazing.
And if they get on a roll, look out.
Starting pitching has been the one thing that's been really consistent.
They're the only team in the SEC, the only one out of 16 teams,
that has started the same starting pitcher on the Friday night game,
the Saturday day game, and the Sunday game.
Keeping all three starting pitchers, one, two, three, healthy,
and pitching well and consistently well all season long.
That's the reason I think Alabama's in the position they are,
because other elements of the team have been less consistent,
like the bullpen and the offense.
Yeah, you're exactly right.
And, Jimmy, you're on today because 93.9,
the score is broadcasting the number one seed Alabama softball team
in the Tuscaloosa region Friday beginning at 12.
Jimmy, great stuff as always.
We sincerely appreciate you coming on early this week.
Where can we get online and get some podcasts with you and Luke Robinson?
You also work with Clint Lamb.
Where can we get the best podcasts about Alabama sports on the planet?
Yeah, I really appreciate that, Brett.
Locked on Bama.
Just Locked on Bama.
You can find us on YouTube,
or you can find us wherever you get your audio podcasts,
like Amazon or iTunes.
We're easy to find.
Locked on Bama.
We have a new show minimum six days a week.
Sounds great, Jimmy.
Listen, man, thanks so much.
Have a great rest of the week, okay?
Hey, I appreciate it, guys.
Thank you, Jimmy.
Appreciate you.
Jimmy Stein, co-host of Locked on Bama.
Blake Lovell is locked to the SEC from A to Z.
Details next.
Stay with us.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in.
It is a pleasure for us to head on up the road to a place called Nashville and check in with Blade Lovell.
He's got the entire SEC covered at Southeastern 16.
You can pick up his yearbook.
It's called Blue Ribbon or listen to his podcast.
That is called Establish the Past.
Blade Lovell, happy Wednesday the 13th.
How are you?
I'm doing well, guys.
Good to talk to you.
You too.
Blake, it's a good time of the year to kind of tap the brace, take a little pit stop and talk about some stuff.
That's a part of the game, but sometimes during the season can kind of get overlooked.
A good situation here to look at, and that is the most expensive rosters in college football.
Blake, we remember when Bo Nix got a deal with Milo T, and we thought, how outrageous.
He's getting that much money.
I've forgotten now what it was.
Peanuts.
And a lot of people said, that's just a crack in the d*** weight and showing up here it comes.
Alabama, let's put this thing in perspective.
Everybody's talking about Texas Tech and Tennessee originally.
Both of them are just over $36 million.
They're in the top 10.
It's a lot of cabbage.
Alabama's actually eighth on this list at just over $37 million.
I'll fast forward.
Texas is king of the hill, shock, shock, 47.9.
In other words, almost $48 million.
Blake, you know what?
And we ain't seen nothing yet, have we?
No.
If you think this number for Texas is staying at $48 million about five years from now,
that's going to be about $56 million and we'll get up to whatever.
Yeah, I mean, it's just, like you said, it's the nature of the game now.
And I think it puts a lot in perspective in terms of what your expectations have to be if you're a fan.
And again, fair or unfair.
I mean, I think it's like if you look at just eight and nine on the list, which is Alabama and Tennessee,
and you see a difference of whatever, $0.5 million or whatever it is,
what's the difference in expectations for those two teams?
I mean, if you're a fan of both of them, shouldn't you have basically the same expectations based on the fact
that how much money that you're spending?
And so if you're Texas and you are almost $4 million higher than Miami at two,
should you not have the expectation that if we don't win the national championship, it is disappointing?
And I think that's exactly where we are now.
And that's why I think, you know, you look at Sark going into the season,
and obviously you've had some interesting comments the past few days about other schools.
But, I mean, they should be the team that wins the whole thing if you're just basing it off of this kind of stuff.
And again, fair or unfair, we are going to base it a lot on that because you're paying players
and you're going to pay higher for players that are simply better and more skilled.
And so I think from that standpoint, again, the context is everything.
And so there should be no reason why, if you're an Alabama fan, you know,
there should be no reason why you're upset if you don't exactly meet those expectations because of this number.
Mike, you bring up a very good point there about Sark.
The folks who might have missed it, is that where we're getting now?
These guys are under so much pressure.
They're going to sit here and complain about everything and everybody, whether it's legit or not.
Your thoughts of what's going on, if you're Greg Sankey, what message would you send to Sark, to Lane?
Of course, Lane, I'm not smart enough to figure out Lane's mind.
He actually loves it.
Most people would sit here and say, please.
Your thoughts just about what's going on as far as these people run their mouths.
Yeah, like you said, I'm not going to try to figure out Lane.
Lane's going to say what's most beneficial to Lane, and that's really what it comes down to.
It doesn't matter where he is or who he's with.
If it benefits him, they'll say it.
And I think when you look at it, like you said, from the perspective of we've seen this in different sports.
We talked about it, I think, specifically in basketball a lot over the years.
You see some of these coaches getting out of the game that are older and all that, and we see it because of all the changes.
Sark's not that old, but I think he absolutely, to me right now, based on things that he's saying,
whether it is simply getting into that game of taking some shots at other schools,
whether it is talking about the playoff and all these things, I feel like he is a coach that is on the way out
from college football in the next year or two, right?
And you guys know there were the rumors this pass-off season about whether it was the Titans, the Giants,
or whoever, entertaining the idea of the NFL and that stuff.
And I think, look, it's a double-edged sword, right?
You can push back on the guy doing these things at the same time we just mentioned.
He's got a roster this year that can be $48 million.
No excuses.
Right?
I mean, there's no excuses.
He's got the most pressure on him probably of any coach in the country.
And so some of this stuff is going to get to you, I think, sometimes.
And I think that's where we're going to see, I feel like, again, more of this kind of stuff,
whether it's Lane, always just being Lane, whether you have a guy like Sark,
that maybe it's a little, you know, uncharacteristic, you're not used to him saying things like this.
I just think the pressure is there now, given all the money, the numbers get out there, and all that.
And that's why, again, you're going to see guys, to me, like Sark,
who eventually are going to be coaching in the NFL, maybe because, not because it's not going to have pressure,
but it's just going to be a much different dynamic than it is right now,
based on kind of our college football and college sports landscape, so.
I thought it was interesting.
I saw earlier this week that Auburn and Wisconsin are playing December the 19th.
And without looking at it, before I skimmed it, I thought, well, are they playing in Auburn and Wisconsin?
They're playing in Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
And I thought that was rather interesting.
Now, I understand why Stephen Pearl's doing this, so he can get a chance for his team
with a lot of new players to play at Bridgestone to get ready for the SEC tournament in March.
But I also wonder if there's an NIL tied to this, too.
And Alabama and Tennessee are, around Thanksgiving, they're going back to Las Vegas for the second consecutive year
to play in the Players' Era Tournament, which that is NIL to the players.
Now that every school's trying to be creative and find more money, what was your first thought when you saw Auburn and Wisconsin at Bridgestone?
Yeah, I think, you know, Nashville, as we know, has also not been shy about finding ways to keep their entertainment high.
And, you know, again, whether that's just simply the new stadium and all this other stuff.
I mean, we've seen, go back to last year, the most random game I can ever remember basketball-wise in this city,
when Virginia played Ohio State in basketball.
What was that?
I think it was in February or something like that.
Just a completely random game at Bridgestone Arena, which did not make a lot of sense to me.
But, again, I don't know just the full, you know, financial experience or anything like that that was involved in it.
