Speaker 1: I'll start Toyota Presents Off the Bench with Jacob Hester
and Matt Flynn say.
Speaker 2: Hester and Hester.
Speaker 1: From carrying each other to and Natty to carrying each
other on the air roll from the live from the
Mercedes Benz Baton Rouge Studio. It's off the bench.
Speaker 2: All right, Welcome back in nour number three of OTB
here on one O four five ESPN Baton Rouge. I
am very excited to catch up with our next guest.
It is Josh Pate, who is the host of You Guessed,
The Josh Pate College Football Show. Also he is the
head coach, offense and defensive coordinator and athletic director for
the Pate State Frights.
Speaker 3: Josh, what is going on? Sarah? Glad to have you
on the show.
Speaker 4: I'm glad to be here. I don't know why more
people take that approach. Just fill every single role that way,
either at a total success or a total failure, and
not some gray area. I know.
Speaker 2: We got Billy Napier out here with seventy three blue
polos in his team picture. He's got a coordinator of
game changing moments when Billy could just do it all himself.
Speaker 4: It's look, it's something that I fully plan on sending
a handwritten letter to every athletic department suggesting we'll see
if they take it.
Speaker 2: Absolutely all right, So Josh here obviously, like we're oning
in Louisiana. So we've been following college baseball. Lshue makes
their run, they win a championship, but pretty soon after
it's like, okay, well we can see in the distance
it is football season. It is on the horizon media days.
We'll be here in a couple of weeks. Like, what
about for you, Like, are you ready to fully jump in?
Obviously you do college football year round, but once baseball
finishes up, it's that last sport of the calendar year
for the twenty four to twenty five cycle, and now
it truly does feel like football season.
Speaker 3: Are you like cannonballing into the deep end?
Speaker 4: I kind of am, but I was never I never
viewed the calendar that way. College baseball for me, I mean,
I know this is really really dirty to say, down
in your neck woods. The college baseball for me, I've
always thought of it as the audio bed, if you will,
sort of the background noise as I'm already getting ready
for college football, Like I'm watching it, but even when
I was way, way younger, I always thought of it
as that's what's on the TV in my room as
I'm reading Phil Still's magazine or something like that. So
I'm already in, like I've been in for thirty minutes,
and now everyone's jumping in and they're complaining about how
cold the water is, and I'm like, just give it
a second. You'll like, you'll acclimate, you'll adjust. The worst
part to me is all this stuff we've been talking about,
whether it's the house settlement, whether it's the playoff realignment,
which format is the best? Some of us and I
assume you guys have done this too, We have talked
to we're blue in the face about it. And you
know as well as I do. You'll get up to
Atlanta in a few weeks for media days and they'll
be people almost speak as if they are breaking news
that those are on the agendatory Guys, did you know
they're going to expand the plus? What do we think
about it?
Speaker 3: Oh, there's no question about that. That is absolutely how
it always plays out.
Speaker 2: But as soon as you said Phil Steel magazine, like
I have to ask you, I got to get your
grade on this. So in the magazine the last three
years overall my serious XM show me ej Manuel, Bobby Carpenter.
He's allowed us to put our all meathead team together
because look, we're three meatheads, and it's like it's a
term of endearment. So we get to go like a
full twenty two, like eleven on offense, eleven on defense.
If you got to select an all meathead quarterback for
college football this year, who would you go with?
Speaker 3: And I'll tell you who we picked after I hear
your answer.
Speaker 4: Oh man, it's only it's tough. Let me think. Let
me think what level did you go? P five or
G five five?
Speaker 2: I went, I went power for and I went with
somebody that's a true If he would have won one
of his games at the very end of the year,
we'd be talking about him way more.
Speaker 4: Well, then you're not talking about Pavi, are you.
Speaker 2: No, he was in the running, so diego. Pavia was
in the running. He actually, Okay, I'll go ahead and
tell you because they'll give you an idea. We went
with Haines King Georgia Tech. If he beats Georgia in
that eight overtime game, I think we're talking about him differently.
Now know, Diego Pavia beat him in a bowl game
as well, but we went with Haines King because he
is tougher than a two dollars stake.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but you know what, you're describing their entire team.
