Tiger Rag Radio Podcast: Jay Johnson’s Tigers’ Recent Struggles, ESPN’s Charlie Crème On Kim Mulkey’s Postseason Edge & Much More

In hour one, Tiger Rag Radio visits with Charles Hanagriff, co-host of ESPN 104.5’s Live at Lunch, to discuss LSU baseball’s recent struggles.

In hour two, the crew talks with Charlie Crème about what it will take for Kim Mulkey’s LSU women’s basketball team to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Crème also shares his thoughts on Mulkey’s ability to elevate her team’s play in the postseason.

Tiger Rag Radio also catches up with Mike Smith, the public address announcer for LSU gymnastics, to talk about sophomore Kailin Chio’s historic run and the Tigers’ successful season so far.

The complete transcript of the show follows from AI with some typographical errors:

0:00

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Get ready to talk Tigers with producer Andre Champine and our hosts Todd Horn,

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1:01

This is Tiger Rag Radio live from Super Chevy Dealers Studio.

1:07

And good evening everyone. Welcome to another edition of Tiger Rag Radio. I’m Jeff Polmo, news and sports director of

1:13

Louisiana Radio Network, along with the executive editor for Tiger Rag Magazine, Todd Horn, Glenn Gilbo, who is our

1:19

editor, and then Andre Champine, our producer. Lot to get to here on this

1:24

Tuesday night. We’ll talk some LSU baseball. That’s the biggest thing going on right now after the Tigers lost to

1:31

Nor Eastern on Monday. Got a big game on Wednesday night over in Lafayette and then their final non-conference weekend

1:37

series coming up against Sacramento State. All of a sudden, LSU’s offense is in a funk. We’ll talk about that and

1:44

some of the other issues with the LSU baseball team. We’ll talk some basketball. The LSU Lady Tigers getting

1:51

ready to play in the SEC tournament will most likely face Oklahoma on Friday,

1:57

possibly South Carolina on Saturday. Charlie Cream, ESPN women’s college basketball brackettologist. He’ll join

2:04

us in hour number two. And we got to talk to some gymnastics as well. Kaylin Chio has been unbelievable this season

2:11

for the LSU gym squad that’s ranked second in the country. The voice of LSU

2:16

gymnastics. You hear him inside the Maravitz Center. Over 13,000 filled the PMAC on Friday night to watch

2:23

LSU defeat third ranked Alabama. And we’ll talk to Mike Smith coming up in

2:28

hour number two. And we’ll get into some other topics as well. But uh guys, um a

2:35

lot going on and we don’t even have spring football yet, so it’s only going to get more crazy. It’ll be here before you know it.

2:40

It certainly will. It certainly will. But uh one of the more important issues real real quick, let me ask you. I

2:47

wonder if when spring football starts if Lane is going to tweet less cuz he’s

2:52

busier. Do you think his tweets will go down? You think it’ll go up because he’ll have more information to share?

2:58

It seems like it’s gone down unless I’m just missing it on my feed. Has he hasn’t he been a little bit

3:05

other than tweeting pretty much two or three times a day every day? Let me give you a strategy. Go to

3:10

tiger.com. Twice a week. we break down the highlights of Lane’s I’ve done two of them. I’m going

3:17

to be doing regular stories on Lane’s uh tweets. But, you know, it’s funny. His his cover on his Twitter [clears throat]

3:23

is his daughter Landry saying Lane Keifin tweets too much. And Lane has

3:28

said in a couple of interviews since he became LSU’s coach that that he does it too much and he might he might ought to

3:34

stop. Yeah. But he doesn’t stop. He keeps doing it and they’re all pretty funny and and interesting. Yep. So, uh,

3:41

it’s just going to I wonder if you’ll like, uh, put stuff like during spring like, well, uh, Levit is third on the

3:47

depth chart right now [laughter] or something like cuz cuz what I’m hearing, we’re not going to have a lot of access. Yeah, that might be the only access we

3:54

get. Uh, and of course, he did a Tik Tok video with uh, Libby Dunn on Friday night. So, um, that was a little I I

4:01

don’t I I really don’t like Tik Tok. Um, but um, hey, good for both of them. And

4:07

then and then he had a a tweet about uh I had forgotten about this. Joe Burrow’s

4:12

dad, Jimmy Burrow, was a DB at uh Nebraska. And I did a big feature on him

4:18

because he was the MVP of the Sugar Bowl back in the early 70s and then his son played in the Sugar Bowl for the

4:23

national championship. But I didn’t realize that at the time Monty Keifin was his defensive coordinator at

4:29

Nebraska. And Lane tweeted out a picture of Monty, his dad, jumping into the arms

4:34

of Jimmy Burrow. Joe Burrow’s dad. So that that was a pretty cool tweet, too. And and Jimmy Burrow, I guess on the

4:42

basis of Lane’s tweet, talked about how Lane Kein was was his mentor and idol.

4:47

Lonnie Kein was his mentor. Right. Exactly. Lane Keifin is a perfect coach for LSU at that stage.

4:53

Yeah. Jimmy Burrow is a cool cool guy. I did did a lot on him when when when uh

4:58

Joe was here. But but that’s interesting that there’s a connection between the Burrows and the Keifins.

5:04

All right. Um the latest issue of Tiger Rag magazine is out. It’s one of the

5:10

more important issues and really um every year the Tiger Rag Tiger Rag does

5:16

a money issue and you can look in there and see how much everyone makes and this and that but it seems with money being

5:23

such a a prominent word around LSU athletics when you’re talking about

5:28

Brian Kelly’s buyout, you’re talking about NIL, you’re talking about revenue sharing, you’re talking about Lane

5:35

Kein’s contract, uh Matt McMahon, what do to buy him out or not. Uh Jay Johnson,

5:42

Brian Kelly’s buy out. Yeah. All it’s money is become

5:47

such a uh an important it’s always been part of college athletics, but no more

5:53

so than now. And it’s really turning things. And Tig, if you haven’t seen

5:59

some of the articles that have already been posted up at tiger.com, certainly check them out and inform

6:05

yourself. A lot of this is, you know, I know a lot of sports fans,

6:10

they just really want to worry about who wins and loses, right? You know, did did we win? Uh did we lose? Why did we win?

6:18

Why did we lose? All that kind of stuff. Yeah. And let and let me say this, Jeff. The the the this magazine was laid out

6:26

expertly by Todd and Jake McMains, our graphics person. It’s really easy to

6:32

read even though it’s not sports like you’re saying. It’s more business and stuff that turn a lot of people off, but

6:38

it’s really an easy read the way it’s broken down. And Todd did an excellent job on several of the

6:44

stories in there, and it it’s in a way that you can understand it. And I feel like we’re at a crossroads

6:50

right now because we’re there’s talk about expanding the college football playoffs. This revenue sharing, this is

6:57

the first year. It’s only going to go up from here. Do you get you get any guard rails on

7:04

NIL? Uh the the president has what’s is it is it this Friday, Todd, that the

7:10

Yeah. Yeah. the the president’s commission that Sabin with Nick Sabin is on there to to talk

7:16

about how to control college athletics. There’s discussion of moving away from the individual

7:23

conference TV contracts and just bundling it all up together. So, there’s so many facets of this. It’s it makes

7:31

your head spin. Yes. But I think all LSU fans should educate

7:37

themselves on this to understand uh just uh how complex and dynamic and

7:45

how you know what’s the future of LSU athletics because so many big decisions

7:51

are going to be made here over the next few months that’s going to affect the athletic program. Todd, right? And this is this is fairly

7:57

complicated. I’m going to try to I’m going to try to do this as simply as possible because that’s what we tried to do in this issue. You know,

8:03

we looked at this and we said, “How can we make this simple, understandable?” Because it’s

8:10

very complex and you just alluded to it. So, I looked around, talked to the staff, talked with Glenn, talked with

8:17

other people. Um, and actually we we’ve been working on this for months because what you just described is it is the end of an era.

8:25

Okay. 2025, in fact, physical year 2025, not just for LSU, but for all of college

8:33

sports because college football is the the cash cow for for college sports. All

8:38

right. All of that ended in 2025. and you it’s I don’t think it’s um

8:48

unbold to say that we went from an amateur model to a professional model

8:56

and now there’s all kinds of considerations and you mentioned some of them that are just breaking right now

9:02

what we tried to do with this issue and by the way you can get the digital issue if you can’t pick up uh the print copy

9:09

there is a digital issue online at tiger.com And several of these stories have been

9:15

published on tiger.com as regular web articles. It’s on the right side. You just click click on the uh cover.

9:22

Right. God bless you. So, thank you. So, you can you can see it all, but it’s it really we wanted to

9:28

point specifically to the end of an era and to all the questions and LSU’s

9:34

position as it enters this new era. And we even Glenn and I sat down with

9:40

Verge for several hours and went indepth to the budget, what was being reported

9:49

previously, what was really happening. And there’s a lot a lot of breaking

9:54

information inside of this long what’s called a long form story. Go ahead. And

10:01

and I think what what uh Verge said that I think is the most significant

10:07

is and then and Jay Johnson actually said the same thing several weeks before when we interviewed him in his office is

10:15

that schools are going to have to decide what sports they’re going to be great at, what sports they have to be great

10:22

at, what sports they’re going to be good at, and what sports they’re going to be not so good at. because they can’t fund

10:30

all the sports in an effort to win a national championship and everything like Skip used to do. And and Skip

10:36

really had across the board, he had the best athletic programs overall for the

10:42

longest span when he when he was AD. And as Verge told us, and it’s in the magazine, you know, those days are over.