And so, like you said, I think you're going to see a lot of this kind of stuff.
And I know some Auburn fans would say, hey, there's a lot of Auburn fans in Nashville, and there certainly are.
You know, we've seen that over the years just in terms of whether tournaments or anything else here.
And so, yeah, it's going to be interesting.
And I think this is where when you see games like this being scheduled, it's not anything that out of the norm when it comes to just the teams involved, maybe location.
Yeah, you've got, you know, perk up a little bit.
But, you know, whether it's the thing in Vegas, whether it's some of these other things,
I just think this is the way forward when it comes to scheduling in college basketball.
And I've had some pushback on that.
You know, ah, the NCAA is still going to look out for the little guys.
They're still going to get their bye games and all that.
I'm like, they may this year.
But when we see that first tournament bracket release next March and you see of those final eight additional teams in,
when you start to see, you know, seven of those teams are all power conference teams,
then let's start to see how many bye games you're going to have next year and the year after that.
Because there's not going to be a reason to do it.
And, look, I'm all for watching a great game, whether it's Auburn, Wisconsin, Virginia, Ohio State, anybody else.
But at a certain point, like we've said before, I think these are just the kind of games you're going to see a lot more of.
And you're not going to see as much of the, you know, the bye games that, yes, you still have to sell season tickets and all this other stuff.
But, guys, you'll be able to fill those with, you know, NATO's bringing in three top 20 teams to Tuscaloosa, bringing in a Purdue, bringing in whoever else.
Right.
And so I just think that that scheduling gap is going to get pretty wide here.
And, you know, maybe it starts with games like this that have been pretty familiar.
But I think you're going to see a lot more of this as we move forward.
Blake, quickly, as a young man, I had a summer job back in the day in Nashville and fell in love with the place.
It's grown quite a bit since then, to the point where they have a pro hockey team, pro football team.
At what point will Nashville entertain?
We've talked about this before and touched on it.
But, realistically, if and when Nashville will get a major league baseball team?
Yeah, I think it's got to happen.
I think if you're comparing Nashville to all the other potential options that are realistic for major league baseball, I still think, and I feel like there was some kind of study done a couple years ago.
Or maybe it was the Athletic that put something out when it came to just polling and all that.
It may have just been a players-based thing.
But, again, players have some weight in this kind of stuff, too.
And so I think if you are looking at just the different options that are available out there, there's no question, especially when you're looking at just the infrastructure that now exists in Nashville.
We know if you're talking about just simply interest, I think there's plenty of kind of data you can point to that there would be enough interest to drive Nashville as a city that would be able to support season tickets and all these other things.
Because, you know, look at what you've been able to do with the NFL.
And, certainly, I think if you were picking an order right now, I would think that major league baseball is certainly your next one that you would go after ahead of the NBA.
I just think it would be more of a fit.
I know there's been a lot of debate about, you know, Memphis and Nashville and the Grizzlies and all that.
But I just think baseball is a much more sensible option for the city based on the goals that they want to have.
And, again, it's just looking at all the new stuff that's here and with the stadium.
There's just so many different things you can do now.
But, yeah, I think there's plenty of spots around Nashville.
But there's a builder right now, guys, saying, oh, I got the perfect spot for this baseball stadium.
I guarantee you.
You know, they're just salivating at that idea.
Let me ask you about 90 seconds.
Will Amari Allen stay in the NBA drought?
He's going through the combine this week.
And I keep hearing late 20s.
Will he stay in the combine or come back?
And, second, where can we get online to get all the great podcasts?
Yeah, boy, Amari Allen, unfortunately, the ruler kind of got him a little bit when it came to the measurements.
Someone who looked at his 6'7 1⁄2", 6'8", measured around 6'5".
Really?
That didn't help.
Come on.
Come on.
Yeah, I mean, that's just a couple.
The NBA doesn't care about that at all.
They don't care about those little tiny details.
But I think it's gotten a little more interesting, guys, just based on that factor.
Fair or unfair, I honestly think it has.
I don't know.
I think some teams still kind of saw him as a wing-type player or whatever, potentially.
So, I don't think it dramatically hurts him.
If I had to guess right now, I'd say he probably stays in.
But if he comes back, boy, Alabama's roster gets a lot more intriguing.
But, yeah, we'll see how it plays out with him and all these other guys in the NBA draft and all that.
But, yeah, guys, you can find all their stuff.
Southeastern 16 on YouTube.
Of course, the daily basketball, baseball, football stuff.
It's all there, Southeastern 16.
Six-five today.
As he ages, he'll be 5-5 as time goes by.
Blake, as always, good to hook up with you, man.
Thanks so much for your time today and have a good one, okay?
Thanks, guys.
You too.
Thank you, bud.
All right.
Blake Love will hook up with us.
Southeastern 16.
Coming up, checking about Alabama.
Let's take you to T-Town.
And Mr. Rodney Orr, he's on deck.
Stay with us.
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Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93-9.
The score.
Atlanta Braves winners yesterday beat the Chicago Cubs 5-2.
Just one hit for the Cubs in the ballgame.
The Braves now 29-13.
Braves and Cubs back at Truist Park tonight.
J.R. Ritchie gets the start for Atlanta.
He's 1-0 with a 3.63 ERA.
In college baseball action yesterday, fifth-ranked Auburn fell at Jacksonville State 4-1.
Both teams had six hits in the ballgame.
The Auburn Tigers dropped to 35-16.
Third-ranked Georgia Tech lost at home.
They fell to Mercer 12-9.
Both teams had 11 hits and combined for five errors.
Georgia Tech is now 42-9.
North Alabama was outscored at Murray State 9-5.
The Lions are 25-26.
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The score.
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The score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in.
It is a privilege for us to welcome in the man, Rodney Orr, founder and editor of tighterinsider.com.
His book is called Bigger Than Bama.
Rodney, welcome in.
How are you?
Doing well, Harold.
How are you and Brett today?
Hey, buddy.
Man, we're doing all right.
You got softball.
You got baseball.
Before we get into some of these specifics, what a year it's been for Alabama, making the postseason in football and now in softball and baseball.
What's next, Rodney?
Pickleball?
It's been a good year overall for this program, has it not?
Yeah, I mean, I think it certainly has.
I mean, obviously, you know, the things they achieved in football, the things they achieved in basketball.
Obviously, baseball doing really well right now on a nice roll.
And then having the number one overall seed in the softball upcoming tournament.
So, yeah, I mean, I don't think many can complain for, especially for a program, Harold and Brett, that these people on tighterinsider tell me is broke.
They don't have any money to be competitive NIO-wise.
So they're pretty good.
I don't know how Greg Byrne does it.
I really don't know how Greg Byrne does it, but he probably deserves a raise because he's doing more with less than anyone in the country.
If they can find more money, that's the key to everything.
But let me ask you this about softball and baseball.
When you watch a game, you can't help but notice the vibe is entirely different when you watch a baseball game because of its pace.
And these girls, to say it mildly, they're unpredictable.
You never know what they're going to do.
They have a loyal following.
You're in Tuscaloosa.
Where is the bigger energy, with the baseball team or the softball team?
Say that again.
What is the bigger what?
I'm sorry.
The energy as far as the fan reaction.
Which sport tends to have more passion from the fans?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's a great question because we actually talked about that last night.
You know, we had Titer and Sider TV.
Gary and I talked about it afterwards.
And really, right now, you have to say softball.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think a lot of that, Harold, is because the success that they've had, where they are right now.
Now, if baseball starts getting back to the Jim Wells level, then, you know, you'll start seeing that turn a little bit.