I like what you're saying about King. I feel about
their entire team, both in terms of identity but recognizability too.
If they would have won that game. And the reason
you're saying it like that, I assume is clause, you know,
scenario A, Scenario B, they're pretty much the same player,
They're pretty much the same team, except scenario B they
end up, you know, winning the coin flip eight overtime whatever.
Everyone's all of a sudden talking about him as a
sleeper for the ACC Championship. They're talking about him as
a fringe Heisman contender, and I look at it and
I say, well, why aren't they those things? Anyway? I
legitimately think Georgia Tech can compete for the ACC this year.
I think if you put let's say, if you put
a Florida State helmet sticker on that team and you
just described everything about their returning production and this and that,
people would be a lot more free and easy to
pick them to compete and win. It's just they haven't
seen Georgia Tech do it. So understandably, there's a lot
of doubt out there in the college football public about that.
I don't have that doubt. Like I love what Brent
Key is as a coach. I love that program. That
team perfectly reflects his identity. Like watching them play, it's
like watching his thumbprints on a team. And they get
their biggest two games at home this year and elsewhere.
I think they may be favored in the other ten.
I just don't know that folks have like realized they
should take them seriously.
Speaker 5: Yet you're talking about Haines King a just a hell
of a East Texan as well. Yeah he's right there
from Yeah he's from Longview, Texas and his dad being
a head coach, just like a tough, tough kid. Josh,
what's up, man, This is Matt flinn Man. Pleasure to
talk to you. My mind is always going to go
towards the quarterbacks, and we just talked about Haines King there.
But in the summer you're kind of looking for stories
to talk about. But something popped up pretty good, and
I'm especially interested in stories about quarterbacks and a positive
light and doing things the right way. But nor Seller,
South Carolina quarterback who just came on so strong last year,
he got a lot of hype going into this year.
The story comes out from his dad that he may
or may not have turned down eight million dollars NIL
deals to stay there because his dad said, well, we
made a commitment. We didn't go there to make a
bunch of money. Came there to be a student athlete,
win championships, do things the right way. When you saw
the story, what is that like? As a quarterback who
tried to do things the right way? It made me
feel awesome be a fan of this kid. So what
do you think about that story? Just like the nil
mess and when it comes to quarterbacks.
Speaker 4: I'm glad it came out. They were talking about that
on campus the spring when I was up there, and
you know, it's his personal business, so it's his story
to tell. I'm not, you know when I'm privy to
that stuff, like I'm not some newsbreaker. But I said, well,
why why don't you tell that story? That story? It's
not braggadocious to tell that story. It really helps the
overall sport to tell that story. I'll tell you another
one that's done. That is rock Obeck up at Iowa State.
That kid could have made three times what he's making
in ames Iowa to leave the past two years, by
the way, and he stayed there. Now, you can say
what you just said, and I wholeheartedly agree with you.
Like that right there is a glaring example of what's
good and what should as me and Ma always say,
but also think about how think about how that perspective
ends up working. You've got what you know what I
always call penny wise pounds foolish approaches to college football,
and that is this guy's offering me more. I'm going
over there, and it just maybe to like a fan,
that makes sense. Oh, that guy's got to go get
his money while he can. No It oftentimes doesn't even
make sense in that vein because at the expense of
your development, your progression, and your future earnings potentials, you're
going and chasing sixty thousand extra dollars. And that's great
in the moment. Sixty k is not going to matter
to you fifteen sixteen years down the road. But yet,
having stayed the course, especially at a place that's good
for you, if you're in a toxic place. That's different
if you leave a place that's good for you and
you're the guy saying, hey, I wanted to stay there,
but I had to make a business decision. Maybe you
just made the wrong business decision. So I'm glad that
story went public.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's a great story. And Josh, don't break news
here if it's not public. Infert I was trying to
look for it as well. But he gives up eight
million to go. Do you know what he's like? His
takeome is right now with South Carolina.
Speaker 4: Well, so it was gonna be an eight million over
two years, So it was gonna be I think about
a four million per year. He's not making that there,
but he's making more than half that I think there.