10:48

They they got to be good in football. They have to be good in football, but they’re putting off men’s

10:56

basketball, which is probably why Matt McMahon’s going to keep his job and they’ll maybe try to be good at that

11:01

next year if the football team does good because they’ll make more money. And you

11:06

know that that’s how it’s going to work. And then there’s other programs that have decided, you know what, we can’t win a national championship in football.

11:13

South Carolina, Arkansas, Kentucky. So they’re going to put their money in another sport. South Carolina and

11:19

Mississippi State, they can’t win a championship in football. They’re gonna put their m money in baseball. And

11:25

that’s a threat to Jay because they’re gonna have more money donated to their baseball roster than Jay has. And Jay

11:33

talks about that and that’s just one of the dynamics that are going on. And you mentioned some and

11:38

I and I know you wanted to say something. I don’t want to interrupt you, but just today and yesterday

11:43

that they were talking about consolidating the rights. There’s a meeting in Dallas going on and we have a

11:50

column up right now where where we’re trying to explain what’s the difference between the Dallas meeting and what the

11:56

difference is between the Washington meeting on Friday with President Trump. It’s all about stabilizing the system

12:02

and there’s two different ways that they’re basically looking at it. Are they going to consolidate the

12:08

rights? Or will the SEC and the Big 10 be a duopoly, so to speak, not a

12:14

monopoly, but a duopoly, and emerge as the power in this? And and that’s what’s

12:19

really happening right now. Either way, LSU is going to be okay, even though

12:25

they’re facing their largest major deficit ever, which we were the first to report on. Well, and I’m glad you

12:32

brought that up because and and no offense to our friends over at the Advocate, but the stories that I think a

12:38

lot of LSU fans have seen or at least especially the headlines. Oh, LSU football had a record profit of $67

12:45

million or and they did and the school ended up with a surplus of nearly $4 million.

12:51

And that’s true. And and there have been other articles like that, you know, in 24 and 23 talking about, but this dives

13:00

so much deeper into the the looming financial headaches that are coming down

13:08

the road here for LSU. It does. And it and it the reason for that is because the you know the

13:15

advocate and most other media, in fact, I had seen this anywhere. All they did was report on what happened in 2025.

13:22

They didn’t take into account what will be the case in 2026. What LSU owes right 54 million to Kelly

13:30

and not and to his assistant coaches and all that. So that whole thing paints a

13:36

big picture plus the revenue share as you mentioned is kicking in for the first time in fiscal 2026.

13:42

So that’s $20.5 million out of that money that they bring in that they have

13:48

to to allocate and it’s going to go up to 2022 22 million next year.

13:56

So there’s all kinds of different um things that we tried to present to make

14:02

clear and sit down with Verge Osbury and break it down. And I think we actually

14:08

did a really good job of bringing all those dynamics together. Now you can read this and really understand what not

14:14

only LSU is facing but the entire sports world in college and why whenever they

14:22

meet in Dallas to talk about consolidating media rights why that’s important and why when they meet with

14:28

the president and his council this Friday in Washington why that’s a something else they’re looking at as a

14:34

as an option. But I want to reiterate LSU under Verge Osbury

14:40

right now is in very good hands and will be okay. Let me let me stop let me stop you there. We’ll explain why LSU will be in

14:47

good hands regardless of what happens with some of these major decisions that need to be made. Let’s take our first

14:53

break here on Tiger Rag Radio as we are live from the Super Chevy dealer studios.

15:01

February is loaded with exciting events at the East Baton Rouge Parish Library. We’re celebrating Mardigra, Valentine’s

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Day, and Black History Month with fun programs for all ages. And don’t forget to join us at our annual Mid City

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Microcon on Saturday, February 21st [music] from 10 to 4. Woo! February is

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Chevy dealers today. How you doing? This is Snow Dog. Tiger Rag. Tiger Rag Radio.

16:04

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, you are tuned in. Talk LSU sports interviews, opinions,

16:10

and new [music] calls around the Tiger Nation. Batt Road was a life for me. Home of LSU Tigers. Now, more Tiger Rag Radio.

16:17

We love to score and get highlights in the championship and play to win. Tiger Rag Radio. Back here on Tiger Rag Radio. We’re

16:23

going to get to plenty of baseball talk later on in this hour. Charles Hannah Griffin, Ronnie Rants, they will both

16:28

join us to talk about the Tigers as they got a big game Wednesday night against UL Lafayette. The latest issue of Tiger

16:35

Rag magazine. It’s the money issue. Tiger Rag does a money issue every year, but this one I think is the most

16:41

important money issue they’ve ever done just because of what we talked about in the last segment about the changing

16:47

dynamics of college athletics, moving from an amateur model to now basically a

16:52

professional model. And [snorts] the uh title of the magazine or this edition of the magazine is inside the fiscal fight.

16:59

And we were talking before the break about uh Todd was saying that regardless

17:05

of what happens, there’s a couple of there’s there’s a fork in the road at the moment and depending on which way

17:11

they go, LSU will be in a good position. But for anyone that wants to really, you

17:17

know, get into the weeds on this thing, and not to say that Todd’s writing’s complicated or anything like that, but

17:23

it it it dives into some issues that you’ve probably are not aware of. And you and it kind of shows how all of this

17:29

is connected. It’s the title of it. If you go to tiger.com, it’s called who controls the future of college football.

17:36

Todd, you were saying in the last segment that LSU is positioned well and

17:42

based on and I actually sped sped read through

17:48

this column that you just put out as I was eating my dinner tonight. The the way I got it was a lot of it is because

17:54

of LSU’s brand and the value of LSU’s brand will allow it to survive whatever

18:01

the future of college athletics looks like. Yeah. Because what it what it’s gonna looks like what it’s going to come down

18:07

to and this is what the column talks about is it’s either going to be the SEC and the Big 10 as a duopoly controlling

18:15

the future of college football including the media rights, the licensing rights,

18:21

everything that you can think of that has that has anything to do with generating revenue for college football.

18:27

or it’s going to be they’re pulled together and they have one license and it

18:32

incorporates a 1961 act. Um, but either way, because of the strength of LSU’s

18:39

brand, LSU’s brand is now the fourth highest

18:45

valued brand in all of sports, in all of college sports at 1.5 billion dollars.

18:52

What’s interesting is is that at $ 1.5 billion brand valuation, they’re facing

18:57

their largest deficit ever. So, but that’s because of the nuances with Brian Kelly and what have you. But either way,

19:04

LSU is at the top [snorts] of the the totem pole, so to speak,

19:11

in either axis or either polar opposite that occurs, whichever way they go. So,

19:17

LSU is going to be fine. And in fact, LSU is dictating a lot of this and we’ll have a lot of power and leverage in what

19:23

actually happens. In your article, you talk about how LSU’s facing a potential 25 to $35

19:29

million deficit next fiscal year. Um, how do they make that money up? Is it

19:35

they’re just banking on a huge season from football? Yes. Well, that that’s one way, but they

19:42

they also have a and Glenn talked about this uh on other radio shows earlier

19:47

this week, but that you know that the badges on the jerseys, all the jerseys

19:53

um that they’ve come up with creative ways to generate revenue and those

19:58

that’s a new revenue that used to not be allowed. And there are a lot of people, a lot of fans that I have heard say, I

20:06

don’t want to see emblems on the field. I don’t want to see logos on jerseys.

20:12

I think when you read this article, Yeah. read this piece, you’ll understand why that’s necessary.

20:18

Yeah. It’s not going to be like NASCAR, right? And it’s and it doesn’t have to be because part of the reason LSU is

20:23

going to be okay is because LSU’s brand is so valuable to corporate partners.

20:28

Woodside Woodside Energy. Woodside Energy. Nike, huge deal. All these partners, I mean, it doesn’t

20:34

matter who those partners are, they value LSU’s brand almost above everybody

20:39

else because LSU has great television ratings. Not because they’re in the SEC

20:45

that helps, but what it matters is it’s LSU. It’s almost like the SEC needs LSU

20:51

more than LSU needs the SEC. And in fact, that’s what this is really going to come down to. It’s going to be, you

20:56

know, which side LSU may end up choosing. Are they going to choose the SEC? Are they going to choose

21:02

that? Now, I’m not trying to say that LSU is looking to get out of the SEC because that’s nowhere near what I’m

21:07

talking about. I’m saying which is the best way for for the sport to go.

21:12

Basically, the is it were the SEC and Big 12 continue to or Big 12 SEC and the

21:18

Big 10 control everything, right? Or do we split it up and allow

21:23

right the Big 12 and the ACC to get more of the money? But the SEC’s point of view

21:29

is we’re the ones carrying the water here. Why should we care what Colorado gets? That’s exactly what it it is. And in

21:36

fact, the SEC and the Big 12 issued a white paper today saying, “Hey, all this stuff that they’re talking about in Dallas, that just needs to like go

21:43

bye-bye.” Yeah. But that’s not decided and it won’t be decided. What the sport needs more than anything else and what Verge Osbury

21:49

points out very clearly in this this edition of Tiger Rag and on on tiger.com

21:54

is the system’s broke and it’s not sustainable. Okay, LSU is not the only one facing major expenses for the first

22:02

time. In fact, they all are and they have to figure out not only new creative ways to generate revenue internally, but

22:07

they need to get their licensing act together and get more money because television is great for LSU and SEC and

22:14

college football. Let’s take another break. When we come back, we’ll get to the discussion on the field. The LSU

22:20

baseball team tough loss Monday night against Northeastern. How did the Tigers get out of this funk? We’ll get to that

22:25

and much more here on Tiger Rag Radio from the Super Chevy dealer studio. Chevy trucks have you covered when the

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Farm Bureau Federation, the voice of Louisiana agriculture. Let’s go. Back to Tiger Rag Radio live

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from Super Chevy Dealer Studio. Hey, we’re back here on Tiger Rag Radio.

