The HD Experience
Hunter Dawkins, owner and publisher of The Gazebo Gazette, covers Mississippi high school and college sports like no one else. Join Hunter and his special guests as they bring the best in what's happening in sports on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The HD Experience
The HD Experience Episode 31:The Life Of A Tiger
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The HD Experience Episode 31: The Life of a Tiger
HOST: Hunter Dawkins - Owner/Publisher of the award-winning newspaper - The Gazebo Gazette, Sports Correspondent SuperTalk Mississippi News, Gulfport High Radio Host G96.7, Member of the Football Writer Association of America (FWAA, Heisman Voter), Member of the Associated Press Sports & Editors (APSE)
PRODUCER: Jeff Clark - Award-Winning Journalist, Multimedia/Podcast Host, South Alabama Beat Writer, Director for the Harrison County Senior Services
GUESTS:
- Brian Mackay - Host & Producer of Award Winning Podcasts (The B-Side, Her Hoop Stats, NBN with DA & 24 Hours NBN), Assistant Basketball Coach
- Jack Wright - Head Football Coach of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, 2x NJCAA National Champion
- Matthew Miguez - Sports Reporter for ESPN 103.7, Canal Street Chronicles
- Michael Katz (Tomorrow Phone) - Sportswriter for NE Mississippi Daily Journal, Ole Miss Beat Writer
Welcome to the HD Experience, your source for sports on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Here's your host, Hunter Dawkins.
SPEAKER_02Good afternoon. My name is Hunter Dawkins, and I am the host of the HD Experience. This is the 31st episode of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Sports podcast sponsored by the Gazebo Gazette, Harrison County Independent Newspaper, O'Duire Realty Agent, Stephanie Mankowitz, the Miller Windmark chiropractic, Joseph Kelly's attorney at law, and we are always in the U.S. Marine Inc. Studio. I'm here with my wonderful producer of the show, a good friend of mine, Jeff Clark. Jeff is a well-accomplished award-winning journalist, South Alabama beat writer, the director of the Harrison County Senior Services. Jeff, we have a great theme for you today. Being the Alabama fan that you are, the life of the Tiger.
SPEAKER_07Yep. Alabama men's basketball and LSU women's basketball went out on the same night. So, you know, I fully expected Alabama to uh to lose to Michigan. Michigan's a, you know, their number one seed for a reason. Um it's just hard for them to go the distance. Good year for for Alabama men's basketball, uh, weird year for men's Alabama basketball, which is pretty much the norm. And uh, you know, just just glad to see Kim Coach Mulkey and the and the Lady Tigers getting there, you know.
SPEAKER_02Well, and really the reason of the theme this week, Jeff, is because of the recent hire of Will Wade, you know, coming from NC State, you know, Governor Landry, or otherwise known as Waterboy, under my terminology. Him and Lane Kiffin and Kim Mulkey. That's three personalities. I saw something on Twitter that said something about the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. That's exactly what that signifies.
SPEAKER_07That's the social media all-stars, you know, the Avengers, you know. That's definitely a lot of big personalities for sure, you know.
SPEAKER_02Right, that's right. And and, you know, we'll have our guests talk a little bit about that too as well. And, you know, it was a tough year because I think Nate Oates and Alabama really wanted to go farther, but they had a lot of turmoil, as you well know, uh, in the program throughout the year, uh just uh with a bunch of different things happening. They were a pretty solid team all the way across the board.
SPEAKER_07Hey man, if if if Alabama hadn't taken Charles Charles Bediaco back, Auburn, LSU, the next team would have. I mean, it just is what it is. You know, I don't I don't fault Alabama at all because the NCAA can't make up their mind, you know. Um then, you know, there was the the arrest of the player with a couple pounds of marijuana, and you know, Coach Oates has been pretty supportive of him. And I support that, man. People make mistakes. Do I think he'll ever play basketball at Alabama again? No, but do I think that he doesn't deserve to be loved and you know and and and helped and supported? Well, uh, you know, um absolutely I do. I mean, he may be facing a or he is facing a long, lengthy stint in jail. So, you know, it's just been another another weird year for Alabama basketball.
SPEAKER_02Um let's talk just a little bit about uh about the local. Now, of course, you know, we're kind of swinging back and forth from girls to boys. Let's talk about the past girls softball team. They're just literally taking it out the the yard with everybody.
SPEAKER_07Literally my favorite team of any sports on the Mississippi Gulf Coast right now, besides pass high football. And I I know I'm I'm I'm a pass guy, I live downtown, but uh that uh man, that girl softball team's just doing it. They're great. I love watching them play. They're a great team, they play well together. It's uh it's a lot of fun to cover them.
SPEAKER_02They have a home contest really on Tuesday, I believe, and I'll double check with that. But they have a home contest which will be the deciding factor of who's the district winner against Green County, even though there they have a few more games left. Most of the games left are pretty much uh, you know, it'll be done before it's it starts, at least with Moss Point and Forest County.
SPEAKER_07I love a game where there's something on the line where it's a high stakes game. So I'll uh I'll be excited about checking that out. Um let's see what else has happened since we talked last last. Uh uh the Diamond Dogs put it on USM, made them beg for mercy and quit. You know, so that's right.
SPEAKER_02Well, and they have with they swept Ole Miss this week.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, swept Ole Miss this week.
