Boomo Bugg Show 061026
93.9 The Score WYTK - June 10, 2026
https://www.939thescore.com/boomo-bugg-show-061026/

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.
Your exclusive inside track to the tie, Tigers, Tennessee, and the rest of the SEC.
Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9, The Sports.
Good afternoon and welcome here to the Boomo Bugg Show.
I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird.
Thank you so much for giving us a free ride around the Tennessee Valley.
Brett Beaird, welcome in where?
Less than 100 days to go and the first big power rankings coming up on the SEC.
Gridirons, where do the Tide, Tigers, Tennessee, and the rest of the SEC stack up?
Stay tuned.
Welcome in. How are you?
Happy Wednesday to you and the listeners.
Big night in Auburn last night.
88,000 in attendance to see Lionel Messi score a goal as Argentina beats Iceland 3-0.
Sean Callahan, publisher of HuskersOnline.com, will join us a little bit later to preview Big Red for the 2026 season.
But Craig is here right now to talk about one of the Cinderella's.
Yes.
He ends college baseball, the Troy Trojans.
Well, like Carly Simon said back in the day in song, nobody does it better when it comes talking to the Trojans from Troy.
Craig, Craig Stevenson, got it covered there at AL.com.
Craig, welcome in.
How are you?
Doing well, guys.
Thanks for having me.
Hey, bud.
Man, I appreciate it.
Were you one of those 88,000 last night with your pom-poms trying to explain the game of soccer to the guy next to you?
No, I watched.
You know, I had it on.
I did not go, though.
Excuse me.
We had people there from our company, but, you know, the general fan ticket was a little pricey for my blood.
But it was a great event, man.
Real spectacle.
Awesome event to see that happening in our state.
And, you know, arguably the greatest Messi, arguably the greatest soccer player of all time, scored a goal.
So that was cool.
That's incredible.
Craig, something else that's incredible, and that's the quality of college baseball in the state of Alabama.
We were talking earlier.
Everybody likes to brag about California being this big old state and others.
And here's Alabama.
A chance for three.
But like Meat Loaf says, two out of three ain't bad.
Alabama and the Cinderella, Troy Trojans.
Craig, you know them better than any of us.
Talk to us about the journey of the Troy Trojans right now.
One of eight teams still standing.
Yeah, it's pretty incredible.
You know, we've talked a lot in the past about maybe this is the golden age of college basketball in the state of Alabama.
Might be college baseball, too.
Yeah.
One of these teams makes a real run in Omaha.
We've never had a national champion from our state in baseball, but it would be very cool.
Troy, yeah.
You know, they have been steadily kind of building it.
Obviously, they have had a great year across the board.
You know, the football team played for the Sunbelt Championship and went to a bowl game.
The basketball team went to the NCAA tournament.
And now the baseball team.
And I don't want to say they came out of nowhere, but it was really kind of unexpected because about, I don't know, 1st of May, they had a losing record.
You know, just because they had played such a brutal schedule.
You know, they played Alabama twice.
They played Georgia twice.
They played a three-game series versus Maryland.
They played East Carolina, which is always the tournament team.
You know, and I think they ended up playing eight conference champions during the schedule, including the Sunbelt Champion Southern Miss, and beat some of them, obviously.
They split with Georgia, split with Alabama, beat Southern Miss once in the Sunbelt tournament.
And it has really been an incredible run for Sky Lameed and that team.
The thing about this team is they can really, really hit the ball.
Jimmy Janicki, Sunbelt player of the year, probably will be a first-round pick in the 2027 draft.
They have several other guys that are, you know, kind of JUCO transfers.
Blake Cavill, an Australian first baseman, has apparently Googled best junior college baseball programs and wound up at Northwest Florida.
And that's where Troy found him and Jay Borat, who was the junior college player of the year in the state.
They call him Jay Bruce.
He had four home runs in the regional in Gainesville.
And then he hit a grand slam in the first game in Little Rock.
I mean, so they can really hit.
They've got guys that throw hard but aren't necessarily polished, I guess you could say, on the mound.
So if they can get enough from the pitching staff and the way they hit the ball, they got a shot.
You know, they've been really hot lately.
I think they've won 17 of their last 22 or something like that.
And so they've gotten hot at the right time.
And Skylar Meade, if people don't already know about him, he's a rising star in the profession.
I would not be surprised if an ACC or SEC team makes a real run at him in the near future.
Yeah, Craig, they caught my attention when they went 4-4 against SEC teams.
And they went to that Gainesville Regional and just whipped Florida.
So, yeah, 16 to 11 and 10 and 2.
And I'm like you.
I think they're one of the most underrated teams.
It's been rather – I know you had – he's nicknamed Jave Ruth.
Talk a little bit more about Baroff.
He is really quite a story.
Yeah, he was a great player at Macon East, which is an academy, so he played in the AISA.
And hurt his elbow his senior year of high school catcher.
Hurt his elbow, so he couldn't throw, so that maybe turned off some teams.
He went to Enterprise State.
Had a really good year as a freshman, but his sophomore year just turned it on.
Hit 20 home runs, I think, in 52 games.
Wow.
Which the entire team at Enterprise State hit 30, and he hit 20 of them.
He had a doubleheader where I think he hit three – he hit four home runs in a doubleheader.
The next time they played that team, they intensely walked him nine times.
But anyway, he got to Troy.
Like I said, they had Jimmy Jan, a key catcher, so he didn't really have a role,
and he kind of had sporadic playing time and, you know, kind of got down on himself a little bit.
But once he got to the Sunbelt tournament, they put him at DH, and he has really come on.
Obviously, he had a pretty good Sunbelt tournament, and then in the regional, and just went off.
You know, four home runs, 12 RBIs in five games.
Then he had the Grand Slam in the Super Regional in game one.
Didn't do much in the second game, but they didn't really need it.
But yeah, against Florida, man, you know, that first time they played – well, they lost their first game to Miami.
Yeah.
But then they come back through, and they beat Ryder, which was the four seed, and knocked them out.
They beat Miami the second time they played.
Mm-hmm.
And then they beat Florida twice, as you said.
In that first game, you know, it was 16-11, but it was 16-5 at one time.
Yeah, it was.
The Troy bullpen, you know, is shaky sometimes.
But they dominated.
They really did.
It wasn't a police thing at all.
You know, they did, you know, possibly get a favorable draw in the Super Regional because Southern Miss and Jack State
and some of the better teams in that regional lost.
But, you know, you can only play the teams they put in front of you, and they've handled it.
Everybody's got the same chance.
Craig Stevenson, busy at AL.com.
Craig, talk to us about the program because a lot of folks listening now, they remember it when it was Troy State,
and they played Jack State, and they played UNA.
Talk to us about how they put this program together over the years because they are – look at it.
You better not take these guys for granted.
Ask Nebraska and some other programs out there.
Yeah, they – you know, as you mentioned, they were a D2 power.
They won back-to-back national championships in 86 and 87 when the legendary Chase Riddle was the head coach.
And they – you know, but we're not – you know, for the longest time, we're just kind of okay.
You know, once they got into the Division I level, they were just kind of okay.
But the previous athletic director, Brent Jones, who is now at Georgia Tech, just – he deserves a lot of credit for just making some incredible hires.
You know, he hired John Summerall in football.
He hired Scott Cross in basketball, Georgia Tech, with him.
He hired Skylar Meade.
Skylar Meade was the pitching coach at South Carolina, which, you know, traditionally has been a very good program.
They weren't so good this year.
But – and he saw something in Skylar Meade.
Brent Jones is a baseball guy.
I think he played baseball at Georgia Southern.
And so he knew – he spotted what it took.
And in baseball, you know, the transfer portal is definitely a thing.
But NIL is not such a thing that you can't compete.
If you do a really good job of scouring the junior colleges, which they've done, and you can get a really good crop of junior college guys, which they have done, it can turn your program around quickly.
But they've also, you know, got some diamonds in the rough.
Jimmy Janicki is from suburban Chicago.
They somehow were able to recruit him and get him down here, and he's one of the best players in the country.
They've got a couple of transfers that were, you know, okay players at the big conference level and brought him down.
You know, I always mess up his name, Josh Pine, the third baseman I think was at Indiana previously.
And like I said, he was an okay player in the Big Ten, but he came down here and has been one of the better players in the Sun Belt.
So, you know, they've done a great job of roster building.
I do think Skylar Meade, like I said, is an up-and-coming great young coach.
And I think he's just now – he played in the College World Series not even 20 years ago, so I think he's just now 40.
But anyway, so they've done it the – you know, they've done it the way you have to do it, and they've caught lightning in the bottle this year.
Craig, your thoughts on the SEC Invitational at Omaha, record five teams.
And how far has this Alabama baseball program come since Brad Bohannon was there and got fired for betting on his own team?
Boy, that seems to be relevant.
Yeah, that's a – that's relevant this week, isn't it?
Can he get an –
I was going to say, if he had been the head coach of Texas SEC, he might still be there.
Oh, Lord.
Your thoughts, bud.
Yeah.
Rob Vaughn has done an excellent job.
He's another one that was identified as an up-and-coming.
He was at Maryland, and they had been kind of irrelevant for a long time, and he got them going and got the job at Alabama.