But I do think right now, if you're pinpointing one, I would say softball.
Ronnie, let me ask you about the question that every Alabama football fan has about Kaelin DeBoer and this program.
Are they going to be more physical?
Are they going to run the ball?
Are they going to control the line of scrimmage at the point of attack?
You had an article on Adrian Clem, Alabama's new offensive line coach, and you have impeccable sources.
And a lot of them have been saying, yes, the practices in the spring were more physical.
They went longer, good on good, which is something Saban loved to do all the time.
Ronnie, again, we'll see.
You've got a lot of new offensive linemen.
They've figured out some stuff in the spring.
But it does look promising.
Clem wants a physical run game.
Well, how do you do that?
You've got to be physical in the line of scrimmage.
Ronnie, according to your article, again, we've got to see it in the fall.
But at least in the spring, the results may be promising.
Well, we'll see.
I know that, again, talking to some people that had the opportunity to be there at every practice this spring,
they saw some hints of that.
And I think, you know, Clem is a guy.
That's his reputation.
And I think there was one thing that I pointed out in this little article that I did, Brad,
that someone that was basically at every practice or had the opportunity to watch every practice and said, you know,
there was, I think it was practice 12 they had, that they had a 20-minute, what he called a run period,
where it's basically the offensive line and defensive line just going to war in the trenches.
And, you know, that's the thing that really develops mental, physical toughness, you know, in a team.
And, you know, he hoped to see more of that, you know, in these practices because he really thought that, you know,
this team could use that basically every day in the spring to develop that.
And, you know, again, we'll see.
But I can tell you, based on some other things that I've heard, that, you know, Clem at least,
now I can only speak for what I've heard about Clem, and that is that he really likes to line up in physical.
There's nothing real finesse about him.
Rodney Oren is the place to get, if you'd like, interactive boards across not just the state,
but the entire globe at tighterinsider.com.
Rodney, your thoughts?
You predicted this about the young man from Tennessee coming to Alabama.
We know the back story.
Daddy played at Tennessee under a fellow by the name of Phil Fulmer.
I guess I'm allowed to say that on this side of the state line, not be stoned.
Two-time SEC linebacker with the big orange, later the player development up there, manager.
Legacy player, a four-star, still lives in Tennessee in the Nashville area.
Your thoughts about that, and does it not illustrate where we are in the modern era?
Because Tennessee fans are going to say, okay, so what?
Cornelius Bennett's son.
He's a legacy player at Alabama.
He wound up at Tennessee.
This kid, his dad played at Tennessee, winds up at Alabama.
It just illustrates, you can't see here and say everything is automatic,
but your thoughts about that, the modern athlete, the kid, more socially,
and all these social media interaction and everything across state lines,
but your thoughts about that and about what Alabama's getting in the young man?
Yeah, I mean, I just think you're right.
I mean, I think it does kind of indicate some things have changed, obviously,
and I do think that kids, whether they have allegiance to one school,
you know, they want to cut their own path sometimes.
You know, they have an opportunity to meet all these coaches.
You go to camps.
You build relationships, and, you know, sometimes it's just that fit at that time, Harold.
I mean, you know, it could be that Simon feels really, and I know he does,
but he feels really comfortable with the board, the coaching staff here,
the coaches here on the defensive side of the ball, the system,
that how he would fit in.
All of those things are really important, and like you said,
I mean, I think, you know, you can be a lead, you can have some allegiance to a school,
but, you know, when it comes down to making a decision,
we could go back to 2014, actually, and I remember everybody said,
and you may, I know Brett will remember,
I caught a lot of grief on Titer and Sider when I suggested that
Rashawn Evans might actually pick Alabama.
And, you know, it came down to, you know, the difference in the system.
There was a big difference, and Rashawn was a better fit for what they wanted to do here at Alabama.
So, I mean, those things come into play, obviously, and have always come into play.
But as far as Simon is concerned, no, he's a really good player.
You know, I don't think he's a level of Rashawn Evans, if you want to use that kind of comparison.
I think he's a really good player, and I think he's got a chance to develop into a really good player.
But it may take a little bit of time.
It took Rashawn a little time, for that matter.
But I do think, Harold, he's a really good prospect and a really good pickup for this recruiting class.
Rodney, I thought they were going to hang you in effigy after you came out and said that.
I remember that really well.
We are two weeks away from the first big official weekend, Memorial weekend,
and a lot of dudes are coming to Tuscaloosa looking at your list,
and I'm sure they've added to this.
Four five-stars, sales wide receiver, and then Mo Link was doing his thing again.
Three five-star, well, I'm sorry, two five-star cornerbacks,
John Meredith and Stelp, and then Darius White.
Again, these tall, lone kids.
And, Rodney, we'll see.
This list is going to fluctuate.
But once again, when you get to late May now in June,
the visits start, and there are some very talented young men coming into Tuscaloosa.
No doubt.
I mean, they've got a nice list set up.
You talked about it.
I mean, it starts on May 29th.
It runs through, I think it's the 19th.
It's the last weekend of June that you're going to have kids in.
And some of those, there are some visitors that will come in like late in the week or midweek.
You know, there may be a couple that do that over that month.
But I think, Brett and Harold, that most of the guys that Alabama gets in this class,
I'd say most, will probably be among that group that visits over the summer.
And there's going to be some that they'll offer later.
It always happens you've got a guy or two in the fall or maybe more that, you know,
you start recruiting more heavily and things happen and like that.
But, yes, it's an impressive list.
The only thing I would say is that strikes me, I just, again,
I know they've got guys coming back on the offensive and defensive line as you look at it now.
But I think there's, you know, I would probably say I would be a little surprised
at the number of, or the lack of offensive and defensive linemen that are coming in for visits.
That's the one thing that would strike me.
Now, again, you also are going to have the portal.
Maybe, perhaps, they do kind of similar to what they did this year
when they hit the portal pretty hard at the line of scrimmage.
Well, your point's well made.
You can't count on 10 linemen who came in for this season being around next year, Rodney,
or being around in December when the transfer portal opens.
You mentioned Titer Insider TV, the 24-7 message board.
But as Harold mentioned, baseball, softball, all sorts of good stuff.
Recruiting really about to get cranked up.
Rodney, where can we get online and get Titer Insider for a very nominal price?
And also being beach time and time to look at other five stars, where can we get online and get your book?
Yeah, well, it's TiterInsider.com.
It's only $48 a year, and you can get instant access with your credit card right now.
If you prefer, there is an address there to send a check.
It gives you the premium information.
But also, we're on there right now, Harold and Brett, talking about NIL and where Alabama sits with that.
There's a lot of debate going on about that and how competitive Alabama can be.
But also, our book, Bigger Than Bama, as you mentioned, you can go to RodneyOr.com, or you can go to Amazon, find it there.
Bigger Than Bama.
Have all the details if you're interested.
Sounds great.
Rodney, listen, man, it's always good to hook up with you.
Good luck if you're heading to the beach on your recruiting trip, okay?
I don't plan that right now, Harold.
Okay.
Stay tuned.
Rodney Orr, looking up with us, visit there at TiterInsider.com.
Quickly, BB, for the folks who might have missed it, the Battle of Bulls between Mars Hill Bible and Red Bay in the playoffs.
Yeah, Mars Hill won the Battle of the Bulls.
In fact, they swept Red Bay.
The first game just got away from Red Bay.
Mars Hill had their hitting shoes on, 21-6, and Red Bay jumped out 3-0 in the second game.
