Boomo Bugg Show 080426
93.9 The Score WYTK - August 4, 2026
https://www.939thescore.com/boomo-bugg-show-080426/

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 Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC.
Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Good afternoon and welcome here to the Boomo Bugg Show.
I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird.
Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley.
Brett Beaird, welcome in.
Where the question of the day is, where does the Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC roll in the USA Today preseason poll?
Good afternoon, welcome in and how are you?
Happy Tuesday to you and the listeners.
We'll talk about that along with the Braves fiasco at the deadline yesterday.
Rod Hudson, head football coach at Hackelberg High School, will preview the 2026 season.
Las Vegas insider Bruce Marshall will help preview the opening of summer camps across the nation.
But right now, we're delighted to bring in CP, who is here to look at position battles for the Crimson Tide as they open camp tomorrow.
CP is Charlie Potter, senior team writer for BamaOnline.com.
That's part of the On3e.com family.
Charlie, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm great, guys.
Thanks for having me.
Hey, buddy.
Calm before the storm.
You've gotten through the so-called offseason.
I don't know how we define offseason anymore, but tomorrow the curtain comes up, Charlie.
Are you ready for some football?
I am.
It was a pretty quiet summer.
No real news from an Alabama standpoint.
But it's one of those things where there's a lot of questions still to be answered about this team.
We still don't know who's going to be the starting quarterback, the offensive line, and the run game is obviously a big question.
I think you look at receiver, running back, their position battles on defense, even though I think the defense would be really good.
Special teams, leadership.
There's a lot still to learn about this team.
So, it's good that we got about four weeks here before the season kicks off to cover it all.
You know, Charlie, what you're saying there is reflective of the national media.
You are there every day, so you have a better perspective.
But let's talk a little bit about the perception, why they say perception is reality, or is it?
The perception, I think, is reflected in this poll we just alluded to there at the top of the show, USA Today coming out today.
And you go through one, two, or three.
It was always Alabama.
It was either going to be one or two.
Heaven forbid, three or lower under a guy named Nick.
But Alabama will kick off in a very familiar spot.
USA Today is reflecting a lot of folks out there that are just outside the top ten at number 11.
Whether it's true or not, the national perception, I think, reflects what you're saying.
A lot of questions to answer before they move them on up.
Yeah, I mean, I thought they would be inside the top 15.
I thought there was a chance they could be outside, just because, like you said, I feel like there's a lot of doubts nationally about this team.
I think we talked about it last week, though.
Like, I think people forget Alabama went 10-2 in the regular season last year and won a playoff game on the road and got to 11 wins last year.
So, like, that just got completely forgotten.
Now, I know, like, there's question marks and there's things they have to answer and there's things they have to prove.
But I think 11 is pretty fair.
It's crazy, though.
They're number 11 in the country.
That's the number, I think, sixth best ranking in the SEC.
There's a lot of teams that are in that top 10 in the conference.
Alabama has to play Georgia and A&M.
That's not including teams like Texas and Ole Miss and Oklahoma that are in that top 10.
So, a lot of respect for the league going into the season.
But, I mean, you see the top two teams are from the Big Ten.
So, it's not just Alabama looking to get back on track.
I think it's the whole conference.
See, Pete, you've got some nice article about position battles.
Who's going to be the third cornerback?
I may know Zibian Brown and Dean John Lee is probably going to be the starters, but Carmelo O'Neal.
I mentioned that name to you before.
The Mercer transfer, 6'4", 210, Chuck McDonald, even freshman Jordan Edmonds.
At safety, everybody pretty much knows Bray Hubbard and Keon Sale, but who plays behind them?
Xavier Mincy, Ivan Taylor, even freshman Jaira Edwards.
Again, a lot of talent on that defense, as you alluded to.
But, again, a lot of questions.
Who's going to be number three or number four?
Yeah, I mean, it goes to show just how deep and talented this secondary is.
They bring back five starters who I think were in the starting lineup for five or more games.
Zabian, Bray, and Keon, I think, started every game.
But Dijon Lee and Red Morgan were, I think, five.
At least five for both of those guys.
So, they have a lot of experience coming back, but they also have a lot of talent waiting in the wings.
Like, Zay Mincy's a guy that was their number three safety last year.
And when they played three safeties, he was the guy on the field.
I think he played 200-plus defensive snaps last year.
Ivan Taylor is the guy we heard a lot about this spring.
I think he's generated a lot of positive buzz.
And I wouldn't be surprised to see him carve out a first-team role kind of rotating in there at the safeties.
And we've seen that they're not afraid to play the younger guys.
Like, last year, Dijon Lee kind of took over for Damani Jackson, who's now a Green Bay Packer, and a returning starter for Alabama last year.
So, those guys that are at the top of the pecking order are really, really good.
But they have to stay on their A game because they have a lot of talent behind them.
And I think in the cornerback spot, I mean, Carmelo O'Neal, I think they're going to try to find a way to get that guy on the field.
Because he's 6'4", just kind of a unicorn at the position.
And that's a group that, you know, they've recruited and played a lot of taller corners here of late.
And so, yeah, I mean, it's just, it's gross how talented and deep the secondary is, quite frankly.
I mean, there are question marks that, like, linebacker on the defensive front, who's going to be that edge rusher step up alongside Yontay Pierre.
But, really, when you talk about position battles in the secondary, you're just kind of trying to write something because they have so many options.
And it's such a talented group.
Charlie Potter hooking up with us at BamaOnline.com.
Charlie, obviously, why is coach going to say, gee whiz, guys, they've got a secondary that's second to none.
So, let's just run the ball, milk the clock, and chop, chop, chop, eat it up in small yardage.
Your thoughts about Alabama as far as being able to stop the run up front on defense?
I think that's something they really addressed this offseason because when you look at what they added via the transfer portal,
they just added some massive athletic bodies, guys that can stop the run but also, you know, get pressure on the quarterback.
I think the answer they want to do, too, is to be able to apply pressure without blitzing, without sitting in the house.
And so, just from a run stoppage standpoint, a guy like Terrence Green coming over from Oregon kind of fits the bill with that run stopper in the middle of the defensive line.
I think Kedrick Bingley-Jones, the transfer of Mississippi State, is going to play quite a bit.
They've got a lot of returning defensive linemen, too, that I think are ready to kind of step up and do roles, or bigger roles, I should say.
Jeremiah Beeman started the season opener and then got hurt, missed the whole season.
If he's healthy, he'll be a part of the rotation.
They have Isiah Faga going into his third year.
They have Edrick Healback.
They have a lot of pieces.
I think a guy like Steven Boomer could really take that next step.
Defensive line-wise, they have a lot of guys.
They have a rotation that I'll be interested to see how they dwindle it down.
It's just a lot of them are relatively either new to the program or new to the field.
So, they've got to kind of rise to the challenge.
But I think that if they can figure out that defensive front and then get some consistent inside backer play from some new pieces,
then that's a group that I feel like can be really stout up front.
CP, everyone knows they're going to be looking at the battle between Austin Mack and Keelan Russell.
But who's the third quarterback?
Jeff Thamala, Tayden Evan Kawa, or even the 6'7", sophomore.
That's going to be interesting.
I know everybody wants to know who's going to line up against East Carolina.
But to me, it's going to be fascinating to see the third quarterback.
Yeah, I mean, if Alabama handles business, we might see that third quarterback.
So, we might know pretty early.
I know in the spring game, they were going pretty much back and forth between Keelan and Austin.
And I think we saw Jet was the first guy on the field.
And he looked good.
Actually, both the young quarterbacks did, him and Tate Kava.
But I think it's a situation where Jet Thamala is probably ahead of him.
I think he rose to the five-star ranking, at least in the Rivals Industry Rankings, by the end of the cycle.
Just kind of rewrote the history books in Nebraska.
And he's a guy that's super talented.
He looks the part out there.
And so, yeah, that's something that I don't think people are thinking about as much because it's a quarterback battle between two.
So, you know, one's going to be the starter, one's going to be the backup.
You probably won't see that third guy.
And now it's crazy because now red shirts don't even exist.
So, it's not like you can save a year of eligibility with these guys by just keeping them on the bench.
So, I don't know how much we'll see of them this fall.
But I would side with Jet.
I know John Gazanaga is the guy they like, too.
They gave him a scholarship this offseason.
He's someone that's in here early with Austin and Keelan in the mornings when they get here.
So, it's a good quarterback room.
I think that's one of those things is where they're going to be in good shape no matter who starts.
Like, I know that's a big question mark nationally and something that people probably give Alabama
or, like, knock some points off of them whenever they're trying to rank them amongst other teams.
But that, to me, is not the big question mark.
It's up front in that run game.
If they can get those things together, whoever wins the quarterback job, they can get the job done.
So, let's talk about that.
To me, a big question, a series of questions.
But one, talking about the intangibles.
And that is, what lessons did they learn last year?
A smart person sits down and says, that was a problem.
Here's a solution.
What was the biggest problem, in your opinion, on offense last year and on defense?
And what have they done in the offseason to address their respective solutions?
And what will be the pregame speech heading into game one this season compared to heading into game one last season?
Yeah, you can't underestimate your opponent, that's for sure.
And ECU is a veteran team, but it's a team with a bunch of new pieces.
So, that's going to be kind of hard to game plan for.