SPEAKER_02So you know, Ole Miss was the the kind of team they were pitching okay, but they were home ruling. They were a home run team. And of course, Southern, uh, which I went to the game the Saturday game, they were it was rough because offensively they didn't really have the firepower that they've had in the past, although, but then they they run-ruled App State today, uh, or they came close to run-ruling them. It was 13-4, was the final. But uh, yeah, they won the series, but there's a lot of a lot of questions, not necessarily only the pitching staff, but uh all the way across the board. And you know, I heard Alabama came back and beat Auburn today on Sunday, but I'm not necessarily sure how much how that series went.
SPEAKER_07Um, another thing, let's see, Netflix had uh opening night baseball and showed live baseball for the first time. I didn't see it, but I had some friends who watched it who said it was absolutely atrocious. So I don't know. You know, I'm I'll have to have to check it out for myself. Uh baseball, baseball, baseball. You can watch it on Peacock. Everybody's screaming games every day. So uh a lot going on. But Hunter, I'm gonna I'm gonna dip out and I'll let you get to your first guest.
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SPEAKER_02I would love to introduce my first guest, the award-nominated and award-winning in my books and everything else, podcast producer and basketball coach Brian Mackey. Coach Big Mac, how is your girls' bracket looking?
SPEAKER_03My girls bracket is almost uh chalk at this point. We'll see how tomorrow night ends up, but uh today, the two teams that are headed to the final four, I both have them in my final four.
SPEAKER_02So that's hey, that's great. Look, let me ask you this, Brian. What you know, Coach B Mac, is the is this exactly the way that you guys thought it was going to be with your number one seeds, with your LSU falling in the uh in the Sweet 16, with with all these different things happening, you know, uh was this as far as that you expected like Ole Miss to go? I mean, everybody pretty much picked UConn and South Carolina to be where they're at. Is there something that that was happening somewhere that created a storyline?
SPEAKER_03I I mean I had, I'm being I I will be completely honest with you. I had Ole Miss going out to UCLA. So if they'd have beat Minnesota the game they lost in, uh I had them going out against UCLA the very next game anyway. Uh LSU, I actually had them playing today. I had them beating Duke, making it to making it to this game where they would have played UCLA today, but I had them losing here because I have UCL. I know everybody in the world is is picking UConn to win another championship for Gino, and and and they look like a well-old machine. I'll go ahead and say that. But I have UCLA getting to the championship game and beating them in Phoenix. And I would I'm gonna be there to see it, and I hope I see it happen.
SPEAKER_02There you go. Absolutely. And then, you know, have you ever been to a Final Four before?
SPEAKER_03I have. I've been to a couple. Um, this is now two in a row for me, but I've I've been to maybe four or five others uh before these last two years.
SPEAKER_02I'm sure despite, I'm sure it's a great atmosphere. I mean, I remember going to one in New Orleans a couple years ago, and it was even though I was sitting up with the cheap seats, I mean, it was is amazing just being around that aura. And I know you're at least a little bit closer to the uh the sidelines, if not on the court.
SPEAKER_03You know, it's uh Yeah, I I've been both. I've been, you know, in the media seats, and I've been down there, you know, in the middle of the action. And it honestly at a Final Four, it doesn't matter where you are. If you're in the building, you're having a good time.
SPEAKER_02Is tell me about the SEC outside of South Carolina, specifically LSU and Ole Miss. Are they those basketball teams headed in the right direction?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I I believe both of them are. I know there was a lot of of crazy social media rumors that were out there trying to say that Kim Moki was going to announce her retirement. And I believe she pretty much shut that down in her post-game interview the other day. Uh, but I I think that both teams, and you know, Coach Yo is doing, I mean, she's the queen of the portal, the portal queen or whatever they call her. And I mean, she's, you know, she she's gotta have she's gonna have an uphill battle, losing, I think, six or seven that she graduates this year. So she's gonna have a good time getting that reloaded. But like she said in her post-game interview when they lost against Minnesota, she said we don't rebuild, it don't miss, we reload. So we'll see what she does. But I think that in this day and age, with the transport portal, NIL money, uh uh the both of those teams are set up for success long term.
SPEAKER_02Well, and talk to me about this, Brian. You know, the fact of LSU losing uh Johnson being their really ideal best player since Angel Reese, um are they going to to have something to come back on, or are they going to build from the portal just like Ole Miss?
SPEAKER_03I think they'll they'll bring back if and you know, like you know, with the portal, you never know. But if they stay chalk and everybody comes back, they're supposed to come back, they'll have Michaela Williams back, they'll have Malaysia for a Wiley, the freshman that did so well for them this year in the post, Zachiah Johnson, will be back. And I think she is a high school senior next year, but they are in line to uh to get the best player in the state of Louisiana, and one of the top two or three players in the nation, Caroline Bradley, is real high on LSU's list. And if they can get her, that will help them out a lot in the post that because they'll they'll be losing both of their main post players this year to graduation.
SPEAKER_02Is there one player during the tournament, or I mean it doesn't necessarily matter about their team, but was there one player that you could see and you said this one, she's pro material?
SPEAKER_03Hannah Hedalgo. Notre Dame. No doubt about it. I mean, they they list her at 5'6. I I've been around her. I'm five foot five. And I I I look over her. So I she's uh saying she's five six is is that you know, that's fine. They don't want to put that on paper. But she played she plays like she's six two, six one. I mean, she's up, she's grabbing, and she had eight rebounds against UConn today in the first quarter. I mean, but before before halftime, she was on her way to a double-double.
SPEAKER_02Seeing that you were talking about recruiting, at least, is there any high school programs as far as from the transfer portal in the NIL situation? It seems like a lot of these girls from these high school programs are going to JUCO rather than just jumping up because of the transfer portal. You can get one from another, this team from that team. Is there any specific, you know, area or you know, are the college programs just like that nowadays? Is everybody just using the transfer portals or the junior college systems instead of the high schools in the FCC and anywhere else?
