Taaffe Sidelined, NBA Returns, and a Mississippi State Deep Dive

On this edition of the program, you'll hear from both Ryan Niblett and Steve Sarkisian while the Longhorns prepare to face Mississippi State without their starting safety, Michael Taaffe.

Bulldogs play-by-play voice Neil Price joins the show from Starkville to talk about the difference from year one to year two under Jeff Lebby.

Plus, with the NBA season underway Mavericks broadcaster Mark Followill shares some of the storylines he's most looking forward to along with his early impressions of Cooper Flagg.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Remember day old commercial Humday, Home Day, hum Day, Humday.
Right when we get over the hump today, we hope
to do that or help you get over the hump.
Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome not only to a hum Day,
but a yacht Rock Wednesday here on Sports Radio AM
thirteen hunder the Zone.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
My name is Craig Wait. Thank you very much for
joining us.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
I always say it on Wednesday, if it is truly
indeed your hump day, to get over the hump.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Hopefully we can help you do that.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
For those fortune of you for whom Wednesday signals the
end of the work week, good on you, Good for you,
and I hope you enjoy the next couple of days
wherever how long your day off or your weekend might be.
And for those of you whose work week starts with Wednesday,
well we'll try to help you kind of push through
that and get on with it.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
As well.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
As I mentioned into yacht Rock Wednesday return cuts today
you'll hear from some of the great yacht rock artists
of the day. You'll hear that as well, and we've
got a lot of things to get to on the
program coming up in a few minutes. Mark follow ULLs,
the television play by play voice of the Dallas Mavericks.
Mark also does Big ten Football and Big Ten Network.

(01:05):
He also does international soccer for Fox, and he's going
to do some NBA for NBC this year. And of course,
NBC made its return to NBA television in a big
way last night with a double overtime win for the
defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder over the Houston Rockets, and
also the late nighter the Lakers and the Warriors. Producers

(01:29):
of the program is Jay Carmon, how much of any
or all of that did you take in last night?

Speaker 3 (01:34):
I was taking in some bits and pieces my typical
regular season NBA watch experience. I'll come in and out.
I saw replays of the NBC intro. Yeah, right, you
got the laser, You've got round ball rock. I saw
MJ sit down interview with Mike Tarico.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
That was interesting, and that's apparently just part one. They're
going to continue with this for a series of these.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Yeah, and all that was all that was fantastic. I
thought that the presentation looked awesome. It felt like a
big event. And as for the games, I caught the
fourth quarter in overtimes of the Rockets and the Thunder,
and then I caught about the first half of the
Laker game. I'm one of those guys though regular season
NBA is not my main jam, but opening night brings

(02:20):
some spectacle. I was excited to see how Luca and
the Lakers would look. And the answer, well, not as
good as Steph Curry the Warriors.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, yeah, that's true.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
Now tonight is opening night for the Dallas Mavericks and
the San Antonio Spurs. Mavericks and Spurs will face off
against one another at the American Airline Center in Dallas,
and that's why I said, we'll have Mark followell on
to talk about that, to talk about the Cooper flag
era beginning in Dallas, all of those things.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
So we'll do that.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
Also in this two o'clock hour, we'll have Inconceivable. In
the three o'clock hour, Neil Price, the play by play
voice of the Mississippi State Bulldogs, will join us to
talk about this team that the Longhorns will encounter on
Saturday at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville. In the four
o'clock hour, we will hear from Ryan Nibletts from his

(03:11):
media session yesterday and from Loghorn's head coach Steve Sarkisian,
who did hit the SEC teleconference this morning. Again, I've
explained this, but I feel compelled to kind of explain it.
Excuse me, tickle in the throat. I felt compelled to
explain it again and probably every week because I'm sure

(03:33):
there's some people who wonder, you know, when does Sark
do all of these things? And how often is he available?
I mean, we had somebody on the text line yesterday
was asking about the lack of media availabilities and I
was like, no, they're everywhere, mainly for Sark, but the
player's big, main media availability day is Monday. It's been

(03:54):
like that for years, and those who can make it
over on Monday do so. Usually Michael Taff is there
every Monday. He was not there on Monday. Because you've
probably heard the news by now. Taff sustained a broken
thumb in the win last Saturday night at Kentucky. He's
had surgery for it. They don't know how long he'll

(04:16):
be out. It's not believed to be season ending, but
he'll be out. Kind of sounds like the John Myteer injury,
you know, So who knows? Two weeks, three weeks, four weeks,
whoever you know. Of course, Michael didn't have to throw
a football either, so we'll find out more again. We'll
hear from Sark today and then of course he does
a media availability as Zoom media availability tomorrow. We also

(04:40):
have Long Worn Weekly and we will be recording that
show this evening over on campus. You'll hear it tomorrow
evening at six o'clock. Normally you hear it at seven,
but you'll hear it at six because we're going to
broadcast the Texas women's basketball exhibition game against Love of
Christian at right at straight up seven. So we'll carry
the whole program Long Worn Weekly with coach start right

(05:02):
up to seven o'clock and then jump right in with
the women's basketball exhibition game.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
We'll do that.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
A couple other housekeeping things I want to get to
before we get to the break. You've heard me talk
about the giveaways ravelin program one that we haven't gotten to.
I mentioned it yesterday, but here it is in its reality.
A chance for you to win a four pack of
tickets to see the Texas Stars play the Iowa Wild
this Saturday night at the HB Center in Cedar Park,

(05:29):
so real, easy to win, and the way we contest,
and it'll be in both of the contests, including the
one we've been talking about for the past couple of days,
is what you do is you download the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
It's free.

Speaker 1 (05:41):
Then you search AM thirteen hundred the zone. It pops
right up. You'll see two buttons. One's a little white
triangular button that's just to listen to what's going on
in the ear. The important button for the contesting is
a little red button with a white microphone in it.
You tap that red microphone button and then you leave
us a message with the key word that you here
on this show, and the keyword for today simple enough

(06:04):
skate skate as in what they do when they play hockey.
So to win a four pack of tickets to see
the Texas Stars against the Iowa Wild Saturday night atb
Center and Cedar Park, download the iHeartRadio app. Search AM
thirteen under the zone. You'll see the red button with
a white microphone. Tap that leave us up to thirty
seconds on your message. You don't have to do that.

(06:25):
As long as you say I heard on Craigway Show,
You're giving away Texas Stars tickets. The keyword is skate.
That would be enough. That's all you'd have to do
to be in the drawing to see if it comes up.
So good luck to you. And then of course the
other contest. We've been talking about this since Monday. It's
the cow bell contest. The reason we're doing this, Texas
is going to a place where the fans regularly regale

(06:49):
you with cow bell clattering. In fact, Sark was asked
about it on the sec Telecomfort Day. You'll hear his
comment about that. So we have obviously that's what this
noise is. We have a cowbell hillar in the studio.
But it got me to thinking, what's the best song?
The best song that involves a cow bell? And the

(07:12):
best song that involves a cow bell cannot include Don't
Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult does not include
that because of the SNL skit and we all know
about that with Christopher Walkin playing Bruce Dickinson and when
they were all going through that, I'm.

Speaker 4 (07:30):
Telling you, fellas, you're gonna want that cow bell from
the track.

Speaker 1 (07:35):
That so that one is removed from the equation. Other
than that, we want to know what is the best
song that employs the use of the cowbell. And I'm
also going to help you out on some things. Do
not submit any of these. And the reason why is
and they're all great songs with cow bell. They've already
been submitted, and in case of a tie, the first

(07:56):
person to submit it is gonna get the tickets. That's
the price, by the way, two tickets to see the
Long Ones play Vanderbilt a week from sas. Do not
submit these tickets, I mean not tickets. Do not submit
these songs Honky Tonk Woman, The Rolling Stones, Low Rider
by War Mississippi, Queen by Mountain, and Good Times Bad

(08:20):
Times by led Zeppelin. Those have already We've already had
several several of our entries submit those, So do not
submit that.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
Get creative.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
There's lots of songs with great cow bell in it,
and submit that in the best one is going to
win a pair of tickets to see Texas versus Vanderbilt
a week from saying. And you do it the same way,
download the iHeartRadio app. Search AM thirteen under the zone.
You'll see the red button with a white microphone, Tap
it and then just leave us a message up to
thirty seconds you say, yeah, I think the best song

(08:52):
is Ticket to Ride by the Beatles.

Speaker 2 (08:53):
With cow Bell.

Speaker 1 (08:54):
We bumped back with one of those yesterday, So anyway,
that's all you have to do. Good luck to you
all right. Up next, we'll talk about tonight's season opener
Spurs Mavericks in Dallas with Mark follow up Mavericks TV
play by play voice on Sports Radio AM thirteen under
the Zone at a iHeartRadio app. You know, it's a
yat Rock Wednesday, and there are many people who do

(09:16):
not believe that Steely Dan is in the cradle of
yacht rock, especially if you've seen the yacht Rock documentary.

Speaker 5 (09:24):
You know.

Speaker 1 (09:26):
Certainly that Donald Faga does not feel that way, but
a lot of their offerings are and so on a yacht.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
Rock Wednesday, Little return Action would do it again.

Speaker 1 (09:36):
Our next guest, or a first guest in the program
this afternoon is a guy who has incredibly impeccable taste
in things like international cuisine and beverages and the best
place to find a scenic jogging trail or a hiking
trail internationally I'm talking about. He also happens to be

(09:57):
a guy does play by play on international socc He
also has done does football for Big ten Network.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
Also, we'll be doing some NBA UH for NBC this year.

Speaker 1 (10:10):
But of course we know him as our friend and
the play by play play by play voice of Dallas
Mavericks television Mark follow up, who joins us.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
On the hotline?

Speaker 1 (10:20):
I would imagine with all of those really sophisticated taste,
yacht rock probably does not fall into your musical listening genre,
does it.

Speaker 6 (10:29):
No?

Speaker 4 (10:29):
Of course, of course, who doesn't love a good Sealy
dance song or anything from the seven There's plenty of
seventies era rock that pops up on my Spotify.

Speaker 1 (10:39):
So you're something like that, So you're you're okay with
Toto or Christopher Cross because I'm a yacht rock file,
you know, so I listened to.

Speaker 4 (10:47):
For that stuff, So sure, sure room for all of that.
Thank you for the lovely introduction. I need to hire
you for my prestation nothing, thank.

Speaker 2 (10:57):
You, nothing that is nothing that isn't true. So we're
glad to do that.

Speaker 1 (11:01):
And twenty how many years now would you involve with
Mavericks broadcast both radio and television combined.

Speaker 4 (11:08):
Now, this is my twenty seventh season, which we'll technically
start on Friday Night, twenty one years of doing a
TV broadcast and six years of involvement with the radio broadcast,
or four full time play by play in a couple
of years of studio and play by play, a little
bit of everything. So you know, we're not working tonight
on local television as I don't believe Jacob and Seawan

(11:32):
had that opportunity unfortunately either for San Antonio for the
opening telecast tonight. So they'll get going with their next game,
but we'll get going on Friday in the Maps and
Wizards play.

Speaker 1 (11:40):
Is that a mixed blessing mixed feelings because obviously, if
the Mavericks are on a national telecast, be it NBC, ESPN,
whatever it might be ABC, if they're on a national telecast,
clearly it's because the network values them and sees that
they are are a contender or a player, or someone

(12:00):
would mentioning. But it robs you of a game on that.
So I'm kind of curious how that dynamic falls to you.