But Mars Hill, to their credit, came back, took the lead, and held on.
And Mars Hill will advance once again to the championship series in Class 2-8.
I think Josh Willingham and Mars Hill Bible, they're going to start paying property tax down that neck of the woods this time of the year.
Coming up the next hour, Drew DeArmond is going to be on board.
For Mr. Bill Shanks, reflecting on the one and only, we'll just call him Bobby.
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U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville is sponsoring a bill that increases the vetting process for immigrants seeking to enter the U.S.
The bill would also put an end to the visa lottery and chain migration.
Tuberville spoke about it on Newsmax.
Our immigration system, Ed, is broken.
It needs to be fixed, and I've got a bill out now called the Assimilation Act, and it prioritizes people that want to come over and assimilate, but it also does away with chain migration, does away with the visa lottery.
A lot of those things, and it's not going to happen.
We're going to go back to the visa.
We're going to go back to 1920.
We didn't have any immigration.
We stopped it, and if we have to do that to correct this problem we've got, which is huge, we need to do that, but we are losing our country every day because of the nonsense of these people coming from other countries and saying, hey, we want to change this country to the country we came from.
Well, heck, you're doing that.
Why don't you just stay at home?
We don't need you here.
You're not ruining our country, folks.
If you don't want to go by our laws and our Constitution, go back where you came from.
I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this.
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A task force in Tuscaloosa has arrested 13 people and charged them with the online exploitation of minors.
The investigators found these suspects by posing as juveniles on an online platform.
The suspects sought to arrange meetings with what they believed to be children that they were communicating with in order to have unlawful sexual contact.
This operation involved multiple law enforcement agencies working together here in Alabama.
I'm Andrea Tice.
For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com.
And while you're there, subscribe to the daily newsletter.
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Tim collects bobbleheads.
A lot of bobbleheads.
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Strap in Braves country because this 2026 Braves squad is reminding the league that the road
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Michael Harris gets good wood on it.
Rising back to the chop house.
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Tonight, the Braves and Cubs keep it going at Truist Park in Atlanta in another clash between two
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Atlanta Braves baseball tonight versus the Chicago Cubs on 93.9 The Score.
93.9 The Score weather.
Today, sunny with a high around 85.
Tonight, clear with possible wind gusts up to 20 miles an hour and a low near 55.
Tomorrow, sunny with a high around 80.
Tomorrow night, mostly clear with a low near 50.
And for your Friday, sunny with a high around 85.
Your weather from 93.9 The Score.
Now, get ready to roll Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of Northwest Alabama and Southern Tennessee.
It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice.
The Boomo Bugg Show.
Your exclusive inside track to the tie.
Tigers, Tennessee, and the rest of the SEC.
Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in our truly Boomo Bugg Show.
I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird.
Thank you so much for giving us a free ride around the Tennessee Valley.
And we need to take a long ride across the Mississippi River to hog heaven, if you will.
Trey Biddy is hooking up with us, publisher of hogsports.com.
By the way, that's H-A-W-G-sports.com.
And a fine contributor to Dry Sports on K-A-B-Z-1037, The Buzz.
And kind enough to take time out and join our little huddle today.
Trey Biddy, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm doing good.
If you're going to ask me about football, then we probably maybe should get the heaven part
and just say, let's try to get out of hog h***.
I'll tell you what, since we like you, Trey.
Well put.
Let's start with tennis.
We don't get to do this very often.
And you have to stay with us.
I know you know what we're talking about.
For the folks who don't do this for a living every day, we're looking at some of the budgets
while I go, Trey, for football.
Texas, shock, shock, nearly $49 million.
Somehow Alabama's in the top ten.
They got to make do on a mere $37 million plus.
What's the old saying?
Somebody somewhere has got to pay the bills.
And talk to us about the situation.
I think Arkansas made some ripples saying, here we go, cutting, and correct me if I'm wrong,
cutting men's and women's tennis from the program.
Yeah, there's a lot that's gone into that.
Now, Arkansas has made a major push over the last several months to inject more money into
the athletic department and specifically into football because they have been lagging, as
those numbers show.
And they have goals of, you know, injecting $30 million over the next three years into
football and raising more money.
The board of trustees came up with a resolution for the football program to basically come up
with $15 million more.
And they did it several different ways.
There was the onus put on the athletic department to raise $5 million.
They removed what basically the athletic department was paying in rent to the university, which was
about $4.4 million, which was, I think, I think it's 3% of the revenue or something like
that.
I think this year it's going to be like $5 million.
So they removed that and they also came up with a way for the university to basically donate
$6 million a year to the athletic department.
Well, the university made several different changes.
They did things like, like the athletic department had been playing, paying for the band.
So now the university takes that over.
So there's half a million dollars or, you know, they removed the $125,000.
for alcohol awareness training and, you know, removed the, uh, the athletic department
having to pay for transit during game days.
And now the university takes that.
Well, that came out to about $3.4 million after all that.
And then, you know, you start talking about where can they raise the rest of the money?
Well, they could, they could, uh, impose a student athletics fee.
Um, you know, but when you start taking money from outside the actual, the athletic department,
as you notice, like instead of the university, just giving them $6 million, they figured out
other ways to change the money.
So Arkansas is a self-sustaining, uh, athletic department, meaning they don't have, they don't
take money from outside the athletic department.
They're one of like 20 programs in the country.
And the benefits of that is, Hey, we want to, we need to spend $25,000 on some new weight
room equipment.
Well, that takes a signature basically and get it done.
Once you start taking money outside, then it's got to go through somebody else.
Somebody else has got to look at it.
Somebody else has got to approve, you know, you start doing all that kind of stuff and
it slows things down.
So they didn't want to do that.
So that's find money elsewhere.
And this appears to be one of the ways that, uh, tennis operates at about $2.5 million deficit.
And they made the decision now there's been an outpouring, uh, to get tennis back.
And I think they've raised maybe $5 million, you know, but that, what does that get you
a couple of years of tennis and, you know, plus the, the property that the tennis facility
is on, you know, what's the value of that?
Yeah.
You know, what could that be turned into that could generate money?
So there's all those aspects.
That's a long range of anything you wanted, but there you go.
Because the perception of Arkansas is for a captain, it has to be one of the richer states
as far as people who could ride a chick.
You got Jerry Jones down at Dallas.
You got the Walton family up at Walmart.
You, you got, uh, the Tyson family, you, you got Jay, what the hunt trucking company.
So on, on paper, you say, well, they got all these potential donors here.
I'm, I don't know where the fine line is, how much they contribute, but that's an interesting
take.
I appreciate you sharing that.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And they do, you know, Jerry Jones has contributed a lot over the years of the Gene and Jerry Jones
Student Athlete Success Center.
Um, you know, Tyson, you'll see Tyson patches on all the jerseys for the athletic, you know,
for, for athletics, but you're right.
I mean, Walmart is the world's largest retailer and Tyson is the world's largest meat producer.
It's all, you know, they're just a few miles apart from each other in the headquarters of
both of those places up in Northwest Arkansas.
So a lot of people don't know that, but yeah, there is, you know, there is, there is that you,
you'd, you'd like to maybe get a little bit more from Walmart.
You got some, you got some Missouri grads sprinkled in there with that Walmart family too.
But, um, you know, they do a lot for the community up here, but Tyson definitely has really
stepped up, especially, uh, in basketball.
Trey, you've seen some very good staffs over the years, some not so good at Arkansas and
in the SEC.