SPEAKER_03The portal has definitely changed the way recruiting is. I mean, you you have to be one of those top twenty-five players in the nation to really get looked at in high school right now because five five star, right? Yeah, absolutely. You have to be those to really be looked at uh at this point and i because of the portal, and you know, teams are looking to see uh okay, let's I mean there they say there's no tampering going on, but there's tampering going on everywhere, everywhere, all over the country. People are are calling, you know, the the the contact for this person or that person. They're looking at this, you know, is she happy there? Would she like to make a change? I mean, you know, that that's happening all over the place. So the Porto has definitely changed uh high school recruiting in that respect.
SPEAKER_02Amongst your junior college programs, are they starting to gear up a lot better with a lot of these high school talent, regardless of where they're going to high school? Are the the ladies jumping in to these programs or to smaller division one slash division two, maybe even division three, to try to get some appearance, some physical, you know, uh physical performance out there?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I I think I think a lot of them are doing that to just get in there, get their name out there, and and show what they can do, and then the next year maybe they transfer to a higher, you know, a division one. So I can definitely see that being a possibility.
SPEAKER_02What in in your mind, and I I'm not sure I'm not exactly sure that you have been paying attention to this, and it's not your fault, or this is just a question for me. Um, is there a lower level Division I program or a junior college program or division two program that you think might be, you know, the coaches might be moving up because they're producing these level players?
SPEAKER_03I I I was I'm not up on on that as much, so I can't really answer that question.
SPEAKER_02Okay, okay, I understand, I understand. I knew that was gonna be a little bit off base, but but that being said, in a lower level program like a Southern Miss, uh like a you know, a Sunbelt program at least, are they are those teams really sticking with the high school talent, or are they getting in the transfer portal as well?
SPEAKER_03A little bit of both. I I know that some of the like USM and that type of level are are finding those kids that may have been highly touted coming out of high school. They went to a an SEC or a Big Ten uh a Big 12 program and it just didn't work out their freshman year, and they they have a lot of growing up to do. And I think they are are are working with those kids. I think they're finding those kids are able to come down and be the star that they were in high school at the at the mid-major level. So I think a lot of that is going on at the mid-majors.
SPEAKER_02Coach B Mac, tell us how we can uh tell the audience how they can get in touch with you.
SPEAKER_03Everywhere on all social media platforms at BMAC1435, and you can see my my uh trip out to Phoenix here in a couple of days. I'll be there from leave Thursday and I come back on Monday. So you can see all everything I go and I do while I'm out in Phoenix.
SPEAKER_02Well, I tell you, Coach B Mac, we really appreciate you being a guest on we absolutely want to have you on again. Tell us about the Phoenix trip and tell us all the uh the good stuff going on out there. Because I know it's starting to get hot out there, so you know it's Oh yeah, I know.
SPEAKER_03I had I got to get my uh my summer wardrobe out because it's it's a whole different ballgame out there right now. But yes, Hunter, thank you for having me. I always enjoy coming on.
SPEAKER_02Thank you, sir. I appreciate you.
SPEAKER_03All right.
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SPEAKER_02The Gazebo Gazette is Harrison County's only independent newspaper, publishing news from Gulfport to Bay St. Louis every Friday. Hi, this is Hunter Dawkins, owner of the Gazebo Gazette. If you're looking for local news without the hassle of sorting through story after digital story, log on to thegazeboGazette.com. Add your name to the digital audience of 250,000 plus coastal residents who already know where to find the stories that matter to them.
MGCCC Coach Jack Wright
SPEAKER_02Would love to welcome my next guest, Coach Jack Wright, the head football coach at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. Coach Wright has won two national junior college championships during his eight years of coaching at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. Coach, first off, how's spring practice coming?
SPEAKER_11Uh we got uh two games in last week uh to kind of to kind of kick it off. Uh, you know, surrounded by some practices and vulkers and things like that, just to get everybody on the same page. And um, you know, it's definitely you know a rebuilding process. We lost a lot of really good players and moved on to the next level. And uh a lot like many of the other years I've been at this level, we got a lot of a lot of new faces, um, a lot of talented young men, but we're definitely starting over as a team.
SPEAKER_02Coach, are y'all having a a spring game, or is it just gonna be a scrimmage or anything of such the the uh community college you know gets behind?
SPEAKER_11Yeah, it's always tough. Um you know, we we lost 22 players um to division one schools at Christmas, and we've got a few more that are gonna be made. But that makes it tough. You know, we're two years ago. We're not like the high schools or the four year universities where we've got three more um classes uh that are there to practice and develop. We only have the one class last year's freshman that are here. That are that are still around that are developing for next year. So we have to kind of structure practice to where we get so many plays here, ten plays here, another five plays here. So really it's for the offensive linemen. We just don't have two platoons of offensive linemen at the moment. So we have to kind of space things out, you know, considering um how long uh they can they can sustain the drive before they give out.
SPEAKER_02Coach, that's a great segue. One of the questions I was gonna talk to you about. Talk to me about the difficulty in recruiting nowadays with with our community. Oh sorry. All right, so coach, if you wouldn't mind talking to me about the difficulty in recruiting with the rise of the NIL and transfer portal in today's game.