Speaker 4 (12:09):
Well, I mean, look, I think we're you know, we're
cut from the same closts, Craig, We've known each other
a long time. When you're a play by play guy,
you want to do all the games, but the reality
of it is the way it falls for me is
I just kind of learned to manage the fact that
it's reality. And so when we don't, you know, have
the opportunity to do the games, make the best of

(12:29):
the situation, enjoy watching a TV broadcast or listening to
our longtime buddy Chuck Cooperstein who does a great job
on the radio broadcast up here, or as is the
case tonight, the wife and I are going to go
to the game because we want to be in the
building for the first game of the Cooper Flag era,
among other intriguing things that I expect to see tonight.
So you know, as you know, like like I said,

(12:51):
we're play by play guys, and we want to do
all the games that we can, but the reality is
we can see. You just kind of figure out how
to how to manage it the best you can. And
it's not the end of the world to have an
off every once in a while. Line, No, it's all good.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
Yeah, yeah, no doubt about that.

Speaker 7 (13:04):
All right.

Speaker 1 (13:04):
So you mentioned the Cooper Flag earst it's as good
a place to start as any How would you describe
how the run up has been starting from draft day obviously,
and there was incredible elation even going back to the
draft lottery that they that they were able to accrue
the number one pick and to get Cooper flag and

(13:25):
the run up through the workouts, the limited work that
he had it first in the exhibition season and a
little more now and getting ready for his actual professional
debut tonight.

Speaker 4 (13:37):
Well, the thing that I feel like that I've seen
in the run up to it, I mean, number one,
you know, the work ethic and the professional approach is
abundantly clear already. You know, he's had a lot of
years where he's been under the spotlight and has learned
how to handle himself from a media standpoint, and didn't

(13:59):
get to be the one pick in the draft at
all of the accolades, and you know, be a McDonald's
All American and go to MOTAERD and win a mythical
national high school championship and play at the highest level
and be the NCAA Player of the Year in college
without a great wark ethic and an intense drive to
be the best he can be and be very very competitive.
What I would say that has stood out to me

(14:22):
and watching him in preseason games, and for that matter,
in what little summer league did he played, understanding of
course that summer league basketball is a gulf apart from
what regular seas in NBA basketball is. But he's the
kind of player who will look to make winning plays.
He will let the game come to him. He can

(14:43):
impact the game without scoring, and for example, when he's
had all scoring nights as he did in one Summer
league night and a couple of preseason games, he still
finds other ways to contribute to the team dynamic. And
I think that's that's the biggest thing that stands out
is I think he's poised to make some pretty high
level contributions as a rookie, and I don't think rookies
typically make these kind of high level contributions that are

(15:07):
exist without just scoring. I think that's where that's what's exciting,
is that, yes, he'll have certainly nice where he scores,
Like any rookie, he's going to have some down nights
when it comes to shooting and scoring. But I think
he's got the makeup mentality and the approach to the
game that's going to allow him to do other things
to help the team win, and so he can pull
up a box score with rebounds, he can make plays

(15:29):
for other people and get assist and obviously he's an
elite defensive player who can get steals.

Speaker 2 (15:33):
In blocks as well.

Speaker 4 (15:34):
So what's what I've seen is a player who plays
with the high IQ and is able to help the
team in ways that involve more than just scoring the ball.

Speaker 2 (15:44):
I see. I obviously you know me.

Speaker 1 (15:47):
I've been a Mavericke fan since I sold merch while
in college during the expansion year of eighty eighty one,
so I have dialed in from the start. But I've
watched the telecast from Fort Worth in the exhibition game,
and to see the different amounts of contributors, and obviously everybody,
you know, the old waiting for goodoh thing, everybody'd be

(16:09):
waiting on Kyrie's return, But just to see the other guys.
Who has really kind of impressed you what you've seen,
Knowing what you already know about these guys, the ones
who played last year, and even the ones who were
in that weren't a part of this particular group last year,
but you know them from what they've done other things.
Who's kind of, if not stood out, certainly been significant

(16:30):
enough and marked their minutes by what they've done with
some achievement.

Speaker 4 (16:36):
I really like PJ Washington his training camp. You know,
he's come off the bench a couple of games, he
started in a couple of games. Because of what this
team is going to look like to your point, without
Kyrie or however long that's going to be, there's going
to have to be multiple people who make plays for
other people on this team. And he's improved as a

(16:59):
ball handler, and so his ability to drive to protect
the ball while he's driving to get there to create
for other people, et cetera. That's really been pretty noticeable
to me an elevation of that aspect of his game.
So all of the things that PJ has already done,
which is play good defense, be an enforcer, give the
team a little bit of an edge on the offensive

(17:20):
and defensive ends of the floor. You know, all of
those things are there. And he's added to his locker
the ability more of the ability to make plays for
other people that take the ball to the basket. So
and I think that that he's just in a very
very good headspace. He got a contract extension in the offseason,
and I think he's prepared to come off the bench

(17:41):
start whatever is needed. You know, he's not the only one,
but I would say to your question, you know, he
probably jumps out as much as anyone in terms of
what kind of preseason he had and the approach that
he's taking on the floor to help the team win
and off the floor as a leader of the group.
Now in his third season.

Speaker 1 (17:59):
Here another guy want to ask you about, and this
is he's going to sound a little odd, only because
who knows what kind of a role that he might
have at some point, but only because I saw him
play for a while in college and the way he
has blossomed has really impressed me.

Speaker 2 (18:13):
And that's boost to CSA.

Speaker 1 (18:14):
With what I saw, you know, even in his infancy
as a collegiate player at Oklahoma State before he transferred,
I thought I was pretty impressed with what i'd seen.

Speaker 4 (18:23):
I think, you know, he he earned the last two
way contracts on the team because there was one. You know,
for your listeners who don't know, you're allowed to carry
three players on a two way contract, and what that
means is they can play and be active for fifty
games during the season, but they're also expected, you know,
they're going to go back and forth between the NBA
team and the G League team. So for example, if

(18:44):
a Spurs player was on a two way, they would
go play in Austin, but the Austin Spurgs for a
number of games over the season, so the Mavericks had
one of those slots open earned a spot in training
camp based on his play. You saw him Craig for
two years to your point in Oklahoma State, beat a
Big twelve defensive Player of the Year in one of
his two years, and his superpower, for lack of a

(19:04):
better term, is shot blocking. You know, I think there's
a lot of work still yet to do for him
as a player. I mean, this is this is a
long game that the MAVs are playing on that, but
there is very high upside with elite shot blocking potential.
And we always say in basketball, you can't teach being
seven feet tall or six to eleven or whatever he

(19:25):
officially is. But he's got seven to five wingspan I
think it is, and the ability to run the floor
and be a lot finisher, which is a very very
valuable thing for Biggs right now in the NBA. And
then he provides shot blocking presents at the other end.
So I don't expect to see a lot of him,
but he you ever know, I don't think Daniel Gaffer

(19:46):
is going to play to nights and the opener, so
you're talking Derek Wively starts at center, so Anthony Davis
at the five. But of course, as many of your
listeners know, with having a match up against Victor Wymbiniama,
he might need a lot of big guys and so
who knows, he might get a handful, not meaning but
he might get a couple of meaningful minutes in tonight's
game because they need size to match up with Wemby

(20:06):
at some point in time over the course of the game.
Depends on foul trouble and a lot of other things.
But given that the maps are listing at last report
Daniel Gafford with an ankle sprange from training camp as
doubtful tonight, they may need an extra big guy and
he might get called into action. But I think he
will be a long term developmental project. Will be primarily

(20:27):
what you see out of him this year.

Speaker 1 (20:28):
Sure, if there's someone so hard to say now in
today's microscopic view of each NBA team, but if it
is possible to say that there's someone who might be
a little bit under the radar, But who could really
be an X factor for this group this year?

Speaker 2 (20:47):
Who would you think it would be?

Speaker 4 (20:50):
I would still probably lean towards Brandon Williams, who is
a player who went to Arizona back in the twenty
eighteen nineteen collegiate season. He had a year the next
season he was still enrolled to play in Arizona, but
was out with an injury for the entire year. He
took the following season and the COVID time twenty twenty
twenty one off to prepare for the two thousand and

(21:10):
twenty one NBA draft.

Speaker 2 (21:12):
He wasn't drafted.

Speaker 4 (21:13):
He did catch on that year for part of the
year with the Trailblazers, then another full season in the
G League, and then he's caught on on one of
those two way contracts with the Maps over the last
two years. Well, last year, in the post All Star
Break portion of the season where the team was decimated
by injury and needed people on the floor, he really
shined and helped them win some games. Not that they
won a ton of those games when they were dealing

(21:34):
with a lot of injuries, but they did win some
games thanks to you know, no small part his play.
His ability to handle the ball and get to the basket,
push the pace of the team whenever he was on
the floor, knock down outside shots, and run the team.
So he's, you know, a point guard who can come
in off the bench, and they want to play faster

(21:55):
this year at the Mavericks too, they want to play
with more pace. There's going to be a lot more
cut involved movement that I think I think you'll see
on the team. And I think Brandon Williams is still
kind of under the radar because I'm not sure how
many people realize that he was a fifteen point per
game score and a four assist per game guy for
the last thirteen fourteen regular season games that he played
last year, and that turned his two way deal into

(22:17):
a standard NBA contract. So I think there's I think
there's a fair chance that that he is the player
that you're you're referring to that could be still off
the radar for a lot of NBA fans, but able
to have a positive impact on the team. He's a
little banged up with a hamstring in training camp. I
don't know if he hits the ground tonight at totally

(22:37):
one hundred percent he's available to play. But as the
as the season starts to unfold, specially a chunk of
it without Kyrie irving, his presence at point guard is
going to be valuable and important and I think.

Speaker 1 (22:48):
Will help him visiting with Mark Followill play by play
voice of Average TV here on thirteen hundreds. In a
couple more minutes, I want to I wanted to get
your thoughts on the on the Spurs because it's clearly
a team and someone say franchise whatever in transition, pending
the outcome of that whole arena vote and all that
other kind of stuff. Mitch Johnson the full time, once

(23:10):
and for all now head coach there. How about how
about your thoughts on what you see from San Antonio.

Speaker 4 (23:17):
Well, I liked that they added Sean Swinging to their staff.
By the way, that's kind of maybe a little under
the radar thing. Sean was on the staff with the
Mavericks for the last several years while Jason Kid's been here,
and he was the first assistant and with coach games whenever,
not that Jay kicks thrown out very often, but whenever
that would happen, or if he had to miss a game,
due to illness or personal reasons or whatever. So you know,

(23:39):
Number one, I like that addition to the staff, and
that's going to be a good person with a lot
of experience on an NBA bench that mich can lean on.
You know, obviously he's got a lot of other experienced guys,
but I'm talking about within the context of the game,
he's going to have someone sitting right next to him
that has some pretty valuable experience and a really good
basketball mind. Look, I think that san Antonio is poised

(24:03):
to take a big tip forward this year. I don't
see how as long as they're healthy. Of course, that's
always the X factor with these things. But once and
you know, unfortunately for them, they're not very healthy tonight
with Fox out and with so Hand out and with
Kelly Olennock out. But when you add those three to Wimby,
to Castle, to the cell, to a good veteran like

(24:25):
Harrison Barnes, Champagne has had some really good games against
the MAVs.

Speaker 2 (24:29):
Ultimately, maybe his.

Speaker 4 (24:30):
Role is more of a as a spot up shooter
coming off the bench. I like Keldon Johnson, that's another player,
But I feel like UH has always had a lot
of good games that get the Mavericks over the years,
and he just plays so hard and it's so physical
and so relentless and his willingness to attack. So you
can go with the healthy team Sanato. And by the way,

(24:52):
Olenic knows how to play too. I mean, that's that's
an excellent backup center who moves the ball, passes it well,
knocks down outside shots, rebounds. I think better than people
giving credit for so one to ten, san Antonio's got
a damn good team, man, And to me, they're absolutely
in the West playoff race, whether that means they're in

(25:14):
or the playing tournament or whatever. The only thing that
holds them back is again number one, being healthy, and
number two is the West is just immensely difficult again
this year. I mean, if you saw Oklahoma City and
Houston and the Lakers in Golden State, I mean, those
are four teams that all have high aspirations. Obviously the
thunderdue and all of them look really good and create

(25:36):
a lot of problems as we saw in the games
that those those four teams played against one another last night.
I mean, look, there's no nights off in the Western Conference.
I mean, Utah is the only team, it feels like
it's going to go into this year that is for
sure rebuilding. Everyone else I think feels like they have
some kind of window of opportunity to at least be
in the playoffs. So that's the biggest challenge is for

(25:57):
the Mass, for the Spurs, for everybody, is how do
you rise to the top or at least into playofposition
and a conference that's so competitive and what looks like
there's a pretty big disparity between the other conference and
strength as well.