23:40

As we continue to roll on, let’s get into some baseball talk with Charles Hannigri. You can hear him every day

23:46

Monday through Friday on ESPN 1045 and 1049 as him and Jimmy during the lunch

23:52

hours on those stations. Talk sports, talk uh gambling, all that kind of fun

23:58

stuff. Talk LSU baseball as well. And Charles joins us now. Charles, thanks a lot for spending a few minutes with us

24:03

tonight. How you doing? Doing great, Jeff. How are you? I am doing well. Doing well. Hey, I know

24:08

that we we were we spent the first or so far the first 30 minutes of the show talking about Tiger Rag magazine’s money

24:15

issue, and I I know you had a chance to uh look at some of the reporting that Tiger Rag has done on the fiscal issues

24:21

facing LSU. What were some of your main takeaways from it?

24:27

Well, the challenges that JSberry and this department are going to have to fund everything they want to fund. It’s

24:34

just different things that you’re funding now has always been a problem for athletics. You know, how to how can you raise more money? It used to be the

24:40

the facilities race and now it’s more about players and coaches salaries, I

24:45

guess, especially the the players salaries, you know, revenue share, if you will. And they’ve got some real

24:51

decisions that uh that they’re going to have to make. I also, you know, uh, the word that kept coming up was brand an

24:59

awful lot. And I understand the emphasis on football. I get it. There’s nobody that says that football is not the

25:05

driving economic engine of this or any other SEC athletic department. But when

25:11

you talk about the brand, the brand was built by, you know, a lot of other people that didn’t play football. you

25:18

know, Paul Skins and Libby Dunn and Angel Reese and Faj Johnson and Mondo Duplanis and Sam Burns and you know, of

25:25

course, Alex Bregman. I mean, I could go on and on. There’s a lot of people that are involved in that brand that are are

25:33

not football players. So, I thought it was interesting. Um, they’ve got a lot of decisions to make.

25:40

Well, let’s go to baseball. Yeah, let’s talk a little baseball. Uh Charles, what what was your thoughts on

25:45

uh last night’s uh game 13-10 loss to Northeastern and just where this team is

25:51

offensive? Every team goes through a a funk offensively. I think what raises a little bit of a red flag was the

25:58

competition that LSU’s really struggled to to get big big innings, put up

26:03

crooked numbers on the scoreboard. It’s been it seemed to come at ease those first eight games of the season and now

26:09

all of a sudden it’s become a real struggle. What do you think is behind that?

26:14

Well, I wish I could tell you it’s any one thing. It’s been a lot of what you call giveaway at bats over the last five

26:21

games. Those bats where you’re not competitive. You’re not grinding. You’re not looking for the pitch that you can

26:27

drive. You’re you’re falling behind. You’re taking pitches you should swing at and swinging the pitches you should

26:32

take. I wish I could tell you how to fix it. I wish I could tell you was any one thing or there was a lineup change you

26:38

could make that would, you know, get you out of this thing or, you know, redo your pregame routines or something.

26:46

There’s all kind of things you can do with a slump, but mostly it was just the the lack of intensity, the lack of focus

26:51

that you’ve seen over the last five games. And it was really apparent in the seventh inning last night when Jay

26:57

Johnson emptied his bench and you saw an immediate change in I thought the

27:04

intensity, the demeanor. I I realized they were they were playing from way behind and they they had nothing to

27:09

lose. But man, all of a sudden you saw that enthusiasm, that fire come back that’s kind of been missing for the last

27:14

few games. Charles, do do you think two questions I guess. Do you think that part of the

27:21

problem has been they’ve played so much so many games over the last two weeks uh

27:26

that maybe they’re just tired? And do you think that maybe the quality of pitching is not up to par with what

27:33

they’re used to facing in terms of speed uh and and may maybe good command but

27:39

not enough speed and they’re having to adjust to slower pitching? I’ve heard both of those things.

27:45

Uh I don’t buy the first one. uh you know, you’re you’re 13 games deep into a

27:50

season that’s going to run into the 60s or 70s. Uh these are young kids. We’re

27:56

not talking about making them play five games in three days or something like that. So, no, I don’t buy the first one.

28:02

The second one maybe a little bit that the off speed pitching has given them problems. That’s been a problem for big

28:08

swinging teams of LSU in the past. uh they would light up the hard throwing

28:14

righty, but the soft throwing lefty might give them some problems. Maybe a little bit of that. It doesn’t explain

28:19

everything, but I think maybe a little bit of that. What about the uh the pitching

28:26

situation, especially last night? Um

28:33

I think you’ve got three really good starters. I think you’ve got probably

28:38

three or four really good relievers. two of which are pitching at the level that they’re capable of and a couple that

28:44

right now probably aren’t. But I feel pretty good about where their pitching

28:49

is. And I didn’t do do them any good to have Cooper Williams and uh and Zack

28:54

Cowan get hit last night the way they did. I thought was more was uh excuse me

29:00

with Williams it was more of a defensive lapse that kind of got him unnerved. But

29:06

Cowan was hit hard and he was an important piece for them a year ago. I think both of those guys are capable of

29:12

way more than what their current numbers give you. And I think um you know, Maverick Grizz has come around. Gavin

29:19

Gidri has come back stronger from that uh that year off than you could have ever possibly hoped at the beginning.

29:26

And Devin Sharon is a real classic closer. hard fast ball, really short

29:32

breaking pitches, lot of strikeouts, can come in and get you out of a jam. So, I feel pretty good about where their

29:38

pitching is right now. I think it’s going to take Casey Evans a little bit longer to kind of get comfortable,

29:43

completely comfortable in that Friday night role. That’s always a tough transition. Have you any concern? And I

29:49

know it’s early, Charlie, that uh you know, Cooper Williams was supposed to be that, you know, that that left-hander at

29:55

least especially early on considering he was on the team last year, a left-hander that Jay can trust, could bring him in

30:02

in a tough situation, a dirty inning, he can get out of it. But so far, we haven’t been able to see that. Uh any

30:08

concern that really we haven’t seen a lefthander show so far show any kind of consistency out of LSU’s pitching staff?

30:16

Well, with Williams, I certainly you wish you would have gotten off to a cleaner start, but again, I thought last

30:22

night the defense kind of unnerded him. You had over at first base. Uh you

30:28

didn’t have your usual uh first baseman. You had Josh John Pearson who made a play on a ball that really should have

30:34

been the second baseman’s ball. So, there’s a runner on. It shouldn’t be. That doesn’t go up as an error on the scoreboard, but that’s an error. And

30:41

then Williams gets a little unnerved with that. And so he unccors a a throw to first base that, you know, gives him

30:47

another free base. And there was another error in the inning after that. And I think it kind of snowballed on him a

30:53

little bit. Um, he’s not walking a lot of people so far. The strikeout number is still there. I like Cooper Williams a

31:00

lot. I think there’s been more unfortunate uh for him, especially last

31:05

night, than getting really hit hard. For Cowan though, I would say the other way. Cowan has been hit very hard. talking

31:12

with Charlie Hannah Griff as we uh we wrap things up. Charlie, you you’ve been watching LSU baseball for a long time.

31:18

If if if Kase Evans and Cooper Moore and William Schmidt pitch to their to their

31:25

level, is that the best weekend rotation LSU’s ever had?

31:30

Oh, I’m not ready to go there. Uh in in 2009, you had the SEC pitcher of

31:38

the year pitching on Saturday. Um LSU’s had first round picks pitched on Saturday before. Um no, I’m not ready to

31:46

go there. Uh I I think that this is a a great group. Last year’s one-two punch was as good as it got. Uh you know, when

31:53

you had Poche and Lang, uh you know, that was really good. Um they’re there

31:59

Kugan uh you know, and Thompson were really good in 97. So I would say I’m

32:04

not ready to go there. and Charles. Charles, I would say uh Ben McDonald, Russell Springer, and Curtis Lascanic on

32:11

the same rotation, too. That was a strong And I believe that Chad O was on that staff, a freshman. Um and one more who

32:20

is one more James Odon. Um did Well, I thought it might have been a

32:25

little bit after Odon. You said Russ Springer and you said Paul Bird.

32:31

Paul Bird was there too. Yeah, that was that 891. staff. Oh yeah,

32:36

that’s pretty good. You guys talked all about pitching through the years and you didn’t mention Paul Ske. [laughter]

32:43

Ty Floyd Paul when Ty Floyd came behind him and struck out 17. That was pretty good, too. All right. Well, we’ll see how it goes.

32:49

Charlie, we’ll let you go on that. Thanks. We appreciate it. Thanks, guys. All right, Ronnie Rants will join us

32:54

next here on Tiger Rag Radio from the Super Chevy dealer studios. We’ll be back after this. Sorry about that.

33:02

And we’re back with Tiger Rag Radio live from [music] Super Chevy Dealer Studio.

33:09

All right. Still efforting Ronnie Rants. By the way, if you missed any of the show or want to listen back to it, you

33:15

can always catch us wherever you get your podcast or up on YouTube. The show gets posted there. We’ll continue to

33:20

baseball talk. Jay Johnson had a lot of interesting things to say after Monday night’s loss to Northeastern. talked

33:26

about some of the growing pains that the program or this team is going through uh

33:32

a little bit here with uh suffering its second loss and uh coach Johnson hoping that could be turned into a good

33:38

learning lesson. There’s a little bit of growing pains for this team. You know, I’m not gonna

33:44

single out player or anything like that, but there’s some growing pains that

33:49

we’re going through that um if used correctly will help us be what we want

33:56

to be. I’m not going to single out any player, but I’m going to replace Derek Curiel

34:01

first. Yeah, he you noticed yesterday he pinch hit for Curiel against a right-hander.