SPEAKER_11It's difficult. Um you know, I think there's there's really two things that have happened that have made it tough on junior colleges, uh, recruiting-wise. And number one is uh, you know, the ACT has kind of been gone away with it as uh an entrance barrier at the four-year schools. Um if you look along our hallways in the building of Gulf Coast, it's lined with guys that have played at the power four level at the NFL level. Um photos of legends that have come through the park, um, half coach to few, coaching, cable coach of you, coach coach a few, and there's even you know some more from before that era, but a lot of those guys, um, you know, for whatever reason, uh, you know, we're running a junior college because of the ACT test requirements. So four-year schools are getting those guys in school, they're getting them in classes, they're getting them started. So we're kind of missing out on that segment of reverse now. Um but but primarily, you know, the big thing that's changed is there's no more sitting out a year uh when it comes to a four-year uh transfer going to another four-year school. Whereas, you know, if they can't left LSU or Alabama or Old Business, you know, before that rule changed, they had to sit out a year just made too much to go play in a junior college and go through the recruiting process again and kind of see where you wound up. But so those two things are we're really not getting um the caliber of of uh powerful or NFL transfer. We we have some, but uh uh it's not as many as it was uh seven, eight years ago when when I started at Gold Coast.
SPEAKER_02Is there a certain area in Mississippi that you guys are recruiting or are y'all just basically recruiting the best high school talent you can get throughout the state?
SPEAKER_11Yeah, I mean I'm blessed uh here to have a lot of coaches with Mississippi contacts as assistants. Um so we really just go everywhere in the state of Mississippi uh that we can get in-state talent. You know, we have a we have a limit on our out of staters, you know, only the 15. Um, you know, the week one we have to declare who those 15 guys are and here. So we recruit heavily the state of Mississippi. Um and a lot of our out of staters come from Mobile. You know, we don't we don't go too far. We stay within a about a 200 mile range of of the coast and um and kind of go from there. There's plenty of good football players in that circle. We just have to I gotta recruit them and convince them to come to Gulf Coast.
SPEAKER_02Coach, final question for you. What what how is the relationship? I know you've coached some college and I know plenty of your staff has coached some uh some division one college too. How close is your relationship with not only with your high school coaches, but with the division one coaches just to be able to process players back and forth?
SPEAKER_11Well, that is a great question. Um unfortunately, um I think all recruiting, um, especially when you're talking about the power four level has become very transactional. I would say that because of that, the relationships have uh deteriorated, not that they're bad. But um if you're a head coach or an assistant coach at an SEC school, there's really no need to go invest in you know a bunch of time and developing a relationship with junior colleges or even high schools for that matter, when it's just gonna come down to how much you know how much the kids are gonna get paid. Um, you know, it's gonna come down to a number. So relationships are are deteriorating in that respect. And I just think that's um kind of where we are in college sports now. I don't think it's anybody's fault. I just think it's it's kind of a a result of the changes that have that have come upon us the last five years.
SPEAKER_02Coach, we gratefully appreciate you. We look forward to talking to you more, especially right before the season starts and even during the season.
SPEAKER_11Sounds good. I'll join you guys anytime. It's been a pleasure.
SPEAKER_02Thank you.
SPEAKER_11Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_02All right, my next guest is a Cajun man, sports reporter, and ULL ULL alum, Matthew McGuez. Based on the theme of this episode, The Life of a Tiger, what does that mean in the land of LSU right now, Matt?
SPEAKER_10Yeah, uh, Hunter, first of all, I appreciate you you having me on. Uh it's interesting right now with with the recent hire of uh of Will Wade coming back to LSU after everything that happened uh you know in the early 2020s. Uh he was fired in 2022 uh after a really, really good five-year run as head coach of the Tigers. So definitely um some LSU fans are very happy with the decision to to bring Will Wade back to Baton Rouge, and they're hoping that men's basketball can quickly get up to par with Kim Mulkey and the women's program and what people expect Lane Kiffin to do with the LSU football program.
SPEAKER_02You have Lane Kiffin, Will Wade, and Kim Mulkey. They're all big-time personality coaches, and they've been successful coaches uh in your athletic department, and your governor had a step in hiring each one of these. Is this is this a little awkward or is this just Louisiana?
SPEAKER_10So it's incredibly awkward, um, at least in my opinion, um, because I I'm the type of person that I don't like to mix politics and sports, and I know I know that they inevitably mix from time to time. Like there's just there's some things that you just can't avoid. Um, but I'm a big believer in you hire people to do a job, uh and you know, you hire athletic directors to to lead the athletic program. So if the governor feels like he needs to stick his head in um and discuss hirings and firings and things of that nature, I think things get a little dicey there. Uh, but I think in LSU's case, I think it's worked out here. Um, you know, obviously Lane Kiffin comes in uh to run the football program after some great success that'll miss, including what was arguably a run at a national title this past year, uh, which ran it at Chambliss. Kim Mulkey's won a national title with the women's basketball program. You have Jay Johnson, who's won two national titles with the baseball program. And now you bring in Will Wade, a guy who had success here. He's had success at every program he's been to, really and truly, uh, just brought NC State to the NCAA tournament just this past year, in his first year at NC State, brought Nice to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, uh, put VCU in the dance as well. So it's one of those things where and I know the rest of the country isn't isn't thrilled with the moves that LSU's making, but I think this goes to show you that with the personalities like you mentioned, with a uh Kim Mulkey and a and a Lynn Kiffin and uh and now Will Wade, I think LSU's perfectly content with being the the villains of of college athletics, if you will.
SPEAKER_02What's up in the Louisiana Tech situation uh with their lawsuit against Conference USA and with Conference USA's lawsuit back, is there gonna be any decision made before July the first?