And South Carolina is a place that they're gonna like
most places that know what they're doing, they're gonna pay
on a scale that is in accordance with performance and
real value. And so he's gonna make good money there.
But also I want you to pretend you're a major
enterprise in the state of South Carolina and your CEO
is a lifelong game talk and he graduated from there,
and you listen to that story. If you weren't already
on board with underwriting a huge portion of your ad
spend this year for Lenora sellers in South Carolina Athletics,
now you are so in just telling the truth and
being loyal to a program. He probably made himself even
more money and got himself closer to that four million
per year figure by doing that than he ever needed
to leaving.
Speaker 5: That's a great Yeah, it is you do things the
right way, and hopefully it trickles down to other people
around the country when they see it. And man, I think,
you know, of course we're everyone's lsu fanc here, but
I mean, that's the kind of story where you've got
a hard time cheering against that kid at least.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that. I think that as you come
out of what we were calling the wild West era
of portal, you know, I think if people handle their
revenue sharing the right way, you're going to see a
lot of that roster turn slow down, which is a
good thing. But I think about now, let's say ten
fifteen years from now, we're kind of safely removed from
this era whatever we end up calling this era. And
I always think in terms of like a documentary in
the present moment. I think, at any given times, what
is the documentary fifteen years from now saying about this time?
And I cannot help but think about you know, when
thirty for thirty came out with the Broke documentary about
how many NFL guys squandered their earnings, and they had
those guys on camera, and those guys talked about how
foolish they were and how they wish they had to
do over. I think fifteen years from now, your transfer
portal or NIL documentary is going to be pretty heartbreaking
case by case scenario, of course, when you have guys
on camera who were taking advantage of and had a
lot of predatory individuals from the shadows get in their
ear and tell them all the wrong things, and they
ended up at three or four different schools, not because
they needed to, but just because they could and they
didn't know any better. And now here they are had
all the potential in the world and they've been done
playing football for thirteen years. By fifteen years from now.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's any question about that.
Speaker 2: Catching up with Josh Bate here on OTB talking from
college football, I'll stay with quarterback in the SEC because
Josh for me one of the storylines that I'm going
to find highly intriguing once we get to media days
in Atlanta. When you look at the quarterbacks in the
SEC LSU, South Carolina, Florida, ou Vandy, like they've got
quarterbacks that they feel really good about, guys that have
done it before, guys that have thrived in college football.
But then you look at some of the normal powers
a UGA, A Tennessee, A Texas, an Ole Miss and Alabama,
and they're going to have first time starters. Now it's
not to say that they're going to be bad football players, obviously,
Texas Ole Miss feel really good about their quarterbacks. But
how much does that change your outlook on the SEC
knowing that the teams that typically have won the SEC
in recent years made it cause football playoff or hitting
reset at quarterback and some of those other teams feel
really good about quarterback.
Speaker 5: Well.
Speaker 4: The added part about that for context for people just
kind of driving around listening or sitting in the office listening,
is you would think, with that being the case, the
odds would look a little different this year, but they don't.
The odds still look pretty much the same, Like no
one has any clue what they're going to get from
gun or Stockton in Georgia. But yet they're right up
there along with Texas as the face to win the conference.
Alabama's right up there. No one knows what to expect
from ty Simpson. And then conversely, you look at DJ Lagway,
the guy came on really strong at the end of
the year. Flord is down the board a little bit,
partly due to schedule, but they're down the board a
little bit. So it's funny how there's such a benefit
of the doubt. There's so much equity built up from
some of these power programs you go beyond the SEC.
You can say the same about Ohio State right now.
You can say the same about Oregon right now. No
one knows what to expect from those qbs, but they're
up there anyway. They've earned that benefit of the doubt.
And I'm not saying they haven't. But what if, just
for a second here, what if you get B level
quarterback play and nothing better, nothing less from those new guys.
We did this little exercise on our show the other night.
Is I always expect B level quarterback play from a
new guy, and it's not because they're not capable of
AA plus level play. It's just that's the exception, that's
not the rule. So in order to not let myself
down and suffer heartbreaking December, what happens to the rest
of your team? If arch Manning plays at a B level?