Speaker 5 (26:11):
No doubt.

Speaker 1 (26:11):
And I started to saying, you just rolled through all
of that without even mentioning Minnesota and Denver.

Speaker 4 (26:17):
Yeah, I know, and Denver is better Denver's Denver looks
to me like they're better this year, and Minnesota has
been in the conference finals two years run. I mean,
it is. It's crazy to me how good the West is.
There's obviously flaws with every team and the apron world
of NBA economics now and teams being hardcapped as certain

(26:39):
numbers depending on what roster building mechanisms that they've used.
So to me, it's like the West is really really good.
But obviously I go into the season feeling like the
Western conferences Oklahoma City and then everyone else, and that
all still has to sort itself out based on obviously
a number of factors that will play out over the

(27:00):
course of the next five and a half months. But
you know, as I just ran down, San Antonio has
got a deep roster, a lot of talent, someone who's
ready to boss the league in wimpy and other than
the four times they come across the maps, I'm really
looking forward to watching them play this year. They have
a very good team.

Speaker 2 (27:19):
Well listen, enjoy being a spectator at least tonight.

Speaker 4 (27:22):
Anyway, Well, yeah I will, yeah, for sure, absolutely.

Speaker 1 (27:25):
All right, Hey, I'll be back in touch with during
the year. I really appreciate the time. Mark, thanks so
much for joining us.

Speaker 4 (27:31):
Of course.

Speaker 3 (27:31):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (27:32):
Greg, always great to catch up with you and say
hello to the good folks in Austin and we'll talk
down the road now, you bet.

Speaker 1 (27:37):
That's Mark follow up play by playvoice Mavericks Television. Like
I said, also, you can catch from doing so many
things international soccer, Big ten Football, NBA this year on NBC.
You'll be doing some of that in the rotation as well.
Second hour of the program here on Sports Radio AM

(27:58):
thirteen hundred the zone. Glad you joined us. Craig Way
joined by the producer Jay Carman. Coming up in a
few minutes, Neil Price, the play by play voice of
the Mississippi.

Speaker 2 (28:08):
State Bulldogs, will join us.

Speaker 1 (28:10):
Okay, I just mentioned right before the top of the
hour that we that you could reach us by texting us.
You text the text line, and the text line is
simply eight one to five three zero. But what you
do is you text the word Texas and it can
be capital T and then little EXAs or it can

(28:31):
be all caps. It doesn't matter, but just text the
word Texas followed by your question or comment to eight
one five three zero. Standard messaging and data rates may apply.
The other way to reach us is through the talk
back feature, which is how we do the contesting as well,
like we're doing for the Texas Starts tickets for Saturday
night and also for the cow Bell contest. You download

(28:55):
the iHeartRadio app and then you then search AM thirteen
under the zone hipops right up and then there's a
little red button with a white microphone, and you leave
us a message.

Speaker 2 (29:07):
That's how you also reached the show. Just regular.

Speaker 1 (29:12):
A couple of questions or comments from these these are
all comments.

Speaker 2 (29:18):
In fact, and that's fine. Like we said, we take
care of questions. Ander comments.

Speaker 1 (29:25):
On it says I'm one hundred and twenty five percent
er in the former Maverick legend, Jim Spinarkle was a
yacht rock aficionado of spando was he was.

Speaker 2 (29:35):
He was a star for the.

Speaker 1 (29:36):
Mavericks in that fifteen and sixty seven expansion season that
I worked selling merchandise for them when I was putting
myself through college there in eighty eighty one, same person
take it and said the Mavericks getting the rights to
Cooper Flag was a bigger back room sweetheart deal than
Julia Roberts Sakreem to marry Lyle love It. I would

(29:56):
be curious to know how you make a complete lot
of with ping pong balls or whatever that I'd be
curious to see how you could fix something like that.
In the earlier days when they drew the envelopes out,
there was all a conspiracy about the Patrick Ewing thing
that the Knicks being the one that was frozen, that
there was an envelope that was really ice colds.

Speaker 2 (30:16):
When he reached in, you knew that the cold one
was the one that was ewing. Well, they don't do
it that way anymore, so I'd be interested to find out.

Speaker 3 (30:24):
Yeah, well, they've got transparency and witnesses in the process now.
And the reason I know this is once the numbers
were being revealed kind of one by one, the way
they'd do it during the Victor Wembinyama sweepstakes yep, that lottery.
There was a point into the draft the Wizards came
into the night with the ninth or tenth best odds
of getting Victor Wembanyama aka Number one pick. But by

(30:46):
the time the first however many numbers have been drawn,
there was a point in the night or the Wizard's
odds swung to better than fifty percent.

Speaker 8 (30:55):
Wow, but they didn't get them.

Speaker 1 (30:56):
Yeah, and consider this you mentioned when they you think
about David Robinson and Tim Duncan three times the Spurs
got that. The Mavericks had never ever won the draft
lottery ever, so maybe they were due one way to
another deal. Okay, one other question, and I appreciate the

(31:21):
question on this is I'm old enough to remember when
Long Worn Weekly years ago was a call in show
that allowed fans to interact with a head coach. Then
the show went to emails only with no calls. The
reasoning you gave us, sir, was that emails allowed more
questions by more fans within the one hour time praime
of the show. Why are the fans that spend all
of their hard earned money at UT football games being

(31:43):
completely prevented from interacting with coach during the one hour
weekly show. It's a valid question and the answer is multifold.
First of all, I don't think fans spend all of
their harder money UT football tickets. Most of the people
who have it, they've had it for a while. But
I get to your point, you get the question. There
were a couple of reasons that it moved away from that. One.

(32:07):
The show became a recorded show, so we couldn't say, hey,
call into this or anything.

Speaker 2 (32:13):
It wasn't live. That was part of it.

Speaker 1 (32:16):
Now, I will tell you that when the coaches were
out at the restaurant, like I said Pluckers last year
for Sark, fans could come out there and they could
come up to Sark and they could ask him questions,
not during the show, but like during breaks or before
the show or after the show, that kind of thing.

Speaker 2 (32:35):
But it became a recorded show.

Speaker 1 (32:36):
And the reason it became a recorded show is because
of all of our affiliates across the state of Texas
who carry that show, many of them could not carry
it live at the time that it was on, like
seven o'clock on Thursday night, couldn't carry it live, and
so in order to keep those affiliates and the sponsors,
you had to offer the show through an FTP site

(33:00):
after it was recorded, and then they could download the show.

Speaker 2 (33:03):
The radio stations could.

Speaker 1 (33:04):
So while the show airs most weeks at seven o'clock,
it's moved to six o'clock this week, for example, because
we have the Texas Women's Game. So the convenience of
that is because it's a recorded show, you can cut
and paste and put it in your system and run
it when you need to run it. It runs in Dallas,
I think late at night, like eleven o'clock at night

(33:26):
on like Wednesday, Thursday night. I think because they have
sold programming other times other stations as well. That's the
main reason. That's the main reason. I will tell you
another reason this was brought up, but it wasn't the
reason why we've got to switch this to a call
in The show itself had started to drag on the

(33:49):
live show with the live callers. And what I mean
by that is people would call in and one of
two things would happen. It was either hey, coach, how
you doing well?

Speaker 9 (34:00):
Come?

Speaker 1 (34:00):
We really love the horns at you know that stuff
that you drags on and on is just a beat down.

Speaker 2 (34:06):
Or it'd be the opposite, ed, Coach.

Speaker 1 (34:08):
I think you ought to be fired if you don't
change your offensive staff blah blah blah blah blah.

Speaker 2 (34:13):
And so I think there's you know.

Speaker 10 (34:16):
That was both.

Speaker 1 (34:17):
Neither one was good for the Coach's show, but that's
not the main reason. The main reason was because we
had to go to recording it not having it live
because a lot of the affiliates could not carry it
live in that spot.

Speaker 2 (34:32):
That's the reason behind it. That makes sense to you. Either,
I appreciate you.

Speaker 1 (34:37):
Asking the questions well, and like I said, you can
also ask questions on our talkback like this gentleman, did.

Speaker 7 (34:45):
Hey, Greg, what do you think about Tony Vautello to
San Francisco?

Speaker 1 (34:50):
See you can that's how your voice can be heard
on the air on the talkback feature. What do I
think about I'm shocked? Well, I was shocked on I
heard the other day. Now reality setting in. He's going
to be the manager of the San Francisco Giants. He'll
be the first college head coach to go straight to
a major league job with no major league coaching or
managerial experience, none, none.

Speaker 2 (35:13):
All of his time has been in collegiate coaching. So
it's a pretty stunning move.

Speaker 1 (35:18):
And I believe We're gonna visit with Geene Watson tomorrow
to get a World Series preview, and I'll ask him
about that because he knows Giants management as well and
what their thought is behind that.

Speaker 2 (35:27):
Buster posey being the lead voice on that to try
to do that. So anyway, all right, there you go.

Speaker 1 (35:33):
Up next, we'll talk about this matchup and learn a
little bit more about the Mississippi State Bulldogs, visiting with
Neil Price, the play by play voice of the Dogs,
up next on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred Zone and
the iHeartRadio app. Now that's not me singing, that's Boss Gags,
a master of yacht rock. Here only yacht Rock Wednesday

(35:56):
on thirteen hundred the Zone. Time to take a closer
look book at this matchup between Texas and Mississippi State.
Good friend the play by play voice of the Mississippi
State Bulldogs, Neil Price, joins us on the Highland.

Speaker 2 (36:08):
I've never asked you this. Do you like got rocket all? Neil?
We do that every Wednesday?

Speaker 4 (36:12):
Vote yes, and if you want to have me on
every Wednesday from here on out, then.

Speaker 5 (36:18):
I will sign up for that. I laughed.

Speaker 4 (36:21):
So that song in particular, my wife and I will
occasionally go on a cruise. She loves to go on cruises, Okay,
And every time I hear bos Skaggs sing Lito, I
think about going to the buffet, which is on the
lido deck.

Speaker 2 (36:34):
Yeah, the boat.

Speaker 4 (36:34):
I'm like, I just know there is some guy in
his camp shirt and his lenen shorts who jumps on there,
who's had a long day of wherever, and he's singing
Lido as the elevator is going to the buffet.

Speaker 1 (36:45):
That's perfect. That might be reason enough for me to
go on a cruise sometime. I've never been on one,
so that might be reason enough just to get to
the lido deck and to hit the buffet off of that.
And I saw my wife and I saw Boskags two
years ago here in town at the Pair Theater and
at age seventy nine.

Speaker 2 (37:01):
He was still rocking it. So it was pretty cool. Yeah,
pretty cool. Let me get your thoughts on this team.
In hearing.

Speaker 1 (37:12):
Coach Levy's news conference and watching it, I couldn't help
but nod my head over and over when he talked
about how much better this team is not only than
they were last year, but how much better they are
from the start of the season. You know, if recent
frustration is notwithstanding that sort of thing, what's the biggest
things you've noticed in year number two with Jeff Levy

(37:36):
as opposed to his first season at the Helm a
year ago.

