DESTINFM SCOREBOARD SHOW FRIDAY JULY 3RD, 2026

The Destin FM Scoreboard show is a Weekly Show hosted by DestinFM's Sports Director Rich Quinones, who takes an in-depth look at the local HS and College Sports scene, from recaps, to previews to in-depth interviews and breaking news!

Q has you covered! If you are looking for 100% local sports coverage in the Emerald Coast, this is the podcast for you.

On today's show Q highlighted some local area FB teams, plus an update on a rough loss by the Wahoos and why he thinks the Miami Marlins might be Buyers and Sellers at the MLB trade deadline, plus weekly SEC Football news and notes and a wild week in the NBA and where might future HOF'er LeBron James go for his 24th and what appears to be final NBA season. 

Q closes with some World Cup talk and the buzz surrounding some of these epic games. 

Follow Rich on twitter   / richqonq   & IG and Follow/Like on F/B Richard Quinones and tiktok @richqondamic

DESTINFM SCOREBOARD SHOW

DESTINFM SCOREBOARD SHOW

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Everyone into another edition of the Destin FM Scoreboard show. As always, I'm your host, Rich Cununas, and first and foremost, hope everyone had a good sports week. As we are fast approaching the 4th of July weekend, be safe, be sound, and uh enjoy the barbecues and the beach and the grills and the family and all the good times. And uh just remember uh Q over here, Rich Canonas, he will be working. So think of me while you're enjoying a nice little burger and hot dog and a little uh beverage of your choice. For me, obviously, you guys know it's uh coffee, even in the hot weather. All right, so with that being said, um not too much on the local front. Now, uh last week we had a really good interview with Crestview football head coach Thomas Grant. Check that out on demand, uh, gave us some really interesting insight on the upcoming season, his expectations, and I think you know, for a team last year that came on late, and that's exactly what they did, they um had a couple of tough losses to start the season, but then they ripped off five straight. Obviously, they lost in the playoffs to Mandarin 42 to 14. Uh, but you saw some growth. They've got some offensive players and defensive players coming back as well. They finished six and four. Now, I was checking out their uh schedule to start the season in the fall, and coach mentioned he's the one that sets it. They open against Booker T at home against Booker T, uh, at home against Lincoln, 13th and 21st of August, respectively. Then they have Pine Forest. So, what I'm trying to figure out, I don't know if they double it up or if they're gonna move that game to September. So uh I think those are two games that start at home. I'll try to verify for you next week. But just looking at their schedule, they have Pace, they have Mitchell, they have uh Nevara, the Raiders, Pine Forest, I mentioned Lincoln, Booker T. It's a pretty tough schedule, but there's a lot of expectations going forward for this school. Uh, obviously, with the other schools that we typically talk about, North Walton, South Walton, uh, Destin, you know, these are different regions uh within um uh the Panhandle, the Emerald Coast. I mean, Destin last year, they struggled. They were one and nine. Uh, they just had a brutal stretch of games where uh unfortunately they just they just couldn't get out of their way. I mean, they started the season all promising against Northville. They had that 37-2 win, but defensively, they just could not keep up with the Bakers, the Pensacola's, um, Pensacola Catholic beat them 45 to nothing. But with that being said, I expect this team to be much better than last season. I really do. And I think the one and nine, you never want to sit there and say it's kind of an aborition, but uh they've got some players, it's a young team, and I think they're gonna figure it out. Now, if they were to win three or four teams, uh three or four games this year, uh, five games, that would be a heck of a turnaround for a team that was just one and nine, and they just needed to play better defense. But uh they're gonna figure it out. I mean, this is you know, the beauty of high school football is that you turn around and you can uh get it going, right? And E.G. Green, I think, you know, he's the right guy for the job. Obviously, a former standout wide receiver, Florida State University, played in the NFL with the Colts. You know, he took over this program in 2022. So this is a young Destin High School football program. So it's you gotta have a little patience and it's gonna take a little bit of time. Chocktal, we know is gonna be power. Um, I mentioned some of these other teams during the week, and you know, these are all different regions that we're gonna dive into a lot more because I think you know, this could be the year where, and and I talked a little bit about it uh with several coaches on the Destin FM scoreboard show, which is on demand, and pardon my voice, the allergies, but which is on demand uh right now. Uh, so you guys can check it out, you guys can view it and visit it. Uh, we had some really nice interviews with a couple of the head coaches within the area, and I'll tell you the one thing that stood out if you go back and you listen to them, and I encourage you to uh Rocky Bayou, um Frank Beasley came on from Choctal. Obviously, Mike Conway first in as a high school head coach with Rocky Bayou. But you know, the question was posed: does the Florida panhandle can it dominate high school football in 2026? And some of these coaches believe