What happens to the rest of my team? If the
two guys at Bama and Georgia respectively play at a
B level, Well, they're still capable if they win the
close games and you know, are plus in the turnover margins,
they're still capable of winning the league. But what it
does is it opens the door wide for like a
Texas A and M to make her run, or like
we just had a South Carolina to make her run,
and that normally wouldn't be the case. You'd normally be
looking at those caliber rosters saying they're probably another year
or two away, and then you could extrapolate that same
cinement nationally. What if none of these guys just elevate
themselves and it really is, you know, a sledgehammer fest
come playoff time, and you're looking at it saying this
is just an exception to the rule. In terms of
the landscape, it really does feel like we're in November
and there are twelve or fifteen teams that could win
this thing if they get hot in December.
Speaker 5: It's a good question because the any championship team, any
good time team, your quarterback is going to have a
B game, right, You just can't have a B season
or you're not going to stand a chance. But every
quarter and so the team's got to overcome those B games.
That's why it's the greatest team sport. But Josh, I
want to talk the With the expanded playoffs, the opening
game has a little bit less impact than it used
to on the you know, your chances to make the playoffs,
make a run. We got two SEC teams going on
the road week on big matchups Texas at Ohio, State
of course, LSU at Clemson. What's your opinion of teams
like this kind of going out of the ordinary and
scheduling these big matchups on the opening game.
Speaker 4: Well, I love it independent of anything else because I
just think that's what the sport should look like. And
I also love those those games you're mentioning. They're not
these you know, sanitized neutral site affairs. Either it's someone
going to someone else's building. That's what this sport is
supposed to be September through November with very few exceptions,
So I love that. Now, the obvious context of that
question is, yeah, but what if you lose while everyone
else is playing a pree puff and it ends up
being held against you. Well, that's why I think there's
been a lot of talk this past few months, especially
about all the playoffs stuff, But I don't want to
just overlook something else that's being reported, and that is
all the talk about recalibrating the selection process and recalibrating
the criteria and specifically recalibrating how they define strength to schedule.
And I think that is obviously been born out of
folks from the SEC and to an extent, the Big
Ten like yelling at the top of their lungs. Come
December and the selection process happens, and they're saying, wait,
why do you guys keep talking about records so much?
This is college football like in the NFL. Yeah, you
are what your record says you are. That's one of
the biggest lies you could tell about college football because
of the vast disparity in strength to schedule. So you
guys either need to fix this or we're not scheduling
these games anymore because trust does we can go schedule
for Creampuff, take the four and oh and be happy
to go into conference play. We want to challenge ourselves.
We want to make the money off the gate that
we get when we challenge ourselves. We want to offer
spectacle for the broadcast network that we're in media rights
fials with. But we're only going to do it if
you don't even have to reward us for it, but
don't punish us for it. So I still think we're
in an era where that's going to change, and I
think you'll continue to get those games. But just forget
a US playoff for a second. Just just college football.
I love it. I mean, that's what I'm supposed to
be looking forward to this time of year. It's not
you playing alcorn State all due respect, it's you going
on the road to Clemson. You it's Ohio State posting Texas.
It's the man, what are we going to look like?
I remember thinking this about Miami going to Florida last
year and then think about that result. It's just college
football is such a wild card sport, but especially Week
one of college football, it's a total roll of the dice.
But in like the most fun way possible.
Speaker 3: All right, there is Josh Pay good enough to join us.
Speaker 2: Man, I just got really fired up for I know
we talked about being on the horizon and it might
already be here.
Speaker 5: I love your thoughts on the opening week two.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm the same way, like, let's go ahead, let's
play a giant, Let's play a power forward team. I
do not want to play directional school you either as
a player, Josh, Man, I really appreciate your time. Look
forward to our next conversation. Hopefully we can do this
again in the near future.
Speaker 4: Yes, sir, I appreciate it.
Speaker 3: Guys.
Speaker 2: All right, there is Josh Paate, host of The Josh
Pay College Football Show Sunday Tuesday Thursday, eight pm Eastern Time,
so seven here locally.