SPEAKER_10So that's gonna be another tricky situation to to watch unfold. Um you know, for for those that might not know what's going on there, the uh Louisiana Tech Bulldogs have made the move to the Sunbelt Conference, or or at least attempting to make the move to the Sunbelt Conference. And Conference USA looks like they're gonna do everything in their power to prevent it. Um now, I I I'll be honest, I haven't, you know, d dove deeply into uh the lawsuits uh and what the these two parties are are trying to claim against each other. Uh from an outsider's perspective, I don't really see what leg Conference USA has to stand on here, um considering that Louisiana Tech was willing to pay or is willing to pay the buyout fee um that was agreed upon in their Conference USA contract. So I I don't know how this is gonna play out, but I know that anytime you have these these countersuits against each other um between conferences and universities, it can get pretty messy. Um so it'll definitely be intriguing to see how that plays out with uh with spring football going on right now, and you know the summer goes quickly, uh, so college football's gonna be right around the corner before we know it.
SPEAKER_02Can Will Hall overcome his USM period to help Tulane?
SPEAKER_10No doubt. No doubt. Um Will Hall's a great coach. Um, you know, his time at Southern Miss was a little plagued, um, but he has great experience as an assistant most recently at Tulane. Uh he's also spent time at Memphis, he spent time at the University of Louisiana. Uh he's got the coaching resume, he's got the resources at Tulane. They're just coming off of their first ever appearance in the college football playoff. The money is there, the resources are there, the recruiting is there. Uh now it's just gonna be time for for Will Hall to put it together, and I think he's uh a good coach to do it. Um personally, I was hoping that that Tulane would would come up with something a little bit better coming off of the recent success, but I I do think, with that said, that I do think Will Hall can do uh a good job with the Green Wave in Uptown.
SPEAKER_02Now, this is a little bit more familiar for you. Uh what does ULL look like this year? Do they lose how much do they lose in the transfer portal? I'm not really sure where they at where they stand at. They look like they've been kind of middle of the road the last few years. Uh talk to me about what DeShormo and them are doing.
SPEAKER_10Yeah, Coach Desremo has a uh has an interesting offseason ahead of him. Uh they brought in a couple really nice transfers, um, most notably Princeton Malbrug. He was a linebacker and a special teamer at LSU. Um he's a Lafayette kid, so he's coming back home with two years of eligibility remaining. I think that could be a good defensive leader for them. You get Lunch Winfield back as your quarterback. Uh he stepped in when Walker Howard got hurt and you know never really looked back. He he was a uh a great piece for the offense last year, and uh I think that he comes back as the offensive leader. Running back spot's gonna be a little bit of a question. Um you lost both Zylon Perry and Bill Davis in the transfer portal. Zylon Perry uh going to Virginia Tech and Bill Davis going to Tennessee, or I might have those backwards. Um definitely uh big blows there with both of those guys being big producers, especially over the last couple of seasons. Uh so there's some question marks for sure on both sides of the ball with the Cajuns, but uh you know, it it's one of those things where until you get under the bright lights at the end of August, beginning of September, it it's hard to truly judge what you have. So we'll uh we'll see how the summer goes, we'll see how spring football goes, and then uh we we can we can start talking about that a little bit more deeply uh come August.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, um as far as baseball, uh where does both not only LSU ULL and Tulane, who who is gonna come out to be the best in Louisiana? Because right now it doesn't seem like there's anybody veering for that.
SPEAKER_10You know what was interesting. Everybody thought it was gonna be LSU at the beginning of the year, and obviously so coming off the national championship. Um, but then you know UL kind of put a spark there. They they beat LSU in Lafayette and then ripped off a couple of really nice wins to put themselves in the top 25. Uh LSU had a couple bad losses that took themselves out of the top 25. Uh but now that the Cajuns are kind of skidding a little bit. Had a really bad weekend this weekend against Louisiana Monroe. Uh at home, LSU bounced back in a pretty big way today with a huge 17-10 win over Kentucky. Uh so it too, and you know, Tulane's playing well also. They've got a big series with uh with East Carolina coming to uptown here in just a couple of weeks. So definitely a uh good spot for Louisiana College baseball right now. And uh it'll be fun to see how those three teams kind of get together and kind of iron some things out for themselves because we're we're turning the clock to April uh here later this week and things are gonna get real interesting. Yeah, you can find me uh on X at Miguez Matt on all socials, really, at uh at Me Gaz Matt. And you can check out the work I do for the New Orleans Saints over at Canal Street Chronicles.com.
SPEAKER_02Hey, we always gratefully appreciate you, and the closer the draft, we're gonna have you on again for that too. So we appreciate you, Matt.
SPEAKER_10No doubt, Hunter. I appreciate the time, man.
SPEAKER_02Take care. And my final guest is an accomplished guest and regular on ESPN's The Paul Feinbaum show. But Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reporter Michael Katz has a lot more to say as usual. Uh Mike, what's with the Trinidad Chambless ruling from the Mississippi Supreme Court?
SPEAKER_09Yeah, that was quite the uh that was quite the news jump uh a couple days ago at 4 o'clock on a Friday. Um it you know, again, it's because it's never really technically over. Um the Mississippi Supreme Court announced um last week and um the NCAA's um the the the NCAA's permission to appeal. Um the ruling and to have a um ruling. Um is gonna be called. I think we're fans generally use the money for just uh incredible story. Um going into Mississippi from one of the biggest uh in the hearings in criminal sports, um in simple leaving hearing movie, and all these sorts of uh different things, but um it it's translation that changes is is good to go. Um we have spring football availability tomorrow, so hopefully hopefully uh we'll get to talking to and kind of pick his brain about what the last few months have been like.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Mike, what about his lawsuit with the NCAA? I know that he and his uh his legal team have had some some you know, obviously with the EA sports potential not being on the cover. Talk to me about where that lawsuit stands.