it can. So it's something to watch for. As I mentioned, we've got some more coaches coming on very soon, more athletic directors coming on. And before we blink, it's gonna be uh August, September, which is crazy when you think about it, because we're gonna flip, we're gonna turn around, and then boom, you got the high school sports season, and I know it's gonna be fantastic in our area. I know these kids are just gonna be um just standout on and off the field. By the way, we're gonna do a couple shout-outs early. How about that on a 4th of July special of the uh Dustin FM scoreboard show? We already told you that um uh uh the Bulldogs got a new head coach in uh McSween. Also, they've added a couple others to their coaching staff. Uh Mr. Cratch is also now the girls' basketball head coach. Uh so uh he's gonna look for strong players, developing character, pursuing excellence, and pretty much representing Crestview. Uh, you also have a couple of other standouts that we're gonna highlight and we're gonna document as uh the weeks progress. So again, it gets a little more quieter on the high school front. As far as minor league baseball in the Wahoos, you know, they are such an enigma of a baseball team. They really are. I mean, Thursday night, the the pitching was just brutal. I mean, it was a marathon game. They lost to Rocket City 16-6. They started off hot. Um, you had a bunch of guys that reach base in the first inning. They load the bases. Brandon Compton comes up, delivers a crushing opposite field grand slam. They took a lead four to nothing, but again, they squandered that lead. By the way, that was a second grand slam of the season for the Blue Wahoos, and the second grand slam of his career. Uh, but after the first inning was played, you had the raid delays, which are just absolutely brutal. And then Rocket City came back, they tacked on two, and then they broke it open a couple innings uh later, even after, even after the Wahoos extended the lead in the fourth, they came back with an eight-run uh six inning. And um, how about this? The former Wahoo, Jake Thompson, with a grand salami, and that made it 11-6, and pretty much Rocket City wasn't done. They put two more up in the seventh, three more up in the eighth, and uh, oh my goodness, 16 to 6. I mean, that's just not good. Eliza Dishmay, Penskola starter, did not return after the first inning, which means all 16 runs were allowed by the bullpen. Never a good thing. So uh by the time we fire this off on the Destin FM uh scoreboard show as far as uh on the man, they'll be enthralled with a 635 start. They got two more over the weekend, so we'll see if they can bounce back. But if you listen in during the week on the Destin FM uh scoreboard updates that you hear uh multiple times in the morning, uh if you wake up with our good friends Billy Surf Surfs up in the morning on Destin FM, uh we pretty much talk about the Wahoos. We start off almost every um update with the Wahoos because we know there are baseball fans, obviously, in the area, uh certainly Ray's and Marlins fans as well, Braves fans, which you know don't look now in MLB, but Tampa is on a little bit of run, and they're getting bailed out by the Yankees because the Yankees stink. Yankees can't get out of their own way. My Yankees are struggling mightily. They lost seven straight. I mean, I mentioned this on my uh Daily National show on Q on my YouTube channel at RichQ on Q. You know, they got they got swept by the Red Sox, they got swept by the Tigers. Man, if they lose to Minnesota and then they lose four against Tampa or they struggle against the Rays in another week, how do you not consider moving on from Boone? But the story right now is Tampa Bay, very hot team right now in baseball. They have won eight straight games. They are four up over the New York Yankees right now. Uh the Rays sit with a solid 51-33 mark. Atlanta is 50-35, but don't look now. The fighting Phil's are only two and a half back. Uh, they're 7-3 over their last 10. And then, as I mentioned, the Marlins, they've been hanging around. The Marlins give them credit, even though they've dropped two in a row. They uh split that series against Colorado 2-2. The Marlins are four games over 500. And the reason I bring it up is because you never know come July which teams are going to be buyers, which teams are gonna be sellers. That's always something to watch in baseball. It's always something to watch in baseball, you know, because if if the Marlins, if they believe that they can be that wild card. Now, if we really, if we break it down at this moment, Miami is a game back in the wild card. Chicago is two and a half up, the Phillies are two up there. You're one two wild cards right now as it stands. Then you got the Cardones and the Marlins. So it'll be very interesting to see if the Marlins decide to be buyers at the trade deadline. Because we talk about this a lot. I mean, we haven't really said the Marlins are one of those teams. I think they're they're expected to both buy and sell. Now, they had a red hot June, and that basically puts them in the thick of things in the NL wild card. Now, if you're a buyer, think about it. Rather than chasing expensive short-term free agents, maybe you're looking for some players to remain with the club. You have club control, and you got a young team and emerging core, and I think the most valuable trade chip for them is Alcantara, the 2022 Cy Young Award winner. Now his trade value is fully restored. So I think he gets moved, and that's a heavy seller's market. That's a name to watch. But baseball is a