Your initial impressions of this staff, Ryan Silverfield coming from Memphis.
He brought his offensive coordinator, Tim Cransby, Ron Roberts, who is in a, been at Auburn in
Florida, DC, and I believe, uh, the time to end's coach returned in another coach at Arkansas,
who is there two years ago.
Your initial impressions of this staff?
I think they've got what it takes to have as much success as, as any of the new hires around
college football.
It's just, do they have the resources that others have, you know?
And I can remember Chad Morris's first practice during the spring, going out there and being
like, oh my gosh, this is, this feels so chaotic.
Like there's a drone flying overhead.
Chad Morris has, you know, a headphone on that's connected to a loudspeaker that's not working
players.
And I'm like, yes, it's supposed to be like this.
They want the practice to feel chaotic.
So the game will feel less, you know, just try to talk myself into it.
Uh, they were much more structured, uh, with Sam Pittman, obviously when he came on board
and, and still with, um, with Ryan Silverfield, the difference I think versus it was Pittman.
Pittman was hired for a job that he didn't get, you know, the job changed dramatically on him.
He was, he was a recruiter and, uh, it turned into basically the end of relationships and the
introduction of how much money am I going to get, you know, uh, while he was in Arkansas and
he wasn't supported very well.
He did not have near the NIL that he needed.
And, you know, part of that was because people, you know, weren't wanting to support Pittman,
you know, things that already kind of taken a down return.
And, you know, people were like, well, let's see them win and then I'll donate.
Well, that's not really how it works.
So you had to have, you had to start over if you're Arkansas and, um, it appears that they
have generated more funds and do have more NIL.
Uh, I would reject Arkansas based on what I've heard somewhere around 25 million, which should
put them maybe just inside the upper half of the SEC.
Whereas in the past, they were probably, you know, around 14, uh, in NIL budget, which just
isn't going to get it done in this conference.
So, um, no, it's not in the upper echelon, but it's Arkansas has always kind of had to
do more with, with less.
And you can tell that they have more money with the roster that they assembled up, but
they did a good job, you know, getting guys from the G5 level who, um, you know, were very
productive and highly sought by, by SEC teams and, you know, getting some guys from, you
know, power conferences who were also very highly sought and, and also getting guys who
are like the defensive line, for example, uh, getting guys who were, you know, going into
that third year, which on average, you're, it's about like 2.5 years when a defensive
lineman in the SEC really starts to make an impact, uh, on the college level.
And they got guys that, you know, like the Davian Sims, who was the number 112 overall
prospect, Jamonte Waller from Auburn, who was number 95 overall prospect in his class, Hunter
Osborne, Carlin Jones from USC, Hunter Osborne from Alabama into Virginia, uh, if you guys
remember him and then, um, uh, Carlin Jones at USC, Trajan Odom at Ohio state, all those
guys are, you know, got some eligibility left and you'd like to think that, you know, they
should be kind of coming into their own.
So they, they did a good job in my opinion of getting kind of a mix of players.
The one question I have is just a quarterback.
I just, I feel like the roster is good enough to compete.
I just wonder if they have a quarterback.
And the fact is we, we're, we're not going to know you can practice these guys and have
all this competition and, and all this stuff.
And you're still going to start Felipe Franks over Kyle Trask.
You know, you're still going to try everything you can do to find somebody out there.
Who's going to be better than Stetson Bennett, because he's not going to be able to get you
over the hump.
You know, you're still going to start, uh, Austin Simmons over Trinidad Chambliss.
You know, you can do all this stuff in practice, but you just, you can't measure what a guy has
going on upstairs until you put him under the light.
Great point.
Trey Bitty hooking up with us.
Hogsports.com is the place to get the latest with Trey.
It's H-A-W-G sports.com.
You would think Trey, that Ryan Silverfield will be able to go into basically a gold mine
when it comes to recruiting.
The Memphis area has put out some gems over the years.
You got the Delta down to your South there, and then you got to the Boothill in West Tennessee.
So you would think that he'd be able to have some name recognition there.
If those kids are not able to go to some of these money schools that you mentioned, your
thoughts on that.
And then how many times we had this conversation, it's all relative to your schedule.
And over the years, who's had a tougher, uh, slate, uh, road to hoe than Arkansas.
Your thoughts about this schedule, Trey.
You know, I told everyone, Arkansas has had a couple of years.
Where they've been on the road in the SEC to open SEC play or, uh, even two games on the
road.
When you look at the rest of the conferences, nobody, nobody opens like as tough as Arkansas
does in terms of opening on the road or the number of games they have away from home to
open the season.
And I said, when the schedule was about to be released, I said, they're either going to
send Arkansas on the road or they'll give them Georgia game one.
And it's exactly what they did.
Georgia, Georgia game one.
Uh, it's, I mean, game three on the schedule, but the first SEC game, that Utah game is going
to be really big for Arkansas at Utah.
You know, I think it's maybe a blessing to them that they also had a coaching change, uh, instead
of just keeping things rolling as they have been.
So, uh, maybe that'll benefit Arkansas, but in this day and age with so many transfers, Arkansas
has 65 new total players on the roster on scholarship.
Uh, you have to build that buy-in early.
I firmly believe the way Arkansas started last season, you know, driving for the game winning
score against Ole Miss and then fumbling the ball in Ole Miss territory, uh, in their red
area, changed the whole season and then they let down the next week against Memphis and
lost the exact same way as they did with Ole Miss and everything just spiraled out of control.
You've got so many new players wanting to buy in and, you know, Hey, you know, these coaches,
they've got our backs.
These coaches are doing what they said they're going to do, all that kind of stuff versus,
you know, it's easy to let go of the rope.
I think when you've got such, you know, more shallow relationships now, and I fully believe
that that win that Ole Miss had helped propel them to have in the season that they had.
Um, as far as recruiting, to answer your question on recruiting, you know, for Arkansas, if NIL
is embraced, that can be the difference for this program.
What has always separated Arkansas, in my opinion, from other teams in the SEC is access to elite
talent.
It's a smaller state.
It doesn't produce nearly as highly as the state like Mississippi, who has a similar population
as Arkansas.
Um, so Arkansas has always had to go a little farther for recruits.
I mean, you look at Auburn and how many good sized cities are around Auburn for them to pull
talent from.
And Arkansas just doesn't have that.
Uh, but you look at their roster now and with the NIL game and NIL has improved, as I mentioned,
when I was talking about those defensive linemen, I mean, consider that they got a defensive lineman
who's again, should be coming into that area of life where he starts really making an impact,
but they got a guy from, you know, who went to Oregon and they got a guy who went to Ohio
state.
They got a guy who originally went to Alabama and then Virginia and played a big role for the
Cavaliers last season.
They won 11 games and, um, and got a guy from USC, you know, when is Arkansas going to beat
a kid from North Carolina who is picking Ohio state?
You know, when, when, when are they going to beat Ohio state out for a guy like that?
NIL has changed things in terms of how far out you can go and get talent and, um, and players
are looking farther than they ever have before.
So I think that benefits Arkansas if NIL is embraced, which, uh, understand Pittman, it
just, it just was not, they were just way behind.
So, um, I, again, I think they've done the things that they need to do to put together a
solid roster.
I just, I worry about the schedule, obviously, as you always do in this conference, you know,
the early, how tough it is early on, um, and the quarterback position, they may be fine
at quarterback, but you, you just don't know.
You just don't know.