34:07

You know, Curiel has had trouble with left-handers. He didn’t do it for that reason. Uh, and he and Jay also made a

34:14

cryptic comment last night. He was talking about the young players that came in late in the game and he said

34:20

they weren’t worried about their batting average. Well, this is the thing with Curiel. Uh,

34:25

we’re not really seeing it with Jake Brown, but uh Steven Milm too. I think you see it with and you’ve seen this

34:30

with a lot of other players that have played at LSU. when the when you are when it is your draft year, the pressure

34:38

I think grows on you individually and some guys really struggle with that.

34:44

Bregman did too. Bregman struggled with it. Um Alex Bregman, by the way, [laughter]

34:51

uh you know, uh I I I was listening to Matt Mason’s show. I don’t know this. It

34:56

wasn’t recent, but I know I’ve heard Ryan Tero talk about how he got off to a really rough start his draft year and

35:02

then eventually it got to the point where he was like, “Well, just screw it. I’m I’m just going to go out there and be who I am.” And then it and it

35:09

eventually turned. But there is the pressure to put up the numbers when it is your draft year,

35:15

right? And I also think having Stanfield as your leadoff hitter

35:22

and putting Curryell at number two might help Derek out a little bit. Well,

35:28

Derek has been batting number two. There’s been there’s been times he’s been the leadoff guy, too. Yeah, but but the last several games

35:35

he’s been he’s also he also had the stomach flu. And even though he did get the two big

35:40

two RBI double um on Friday night, we all know that that has an effect on you

35:47

for a little bit more than just a couple of days. So well, looks like I’m sorry to interrupt

35:53

you. Go ahead. But I I think Curiel has been I think he’s been fine. Okay. Well, I didn’t mean to single him

35:59

out. I just it just made sense since he was the guy that was first pinch hit for and it was against a righthander. But

36:05

anyway, what you know what I think the biggest concern is right now? Defense.

36:10

Well, I think a lot of that gets shored up once you get Stanfield back. See, I don’t think it’s so much in the

36:16

outfield. But the second base is an issue. Yeah. And when you’re doing shifts and you’re

36:21

trying to put Steven Milm anywhere in the infield to be so where do you think

36:27

the ball is going to be hit to cover up? Exactly. Uh the defensive lapses at

36:32

second base. Hey, I if if Jack Rucker all of a sudden starts swinging the bat,

36:38

well, he might be your starting second baseman before the end of the season. He made an error last night, too.

36:43

Yeah, he did make a bad error. The I think the biggest issue is is the hitting. They They’re hitting .207 in

36:49

their last six games. Uh in the um the three games over the weekend and the MC

36:57

game, they had singledigit hits after having doubledigit hits all year. And

37:03

and that’s the main thing Jay has been concerned with. He he said over the weekend, I’m taking over I’m coaching

37:10

hitters this weekend and and they didn’t and they kept not hitting and and then he then he started talking last night

37:17

about uh changing the lineup. They they’re not hitting the ball. That’s the main thing. I I I but I think they have good hitters

37:25

and I think they will come around at some point. But wait, but but I do think that the defense I mean, you have four

37:32

errors in a game and you have four wild pitches, there’s no way you’re going to win any game.

37:38

Yeah. Yeah. But the uh the the the hitting is really uh standing out. And I

37:43

think something that’s that’s happened historically as well, sometimes you get some of these transfers in from from

37:51

schools that don’t take baseball quite as seriously, like I mean they got players from High Point and Grand Canyon, you know, some and and I’m not

37:58

singling out those players, but they’re not quite used to how it’s done at LSU

38:04

or SEC programs because Jay Johnson runs his team like a major league team and so does other SEC teams. So, I think

38:11

there’s an an adjustment period for some of those transfers, particularly the

38:16

older transfers that come in as juniors and seniors who are kind of set in their ways. They got to change.

38:22

But, and I agree, it’s an adjustment period for anybody who’s coming in trying to acclimate to the program, but

38:27

I guarantee you Jay Johnson vetted them on what he thought that they would be able to fit into that and adjust to

38:33

that. So, maybe it’s taken them a little bit longer to adjust to it. There’s also the bubble of playing at

38:39

LSU. It’s it’s something that, you know, for the kid at Trent Carowway, for the

38:44

Zack Yorks, um Braden Simpson, um Seph Dardar, it it is something they have

38:51

never experienced before. And it’s it’s intense. I mean, there on on Saturday

38:57

afternoon, I mean, there were 10,000 fans watching LSU play Northeastern in

39:02

baseball. Yeah. And they’re not that Wednesday night’s environment in Lafayette is going to be crazy. There’s not going to

39:07

be anything like it. And it’s it’s different and and some guys rise to the

39:14

occasion and other guys get I don’t want to say intimidated but it it it shakes their nerves there for a little bit

39:20

until they can get used to it when they try to do too much. Here’s a here’s a question. Do you think this acclamation period adapting to the

39:27

to the environment and the crowd here in the preseason is going to be helpful for the whole team when the new newcomers

39:33

when the SEC starts? Well, I think that’s why I I think that’s why you jam 18 games in before conference play

39:39

starts. Yeah. Yeah. That’s what that’s what he’s doing. Yeah. And uh I I think he and some of these

39:44

teams are probably going to end up with much better uh RPIs than they than they

39:49

have now. Like Nor Eastern was at 205 last night. Uh some of those will

39:55

improve as the season goes on. Uh, but I do wish he would play one weekend series

40:01

against a brandame baseball program at home or away. Sacramento State’s not doing it for you.

40:07

No. And and that and that’s another one that may rise up. And Kent State is already 41 in RPI. LSU is is uh in the

40:15

uh 70s, I think, in RPI right now. Let’s take a break. When we come back, we’ll wrap up our baseball discussion

40:20

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40:54

We now return to Tiger Rag Radio live from Super [music] Chevy dealers studio.

41:00

LSU just had a 3 and2 home stand where the offense just really wasn’t there for

41:06

much of it except for those last few innings against Nor Eastern as the Tigers tried to come back from a 10-run

41:11

deficit and got within three but eventually lost at a hockey huskys 13-10. LSU has played as of last as of

41:20

Monday night that was their 13th game in 17 days and we we talked to Charlie

41:26

Charlie Hannigri about it and he dismissed the idea of the team being tired but I I they

41:33

and and I I’ve seen a bunch of losing streaks in my lifetime. I’m I’m a Cubs fan. I feel like I’m an expert on seven,

41:39

eight, nine, 10 game losing streaks and and I’ve seen them and I I I know I can dissect them and all that kind of stuff,

41:45

but and I know when a team’s not hitting, they kind of look lethargic and so forth, but I feel like this team is a

41:53

little bit mentally fried a little for whatever reason because I don’t remember

41:59

weekends where you had he’s done it two out of the three weekends so far. You play Friday, Saturday, Monday, you know,

42:05

four consecutive days of baseball on the college level. And it’s just not

42:11

the three-hour game. Heck, some of these games are going four hours. Uh it’s the

42:17

pregame, it’s the the batting practice, it’s the grounders, uh the story about Zack York and um Steven Milm in the

42:26

batting cages late on Sat well Saturday night at 9:30 after a 2:00 game. Well,

42:31

that’s cuz they go two for 24. Maybe maybe instead of a and Jay said,

42:36

“Okay, that I I know these guys are their their heart and their mind is in the right spot, but maybe he should have told him, “You know what, guys? Go home

42:43

for the night. We we got to be back here for a 12:30 game the next day.” Yeah. I I don’t know. I don’t know. I I

42:49

And I understand they’re 19 2021 and it’s not a grueling sport, but

42:54

Well, one one thing Jay said uh last night Well, let’s hear the sound bite. Okay.

42:59

Let’s hear the sound bite. Uh Andre was B here. Here’s his uh you know which one this one

43:04

four cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut cut four here Andre a team that was 47 and n in here like I

43:10

decided to play four games in a row you know so maybe it’s maybe it’s on me for

43:16

setting the schedule up the way that I did if you really want to be honest about it I think if we use it correctly

43:22

it can and will help us you know but we all collectively have to make a decision to use what happened in the game tonight

43:29

to propel us forward So there’s him talking a little bit

43:35

about it. Maybe there is a little bit of an effect here. Well, I’ll I’ll say this. Do you

43:40

remember the the comments that the Notre Dame coach made in in Jacksonville when he said that he’d never seen a team

43:47

with that type of discipline that they’re not swinging, right? You know, well, they’ve gotten away from that.

43:52

Yes. And that’s what Charles was referring to. I think [clears throat] these these guys are they’re and Kate

43:57

Aaron Bey said it last night. They haven’t been good with two strikes. And last night, um it was in the uh eighth

44:06

in seventh or eighth inning, uh the pitcher they brought in could not throw

44:11

the ball over the plate. And I’m sitting there saying, “Take, take and you’ll walk the bases loaded and they left the

44:16

bases loaded. You know, they weren’t disciplined enough to not swing.” So, they’ve gotten away from that. All right, let’s take a break. When we

44:23

come back, we’ll talk some women’s basketball. Lady Tigers getting ready for the SEC tournament even though Kim

44:28

Moy hates the tournament. We’ll uh we’ll talk about that with Charlie Cream from ESPN. So stay tuned for that here on

44:34

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44:40

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44:46

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44:52

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45:38

are players. This is Tiger Rag Radio live from [music] Super Chevy Dealer

45:44

Studio and welcome to hour number two of Tiger

45:51

Rag Radio. Jeff Blurmo along with executive editor Todd Horn. Gwen Gilbo has left the Super Chevy dealer studio

45:57

as he gets ready to cover LSU men’s hoops tonight against Auburn. What’s the deal with the nine o’clock tip? I

46:03

understand the SEC network’s trying to squeeze three games in on one night, but that’s absolutely crazy.