But Alabama should win that game and win it comfortably.
But, yeah, I think it's one of those things where, whether it was last year, whether it was Kalen's first year with the road game at Vanderbilt, the road game against the Oklahoma team who's fighting for bowl eligibility, the bowl game against the really bad Michigan team that was missing a lot of pieces.
Like, you can't sleep on your opponent.
And so, I think that coming out the gate, they'll want to show that the run game has improved.
And you won't learn a ton against facing an ECU, per se.
But I think seeing them lean on the run game a little bit is something that people want to see.
Now, granted, you also are trying to break in a new quarterback.
You want to get him comfortable, too.
So, I think it's going to be a balanced offense regardless.
But it's something that it was clear that it was a point of emphasis for Kalen DeBoer in this coaching staff this offseason.
They made a change in offensive line coach.
They brought in a tight ends coach who has experienced coaching the offensive line.
They brought in a ton of new offensive line pieces to basically revamp that position room.
And then the tight ends, like, they've been a big piece of this, too.
Josh Ford is a player that we've heard a lot of positive things about in terms of the mindset and the tone that he's setting from a blocking standpoint.
So, they're doing all the right things.
But, I mean, as someone that has some moderated message board, they get tired of hearing about it.
They want to see it.
So, once August 5th gets here, I'm sorry, September 5th gets here, I think that they'll want to see him on the field.
And I think Alabama, again, they're not going to go out there and run the ball, you know, 60 times against East Carolina.
But I think a balanced approach of both showing that the run game has been a point of emphasis and then getting those quarterbacks comfortable, that's going to be a priority.
But CP at receivers, Ryan Coleman-Williams, Lottie Brooks, 1 and 2, who's 3?
Derek Mehta, C.D. Morgan, 6'3", 6'5", really showed out in the spring.
Noah Rogers should be back mid to late September.
But what about Rico Scott?
He's kind of a guy who's forgotten here.
Yeah, it sucks about the Noah Rogers injury because I think he would be the clear third.
I don't even know if he would be three in the back corner.
He might be one or two.
I think he did some really good things in the spring and watched when he gets back.
But I think Derek Meadows is someone that is maybe poised for a breakout year.
He's a guy they flipped late a couple cycles ago.
He played a good bit as a freshman, didn't catch any passes, but he looked really good in the spring.
I think he and Cedarian Morgan give this offense something a little different than what Ryan Williams and Lottie Brooks do.
And look, Ryan and Lottie are going to play a ton.
Those are your clear top two options of the receiver position.
But if you can take basically two twin towers out there and then play them with those tight ends near the red zone,
you're basically playing with a basketball team in terms of just like jump balls.
So I also think Rico Scott, he's one of the fastest players on the team.
It's kind of now or never for him.
And I think he's put in a lot of good work this offseason.
And so I think just being consistent.
And he's a guy, I think he's a willing blocker.
I think he needs to show that on a consistent basis.
And if you're willing to do that and you have speed, you can make plays, you're going to get on the field.
So I think the receiver group is thin just in terms of sheer numbers.
But they've got talented guys that they like.
And with Noah Rogers' back, I think that's a six-man group they feel really good about.
Absolutely.
CP, things about to really get ramped up.
Tremendous coverage is for summer camp.
By the way, I've got a new teammate, Clint Lamb, joining you.
I know Andrew Bone, who we've worked with for years, moving over to YAYA, Alabama.
Tell us about the team CP and what have you got as far as the first two weeks of camp?
What can we look forward to?
Yeah, it is.
It's here.
And so tomorrow we'll hear from Kalen DeBoer after practice.
Later in the week, we'll get to go to a couple practice viewings.
We'll hear from coordinators, players.
Alabama has its media day on Saturday.
So myself, Clint, Blake Beiler, we'll be out here in full force and having wall-to-wall coverage over at BamaOnline.com.
And I think tomorrow we're actually going to have a promo of like 75% off.
So with everything we have going on, Clint joining the team, it's a great time to check it out because, yeah, the offseason is over.
It's going to be a lot of content from here on out.
I've got to stretch the fingers, get ready for a busy couple weeks.
I'm not very good with math, but 75% sounds like a whole lot.
We'll get some more details starting tomorrow at Charlotte.
In the meantime, buckle up.
As you mentioned, it's here.
And thanks so much for your time today, buddy.
No problem, guys.
Thank you, man.
CP, Charlie Potter, BamaOnline.com.
Coming up, he's all over the SEC.
He's Jim Gumm.
And he's next.
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Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9, The Score.
Welcome back in.
It is an absolute pleasure for us to welcome in the man, Jim Gomm, hooking up with us with a sports blitz.
Jim, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm good.
How are you guys?
I'm good.
Man, we're doing all right.
Season's about to kick off, but guess what, my friend?
The Blitz Sports family is about to kick off as well.
Talk to us about the upcoming initial edition of Blitz Sports.
Yeah, the first issue will be coming out here in a couple weeks, and we're excited about it.
This will be our 16th year doing it.
And we take a lot of pride in getting information out there that I guess you can't find everywhere.
Because I do a lot of research, man, in the summertime, a lot of research, because I've got time doing it.
You know, there's a lot of, oh gosh, there's so many places you've got to dig sometimes.
But, no, we're excited about what we're going to have coming up.
And, you know, I think it's going to be interesting, guys, to look at how many different teams are going to get first-place votes.
We all saw the post-pull came out today.
You've got six different teams that got first-place votes.
And I think you're going to see that.
I love that.
I think it just shows that there's not that one dominant program that everyone's looking at.
It's like, yeah, you've got these guys, these guys, these guys, and these guys.
You know, so I think it makes for a really intriguing September.
Jim, your thoughts about that, because to be in the modern era, in the old days, you could take last year's roster, maybe the last two rosters, and kind of say, okay, this is what's going to happen.
But in the modern day, you are right.
Who in the world can sit here and look at any roster and say this is going to happen because you've got so many new faces all over the place is there.
Your thoughts about the influence of that and how Indiana basically shook things up last year because nobody, at least nobody is telling the truth, totally the truth, had Indiana where they finished at the end of the season, the beginning of the season.
But your thoughts just how in the modern era, really and truly, everybody has got pretty much the same questions over them.
It starts with the offensive line and all the new faces on those respective rosters.
Yeah, the thing that I do these days, guys, you know, it used to be I'd look at, you know, like you'd look at a school and you're like, how many returners do they got?
Right.
And you look at how many guys are returned.
Now, you look at them, you go, okay, they've got this many returners from their roster.
How many returners did they get from another couple of rosters?
And so you really, you've got to look at not just your returning roster, our starters, but how many starters from other schools you got.
Because now, they've proven they can play at the collegiate level.
Now, they've just swapped teams.
So, really, I think it makes it that much more intriguing because, obviously, you think they're going to mesh, but maybe they won't.
But I think that's the thing these days.
You've got to look at how many guys have experience, whether it's on the current roster they're on or from a roster from the previous year.
Jim, last year, LSU was 7-6, Auburn was 5-7, South Carolina was 4-8, Arkansas was 2-10.
Who will be the most improved team in the SEC this season?
I think it's going to be Auburn.
I guess I've just bought into Gullish maybe a little bit more than the others.
I know South Carolina, they probably, that's probably the most likely choice because of the returning players and the quarterback and everything.
But, man, there's something about Gullish down there that I'm intrigued about.
Auburn, their record, I don't think really shows really how much talent they had on that roster.
They were just snake bit last year.
So, if you were going to put me on the spot and say who's going to have the biggest wow factor, like I didn't see that coming,
I'm going to put Auburn maybe just slightly ahead of South Carolina.
Let's go the other way, Jim.
In your opinion, who is setting themselves up for the most disappointing season?
Golly, man.
There's so many.
I guess if you had to nail a big guy, I'm going to say Oklahoma.
I just, I know the material looks good right now, but their schedule is awfully tough.
And I'm just going to say only because I don't think they're as good as their record showed last year.
I'm going to say Oklahoma.
But I don't, you know, it's not like I don't like them.
I just, if you were just putting me on the spot, that's the one team.
I think Ole Miss, I think Ole Miss is going to be about what we all expect.
But Oklahoma, if there was going to be a team that really just kind of like, ah, boy, I didn't see them dropping, that would be the team.
And the other side of that coin, they had good numbers last year.
But if you break that schedule down, they had an extremely favorable schedule, especially early on for the bulk of that.
And then the cream came to the top at the end of the season.
And so to validate what you're saying is, will they have the same success against this year's schedule as they did against last year's schedule to build that reputation?
Exactly.
And obviously a lot depends on the health and the tear and everything.
He got hurt last year and maybe he'll prove me wrong.
I do think the guy can play.
Right.
But I just have a sneaky suspicion that people are going to be more prepared for Oklahoma.
And listen, I actually hope I'm wrong.
I used to actually live in Oklahoma.
There were good people over there.
And I said, yeah, yeah, a long, long time ago.
So I like Oklahoma.
I like the people there.
But you asked me and that was my answer and I'm sticking with it.
Jim, let me ask you about Missouri.
They were 8-5 last year.
They're a very good team, but they were undefeated when Alabama's.
They're a sneak through a close game.
Austin Simmons is going to be their quarterback this year, replacing Bo Pribola.