And good teams out there, they don't sit around and just be like, Hey, well, the next guy up,
you know, it seems like Alabama or Ohio state, you know, they had Simpson and, and, uh, saying,
you know, those guys came up through the program.
They were five-star recruits, I guess, but, uh, programs like,
that have a lot of talent around them, you know, maybe can afford to do that.
But Lane Kiffin didn't just go like, who's our next quarterback on the roster?
You know, Texas tech, you know, with the, you know, they had a guy that was brought up
to the system, but they didn't just go like, okay, who's after him?
You know, they went out and got Brennan Soresby, the number two guy, uh, who's obviously got
some issues going on now, but the point is like Miami just basically said, Hey, we'll just
go get this Duke quarterback, you know, to be our next guy, like programs that, um, you
know, are competing at a high level, aren't just settling at quarterback and let's see
what the next guy has.
They can't afford to do that.
And, and Arkansas unfortunately did that this year.
So it's just an unknown.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
And speaking of schedules, you've got, uh, North Alabama, UNA, the second game of the year,
which that's going to be very interesting.
Nobody does a better job of covering Arkansas than Trey Biddy.
And we've enjoyed working with you, Lord.
I think now it's been about 15 years or so.
And, and I, I, I'm curious to see what Hunter Osborne does.
He got dinged up early in his career at Alabama and got caught up in a numbers game.
And I think he is going to be pretty good for Arkansas.
Trey, where can we get online and get all your great stuff?
Yeah, you can go to hogsports.com, H-A-W-G sports.com, part of the 24 seven sports network,
which is 50% off right now.
Uh, you can check out our content on the hogsports YouTube page.
You can follow me on X at Trey Biddy, T-R-E-Y-B-I-D-D-Y.
Uh, so a lot of different ways for the, as I like to say, the lonely Arkansas fan in Alabama.
There's some, believe me, there's some here.
They, they love hog heaven, Trey.
Hog heaven is the name of the game.
Listen, man, thanks so much.
Have a great week.
Okay.
Yep.
Okay.
Thank you, bud.
All right.
Trey, uh, Biddy Hook, and I'm on this mission there again, H-A-W-G, that's hogsports.com.
Coming up, what do they call Bill Shanks?
Can we share it on the radio?
We'll see you next.
Stay with us.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in.
It is an absolute pleasure for us to jump over the state line of the Peachtree State
and say hello to Mr. Georgia himself, Bill Shanks,
host of The Bill Shanks Show on 93.1 FM down in Macon, Georgia.
Online at thesesuperstations.com and on the tube at 41 NBC.
Bill, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm doing well.
How are y'all?
Two words, Bill.
We saw the news about Bobby Cox.
Man, we thought of you.
We knew Bobby from afar.
The umpires had their perspective on Bobby Cox.
But, Bill, you knew him as a manager and as a person.
Where do you start in talking about the legend?
Well, it's hard.
I mean, it's been a crazy ten days, really, with the deaths of John Sterling
and Ted Turner and then Bobby.
It was just amazing.
Within a six-day period, you had three pretty big names that died all together.
Bobby was a great man.
He was all baseball.
You know, he just absolutely loved the game of baseball.
He loved everything about it.
He got there at noon.
He wanted to get there as early as he could for a night game.
He just loved his players.
They loved him.
He loved everything the game represented.
There was just little that he didn't enjoy about it.
He just was all baseball.
So, it's just been a wave of emotion for anybody who was around the team in his time period.
And I was definitely around it for a pretty good chunk of the time.
And he was, you know, he was something to be around for sure.
Reading your Twitter the last two weeks has been like more or less gaining a history lesson on the Braves.
One of them, and a lot of people may not think much about this, but I know it meant a lot to you.
You were doing an interview.
You were running late, or the interview was taking longer.
And Bobby Cox came down to the dugout, and you were thinking, well, he's going to chew me out with this.
And he walks up and says, hey, Shanksie.
And he gave you a nickname.
I bet he could have given you a car, and it would not have meant as much to you as that nickname.
No, I've been caught a lot of things in my life, especially by the two of you guys.
Yep, you're right.
Right, right.
That was, I really wasn't doing an interview.
I was standing there talking to one of the players.
And I'm like, I've got to get out of here.
I saw my peripheral vision.
I saw him walking toward me.
I'm like, I'm screwed.
I'm in big trouble here.
He just, you know, and he was horrible with names.
I mean, even 20 years ago, the man just, and I'm not very good with names myself.
I hear you.
He just, he, Roger McDowell, his old pitching coach, or his former coach, I should say.
Roger used to stand behind him sometime and prompt him, but someone was walking toward him if he knew who it was to let him know who the, what the name was of the person approaching him.
But he knew my name that day, and he wasn't mad at all.
Well, he just, you know, said, hey, Shanksy, and it was something, you know, it was a great story, great memory, obviously.
And he, you know, it was kind of a, somewhat of an acceptance, I guess, to a certain extent, that he wasn't furious with me or wondering what the heck I'm doing in there.
But he gave everybody nicknames, Roachie and Chip, and, you know, Chipper was a nickname.
Of course, he made it Chip.
You know, he would use initials, you know, a lot.
That would be something.
Tommy would be for Glavin or Smoltzy, of course, or something of that nature.
Chef for Sheffield.
And so I got one that day, that's for sure.
And he, you know, he had no clue when he said those two words what it was going to mean to me or that 20 years later I'd still be telling the story.
That's for sure.
Thing is, it's all about respect, and you saw the same clip we did where he threw out the honorary first pitch.
The umpires gathered around him, and they came up there, and they threw him out of the game after he threw out the honorary first pitch.
Of course, this is in his latter years.
The other story I thought was funny this week, Bill, and you've got a ton of them, I'm sure, was Jeff Rancur now on the network.
He and Bobby both got tossed the same game, and he went to Bobby and says, I've never been tossed.
What did we do?
Bobby said, well, we'll go to the tub and we'll drink some beer.
He can relate to people, that was his key.
Well, you know what, he knew that every game mattered, but it wasn't life and death.
Right.
And he knew that it took six months over the course of a season, and he, but their relationship, you know, people always talk about the Braves way.
Braves way, okay, we can talk about how they used to wear their hats and how they used to do things and so forth and some of the rules.
It was mostly about relationships.
It was mostly about people.
It was mostly about how people like Bobby Dews and Bruce Dahl-Canton and Bobby Cox and Paul Snyder and those kind of people just treated each other and you.
If you were around them, I mean, you know, I love those people.
Those are special people to me and a lot of the same people that Brian Snicker was thanking in his retirement thing and his Hall of Fame thing a couple of weeks ago.
I mean, they're just special people.
They're old school baseball people.
You know, there's bull c*** going on today.
Yeah.
And it's, you know, it was just different back then.
And you, and, you know, you had a, I mean, I've told you this too.
It's like, you know, I started watching the Braves in 1978.
I was eight years old.
That's when WTCG, which is the precursor to the superstition, came from Atlanta and was put on our cable system.
So I was eight years old.
That was Bobby Cox's first year as manager.
And that was Dale Murphy's first year as a full-time player.
And, and, you know, Bobby, so I was eight years old.
Well, I'm 56 now and Bobby still having an impact on this team.
I mean, Walt Weiss is there right now in part because of Bobby.
I mean, eight years ago when Snicker was looking for a bench coach, Bobby said, if you thought about Walt Weiss.
And of course that was all it took for Bobby to say that because Snicker talked to Walt and he liked him and he hired him.
And that was, that was it.
Well, I mean, if that hadn't happened, Walt Weiss probably wouldn't be the manager of the Atlanta Braves today.