SPEAKER_09So I think that is something that is still going, and so I'm not sure what the time frame for that is gonna look like, or I mean necessarily what how strong that case is. Um, you know, I think there's a lot of moving parts there, but um I I think the the basis of the claim was that um because of everything that was going on and his uncertainty as an instable uh student athlete, he lost another money and opportunity to be on the cover of this extremely competitive video game um that would have provided him um uh a lot of um a lot of extra money. And uh I believe because of the lawsuit is is for damages and and I think a lot of the a lot of this whole thing has been, you know, even with the the injunction is looking at your irreparable harm and and what does this do, you know, in terms of obviously losing the the student ethic experience, but also uh is he losing money that he uh would not be able to get back? And obviously, you know, who knows what his NFL career is gonna look like. But uh there's a lot of money at stake here, and and and this is is is another part of it, and um, you know, uh it's been reported he's a five million dollar NIL quarterback uh win win at all miss. So there's a lot of money at stake, and and I think this this this lawsuit with the EA stuff is just uh is another piece of it. But uh I I'm not sure where exactly that one stands right now or if anything has uh has changed.
SPEAKER_02How has if if you have been to spring practice, has it begun yet and how's it going so far, at least from what you've seen?
SPEAKER_09Yeah, so it just started. They're we're really late this year. Uh it started Friday um and there was no availability. And so tomorrow's the first time we get to see them in action really since, gosh, I guess it was January, whatever, uh January 8th in in uh in Glendale Arizona City Festival. So um one of the questions, you know, obviously it's it's it's Pete Golding's first full six season uh full as as a coach on the level, uh pieces of obviously when you're trying to court, you feel pretty good about things. But I mean, I guess there are a lot of questions, and I'm I'm just curious to see like how different things look. I mean, listen, I've I've been covering you know, link is a little bit teams for five seasons. You you get used to things being run a certain way at practice. You hear the same songs like every day at the same time in practice. Uh like even little things like that, I'm curious. Like, is the playlist different? Is is is is the is practice divvied up differently? Um, you know, do they do it in different sections now? There's just so many things I'm curious to see. So hopefully, uh hopefully we start to get some of those uh questions answered tomorrow.
SPEAKER_02Uh the pretty famous Ole Miss running back Deuce McAllister's gaff with uh Lane Kiffin last week, based on his son. Is there any other Lane Kiffin trolling things that are going to be happening, at least during the Ole Miss uh spring practice or preparation up till the season starts?
SPEAKER_09I think I think it's been, I mean, obviously there's there's always a chance that something comes up uh in the next couple of days or hours or minutes, uh, just generally, just knowing how uh he has dysfunctioned at times in his career. But uh I think it's been obviously the decent analyst thing got a lot of um a lot of play last week, and that was uh, you know, I think that was something a lot of people were frustrated with. Um that being said, um I think that he remembers his problem for the um he's a lot of work to do when they're not as he was that as a program that isn't going to um you know wheel and uh and wait for things to get better than expecting them to get better immediately. Um he has said that you know it takes time and it's a process, but uh you know in a world where you know Signet won a national championship at NBA in his second year, uh I think the conversation is harder to have, especially in a place like LSU where they expect so much. So uh it's a long way of saying I think he's probably uh trying to stay focused on on his team and his program right now, but that's not to say uh that there isn't something uh that that could very easily come up soon.
SPEAKER_02Well, seeing that this the theme of this episode is the life of a tiger, you know, specifically about the recent hire of the basketball coach Will Wade bringing him back and having you know these big LSU mentalities going on with the you know the hiring of Lane, the hiring of Will Wade, uh you know, having Kim Mulkey on the staff, three big egos. I notice you've had a good history in covering Lane Kiffin all the way back to USC. Now, I'm not sure I know you're a regular on a lot of podcasts, and so I thank you so much for being on ours, but but in your mindset, and you don't have to give me your your complete thought process if you don't want, but what in the was the mentality, and this will be the last time I ever asked this question about late giving leaving, but was it really a Saban-esque, a Pete Carroll mentality of going to LSU, or was you do in your mind was there other thoughts? Because of all people, Michael, I know you know him probably a lot better than most of the media, at least nowadays.