grind. It's an absolute long season. Uh, you guys know that, and I know that. All right, some SEC college football news and notes while we have a few. So uh right now, as it stands, the Longhorns have emerged as the overwhelming odds-on favorite to win the 2026 SEC SEC Championship. Uh, they, I think by all counts, right now you look there, more of a favorite over Georgia. Georgia was a team in transition. We've talked about that as well. Now the format switched starting this fall. SEC completely eliminated divisions, officially moved to a mandatory nine-game conference schedule. So when you talk about the opponent's structure, every squad there is going to have three additional traditional rivalries, right? Um, then you got the overhaul with rivalry because the conference has removed the late season cupcake. Because they don't want these teams beating all teams and then tagging themselves so it wins late to strengthen their position when it comes to the BCS or the AP top 20, top 25, and have an opportunity to get a higher ranking. So you look at some of these grueling schedules. No team in the conference is projected to win more than nine games. I mean, that's unprecedented parity in the SEC. We're going to try to get on John Bueller from fan side. It covers the SEC next week to talk a little bit about this. So you got a bottleneck of nine and three, maybe ten and two teams fighting for the CFP. Uh, and I think one of the storylines, obviously, is going to be Arch Manning with Texas. Uh, they had a disappointing season to state at least, fifth place last season. LSU, a little bit of buzz. Turn around, Lean Kiffin. Here we go. Uh, you got a dangerous yet volatile wild card with that team. Uh, Florida has struggled, but I'll tell you what, some people think after last year they're going to take a nice little leap forward. And then Texas AM. Texas AM pretty much had the top class. If you're talking about rankings by 24-7, top recruiting class, followed closely by Oklahoma and um Texas. Uh, and then number three, LSU. So remember too, LSU just flipped one of their four-star safeties, Greedy James from Texas. So I think the SEC, we are poised for a very competitive. I don't like you know these win totals. Some of them are pretty high, just as I alluded to. We'll talk a little more about the win totals, the overs and the unders. Not really for gamblers out there. That's not what we do on the show. We reserve that more for my on cue national show, but we'll kind of you know give you a little insight on where I think some of these teams, you know, where you might hang your hat, so to speak, if you are a fan of some of these teams, respectively, because I do think the SEC is going to be very tough. Um, the NBA was a you know what this week, a a just a firestorm, man. It was crazy. Every time you turn around, there was news, right? I mean, the shock waves of the NBA this past week was Jalen Brown traded from the Celtics to the Philadelphia 76ers, Paul George draft picks, uh, Sixers. Uh, obviously, you know, they gave uh Boston a lot of draft picks, but they also gave them an aging uh veteran in Paul George salary dump. The consensus opinion is obviously the Philadelphia 76ers fleece to Boston Celtics. Uh, this is something I discussed a lot uh during the week. And Brown is a top 15, top 20 player. You pair him with Embiid, Edgecombe, and Maxie. Now, the other shoe to drop is going to be where does LeBron James go? LeBron James will pick his spot, period. There's Buzz, the next, the defending champs. There's Buzz, a sleeper, Philadelphia 76ers. There Buzz, go back to Cleveland, come full circle. There's Buzz, South Beach, here we go, hang out, Collins Avenue, Kaylecho, maybe a little Goffin. You won a title there as well. Nobody knows. Nobody knows except LeBron. And his agent, Rich Paul, is doing a heck of a job gaslighting and really promoting it because he's basically doing pros and cons for some of these landing spots, which are probably ticking off a lot of these teams and their GMs and their owners, unless he's saying something very positive. It's great content, but at the end of the day, LeBron will decide where he's going to go for his 24th season. And a lot of people are leaning towards Cleveland because he's in the midst of making a documentary. It almost makes sense. Go to where you start it, finish out your career where you start it. But I'm telling you, I would not throw the Sixers out the window. I don't see a need for him to go to the Knicks. I already like the core of the Knicks' defending NBA champs, so I wouldn't really touch that. But the NBA has really taken an unprecedented uh front seat to what's going on in the sports world because there's so many different dominoes and shoes to drop in a lot of these teams. I mean, think about this the Knicks win the championship. And it shows you how in today's NBA, a team that wins a championship can really disrupt the masses. So Boston basically gives up on Brown for a washed up Paul George. Milwaukee trades Giannis. Kawhi Leonard doesn't get the contract, doesn't get the money he wants from the Clippers, so he goes back to Toronto. Miami basically trades their future for a 32-year-old Giannis. Charlotte decides we're moving on from LaMilla Ball. And oh, by the way, Detroit turns around and they quit on Isaiah Stewart, and now uh they're trying to figure out who wants to pay Jalen Duran. I didn't even mention John Morant from Memphis going to Portland. So I feel as though the Knicks kind of are upsetting the apple cart. Um, World Cup. If you guys have been watching the World