And, you know, they had made – the last couple of hires had not been so great, including Bohannon and the guy before him, I think, only lasted one year.
But they've gotten it together, put together some great talent, Justin LeBron, Reese Spines, among others, or, you know, future pros.
As far as how far they can go in Omaha, it's hard to say.
You know, they're in a real – they're in the hard side of the bracket, you know, because you've got Texas and Georgia over there.
So, if they can get out of the first weekend, it's going to be an accomplishment.
I don't expect them to go 0-2, but I wouldn't be surprised if they go 1-2, and that's no shot at them.
That's just – Georgia and Texas are that good.
They face Oklahoma in the first round, so I think they've got a good shot to win that one.
But it's going to be tough coming out of that four-team pod.
The other side, you've got Troy, West Virginia, North Carolina.
Yeah, Ole Miss.
Ole Miss, yeah, which is a good team, but not one of the powerhouses.
So, I think North Carolina is probably the best team on that side.
But, yeah, you know, it's great for Alabama to get to Omaha for the first time in 27 years.
I just don't know if this is a championship team.
You know, stranger things have happened.
I just do think that Texas and Georgia are so good, it's going to be hard to beat them.
Alabama better show up with a defense without the Swiss cheese effect.
You mentioned something earlier.
I was going to – you don't mind, Craig, to follow up with you.
You mentioned Troy with a young man from down under Australia.
Alabama has an Australian.
How good are those Vegemite sandwiches down there?
You don't – you normally – you remember when ESPN started, they had no programming,
and they had Australian rules football.
That was about the only thing that they had.
And now, look at these baseball players coming out from the land down under.
Yeah, baseball is a little – it's a very niche sport in Australia,
but there is a bit of a baseball community down there.
Obviously, it's not as big as rugby and, you know, Australian rules football and cricket
and some of the other sports they play down there.
But baseball is a thing there.
You guys may remember the – I believe it was the 83 Alabama College World Series team,
Craig Shipley.
Yep.
Yeah, that's right.
And, you know, so, again, they don't produce a ton of Australians, but, you know,
if you look at Major League Baseball, I would guess there's probably 10 or 12 Australians
playing in the game right now.
And, you know, you go – there are players everywhere if you look hard enough.
I guess that's the lesson.
Yeah, I saw a 30-for-30 again for that.
Alabama, Texas, they played twice that year.
Texas won each game by one run.
That's some incredible talent.
Listen, before we let you go, there has been such an incredible pushback on this Swordsby
being granted temporary injunction.
Craig, your thoughts on that.
Yeah, I think it's a travesty that he's allowed to play.
I mean, it's the one rule that you know you cannot break in sports.
And, you know, maybe the gambling addiction is real and, you know, the treatment,
obviously that's what you want to do.
But I don't think it is – you go for treatment for 30 days and you're automatically cured.
That seems silly to me.
I don't believe that's the case.
I do think he needs to be permanently ineligible.
And, obviously, the reason that he doesn't want to be is for money.
You know, he's making $4 million.
Yeah, what a coincidence.
If this is going to – if there is going to be legit pushback for this, though,
it's going to have to come at the conference level because, obviously, the courts –
you're going to be able to find a friendly court someday, somewhere.
But the Big 12, like every other conference, has rules in place
that said, look, if you do something to bring this credit to the level,
the integrity of competition, then we can sanction you.
And if enough of the other ADs and presidents in the Big 12 decide that's what they want to do,
then they probably will.
You know, I guess it sounds like there's momentum for that.
I don't know how far they'll go with it.
But, you know, I think they should pursue every avenue they can.
Before we jump off, one other thing, too.
You mentioned Jon Sumrall.
Obviously, he is from our neck of the woods.
He's got roots to North Alabama.
You know him for his days there at Troy.
How do you think he's going to do in the SEC at Florida?
Yeah, it's a tough place, obviously.
The SEC is tough.
I will say this.
I love Jon Sumrall.
He's my head coach in college football.
He and I, I probably have the best relationship with him as anybody.
And I'm a big believer in him.
He's been a head coach in college football for four years
and has played for his conference championship four times.
So you can't really argue with that.
I think that the idea that you can, you know,
you can rebuild your roster on the fly through the portal now
is going to really help to turn things around there.
One thing that has been in question, I guess, about Sumrall
is that his offensive style maybe is not the most innovative.
You know, he's a defensive guy.
But bringing Buster Faulkner down from Georgia Tech,
I think it was a great move.
And I don't know if they're going to immediately be a contender in year one.
But I would not be surprised in the next couple of years
if he's really got him going there.
I, you know, selfishly, I wanted him to get the Auburn job
because I wanted him in our state.
But, you know, when Florida comes calling, it's kind of hard to turn down.
Yeah, absolutely.
Listen, I always enjoy the conversation.
Great stuff.
As you know, we really enjoy talking with your staff from time to time.
Where can we get online to get yours and the team's?
Yeah, al.com slash sports.
Best way to find it.
If you want to find the Troy coverage, it's al.com slash Troy.
I'm not going to Omaha, but we have two guys there,
so we'll be covering them all week.
Sounds great.
Listen, Craig, as always, good to hook up with you.
All the back to Troy.
Let's do it again soon.
Thank you, Boone.
Okay?
All right.
Go soon.
All right.
There you have it.
The one, the only, talking Troy Trojans.
Craig Stevenson hooking up with us from al.com.
Coming up, those power rankings are in.
And it's a little bit of the slate of dates in Omaha.
Omaha, we'll have that and more.
It's right ahead.
Stay with us.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back again, Brett Beaird.
I'm so proud you asked.
By the way, the answer is 80 days in the first weekend of college football.
87 to the first big one.
But is it ever too early to get to those SEC football power rankings?
Never.
Never.
This is from On3.com.
A little bit of a quiz here before we get to the top box of the list.
This is On3 now.
Who's going to be the worst team in the SEC this season, Brett Beaird?
I would guess they probably said either Arkansas or Mississippi State.
Well, you're smart.
The Razorbacks are in the cellar.
Kentucky's 15.
Mississippi State, by the way, is 14.
We'll talk about the other 13 here in a second.
Here's how they run it down.
See if you agree or disagree.
Texas.
The eyes of Texas are on the Longhorns at number one.
Steve Sarkees is in better win with that payroll and that quarterback they got out there.
Kirby Smart is number two, BBS.
Bill Shanks, is he agreeing with the Dawgs being in the bridesmaid spot?
Well, again, with that quarterback out there by the name of Manning, Harold,
I knew Texas was going to be number one.
They've spent a ton, certainly, on NIL.
I think their offensive line is going to be better.
Georgia's going to be a very good team.
They're in the top five, most of them.
But, yeah, Harold, going into this year, I can see where most polls have got Texas
is number one.
And 87 days away, I'd rather be number two as opposed to number one.
A lot of pressure at number one.
Did Lane Kiffin leave Ole Miss too early?
They're number three, Brett Beaird.
The Rebs are number three.
Oklahoma's four.
Texas A&M, the other team with deep pockets, they are number five.
And the fighting Lane Kiffin's Brett Beaird are at number six ahead of the Alabama Crimson Tides.
They're basically in the middle of the pack.
Can you imagine a few years back saying Alabama is in the middle of the pack right now?
Well, I've said this for months.
The reason Alabama, Harold, is anywhere from 10 to 15 and is closer to 15 in a lot of the way too early polls,
they don't have a veteran quarterback.
If Ty Simpson would have come back, Alabama would have probably been third in the SEC and eight or ninth in the majority of the national polls.
Now, I think this is a better team overall.
I think they've got a better coaching staff.
But returning seniors, returning production.
But, again, a lot of these polls, the guys that put them together, can't get past an experienced quarterback.
I think that's why they're there.
Just behind Alabama, literally at the middle of the pack, the Tennessee Big Orange Vols at number eight.
But the question is, will Big Orange fans be happy after all these years at the ham with Josh Heupel finishing, again, in the middle of the pack,
ahead of the aforementioned John Somerl Gators in Florida.
Florida's number nine BB coming in.
Somerl needs a year or two.
I can see why they're about mid-road because, again, no one knows what he's going to do.
But, Craig, Stevenson had a great point.
He's played four years in college football, and he's played for the conference championship four consecutive times.
And it goes both ways.
A new coach, sometimes they say, well, blah, blah, blah, but they don't have a lot of tape on him at the SEC level with this degree.
So, it's going to be interesting to see how that works.
By the way, South Carolina rounds out the top ten just ahead of Mizzou at number 11.
Here's what's interesting, BB.
We talked about the bottom three, so now we only have two slots left, 12 and 13.
Vanderbilt is ahead of Auburn.
Commodores are 12.
Auburn is 13.
Do you agree with that?
It's because Clark Lee's been there now going on three years.
And, Harold, I'll be honest with you.
Jared Curtis, the five-star quarterback.
Yeah.
You know, we've got to see what he can do.
But, again, we talked to Barton Simmons, their general manager, who's been a friend of ours for about 15 years.
They have done a very good job of constructing this roster.
Harold, the line of scrimmage is where Vandy, I think, has got it over Auburn.