46:09

I think they want to I I think they want to protect viewership. [laughter]

46:14

That’s what it is. They just want to SEC after dark. It was just put the Tell Yeah, they can tell advertisers we

46:22

we did broadcast the game. [laughter] Nobody really gets to watch it. Don’t worry, guys. The bars around the

46:28

the country will have that game. Well, that that will be the night cap in the bars tonight. But I don’t know, people that live on

46:35

the East Coast, they’re used to these 9:00 starts. You know, Duke and Miss beat Auburn at Auburn in Auburn’s

46:43

last game coming off a 10 game losing streak. You don’t think a head coach matters?

46:48

Exactly. That’s amazing. All right, let’s uh bring in uh Charlie Cream, who is the

46:53

women’s college basketball brackettologist for ESPN. Charlie, how you doing tonight? I am doing great. How

47:00

are you guys doing? I’m doing well. You’ve probably stay up late watching a lot of games out of the West Coast Conference. Is there still

47:06

the West Coast Conference and all those kind of just uh help uh put together your uh bracket that you uh update on a

47:13

daily basis? I would imagine at this point. Um, first thing I want to ask you, what what do you what’s your

47:19

thoughts on uh what I don’t know if you heard what Kim Moy had to say uh after

47:25

um the Mississippi State game about we all know her she she’s not a fan of the

47:31

conference tournaments. She really kind of showed off her disdain [laughter] after the game on Sunday basically

47:37

saying uh I wish we could just go into the NCAA tournament. Regular said, you

47:42

know, what’s the point? Is there really any Cinderellas? I is there a team in the SEC tournament if they win a game or

47:49

two that that are able to get into the NCAA tournament? What what’s your thoughts? I mean, uh are these

47:56

conference tournaments helpful as far as setting the bracket? Well, they they they can be and they

48:03

are. And the irony of her discussion is that

48:08

per perhaps two of the teams that can benefit from the most from the SEC tournament this year are Mississippi

48:15

State and LSU because Mississippi State has they they

48:20

were safe in the field a couple of weeks ago, but they’ve played themselves back

48:27

and almost out in my mind and and and could get themselves all the way out

48:32

without a little bit of success at the SEC tournament. So, this tournament is

48:38

actually pretty important for Mississippi State. Now, Kim is right. There rarely are any Cinderellas that

48:45

play themselves into the tournament from the SEC. Um, but a lot of times it’s it’s who who gets to host. So, the top

48:52

16 in women’s basketball almost creates another bubble. So, there’s there’s

48:58

that. So, that’s important there. I’ll get to that in a second. But for LSU, they actually have a chance with a

49:05

title, I believe, with a title at the SEC tournament to get to a number one

49:10

seed because that number one seed right now is really sitting there with Texas in it. Vanderbilt could take it. If

49:18

Texas and Vanderbilt, as they’re lined up to do, play each other in the semifinals, the winner of that game

49:24

could take over that last number one spot. But if LSU is the team they play in the finals and then LSU wins the

49:30

game, that number that number one seed could conceivably still be the Tigers. So there is some importance if Kim cares

49:37

about being a one versus a two. There is some importance to the SEC tournament this year for LSU. And then for teams

49:44

like Kentucky and Oklahoma and perhaps Old Miss, although not so

49:50

much anymore the way they’ve played down the stretch, getting into that top 16 is very important. How they do in the SEC

49:57

tournaments likely going to determine whether they get to host first and second round games in the NCAA

50:02

tournament. So there there often is where the SEC tournament becomes important. Now for Kim, it’s it’s rare

50:08

that she’s ever going to be on the quote unquote top 16 or host bubble. she’s

50:14

usually firmly inside of that. But for other teams in the SEC, it is important. And and I think one other thing is

50:20

important to note about the SEC tournament is that a lot of coaches will complain, well, it’s it’s a it’s a thing

50:25

that wears you down. It’s it’s extra games against really hard competition. It’s potentially three games in three

50:32

days. But it hasn’t history has not shown that the SEC tournament wears the

50:38

best teams out. They tend to play in the into the semis or finals and then they tend to play deep in the NCA tournament

50:44

and I don’t think it’s really had any negative impact. So the SEC tournament’s fun and the conference tournaments are

50:50

fun. It’s for fans and to me it’s the best honestly it’s the best week of college basketball. Even better than the

50:56

NCA tournament because you’re getting it every day and you’re getting you’re getting elite teams playing elite teams

51:02

once you get to Friday for the rest of the weekend. Charlie, you you you said that LSU if they win this tournament,

51:09

they very well could be a number one seed. You don’t you said you didn’t know if that mattered to Kim Moy whether she

51:17

was going to wanted to be a number one seed or a number two seed. Now, God forbid I tell you to tell Kim Moy how to

51:23

think, but if you could tell Kim Moy how to think, is there a big advantage to

51:28

being a number one seed in this year’s tournament versus being a number two seed? I I do. I think um I think on some level

51:37

the four the number four line is it does does and as it should be based on the numbers is weaker than the than some of

51:44

the teams on the three line that you per perhaps get an easier game in the

51:50

regional semis. not not exceedingly easier, but but certainly a lesser team

51:56

to play in the regional semis or maybe a better matchup and that creates maybe a

52:02

little bit an easier time as you head into a regional final where you’re definitely going to be playing a really

52:08

really good team. So I think there is some advantage between one and two. Now

52:14

last time she won the national championship she did it as a three. So, she’s probably thinking, you know, we just got to we just got to play what

52:22

we’re capable of doing and we’re going to be fine. We can beat anybody under those circumstances. So, that’s why I

52:28

say maybe she doesn’t care cuz she’s got a history of of performing well in the NCA tournament when she’s not on that

52:35

one line. But, I think it it from a matchup standpoint, from a quality of team you’re playing as you move along in

52:42

the tournament, I think it does matter. Yeah. and and Charlie kind of uh I guess

52:47

kind of staying with that. I know that team from the same conference, they uh you know, they can’t meet each other

52:53

until a certain point. So, I guess kind of reiterating with that fact, how big is that uh to get that number one seed

53:00

for that very point to say, hey, well, if LSU doesn’t get that number one seed, then they’re probably going to be lined

53:06

up with a bad matchup with say a UCLA or a hot one of the hottest teams in Yukon.

53:13

Yeah, exa that’s a good point, too. Yeah, you’re you’re not going to get South Carolina or if say it’s Texas,

53:20

you’re going to be put as a number two, you’re going to be put in a region with either Yukon or UCLA. So, if you’re

53:25

number one seed, that’s the best way to avoid them. So, that’s what I was talking about. You mentioned matchups and that’s quintessential matchup

53:32

differentiation right there. So, it it is important. And then you take a team like Vanderbilt

53:37

who is a program that’s been kind of lagging for a number of years. Just to be able to put on their their sort of

53:44

overall resume to say that they were a number one seed if they can get to that one line that the difference between a

53:50

one and a two for Vanderbilt just from a publicity standpoint, from a marketing

53:55

standpoint would be huge. So certain programs it’s going to matter more than others. But yeah, you’re absolutely

54:01

right because of the way things set out. the two of those number one seeds are going to be SEC teams. So, if it’s not

54:08

LSU, they’re going to have a regional final game against UCLA or Yukon, and

54:14

those are the two best teams in the country. Charlie, what what is LSU’s strength right now? You’ve watched them all

54:19

season. What’s their strength? What’s their weakness? What do they have to do to be successful in this tourn in the in

54:25

the NCAA tournament? They’ve got to get big games from their

54:30

big players. I think to some degree Flag Johnson’s been a little inconsistent.

54:35

Even if you go to the South Carolina game, the first half she had was great. The

54:41

third quarter she kind of disappeared and she has a tendency to do that sometimes. And then the fourth quarter

54:46

she was great again until those two missed free throws. So I think she has to be consistently

54:52

good. I think Michaela Williams has to be consistently good and then they can

54:58

play with anybody and I think and they they’ve the games that LSU’s lost this year this year have all really been

55:03

close. So it’s it’s a play here or a play there quite honestly. But if they if in those games those two were

55:11

consistently better for the full 40 minutes, I think those close games would

55:16

have gone the other way and and we would be talking about them being a a surefire or a certain favorite to be a number one

55:24

seed. So I think and this is the way the NCA tournament works or postseason works. Your stars got to come out and

55:30

shine. And I think I think that’s the biggest thing. And I think that’s the it’s it’s a it’s little things with LSUs

55:37

like losing these close games. It’s making sure that they’re defending the

55:42

rim and not fouling. It’s it’s making sure that their guards are not turning the ball over. And for the most part,

55:49

those those things have occurred this year. But it’s those little nuance things, you know, like I said, defending

55:54

without fouling, taking care of the basketball and getting their stars to be

56:00

40minute players and being great when they when the time to shine really

56:06

approaches. Where where do you rate Kim Moy when it comes to the postseason? I mean, I know

56:11

she’s a great coach. I know she’s got a great reputation. She’s a she’s been a winner, but when it comes to the postseason, does she amp it up a little

56:17

bit? I think so. I you know we the success that she’s had is is you can’t argue

56:24

against it and her teams always seem to be playing at their best or close to

56:30

their best at this time of year. I still don’t love the way she schedules in the beginning of the season to get her team

56:37

kind of ready for the grind of the SEC. I would I wouldn’t mind another game or

56:42

two against a marquee opponent. But well, every time I say that, then I go

56:48

back to the success she has at the end of the year. It’s like, well, she knows what she’s doing. How can you argue