SPEAKER_09It's pretty crazy. Uh I was these Fourthender of the Doyle Trojan um the year before he got fire on the Talmud. So yeah, the long one was he was in a he was in his mid 30s back then and I was a early 20s, so uh a lot's change for both of us since then. But um I I think the you know I I know that a lot has been placed on the the conversations with with Peter and McSolving two guys that he uh looked up to um and I I think that the way that I've sort of processed it is like if he grew up in an era with um blue bloods and powerhouses and and and schools that there were only so many places that you could win a national championship, right? And and his father being a coach and working at some of uh these programs, um he's he's seen some of it firsthand. And so uh and he worked for two coaches who uh and P Carroll and Nick Stopin who who were at these programs that you know before the last few years, you know, really even this year, uh, you know, let's be honest, there were only a few schools that ever really had a chance of winning a national championship. And so, yeah, you know, NIL has has even the playing field, the portal has changed things. And again, you know, Indiana is one of the was the losingest program in the history of college football, and they just finished off one of the best seasons ever. So, you know, yes, things have changed, but I've always sort of thought of of Wayne as a guy who um he I think he believes in the Blue Bloods. And uh, you know, LSU is a place where, you know, uh, you know, minus Brian Kelly, you know, the last three coaches all won national championships. It's it's one of the um you know most fertile recruiting grounds in in college football. Uh, you know, the greater New Orleans area. Um it's it's a place that packs a hundred thousand or whatever uh into that stadium at night. It's a little bit different. Um Tiger Stadium is really a pretty incredible experience. And I think that all of those sorts of things, like as great as things were for him at all missing, and he was given everything he wanted here with with you know the the money. Uh everything was going to be on the same level as it was in LSU. But I think that for you know, I think for him, I've always felt that he truly believes that in the blue bloods and the power of brand. And I just think it was gonna be hard to turn down an opportunity like this, even if he had everything he wanted here uh at all minutes, the opportunity to coach LSU, especially given everything that he's gone through with you know some public, you know, the embarrassment with the firings, uh, you know, the with the Raiders, with uh with USC, with um, you know, and firing him before the National Championship game, uh, when he was about to go to FAU. Um, he's dealt with a lot of these sort of really bad moments. And so, you know, listen, Lane is I think he's 50. Um, you know, who knows if an opportunity like this comes up again, the chance to coach, you know, one of these historic programs, uh, I think that was really hard to say no to.
SPEAKER_02All right, my friend, final question. And I know this is completely different from what we've been talking about, but does the baseball team, after getting swept this last week by Mississippi State at home, do they have a pitching staff, or are they just gonna count on their offensive five power this year?
SPEAKER_09You know, it's you know, what they're what, three and six now, I guess, in the CC play. Um, and it looks kind of nice, and and might be Ain't gonna use the word embarrassing uh in miserable yesterday's uh post-game. Um, two of the series, you know, one of the three series have been against great teams, two of them are tough five or in Texas David Six Days really, really good. So um I think the bigger issue for the band is I I don't think the pitching is bad. I think it's very, very good. Do they shoot themselves in the flip event? Yes. I mean, there was a moment yesterday where you know they would have been in the leading in the fielding error by the pitcher you didn't touch the hand and literally a couple pitches later you get a two of the home run that breaks open the game. Um you know, it's it's kind of in that way for the team. So I think the pitching is is is actually I think it's fine. I think it's gonna be the I think the biggest thing right now is is just the boomer but the lineup. If they're hitting home run, it's just not happening for them right now. And um, you know, stranding runners, I mean, they left 14 of the base, I think, illness training. Um, they're terrible with relatives corporation lately. Um they have to, you know, if they're they're getting guys on base, you know, they're they're still locking, you know. Even if they're not getting, you know, if they're not screaming together, you know, many rallies with hits, they're still locking, but they're not able to capitalize on those things. So uh I think this weekend, this past weekend was was was was pretty telling of what the team currently is. It's a team that is is clearly talented and and they've got some really good players, but uh right now they aren't able to take advantage of the opportunity teams are giving them uh on the face paths and whatnot. So uh that's gonna be 50, and then I don't know if it gets easier to know the STC is pretty unforgiving. Uh there's a lot of good teams to you, it seems like you've played the right team uh pretty much every weekend now. So um it's it's it's it's it's it's they're they're not in the in the best place, I think mentally. It's it's they're they're they're probably pretty frustrated. But you know, all it takes is one series to get things turned around, and I know the talent's there. Um, you know, I think this is as good as a team talent-wise as it was last year. And that was a team that hosted.
SPEAKER_00So the following is a paid advertisement by O'Doire Realty agent Stephanie Mankowitz. Call Stephanie today at 228-563-0471 for all your Realty needs.
SPEAKER_02And here we are talking about Realty again with our O'Doire Realtor Agent sponsor, Stephanie Mankowitz. Let's talk about the tips this week from Stephanie about what realtors should be doing for you.
SPEAKER_01Thank you, Hunter. As always, it's a pleasure to review realtor topics and uh hopefully it helps people, right? So, what should we do should we be doing for you, the buyer or the seller? First thing I would say is, and it's in the actual disclosure everybody signs when they work with an agent, is ensure all parties are represented fairly and honestly. It's called fair and honest dealing. And if I'm helping you or anyone out before I can even show you a house, you know, you sign that disclosure. It's not even a contract, it protects you as a person. And I'm supposed to explain that forum to you and say, hey, before we do anything real estate, I am licensed, I am liable, I am here to help you, give you fair and honest dealings, get the most I can for your house, confidentiality. I'm not gonna if you're a seller, I'm not gonna tell people your bottom line. That's a secret. So, um, so we'll start with that. The first thing is that we are fair. And sometimes realtors get a bad rap, and sometimes there's realtors that have caused that. But uh, I know I'm one of the realtors that considers myself pretty by the book and just try and solve the problem. I just want to be part of the solution, right? So if you're selling a puppy or Avon, whatever it is, there's liabilities when you're selling a house times three, times ten. Okay. Alright, well, I would say uh another thing we do, we we make sure that uh the people who maybe they were they've never sold a home before. Or they've never bought a home before. We make sure that we we through the shaky buyers or the sellers, buyers that maybe aren't a good idea to deal with, we can see problems coming before they start. When a realtor's been doing this 10 years, and if it is a buyer, we're also looking for sellers that might be a problem. You know, if we're putting in a really healthy offer and it's like full price or near full price, and then we hear there's a multiple offer situation, it doesn't mean you panic. You know, sometimes you leave your offer right where it is, even though there's other offers. So we're making we're weeding through the shakiness and the things that come up that seem unpredictable. And one of the other unpredictable things, like for sellers, is you know, they get an offer and it's got 10 contingencies on it, and the price looks great, and they say they're cash, but there's all these contingencies. So um, you know, you're not really aware how much we help you until you actually deal with a good realtor. That's one thing I would say, and we want to help them determine the value that's correct if they're selling.