And, again, I think Auburn, they won't have a good year.
They're going to have a winning season.
Byron Brown, again, they already know their identity, Harold.
They're going to run the friggin' ball, as Alex Gould had said in the preseason.
What kind of ball are they going to run, Brent?
Yeah.
A friggin' ball.
That's not baseball.
We promised you the slate of dates.
It's, what's today?
Wednesday.
Give it up, baby.
What's the menu Friday and Saturday from Omaha?
Yeah.
It's Troy, the Troy bracket.
In fact, they literally are the first game of the tournament.
One o'clock on ESPN.
Troy versus West Virginia.
The night camp, North Carolina versus Ole Miss.
That's at six on ESPN.
And then the SEC invitation begins on Saturday.
Alabama, Oklahoma at two o'clock on ESPN.
Georgia, Texas at seven.
And that is going to be a tough bracket for Alabama to come out of.
Again, Georgia with 173 home runs.
I saw it today.
West Virginia's got 55.
Wow.
What a discrepancy.
That's almost like twice.
I'm bad at math.
You know who's crying right now would be ESPN.
They don't like this because it's too intensive for the SEC.
They're probably going to have as many folks in New York watching the World Series as they do in Gurley, Alabama, watching the NBA Finals.
But Alabama, in case you missed it, a mere 6% chance to win.
Where are you with that number, BB?
It's certainly it's low.
And, Harold, again, I can see why Georgia, Texas, and North Carolina are the three favorites.
I think Alabama's got a very good chance because they've got a very solid rotation.
They're hitting the ball better.
Again, if they can play defense, you don't need six errors like they did two weeks ago in a game.
But I think Alabama's going to surprise some people in the tournament.
Stay tuned.
Again, that is Saturday at 2 o'clock.
And guess what?
You have to go to Omaha.
You can catch it right here on 93.9 to score.
But first, speaking of Alabama, we'll just take you to Tuscaloosa.
Next with Rodney, you're on the Boom O'Buck Show.
Stay with us.
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Welcome back in.
It is always a pleasure for us to take a little road trip down to a place called Tuscaloosa and say hello to Rodney Orr.
He's the founder and editor of tighterinsider.com.
His book is called Bigger Than Bama.
Rodney, welcome in.
How are you?
Hey, dear Harold and Brent.
How are you guys today?
And we're doing all right.
Do a little reminiscing here.
Going back a ways.
1999 was a good year for Prince.
It was a good year for Alabama baseball.
They were on their way to Omaha.
And a good year for Mike DuBose.
Bad year for Steve Spurrier.
He threw his visor and cussed a little.
Alabama got it done in football that year.
Beating them in the SEC championship game.
But Rodney, Alabama's last trip to Omaha, also in 1999, it's been a while.
It has been a while.
No, but listen, I tell you what, with that said, what a job Rob Vaughn has done.
I mean, incredible, incredible.
You know, a year ago this time, there were some people saying, well, we've been to the regional twice.
We haven't won a regional game yet or whatever.
We haven't won a regional.
And, you know, already questioning him, and certainly I think when this year started, the SEC play,
and they lost, they were swept by at Kentucky.
Yeah.
You know, the question started again.
And then, of course, there were some ups and downs throughout the course of the season.
They finished really strong.
And I just think the way he managed this team has been pretty phenomenal.
Rodney, I'll tell you one thing.
When you look at the year for Alabama sports, and again, believe me,
I know how your board reacts to 11-4 in the ups and downs for football,
but a sweet 16 in men's basketball.
The girls had a pretty good season in basketball.
World Series, literally, the softball team won a game away from a national championship series.
What the baseball team has done, even the soccer team, the facilities are improving.
This new practice training facility that Nate Oates has built for the basketball program,
both men's and women's, state-of-the-art, it has been an incredible year for Alabama athletics.
Oh, I think certainly it's been a great year all around.
And I do agree with what you said in terms of the 11-4 season, which is a good season.
They showed progress a step in football, you know, from the year before.
You know, there's obviously still a lot of question marks.
I think two of the last three games blowout that I think have people concerned.
And I only say that to say that that generally is going to overshadow a lot of the other stuff, as you know.
But I do think that people are really excited about softball and baseball for the first time in a while.
I mean, both of them together.
And there was a group, listen, we talked about Rob Vaughn, but what about the job Patrick Murphy's done?
Because even though he maintained a pretty high level of winning success, there were people that were saying,
oh, he's pretty much stubborn, won't change his philosophy, these types of things.
And then all of a sudden, you know, he's got a little more pop in the lineup.
And like you said, they're just probably catching a ball in left field away from, you know,
potentially being in the championship series.
But all that said and done, yes, it's been a phenomenal year.
And, you know, certainly I think you have to give credit to Greg Byrne.
For more reasons than one, Rodney, before we get into the obvious of football, to that point,
because Alabama's on record basically saying we're not going to get into a bidding war.
We're not Texas Tech. We're not Texas, not Texas A&M.
If you want to go there and cash your checks and all the best to you, we want you here.
But we're going to try to use it with common sense and squeeze as much as we can out of the dollar.
To me, two things on that.
Number one, for Greg Byrne, being able to identify talent in the rough like Nate Oates from that powerhouse,
Buffalo, Rob Vaughn from, are you kidding me, Maryland?
This is the SEC. Come on, man.
To be able to have that evaluation of power he's got.
And then to take the money that they do have, football, I'm sure it's got a nice budget,
but to keep a guy like Patrick Murphy, to arrange a roster within those boundaries and those realities
compared to a Texas Tech, to me, that makes it even more amazing.
Oh, yeah.
I mean, he's done a fantastic job, you know, overall, identifying coaches.
You know, as far as the NIL is concerned, and you're right, I think Alabama obviously takes a different approach.
And there are other schools that take a similar approach to Alabama.
And then there's those that, like you said, they buy everybody in sight.
I mean, Texas Tech just seems like the one that's the most rogue right now.
You know, obviously you saw the Sorsby situation.
It's not NIL, but, I mean, it's just crazy, you know, that they would, you know, and again,
I wish the kid the best, but defend what has happened is pretty amazing to me.
So, yeah, I mean, there's a lot of crazy things going on, which really, Harold, to me,
and Brett, kind of leads me back to one thing.
When are we ever going to get back to normal?
Yeah.
I can answer that, Rodney.
Give me a hard one.
Never.
Yeah.
And I think you're right.
I think you're right.
And I don't know how long it can continue going in the direction it's going.
Because it keeps going one step further and one step further.
And I think Nick Saban was right.
Eventually, what are we going to have?
Well, the answer to that part of this, Rodney, it's a dream to see the reality.
Somebody's going to have to grow one, grow some, and say to the lawyers, bring it on.
If you want to fight, draw the line in the sand, let's go for it.
Until they do that, the lawyers and the others are going to keep pushing, pushing, pushing,
because there's no – you can take the ocean and take a small Dixie cup,
and you can pour every drop of the water in the ocean through that Dixie cup
if it has no bottom to it.
Yeah, and it's just – you know, it's just crazy right now.
And I think it's really hurt in some ways.
I watch baseball.
I see some enthusiasm, some energy.
I see it in softball.
But – and again, I think especially football seems to be losing some luster.
And I'm not – I'm not talking – I'm talking about just when you talk to fans.
I mean, college football used to have a special feel to it.
It was so much different than the NFL.
You know, and these kids, they just played with such passion and enthusiasm and pride
for the history and the tradition of the programs, you know, the top programs.
And it's just not there anymore.
It's just not there.
And it's really hurt.
And to that – you have the – and we said it again, the most interactive board in the entire world.
And we literally mean the world for you because you're nationwide and international-wide.
Your thoughts, because at one time recruiting was – it was 365 days a year,
unless it was a leap year and you could add one.
We're in – it's still a hot topic, but we're compared to is the fervor for recruiting now
because you've got a school of thought out there that's not going to get excited about high school kids.
We're going to save our money for approving guys.
We're not going to invest a million dollars in the kids sitting on the bench out of high school.
We're going to go get somebody we can plug and play today.
As a whole, where's the nation of tighter insiders just as far as the fervor for recruiting now?
Well, you know, you said hot topics still.
I don't think it is a hot topic, actually.
You know, maybe on some boards where you have younger fans out there, and I say younger,
I'm talking about, you know, 18 to 35 or whatever, that, you know, they really haven't experienced
probably like all of us have, you know.
I mean, what we've seen and experienced and what most of tighter insiders made up of,
you know, the demographic.
So I think that probably the 45 and up fan sees it a little bit different,
and I just don't think it's a very hot topic right now.
I think because of these guys, they, you know, listen, a coach, an SEC coach said this earlier
this week privately.
He said, listen, he said, you know, we think we're in great shape with this particular high
recruit, five-star recruit.
We think we're in great shape, but you know what?
Wait till the next offer comes in.
Yeah, that's right.
Wait till the next offer comes in.
Let's face it, Roddy, they're using you delivers to get more money from the next guy.
Well, they've got agents involved too.
So this is where it's really crazy is because the agents are, you know, they're looking to
make the most money, and they're encouraging these kids, hey, man, hold out for the top
dollar, you know.
And so that's really, and you know, look, they'll flip, they'll do whatever.