Speaker 4 (37:39):
Well, I mean, I think you hit the nail on
the head. The easy thing is is they are better now.
They're mired in a three game losing streak and you're
looking at that sometimes with a little bit of a
silver lining, But they are better top to bottom than
the team that he coached a year ago in his
first season.

Speaker 5 (37:57):
I think on defense, they.

Speaker 4 (37:59):
Are dramatic better than they were a year ago. And
it hasn't equated to huge numbers craig with regard to
sacks and tackles for loss, but they're turning people over,
They're forcing offenses to snap the ball one more time,
as Jeff Levy likes to say, and that extra snap
or two has led to a takeaway for him. So

(38:22):
they're older at the back there, they brought in some
guys up front who could help generate a little more
of a pass rush, and they've got the right mix
of youth and experience there at linebacker that has worked
for him offensively. Having Blake Shapen at this stage of
the season at quarterback compared to losing him in the

(38:43):
fourth game a year ago, that's massively upgraded that position.
They have upgraded it wide receiver. I think when you
talk about Brendan Thompson and Anthony Evans and what they've
been able to do, and even though Fluff Bothwell has
been hurt, he Devone Booth, Xavier Gayton, those guys have

(39:06):
given them a pretty good stable or running back. So
across the board they've upgraded their talent. They've got some
guys who are second year in the system who are
still around, and all of that I think has led
to a pretty big overall chump for the group.

Speaker 1 (39:21):
The other thing I've noticed Neil is in Mississippi State
is no different than any other SEC school or for
that matter most schools in Division one FBS and that
is obviously access to the portal. But in the past, uh,
not only Mississippi State, but this would be with other
schools that the transfers would be coming from, uh, you know,

(39:46):
junior colleges and maybe Division two schools or whatever.

Speaker 7 (39:49):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (39:49):
But you know, I look at I look at the Bulldogs,
and I see the transfer. Yeah, there's there's guys from
East Mississippi Community College in Iowama, and there's there's there's
places like that.

Speaker 4 (39:59):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
But I'm seeing Colorado, and I'm seeing obviously Texas and
then and then seeing you know, playing at Northwestern Ole
Miss Georgia. I would say also that they probably upgraded
the transfer talent through the portal.

Speaker 4 (40:17):
Haven't they They have?

Speaker 5 (40:19):
And I think that, you know, some of that is
the day and age that.

Speaker 4 (40:23):
We're in in college athletics that you know, if we're
being totally honest about it, Okay, what's in the war chest?
What can you afford to give a guy? What's market
value and can you match it? I think that's one
piece of it. I think the other thing, though, with
this particular team at Mississippi State that stands out is

(40:44):
Jeff Levy and Coleman Hutzler, his defensive coordinator, were very
intentional in how they use the transfer portal. So Brennan
Thompson is a fantastic.

Speaker 2 (40:56):
Example of that.

Speaker 4 (40:58):
Jeff Levy was the offensive co ordinator at Oklahoma when
Brennan Thompson was a freshman wide receiver, and even though
Brennan Thompson didn't play in a ton of games that season,
Jeff Levy would sit and watch the video with him
and everyone else on that offensive team, and he kept saying,
this guy is running wide open in space and we're

(41:20):
just not getting him the ball or the ball's not
finding him. And then when he becomes a head coach,
it's like, you know, something ever happens, there's a guy
that I've got on my list that you know, I
want to see if there's a fit. Coleman Hustler had
seen a bunch of those guys as he had been
making his way through the ranks at a few different

(41:42):
stops in the SEC in particular, and it's like, Okay,
this guy can help, this guy can help. Our needs
are pass rushers. We need somebody to step in and
help us out in the middle of the defense. Jalen
Smith's an example there, came over from Tennessee because Coleman
had recruited him in high school when Coleman was working

(42:03):
as a special teams coordinator and a linebacker coach at Alabama. So,
like I told somebody last week in Gamesville, it's like
when we were growing up, you had the wish book
and mom and dad would hand it to you and go,
what do you want for Christmas? And you'd start building
that list and you may not get all of it,
but you may as well put it on there and

(42:23):
take a run at it and see what happens. And
I think that that's kind of what they've done here,
is they've been really intentional of we've got relationships with
these people through recruiting over time, or we've been on
the same staff where they've been a player. We kind
of know what we're getting, and it feels like it's
a good step or a good risk to take when
you're bringing somebody new into your program.

Speaker 1 (42:44):
I didn't think you were old enough to run with
the wish book. The boy used to go through that
at Christmas time.

Speaker 4 (42:49):
Oh I'm old enough, I promise you I am old enough.

Speaker 1 (42:55):
Blake Shapin is a guy who I was really impressed
with when he was at Baylor in twenty twenty one
and what he did in the Big twelve championship game
against Oklahoma State a tremendous game there, and I know
it had to be very frustrating for him over the
past couple of years and then being injured and the
long runs. Didn't even get a chance to see him
in Austin last year. Now he's gotten healthy again. How

(43:17):
about your thoughts on the progress that he has made
over time.

Speaker 4 (43:22):
Well, I think that he turned a negative a year
ago and having to sit the bulk of the year
because of that injury into about as big.

Speaker 5 (43:31):
A positive as he could because.

Speaker 4 (43:33):
He took the time after he had the shoulder repaired
to really get into the playbook, really spend some time
in all the meetings that they would allow him to
be a part of, not just the QB meetings but
all the overall offensive meetings. And during the games, you know,
he was engaged on the sideline, he was walking around,

(43:55):
he was in the huddles, all those things when the
offense was off the field. And what Jeff Levy has
said is that now year two, he and Blake are
speaking the same language. They understand the terminology. There's not
this need to slow things down and go. What I'm
trying to say to you as the coach is I

(44:16):
need X, Y or Z. Blake just knows it. He
understands situations better across the board. He's a better quarterback
mentally than he was when he arrived. I think that
the thing for him now is how do you stay
out of negative plays or put the offense in the

(44:37):
best position to do that, and when you have opportunities
to make what they call layups, make the easy throw,
how do you make sure that you're back in a
high average when those opportunities present themselves. And I think
that's part of his frustration hearing him talk Monday coming
out of Florida, is that there were a few plays
in the first half of that game where State had

(44:58):
three drives on Florida side of the fish. He didn't
come with points where he's thinking one play here, one
play here, and maybe we're talking about twenty one to
three as opposed to only settling for one score in
the first half. I think that's the next step for him,
and for that fact, the entire offense here. They got

(45:19):
to find ways to make the most of those opportunities
when they present themselves in the game.

Speaker 1 (45:24):
Well, and obviously a lot of successful teams do that
through the running game. You mentioned Fluff Bothwell, he'd been
banged up, Booth stepped up. How about how would you
describe the state of the Bulldog ground game right now?

Speaker 4 (45:38):
Well, I mean it's thinner than they would like for
it to be. So coming into the year, you felt
pretty good about three or four guys. Okay, So you
felt good about Devon Booth because he got the extra
year because he played in junior college, saw what he
could do a year ago, proven commodity. Fluff Bothwell had
a great year at South Alabama. I think there was

(46:00):
a little bit of you know, from the fan base
and people who do what I do. Okay, how's it
going to translate from from that league in the Sun
Belt to the Southeastern Conference? And pretty quickly he put
those doubts to rest. It's going to translate pretty well. Uh.
And then Exavier Gaton was a guy who had not
played a ton in the last two years, but he

(46:23):
had all the physical tools and you thought, okay, if
he gets.

Speaker 5 (46:26):
Some opportunities this is a guy who physically can can
sit the role.

Speaker 4 (46:32):
Johnny Daniels was the X factor in that because SO
State was a two back offense pretty much all last
year Booth and Daniels, and now Johnny's kind of the
guy who's who's the fourth.

Speaker 5 (46:41):
Guy in that room, and in Seth Davis, Texas.

Speaker 4 (46:45):
Native from over and Katie would would be the fifth,
but Seth's still working back from a pretty devastating injury
two seasons ago, so you know, he's still not back
to where he probably needs to be to be an
every down guy. So I think it's a little thinner
right now than they hoped would be. But luckily they
had enough depth coming into the year that they still
have three guys. I think at this stage they feel

(47:06):
like they can put out there and feel good about.

Speaker 1 (47:08):
Visiting with Neil Price play by playboys of the Mississippi
State Bulldogs here on thirteen hundred zone. I want to
go over to the defense and let me get your thoughts.
You mentioned Coleman Hustler and the one season he was
here in Austin was really impressed with how he worked
with the linebackers, and of course that was twenty twenty
and we all know what a weird year that was
because of COVID and all that kind of stuff. I

(47:28):
thought he did a really good job with the linebackers.
How would you say it's gone with him as as
the DC and getting this group to really kind of
come together a little bit because I look at some
numbers and there's some respectable numbers, you know, a thirtieth
against the pass and thirty seventh in scoring defense. So
they've been able to limit some teams from having you know,

(47:50):
massive big totals. Obviously A and M and Tennessee are
outstanding teams. They managed to score points, but they've done
their job in a lot of ways the defense have.

Speaker 4 (48:00):
And if you go back and look at a year
ago when he was here, you'll find a lot of
triple digit numbers in some of those same columns, you're
finding thirties and top fifties, and you know that you're
finding this year. So he deserves a ton of credit
for turning this thing around. And he was a guy that,
you know, for being honest, was under a lot of

(48:20):
scrutiny from the fan base last year. He had never
been a defensive coordinator at this level, and there were
a lot of people when things weren't going well in
the midst of two and ten and over the sec
or were like, what are we doing? And Jeff Levy
stayed the course. And you know has said to me
plenty of times and said to the media, look, I
know what a football coach looks like. I've been around him.

(48:42):
He knows Coleman very well. They were together at Old Miss.
They've got a long relationship and friendship with each other.
And he didn't give up on him. And Nick Mitchell
is a guy who's played linebacker here for the last
three or four years and is a leader on that
defensive team. And he got up in front of the

(49:02):
media two or three weeks ago and said, look, I'm
glad that my path intersects with Coleman hustlers.

Speaker 5 (49:09):
Because this is a guy who's on the way up.

Speaker 4 (49:12):
This is a guy that everybody in the locker room
will do whatever they can to make sure that we
make him look good because he's put us in the
best position he can to let us go try and
be successful. So he has the respect of the players.
His system is working, because again you've got statistical data
now that shows you that he's made significant strides in

(49:36):
year two as opposed to where they were a year ago,
and his whole goal for them is just to reduce
the amount of thinking that those guys have to do
when they line up, where now they just know how
to read, react and go play as fast as they can.
And we're seeing more of that this year, no doubt
about it. I'm interested to get your thoughts on this.

Speaker 1 (49:58):
When I wanted to get your thoughts on the I
guess the evolution I guess is the best way to
describe it of coach Levy as a head coach, because
you know, folks who've done the homework, they know, you
know he's from the Art Briws coaching tree, and so
he knows offense really really well and was there at Oklahoma.

Speaker 2 (50:18):
I go further backwards, tells you how old I am.

Speaker 1 (50:19):
I knew it was Dad Mike when he was the
coach at Andrews and went way out in West Texas
and when Jeff was younger, So I know about the
quality of learning this guy had. How I guess my
question is have you seen him start to feel a
lot more comfortable in that head coaching role now as

(50:41):
opposed to his years of really being an offensive brain.

Speaker 5 (50:45):
I think so now.

Speaker 4 (50:46):
And let me tell you how it relates to the
position and my relationship with him, Craig, you know. I mean,
I don't claim to have a great knowledge of the
x'es and o's, but I'm one of the few people
outside of the staff sit down with him on a
regular basis, whether that's once or twice a week for
an interview or pre and postgame, whatever that may be.