Cup, it's been fascinating drama. The games have been beyond thrilling. You know, U.S. down a man pretty much playing with 10 the other day. They get the win over Bosnia, they advance to the knockout stage for the first time since 2022. Now, Belgium's gonna be a very tough out. It's gonna be a really tough out. Uh and and everyone thinks France is just you know the team that's not gonna uh get beat. What's crazy is Argentina and Cape Verde play at hard rock. So, I mean that's gonna be a crazy game to watch, um, obviously, right? And then you've got Colombia and Ghana, uh, Egypt and Australia. That was a tie, and then action earlier in the week, Spain over Austria, Portugal, oh my goodness. You got the free kick by uh Ronaldo, then you got the header late. They uh shock or upset. I wouldn't say upset, but when I say shock, Croatia was in total control of that game. So I would say Portugal stole it from Croatia. Switzerland defeated Algeria 2-0. Now, for those that are wondering, scheduling-wise, so you look at Tuesday, July 7th, round of 32, 14th winner will take on Egypt, Switzerland, round of 32, 15th winner. Now, you're wondering, what about United States? United States will play Monday, they will play at 8 o'clock, they will play in Seattle, and they will take on Belgium. Now, uh, Portugal will play Spain. Everyone knows the Spanish, Spain is my team, so that'll be something to watch for me, my fan ism. Obviously, I'm pulling for U.S., of course, um, as well. But what'll be interesting to watch for U.S., you know, it was just a very questionable um red flag. And, you know, it's the uh Balogon uh on the ban and the red flag, and a lot of people have been disputing it. A lot of people are taking exception to how these games are being officiated, go figure. Uh, there's not going to be additional discipline handed out in the wake of that red card against Bosnia. Uh, he got the standard one-game suspension, meaning he's going to have to sit out the World Cup round of 16 matches against Belgium. Should United States men's national team prevail, he would be eligible to return for the quarterfinals. But why I like this team and I think they got a shot against Belgium, they're cocky, they're arrogant, they're talented, and I can't recall a team that was like that in U.S. history. And if you go back and you watch that game the other day and you watch that free kick over and over, they haven't had that kind of skill, talent, and athleticism in a really, really long time. So you got a lot of NBA going on, you got baseball really starting to heat up, trade deadline right around the corner. In another month, we're gonna be just absolutely engulfed in high school sports in our area, which we're excited about because that's what we give you on the Destin F and Scoreboard show with a little touch of what's going on nationally. We might have some news to announce going forward as we're kind of creating a little more sports content for you guys. You guys are fantastic, by the way. Keep hitting me up on X at Rich Q on Q, IG at Rich Q on Q, TikTok at RichQ on the mic. Uh, love the comments, love the engagement. You guys are great. We love to go back and forth. Some of you guys are actually sending me some good spots for coffee and good spots for um, you know, uh, you know, good junk food, so to speak. So keep that coming as well. But if uh if you're out there and you are a local business and you would like to support the show, uh if you're interested in advertising on the uh scoreboard updates or the Destin FM scoreboard show or the station as a whole, shoot me an email, Richq at Destinfm.com. Richq at destinfm.com. I know a lot of you guys have been hitting me up on Facebook. I try to get back to everyone as fast as possible. Uh, and again, we'll start to put the show on my YouTube channel as well. Obviously, the audio will live with Destin FM. We want you guys to not only lock in Destin FM, but we want you to download the app. Station's phenomenal, they're all over the place. You go to destinfm.com, it is destined. I mean, it is the only game in town, it's the only local radio station, music, events, beach updates, traffic, everything, sports, food, entertain. These guys are just doing a fantastic job. And the listenership, the eyeballs, the ears, the numbers, they speak for themselves. But we always want you guys to partner up with us. We want you guys to support the sports content. We want you to support the station. As I said, if you're interested in advertising on the station in any way, shape, or form, uh, let us know. Shoot me that email. All right, so you got the World Cup, you got baseball, you got the free agent period NBA, which is absolutely local. We got so much to dive into. We're gonna be back in the saddle early Monday with our Destin FM 60 second scoreboard update, as we typically do, but we want to remind everyone, everyone, very easy to get social with us. Facebook, Destin FM, on IG at Destin FM, X at Destin underscore FM, TikTok at Destin FM Radio. Enjoy your weekend, enjoy your holiday weekend, enjoy your 4th of July. That's going to do it for this edition of the Destin FM scoreboard show. Don't forget, I'll be back in the saddle early in the a.m. on Monday. As you guys wake up with my guy, Billy Surf Surfs up in the morning. You will certainly hear our scoreboard updates. As always, have a wonderful sports weekend on Rich Canyonas. Get the latest by downloading the free Destin FM app in the app store, Google Play, or at DestinFM.com. And we will talk to you next time on another edition of the Destin FM scoreboard show.