There's just no loyalty.
There's no, Saban said it.
It's all about money now, and people say, well, Saban's a hypocrite because he's made so much
money.
Well, I mean, it doesn't mean that you can't be successful and make money, but he's providing
some wisdom here with what's going on, you know, with this.
So, and I don't think people are going to listen.
Rodney, recruiting in Kalen DeBoer has admitted that they're probably, this is going to be a
much smaller class, maybe half of what they normally sign.
I know he's been putting money in roster, what I call roster retention, and they did a good
job last year as far as keeping a lot of these guys here and the year before, and then also
the transfer portal, but they have brought some guys in, and we've talked with you about
some of these guys, Ty Phillips, who did come in on Monday, the 5'11", 190-pound running
back, Fayetteville, North Carolina, transferred to South Carolina.
They also brought in a kicker, Luke Cody, who the Coles kicking is very high on, and also
Michael Nimbufi, and please help me with that pronunciation, from St. Francis Academy, 652-50.
Rodney, I'm impressed with him.
I've looked at some of the clips, and I know some folks on the board probably said, oh my
goodness, the kid flips from Syracuse.
He's probably not very good.
From what I saw with him, I was impressed.
Rodney, catch us up with who Bama's brought in this week.
Yeah, I think if you want to start with Ty Phillips, I mean, he's a very explosive running
back, dynamic, 4'3", 40.
I mean, people say that and say, well, he's probably, no, he's legit.
I mean, he could smoke.
Yeah, he is.
Not real big, but again, a guy that Alabama targeted early is one of their top guys, and
I think it's a big pickup, especially when you add him with Nigel Newkirk, the other running
back that's committed in this class.
Yeah, so it's a really good pickup.
He had 900 plus yards last year, but you have to remember his season was cut short by injury.
So he'll probably have a big year this year.
And then Luke Cody, you mentioned him, the place kicker from Lumberton, Texas.
And now, look, there's guys, I want to be clear on this, there's guys that they're going
to sign that are going to be NIL guys, meaning that they are going to have NIL attached to
their scholarship, you know, but then there's guys that I think will be just maybe scholarship
guys.
We saw that last year, but not everybody you sign is going to be an NIL, receive NIL or receive
a much NIL.
So I think Cody's probably a guy that fits into that non-NIL.
And I only say that because you're going to have to get, we're going to have to get used
to this, at least for now, that you're going to have, you might have 10 or 12 or 14 NIL
signees like Alabama's probably going to have.
And then you may have five or six guys that are just coming on scholarship because you got
105 now.
So that's kind of the way this thing's going.
So, yeah, but he is a really good kicker.
You kind of laid it out there.
He's ranked really highly by some of these kicking services.
And then the last one in Buffet, I guess that's the way to say it, from Baltimore, St.
Francis, it's a program that Alabama's had a pipeline to.
He's big, he's 6'5", he's probably 250 now, moves really well, but he's very powerful.
I think he's a guy that you look at him and say, okay, he's going to eventually be an
in-line tight end who's going to be a really, really good blocker because he's good at it
now.
I mean, he's powerful.
And I think he is athletic enough.
And I know somebody put out some numbers up from a quote-unquote pro day they had at St.
Francis Academy, where he attends school in Baltimore, and he ran a 4-6-1-40.
And if that's accurate, then that's really good for 6'6-2-50.
Yes, it is.
You know, ran a 1-7-3-10-yard, first 10 yards, which is really, really good for 250 pounds.
So, yes, I think he's an outstanding prospect.
I mean, look, I think the one thing, Brett and Harold, and I know they think they've got
a lot of guys coming back next year on the offensive line and probably the defensive line.
But I do think that you have to sign linemen every year.
You have to.
I agree entirely, Rodney.
Listen, they also, and a lot of people miss this, but speaking of St. Francis, a 28 linebacker,
Bush, B-O-O-S-H Henry, a linebacker from there.
And again, Jaira Edwards is another one, as you mentioned, it has just become a pipeline,
but, and a lot of people missed or overlooked, and believe me, a lot of things can change in
two years.
But they also got another linebacker for 2028 from St. Francis.
Yeah, you're talking about Bush Henry?
Yes, yes.
Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.
He came here and went through camp, and I think he's listed about 6'4", 205.
He was a 2029 kid.
He's classifying to 2028.
So, like you said, it's a long time off, but, I mean, obviously he impressed them at camp.
I mean, he's very athletic, you know, could play safety, could play linebacker.
He's got a great frame.
He's going to fill out.
He's very young, so you know he's going to get bigger.
So, yeah, he committed Bush Henry about, what, a week ago or so, and I think that, you
know, we'll see.
We'll see what happens on that, but it was, again, another big pickup from that school.
Rodney, Stale, Hayden Stale from Las Vegas, from Bishop Gorman, has really liked his visit.
I know, again, as we've talked about, Alabama does an incredible job of recruiting a lot of
these guys, and they've gotten into Bishop Gorman the last couple of years.
He's going to Oregon this weekend, and Oregon has lost two coveted prospects, and I hear they're
really going to put the squeeze on Stale when he visits Oregon this weekend.
Rodney, your thoughts on his pending visit?
Well, that's a concern, because, you know, Oregon's going to throw a lot at him, probably.
We are.
And I do think that Step is a guy that Alabama thinks they're in a really good position with.
And, again, I think it goes back to what I said earlier.
You know, you can think you're in a good position with somebody, and then a couple of weeks later,
they take a visit, and they get an NIL offer that's real appealing, and, you know, you lose them.
So, but he is an outstanding player.
I mean, he's really tall.
He's got great length, and like you said, nobody recruits a secondary better than Alabama, in my opinion.
And he's one of those guys, like Dijon Lee and Jordan Edmonds, just a long corner, you know.
So, we'll see what happens with Hayden Step, you know, with that visit to Oregon, because that could be the difference.
Absolutely.
Well, nobody does a better job of covering Alabama sports than Rodney Orr, the 24-7 message board,
just absolutely nonstop, TITV, coverage of baseball, softball, certainly recruiting.
Where can we get online and get it for a nominal price?
And I keep talking about these five stars on and off the field.
Now, this is vacation time, Rodney.
If you're on the beach looking at five stars, you need to also be reading your latest book, Bud.
Where can we get online and get it?
Yeah.
Well, I appreciate it, Harold.
I'm Brett.
Yeah, so tighterinsider.com, as you mentioned that, it's only $48 a year.
And then just go to tighterinsider.com, go to the membership page if you're interested in joining,
get immediate access with your credit card.
And also the book, Bigger Than Bama, it's at rodneyor.com, rodneyor.com.
Or you can go to amazon.com and just kind of plug in the name and you'll get all the details.
Rodney, I recommend if you watch those five stars on the beach with company, wear sunshades, okay?
I think my days are over doing that.
Oh, baby.
They're just beginning, Rodney.
They're just beginning.
Have a great weekend.
Thanks so much for your time today.
Okay, buddy.
Thank you, bud.
And you're having the one, the only, rodneyor, tighterinsider.com.
Coming up the next hour, the Hall of Famer taking his take on the situation across college football with Ron Higgins.
Nebraska says enough is enough.
And speaking of Nebraska, Alabama's heading that way.
We'll take you there just ahead with Sean Callahan and Drew DeArmond.
Straight ahead.
Stay with us.
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The U.S. House has passed the Secure America Act, which is a $70 billion funding package for two agencies within the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Alabama's Republican congressional delegates voted in favor of the bill.
It passed with a 214 to 212 vote.
U.S. Congressman Gary Palmer says this bill provides critical funding for the federal agencies that are restoring order at the border after years of a crisis under the Biden administration.
Congressman Dale Strong blamed Democrats for the months-long delay in passing this funding bill with necessary resources.
He says now that the bill is headed to the president's desk for signature, the Trump agenda to remove illegal aliens from the U.S. can continue forward.
Democrat Congresswoman Terry Sewell voted no on the funding, calling it a blank check for ICE.
I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this.
Some of the greatest blessings is just having the people that care about you, to have someone that's just going to love you and make you feel important.
They encourage you to be in church.
They encourage you to be in prayer.
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A Coffey County man has been sentenced to four decades in prison for charges of sexual abuse of a child and first-degree rape.
Sean Williamson was arrested in 2024 for the crimes that were committed against the daughter of his then-girlfriend.
Williamson pleaded guilty to those charges.
He has been behind bars without bond since his arrest.
And the Mobile Police Academy had a recent graduation ceremony, which is its 80th class of police cadets.
There were a total of 28 graduates that will be working for law enforcement in the area.
I'm Andrea Tice.
For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com.
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Sports Radio 93.9, The Score.
Boomo Bugg on 93.9, The Score.
Harold Bugg, some people jump out of planes for no reason whatsoever.
Listen, I saw a clip on this.
I would not have believed it.
All right.
Why anybody would jump out of a perfectly good airplane.
But our next guest literally did just that.
I can't wait for the details on that and more with AA Andrew Adelson, the chief at ESPN.
AA, welcome in.
How are you?
Well, I survived to tell the tale, fellas.
I did jump out of a perfectly good airplane.
Why?
It was not something I ever wanted to do.