(51:07):
And I will tell you that our conversations this year,
not that they were bad a year ago, but when
you're going through the midst of a tough year, you
fall back on coaching points and you talk in bullet
points sometimes as the season goes along. And this year
we have much more open, honest and direct conversations about

(51:28):
things because I think that he knows now he has
a team that is much better than the one he
had a year ago, and he doesn't have to fall
back on selling what the future could be. I think
the other thing is that he has become more comfortable
being in these settings where when you're a coordinator, you

(51:49):
may have somebody who wants to talk to you. You know,
once a week is part of the regular plan. After
practice or you know whatever, maybe after a game, depending
on the program. But I mean, you're just not asked
to do as much of that as the head coach.
You're not asked to be the face of the program
all the time. I think he's getting more comfortable with that,
and he's a great guy to be around. He's, like

(52:12):
I say, he's always been honest and open with me.
I think being younger, he relates to players in this
day and age in a much different way than some
other guys who've been around for a while maybe do.

Speaker 5 (52:26):
And I think you know, you mentioned.

Speaker 4 (52:28):
Coach Briles and obviously being a part of that tree,
but he talks a lot about his dad and what
he learned from his dad and being around that. And
another guy we talked about, Blake Shaping. Okay, taking an
injury and.

Speaker 5 (52:40):
Making a positive out of it.

Speaker 4 (52:41):
Here's the guy who was an offensive lineman at Oklahoma,
but I'm sure had dreams of playing in the NFL,
wanted to do all the things you do when you
play at a high level. But he blows his knee
up and now his career is over, and what does
he do well? He gets in and says, Okay, I
want to be a student assistant. I want to learn
how to coach. And he gets connected with Josh Hipel,

(53:03):
good quarterback who went to the NFL and tried it
for a little bit and found that the coaching route
maybe was better for him, and it's worked out pretty good.
And those two guys begin to work together, and then
he goes to UCF with him, and then he starts
to branch out and do more on his own. Meet
more people, make more connections, learn more, seymore. He turned
all that negative into a huge positive and now he's

(53:25):
starting to reap some of the benefit from that. And
I think it's a great story.

Speaker 1 (53:29):
Yeah, no doubt about it. I want to ask you
one other thing. When I was in Starkville and March
and when I came down from SEC basketball, came out
duty Noblefield was just was every bit the show plays
every bit as advertising being just an absolutely fabulous.

Speaker 2 (53:51):
Environment for college baseball.

Speaker 1 (53:52):
And I know a lot of long run fans went
out there for that and they came away immeasurably impressed
by the place. Tell everybody what to expect when they
go on to Davis Wade this Saturday, the first time
Texas will have played in Startfield since nineteen ninety one.
So for this updated and now conference member affiliated fan base,
what should long worn fans expect coming over to Starkville for.

Speaker 2 (54:15):
The game on Saturday.

Speaker 4 (54:17):
Well, obviously the cow bells and it will be much more,
much more volume, much more intense than the ones you
have at baseball, just because there's that many more people
in the football stadium. But there'll be plenty of that
if they're on campus early and they're walking around. I

(54:38):
think what they're going to find, hopefully, just like they
found in baseball, is you're going to find a fan
base that is going to welcome you, that is going
to be glad that you're here, that wants you to
have a great experience. And I hope that they'll come
to start well the same way that I used to
when I was at another school in this league, and
you'll come in with an open mind because you know

(54:58):
it's not the easiest place to it too, and we
understand that, but we do believe it's a special place
here and it's a place where people want to be good.
They want to make sure they put their best forward.
They roll out to welcome Matt that you feel like
a part of it right up till the game starts,
you know, and uh, but but I think they'll enjoy it.

(55:19):
The stadium is uh, you know, the stadium is great.

Speaker 7 (55:22):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (55:22):
There's not a bad seat in there.

Speaker 9 (55:24):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (55:25):
And it's it's fun to go and know that.

Speaker 4 (55:29):
You know. Most weeks now State fans have shown up
and it's been a competitive game in there against some
really good teams. And hopefully we'll have something like that
on Saturday too.

Speaker 2 (55:37):
From my selfish perspective, how's the broadcast booth?

Speaker 4 (55:41):
I think it's one of the best views in the
league because we're still kind of like kind of like
the dk R. You're you're kind of you're kind of
still that mid level. You don't have the cameras in
front of you, but you're you're mid level and you've
got a great view of it. You're you're inside the
thirty yard lines in both of them, and and you know,
hopefully we can we can keep fighting that good fight

(56:04):
to keep those I told the folks of Florida the
same thing last week. I said, you still got one
of the better side lines here, and I said they
keep changing those things.

Speaker 5 (56:10):
Year to year.

Speaker 4 (56:11):
But you'll you'll enjoy it. I think you'll be happy.
You want strained too hard to see anything out there.
And again, anytime that they've got us in the spot
where're on the sideline and we can kind of see
what's going on. They don't look like ants running around
down there. It's a pretty good day. Now.

Speaker 1 (56:26):
I'm with you one hundred percent. Hey, Neil, I appreciate
the time. Look forward to seeing you this Saturday in Startvilt.
Thanks for taking a few minutes to hop on with us.

Speaker 4 (56:34):
Yeah, good talk to you, Craig. Travel safe.

Speaker 1 (56:36):
All right, we'll do that's Neil Price, play by play
voice of the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Well, I'm more coming up.
We'll continue on thirteen under the Zone. I was always
a fan of Foreigner. I always liked him when I
was a teenager, and they were much more of a
rock and roll band than this particular cut. But waiting
for a Girl like You definitely drops right into the

(56:58):
yacht rock catalog, and I think Foreigners one of those
bands that has recirculated.

Speaker 2 (57:02):
Is back on the road again.

Speaker 1 (57:03):
Also worked Foreigner tours back in the early eighties, putting
myself through college. The Foreigner four tour, which this song
was part of that that Foreigner four album, as I
remember back then. All right, continuing here on this yacht
rock Wednesday, on thirteen hundred of the Zone, we had
somebody ask me on the talkback feature what I thought

(57:26):
about Tony Vaytello as the manager of the San Francisco Giants.
It became official today that Vitello, the Tennessee Volunteers head coach,
is named the new manager of the Giants. It marks
the first time that a big league team has hired
a manager directly from a college program without any experience

(57:51):
as a professional coach. Now, Vitella did consider, obviously staying
at Tennessee, where he won the College World Series back
in twenty twenty four. He replaces Bob Melvin, who was
fired on September twenty ninth after an eighty one and
eighty one season that was the giants fourth consecutive year
without a playoff. Berth at his news conference, the quote was,

(58:14):
I'm incredibly honored and grateful for this opportunity. I'm excited
to lead this group of players and represent the San
Francisco Giants. I can't wait to get started and work
to establish a culture that makes Giants faithful proud.

Speaker 2 (58:27):
That was a statement. They didn't have a press or
it was just the announcement. Coming down forty.

Speaker 1 (58:31):
Seven years of age and really highly regarded one of
the best coaches, certainly in college baseball. High energy guy,
really good at recruiting, built these talent laden teams and
turned around a program that had been kind of mediocre
for a long time. But he emerged as the Giants'
main target after Nick Hunley, the former San Francisco catcher,

(58:56):
withdrew from consideration. So this is going to be really
interesting to see how this rolls out. Because Buster Posey,
the great former Giants catcher who is their president of
baseball operations, is of the belief and will last Jane
Watson about this tomorrow because he knows Giants' front office

(59:19):
people very very well.

Speaker 2 (59:21):
Gino knows pretty much everybody in baseball very very well.

Speaker 1 (59:23):
But he'll join us tomorrow afternoon in the three o'clock
hour and will ask him about this, about what went
endto the mindset, because I also have to know that
Jane was one of the guys that was at the
very least canvased consulted about his thoughts on the whole
concept of going with a college head coach, let alone

(59:47):
by Tello. He was chosen to over Baltimore Orioles manager
Brandon Hyde. If Brandon Hyde, who was putting his name
into consideration for that, you know, he was pretty interested
in that. Of course, he's the former Orioles manage. And
there are two other former big league catchers interviewed by

(01:00:08):
the Giants, Kurt Suzuki and Vance Wilson. Suzuki's emerged for
the new managerial position for the Angels now and Vance Wilson.
So Vitello distinguished himself as one of the preeminent coaches
in the country during a two decade career as an
assistant and head coach in college. I remember when he

(01:00:30):
was at Kansas State as an assistant. And so the
Giants are willing to pay the three million dollar buyout
on this contract. That's nothing to a major league organization
to do that. Buster Posey statement was, here's the quote.
We're thrilled to welcome Tony to the Giants family. Tony's
one of the brightest, most innovative, and most respected coaches
in college baseball today. Throughout our search, Tony's leadership, competitiveness,

(01:00:54):
and commitment to developing players stood out. His ability to
build strong, cohesive teams and his passion for the game
aligned perfectly with the values of our organization. We look
forward to the energy and direction he will bring, along
with the memories to be made as we focus on
the future of Giants Baseball. And as his pointed out
in the story, the closest comparison really that you can

(01:01:19):
even draw to this and again, this is a unicorn situation.

Speaker 2 (01:01:22):
This has never been tried before.

Speaker 1 (01:01:25):
Hiring a guy straight from the college ranks to be
a major league manager never been done, never been tried.
The closest comparison you can get is the Brewers manager
Pat Murphy. Murphy spent twenty five years coaching in college,
primarily at Arizona State, but then he joined the San

(01:01:46):
Diego Padres as a minor league manager, and he then
spent eight years as the Brewers bench coach. Was working
as their bench coach and before taking over his manager
last year, and he won nationally Manager of the Year.

Speaker 2 (01:02:04):
But that's a lot different.

Speaker 1 (01:02:07):
I mean, he was serving under Craig Council during all
those years in Milwaukee, and then Council left after the
twenty twenty three season to go to the Cubs to
be the Cubs manager. This is a far different situation.
Vitel is not going to be recruiting. That's you know,
obviously the front office handles the stuff about free agency.

(01:02:27):
So I said Kansas State for Vitella. Now that TCU
is what I was thinking of. He was at TCU
and also Arkansas and at Missouri. I remember when he
was at Missouri as well. But he's a guy who
is also a guy who will rub some people the
wrong way.

Speaker 2 (01:02:48):
We know about that. At the collegiate level.

Speaker 1 (01:02:50):
I have a feeling that Tony Vitello has the type
of personality where if he feels a call was missed
or blown or whatever by the umpires, he's not going
to hesitate. He's going to go and go at him,
just like he did at the collegiate level. So we'll
see how that works for him. You know, it's going
to be interesting though, because the collegiate jobs obviously are

(01:03:13):
defined on the success of the recruiting classes. Major league
clubs are constructed by Baseball operations departments. The managers relied
upon really for clubhouse cohesion, in game decision making, bullpen usage,
daily media interactions.

Speaker 2 (01:03:27):
But it's the front of office. Listen.

Speaker 1 (01:03:30):
As good as this Dodger team is, that's about the
play in the World Series. Dave Roberts does a great
job as the manager, but he didn't build the team.
Andrew Friedman and the ownership built that Dodger team. Same
thing in Toronto, same thing in Seattle. The teams that
were built were built from the front office staff. Now
is their input from the manager, of course, and it's

(01:03:53):
going to be people who can rely and the manager
who can glue it together. And that's where I think
Roberts is really really good with La to get that
cohesion that I spoke of. That's where Vitello is going
to have to be a key. All Right, we'll be
back to wrap up hour number two on thirteen Under
the Zone.

Speaker 2 (01:04:14):
Throw it in final hour.

Speaker 1 (01:04:15):
Of the program here on Sports Radio AM thirteen Under
the Zone here on this Yacht Rock Wednesday. Glad to
have you with us. Greig Way joined by the producer
Jay Herman. I do feel compelled to remind you of
the ongoing contesting. You heard me earlier talk about the
Texas Stars tickets were given away and also about our

(01:04:37):
cow bell contest. Since the Longhorns will be headed into
Davis Wade Stadium in our Starkville, Mississippi, where the fans
are known for the constant rattling of the cow bells.
And so it got me to think in the other day,
what is the best song that uses cow bell now?