They brought in Chip Lindsey, who are a lot of people in our neck of the woods, know him, high school and college.
Ahmaud Hardy should be back probably by mid-September.
They ran for 2,500 yards.
But Eli Drinkwood is a good coach.
He's a funny guy.
But he has not had a lot of luck against AP top 25 teams.
Missouri 8-5 last year.
Better or worse this year?
Oh, boy.
I guess I'm going to have to say worse.
But I could see them doing pretty much the same thing.
And I agree.
I like Eli Drinkwood.
I do.
But you're right.
He does struggle against the quality teams out there.
But you know what Missouri doesn't do?
They don't get beat by teams they shouldn't get beat by.
You know, that's the one thing that they beat the people they're supposed to beat.
And every now and then they'll put a scare and so on.
But, you know, are they ever going to get over the hump there?
Listen, the SEC is so darn tough.
You know, you've got all these schools that you've got to be better than.
You can't be, you know, you can't have an off day is what I'm trying to get at.
So, I'm going to say maybe just a game less than where they were last year.
But I do think that Missouri, that's a team you've got to be prepared for.
You're close to the folks up in Knoxville.
What's realistic up in K-Town this year, Jim?
I know the fans are saying, okay, he's come in.
He's brought us back from where it was for years.
But it's almost like they've reached a plateau and they can't get over that next hurdle.
Is that a fair perception?
And if so, what will be the next rung this year?
You know, Josh Hoppe, a lot of people don't believe he's on any type of hot seat up there.
But if they have another four-loss season and, God forbid, they go, you know, seven and five,
I think the heat's going to start to be on him.
Listen, they went to the playoffs a couple years ago
and just got just completely throttled by the eventual national champion, Ohio State Buckeyes.
They have regressed the last couple years.
And, granted, the quarterback situation up there is very, very interesting.
I'm not sure exactly who's going to be the guy at the beginning of the year.
I like Faison Brandon as the guy late in the year.
I just don't know if he's going to start.
But there's a lot of pressure up there in Knoxville.
There really is.
It's going to be interesting to watch because they are definitely – the fan base believes
Tennessee's a playoff team.
And if they're short of making the playoffs, then the fans are going to make their opinions known.
Jim, which – as far as opening weekend, which game intrigues you the most?
Auburn and Baylor in Atlanta.
Ole Miss in Louisville in Nashville.
LSU in Clemson.
Well, I mean, to me, the LSU-Clemson is only because, you know, Lane Kiffin.
I mean, and listen, I mean, Dabo Sweeney, you know, is he getting Clemson turned back around again?
So, there's several storylines there.
I think Ole Miss is going to have a pretty – I think they're going to win that game.
You know, Baylor and Auburn, I like Auburn.
But, I mean, I think they're going to definitely have the fan base advantage there.
But I think Baylor and Auburn could be a very interesting game.
But when you ask me, to me, that LSU-Clemson game, that's the one that I'm personally most interested in.
Yeah, it's going to be a good one.
Jim, again, where can we get online and get a copy of the blitz?
Yeah, I've actually had some of your callers have reached out to me.
And, of course, I don't have issue one done just yet.
I'm waiting for the AP poll to drop so I can complete it.
So, I've got everything else done.
The coaches poll came out today, so I'm able to fill that in.
So, once the AP poll comes out, I'll be able to finish issue one.
I'll get that out to everyone.
But all you guys got to do out there is just email me direct, jimgum.blitz at gmail.com.
That's J-I-M-G-U-M-M dot blitz, B-L-I-T-Z at gmail.com.
And say that you heard me on your show, and I'll get issue one to those folks when I release it.
jimgum with two M's dot blitz at gmail.com.
Did I get that right, Jim?
You got it.
I can't believe it.
Listen, man, I know it's going to be fun.
It's right around the corner.
When you see that first edition coming out, you know it's close.
Thanks for your time, and let's do it again soon, okay?
Absolutely, fellas.
Thank you, Jim.
Sounds great.
Jim Gumm, again, it's called theblitzsports.com.
Coming up, he's called by a lot of names on Las Vegas.
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The one and only Bruce Marshall on deck.
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Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in.
It's getting so close, you can almost reach out and touch it.
Called college football, even that matter, NFL football.
Kicking off this week with the Hall of Fame game up in Canton, Ohio.
Before we get into that, let's head west to Las Vegas and say hello to Bruce Marshall.
He's busy all over the place.
Las Vegas Insider, goal sheet, wager talk.
Bruce Marshall, welcome in.
How are you?
Yeah, we are right on the cusp here.
We got, what, about 55 hours before the NFL kicks off the preseason.
And I do actually like something in this game through some of that.
We can talk about that in a minute, but it's here.
The first big poll is out from the coaches.
I don't think anybody is shocked.
The Ohio State University is right there in a familiar spot there, number one.
Bruce, I don't know if you've had a chance to look at it, but here's the way we look at it in this zip code.
Auburn's not in, but they're getting some mentions outside of the top 25.
Alabama is in, just as you mentioned, on the cusp for the top 10 and 11.
It's a national perception thing.
But put another way, Alabama is basically coming up, being ranked midway through the SEC relative to the national poll.
That tells you about the strength of the SEC overall.
But your thoughts and your overall about the first big poll out from USA today?
Looks pretty similar to the playoff last year, except, you know, Notre Dame's in there at 5.
And, you know, we've got all the way down, you know, Texas, Texas at 12.
We don't have some of the—Texas is also—they missed the playoff last year, too.
No surprise, it's going to be pretty similar, I think, you know, most years now.
This does bring up one point, and this is something, actually, Rhett Lashley at SMU when I was down at—back in Charlotte a couple weeks ago at the ACC Media Day.
He actually sort of brought this up.
Nobody asked him about it, but he was wondering about these polls.
And he says, how can you—how can all these polls and be viewed as such gospel before teams have played?
Thank you.
And he said it sort of sets up, right from the start, the teams that are ranked, you know, higher just on reputation seem to get, you know, they've got a head start in this whole system the way it is right now.
He said it makes it very hard for the SMUs and the others who weren't in the top 10 or even top 25 to make a run.
He has a point there, but, you know, they're trying—I guess at some point if you expand the playoff out to 24, you know, that would mitigate that somewhat.
But, you know, at 12, though, he's got sort of a point, though, because a lot of these teams that start off higher in the pool for no reason than just past performance have an advantage.
And it's like a pretty similar look every year.
Speaking of Notre Dame, there was a tweet over the weekend that got a lot of mileage.
Notre Dame is guaranteed this season $129 million before they kick off, $50 million from NBC for the TV rights, $10 million from the Under Armour apparel deal, $20 million that came up last week from SoFi for the jersey patch competition that's turned into, $20 million from the college football playoff,
$17 million from the ACC scheduling agreement, $12 million from the college football playoff travel stipends.
That's $129 million.
That does not include merchandise, ticket sales, and other partnerships that are going to be tied to the program.
And I sent you that, and you had a great comment.
Notre Dame is like FIFA.
Explain that.
It's like Gianni Infantino is running Notre Dame now.
Everywhere you look, you know, they're just spending money.
And the system as it's set up is sort of allowing them to do that.
And you're right.
You know, the other things that really went even in that $129 million that you made note of, I mean, the merchandising, ticket sales, I mean, that's, you know, that expands that a lot further.
My whole thought is that, you know, as long as Notre Dame can do it, and this system is allowing them to do it, and they keep making these special exceptions for Notre Dame football, they'll continue to do this.
But I've maintained for a long time, it would stop, or at least it would change, if college football in total said, join a conference.
The playoff is only open to conference members.
Thank you.
And you join a conference.
Now, it is interesting, in basketball, Notre Dame is very quick, you know, to align, whether it be the Big East before or the ACC the past several years.
Because try to make a basketball schedule if you're not at a conference.
College sports is to blame for a lot of this.
And not blame is even the thing.
I mean, Notre Dame is taking advantage of the situation as it is.
But it is off.
It is, Notre Dame can say it's because of us, because of our brand.
But I think it is also because of the way college sports is allowing Notre Dame to do this and not forcing them to play the game like everybody else.
And it's not as much a threat now as it was in the past, but I think I mentioned to you there was a point in the early 70s that USC and John McKay, when he was the AD for a while after Jeff Silver retired, while he was both football coach and AD, he was talking about USC going independent.
And even then, he was saying that the dollars don't make sense for us to stay in the pack eight, as it was called, as opposed to going independent.
And, I mean, a lot of schools could have thought the same thing, and they still might at some point if they think they can do a Notre Dame deal.
These conferences now have such big TV deals, that's probably unlikely.
But I think the bottom line is college, football in general, and the industry is allowing Notre Dame special privileges, and like the good businessmen they are, they're taking advantage of it.
But it's mostly because the system is allowing them to do it.
Rich, get richer.
Thank goodness they're humble about it.
Bruce, talking about humility, what's going on with the Big Ten coaches?
All these guys who've been in the SEC or have come off the Nick Saban tree, they seem to have short memories.
Kurt Signetti's throwing out his chest.
Right now, he's got the crown in his head.
As of right now, he has something to back it up.
We saw Bill Medan at Illinois throwing out his chest.
Others especially saying that was then, this is now SEC.
The eight-track is dead.