So we're still seeing his impact decades later.
I mean, 48 years later.
And, and I think we're going to see his impact on this organization for many years to come.
I wish we had another hour with you today, but let me ask you quickly about Ted Turner, the incredible impact he had on the Braves, the Hawks, the state of Georgia, TV period.
Be it cable, CNN, the Superstation, which your stations are named after.
I'm sure, I'm sure, I'm sure again, but listen, he was a character and he was a flake, but he was a good flake and what an impact that he had on so many people.
Well, there's probably not any one person in the last 50 years that's had the impact on our state than Ted Turner.
And you can expand that into your area and Tennessee and South Carolina.
I mean, you know, TBS, and that's one of the reasons why I did kind of, in reference to the Superstation, named my radio station after that, is there used to be every, that station was like the fourth network in South.
I mean, I mean, before there was Fox and before there was a hundred million cable channels and streaming channels and all that.
It was ABC, CBS, NBC, and the Superstation.
Right.
And you had on that Superstation old shows that were great.
Yep.
You had Braves Baseball and you had wrestling and Andy Griffith Show and the Jetsons and Flintstones and Space Giants.
Well, what more do you need out of an entertainment day, right?
News update at 2 a.m.
Well, it was unbelievable to watch that station.
And, I mean, I never watch TBS now.
I don't know what the h***'s on there except Friends for 10 hours a day.
And if you like Friends, you probably love that, but I don't, so I don't.
But, I mean, that used to be the fourth station for many of us here in the South.
And everything we needed to watch was on there.
Baseball, wrestling, and the Andy Griffith Show.
Well, what else do you need right there?
So, Ted did all that.
And, you know, the unbelievable thing about Ted being tied with Bobby because of the three-day gap there in their death,
the decision Ted made to hire Bobby and bring him back as the GM is the most important decision ever made in Braves history.
Ever.
More than John Scherlitz coming in five years later, and that's no knock on John.
Right.
But, and it was kind of a timing thing because Ted wanted Bobby to manage again, and Bobby was managing the Blue Jays in the playoffs.
So, he didn't know if he was going to be able to get him back.
Well, he was worried he was going to get shut out that if the Blue Jays won the World Series, they'd never let Bobby go, he'd want to stay, et cetera.
So, he hired Chuck Tanner instead.
And, and at the end of that first week of the off-season for the 1985, after 1985, Chuck had been fired by Pittsburgh, and then two weeks later, Toronto had been eliminated, and Bobby said, well, you know, I still would like to come back.
And so, Bobby was made of the GM, and if that hadn't happened, if it had been Chuck as the GM and Bobby as the manager, we don't know that those things that Bobby did as the GM, like, hey, we're going to go all pitching.
That may have never been done, you know, and so that decision by Ted Turner and just the kind of the weird, weird timing and the luck of that changed his franchise over the last 40 years.
Well, I know it's been a rough week for you.
I texted you Saturday.
I couldn't believe when I saw Bobby had passed away, too.
And as I mentioned, I advocate getting on your Twitter post, and it is a history lesson every day, and particularly a lot of it is very funny because you saw it firsthand, but a lot of it is pointed.
It is amazing at how those three guys, and we didn't even get into John Sterling, how they changed baseball and life in the South.
And we'll get into that a little bit more.
I know you're going to be talking about this more on your show this afternoon.
Where can our listeners get online and listen to it?
Yeah, we're going to have Stan Kasten on it for a lot of Eastern time.
He's the former president of the Braves, who, of course, worked side-by-side with – well, Ted hired him, and then, of course, he worked with Bobby.
But theseuperstations.com is the website.
Yeah, that's right.
I know it's been a rough week for you, Bill.
I appreciate you coming up and giving us the whole back story as much as we could today.
Thank you so much, my friend.
Keep up the good work.
All right, guys.
Thank you.
See you, buddy.
Bill Shane, the superstations.com, quickly talking about Ted Turner.
Quick story here.
He was a genius when it came to marketing.
His initials were TBS, and everybody thought, well, he got Turner Broadcasting System just out of the sky.
No, actually, those were the call letters of the stage-to-campus station at MIT in the Boston area.
Ted Turner went up and said, I gave you $50,000 to have the rights to TBS, and as they say, BB, the rest is history.
We're not done yet here.
Coming up, Double D, Rudy Armand on deck.
Stay with us.
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The score in college baseball action yesterday, fifth-ranked Auburn fell at Jacksonville State 4-1.
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Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in.
He is a busy boy.
He's Double D, Drew DeArmond, host of Talking Ball, and also is 97.7 FM The Zone.
Drew, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm doing well, guys.
How are you all?
How are you all?
Man, what direction are you going this week if you're following Alabama?
Is it going to be softball?
Is it going to be baseball?
Is it going to be recruiting?
Drew, what path are you taking this week?
Well, I mean, I guess it would be all of the above.
There's a lot at stake in all three.
You know, probably if you had to rank them, I would guess it would be softball, considering
that the regional starts this week in Tuscaloosa.
It'll be another chance for Patrick Murphy to advance to the Supers and then potentially to another
College World Series.
And a lot at stake for Alabama baseball.
If they can win two out of three from the Rebels, I think they're going to host a regional
for the second time, you know, in four years, which would be, you know, really significant
in the first under Ralph Vaughn.
And, of course, in recruiting, they get an outstanding player in Kenneth Simon, the second, of course,
the son of Kevin Simon, former ball standout.
So that's a nice team for Alabama.
And we know at the end of this month, the recruiting will really crank up as the summer
official visits start.
So a lot going on around the Crimson Tide, no doubt.
You know, you bring up a good point before we delve a little bit deeper into the recruiting,
which is always topic du jour.
But the thing about it is, this is kind of a slow time of the year for a relatively small
community like Tuscaloosa.
But you've got a possibility, you've got people coming in on softball, possibly next week with
baseball.
You know, the winner already is the city of Tuscaloosa.
They've got a back-to-back potential big paychecks at a time of the year that's not football.
Yeah.
I mean, certainly anytime you can bring that kind of economy into your city, you'll bring
in certainly the Bama fans and then the opposing team fans.
And it certainly helps the economy, the restaurants, the hotels, and everything else.
And they just had graduation as well.
That's another way to kind of generate it.
And of course, none of us is going to top Morgan Wallen.
That was probably $5 million.
But certainly that was a huge success.
And I'm sure in the future, there are going to be more events held at Bryant-Denny Stadium
with how well that went off.
But yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I think it would be big and, you know, who knows if Alabama can win impressively
and play well against Ole Miss with their RPI and their schedule strength.
And if they can win a game or two in Hoover, maybe they're even a top eight national team
because their metrics are really close to what Auburn's are.
We know Auburn got beat by a really good Jack State team last night and got swept by them.
And Alabama actually swept Jack State.
But they did have the midweek losses to UAB, Detroit, and South Alabama.
So it kind of all evens out.
But I do think Alabama definitely is, you know, in position to earn a host spot
and maybe even a top eight national team.
And they haven't hosted a Super since 2006 when they lost two games to none
and got walked off by a really, really good and under-seeded North Carolina team.
D2, 16-11 in the SEC, this Alabama baseball team, maybe the most consistent position has been starting pitcher.
Tyler Faye, of course, had the no-hitter against Florida, pitched really well against South Carolina.
Zane Adams, Miles Upchurch, the freshman.
Eric Hines has hit some timely home runs.