56:53

against the success she’s had? And she puts a great staff together. Everybody

57:00

kind of has their role. And everybody, the preparation, I think, is really topnotch at LSU. And and she knows how

57:09

to make adjustments. She knows how to coach in big games. And all of that plays into the the success that they’ve

57:15

had. You know, of the of the current coaches, the active coaches, you really have to put her in the top three or

57:22

four, I think, in terms of excellence in the postseason. Uh it it

57:28

it bears it out with the the national championships and the appearances in the Sweet 16. And we went back I going back

57:35

to this what I said about losing some close games during the regular season. LSU tends to win close games in the NCAA

57:42

tournament, too. You think back to that national championship team. That Utah game could have been the [clears throat]

57:48

end of the season. They they managed to win. I mean, Utah missed a couple of big free throws, but it was it was a close

57:54

game that LSU won and then they went on to win the whole thing. And really good

58:00

coaches always seem to find a way to have their teams come through those games and then get better as they move

58:06

along. And that’s Kim Charlie. Thanks a lot, man. We really appreciate it. Quick, who’s your pick to

58:12

win the SEC tournament. I think it’s [laughter] still still

58:17

going to be, maybe this is lazy, but it’s still going to be South Carolina because that’s that’s another team that

58:23

just always seems to deliver in the post. Don Staley is another one of those coaches and and and they have been the best team

58:29

all season, so it’s kind of hard to pick against them. Well, I’m hoping for a feisty matchup on Saturday night between

58:35

LSU and South Carolina. So, uh I I think you guys some pretty good odds of getting that. Feisty is is is

58:41

something that tends to happen when those two teams meet. Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. Hey, thanks Charlie. We appreciate it. It is

58:47

the best time of the year for college hoops fans and I know you’ll enjoy the next few weeks. Thanks for your time tonight.

58:53

Oh, glad to be with you. Thanks. All right, that is Charlie Kareem from ESPN.com SEC woman or not SEC but women’s college

59:00

basketball brackettologist. We got to hit a break. More of Tiger Rag Radio from the Super Chevy dealer studio right

59:06

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Now, more Tiger Rag Radio live from Super Chevy Dealer Studio.

1:00:16

[music] back here on Tiger Rag Radio. Good conversation there with Charlie Cream.

1:00:21

And if you missed that or want to listen back to the show, you can check us out anywhere you get your podcast. Just look

1:00:26

for Tiger Rag Radio. Also, we’re uh we get the show posted up to YouTube shortly after we get off the air at 8:00

1:00:33

on Tuesday night. But good stuff from Charlie K. We’ll talk and tiger.com and tiger.com, too. You can stream it as

1:00:39

well. I got some uh information as far as uh people that have been uh a lot of people around the world. Um Todd have

1:00:47

been uh listening into the show on uh at tiger.com. So that’s been uh that’s pretty cool. Where you get that from?

1:00:52

I got that from uh our engineer Mike Pat. He sent that to me. I’m breaking some news to you. I I’ve never told you

1:00:58

that. I should have forwarded you that email, but um let’s see if I can find it really quick. Are they like in Iran or something?

1:01:04

[laughter] I would maybe we should start worrying about that a little. Yeah, maybe some Australian.

1:01:10

I think there was Australia. Uh, let me see if I can find it here really quick. Uh, that’s all right. No, no, no. I got it. I got it. I got

1:01:15

it. I got it right here. I got it right here. Uh, what did he say? He said, uh, uh, Poland, Czech Republic, uh, Germany,

1:01:23

Sweden. So, there you go. Well, that’s pretty cool. None of those I would have expected.

1:01:28

[laughter] That’s pretty cool. Obviously, uh, Max McKinnon’s dad and his whole [laughter]

1:01:33

family are probably listening to us from Australia, but he’s not still with his son on holiday.

1:01:39

Still traveling around. Might be, might be. Um, but good stuff from Charlie Cream, and I agree with him when you uh when

1:01:46

you asked him what it’s going to take. Their big players got to play big. And in the games that they’ve lost, you can

1:01:52

look at the stat line and either FJ didn’t have a good game or Michaela

1:01:57

didn’t have a good game or um FY didn’t have a good game. I think those three in

1:02:03

particular, they need to be on their game for LSU to win. And for Michaela,

1:02:10

ever since that benching, if you want to call it that, or coach’s decision not to

1:02:16

play her in the uh second half against Old Miss, she’s been a different player. Andre. Yeah, I think uh you know she’s Kim is

1:02:23

actually allowing her to play inside a little more, which I think allows her to get some more of those one-on-one

1:02:29

opportunities. She’s one of the best mid-range, you know, shooting uh she has one of the best mid-range jumpers in all

1:02:35

of college basketball next to Madison Booker of Texas. But she she’s, you know, she’s she’s automatic uh from 20

1:02:42

out. So, I mean, uh I I think that’s allowed her to really be able to score at will more. And so from her playing

1:02:49

the four and the five a little more has allowed her to be a lot more effective with the rebounding and that’s where you

1:02:54

saw her careerhigh uh 16 rebounds or 15 rebounds against um Mississippi State.

1:03:00

So, uh I I just think that small lineup really is allowing uh not only Michaela

1:03:06

to uh kind of flourish, but as as well as Malaysia Fey, uh and you’ve kind of

1:03:11

seen that in the past two games where the when they do go on those runs, that fast break is literally unstoppable.

1:03:18

Yeah, we we’ve said it all year long. Um especially since the start of the SEC

1:03:24

season after those first two against Kentucky and Vanderbilt when they kind of faltered a little bit. But when this

1:03:29

team’s good, when they’re playing good when they’re all cylinders are clicking, they can beat anybody. And I still

1:03:36

believe that. And that that was really what my question to Charlie was. Does does Kim sort of amp it up in the NCAA

1:03:43

tournament from his perspective? And he said yes. Yeah. And and I think that, you know, it’s

1:03:48

almost like an orchestra conductor. She’s she’s trying to time this team so

1:03:55

that they’re hitting on all cylinders in the big games when they need it. And and

1:04:00

I think they’re they’re they’re you know the the other thing that they have in addition to those to FA and Michaela

1:04:08

needing to to step up and Malaysia, they have depth.

1:04:14

Yeah. That they’ve never had at least since she’s been at LSU. Right. and and I think that’s going to

1:04:20

come in big in this tournament at some point if they have an opportunity to play

1:04:26

South Carolina on Saturday night. How important and again we all know Kim

1:04:31

doesn’t think much of the SEC tournament and there is a I understand that nobody remembers who

1:04:38

wins the conference tournament. Uh, you only remember I think you remember regular season championships like you

1:04:44

you remember you know when Will Wade won um and heck Trent Johnson won one you

1:04:49

remember those. Uh you don’t necessarily remember the conference tournament championships even though I don’t think

1:04:55

LSU’s won one and since I’ve been covering both men or women but that’s either here or there. But beating South

1:05:01

Carolina just for the the the mental aspect of it, how important is that?

1:05:07

Well, the key a couple keys. One, I don’t think Kim cares at all and I think

1:05:13

she’s been pretty clear about it and I believe her about the SEC tournament. But one thing we do know about Kim Moy

1:05:20

and what we do know about her teams, they are competitive. Yeah. And if they

1:05:25

are up there on a Saturday night in South Carolina’s gym, so to speak,

1:05:30

taking on South Carolina, having lost 18 consecutive games to South Carolina,

1:05:36

the competitive juices are going to kick in and they just going to want to whip their butt just for the fact their butt. Doesn’t matter. It’s

1:05:43

the SEC tournament or whatever. But I just think it would be a mental

1:05:48

I I I think I I just think that gives you so so much more confidence. At least

1:05:53

in my mind it does. Maybe it doesn’t really matter. I don’t know. And who knows, maybe they get lucky and they avoid them like they did three years

1:06:00

ago. But I think it would help. That’s all I’m saying. I I do I I agree with you. I think if

1:06:06

they if they are faced against them, their competitive juices will kick in and if they were able to walk away,

1:06:11

especially with a victory over them on their home court to break that losing streak, I think it would put them on a

1:06:16

uh a high going into the tournament. Yeah, because and Andre brings up a good point. If they are a two seed, that

1:06:23

means you’re facing either UCLA or Yukon in the Elite 8. Yeah. And I don’t I I again I I think

1:06:29

they can beat anybody. So, but they just I think that UCLA matchup has proved to

1:06:35

to really not favor them just because of the way that they are they’re kind of

1:06:42

shaped up in the post. I think LSU’s bigs don’t match up well with with the Lauren Betts, but I mean I mean I could

1:06:48

be a fool to say this, but I think they match up better with a Yukon. Okay. Well, we’ll see how it goes. Uh in

1:06:55

gymnastics, it’s not about matchups. just about uh hitting your routines at the right time and getting better at it.

1:07:00

We’ll talk to Mike Smith, the voice of LSU Gymnastics, when we come back here on Tiger Rag Radio. Chevy trucks have

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Tiger Rag Radio is back live from Super Chevy Dealer Studio.

1:08:14

LSU Gymnastics ranked second in the country. came off a big victory on

1:08:19

Friday. Actually, two victories uh Friday and then Sunday. One in the uh podium challenge at the Raising Canes

1:08:27

River Center on Sunday. Beat Alabama twice this weekend. So, anytime you’re able to do that, that’s a good thing

1:08:32

when it comes to LSU athletics. Here to talk about the gym team as we’re getting closer to postseason time for gymnastics

1:08:41

as well, it’s Mike Smith, who’s the voice of the Tigers, voice of the Maravic Center on Friday nights as LSU

1:08:49

packed them in there on Friday against Alabama. And Mike, thanks a lot for joining us. What an amazing atmosphere

1:08:54

Friday night. Um ah it it’s one of the best one of the best we’ve seen. Yeah, that was that was pretty

1:09:01

impressive. Uh, I mean it’s I’m not taking a shot at Matt McMahon’s team, but you know, you have men’s basketball

1:09:07

and that’s like a dungeon all of a sudden and it’s like a, you know, going to a cave and you know, women’s

1:09:13

basketball obviously draws well, but uh, Friday night that place was amped up.