Your thoughts just about the moxie coming out of the Big Ten coaching circles?
Well, speaking of Kurt Signetti's head, my wife had an interesting comment the other day.
Having to watch, you know, the Big Ten media days, I was watching it.
She looked after like 10 seconds.
That guy's coloring his hair.
My wife says the same thing.
They can spot it a mile or more away.
She went up to the color.
She said, this is what me and my friend Linda, we did this.
I think you're ready, baby.
That's good.
L'Oreal, Auburn.
She said, no man in their 60s has hair colored like that, for what that's worth.
They are walking around, strutting around a lot in the Big Ten.
Maybe they should.
Petiti's not that objectionable.
When I hear him interviewed, he just seems like kind of a pleasant guy.
Signetti got a little chip on his shoulder.
You know, Ryan Dace sort of does, I think, too.
But, you know, at this point, they are sitting sort of on top.
And they're sort of letting everybody know it.
Dang it.
Yeah.
And, you know, they got that Big Ten network.
You know, and they're, you know, the TV-wise, they're, you know, that still spends a lot of money
and maybe more from the TV even than Notre Dame does, unless Notre Dame gets in the playoff
and then it doesn't split it with anybody.
But the Big Ten is still doing, it has been a model of how to work.
And they won it all.
I mean, they won the basketball title last year.
Men's, women's, their football the last three years, they've been doing great in bowl games.
So there's a lot to like there.
I think two of the more interesting hires, one is Matt Campbell at Penn State.
I think Penn State could have got a lot worse than Campbell.
I have a feeling he might do very well there and get them back up where they were used to playing.
A lot of respect for Campbell and so does everybody else.
The other one is what's going on at Michigan here with Kyle Whittingham,
which I thought is the most curious hire, that he looked like he was ready to retire.
You know, Utah, he stepped away and thought that was it.
Then all of a sudden, two weeks later, he shows up at the Michigan, the ward manual stuff.
And now he's on his way out.
They needed to, obviously, this is the most glaring example of a new sheriff in town to clean up the act.
It reminds me of Bob Knight when he got to Indiana in 1971, clearing out all the stuff that's going on there.
That's sort of what Whittingham is doing.
And if Michigan can get back in the mix, where they, you know, it's been a couple bumpy years since Harbaugh left,
and all the off-field stuff.
That's a very intriguing storyline to watch this so far.
As you know, attending the SEC media days in Tampa, the SEC has been shouting at the highest mountain
about conference strength and strength of schedule.
Indiana's future non-conference schedule came out yesterday, and there were quite a few, there's quite a reaction.
This season, they play North Texas, Howard, and Western Kentucky.
Well, you're thinking, this is going to get a little better next year.
In 2027, it's Kennesaw State, Indiana State, and UMass.
Well, in 2028, maybe they'll play some Power 4 teams, some, you know, more challenging schedule.
Austin Peay, Eastern Michigan, Miami of Ohio.
2029, Ball State, Eastern Illinois, Western Kentucky.
2030, Indiana State, and Delaware.
Now, I'm not real smart, but that's not a very challenging non-conference schedule,
and again, as Kirk Signetti has said on a couple of conferences,
we're going to continue to get away with this as we can.
The SEC shouts about, look at our strength of schedule,
and this is what Indiana has scheduled for the next five years.
Yeah, that's a very fair point.
I agree with you there.
I think it's very disappointing, the way they go about it.
By the way, I'd love to see Austin Peay beat Indiana.
Wouldn't that be sweet?
That would be wonderful.
Yeah.
But they are actually brazenly open about it.
Yes.
And this actually even started before Signetti got there,
because they have been peeling off all the Power 4s
and buying out of those games, non-conference games,
for the past few years, and including Notre Dame,
which they backed out of, and that opened up a spot for Notre Dame
and USC to put it back on the schedule in four years.
I think they start for like a four-year deal.
But that was because Indiana backed out of Notre Dame.
And their side is, well, we have a tough enough schedule in the Big Ten.
We don't need to play tough non-conference.
You know, it's always been that way.
The conference's games have always been tough.
It was tough in the 70s.
It was tough in the 80s.
It's no different right now.
And they're not the only ones doing this.
I mean, Texas Tech, for all of its bluster,
is guilty of this, too.
And I think it was sort of a template that was laid out by Bill Snyder at Kansas State.
Now, in his case, 35 years ago,
Kansas State had had a long, long run of losses, bad teams,
interrupted by one or two over like a 30-year period.
So in their case, you sort of saw trying to prop the program up.
Snyder kept doing that, though, through most of his tenure,
with a few exceptions later on.
But this is a blatant disregard of competitive instincts here or chivalry or whatever.
I mean, they should – this is the problem about scheduling and let schools do this
and Indiana's getting away with it.
And I wish Tony Petite – this would be something – I didn't go to the Big Ten media days,
but if I did, I would have brought this up and said,
what can we do about some of this?
This is really disgraceful.
Yeah.
But the thing is, it's job security,
which means Kurt Signetti can buy a more Grecian formula going forward with that schedule.
He ought to be – he ought to be darker than when he was 18 and full of self.
Bruce, fun question.
Come late December, early January,
who's going to have the happier fan base, Alabama or Auburn?
I think Alabama, because I think they'll go further.
The only thing that makes me – I mean, I think Alabama has a good shot to be in the playoff.
I don't think Auburn does.
So I think that will be the deal.
The kicker here is Auburn's not expecting to get there.
Right.
And if they do better than expected, if Alex Golesh gets to eight or nine wins
and they get – playing one of those Florida games on New Year's,
they'd be really happy, I think, at Auburn.
And conversely, if that's as far as Alabama got, I think they would be very upset.
So there's a chance in that sort of a scenario that the Auburn folks would be a lot more happy
just because the bar is set higher at Alabama right now, at least.
I do think Alabama's got a shot to get in the playoff, though, and do better than last year
and not run to Indiana.
Just everything went wrong in that Rose Bowl game.
And people forget, Alabama did win a playoff game last year on the road.
Went to Oklahoma.
That was not easy.
And they went in there and they reversed that regular season result against the Sooners.
So it wasn't all bad for Alabama last year.
But I think they've got to probably do that again, at least for the Bama's fan base,
to not be in sort of in a mutinous mood come on New Year's.
Let me ask you before we let you go.
The Protect College Sports Act bill is now in the Senate.
There is a lot of speculation.
I'm amazed it's gotten this far.
But the Big Ten and the SEC jumped on board late Friday night,
which has more or less caused this momentum.
They may actually look at it Thursday and vote on it Saturday.
We'll see where that goes before Congress recesses for five weeks.
Are you surprised that it's gotten this far?
And do you think it will be adopted?
It might.
And, yeah, this August 7th is sort of the drop-dead date.
If not that, you're right.
They go on recess after that, and they're probably not going to convene in this campaigning.
And for the rest of the fall, I don't think they'll address this.
I am wondering, in an earlier version of this, the shared media rights thing were part of it.
I'm not sure if that's part of this now.
And it was also related to that Sports Broadcasting Act from 61 that Cody Campbell was challenging.
And that would not be something that Sankey for sure would sign on to.
So I'm not sure that's part of this.
What is part of it, though, they have increased the contributions the school can make beyond that $21.3 million or $21.6 million.
They've added another $27 million to that.
So it's basically like $48 million, $49 million.
You know, that's now what they can legally do.
That's like, you know, that's part of the deal now.
And I think that was pretty big, and I think that was the biggest change that we saw in this latest proposal.
A couple of things.
One, I still don't think $48 million, $49 million comes close to covering some of these schools that are beyond that.
And apparently the nil would still exist.
It's not going away.
They're just, by expanding it up another $27 million, they're lessening the impact of the nil.
Two, let's not forget, no matter what sort of a cap they put, there has always been an underground market that could resurface.
And they can say this is $48 million, $49 million, go up to $52 million, whatever.
But under the table and in the recruiting trail and all that, money flows, and I think it would be naive to think that it doesn't.
Last thought, this is more for the big conferences and the big two, I think, Big Ten and SEC, that can meet that.
Not all the schools.
This isn't mandated by the NC2A, it's just allowed.
And a lot of the schools can't cough up $48 or $49 million.
There was only two group of six schools that have even committed to the $21.3 million this year, and that's South Florida and Memphis.
So the gap between the haves and have-nots will only grow larger with this.
It's inevitable.
I'd give it a 50-50 chance to come to a vote and pass.
Actually, I'll say 55-45, no.
I think it's a slightly more chance they won't get this thing done in time just because that's the way politics works.
But it looks like they're getting closer to an eventual answer, whether it's by August 7th or sometime next spring.
Absolutely.
Listen, great stuff.
By the way, you also predicted that Florida State's win total under 6.5 and Arkansas is under 4.5.
Bless her heart.
They can't get a break on the schedule.
Where in the world can we get online and get all of your great stuff, the gold standard?
Yeah, we're starting to put some college football season win projections up there at the goldsheet.com, part of the wagertalk.com website.
So we're all under that umbrella.
But all my picks there are under that wagertalk.com umbrella.
That includes goldsheet.com and also winners and winers, picks and parlays.
But we've got baseball.
We're picking it back up again.
Baseball is doing well this week.
And like we mentioned, NFL preseason football.