Bryce Fowler, Liam, as you mentioned, they got an RPI 5.
Justin LeBron got clotheslined literally at first base against South Carolina.
Brady Neal a little nicked up.
How healthy is Bama going into the Ole Miss series?
Well, I mean, hopefully, you know, I haven't heard how practice has gone as far as availability.
You would think that after being held out for the majority of the series against South Carolina,
both LeBron and Brady Neal, that they would be ready to go after entering concussion protocol.
And the best thing about that South Carolina series, besides the fact they got really good starting pitching again,
was that, you know, the depth showed up and some guys stepped up.
Yeah.
Joe Williamson, who hadn't played a lot and has been hurt quite a bit his first few years.
The Hartzell alum, you know, he stepped up, got a big three-run homer on Saturday.
Certainly, that was a huge part of that comeback from down 4-1 to winning 9-6.
And then once, you know, Brady Neal goes out, and Brady's been, you know, arguably Alabama's best all-around player.
He's done a great job catching.
And, you know, in right field, and he's really had a renaissance this year behind the plate.
He should be a high draft pick.
But certainly, team captain Will Flattner stepped up, had three hits on Saturday.
So, they have some confidence that they can replace those guys.
But certainly, with Mike Bianco, the Hall of Fame coach and former national champion in 2021,
you'd really like to, you know, be able to, you know, have everybody available.
And so, I think more than likely that will happen, you know.
And this is a team, an Alabama team, you pointed it out, Brett.
I mean, I think the starting pitching has been their most consistent aspect of the whole squad.
The bullpen, at least lately, the back end has been really good with Matthew Highberger early and Hagan Banks.
You know, and Sam Mitchell's had a pretty good year from Bob Jones High School.
But, really, the weakness has been defensively.
But I thought they played, until Sunday, I thought they played clean baseball.
But that's how a 7-1 lead evaporated.
They nearly lost the Sunday game.
If they can play clean defense against Ole Miss, keep the ball in the yard,
because the Rebels have 92 home runs,
then I think Alabama's got a chance to win two out of three,
because I think their pitchers can get deep, certainly, in each game.
And then, you made a great point with the Bama's big hurt, big Eric Kynes.
Yeah.
He has certainly changed that lineup with what he's done,
with the at-bats late in the season, and his ability to stay in the lineup.
And then, you know, Justin LeBron, hopefully,
it looks like with that three-run homer, he might have a big weekend.
Hopefully, he will have one against Ole Miss.
They certainly need it.
And if they can win two out of three, I think it would be immense for Rob Vaughn and Kroon.
Because, you know, a show of improvement in year three would be hosting a regional,
which they missed out probably by about one game last year.
So, hopefully, they can host and have a chance to get to a super.
Because I think, you know, with their starting pitching
and with the offense starting to kind of round into form,
John Lim has been hot.
He's up to nine home runs.
I think his best spot for the Tide is CH-ing.
The two best catchers on the team, to me, are Brady Neal.
I think that's when Alabama's at their best, when Brady can be behind the plate.
And then, if not him, then Will Plattner.
But, certainly, Alabama needs those guys back.
And I think they've got a lineup that's getting better.
And in baseball, it's kind of the hot team.
It's like, are you getting hot?
Alabama has two straight SEC sweeps.
They're going for a third straight weekend series win.
And don't misunderstand anything.
Another boon on their resume should be, if Auburn wins this series against the Georgia Bulldogs,
it'll only be the second series Georgia's lost.
Auburn would have won seven in a row.
But they got swept by Alabama.
So, their records are very similar.
But Alabama's resume should be as strong as any coming out of the SEC if they can win this weekend.
Quickly, Drew, if you will.
Drew Jarman, 97.7 FM, the zone.
How do you see the respective seedings with, I know it's all going to pin this weekend,
but right now, what does your gut tell you about Bama and Auburn, the SEC tourney?
Well, I think if Alabama can win this series two out of three, they're going to get a double bye.
They'll be, they'll have the tiebreaker over Auburn.
You know, they would be, unless Auburn sweeps Georgia, but they would be, you know, 18 and 12 if they win two out of three, certainly.
And then that would give them a crucial double bye, because as you all know, in Hoover now, it's one and done.
There's no double elimination.
So, getting a double bye would be huge.
You could set your starting pitching up like a regular weekend.
So, that would be huge.
I think I like Alabama's chances against Ole Miss.
Ole Miss is throwing the baseball better.
They're pitching a little bit better.
And they certainly beat a really good Texas A&M team this weekend two out of three.
But, I think Alabama has much better starting pitching than Texas A&M.
But, I will say, it's been one of the craziest, most top seed turbies, excuse me, years in the SEC in baseball.
So, you don't ever take anything for granted.
But, I do think Alabama, I think they can get a top four seed.
Auburn is not out of the question, because there's a big log jam.
But, if you had to ask me, I would say Auburn probably gets, you know, a bye to certainly into day two.
And Alabama may get that two-day bye if they can just win two out of three for the Rebels who are coming over from Oxford.
Absolutely.
And, D2, baseball, high school, as far as the semifinals, going to be tomorrow.
Hazel Green, who surprised a lot of people, beating Homewood versus Hartzell.
Brad Phillips has got that team there nearly every year.
Central Florence at Westbrook Christian, that's going to be today, doubleheader at 430.
And then, Morris Hill did a tremendous job of beating Red Bay to advance to the championship series.
Man, a lot of stuff going on.
D2, where can we get online and get you and Scott every morning with an expanded show?
Yeah, we're looking forward to actually talking to both those coaches.
Andrew Dennis doing remarkable things in his first year at Hazel Green.
He's joined us throughout their playoff run, and we'll catch up with Brad Phillips as well tomorrow.
Hartzell Tigers, he's in his second year replacing the great William Booth.
Won a state championship last year, trying to repeat.
And so, that should be a great series over there at Hartzell.
But we certainly are having a talking ball each and every Monday through Friday from 7 to 10 a.m.
We had a chance to talk to your good friend Bill Shanks yesterday and talk some Braves and Bobby Cox and Ted Turner.
And, of course, their impact on the Braves, which is just immeasurable.
Certainly, if you want to catch us, you can catch us at 977ESPN.com, or you can tune in live.
And then, if you miss any of our content, you can certainly find it on our SoundCloud page, 97.7 The Zone ESPN, 97.7 The Zone.
And, of course, you can follow us on X at 977ESPN.
Busy, busy boy, Drew.
Listen, man, keep it up, and thank you so much for your time today.
Yes, sir.
Thank you all.
Thank you, buddy.
Drew Jarman, 97.7 FM The Zone.
BB, the Braves ready to head back to the office tonight to take on the Cubs.
The battle of the two first-place teams in the East and the Central, the Braves, will start tonight.
Nine full games up on the Phils and the Nationals, and the young gun is taking the mound by the name of Mr. Ritchie.
Listen, Bill Shanks loves him.
Harold, I really thought when the Braves won the series against the Dodgers, they may take off from here.
One last night, five to two.
And, again, we'll see.
The Cubs are a very good team, as you mentioned, but the Braves are playing well right now.
And I think you're playing on a lot of emotion by the name of Bobby Cox and Ted Turner.
Hear that game, if you will, or see that game on the radio tonight later on here on 93.9 The Score.
It's going to take care of business for now.
On behalf of BB, Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here, Harold Buck, thank you so much for your time today.
Let's do it again tomorrow, noon to two, for the Bumal Buck Show, back here on Sports Radio, 93.9 The Score.
We'll be right back.