Speaker 3: You can catch that on YouTube. Does a fantastic job.
I love his insight. Man. A lot of different things
to transfer portal week one.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna talk about some of that Week one stuff
when we come back. And I know there's some people
here in this building that want to play directional school
you and I understand your point, but I'm just telling
you the all seasons different, and look, LSU has been
horrendous in season openers they have. It is looked clunky
as hell. Well, but I do think they're doing something
this year that is going to help out a little bit. Now,
once the ball's kicked off, it's all on you, but
I'm saying, building up to the game, there's something they're
doing over there that I think is going to help.
Speaker 3: We'll tell you what that is when we come back
here on OTV.
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Speaker 6: Winefon news. I'm a love steal sun to get up.
Speaker 1: From players to legends, Hester and Flynn breakdown LSU football
like only champions can they shut?
Speaker 5: Come up?
Speaker 6: I realized, quick flee wind. I knew, I shoot that
the who was made up of this rubble of man.
Speaker 3: Screw sports. Listen to those I was trying to you
interrupted times a Landra.
Speaker 2: Did you find a new artist on your road trip,
somebody you had not really heard of before that found
its way through the ears?
Speaker 6: There's one, but I can't remember the name of it.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 8: It was a good song, for sure, but it was
like a long name. It was like three different words
change your life, Like the artist's name was like a sentence.
Speaker 6: So okay, fair enough, But it was mostly just stuff
that we all.
Speaker 5: What kind of what genre was it?
Speaker 6: It was like indie.
Speaker 3: Coffee house preaching.
Speaker 8: It wasn't coffeehouse, you know, like the twenty tens, like indie. Yeah,
maybe alternative a little yeah, but.
Speaker 5: It was seattle.
Speaker 3: Like were talking.
Speaker 5: I don't know.
Speaker 8: No, it was kind of like killers Ask, which isn't
really indeed, but it was like a combo.
Speaker 5: Artist.
Speaker 6: It was a male artist. Rivers will know.
Speaker 3: Artic monkeys.
Speaker 6: It's three words.
Speaker 8: I'm trying to think of somebody to compare them to.
Speaker 3: All Right, it's okay, we'll find out the answer. We'll
get there.
Speaker 2: I want to talk opening games here. I want to
go around the room. I want to get everybody's there.
I want to get everybody's opinion on this opening game
against a big time Marque opponent. I love it as
a player. That's what I wanted. I wanted somebody to
look at and say, we got to be ready. We
don't have time to wait because we've got this team.
I think we we broke it down the other day.
I think, uh, three of our four years, three my
four you were here five. Three of my four years
we played a Power four opponent in the opening game,
and the one year we didn't, we played one in
game number two I believe, because then we go ulled
then Arizona I think in six maybe.
Speaker 3: So I loved it.
Speaker 2: It gave me an opportunity to like just see who
I was going to play, know that they were, you know,
doing some of the same things, they had, some of
the same athletes that we had, and it was always
something that I felt like helped me prepare for the
first game. Now we all know that LSU is zero
for five in their last five season openers. It has
been Mississippi State when you were playing a defense that
you never should against a Mike Leach offense.
Speaker 3: You should never play that defense.
Speaker 2: Right, They're going to hit another crosser as we're having
this conversation, and then the next season you go to
the Rose Bowl and they run counter right up. You
know what, right, Zach Charbonay just hit another counter. Florida
State back to back years. Right, we all know the
first game in New Orleans debacle. I mean, special teams,
multiple kicks block, just a hot mess, Okay, and then
you got the next year. Laforesa just beat you the
next year, right, I mean you had some momentum, you
had an opportunity. You don't put the ball in the
end zone, they just beat you. And then last year
right USC they made the plays you did not, Okay,
So it's been a lot of different ways. It's been
different coaches, it's been different players. This year, I think
it's a point of emphasis over at the OPS building
to make it a big deal and not hide from it,
where I don't know that that's been the case in
years past. I don't know how they handled it, but
I've noticed like there's a lot of one to zero
right all across the building.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of Clemson.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of like messages to what is in
front of you and not trying to shy away from it.