I've actually got a pick on this Hall of Fame game Thursday night up there.
Oh, me.
Panthers and the Cardinals.
Bruce, all the best.
Thank you so much.
Keep up the good work, okay?
Have a good week, boys.
Thank you, buddy.
Bruce Marshall, amongst other places, Vegas Insider.
Coming up the next hour, we're going to be going coast to coast with Matt Merchelle.
Rod Hudson's going to be checking in from Hackleburg High School.
Lane Vine saying, if you want to play some golf and help the community, he's got the tails on that.
And Ember Pierce is ready to put you on the road in style.
Let's all start ahead with the Boomo Bugg Show.
Stay with us.
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1819 News.
The National Education Association has been putting out a blog ahead of the new school year.
The blog is warning teachers throughout the nation about putting too much information or controversial statements on their social media accounts,
especially if they're making it known that they are also an educator and what school they're teaching at.
The NEA reminded teachers that the First Amendment protects their free speech, but not all speech,
and that a court will balance the teacher's free speech against the school's interest in maintaining effective operations.
The warning comes after a Montgomery teacher at Capitol Heights Middle School here in Alabama had her teaching license suspended due to her online celebration of the assassination of Charlie Kirk last September.
State school superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey was upset by teachers' reaction and notified all school superintendents here in Alabama to have forwarded any such cases to him.
Mackey called it vile and inappropriate conduct that violates the Alabama Administrative Code and Educator Code of Ethics.
I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this.
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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 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 free ride around the Tennessee Valley.
BB, obviously a jammed, packed hour.
We're hopefully going to be joining the huddle with Coach Rod Hudson down in Tackleburg High.
He is a busy boy these days, but while we wait, BB, let's talk a little bit about what we alluded to at the top of the show.
A couple of things.
We didn't get into the Braves as far as the grade.
I think a lot of Braves fans, if we're honest, are not happy with the way things turned out at the trade deadline.
Harold, I think they've got to ask a question.
And our esteemed producer, James Moody, and I were talking about this a little bit earlier.
I think they have got to make a decision.
Do they want to win another World Series, or do they just simply want to have a winning season and make money?
I can answer that.
I think that's where they are now with their front office.
And again, every business, their goal is to make a profit.
And believe me, the Braves have done that.
But they could not have been in better shape yesterday with their farm system has been revamped.
It's one of the best in baseball now.
Profar had $18 million that the Braves could have used.
And, you know, everybody was saying, and even in Thompolis, the general manager said,
our number one goal earlier in the year was to get a playoff caliber pitcher.
What pitcher?
Well, they failed to do that one more time.
Did they help themselves?
I think they did a little bit.
Lane's pretty good.
It's four.
Bailey is eh.
Lane Thomas, I think, is going to platoon with your scrims.
I think he's going to be pretty good.
But as far as enhancing the starting pitching, they get an elf.
Well, I don't know.
Here's the problem, I think, in some ways.
The good is the bad.
They are basically, their message to the fans is, what are you talking about?
We've taken this roster, and we've built a seven-and-a-half-game lead with the fields.
And we're down to the, if you will, the home stretch at the end of next month.
The season is over.
So, it's where you set the bar in life, BB.
I mean, do you want to sit here and have a winning season?
Do you want to sit here and make the playoffs?
Or do you want to commit?
There's two kinds.
I don't care if it's baseball or if you're selling bottle caps or, you know what, underwear.
There's two kinds of management teams.
Those who want to spend money.
Those who want to invest money.
Those who invest are like the Dodgers.
They don't look always at the price tag.
They've got the big picture in mind.
And you're looking, okay, we spent $100 million.
Let's do it.
Go make $200 million.
And then you've got those who want to nickel and dime and say, we can't spend $2 million because that's a lot of money.
And sometimes it costs you more by not investing, or in this case, spending, than it does not to.
So, it depends on the mindset of the management.
Do you have a short-term or long-term goal?
Where do you set the bar?
And what are you willing to sit here and do to come off the pocketbook?
Because, let's face it, a lot of these team owners, and I don't know the Braves, that's not fair for me to say, but I take the Cardinals, for example.
What they're selling is, it's always next year.
Gee whiz, you better come out and see these kids now because once they have, next year comes and goes, and next year comes and goes, and next year comes and goes, and it's always chasing the carrot.
And all you're getting is the stick as a fan.
The message I have for a lot of teams out there is, I am willing to commit to you if you are willing to commit to me.
You spend, or in this case, invest some money, put a product on the field that's competitive.
You're not always going to win.
You've got to be realistic about this stuff.
But don't sit here and pee on my leg and call it rain because, basically, in the case of Cardinals, what they're doing is they want to fill up seats with a promise.
They want a double-A, triple-A roster and budget and payroll, but they want the fans to commit to a Major League Baseball team.
Well, Harold, don't tell me that you didn't want to spend money and you had it.
They gave Profar a $45 million three-year contract, and he's been blacklisted, basically, for two years for testing positive.
Murphy is coming back, supposedly Sean Murphy, $15 million contract.
He's missed more games than he's played in for the last two and a half years.
And you've got a shortstop in Kim, who they paid $20 million to.
He's hitting less than $100.
Wow.
And he's coming back.
So, you know, once again, every general manager, Harold, you're going to have booms and busts as far as a gamble on free agents.
And they've signed some of these guys, and it just hasn't paid off.
Well, I think the problem is, in Major League Baseball right now, is you've got a management team out in Los Angeles.
Not the Angels, but the Dodgers.
They've got it going on, BB.
But let's be fair about this.
I mean, people say, well, why don't you do what the Dodgers do?
Well, it's not that simple.
They've got a big TV contract out there.
They can spend money because they're making money.
The problem is you've got a lot of management teams.
They're making money, too, but they want to sit on it.
They want to go buy a yacht.
You know, they want to go buy their love life, if you will.
I'll leave it there with that.
And they want to sit here and live on the corner street with a corner office and have all the attaboys.
But the Dodgers, they're making a lot of money, but they're spending a lot of money.
And I think that's all the fans want.
They don't.
A realistic fan knows you're not going to win the World Series, in this case, baseball, national championship, or Super Bowl and NFL.
You're not going to do that every year.
But as a management team, show us that you're serious about putting together a team.
And what you're saying there is it goes back to college football.
There's a parallel there.
You've got to be able to assess talent because, like you said, if you're putting that much money in a guy not even hitting his weight or basically hitting half his weight,
then that means that you don't know what you're doing as far as a talent evaluator.
Well, if I'm a Dodger fan, Harold, I'm happy about what they did.
Now, again, the Dodgers are Major League Baseball's Notre Dame.
They get away with a lot of things, but they signed Scooble, who has been probably the best pitcher in Major League Baseball, too, in the last three years.
That tells me, once again, the Dodgers want to win a World Series.
Don't you feel sorry for teams like San Diego because they're spending money.
The Yankees are spending money.
But the difference is those franchises have money, too.
And the Padres, they're just basically in the process of going over to a multi-billionaire, so they're going to have plenty of money to spend.
But you can have all the money in the world.
But if you don't know how to evaluate talent and how to spend it, we talked about Kurt Signetti in Indiana throwing out his chest and blowing smoke.
Well, you know what?
He can back it up because, yes, he's got a lot of money with Mark Cuban and others there at Indiana, but he also knows how to spend it and how to evaluate talent, baby.
Well, San Diego's got one of the worst form teams in Major League Baseball, Harold, but they keep spending.
I think they got Gossman and Robbie Ray, if I'm not mistaken.
They got two high-caliber pitchers.
And, again, the Dodgers didn't have to do anything, Harold.
They didn't need to make one move, and they're still probably going to be in the World Series.
But when you go get scoobled, that tells me they want to win another one.
Well, and look at Ohtani, how much money they spend there.
So they don't care.
All they're worried about, they don't worry.
One of the guys that was intriguing in this business I had over the years, you'd sit down and talk.
He never cared what he was paying.
He didn't.
And I know that sounds crazy because here's what he put on you.
He wants to make this much money back.
He was willing to invest.
He'd pay you good, but he also put standards on what he expected back.
So I think that's what the Dodgers did.
We'll put the money out there, but this is what we want with the ROI, return on the investment.
But, again, here's the crazy thing, B.B.
If the Braves go ahead and win, come October, we're going to look back and say,
boy, people were stupid.
This management team, they knew how to spend money, and they won.
But I still got to see at the end of it.
I think they're going to make the playoffs because they got so much momentum out now
and got so much room between them and the fields.
They'll make the playoffs.
The question is, how far in the playoffs are they going to go?
All right, B.B., let's switch gears.
This first big poll out, the coaches have spoken.
Are you shocked with anything that you've seen starting with Ohio State, Oregon, 1 and 2?
No.
No.
Harold, again, I knew Texas, Georgia would be in the top five, top six.
Ohio State was going to be up there.
I'm certainly not surprised at Alabama being 11.
Again, the same thing I've been saying all summer.
If Alabama had Ty Simpson coming back, Parker Browsford, and Proctor, Alabama would probably be number eight in the first coaches poll.
But, no, actually, most of those teams, I agree with the Brews.
I mean, we've seen all these preseason rankings.
Again, the coaches poll, I thought it was coming out.
The AP poll should be out in a couple weeks.