(01:04:58):
And we decided a contest, and we said, first things first,
have to pull out Don't Fear the Reaper by Blue
Oyster Cult because everybody's well acquainted with that song and
it's everlasting fame bestowed upon it because of the SNL skit.

(01:05:20):
So as a result of that, there is you know,
you know, everybody knows about that skit.

Speaker 6 (01:05:26):
It doesn't work for me.

Speaker 10 (01:05:28):
I gotta have more cow bell.

Speaker 1 (01:05:30):
Yeah, So we've got to have different songs with cow bell,
and we've told you there's some that if you haven't
already entered the contest yet, pass on these songs.

Speaker 2 (01:05:42):
And here's why. If the song we select for best cowboll, whatever.

Speaker 1 (01:05:49):
Song it is, if it's submitted the same song submitted
by a bunch of people, will be the first person
who submitted it. So we're gonna save you the trouble
by tell telling you don't submit Mississippi Queen by Mountain
don't submit Honky Tonk Women by the Rolling Stones, don't
submit low Rider by War, don't submit Good Times Bad

(01:06:14):
Times by the led Zeppelin.

Speaker 2 (01:06:16):
Those four, for sure. We've had a lot of requests
on the I mean a lot.

Speaker 1 (01:06:20):
Of submissions on those, but there's lots of songs that
use cow bell and use it creatively as well. So
what you do is you download the iHeartRadio app. It's free,
it's easy, download it to your smartphone. Once you have
a downloaded, then you search AM thirteen hundred the zone
and you do that through your little search magnifying glass

(01:06:41):
there on your smartphone or your search window bar, whatever,
and AM thirteen hundred zone will pop right up. We
suggest to use it as a preset because it will
help you circumvent some of the traffic in on the contest.
There with our talk back feature, and that's the key
to the deal. The talk back feature. You'll see a

(01:07:02):
little red button with a white microphone. You tap that
button and you leave us a voice message of up
to thirty seconds.

Speaker 2 (01:07:09):
Don't go beyond thirty it'll cut off. But you don't
even really need that much.

Speaker 1 (01:07:13):
You can just say I think the best song using
cow bell is whatever, and I call your name by
the Beatles. It's something we bumped back with yesterday. Whatever,
and that's it, and then you're in the drawing. The
winner will get two tickets to the Texas Vanderbilt game
next Saturday, a week from Saturday.

Speaker 2 (01:07:32):
So that's our cow bell contest. Wanted to make sure
you knew about that.

Speaker 1 (01:07:35):
A couple of NFL notes, and then coming up, we're
gonna hear from Ryan Niblett, and we're also gonna hear
from long wrn's head coach Steve Sarkisen coming up. But
first of all, some NFL notes, Jake, I'm sure you're
unhappy to hear that Jayden Daniels rule out for the
game against the Chiefs, the Monday night game.

Speaker 2 (01:07:55):
Tough time for him not to be in the lineup.

Speaker 8 (01:07:58):
Unhappy, not surprise.

Speaker 3 (01:08:00):
Just when the receivers get back to practicing shape, you
lose Jayden Daniels. Now I've seen a lot going around about, oh,
Jayden Daniels is this Jadan Daniels is injury prone. It
doesn't look like it's a major thing, which is good,
But you're right, the timing stinks for the Commanders who
are sitting at three and four and facing the Chiefs

(01:08:21):
and then the Seahawks and then the Lions.

Speaker 1 (01:08:23):
Yeah, it's tough, low grade hamstring strain is what's being
said about it. He did have an MRI on Monday,
no long term damage to the right hamstring, but they
don't want him to tweak it against the Chiefs, so
as a result, he'll be out. And for those of
us who have him on our fantasy football teams will
take note of that as well. There are a lot

(01:08:46):
of people grumbling we had this and inconceivable. The other
day there were people grumbling about the Bad Bunny halftime
show announcement by the NFL, And there's a petition circulating
with like fifty thousand signatures saying we want George that's right.
Instead we went the King. I'm sure George is kind
of embarrassed about that about that covered up, but the

(01:09:08):
commissioner said, no, not gonna happen. He said it today.
The NFL is not considering dropping Bad Bunny as as
Super Bowl halftime headline performer. He's reaffirming that decision to
put him on stage. Goodell addressed the Bad Bunny controversy
if it is a controversy at his news conference following

(01:09:31):
the NFL's full meeting. It's the first time he has
commented on the move that was announced in late September
that really did bring about some more wide attention, including
an increase in streams of Bad Bunny's music, along with
some backlash. And of course Bad Bunny had already been
booked the host Saturday Night Live and he comes on.

Speaker 2 (01:09:50):
He says, you got four months to learn English, that
kind of thing.

Speaker 8 (01:09:53):
I like to think that he gained at least a
few new fans from there.

Speaker 2 (01:09:56):
Probably did.

Speaker 1 (01:09:57):
I think he probably did. Goodell said, here's a quote.
It's carefully thought through. I'm not sure we've ever selected
an artist where we didn't have some blowback or criticism.

Speaker 2 (01:10:08):
He's right about that.

Speaker 1 (01:10:09):
It's pretty hard to do when you have literally hundreds
of millions of people that are watching end quote.

Speaker 2 (01:10:16):
So uh, he's right. I remember when they announced.

Speaker 1 (01:10:20):
Prince where people didn't think Prince should have been doing it,
or Michael Jackson or Paul McCartney. You know, whatever the
decision is going to be, there's going to be one
large group of people go, who's that. Then there's gonna
be another group people go, oh no, I'm not watching that.
They did it with Kendrick Lamar last year, right, I'm
not watching that, you know.

Speaker 8 (01:10:40):
So maybe he's an opportunity for some counterprogramming. Other channels
find a way to step up. However, the challenge is
you've got a live product. You don't know what halftime
is going to start.

Speaker 1 (01:10:50):
One of the things that bothers a lot of people
is he does perform in Spanish, you know, and he's
expected to do so at the Super Bowl.

Speaker 8 (01:10:56):
Why wouldn't he?

Speaker 1 (01:10:57):
Yeah, Goodell said, We're confident it's gonna be a great show.
He understands the platform that he's on.

Speaker 8 (01:11:02):
The dancing is gonna be crazy.

Speaker 2 (01:11:03):
Yeah, and I think it's.

Speaker 1 (01:11:04):
Gonna be an exciting and united moment when it's gonna
be at Levi Stadium there in Santa Clara.

Speaker 8 (01:11:11):
You had a personal favorite halftime show me? Super Bowl
halftime show?

Speaker 7 (01:11:16):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (01:11:17):
Oh, I mean I didn't.

Speaker 1 (01:11:22):
I'm not so much into the halftime show a because
I'm watching the first half so intently, so there's bathroom
runs and eating and things like that going on. I mean,
I'll watch it, but I you know, I remember watching
The Rolling Stones, I remember watching Mick Jagger, I remember
watching Bruce Springsteen. I mean, I'm watching fans of certain ones,
but I've seen a lot of those guys and women

(01:11:43):
so often that you know, it doesn't it neither makes
me a fan or not makes me a fan of
a certain artist. If if I'm not a fan of
a certain artist, I'll probably watch anyway. It's probably not
gonna make me a fan of the artist, but I'll watch,
and if I'm already a fan of the artist, it's

(01:12:05):
not going to.

Speaker 2 (01:12:05):
Change my opinion. I'm even if the show isn't good.

Speaker 1 (01:12:07):
So it's a halftime show in the stadium, so I
try not to think too much about Yeah, you're like me,
you're so focused on the game.

Speaker 8 (01:12:14):
Halftime is prime snack time.

Speaker 2 (01:12:16):
Well, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:12:17):
And a lot of this controversy, if you want to
call it, that came about because the President wasn't pleased
with this, although he did say in an interview on
the conservative news network Newsmax that he quote had never
heard of Bad Bunny. He said, I don't know who
he is. I don't know why they're doing it. It's
like crazy, And then they blame it on some promoter
they hire to pick up entertainment. I think it's absolutely ridiculous.

(01:12:39):
They're I'm blaming anything on anyone. But Goodell defended the decision,
explained it was made because of his immense popularity. He's
one of the leading most popular entertainers in the world,
says Goodell. That's what we try to achieve. It's an
important stage for us. It's an important element to the
entertainment value. That's what this is all about. It is.

(01:13:00):
There's no political statement involved. There's no you know, none
of that kind of there's nothing partisan about this. This
is all about entertainment. Eyes on the set and dollars
and sets gaining fans. This is the same reason teams
play all over the world. Now, yeah, it's as simple
as that. Okay, some other football notes. Does anybody really care? Well,

(01:13:23):
that's far fetched. I start saying. I started say, does
anybody care who the starting quarterback is for the New
York Jets? He state New York Jets fans care, Yes,
So I'm selling short.

Speaker 2 (01:13:33):
My brother.

Speaker 1 (01:13:35):
It's not his favorite team, but it's one of his
favorite teams. He really likes the Jets, and so he
kind of, you know, he kind of be moans a
lot of what they're doing. So you know, here are
the Jets who are awful. They're all and seven and
they're you know, trying to get ready for their next game.
Aaron Glenn at his news conference head coach, said he

(01:13:58):
has decided who it's going to be. You know, is
you know, to get ready to play the Bengals. So
you got Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor. So he said
he's made up his mind. He's just not telling you
who it is.

Speaker 3 (01:14:13):
You know what, the Jets need every competitive advantage they
can get right now.

Speaker 2 (01:14:17):
Yeah, a lot of people think it's going to be
Tyrod Taylor.

Speaker 3 (01:14:21):
Well, but two hours ago Adam Schefter Tyrod Taylor's day to.

Speaker 6 (01:14:24):
Day with a knee.

Speaker 2 (01:14:25):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 (01:14:28):
So this, this announcement or non announcement, if you will,
comes after yesterday the owner, Woody Johnson, who's getting more
and more like Jerry Jones every day being involved in it,
publicly criticized Justin Fields. He blamed him for the oh
to seven start. So if Glenn bench's Fields, it will

(01:14:50):
create the perception that Johnson is calling the shots. He
goes that is in the case what he leaves all
of that up to me, Well, that's the case. Why
aren't you announcing the quarterback? I guess he wants to
keep the Bengals guess they'll be prepared for either. I
don't think there's any doubt about that.

Speaker 3 (01:15:03):
ESPN Jets reporter had a lead this afternoon. The winless
New York Jets are handling their quarterback situation like some
of their recent two minute drills.

Speaker 8 (01:15:11):
They're taking their time.

Speaker 2 (01:15:13):
Yeah, yeah, exactly, Yeah, they are going to take their
time on that. All right.

Speaker 1 (01:15:18):
Coming up, we're gonna hear from the We're gonna hear
the media session with Ryan Niblett. We'll also hear log
worn's head coach Steve Sarkisian from the weekly SEC teleconference.
This is the second of the three availabilities that sarkas
with media. Obviously the Monday news conference, which we bring
to you live every Monday morning at eleven thirty here

(01:15:39):
on the Zone. Then there is the media zoom that
he does tomorrow. That's the final media availability with sark
during the week. But in the middle there's this SEC teleconference.
So and he's not really on the telephone, he's on
a zoom. But he goes back to the old days
when he used to call it teleconference when all the
coaches were on the phone. So when he way, we

(01:16:00):
have the SEC teleconference with Sark as well. All that
and more coming up when we continue here on Sports
Radio AM thirteen under the zone of the iHeartRadio app.
So this is definitely yacht rock and obviously Flintwood Mac
with Dreams of Fleetwood Mac. This this rumors album was mega, mega,

(01:16:22):
mega platinum.

Speaker 2 (01:16:23):
It was gigantic and.