And that might sound so elementary, it might sound like,
oh my god, why does that because it's just the
constant reminder for players and coaches as you're getting ready,
you don't have time time to wait around and figure
it out.
Speaker 3: You got to get it figured out.
Speaker 5: Like an athlete psyche who the phone was going off,
Sorry people, but then on silent an athlete psyche is.
I'm not gonna say they were delicate, but it's very
malleable from what it coach. That's why a coach, especially
the college Elmos is so important. How they get your
mind right, how they prepare you. And I remember like
when we used to open up and this is no
shot at anybody, but like when we used to open
up with Ull or whoever, it was those types of
games in the off season, when you're hot and sweaty
running one tens and you're leaning on the person next
to you, you're fighting, you're sweating, you're bleeding with your
brothers all off season. Having something to focus on is
so important. Hey, I remember when we'd have those games
that weren't big, it was you know, what do you
think Florida's doing right now? You would talk about other
teams that were looking.
Speaker 2: Past that, and this is not Look, we're not like
sitting trying to draw bombs and have shape. We never
were like what do you think ULL's doing right now?
Speaker 3: Just that didn't happen, but it did.
Speaker 2: What do you think Mississippi State's doing right now? What
do you think Oregon State's doing right now? Like in
some of our openers, Yep, you never heard it when
it was you know, a group of five school.
Speaker 5: Yeah, And Josh brought up such a good point, and
there's so many like butterfly effects to decisions made on
expanding the playoffs, changing the rules of the playoffs, all
that stuff, because I do not want to lose the
opening day big game. And that is exactly what's gonna
happen if they make it strictly record wins and losses.
Blah blah blah. You can truly with a twelve person
playoff ruin your season by scheduling these big games. Then
you're gonna see people just shy away from them. I
don't think that's gonna happen. I want to keep seeing
them as an athlete, as a player, As a former player,
I did not want to play the smaller schools. I
hated those games. I hated them. People can be like, oh,
it's so stat patter looks good, blah blah blah. Get
the guaranteed win, so what. I hate it not playing
the top competition just the same. It was hard to
get up for it.
Speaker 2: Ye try to explain that from your perspective as a quarterback,
because I try to say it like if we were
playing Fresno State, Like in my mind, I was doing
the same exact routine, I was watching the same amount
of tape, I was doing all the same things, but
in reality, I was not, because if we were playing
Auburn or Florida or Alabama or whoever it was, let
me watch this third down package, Hey, let me watch
his blitz pick up.
Speaker 3: Hey, let me watch his short yardage goal line situation.
Speaker 2: And you just organically found yourself doing more, staying later,
having more conversations, and you weren't trying to.
Speaker 3: It's just that's the way it happened.
Speaker 5: Yeah, there's something to be said for just like the
you did the practice schedules the same. The coaches do
a great job of trying to keep the schedule like
the exact same, and you never you never try to
think that Alabama game is bigger than Fresno State or
Louisiana Tech. But it is, and you feel there's a
there's an unsaid knowledge there that no one has.
Speaker 2: The time I got fired up, I got fired up
good dogs to play louis Antech because look, my my
wife's dad, uncle, my mom, her mom, she had a
cousin on the team. My best friend in the world
was on the team. So I was a little fired
up for that one. But that was because of circumstance,
not because of who it was.
Speaker 5: Right, Yeah, Daniel and the chatter are saying like some
sort of combination of BCS algorithm and committee like the
BCS system. To me, probably with a twelve man team.
Speaker 3: Like a twelve man I say, the only problem with
the VCS was it was.
Speaker 5: Just two teams, right even with even when they expanded
a four, probably pretty darn good.
Speaker 2: That's why I don't understand why in college baseball we
always talk about RPI and Jay Johnson comes on this
show all the time.
Speaker 3: RPI our prawer, here's why we did this.
Speaker 2: Uh, when we have Matt McMahon or Kim Molky on,
it's like we talk about the net and we talked
about the kN palm. We talk about all these systems
that we have, and we don't have that in football anymore.