Well, look, I lost our ACC Picks Challenge between me and David Hale.
If you lose, you have to do something.
Yeah, stupid.
And I didn't think I was going to lose.
I mean, I don't lose.
I'm not a loser.
And yet, I lost.
It was terrifying.
And I still cannot believe I did it.
But I did.
And I'm here.
Andrew Adelson, good luck.
And the word of the day is, Geronimo, look out below, okay?
All right, Geronimo!
Thank you.
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Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of northwest Alabama and southern Tennessee.
It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM sports voice.
The Boomo Bugg Show.
Your exclusive inside track to the Tide.
Tigers, Tennessee, and the rest of the SEC.
Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in our tour of the Boomo Bugg Show.
I'm Harold Bugg, alongside Brett Beaird.
Thank you so much for giving us a ride around the Tennessee Valley.
BB, in a crazy world, isn't it nice to see somebody who has his sense about him for a change?
Well, it is.
I can't think of anybody else, Harold, who could take what's going on in college football right now and explain it for an eighth grader to understand.
Wow.
Ron Higgins.
That's one of the reasons he's a Hall of Famer.
Now, columnist, report, Bo is your general.
Ron, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm good.
How are y'all doing, man?
Yeah, we're doing all right.
Ron, when are you going to put on a robe and straighten out college football?
Well, really, I'm thinking I'm going to rent myself out to the universities to get a payroll ruling, you know?
Wouldn't it be nice all those guys that have had an injunction every time we turned around and lied and says,
look, I'm only human.
I made a mistake.
How many injunctions would you have, Ron?
Oh, my God.
I mean, first of all, if I was a guy that Texas Tech that ruled the quarterback eligible, I'd say, listen, this is what I want.
I want a skybox for the season.
I want to lead the team on the field for the first game.
And I want to walk hand-in-hand with Brendan Thursby off the field after the first game.
That's what I want.
Ron, talk to us about this.
When you saw this, did you, like a lot of us, did a double-take and say, come on, man, we're all adjusting this thing called AIA.
Is this for real that this judge is doing this, or are you, look, it's a crazy world out there.
Where are you on this ruling?
Well, it's pretty evident.
Well, there's no rules.
There's no laws.
There's no boundaries.
Just lawyers.
Just lawyers.
And any time somebody tells you no, go get your lawyer and a friendly judge.
That's right.
You know, all these schools are like, you know, well, all we're doing is we're trying to play by the rules, whatever the rules are.
And if they can bend the h*** out of the rules, don't bend them.
And it's like, until you tell absolutely some ways to say, I can't do this, I'm not going to do it.
Like the Alabama kid last year in basketball.
Donnie said, you know, you can't do this.
Okay, well, he couldn't play.
You know, it's like LSU with Will Wade, you know, he's going to recruit all international players.
Only one of them is probably going to be ineligible.
But he talks to LSU AD, and he'll tell you, he'll tell you this.
He'll say, you know what, until they tell me that he can't be doing this and it's ineligible, well, then we're not going to, then we won't do it.
Until then, I'll deal with that when it comes.
And that's the way to look at it.
I'll deal with it when it comes.
Translated, Ron, that's why Nick Saban is out of the game.
He had the good sense and the foresight to see where this was going.
Nick is the ultimate control freak, but to his credit, his control was successful.
You can say what you want about the rules, but to me, that's, you know, as well as any of us, that's one of the reasons Nick said, to heck with this, I can't play with those rules.
And where does this land?
Because what you just said has teeth.
If it's my team, it's good.
If it's the other team I've got to play against, it's bad.
So where does this land when, as you mentioned, there are no guardrails right now?
This car is out of control and has no brakes.
Everybody's going to keep bending the rules until somebody comes up with a plan to stop all this stuff.
The first thing they need to do, even before the NIL stuff, is fix the transfer rule.
That would stop players from renegotiating contracts every year and have the opportunity to jump.
I mean, that would solve three-fourths of the problem.
Then you do.
Then you do.
But the transfer rule is the first problem.
If you can renegotiate and go somewhere every year, well, then you're going to have this anarchy of life.
I can't even imagine, you know, the h*** of a reason these guys, I'm going to say the NBA, want to go back to school and make money.
It's because the NBA has rules.
You know, you can't keep belches and team-to-team if you sign a contract unless you're trading.
The NBA has no way to, I mean, I'm going to place them where they have no rules.
I can just make as much money as I want every year somewhere.
And so I have to understand why they want to go back to college because they think, you know what, I can have two years left.
I can play a year at this place and then demand more money.
And they don't give to me.
I can go to this place to get more money before I even go to the program.
This is awesome.
Here's the problem, Ron.
Let's say that you bring in a kid and you pay him a million dollars.
One or two things that's going to happen in the common sense world.
Either he did not perform, which means you have to eat that million dollars, or the kid's good,
and now he's either going to renegotiate.
You're going to pay him at least two million, or Wild Bill Cody out west is going to pay him four million.
So you can't win no matter what.
I'm thinking Wild Bill Cody's a Texas Tech booster.
Yeah.
Okay, let's hand a guy with a gambling problem four million.
Yeah.
And then we'll give him some help playing quarterback.
And suspending two games against Louisiana Tech.
Yeah.
And some other nondescript teams.
I mean, really?
I mean, like, you'll get a guy four million who has a mini gambling problem.
Yeah.
You know, I guess you always hear that phrase, you know, I bet on myself.
Maybe he'll do that.
But he'll bet on himself this time.
It's become ridiculous.
And I think, you know, out of all the stuff, you know, make pros trying to, you know, play
in college or whatever.
This one caught everybody's attention because gambling has been outlawed in the NCAA forever.
Yeah.
I mean, how many scandals you've had in teams, you know, you know, the Alabama State thing
with the players throwing the games.
And honestly, that one really bought me a lot because when you got the son of a head coach
doing it.
Right.
And that head coach has been a longtime friend of mine since he's played days where I covered
when he played Memphis State basketball, Tony Madlock.
That one just absolutely killed me.
And I'm like, oh, my God, no.
Yeah.
And so everybody knows this is a rule.
It's emphasized every friggin' year at school.
There's signs all over your locker room and stuff, don't gamble, blah, blah, blah, you know.
And this guy just goes and does it.
And then all of a sudden he's going to claim that, you know, he has this sickness.
And, you know, I mean, and I'll get treatment and I'll sit out two games and I'll go to get
most anonymous, you know.
I mean, you know, every possible thing, you know, possible, you know.
I mean, I'll go to the casinos and I'll polish the dice for people.
You know, I mean, really.
It's ridiculous.
But until somebody comes up with a plan to take one step forward, and I think the step
forward, honestly, it's a transfer portal.
That's the problem.
That's the crux of a lot of renegotiation.
That's the crux of kids bouncing all over the place.
My rule would be you can transfer one time.
Right.
And then if you graduate and have a year left, like back in the day, like Joe Burr graduated
when he was after a couple years of holidays, but he had two left, don't you?
You've earned the right to graduate.
I mean, you've earned the right to transfer if you graduate.
I mean, you've earned that.
You've fulfilled your obligation academically.
So you've earned that right.
So the most you can transfer is two times, one, one school to do another, and the second
when you graduate.
Thank you.
Otherwise, you can't do this like seven years in seven schools thing, like the T.J.
Finley academic plan.
Ron, the defeat.
Late Barnab is another one.
T.J.
Finley would have put a great animal house.
Seven years of college down the drain.
I mean, it's just, it's incredible.
And this one, this one actually stopped college football because this one was always non-negotiable.
You gamble, you're done.
And, you know, you find a friendly judge and you, you know, and you get a ruling and you get
an injunction and he can play, you know.
And so my, my question is this, what happened in Texas Tech, because it hasn't been the usual
powder plus schedule.
So what happened during playoff contention?
Does a committee look at this thing and say, man, you know, they said, well, you know, the
judge rule them eligible.
And that's a rules.
I mean, we can't do this.
We're never, we're going to rule their entire team eligible and let them sue us.
So that'll be interesting if that happens and it goes that far.
Ron, I think the other thing that's going to dovetail into what you said about limit the
number of transfers, the division one council is voting, I believe this month on the five
years to play five.
I think that would help with this too.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
I mean, I mean, look, I mean, the transfer and the wretched rule is very, you know, it's
very lucid as it is.
You can play in four games and still have another year, you know, still have four years.
You can be, you can play four games as a freshman and still play four years.
And that's, that's much better than it was before.
I mean, you could hardly play anything before and you get, you know, you lose your red shirt.
Now, if you play in a fifth game, then you're, you lose your red shirt.
You get to play in four games and they gave them, I mean, that was done several years ago
and that was a great move.
You had guys that you want to get some freshman experience, but you didn't want to use their
eligibility.
And so that, that worked, but you know, now you got guys, you know, all kinds of, the,
the medical injuries are understandable.
If you have a, you know, if you tear something up and there's, you know, medical proof, right.
But this stuff like, you know, my, I had to take you off, you know, I mean, my grandmother
got sick and, and I was just, you know, I took care of her or whatever.