SPEAKER_02What are some of the things that determine the value?
SPEAKER_01Oh okay, that's a good one. Let's start with location. You know the old saying? Location, location, location. Alright, uh, let's start with what are things selling for around you? If you're in a nice neighborhood and and you think your house is a castle, we all kind of feel like that when we love our home. Doesn't mean it's worth three times what the market says. So people will hear realtors say, Well, the market says your house is worth this. And some sellers don't want to accept that. No, no, it's it's gotta be worth more. I've got a double granite countertop, I've got a fountain that shoots out gold in the backyard, and I've got three kittens with it. So I think I should get a hundred thousand more. And we have to rein people in and say, I love your kittens, I love your granite. And the last year in your neighborhood, people had paid this amount. And though, and that's where we start thinking like an appraiser. So we're like, okay, wait. We can go out two miles and look at the last sales in the last year within two miles of this property, and we can see what people have been paying. And we also look at the square footage. And that's really important, Hunter, because if your house is 2,000 square feet and you saw one sale for a million and it had 3,000 square feet, and you're like, well, mine's worth that too. You're a thousand square feet smaller. So I can't even count that house as a comparable sale, right? When we determine the value, it is the critical, probably the most critical thing we do as your listing agent. Because that price is the first thing they see, just like the pictures. And if we priced you so high that you seem ridiculous, they're not coming. And then guess who you don't like? Me, the realtor. You don't like me anymore. So I'm kind of an upfront realtor. I think a lot of us are after we've been in a while. And we say, look, in all honesty, right now, this is what the market says your house is worth. Other things we're gonna help you with is um determining what is the inside of the house worth. Um appraisals are gonna change next year uh across the country, and there will be different data inputs into determining what your house is worth, so we're gonna be on top of that. Um, and so if you're trying to sell on your own, you know, we can be really helpful and deal with all these unexpected things that happen when you try to uh sell on your own. Um you know, we talked about sellers a lot, so okay, I'm just gonna put this out there. If you're thinking of selling on your own, that's some of the things we're doing for you, the seller, to make it easier is photos, professional photos. We pay for those. A lot of our photographers have drones. We're taking the calls because it's our number on the sign. So if it's a look-you, it's not an ideal buyer. We've got our radar out there, so we're taking that hassle, you know, out of it.
SPEAKER_02If you are thinking about selling on your own, maybe ask Steph. If you would like to talk to Stephanie to help determine your next steps, call today at 228-563-0471. Or call her at the office and ask for Steph at 228-452-4242. Steph has the latest information to help you get through the process with reasonable expectations. Again, that's 228-563-0471 to speak directly with Stephanie. We gratefully appreciate you listening to this podcast. We thank you again, Jeff. It was a great show, and I think it's only going to get better. We had some great guests, you know, really uh filled the slots great, and uh it's great. I mean, getting closer to spring, you know, uh, we'll see what happens all the way across the board.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I'm excited about our draft show that'll be coming up. Uh what's a great show today, a lot of great guests. Um another sports thing that happened I was interested in. The Birmingham Stallions won their first game. Uh they played mouable uh under head coach AJ McCarran and uh offensive coordinator Tyler Siskiy. So uh excited about that, you know. Oh, and Matt Corral. That's why I wanted to talk about that, because of Matt Corral.
SPEAKER_02You mean potential lieutenant governor of Alabama, AJ McCarron?
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I think I I I think they withdrew that pretty quickly. Like, hey, why don't you just coach the stallions? Uh and he's got Tyler Siskiy, you know, who was AJ's coach in high school, uh coaching with him, and uh, of course, Matt Corral, that's his got the got the got the dub. So way to go, you know.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Matt Corral was the legend in Ole Miss. So yeah.
SPEAKER_07Uh Trinidad Chambless, State Supreme Court said no to the uh to the NCAA. So Trinidad Chambless will be start uh starting for Ole Miss this year.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And uh that that certainly it's uh that's gonna keep everything interesting, at least with the game three. The game three LSU travels up to Ole Miss. That'll be an interesting game right there now, my friend.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I think I think that takes Ole Miss. I I feel like they'll be ranked like four or five now, you know, predicted without Trinidad maybe in the you know 11, 12, but I I think they'll be ranked pretty highly now, and there'll be a lot of expectations around them.
SPEAKER_02Hey, absolutely. And you know, of course, we've got uh we've got a lot of more local teams too. Southern Miss and South Alabama, they're coming in with new staffs and new this and everything. We'll see what happens with all those.
SPEAKER_07We've got Will Hall going to lane, so a lot going on, man.
SPEAKER_02Hopefully we'll get Major on pretty soon here, Coach Applewhite at South Alabama, and you know, uh talked with him a few weeks ago and he he said he'd be more than interested.
SPEAKER_07So yeah, let's uh you know let him get through spring and spring game, spring scrimmage and all that, and then we'll we'll rope him down, or you know, rope him in.
SPEAKER_02So there you go. There you go. Well, it was a great show, and I think it's only gonna get better. Make sure you follow us on the gazeboazette.com, where the podcast will be posted next week, as well as on Facebook.com backslash the real gazebo, or on X, and Gazebo Gazette is the handle. The HD Experience is available on all social media podcasts, including Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Amazon Music under the HD Experience tag. Signing out, this is Hunter Dawkins, the host of the HD Experience. We'll catch you on the next one.