Speaker 1 (01:16:26):
Then it kind of, you know, faded off like a
lot of what were classified as classic rock albums back
in the day, and it's kind of really found its
place in the yacht rock genre. But the thing that
also helped re elevate this deal was that video with
the dude on the on the on the skateboard drinking
the cranberry juice while listening.

Speaker 2 (01:16:46):
To this Have you seen that?

Speaker 3 (01:16:47):
Yeah, it was like, this is a total TikTok resurgence
song and a very deserving song of that fame.

Speaker 1 (01:16:53):
I think it was a huge hit. It definitely was,
and the best album that Fleetwood Mac ever did. And
they had many hit albums, but just the vast majority
of the songs on the album were hits anyway, all right,
So we move on now here on the Shoat Rock Wednesday,

(01:17:14):
and let's hear from Ryan Niblet. He has really become
an object of study and fascination with this pump returning
of late and also his story how he almost quit
the program, and he continues to be asked about as
you'll hear. That's why we put the entire media session
in here so you can hear what Ryan Niblett has
to say about his journey and really inclusive of the

(01:17:38):
fact that when Ryan was in high school, when he
was playing high school football, he was a guy who
not only was a pump returner like he is today,
but he is a guy that you see in the
Texas offense who is used in the slot. He's used

(01:18:01):
as a running back. He basically was in memory in
the spring, he was in the secondary. He's that kind
of athlete. But when he was at Olden Eisenhower in
the Houston area, UH, he was asked if he did
several of these positions when he played high school football
for Aldine Nike.

Speaker 5 (01:18:20):
I did.

Speaker 11 (01:18:20):
I did everything in high school. I was a kicker
in high school, kicker and the punter.

Speaker 6 (01:18:30):
I wasn't too good. I mean me just being an athlete,
just as I can do everything.

Speaker 2 (01:18:37):
Over No, I would not.

Speaker 11 (01:18:41):
Tell me why his explosive. I'm he's very fast. He's
a very fast individual too. He get that when he
get open, is he just gone?

Speaker 7 (01:18:49):
So the second one, uh A lot of us in
fresh Wak first prize. You didn't kiss that one? Can
you talk about that?

Speaker 11 (01:19:00):
I just knew the situation, the game of it was
two minutes left, and I just knew we had We
was school with ten ten. I just knew I had
to get out of there and set my offense up
for and just get him motivation, just to go out
there and just be the poison composer and just slow
the game down.

Speaker 7 (01:19:15):
Do you think that surprise a guy bearing down on it,
we were gonna stop.

Speaker 11 (01:19:21):
I don't know, Like I don't know. When I saw
the ball in the air, I just knew I had
to go. So I j just that was my only thing.
That was my only thing in my head.

Speaker 7 (01:19:28):
You as your decision mead balls coming.

Speaker 6 (01:19:31):
Out of you, You catch decisions, what right?

Speaker 3 (01:19:35):
How do you go through that?

Speaker 7 (01:19:35):
Rostins?

Speaker 11 (01:19:37):
So first, the first thing I do is speak at
the gun and see how they come off the ball.
But when the ball is in the air, I f
I felt the defenders. I can feel 'em, and I
seen 'em in my periffe, and so I just knew
what juke I had to make right when I caught
the ball, and just knew how how explosive I needed
to be when I got.

Speaker 6 (01:19:51):
Off my break.

Speaker 7 (01:19:52):
Did you ain't touchdowns.

Speaker 6 (01:19:56):
Kick return there in high school?

Speaker 9 (01:19:57):
Yes?

Speaker 6 (01:19:57):
I mean I think two two. I think so none
was a.

Speaker 11 (01:20:01):
Pumper turt none that as a pumper tie well, I
I didn't do too many PERMP turns.

Speaker 6 (01:20:05):
More kicker turn service.

Speaker 7 (01:20:08):
Was smarting us, getting you more ball up my offer.
What kind of situation do you think that you could
produce it?

Speaker 6 (01:20:15):
Access?

Speaker 7 (01:20:16):
What would you keep well off?

Speaker 1 (01:20:17):
Oh?

Speaker 11 (01:20:18):
I'm pretty I'm pretty sure I can do almost any situation. Receiver,
running back, standpoint, uh, wild cat, standpoint, uh, pretty much anything.

Speaker 6 (01:20:25):
Just use my speed just.

Speaker 11 (01:20:26):
To get to the outside. Just I feel like that
just helps me a lot. Is the fast that you
kinda seen one of 'em? I'll say, is fast? We
all pretty much up there wingoes pretty uh demo, we
we all pretty much like real fast.

Speaker 7 (01:20:42):
So that a second pump return.

Speaker 6 (01:20:43):
Did you know how close that guy was?

Speaker 11 (01:20:46):
I actually seen him in my peripheral a. As soon
as I caught the ball, I actually seen him. Like
before I caught the ball, I seen him.

Speaker 6 (01:20:52):
Actually, do you rank to the second in the nation
right now?

Speaker 7 (01:20:57):
If I return your odnations?

Speaker 9 (01:20:59):
Uh?

Speaker 7 (01:21:02):
Now it is?

Speaker 6 (01:21:04):
I mean, just why not? Why not try to be
the best of everything that I do?

Speaker 5 (01:21:08):
Why'd you a.

Speaker 7 (01:21:09):
Bunch of changes while on the four year posion?

Speaker 10 (01:21:13):
Now?

Speaker 7 (01:21:14):
Like bother How you been balancing.

Speaker 5 (01:21:18):
Every day that happen.

Speaker 11 (01:21:20):
I just try not to let it bother me too much.
Try to be poised composure. Like I said, I just
try not to try not think much of one thing
and the less of another year. I just try to
all balance that. I when I'm at football, I try
to only focus on football. When I go home, I
try to go home and be a dad. How it's
been going great? It's been going great. My daughter's starting
to sleep through the night now, so uh well she's

(01:21:43):
a month in, like seventeen days.

Speaker 7 (01:21:46):
Just through the conversation with Sark, cause you're thinking about leaving?

Speaker 6 (01:21:50):
What is he saying? Just understanding the situation? Who I
was behind?

Speaker 9 (01:21:55):
Uh?

Speaker 11 (01:21:55):
First round euxab be Worthy had really a first round
pick at and I met you just tryna understand it
who I was behind and and the role that I
was gonna come over next year, and just just to
be who I am. Just just he just told me, really,
just stay grounded like I. He's gonna be a spot
for you, and you the way you work, you he's
gonna have a spot for me.

Speaker 9 (01:22:11):
Can you walk us through your corporation prepared to receive
that kick off? How did you see like you already during.

Speaker 7 (01:22:22):
The week, how'd you prepare for?

Speaker 9 (01:22:23):
Okay, this is what I have to do is probably
a lot of at all.

Speaker 6 (01:22:29):
I feel like just practicing full speed.

Speaker 11 (01:22:31):
Practicing full speed helps me just understanding like where the
definishs is gonna be, and how I just need to
come out that break and just what jukes I need
to hit.

Speaker 6 (01:22:39):
So just practicing full speed, that practice always helps.

Speaker 4 (01:22:42):
No it Starr said before the seed he started, you
say and think he would be the return?

Speaker 7 (01:22:47):
Is that something that you advocated for?

Speaker 6 (01:22:50):
I would me. I just work hard in everything that
I do and and it just showed up. It just
showed up. Will did the number one on the term
who he had.

Speaker 11 (01:22:59):
He had tr Trey Wisner, d DeAndre Moore, Dayla mccutch,
and we we are pretty.

Speaker 6 (01:23:03):
Much good at it.

Speaker 7 (01:23:06):
What do they call it? Situational masters?

Speaker 6 (01:23:08):
Situational masters cause they were all calling you, so what
does that mean to you?

Speaker 11 (01:23:13):
And actually means a lot, just especially coming from all
my teammates, it just means a lot. But just understanding
what situations or how how how I need to handle
'em like like, uh, I had the point return go
over my head that go in. Is just understanding how
that played out to help my team in the road,
cause we could have been on the seven yard line
rather than the twenty.

Speaker 6 (01:23:33):
So just understanding what situations I need to put my
team in.

Speaker 7 (01:23:37):
And how about being a father, what kind of demands
and how.

Speaker 10 (01:23:40):
Do you get in?

Speaker 11 (01:23:42):
Actually sleep pretty well, actually sheep pretty well. She sleeps
through the night. Now at the beginning it was rough,
but yeah, she sleeps through the night. And being a
father is just an amazing experience. Row me how f
R O M I Oh, we talk all the time.
We talk about our hard nights, I good nights all
the time. We talk about that all the time. She

(01:24:06):
did come what was that first night game when she
came to sam Houston game? Yeah, but that was the
only game she came to though.

Speaker 7 (01:24:12):
So did you go to SARBF this year and say, okay,
you said there's for your role for me. Here's what
I went in too.

Speaker 6 (01:24:19):
Not exactly.

Speaker 11 (01:24:20):
I just knew who I was and just understanding who me,
understanding who I am, just knowing I can go out
there and just practice harder than whoever.

Speaker 6 (01:24:29):
Just him, just seeing that he just made a role
for me.

Speaker 7 (01:24:33):
Where did you consider out of high school?

Speaker 11 (01:24:37):
I considered a lot of places, Famah, your age, a
lot of school you asi uh uh one of one
of those the bigons of Texas Tech.

Speaker 7 (01:24:47):
And did you consider those free again when you were
plumbering in the off seet.

Speaker 6 (01:24:53):
Not exactly.

Speaker 11 (01:24:55):
Did your mind just go everywhere, especially like when the
portals over your mind go everywhere? So I was just
anywhere basically close words you think, very close.

Speaker 6 (01:25:06):
I was close, but sorry. He just made me stay
grounded that I trust, I trust start I can stark
trust me. So that was in January December, or I
think January January.

Speaker 7 (01:25:16):
What does that mean to have that conversation when said
I do trust.

Speaker 11 (01:25:21):
You, I mean actually meant a lot because he don't
he like s some people he tend out to for
you know, and him. Just seeing him fight for me
just gave me, just gave me whole opportunity, and so
it just meant a lot.

Speaker 12 (01:25:35):
Last one on offense, you know, you had had to
played running back and playing receiver.

Speaker 7 (01:25:38):
What's you have the hardest thing to pick up? You know,
maybe there's potentially the younger guys trying to get playing
time about, you know, playing those two roles or blocking.

Speaker 11 (01:25:48):
I feel like just understanding both sides of it was.
I feel like that was pretty difficult for me just
cause I switched cause I was at run I was
a receiver, I went to running back, that I went
back to receiver and now back at running backs. So
just trying to relearn this things, just trying to understand
both sides of the blessed pikups then receiver outside block

(01:26:09):
and just all of it.

Speaker 1 (01:26:14):
So there are the thoughts from the one and only
Ryan Niblett, who's a pretty fascinating young man when you
get to know him and start talking about some of this.
Every week we bring you the Bottom ten, and it's
worth mentioning again remember this. The Bottom ten, which is
put together by Ryan McGee of ESPN, includes teams that

(01:26:39):
really are not among the ten worst Division one FBS
football teams of the country, but their play of late
has put them in that ignominious place of being in
the top ten.

Speaker 2 (01:26:54):
So with regard to that, we bring you the bottom ten.
Number ten, he calls it.

Speaker 1 (01:27:02):
Bob bah hyphen sta in Boston call at cl we
dg E Boston College is what it is. At one
and six, he says, in my mind, I can see this.
One resident of Massachusetts who had his heart broken by
the Red Sox to start the MLB postseason, so he
decided to go to the Yukon Boston College game to

(01:27:24):
clear his head, only to watch the Eagles get run
over by the artists formerly known as you can't whenever
Ukon because they are back in now. But then he
had the thought, hey, I can make it out to
Amhurst for the second half started way from by fifty
nine seconds remaining when he thought UMass was going to
win and watch the mini men blow.