And when the guy, you know, didn't even come close to his grandmother the whole year, you
know, just the, the, the loopholes need to be tightened up all need to be tightened up and
where, you know, you can't do this, but I agree with you five years to play five, you'll
be great.
And then, and then just like I said, you can, then add, you can only transfer once until the
end of your career, if you have a year left and you've graduated, you've earned the right
to transfer if you want to.
Yeah.
I like that one excuse.
My girlfriend left me again.
So I was distraught.
So I need another year eligibility run.
Does this make Lane look sane?
Everybody was picking on Lane for being crazy.
Does this, does this give him a little bit in NASCAR terms, a pit stop from that?
Yeah.
I mean, I mean, Lane said this long time ago, he just laid out and like, he's just playing
by the rules.
He said, I'll go by players.
I'll go by players.
Tell me otherwise.
But he's playing by the rules.
And I find it interesting.
Like Congress gets involved.
They actually will like this.
We want to institute a Lane Schiffen rule that a coach can't leave a team before the end
of a year.
Are you kidding me?
I mean, you can take one example of one guy out of like a million who've done this.
And make an example of him.
Really?
And it's like, you know, again, he offered to coach the team.
They didn't want him.
So what do you do?
You go to your next school.
How can you leave this team?
Well, he left the team.
Okay.
He went to another school and it was his choice.
And he'd been there six years.
Doc, he showed up one year and he learned a lot from the Tennessee thing.
That's the one thing he regrets for like most of his whole career was jumping out after
one year at Tennessee.
That still kind of bothers him.
But this one doesn't bother him.
You know, he'd been there six years.
He built it up.
It's amazing.
It kind of, you know, the Lane Schiffen rule, you know, coaches can't do this.
How do you go and prevent that?
Do you go to pass a federal law?
It's like, that's what you're worried about in today's, you know, society where, you know,
you have crime and you have poverty and you have rising everything costs.
You're worried about a coach who's going to leave a year early.
That's what you're worried about?
Come on, man.
Do your job.
Ron, it makes too much sense, buddy.
You or Nick Saban need to be the commissioner of college football.
I always enjoy the conversation.
But where can we get online to get all your good articles?
You can go to treportbojournal.com, dronhiggins.org, on Twitter at Ron Higgins, and on Instagram
at SEC Ron.
And I'm serving as, in early August, in preseason, I'm serving as a roving judge going to SEC
schools, going to school to school, to get in junk in front of anybody who needs them.
Oh, man.
Ron, as always, good to hook up with you.
Look out.
Here comes the judge.
Stay safe.
As safe as you can down to the great state of Louisiana.
All right, man.
Take care.
We'll see you.
Thank you, bud.
Ron Higgins, 3-4-Bosier Journal, coming up.
Let's go to literally the heartland of the country, Nebraska.
Everybody's got an eye on it.
We 2-2 with Sean Callahan next.
Stay with us.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in, Brent.
You know what to say about all of us men.
We have no patience.
We just can't wait.
Alabama's heading to Nebraska this week,
but we want to take you there right now with Sean Callahan,
publisher of HuskersOnline.com.
That's part of the On3.com family.
Big Red Wrap-Up Show.
Busy on TV at KETV, ABC Channel 7,
in a place called Omaha, Nebraska, and also at KFAB.
Sean Callahan, long time.
Welcome back in.
How are you?
Yeah, the whole story.
You got Troy coming here, too.
That's right.
That's right.
Yeah.
Auburn.
Auburn.
It's been good for you.
Talk to us about Omaha.
A lot of fans.
To me, this is still something that's very poor.
We're kind of proud down here at the SEC Baseball Tournament.
It is still in Hoover.
In spite of all this pressure, please tell us that Omaha has a lock on keeping the World Series.
And for the folks who have never been there, or in this case, in the case of Alabama,
last time Prince was rocking and rolling, 1999.
Talk to us about the experience in Omaha in general, Sean.
Yeah.
You know, I grew up going to the games my whole life.
We had season tickets with my family to go.
And I grew up in South Omaha, where the original Rosenblatt Stadium was at.
Yeah.
My first job as a kid was at Rosenblatt Stadium.
I was at the stadium usher of my sister and a lot of kids I went to high school with.
So it was truly a grassroots neighborhood thing where, like, everybody I was around growing
up, you know, I'd go there and you'd know the whole ballpark.
So it was a really great thing when it was at Rosenblatt.
And it got to the point where it almost outgrew Rosenblatt.
Rosenblatt had a high capacity.
It could seat, I believe, close to 25,000.
But the infrastructure around the ballpark at that time wasn't really built to, like, have
a corporate element.
There were no bars or no restaurants, no corporate tailgating areas.
So it kind of led the NCAA at that time to say, hey, you know, if you guys want to keep
this in Omaha, we've got to up it.
So they built the new ballpark, Charles Schwab Field now.
And, you know, it mirrors Rosenblatt in terms of the dimensions of the ballpark.
The capacity is a little bit higher, but it's in the smack dab heart of downtown Omaha, around
all the hotels, several restaurants, plenty of parking lots for tailgating.
So, like, if you have folks listening that are going up there, there is the ability to
just to pay the money to pull into one of the general lots there and to set up your own
tailgate as long as you're there early enough.
And I know that's a big part of SEC country.
You want to have your own tailgate party and come out there.
And so it's an awesome.
My dad still works the World Series.
He's retired.
If you know any friends running, going to the press box, my dad runs the press box elevator.
How about that?
And I bet they got good food, Sean.
I'm just guessing, right?
Yeah.
Lots of steaks.
Yeah.
Almost a good food town.
I mean, a lot of culture, a lot of history.
I promise everyone will have a blast.
And I do like the format now where they kick it off on a Friday.
They've been doing this where it wouldn't start till Saturday.
They'd have more off days.
But what I like is now the championship series begins up on Saturday.
So you open it up on Friday.
Then the following Saturday, you begin the series where it used to be they were trying
it where they'd open the series on a Saturday and then not play the championship series until
the following Monday, the week after.
And it was kind of, you'd almost be in Omaha for two weeks if you were there full time,
which, you know, I've talked to a lot of SEC fans.
I know that they like to see how their team does.
And if you win game one and game two, you're pretty much in the finals at that point.
And that's when a lot of people, you kind of get a second wave of people that maybe come
to Omaha knowing that they don't have to be here for 10 days.
Absolutely.
Sean, nobody knows this Nebraska program better than you do.
As you know, a lot of Alabama fans have deep respect for Nebraska, 70s, 80s,
and 90s were such a pinnacle of success with so many iconic coaches.
Unfortunately, and I know you could spend an hour documenting all this stuff about what
has happened to the Nebraska program in the last 10, 15 years.
Matt Rule is there now.
Still a lot of hopes, a lot of optimism.
Nebraska got off to five at one start, six and two.
And then they got to November.
Rayola got injured in the USC game.
And then the bottom kind of fell out.
Losing to Penn State, 37 to 10.
Iowa 40 to 16.
Lost the Las Vegas Bowl, 44 to 22.
Second half of the season, Sean, what happened in Nebraska?
Yeah, a few things.
The schedule got a lot tougher.
You know, when they played USC in Lincoln, you know, Dylan Rayola was driving them down
the field.
They were in field goal range.
He checks into a pass play, max protect, when it was a third and short.
And he gets sack on that play.
He held the ball a little too long, took a sack, gets hurt.
And instead of going up by two possessions, they end up punting it or, you know, having to give the ball back to USC.
Then USC drives down and wins the game.
And so their season changed there because Rayola got hurt and then they lost the game.
And then, you know, the following week, though, they go out to UCLA and look really good.
But UCLA, an interim head coach, you couldn't, but they, they had more Husker fans in the Rose Bowl stadium than UCLA fans.
But you knew that game against Penn State was looming and they had Indiana beat the week before.
And Penn State late in the year was playing really good football.
And so they, that Nebraska got them on their senior night.
They played out of standing football and the game was over in the first quarter from my perspective.
And then the same thing happened against Iowa.
They're playing the true freshman quarterback.
They ran the ball well, but they could not throw.
I think Nebraska only completed maybe four or five passes the final three games of the year that traveled more than 10 yards down the field.
They just had no semblance of a downfield throwing game.
Well, Rayola, he was good for six or seven, eight of those a game.
Yeah.
Sean Callahan, check him out, huskersonline.com.
Sean, it wouldn't be the first time if we misread something, but I think a lot of folks are applauding Nebraska and Georgia.
And I think, you know, where we're going with this by saying Texas tech.
Yeah.
You're out there in Lubbock.
You got to pay people to come to that part of the world, but you know what?
We're not going to play by your rules, uh, scheduling forward.
You're off the board.
Sean, you're closer to the opposite of the, we are, if we're reading that right, congratulations.
I think I speak for a lot of folks talk to us about the situation there from a Nebraska standpoint and what's going on down the road schedule in Texas tech.
Yeah.
They don't really have a lot.
I mean, I think they played them in tennis and they played them in women's softball.
Nebraska beat them in women's softball last year, um, in a, in a neutral site event.
Um, so it's not like there's a regular scheduling and they played them a couple of years ago in basketball in Kansas city in a neutral site tournament.