1:09:18

You know, LSU gymnastics, uh, two two interesting factoids right off the top. You know, uh, gymnastics continues to

1:09:25

lead, uh, the nation in gymnastics attendance. you know, we’re now well north of 12,000 per meet and is far and

1:09:33

away number one in the country. But the other big number, you know, to remember

1:09:38

is that LSU Gymnastics sells more season tickets to to any sport not called

1:09:44

football. And and and that’s a big deal. And that is a signal that your fan base

1:09:50

has bought in to not only the now, but the future. And the future’s on display

1:09:56

each and every Friday night. there’s an opportunity to have a meet in the in the in the PAMAC because, you know, you’re

1:10:01

seeing some unbelievable talent that that this coaching staff has amassed and

1:10:06

they are performing and and doing it week in and week out. Kaylin Gio obviously is leading the

1:10:13

charge. How impressed are you with what she’s been able to do? And it’s amazing

1:10:18

she’s just a sophomore. I mean, it’s only getting there’s there’s still two more years left of this. Mike,

1:10:24

just when you think that you’ve seen her do it all in two years, right? Uh you know, you know, then then she

1:10:31

does what she did on Sunday and and you know, the several thousand that were at the River Center,

1:10:37

not not on par with the PMAC, of course, but the podium was was special. And to be going against three opponents

1:10:44

simultaneously, mimi mimicking that sort of postseason feel. uh you know she goes

1:10:50

985 to start that meet on vault and she was pissed. You know she was visibly

1:10:57

unhappy with her performance. She took a step back on the landing and then she

1:11:03

proceeds to nearly run the table the rest of the meet. She goes to bars and gets a careerhigh. She goes to balance

1:11:11

beam and gets a 10 for the third meet in a row. And then she finishes on floor

1:11:16

with a 995. It’s like, you know, she she was like, “Enough of this.” It was

1:11:22

really amazing to watch. Yeah. Hey. Hey, Mike. This is Andre. Just when when we kind of talk about LSU

1:11:30

gymnastics, you think about the Sarah Finneans, you think about the Kaia Johnson’s, you think about the April

1:11:35

Burke holders. just just talk about how special or or where where Kayn Chio is

1:11:42

going to rank maybe uh in your eyes when it’s this is all you know said and done and it’s just year two and it feels like

1:11:49

you know hey Haley Bryant was you know she had you know three tens in one meet a couple years ago but now you’re

1:11:55

looking at it and it’s like almost a norm you know this has become a norm which is is insane to say. Well, you

1:12:02

rais an amazing point because it it you know the numbers bear it out and and and now that she has achieved three 10 in a

1:12:09

row on balance beam in six consecutive weeks. Uh there’s this has only been done one other time at LSU. You got to

1:12:16

go back to 94 95 with Jennifer Wood uh on on vault and she was one of the

1:12:21

greatest ever on that event. And uh but no one’s ever done it four times on balance beam at LSU and only one time in

1:12:29

NCA history has it actually happened. Uh you know where a gymnast has has gotten

1:12:35

to 10 four straight weeks on balance beam. It it’s it’s an almost impossible

1:12:40

task and and she’s up for that of course coming up on Sunday at Florida. But the

1:12:46

other thing, guys, that I I really want to leave you with is when we measure,

1:12:51

you know, the the ongoing success of of of the gymnastics world, you know, you

1:12:56

look at how many meets that you’ve competed in Chio 25 in her career and she’s won 50 events

1:13:06

in 25 meets. You know, just let that sink in. that that’s that that that is,

1:13:14

you know, certainly a clip that you you don’t know if you could keep that up for four years, but you’re now you’re so far

1:13:19

ahead of the curve that that it puts you in that conversation uh to have your uh your name on a banner somewhere.

1:13:26

So much of the focus has been on what Kaitlin Chio has been able to do, but as the season has gone along, who do you

1:13:31

think has really uh improved, Mike, or or seems to really be rounding into

1:13:37

form? uh because they’re going to need obviously uh the big scores here uh once you get into regional and uh

1:13:43

championship competition. Love what Jay said this week in his press conference when he talked about

1:13:49

the Wii. Uh this has not been a problem for the gymnasts at LSU. They’ve bought into the culture that he and the other

1:13:55

coaches have have uh have been preaching some time, but I think he was really talking to fans this week. and that is

1:14:02

that with all the attention that Kalin gets and and and and duly you know deserved uh to your point Jeff it is

1:14:09

going to take uh everybody in the lineup and to answer your question I think you look at you look at somebody like Kylie

1:14:16

Cohen she’s Sunday she got a careerhigh 9975 on floor uh that’s a that’s a floor

1:14:22

exercise routine that LSU is going to have to have uh you know in the in the

1:14:27

postseason starting with the the SEC championship. I loved the way that Amari

1:14:32

Drayton has bounced back on balance beam at at on Sunday versus what happened to

1:14:37

her on Friday when she fell. That showed a ton of mental toughness and uh in in

1:14:44

uh you know in a really clutch setting, you know, for for everybody. You know, I I think also uh we we keep we keep

1:14:50

looking kind of at that youth movement. Look at what Nina Bayou is doing. I mean, you know, on floor in particular,

1:14:58

uh, delivering scores that you’re going to need in the postseason, 99 better be

1:15:04

your floor. You know, that that that ought to be your bottom score, and you need to build from there because if you

1:15:10

can’t scratch that 198 as a team, you’re not going to be able to compete for a title. And that’s why I think it’s going

1:15:16

to come down to LSU and likely Oklahoma again in the stretch run. Hey, Mike. And

1:15:22

just kind of I I know it might have gone over uh been overshadowed by what Kayn

1:15:28

did this weekend and what she’s continued to do, but talk about the job that Conor Mlan has done since returning

1:15:34

from that injury that she had in warm-ups at at the Oklahoma meet. I think she had uh six routines this this

1:15:41

weekend, and I don’t think a single one was lower than a 99. Uh that’s a great observation, and she

1:15:48

should be on my list as well. uh you know I I think generally you know she has uh uh she has overcome a lot uh you

1:15:56

know uh both uh you know in and out of the gym and and and she has just proven her mental toughness you know week in

1:16:02

and week out. Uh LSU is going to need her. She of course on on uneven bars and

1:16:08

balance beam is is literally world class uh you know Olympic worthy world class

1:16:14

however you want to however you want to phrase it. uh she is that for this team. So to have a healthy uh you know uh you

1:16:22

know Mlan in in that lineup is going to be uh another added boost for this team.

1:16:27

And they’re going to be some others. You know I I think you’re going to see um you know Kalia Lincoln come back on

1:16:33

floor as we get into the postseason. I think they’re just taking you know an air of caution right now for uh you know

1:16:40

a couple of you know flare-ups that she had from some old injuries. Uh let’s not forget that she also was on the US

1:16:47

Olympic team as an alternate. So this is another major cog in the LSU

1:16:52

championship wheel. Mike, thanks a lot. Are you uh going to be able to do the uh are you the voice

1:16:58

for SEC championships and the regionals as well being hosted by

1:17:03

I am. So I’m excited to go to Tulsa, you know, uh you know, I’m I’m thinking I don’t think that’s a sentence that’s

1:17:09

ever been said ever on Tiger Rag Radio. I’m excited to go to Tulsa. I think that’s a first. Yeah, you know,

1:17:14

[laughter] hey, you know what? You know, to to to borrow a phrase from Jay Clark, we could

1:17:20

do this thing in a concrete parking lot on Chapatulus in New Orleans [laughter] and we’d be happy, you know. So, uh you

1:17:27

know, we’re [snorts] we’re ready to go wherever, whenever. Uh and then of course the regional, just a quick note

1:17:33

on that, there’s going to be four gymnastics meets associated with the regional that folks need to remember.

1:17:39

you know, they’ll have a play in like on u uh likely on uh on Wednesday, April

1:17:45

1st. And then you’re going to have Yeah. April one. And then you’re going to have the uh the the big day with the two

1:17:51

meets will be on Thursday. And then the winners, the the the four that that converge into the regional final will be

1:17:58

held late, I think 5:00 in the PMAC. So yeah, uh

1:18:03

amazing gymnastics action lays ahead. So LSU will compete on two of those days, right? Obviously the second round

1:18:10

probably the night. Is there a night session or is it just I think it’ll be Thursday, Saturday, right?

1:18:15

Yeah. Yeah, it’s good. Yeah. So the the playin on Wednesday similar to say your women’s

1:18:20

basketball playin. Yeah. Yeah. And then uh and then and then you move on to uh you know to the the eight will

1:18:27

compete in two sessions on Thursday. I think it’s going to be a 2:00 and a 7:00. Okay. And then that they’ll have off on

1:18:34

Friday and then come back on Saturday at 5:00 with the remaining four teams and then the top two uh will advance uh

1:18:42

to the uh to the national semi-final. All right, man. Should be a lot of fun. And of course, the championships once

1:18:48

again at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth. But well, uh maybe we’ll check in with you before your big trip to Tulsa. We

1:18:54

appreciate it, Mike. Well, let’s do it, guys. I appreciate it very much and thanks for the opportunity

1:18:59

to chat about it tonight. It’s uh it’s a it’s a great season in the works and uh and I really am high on this team.

1:19:06

Yeah, it’s been a lot of fun so far. Very fun. All right, thanks Mike. Have a good one. Anytime, guys. Good night.