But am I shocked as far as the rankings?
No.
The big O's are 1 and 2.
Again, Ohio State and Oregon.
And I think the coaches poll must be looking at the SEC media and where they put some of the guys from our neck of the woods.
The SEC has Georgia and Texas 1 and 2 in the league.
The coaches have Georgia 3 and 4 in their poll.
And I think that's pretty close.
But is there a team right now, two teams out there, BB, that I think is going to carry the I hate you on their jersey, Notre Dame and Texas Tech.
How in the world can Notre Dame be number five with all the money they got to spend?
Well, Harold, CJ Carr is one of the best quarterbacks in the country.
He did really well at the Manning Facing Academy in May.
And he's going to have a great year.
Now, they don't have the running backs that they did last year.
They've got a secondary.
They'd intercepted 21 passes.
And they've got a three-game schedule.
Notre Dame is going to be in the top four, Harold, I think, the majority of the season.
Now, can they get upset?
Certainly, and they've done that before.
But no surprise to me, Notre Dame's in the top four.
Well, there's Notre Dame with that schedule.
And you mentioned earlier about Indiana soft marshmallow schedule.
They're number six.
But here's the problem I have with that.
As long as they can get away with it, if the rules say you can, then what can you say about it?
I'm not a big fan of it, but we understand that's the way it is.
The problem that I think is kind of like a subset story to this is not only are you picking up wins, but by the end of the season, Indiana's roster should be, barring a freak accident, relatively healthy compared to, say, Alabama, Auburn, any team in the SEC.
It's got to go through that physical of a schedule, how many more nicks and bruises.
Maybe they're not even entirely out for the season with an injury, but by the time you get to late November and the end of the regular season, you are beat up in the SEC heading into the postseason, where Indiana, and let's face it, Notre Dame, by comparison, they've been able to rest their starters after maybe even a half, certainly after the third quarter.
Yeah, and Indiana's defense is going to be really good.
Again, a lot of people overlook their defense.
I don't think the offense is going to be good, but again, I give Kurt Signetti the benefit of the doubt, Harold.
You know, if you're number one, a lot of people feel, well, if you finish number one, you need to start number one.
That usually doesn't happen, but same situation you alluded to with Alabama.
But they did well, really, until midseason, until Simpson got hurt, and his numbers went down.
By the time Alabama played Georgia again in the SEC championship, listen, they had a laundry list of injuries going into that Georgia game, and Georgia was ready, played very well, won the game, which they should have.
But, yeah, when you go through the gauntlet that you've got in an SEC schedule, by the time you get to the end of the year, with one additional conference game and one bye week, it's going to be tough to get through.
Let me finish at the top ten here.
Miami, how far have they come over the last few years?
Texas A&M is number eight.
A lot of folks are really mixed on Oklahoma at number nine and Ole Miss at number ten.
Your thoughts about the balance of the top ten, baby, from the USA folks?
Oklahoma and Ole Miss may be a little bit high, a little bit higher, but I figured they'd be somewhere between eight and 12.
But, yeah, I can't really argue with the top ten for the coaches poll.
By the way, Alabama again, number 11.
And Ole Miss' former coach, Lane Kiffin in LSU, sitting at the Baker's Dozen, number 13.
Will he be lucky or not?
Stay tuned.
Coming up, we're going to be taking it all over the place, going to be going out to Lane Vines.
He's out at YMCA, and a chance to get out and have some fun and help the community.
It's got some details right ahead.
Stay with us here on the Boomo Bugg Show.
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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 open the door and say hello to Lane Vize.
He is the director, executive director, matter of fact, of the YMCA of the shows.
Lane, welcome in.
How are you?
Hey, I'm fine.
Good afternoon.
Thank you for having me.
Yeah, you're more than welcome.
Is your message, open up your heart and get your golf clubs out and let's have some fun.
Is that your message, Lane?
I think you just did the complete interview right there.
There you go.
You have a nice day, Lane.
Thank you.
Obviously, it's not that simple.
It's not that simple.
Y'all have been a part of our golf tournament for many years.
You've come out and interviewed me.
Y'all have had the show, I think, even broadcast from Turtle Point back in the day.
So we really appreciate the partnership that we have with you and your station and your program.
So thank you so much for supporting us all those years.
We were 25 years at Turtle Point.
We played our tournaments there.
Yeah.
The last three years we've been at RTJ, we just sort of outgrew Turtle Point.
But there are great people there and great people at RTJ, and they know how to do a tournament in both locations.
But we use our tournament each year or our tournament to sort of work for the Y to help us raise some funds and proceeds that benefit our mission-critical programs.
And those programs, many of the community knows about.
That's our before and after-school care programs, our summer day camp, even our chronic disease programs,
programs that support Parkinson's, that help those with Parkinson's, and Fit to Fight, a program that supports cancer survivors.
So these proceeds help us, you know, offer those programs to the community at low or no cost.
And so many people know about our membership and our sports and our recreation and a lot of things we do there,
but they may not be aware of all of our charitable efforts.
Lane, that's what I was going to ask you.
We'll get back to the golf tournament in a second.
I was not aware of your chronic disease.
My dad died of Parkinson's.
I watched him suffer for years with this.
Talk about that.
Everyone knows about the YMCA.
How much has it changed over the years?
Great questions.
You know, I've been a part of our particular Y here for about nine years,
and we were kind of seeing this grow, this disease where more people were coming in to do some exercise and that type of thing to try to mitigate symptoms and live a better quality of life.
Well, we picked up a program that's nationally recognized called Rock Steady Boxing.
And in that program, we're not teaching everybody to beat each other up and that type of thing.
But let me tell you what, when you have a chronic disease like Parkinson's, you better fight.
And you better work to mitigate those symptoms and keep your quality of life, you know, as long as you can.
And so, and that's what the program does.
It works on strength and agility, flexibility, fall prevention, those type of things.
And we have over 40 people regularly attend the program a couple of times a week.
Yeah, we teach it in the mornings.
We've got different levels.
So our staff will evaluate and see what the boxers are able to do, where they are in their progression.
And then we basically put them into a group of others that are, you know, their same abilities.
And it's worked really well.
And people speak so highly of the program.
And I'm sorry to hear that about your father.
And it's a disease no one wants to have, but we can help.
We feel we're a good outlet to help those and keep symptoms at bay and maybe give someone a little better quality of life for a while.
And we work with doctors, too, that refer individuals to us.
So we're known in the area for that program.
Lane Vines is with us, the executive director of the YMCA of the shows.
Lane, talk to us about, you know, I was listening the other day to someone and said that life's always been tough.
But in this modern era, it's really, really tough.
And for obvious reasons, anyone who's been around the farm long enough knows what we're talking about.
But how big of a problem is it just from the standpoint of trying to get food out to kids, after-school programs, et cetera?
How big is the problem for that and other issues in the greater shows there that you serve?
You know, that's a great question.
There is a need for affordable, quality child care in the show.
And that's what I believe we have.
And we have funders and certainly the golf tournament.
We have a charitable run that we do in the fall called Tracks for Max, named after Max Barnett, one of our volunteers on our board.
And those events all have charitable proceeds that benefit these programs.
But there's a real need for that.
And so these programs, if it's after school, parents need to know that they have a quality program that kids can go to, yes, where they're fed, where homework is done.
Parents want them to come home a little tired and dirty, too.
You know, so they've been in classroom and that type of thing all day.
But camp works the same way.
We have them here from the morning to the evening.
We program throughout the day, field trips.
We teach them swim lessons, drowning prevention programs, have a lot of fun here on site.
And so we run about 150 children in our summer day camp.
We run about 120, 125 in our after-school program.
So we're serving a good many people.
We have great partners, such as NACOG for our transportation, Florence City Schools, the counties, Lauderdale County Schools are great partners.
So we support them.
They support us.
We certainly want to be a provider for quality child care in our area.
Lane, tell us about the golf tournament.
I know we introduced you to begin.
Robert Trent Jones, Thursday, August 27th.
I know you're probably looking for sponsors, looking for foursomes.
Tell us more about how we can sign up for it.
Well, thank you.
I appreciate that.
Yeah, we have been blessed this year.
We have 44, 45 teams.
So we have just filled up just recently.
And so we're going to have a great out.
And right now we're just praying for good weather, you know, but it's usually a little hot and dry in August.
But sponsors, we're always willing to work with and can take on more sponsors.
I wanted to give a quick shout out just to a few, and you know these folks in town, but Long Lewis Foundation, they're one of our platinum sponsors.
They do so much good in the community.
Legacy Park Homes is another.
It's a new one this year.
They provide some, they're actually a new housing community that's providing housing for exceptional needs individuals in our community.
So we've got two platinum sponsors, TNT Fireworks.
You all know them, American Paper and Twine, Lister Hill Credit Union, JANCO.
We've got even a company that's sort of out of town that helps us with our pools.
And so they've really stepped up to be larger corporate and what we call silver and platinum sponsors at a higher level to really help make this tournament go well.
But we've been blessed at this point.
So we're good.
We're full of teams.
And we'd love to have you come out and see the golfers and speak to everyone, maybe have a hamburger with us as they come in.
But we've been blessed this year.
A couple of things on that.
Number one, I would imagine you always welcome volunteers if you want to do that.