Um, but I, I just think it's more of the statement, um, you know, you think, you know, in the big 10, um, in the big 12, you think about like what happened to Iowa and Iowa state, you have Iowa wrestlers that might've made like a $5 bet on a football game at Iowa, Iowa state.
And those kids lost their whole eligibility.
Um, you know, so it, it is wild in that regard.
And I mean, I, in some ways you wonder like Cincinnati, like they're the ones, obviously that should be more trouble than anybody.
Cause this all happened under their watch or it happened under Indiana's watch, Texas tech's the one that's going to lose the most here.
Um, but the rules are the rules.
I mean, we can't allow this to happen with the integrity of what the sport should be.
And, and, you know, in terms of betting on your team that you're playing for.
Absolutely.
Uh, Matt rule is considered to be one of the best coaches developing programs.
He rebuilt temple and Baylor.
He's 19 and 19 at Nebraska.
And I know, you know, that well, how critical of a year is this for Matt rule?
Well, he's gone to back-to-back bowl games, which is a step in the right direction.
Cause before Matt rule got here, they had not been to a bowl game since 2016.
Wow.
So, um, that, that is progress.
Yes.
Um, but to use like a golf analogy, you know, a par golf score last year of an eight win and
they got seven, they both, they bogeyed and they easily could have won nine on that schedule.
And, you know, disappointing.
It played out that way because they didn't play a single college football playoff team.
I mean, they're more difficult games last year where Michigan lost their coach, Penn state who lost their coach.
And then they played USC, um, who was a solid team, but not a playoff team.
Um, so the schedule was set up for Nebraska and coincidentally, they beat Brendan Sorsby through an interception on the final, one of the final plays of the game that lost Cincinnati to game.
So we, we can speculate why he threw that interception, but he threw an interception that helped Nebraska win the season opening game.
Uh, but yeah, they, they didn't have a schedule that necessarily moved the needle.
Now they do.
They play three playoff teams on the schedule.
That's right.
Yeah, absolutely.
Um, um, Sean, always great to catch up with you.
Uh, again, you've got some Nebraska fans in the state of Alabama.
They know the tradition so well.
Nobody covers Nebraska better than you do.
Where can we get online and get your good stuff?
Yeah.
Uh, just check us out at huskeronline.com or with the on three sports network and rivals.
So, uh, with, uh, work for an Alabama man himself, Shannon Terry, one of the, one of the,
one of the best, absolutely industry.
And hopefully I see a lot of, uh, Bama and Troy fans down in Omaha this weekend.
It's going to be an awesome, awesome, awesome atmosphere all weekend.
Hey, you mentioned Shannon.
He's a friend of ours.
He is from North Alabama.
Look it up.
Manny Woodville, Alabama.
And one of the guys that I work with a mentor coming up in the business, he now calls Omaha home.
And his name is Dana Webb.
One of the smartest guys I've ever worked with in this business.
Is he loves Omaha.
And I know you guys love some college baseball, all the best of the world series.
Hopefully the weather will cooperate.
And Sean, thank you so much for your time day.
And let's do this again soon.
Okay.
Okay, guys.
Thank you.
Thank you, bud.
Sean Callahan, husker's online.com.
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Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93.9 The Score.
The College World Series is set to get underway on Friday in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Troy Trojans will play the first game in round one as they take on West Virginia Friday
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Alabama will play on Saturday afternoon.
The Crimson Tide will meet Oklahoma.
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Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in.
It is a privilege for us to say hello to Drew D'Armond.
He's host of Talking Ball and Hustle's 97.7 FM The Zone.
Drew D'Armond, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm doing well, guys.
How are y'all?
Hey, Bunt.
Man, we're doing all right.
Are you ready for some baseball from Omaha for the first time in, what, 27 years, Drew?
Yeah, it's hard to believe.
You know, it's been way too long for Alabama, but, you know, they've had a couple of near misses.
But now they've finally kicked the door down.
You know, I was there on Sunday.
Didn't get a chance to see them get the last, you know, six outs on Monday.
But certainly it was nice to see them take care of a really scrappy St. John's team.
They got two really good starts, which has been really the staple of this team.
You know, certainly Tyler Fay was tremendous on Saturday night.
And then, you know, and then Zane Adams followed it up on Sunday and got them deep into the game.
And then they were able to use Highburger to finish and really still had some pitching left.
So, you know, it'll be interesting to see how they attack Omaha and if they go back with their regular rotation
or if Upchurch gets a chance to pitch in game one.
You know, we're going to be able to, we're going to be honored to talk tomorrow live from Omaha on the show
to Jason Jackson, the Alabama pitching coach.
And so I don't know that he'll reveal the plan on the show, but we'll certainly ask him about, you know,
Upchurch and this rotation and how they may attack it.
But it's going to be a really interesting matchup with Oklahoma because they took two out of three on the road
from the Sooners early in the SEC schedule.
But both these teams have changed quite a bit.
Oklahoma now features two freshmen quite a bit on the mound that are really good
and they're really swinging the bats well.
And Alabama, you know, they certainly have an outstanding pitching staff.
And the offense has started to come around some, but really the biggest thing is the defense.
They played really good defense this past weekend against St. John's.
And if they want to stay a while in Omaha, they're going to have to do that starting on Saturday afternoon
as they kick off day two in Omaha.
Yeah, that's what I was going to mention.
They beat Oklahoma 10-7, 3-2.
They lost 4-2 April the 2nd through the 4th.
But, again, we talked to Roger Hoover on Tuesday, and he said both these teams are much better
than when they played in early April.
And Oklahoma upset Georgia Tech, who was the number two seed, and then went to Kansas
and just hammered the Jayhawks two games.
No, you're right.
Both of these teams are very much improved.
Yeah, Oklahoma, their offense has really kind of blossomed.
And if you had told me that they were going to rally against Georgia Tech down 8-2 and then 7-3,
I never would have believed it.
In Atlanta, with as good an offensive ball club as Georgia Tech had and as dominant as they had been.
But you just never know in college baseball.
And then, like you said, Brett, I mean, this was the best team in Kansas history.
They won the regular season, Big 12 title and the tournament.
And they had been playing good baseball all year.
I think they had 110 home runs.
And Georgia Tech just – I mean, excuse me, after beating Georgia Tech, Oklahoma just came in there
and just beat them unmercifully.
And they just – so they're coming in hot, no doubt about it.
And Alabama's pitching really well.
You know, their offense is better.
And I thought really the key to this, the game two win, the sweep against St. John's,
was the 7-8-9 guys were really productive.
Brennan Holtz had a really nice game.
Luke Vaughn has come around both offensively and defensively in the last month and a half.
And then, you know, Peyton Steele, former Hartzell Tiger, he's had some big time at bats too.
So they're going to need contributions from everyone, no doubt about it.
But the biggest thing is the pitching staff has got to throw well.
And they have to play good defense if they want to give themselves a chance.
But stay in that winner's bracket, which is so important with the days off in Omaha.
Amen.
And pass the plate again to you, Drew.
Drew, the arm and host talking about hustle is 97-7 in the zone.
You hit on a good point there because Hollywood always likes to put their star up there.
Tom Cruise on the marquee, which we know in this case for Alabama is Justin LeBron.
But by comparison, he has not been the reason Alabama is where they are.
My point is, back to your point, about the bottom half of that order doing their work, 7, 8, and 9, this truly has been a team effort.
And can you say enough?
One of the reasons they've done that is Rob Vaughn has made this team believe and never give up.
Baseball is a marathon.
It's a roller coaster.
You're going to have good days.
You're going to have bad days.
The job of the lineup around LeBron and, of course, the job of Rob Vaughn coming down from Maryland.
And basically, let's face it, he resurrected his program.
Well, he did.
He's done a really nice job in three years.
And, you know, he's been able to reshape the roster in his image.
It's a scrappy bunch.
He's really good at evaluating his, you know, when he came in, Justin LeBron was committed to rice and was going to go there.
And he was able to flip him and basically leave the press conference.
His introductory one at Alabama to fly to Miami to convince Justin LeBron to come to Alabama.
And the rest is kind of history.
I mean, LeBron, you know, hasn't had as good a year this year as he had the first two.
But I will give him credit.
I thought he was really good in the regional round, both offensively and defensively.
And then in game one, he was outstanding at the plate.
And, of course, was rock solid in both games, defensively and the Supers.
He didn't do a lot offensively in the game, too.
But, you know, he still, you know, had an impact on the game.
He was able to get on base, steal a bag.
He's very, very key to this team's ability to win.
Because, I mean, I think he's 41 of 42 stealing bases.
He's probably the best base runner in the country.
And, of course, he has otherworldly ability defensively.
And all that matters now is that he is swinging the bat better.
And, you know, he's playing good defense.
And it's at the best time.
Alabama's going to Omaha.
He's doing it in front of a lot of scouts.
He's still projected to be a top 20 pick in the first round, which is going to help Alabama immensely with how they've been able to develop him.
And then the guys around him, you know, have picked their game up as well.
I mean, Jason Torres, his numbers aren't the prettiest in the world.
But he's hitting cleanup and leading the team in RBIs because he comes through in the clutch.
You can't get any more clutch than the Grand Slam.
Because, trust me, I was in the ballpark, guys.