Speaker 2 (01:27:42):
We'll get to that.

Speaker 1 (01:27:43):
Oh you saw the call, right, Oh yeah, oh absolutely amazing.
Number nine South Alabama redundancies. He says, they're the Jaguars,
but it says South Alabama redundancies.

Speaker 2 (01:27:54):
They're one in six.

Speaker 1 (01:27:56):
He says, our second favorite, Red, White, and Blue team
named USA returns to these rankings just in time for
its matchup with Georgia State Not Southern, a meeting of
the last place teams in each division of the Fund
Belt aka the Pillow Fight of the Week year, Episode five.

Speaker 2 (01:28:15):
The Empire looks whack.

Speaker 8 (01:28:17):
I didn't see that one, did you?

Speaker 4 (01:28:18):
No?

Speaker 1 (01:28:18):
I am that one I missed? Number eight is Georgia
State not Southern? Who is one in six?

Speaker 2 (01:28:24):
He said.

Speaker 1 (01:28:25):
I made a joke last week that the loser of
the Georgia State Georgia's Southern game would have to change
their name from GSU to GUS, but was angrily informed
that this game already has a Gus in the form
of Georgia Southern Eagles mascot named Yes Gus. The nastiest
letter I received wasn't signed, but it was covered in
white feathers. All right, A number seven muddled Tennessee State.

(01:28:47):
It's Middle Tennessee one in five. Much like we should
all keep safe distance between ourselves and atomic bomb testing,
the Blue Blew Blue Raiders have a built in buffer
between Murphysboro and the bottom five and the of Nevada,
whom they edge by the closest of margins way back
in week three. Number six is Novada n VA DA

(01:29:09):
one and six The Wolf woof not Wolf. The wolf
Pack keeps losing close games, their latest being their two
point defeat at the Paws of New Mexico. Number five,
the U ye w Yeah Miami Ah. The rights of
autumn you can set your clock to their inevitability, the
cool dip, the eating temperatures, the dancing colors of the leaves,

(01:29:30):
suburban moms mainlining pumpkin spice, the Miami Hurricanes interrupting their
latest word back campaign with a mid season loss that
lands them in the coveted fifth spot, and the fans
of those Canes not understanding what the coveted fifth spot
is despite the fact they're here every year and thus
raised Caine by filling my social media timelines with strings

(01:29:51):
of cuss words stronger than Cuban coffee.

Speaker 2 (01:29:54):
Number four you tepid? Is you tip? Two?

Speaker 1 (01:29:57):
In five the Miners, He's got it with an O
like you're under eighteen. The Miners won their second game
of the season, but their boat remains mired in the
bottom four because pillar fight victories over other teams in
the bottom four come with trophies made of lead.

Speaker 2 (01:30:10):
They beat Sam Houston.

Speaker 1 (01:30:13):
Number three Oregon Trail State, you have died of dysentery
one and seven.

Speaker 2 (01:30:17):
What a stretch for the Beaves.

Speaker 1 (01:30:18):
They finally won a game, beating the Lafayette Leopards, current
leaders of the Patriot League. After a week versus the
fighting bye of open date U. They'll play their first
n season home and home double feature against Washington State,
with whom they are currently tied for first in the TUPAC.
Then they host Sam Houston in the Pillar Fight of
the Week Year episode number four.

Speaker 2 (01:30:39):
A new dope.

Speaker 1 (01:30:41):
Number two is Sam Houston. We have a problem, oh
and seven The bad News. The Bearcats lost to Pillar
Fight Week of the Year episode two, Attack of the
groans to you tap at the good news. If they
don't tell anyone it happened, no one's likely ever to
know because the crowd they played in front of us
so small it would have saved high in the pregame
that had the PA announcer introduced to people in the

(01:31:02):
stands and says starting launch. The paid attendance to that,
by the way, was six hundred and seventy one, and
then number one continues to be U mess, you mass
It's Massachusetts.

Speaker 2 (01:31:13):
It calls U mess.

Speaker 1 (01:31:14):
At zero to seven, the minute Men contain their baction
instead of action in maction schedule, playing a former fellow
bottom ten anchor, the Buffalo Bullsknop Bills. With fifty nine
seconds remaining, the Amherst Amblers hauled in an interception that
seemed to ice a twenty one to twenty win, as

(01:31:35):
the ESPN Analytics Wiizu board said they had a ninety
point nine percent chance of victory. U Mass players proceeded
to demonstratively wave goodbye and do faux snow angels and
celebration drag and unsportsman like conduct penalty. After a three
and out followed by a punt, the minute Men surrendered
the four play fifty yard twenty two second touchdown drive
to lose in the closing seconds, their lead turning out

(01:31:57):
to be as real as that snow. So there's still
number one. So there's your bottom ten. We'll be back
to here. From Steve Sarkisian on thirteen under the Zone.

Speaker 2 (01:32:07):
Yeah that's down on one of those yacht rocks.

Speaker 1 (01:32:10):
Stateful bands for sure, Orleans Love takes time there on
a yacht rock Wednesday here on thirteen hundred the Zone.
Let's hear from long Orange Head coach Steve Sarkisian this
coming from the SEC teleconference today and this morning. Starting
off with his opening statement, this will be our.

Speaker 10 (01:32:32):
Four straight week of going on the road.

Speaker 12 (01:32:35):
You know, one of those four weeks, obviously, we played
in Dallas against Oklahoma. But this has been a very
very challenging portion of our schedule that I think we're
learning a lot about one another, We're learning a lot
about our team, and this week's going to be no different.
You know, going to startfield to play very much improved
Missippi State team. Coach Levy's done a great job of

(01:32:58):
building that program.

Speaker 2 (01:32:58):
In year two.

Speaker 12 (01:33:01):
They've they've been in some very tight ball games here
in the SEC, including last week at Florida.

Speaker 10 (01:33:07):
So we know we got to work cut out for
us UH in this in this week's ball game as well.

Speaker 1 (01:33:12):
All right, first question, you knew it was gonna happen.
You probably heard, as we mentioned earlier in the program
about the news coming down yesterday evening that Michael taff
Uh suffered a broken thumb in the winter Kentucky. They
had to undergo surgery on Monday.

Speaker 2 (01:33:27):
So sark was asked to assess the loss of taff
Uh and who might step in with taff being out
of the lineup.

Speaker 10 (01:33:34):
Now, yeah, he's out, we don't know how long.

Speaker 12 (01:33:36):
Obviously significant loss, and we got you know, I mean,
Derek Williams, Exavier fills me some nice guys a step
in formals.

Speaker 2 (01:33:44):
Okay, all right.

Speaker 1 (01:33:44):
Next, he was asked by Mississippi State and how different
does this Mississippi State team look from last year when
they only won two ball games in Jeff Leby's first
year to how they look at four and three this season.

Speaker 12 (01:33:58):
Well, I think they're they're they've gotten the coach Levy's scheme,
you know, I think offensively, you know, they got vertical
threats and in Brennan Thompson and Evans, you know, they
shaping really fits, you know, within the scheme of what
they're doing. And then they're running the football well with
you know, so they they're kind of now in year.

Speaker 10 (01:34:18):
Two of doing that.

Speaker 12 (01:34:20):
I think on the defensive side of the ball, they've
continue to evolve the style of defense that.

Speaker 10 (01:34:26):
They're that they're playing.

Speaker 12 (01:34:28):
They're deep up front, they playing multitude of guys, very
aggressive style of defense, and so I just think you
know year two, you can start to see it. It
takes shape of the style of team that coach Levy,
you know, has wanted, all right.

Speaker 1 (01:34:42):
Uh So then he was asked about the fact that, uh,
they're a little deeper now on defense, the Bulldogs are.
So does having more depth allow them to stay aggressive?

Speaker 10 (01:34:53):
Well, I think it's helpful because of the style of offense.

Speaker 12 (01:34:55):
You know, Coach Levy is going to go fast, They're
going to play with great tempo, and with that, they're
going to you know, they have to play more snaps
on defense as well, and so I think that that
definitely helps them with the depth on the defensive side
of the ball.

Speaker 1 (01:35:09):
On the SEC schedule, it shows Texas being quote unquote
home against Oklahoma. We know obviously that home was just
home team designation. The game was played away from Austin.
Obviously it's played in Dallas. What that means is the
entire Rock month of October has spent away from Austin,

(01:35:29):
at least on game day, the game at Florida, followed
by the OU game, followed by last week's game in Kentucky,
and this week's game at Mississippi State. So Sark was
asked how has he made four straight games away from
Austin more manageable.

Speaker 12 (01:35:44):
Well, I think the biggest thing is for us to
stay really well connected as a team. And I think
that we've done that, you know, And I credit the
leaders on our team. I credit the assistant coaches. I mean,
these guys have really grown together. You get on the road,
you get in you know, on the airplanes and buses
and hotels and and you know you're on that sideline
with seventy four guys.

Speaker 10 (01:36:05):
You've got to stay really connected, you know.

Speaker 12 (01:36:07):
And I've seen numerous stats of you know, SEC teams
playing back to back road games and how poor the
records are, and there's a bunch of them this week
that have back to back road games. I was thinking myself,
you know, this is our four straight road game, really,
and so you find out a lot about yourselves and
and I think, like I said, the credit to the

(01:36:28):
leaders on our team, because this has been a it's
been a tough journey. You know this, I won't I'd
be the last I'd be lying if I told you
any different. And you know this, this four game stretch
started with a loss in Gainesville, and and for these
guys to bounce back against Ou to find a way
to win. Last week at Kentucky, I thought it was
a real culture win for us. And then now to

(01:36:49):
go again to Startville in a very tough place to play.

Speaker 10 (01:36:52):
So I think you need everybody.

Speaker 12 (01:36:53):
You know, You've got to you gotta lock arms, you
gotta stay really well connected, and and and you gotta
fight through then none of these are easy, you got,
but you just got to find a way to win
by any any means necessary.

Speaker 2 (01:37:06):
All right.

Speaker 1 (01:37:06):
Uh, Next, Sark was asked about the uh, you know,
playing with all the cowbells. We've been talking about cow
Bell the whole time, so, uh, how does he prepare
for the cowboy cowbell noise? And does the loss of
Michael taff change some of the game plan with what
they do defensively?

Speaker 12 (01:37:25):
We play crowd noise of cow Bell's. So that was
an easy one. That must have been your easy one.
But I guess that, you know, that's up to those
deciding what's hard and what's not. You know, you put
together a game plan, you go play it. You know,
it's like you know, every week we we there's variations
to what we do defensively, and and there's calls, there's checks,

(01:37:47):
there's and then you get into the game and you
got to call the things necessary that that try to
give you the best chance to have success defensively. Sometimes
that's the original plan and sometimes those are the contingency
plans that you have to get to with than a game.
But I think between you know, Coach PK and Coach
Nansen and then Coach Akeina and Coach or Fey and

(01:38:08):
those devising you know, our coverage plans, that's the game planning,
and then that's ultimately the in game adjustments that get
made and conveying that to the players. And so you know,
some of those things are going to be very similar
to what we've done in the past, and some things
might be a little bit new this week, but that's
probably no different than any other game.

Speaker 1 (01:38:30):
By the way, Happy birthday to Dwayne and Keena. Today
is coach a Keena's birthday as well. All right, So
there's Sark from the SEC teleconference. We hear from him
one more time tomorrow from the general media sessions. That's
the media zoom tomorrow, and then of course tomorrow night
at six o'clock is long worn weekly. It comes your

(01:38:51):
way at six tomorrow because we have the women's basketball
game at seven, the exhibition game against Love of Christians,
so long worn weekly at six tomorrow night. But is
media Zoom is tomorrow and we'll hear comments from that
during this program. Tomorrow, we'll be back to wrap up
today's edition of the program. I'm thirteen under the Zone.