And the big question that a lot of us want to know, Lane, if we come out, do you throw in free golf lessons for all of us hackers?
Let me tell you what.
I think my picture is on the wall out there.
I think I'm wanted for playing.
You're in the Hall of Fame too, huh?
With us?
Yeah.
Yeah.
We'd love to have volunteers, sponsors, and more information is on our website, ymcatheshoals.org.
Or they can certainly call our Y.
We're at 256-246-YMCA.
And so we're happy to help anyway around our golf tournament.
Lane, you mentioned this a little bit earlier.
Kevin Johnson, the voice of the Florence Falcons, good friend of ours.
He's a big proponent of tracks for mags.
And people are saying, well, that's Thanksgiving.
That's 10 years away.
No, it's not.
He's going to be here next time we turn around.
Talk about that event and how our listeners can get involved in it.
Thank you.
Yes.
The short version of that story is we had a volunteer on our board, Max Barnett, and he
passed in 2020.
And we wanted to do something.
Some friends of his and our Y staff wanted to do something to honor him and also to help
raise some money for the Y in our charitable mission-critical program.
And so, yeah, Brother Kevin stepped forward from the church and offered his location as a place
to kind of start and wrap up the event.
And he's also kind of done the DJ workforce, if you will, sort of the microphone and does
a great job.
And he's gotten behind that program and so is the community.
We have over 1,000 runners and walkers each Thanksgiving.
So it's just kind of a quick event.
We launch at 8 o'clock on Thanksgiving morning and you think, how unusual is that?
But, you know, the weather has held out every year.
You're in and out in less than an hour.
You can work out before you pig out, get a few calories burned, and you don't feel so
bad at the table.
But it's a great family outing.
We do some costume contests or the most family that come out type contests.
We've had more than 15 family members in one group go out.
So people ring their dogs.
That's fine, too.
So, yeah, it's a great family outing and something now I think the community expects.
And we really appreciate Brother Kevin, too, doing that.
Lane, tell us again, we've got an audience coming in and out, but if they would like to
get more information on all of your classes, and again, I'm delighted to hear about the
chronic disease support because they really need, a lot of families really need that website.
Call and talk to your staff.
How can we get more information?
Not only about the golf tournament and transfer mags, but the activities that the YMCA sponsors.
Yes, and please contact us.
Our website is ymcasholes.org, or they can phone us at 256-246-9622, or if in the area, please stop by the Y.
We'd love to help.
But, yes, our information is on our website.
We also have, just like most businesses, social media that you can kind of keep up with what's going on.
But certainly our chronic disease programs, our youth programs, our drowning prevention programs, all of our programs are all listed on our website.
Some have online joining as well.
Others you need to do in person, but we'd love to have you.
We would.
Sounds great, Lane.
Listen, man, it's always good to catch up with you.
Tell Brother Kevin to throw up another prayer for good weather for your golf tournament, okay?
Thank you so much.
Appreciate you guys.
Thank you, Lane.
Lane Bynes, again with us, the executive director of the YMCA of the Shoals.
Let's go from the Shoals to Orlando and Matt Mischel on deck.
Stay with us.
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Progressive Insurance presents The Sports Flash on 93.9, The Score.
First preseason game of the NFL is Thursday night.
It's the Hall of Fame game between the Cardinals and the Panthers.
Before the trade deadline yesterday, the Atlanta Braves made a couple of moves, adding to the pitching staff
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The Braves are currently 67-45.
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The score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back.
It's time to hit the ground running.
This is Matt Murcia, college insider with the Orlando Center.
His podcast is called Gridiron 365.
Matt, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm doing well.
How are you guys doing today?
We're doing fine.
Probably trying to keep up with you.
Most NCC camps are going to open the door tomorrow, but your boys right next door, they're already off and running, are they not?
Yeah, actually, first practice was yesterday, and it was a gorgeous sunny day in the morning, and UCF got a chance to get things kicked off.
We got a chance to check out Alonzo Barnett III, who's the new starting quarterback for the night.
You know, he missed most of the spring.
He was kind of held out just for precautionary things, and he got a chance to step on the field and really kind of showcase himself a little bit in the 20-minute window we got to see.
It was good to see, you know, a lot of bounce, a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of expectations, but as I tell people all the time, it was day one of a month-long camp.
We'll see how things go in the next couple weeks.
Yeah, and it's the second year for Scott Frost.
It's a classic example, Matt, that sometimes the grass is not always greener on the other side.
Nebraska, in the context of the time, looked appealing, but it was not a good fit from day one.
Scott Frost has an opportunity that very few people have in life to come back to Central Florida.
But now, be it as it may, he had, like all the coaches, had his honeymoon last year, and now it's time to get down to business, as they say.
Your thoughts about Scott Frost, part two.
Yeah, you know, very interesting.
You know, Scott really kind of went back in 2017 when he was, you know, considering taking the Nebraska job.
It was a back-and-forth type of situation.
Everything I was told was, you know, he really kind of, you know, hemmed it hard at it.
He wasn't necessarily, it wasn't a given he was going to leave.
When he finally left, it was a very emotional time for him.
And obviously, eight years later, he comes back at UCF.
And, you know, year one didn't go necessarily like I think he would have liked it, you know, finishing five and seven.
But as I tell people, you know, I mean, imagine coming back from, you know, three or four years out of coaching.
All of a sudden, you walk into what is now our transfer portal.
You walk into revenue share.
You walk into NIL.
You walk into government interference.
This is a much different game than it was three or four years ago.
So, you know, Scott's really had to kind of adjust on the fly.
Last year, it was a lot of that.
You know, the coaches say drinking out of the fire hose.
You know, he had hired a GM.
They had to kind of retool how they want to do things.
He sure has been so much better for him.
He talked about this yesterday, how more comfortable he is going into fall camp.
He feels relaxed.
You know, it doesn't feel like necessarily, you know, like everything is kind of coming at him at 100 miles an hour.
That being said, there's pressure on him.
He's got to find a way to start winning football, you know, especially, you know, particularly on the road.
They haven't been very good on the road.
UCF has lost nine straight road games.
They've got to find a way to win on the road in the Big 12.
They've got to find a way to start making some hay.
I mean, this is a powerful conference.
They wanted to be there for so long.
Now they're there.
You've got to find a way to kind of utilize that and take advantage of it.
So this is an opportunity for Scott to share.
And I think he understands there's going to be some challenges.
But also, he feels like they're ready for it based on the fact that they've got a lot of experienced players coming back in a star quarter.
Well, let me ask you about the star quarterback.
Barnett was at James Madison.
21-6 as a starter.
Threw for 49 touchdowns.
Rushed for 23 more.
Oh, by the way, you led James Madison to the college football playoff, which tells you a lot about him.
Man, if he can stay healthy in the offense jails, this could be a fun offense to watch.
Yeah, very much so.
You know, that's something that quarterback has been a major concern for UCF over the last year or four years.
Just doing a little research myself, they've gone through six starting quarterbacks in the last 24 games.
And that just isn't a recipe.
No.
You've got to have continuity in that quarterback position.
And so that's kind of their feeling with Alonzo.
They can get him on the field and he can perform and even perform better than he did last year when he won Sunbelt Offensive Player of the Year.
They feel like their offense can run much better.
I think that's going to be the case.
I mean, last year they didn't have much coming out of the quarterback position.
They kind of played musical chairs with it back and forth.
You know, it didn't really help them out offensively.
This time around, they feel like they've got a guy who can stay upright and healthy that can really kind of help guide them.
Also, too, the biggest thing is his leadership.
That's one of the things they've lacked in the last couple years.
They need someone in the huddle who can basically get the guys together and say, listen, we're going to march down the field and we're going to score on this drive.
You know, they didn't have anybody like that.
And now you've got a guy who comes in who's had that experience, who's gone to a college football player, who's played big games, and can say to these guys, listen, man, we're going to march down the field and score on this drive.
And I think that's kind of the big thing that they've really lacked.
And it's going to be interesting to see, like I said, if they can keep him upright and he plays the entire season, I think they've got enough skill positions around him that they can put up some big numbers.
Now, whether, you know, winning six, seven, eight games, what that turns into will range to be seen.
But still, I feel like it's got to be better than what they've had last couple.
Matt Merchelle, among other places, check out his podcast, Gridiron 365.
Matt, your thoughts about where college football is going.
Notre Dame, guarantee, guarantee is the G word, at least, at least $129 million.
We won't worry about all the details.
But at the end of the day, this deal and that deal adds up to at least, again, $129 million.
Is Notre Dame basically the Los Angeles Dodgers?
Just they have a blank check to have success from a monetary standpoint.
And at what point can everybody in the world of college football compete?
We know in baseball, if you've got money in a big TV deal like the Dodgers, that's one thing.
You've got a national brand like Notre Dame, that's one thing.
But going forward, where are the boundaries for spending in college football?
Well, I mean, that's one of the reasons why, guys, when people say to me, you know, like, Notre Dame needs to join a conference.
I always say, why?
Why would they do it?
I mean, Johnny wants all the pie, man.
Exactly.
They print their own money.
You know, listen, I've been in South Bend and I covered Notre Dame for a lot of years.
You know, it helped out for the coverage with it.
It's a totally different universe, you know.
I mean, they come in and it's not like they need to do that with football.