If you're talking about some anxiety and some just uneasiness, there was a lot of pressure in that game, too.
It was only a 3-2 game.
St. John's had just hit a home run.
And you're thinking, okay, if we go to game three, there's even more heightened anxiety tomorrow.
But, you know, they needed one more push.
And Jason Torres gave that to them with that opposite field, the Grand Slam.
And it just kind of took all the pressure off.
And then I thought Alabama responded well.
They pitched really well.
And, you know, so this team is kind of greater than the sum of its parts.
Bryce Fowler is another guy that was headed to Campbell before, you know, Rob Vaughn took over.
And they got him from Pearl River Community College.
And he's had two really good years.
So, it'll be really interesting.
I'm anxious to see how this team reacts being to Omaha.
I hope it's not just, okay, we're finally back to Omaha.
You know, after 27 years, we're satisfied.
If you're Alabama, you want to go over there and do damage.
Heck, man, you're basically playing in another SEC tournament in your half of the bracket.
That's exactly right.
I was going to ask you about the tournament overall.
I know on paper, and you don't play games on paper, but Georgia with their 173 home runs, Texas,
and they literally play each other Saturday night.
It's going to be interesting.
The loser drops into the loser's bracket.
But I know Georgia, Texas, and North Carolina on paper are good.
But we talked to Craig Stevenson, DeVale.com, about Troy.
Janicki, Boroff, Jake Boroff, and some of these other guys.
Troy is no, believe me, is not a fluke being in there after what they did to Georgia Tech
to get through their series, beating Florida.
But, D2, your thoughts.
Ole Miss, I think, is one of the most underrated teams.
Mike Bianco did an incredible job coaching that team to beat Auburn in the Super Regionals.
Your thoughts on overall about the World Series.
Well, I think the West Virginia-Troy game is a very interesting one to kick it off on Friday afternoon.
I mean, both those teams are making their first trips, and West Virginia has, you know, built up to this point.
They've had some really good years the last few, and then they finally get a chance to host the Supers
and the Regional, and it works out for them beautifully.
Yeah.
And they advanced to Omaha.
Troy, I mean, look, I was as guilty as anyone.
Alabama hadn't lost to this since 2019.
They're always very competitive when Alabama lost to Troy 6-1.
And at that point in time, it was the largest crowd ever in Troy history with a paltry 3,900.
Little did we know that they were going to get that chance to host Little Rock in the Super Region
and somehow cram 7,000-plus people in there and pay off the fire marshal.
But they were able to do that, and it was a tremendous atmosphere.
They're a really good offensive team.
And, look, the beautiful thing about Omaha is you earn your way there.
There's never a fluke.
They had to go to Gainesville and bash Florida two games to get out of the losing bracket.
And before that, they sent Miami home.
So, Troy is hot.
They're a really good offensive team.
I'm going to be anxious to see if they can keep it up, and I certainly hope they can.
Skylar Meade's done an amazing job.
Hopefully, Troy can hold on to him for a little while longer.
But they're doing an amazing job.
And then I do love Mike Bianco.
He's one of my favorite people in college baseball.
He won it all in 2022 as a three-seed, the last team in.
And then now he's made it back to Omaha.
He's a true Hall of Famer who built Ole Miss baseball into what it is.
And they're a really good team because that Auburn team they beat was really, really good.
And to go into that crazy atmosphere with over 10,000 people in the park those days
and find a way to win, it was a great accomplishment.
And I just think it's a great field.
I'm not sure there's a true definitive favorite,
even though I think a lot of people are going to think that the winner of Georgia
and currently have a – I guess they'll be the – I guess the favorite of the odds makers.
The winner of that game staying in the winner's bracket will probably be the favorite going forward.
By the way, Troy, got those extra seats.
They had to go to the Gulf Coast and rent those seats
because of the crowd coming in.
Drew, before you jump off, talk about Alabama recruiting,
the week that it's been over the last few days.
And, of course, every recruiting fanatic wants to answer the other question.
What's ahead over the next few days and weeks for Bama on the recruiting trail?
Well, we'll see.
I mean, they're not going to have a large, you know, class in this week or a large group.
I mean, from what I've heard, I think Cedric Simmons may be coming in from south side zone
with a wide receiver and certainly Trent Seymourn is supposed to be
visiting this weekend.
We'll see if anything changes in that regard.
You know, Ty Phillips committed this week, and he's an outstanding running back from Irmo, South Carolina.
And he is a really, really good player in the class who I think has been under-recruited.
But that's kind of been the M.O. of Cordy Morgan and this coaching staff led by Caelan DeBoer.
They do a really good job of evaluating players and jumping on them early.
And they've already got nine commitment guys.
So, they've already got, you know, several guys, you know, committed in the class.
So, I think they're only going to take probably, roughly, if you kind of read the T-leaves,
they're probably only going to take about six or seven more guys, even though they're going to continue to evaluate.
But Taj Phillips is one of the latest ones that's jumped on board.
You know, Michael Mabufi, who split from Syracuse this weekend, the tight end, he keeps that St. Francis Academy pride line going.
And he's an in-line blocker who they really like.
And then, they've been really aggressive in the special teams deal.
I mean, they've already got two kickers on the team, and Lorkin Quinn and Connor Salty, but they take Luke Cody.
And Cody can also punt.
And so, they're going to need a punter.
Certainly, he's a five-star level guy that they decided to take and go ahead and address.
And then, going forward, we'll see, you know, if they get some more commitments in the coming days.
I know they certainly are being aggressive, trying to get some defensive linemen committed,
because they'd like to sign two or three in the class.
They should be done at running back now that they've got him, and now they've got Phillips and Nigel Newkirk committed.
And then, of course, the quarterback position with Elijah Haven and Trent Seaborn.
But I think it's going to be a work in progress.
And as I said today on Talking Ball, I was asked about Munchon Sales, and they're still right in the middle of that.
I know he's coming off his visit to Texas.
And, of course, Indiana's there with their big offer.
Alabama put their best foot forward.
And I know they knocked it out of the park when he was there, but, you know, you have to wait and see in the coming weeks how that goes.
I still think he'll make a summer commitment.
So, we'll see what happens going forward.
But I like where Alabama is, and I think they think they're in a strong position to add to the class going forward.
But as far as who's next, it's hard to say because I haven't heard of any, you know, imminent commitments coming up.
But that can change at the drop of a hat, no doubt.
And certainly, they're going to have some more kids on campus throughout this month, this month of June, in the next couple of weeks.
So, we'll be monitoring that going forward.
But I thought it was a pretty good, you know, last week or so, picking up a couple more commitments and getting up to nine.
And so, I think they're in a good spot right now.
Absolutely.
I know you've been busy, and particularly yesterday, with Huntsville High School summer basketball.
A lot of teams in the facility.
And we'll talk about this, hopefully, next week.
That University of Alabama training and player development facility, that is slick.
I saw some clips about that.
They showed the men's and women's team, and they were in state of all over it.
That's really an incredible recruiting facility that's going to help Nate Oates' women's basketball lot going in the future.
D2, where can we go online, listen to the expanded talking ball with you and Scott?
Yeah, you can definitely listen to us each Monday, Friday, 7 to 10 a.m. at 9770SPN.com.
If you missed the show, you can catch it on our SoundCloud page, 97.7 The Zone.
We are live each day on WGVN-TV as well, if you want to watch that on the show.
And Scott, I gave a shout-out to him.
His son, Landon, will be graduating from Southwest Oregon University in the coming days.
So, he's going to be out there in Oregon.
I've got Joe Honk and Steve Moulton helping me out for the next several days.
But certainly, looking forward to that.
And also, you know, very interestingly, I'm sure you guys may have mentioned it,
but Alabama, it's always interesting to see how, you know, offers go out in football.
I was just in the city of A-Rab a couple of days ago doing some business for a friend of mine,
taking some photos of a home.
And now Alabama has offered Stafford Willis offensive lineman from A-Rab.
So, it's been a while since we've heard an arrangement offered by Alabama, but that's a pretty neat deal.
And we'll see if he's a guy that could, after camping, could commit soon in the process.
And then Darius White, the corner from Georgia, is another one, I think, to watch.
But always enjoy being on with you guys.
And looking forward to Alabama and Omaha this weekend.
Enjoy it, Drew.
And thanks so much for your time, Dave, my friend.
There you have it.
Drew DeArma, 97.7 FM.
It's on the A-Rab night.
BB, coming up tonight.
Are you ready for the Braves on the south side of Chicago?
Yeah, they need to get back on the winning track.
Chicago came back, won that game in extra innings.
The White Sox record at home this year, 17-3.
Yeah.
They're one of the most improved teams in baseball.
But you can hear that game tonight on 93-9.
Let's go.
Their record against a former pitcher.
That's now with the Braves by the name of Chris Sale.
2-2 with a 2-92 ERA against his former club.
They're 9-10 against Chris.
Can he increase those numbers tonight for his new team, the Braves?
Listen here on 93-9, the score.
It's going to take care of us for now.
On behalf of BB, Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here.
Carol Buck, thank you so much for your time today.
Let's do it again tomorrow, noon to 2 for the Boom Home Buck Show.
Back here on Sports Radio, 93-9, the score.