1:19:12

All right, that is Mike Smith, the voice of LSU Gymnastics. You hear them on Friday nights in the Maravic Center and

1:19:18

LSU has just one more home regular season meet left. That’s March 13th against Arkansas. But again, they’ll

1:19:24

have uh most likely two more times they’ll compete in the Maravic Center for the regionals which will take place

1:19:32

uh for LSU on April 2nd and the 4th. Let’s take another break and when we

1:19:37

come back uh maybe we’ll get back into a little more baseball talk. We’ll see. Uh we’ll be back after this here on Tiger Rag Radio from the Super Chevy Dealer

1:19:43

Studio. Tiger Rag Radio is back on the air live from Super Chevy Dealer Studio.

1:19:53

Big game Wednesday night at the Teague as LSU and UL Lafayette. Um, Raging

1:19:58

Cinjun have been playing well themselves. They’ve won. They’re eight and three. They’ve pitched very well.

1:20:03

Uh, both teams have had their issues on offense, especially LSU here lately. And

1:20:09

it’ll be interesting, Andre, to see if maybe we see some guys uh in this

1:20:14

starting lineup on Wednesday that we haven’t really seen so far this season based on what happened in the final few

1:20:21

innings against Northeastern when Jay Johnson emptied the bench. And the

1:20:26

second team, if you would, uh really came out there and competed uh brought some energy and it really actually

1:20:32

uplifted the whole team. I don’t know how many people were still watching in the ninth inning uh after 10:00 on

1:20:39

Monday night, but there was a a the camera panned over into the dugout and

1:20:45

you know, even the regular starters, they were up on the the you know, the top step there. They were into it. They

1:20:50

were all wearing rally hats. I don’t know. I I don’t know if those three innings where LSU was finally able

1:20:57

to do something offensively if that’s going to carry over to Wednesday. I’m not sure. But I also wonder if we won’t

1:21:04

see somebody like a Daniel Harden get out there or a Yeti Eddie Yammon. Maybe

1:21:10

he’s a designated hitter or or somebody else that really hasn’t started much this season actually get a chance to

1:21:16

play or or start against ULF yet. Here’s what Jay Johnson had to say about it following Monday’s game. for me [snorts]

1:21:23

like I always try to keep them in a lane where they can have success and um you know we need to readjust a little bit of

1:21:29

that right now and that’s that’s my job to do that and I I will do that and I’ll do a good job of that to to make sure

1:21:35

that I have the right guys in the right spots and the right position for success. I’ll tell you what will not happen. I

1:21:41

don’t think we’ll see John Pearson at first base. I don’t think so. Um [laughter] and look, stay with me here, okay? I’m going

1:21:48

to go off on a bit of a tangent. I think not only what the younger guys did last

1:21:53

night, um, I guess motivates them, I think it motivates, you know, the older guys. And coming from somebody that’s

1:21:59

recently, you know, played the game, that’s happened a lot, uh, as far as, you know, at least in my high school

1:22:06

career. And I’m saying like when when that happens, it fires you up

1:22:11

as as somebody that is supposed to be a leader on a team. Uh, and so I guess where I’m going with this is, you know,

1:22:17

the the Derek Curiel’s, the Jake Browns, the, you know, Kate Armbes, they should feel not in a way mad that

1:22:25

for the other, you know, for [snorts] the others, but but it should light a fire under them and it should say, hey, we’re better than this. Um, you know,

1:22:32

saying seeing that, hey, these guys are younger than us and and that’s how we should be playing, right? Um, so so I’m

1:22:38

interested to see if Jay gives him I and I think he will. I think if he makes any changes, I don’t think it’s going to be

1:22:44

crazy, you know, changes. I think it might be one new starter in there that hasn’t really I think it could be left field and I

1:22:50

think that’s really the biggest question mark because I think Dardar’s bat has been okay enough to keep him at second.

1:22:56

Now, we might see Rucker play at second. I I think that Dardar’s leash might be a little shorter

1:23:02

than usual. Yeah. Uh but I I think that left field uh with Braden Simpson and Tanner Reeves, the

1:23:08

bat’s just not there. No, it’s not. And uh the defense necessarily isn’t there either. So um

1:23:15

maybe it’s a chance for Daniel Harden. I mean you look at what Harden did. I think it was at Midland Community College. I mean the guy hit 420.

1:23:22

Yeah. And he’s got power and he’s someone that for the first time in his life the last couple of years has

1:23:28

just been strictly focusing on football after being or excuse me baseball after being a football baseball guy at

1:23:33

Catholic High. and uh a guy that athletic uh that has that kind of skill set, we I

1:23:40

mean we kind of saw it with Jared Mitchell back in the day back in ’07. Uh once they start focusing on baseball,

1:23:47

man, it’s uh uh it could be something really special. So, we’ll see. Um if it

1:23:54

doesn’t happen um Wednesday, I I think you’ll also continue to maybe see some other guys get in there uh this weekend

1:24:01

against Sacramento State. So, let’s take our final break. When we come back, uh, we’ll wrap things up here on Tiger Rag

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1:24:40

Live from [music] Super Chevy Dealer Studio. We’re back to Tiger Rag Radio.

1:24:46

Big weekend of LSU athletics coming up. Of course, the big game Wednesday night in Lafayette between the Tigers and the

1:24:52

Cinjun. And then LSU wraps up at least the weekend non-conference action with

1:24:58

Sacramento State. LSU softball, they begin SEC play at Tennessee. Lady Tigers

1:25:03

in the SEC tournament and then the LSU men’s basketball team wrap up a another

1:25:11

uh you know, I don’t know, forgettable regular season. If it would this thing all comes to an end possibly, I guess it

1:25:18

would be Wednesday, right? Wednesday night, right? Next Wednesday. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. Um, yeah. No. Uh, it’s

1:25:24

going to be uh it’s going to be a busy week, but I I know we don’t talk too much about softball here, but man oh

1:25:31

man, are we going to find out about what what Beth’s team can do this weekend. They play number one Tennessee. They’re

1:25:37

probably the mo more most dominant team in uh all of college softball, but uh

1:25:43

I’m interested to see what what’s going to go on there. And uh so far through non-conference

1:25:49

play, it’s been it’s been okay. Is that the Yeah, it’s been And I’ll be critical here because I mean

1:25:56

that it’s my thing is she has the tal all the talent in the world and they’re really not

1:26:02

beating teams. I I know this sounds crazy, but they’re not beating teams as much as they should be beating them by

1:26:08

like a Memphis team or an Iowa team that they faced earlier this season. How are they only beat one?

1:26:13

One to nothing. I mean, come on. Um, you know, but things could change. Uh, I just I just

1:26:19

don’t know what’s going to happen. And it’s uh it’s definitely going to be a telling season for her future here.

1:26:25

Yeah. Yeah. I I don’t I mean it’s um you know it goes back to what we kind of talked about at the beginning of the

1:26:32

program, right? You are you you have you invest in the programs that are

1:26:37

successful and the other ones you just kind of they’re just there. Yeah. And and [laughter] that’s definitely one of those programs where

1:26:43

they they really they kind of just shrug it off to the side because I mean look, you look at college softball all around the country

1:26:49

and maybe other than Oklahoma and Texas, there’s really no teams that are, you

1:26:55

know, in the in the black as far as making money for their program and Texas Tech went big in NIL.

1:27:02

Exactly. Yeah. So, and they use those honestly more so on the the women’s side of of uh their

1:27:09

athletics than they do with the men. It’s it’s uh it’s it’s pretty interesting how that works. Well, um so yeah, we we’ll see. Um and

1:27:17

then, you know, getting back to McMahon, I don’t know if uh there’ll be some sort of official announcement late made next

1:27:24

week or if it’s just like it was with Scott Woodward, just don’t say anything and he just keeps coaching. [laughter]

1:27:31

We’ll we’ll find out. But uh I I have a feeling

1:27:37

I don’t think any immediate decision really be is made. I think they kind of sit on it for a little bit. But all it

1:27:43

takes still in my mind is a couple of big-time donors that say, “Okay, I’ve

1:27:49

I’ve had enough. I I I’ll write the check.” But I don’t know if that’s really going to happen. Yeah. I think there’s going to be donor

1:27:55

fatigue though because most of the people that support that men’s program are the ones that also probably paid

1:28:01

for, you know, uh for Lane Kein to come to to Baton Rouge. So, I’m interested to see how that goes. But

1:28:07

I bet what they do is they cover their tracks and they don’t say anything about it for a long time to kind of make it

1:28:13

look like they they thought about it, if that makes sense. Yeah. to say, “Hey, you know, we we actually thought about

1:28:20

this and we went through a whole process and we’re going to keep them another year.” Yeah. Well, we’ll see if there’s changes

1:28:25

with the staff or something like that. Something cosmetic. We’ll we’ll see. We’ll see. But, uh, that does it for the

1:28:30

show. Again, if you missed any of it, you can check us out anywhere you get your podcast. Uh, Andre is going to have

1:28:36

this show uploaded to YouTube here in about what do you what 30 minutes, 25 minutes, 40 minutes? Yeah, about 30.

1:28:41

Okay. 30 minutes. So, you can catch it there. But want to thank all our guests tonight. Charlie Hannigri, Charlie Kh,

1:28:47

and Mike Smith uh did a fantastic job. For Gwen Gilbo, Todd Horn, I’m Jeff Polmo, Andre Champine, our producer. For

1:28:54

the latest in LSU sports, check out tiger.com and certainly check out the money issue. Have a great night,

1:28:59

everyone. Tiger Rag is everywhere online at

1:29:05

tiger.com. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/tigerragmagazagazine

1:29:10

or follow us on Twitter at tiger rag.