But, yeah, other sports they had the need to move to the ACC because they feel it was a better opportunity for them to get, you know, chances to get into the World Series, baseball World Series, softball World Series, things like that.
But, honestly, you know, Notre Dame really can do whatever it wants.
And with that money, I mean, it helps to present them for success.
I mean, just look at their facilities.
I think they put up a video the other day about their facilities.
They're opening up.
It's gorgeous.
Everyone said, you know, why would you leave them there?
But that's kind of the elite.
That's the upper echelon of teams.
Much like Ohio State and Alabama and some of these programs that have a lot of money to deal with.
You know, they have the resources to be able to kind of handle those things.
Where I think it's going to be interesting is it's the bottom half of the league.
Thank you.
It's a school that basically, exactly, that don't have that kind of money, that don't have million-dollar boosters.
It's something we were talking about UCF.
It's something what UCF is dealing with.
They're a young school.
They don't have million-dollar boosters ready to write a check.
So how do you get forward and how do you make that money and how do you compete?
Well, there's got to be a blueprint for that, you know, and I think somewhere along the way they've got to figure that out.
You know, I mean, Indiana was kind of a unique situation last year, but even Indiana has some boosters like Mark Cuban who can put some checks out there and help funnel some money in there.
But otherwise, you know, you're looking around and you're looking at what's going on with the future college athletics and you think, how can we compete?
How can we compete?
And I think that's the challenge.
It's easy for Greg Sanky.
It's easy for Tom Panetti.
You know, all those guys in the big conferences that say, oh, well, this is what we're trying to do.
This is what we want to do.
But when you're a small-time school, you're looking at those guys thinking, man, you're not even thinking about how can we compete?
How can we compete?
And it's a challenge.
And I think that's why you've got to find a way to be able to find success or accept success.
It may not be a college football playoff spot.
It may be just trying to contend in your conference.
It may be trying to occasionally win the conference title.
It may be different kind of what your goals are than what maybe a program like a Notre Dame or an Ohio State,
because you just don't have the resources.
Let me ask you about Florida State.
Several people have asked me about Ashton Daniels, who is the Auburn quarterback,
played last year in Hugh Freeze's system toward the end of the year.
After he was gone and had a phenomenal game, his run for 1,400 yards, 11 touchdowns,
they brought in some transfers, Wisner from Texas, Croma.
I think they've got some skilled people.
But, again, Mike Norvell is under a lot of pressure this year.
Of course, they've got the return game to Tuscaloosa.
How will Ashton Daniels do at quarterback for FSU?
Well, you know, I think that's going to be interesting because, you know, you talk about, you know,
a lot of buzz around programs in the state here.
I've told this, I think I've mentioned this to you guys several times, that there is just no buzz around Florida State.
I mean, and it's crazy because, again, as you mentioned, Mike Norvell is on the hot seat here.
You know, they've got to find a way to turn things around.
I think Ashton Daniels' performance is going to be interesting this year.
You know, they have essentially a new offensive coordinator, so to speak.
You know, Gus Malvon decided to leave.
You know, and now Norvell comes back and takes over the play calling along with Tim Harris Jr.
How do they kind of incorporate what Mike wants to do and what Gus did?
You know, because I've read some things where, you know, they still want to come see some of the things Gus did.
But, you know, how does that benefit Ashton Daniels?
And is he going to be able to find a way to go out there and perform?
What happens if he doesn't perform?
What happens if he starts?
Yeah, that's him.
Do they make a move?
Do they pull in, you know, Kevin Sperry, a talented freshman that they've got as a backup?
Do they throw him out there?
Do they, you know, I mean, how much leeway do you give guys, you know, if you start out, you know,
if you struggle and you start, I think the benefit to them is they get New Mexico State to start things off.
You know, they got SMU, which is going to be a tough game.
And then they're at Alabama.
So we'll know truly what the Florida State team is probably after, you know, after that Alabama.
They'll get a chance to see if this team is good enough to compete.
Is it good enough to contend in the A.C.
Or is it just going to kind of be, you know, a mid-range 5-7, 6-6 type?
You know, because, again, they're going to have challenges.
They're at Miami.
You know, they're at Louisville.
They've placed Clemson.
That's a brutal three-game schedule.
And then they wrap up at Florida.
And, you know, you don't know what John Summerall is going to be able to do in Florida this year.
So I think it's a big challenge for Mike Norvell, but one that I think he's got to find a way to find success.
Or else he's going to find his way out the door.
Because I just don't think they can go very much longer without that kind of success.
Yeah, I think you're right.
Listen, I always enjoy the conversation.
Saw a pic of you with that hat on.
Boy, you need one in summer camp, along with a lot of other things.
Plenty of liquid refreshment, quite frankly.
Where can we get online and get all your great stuff as far as coverage of UCL and college football?
Yeah, you can go to OrlandoSentinel.com to check out the latest or follow me on social media.
Oh, that's Matt Merchelle.
Yeah, I got the hat, I got Sunblock, I got Gatorade, I've got just about everything.
There you go.
Even at 9 o'clock in the morning, it's about 98 degrees, 100 degrees humidity.
So, see what happens, right?
Yeah, everything, everything, but more time to get all those deadlines met now that it's here.
Matt, listen, good luck to you.
Thank you so much.
And stay safe down there, okay?
All right, thanks a lot, guys.
You take care, okay?
You too, bud.
Matt Merchelle, Gridiron 365 is the podcast.
It's coming up, time to check in with the man, Elmer Pierce.
It's on deck.
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The score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in.
It's a pleasure for us to open the door and say hello to Elmer Pierce.
He's in honor of Garner Pierce Autos.
Elmer, welcome in.
How are you?
Hey, good, guys.
Good.
How are y'all doing?
And I thought even the other day, I was walking out the house and my neighbor was coming up the driveway and he says,
I hate to bother you, man.
Can you give me a ride down to O'Reilly's?
I need an alternator.
His muscle Mustang burned up his alternator literally a half mile from the house.
And I said, I'll do two things.
By the way, his name is Bear.
I said, Bear, I'll take you to the auto parts store, but after that, you need to go see Elmer Pierce.
Would you agree?
Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Guys, we work on anything and everything and do anything and everything imaginable to these things.
So, yeah, we've had a lot of classics in here, everything from 40s, 50s, 60s model Corvettes and even some Maseroles or Maseratis.
And anything you'd think of, we probably worked on it and probably a job that we've done.
Elmer, let me ask you about the service department.
Talk about the training.
Listen, these guys know what they're doing.
Talk about the training they get to come work for you.
Well, I mean, everybody we have here is ASE certified and it's continuous training.
That's, you know, that's something that people don't see a lot is, you know, at four o'clock in the afternoon, once a month, once every three months, these guys are leaving here.
And they're going to a four-hour training class and, you know, and that goes on and on and on and is continuous.
And I've got three days of training for me and my service manager and my shop foreman.
We're going out to Vegas for three whole days of nothing but training.
And I told them, I said, hey, I know it's Vegas.
I know we're going to have a good time, but you better get ready.
We have got about 20 hours of class time in those three days.
So, you know, it's serious and it's serious training as well.
Some of us in here thinking about that.
Can you imagine somebody now going back to when we all grew up at our age group anyway, you'd pull up, get under a shade tree, and everybody could sit there and change their own oil.
You could pull the engine out.
Can you imagine now with all that stuff going on?
Because, like you said, that's the key.
Even though you may know it today, as fast as stuff is changing, it's all different tomorrow.
Everything is changing every single day.
We own our scan tools back here, guys.
These scan tools are $13,000 to $15,000 a piece.
And we're paying about $2,500 a year for four updates per year.
I mean, every three months we're getting an update because so much is changing and it's changing so fast.
That's how fast we see these cars in here.
I mean, we may get a 20-27 in the next 30, 45 days.
So, you've got to have a scan tool that already knows what that 27 is going to say.
So, that happens and happens all the time right here.
Absolutely.
Elmer, once again, who, what, when, and where, times, days, all that good stuff.
All right, guys.
Monday through Friday on the server side, 8 o'clock to 5 o'clock every day.
If you're going to be after 5, just give us a shout.
2261 Florence Boulevard right here next to Applebee's, Florence, Alabama.
768-5660.
If you want to give us a call, come and see us at www.garnerpearsautos.com anytime.
And give us a shout.
My cell number's on the website.
You can call me anytime, shoot me a text, whatever you want to do.
Elmer, it's always good to catch you with you.
Start playing for that Las Vegas trip.
They tell me it's not exactly like Waterloo, so be careful out there, okay?
You are correct, Nordley.
Thanks again, guys.
Thank you, Elmer.
How fun.
There you have it, Elmer Pierce.
B.B., are you ready for some Braves back at it tonight?
Yeah, again, Harold, they're playing well on the field.
They just, a lot of Braves fans wanted to see something happen off the field yesterday and didn't happen.
But you can listen to Braves tonight on 93-9 to score.
And they'll start tonight a seven-and-a-half game lead on the Philadelphia Fields.
Check it out right here on 93-9 to score once again.
It's going to take care of business for now.
On behalf of B.B., Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here.
Terrell Buck, thank you so much for your time today.
Let's do it again tomorrow, noon to two, for the Boom on Buck Show, back here on Sports Radio, 93-9 to score.