But if we add it back to the old BCS
system and we had at least a ranking, and I'm
not even saying that you don't have a committee, now,
I would trust the old BCS system, But if you
want to throw a human element back into it, at
least if we had a BCS system or rank them
whenever we go to sixteen one through sixteen, and then
if that committee put nineteen in over sixteen.
Speaker 3: Then that would really you know, raise some hell.
Speaker 2: But you would have this metric that the coaches like
they could use and they when it comes to scheduling,
like there's a strength of schedule component that goes into
the algorithm.
Speaker 3: Then you would have more teams scheduling like LSU does.
Speaker 5: Yeah, make it, make it black and white at least
on how the power rankings are there. And then of
course there's a little bit you know, there's going to
always going to be a human element to everything, because
I'm sure it would take in consideration to like coaches,
bulls and a peoples and all that stuff, like those
things would be those things would be in there. But
I think just some sort of clear struck sure. But please,
for the love of God, don't take don't make it
completely one hundred percent about record, because as a college
football fan, as a fan of good football and just
being excited for the for the preseason and the lead
up on everything, Man, don't don't they will take away
those big games if you make it about that. If
you make one loss ruin an entire year, you always say, yeah, well,
twelve teams, like you still control your own destiny, which
is great. There was.
Speaker 2: I mean, was it the year that Michigan won the
Natty A couple of years ago, they didn't play a
Power for team in the non con Yeah, I'm pretty
sure right, they play.
Speaker 7: Yeah, because that was the that was the Jim Harball suspension.
Not remember they basically let hit Michigan pick which games
he was suspended, and it was like bowling Green and
Acron and teams like that. Yeah, because they didn't have
any Power five non conference and they won the Natty.
That's why, in my opinion, strength of schedule doesn't matter
in the current format that we have.
Speaker 3: It doesn't. No, it doesn't.
Speaker 7: You go ten and two, you're one of the top
three teams in your conference, You're making the playoffs.
Speaker 5: That's it.
Speaker 8: Uh.
Speaker 5: Power for championship games, should you be penalized?
Speaker 3: We've had some.
Speaker 2: I mean Georgia two years ago, Alabama in the SEC
championship game, they don't get in, then they beat the
hell out of Florida State in the Orange Bold to
prove a point.
Speaker 7: And then this year flip it SMU was not penalized.
They lost that conference game to Clemson. They both get in,
so we've seen it both ways.
Speaker 5: They wanted what they just wanted sun shmiw SCHMIW. Yeah.
I don't think if you if you make the conference
championship in a power in the top ones, top conferences,
you should not be penalized for that. You shouldn't be
kicked out of the playoffs.
Speaker 2: Uh, all right, when we come back, We've got Brett
inside the bay U four chat and wants to know
about your feelings during two thousand and seven whenever we
started to find out, Oh no, they're going to mess
up and let us back in this thing.
Speaker 5: Let's go.
Speaker 2: I think I've told that story plenty times before. We'll
get Flynn's side.
Speaker 5: I also want to bring up, just to quick some
snippets on maybe one of the most impactful athletes of
all time that is doing some things right now that
is crazy.
Speaker 3: Okay, we'll have all that for you when we come
back here on.
Speaker 1: Off the bench.
Speaker 2: All right, speaking of champions speaking of playoff rankings, teams
they get to the finish line, how about the team
over at Tommy's Windows, doors and siding.
Speaker 3: The website is go Tommy's.
Speaker 2: That is g E A U X Tommy's as Tommy
with a Y, Go Tommy's dot Com where They just
won Best Windows in the City of Baton Rouge, and
that is in The Advocate twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3: The first time to them, not the first time they've
won an award. They have a lot of banners. Oh
they basically they look like the New York Games Intimidator.
Speaker 5: So website look at that. Unbelievable as well.
Speaker 2: And you know what, just like the Intimidator, they got
to add. They got to add to the website because
they don't even have their twenty twenty five up yet.
Speaker 3: Always winning awards. Go Tommy's that god.
Speaker 5: Yeah, go to their website, see the gallery, see the testimonials.
Reliable company, the good people. They're gonna do right, make
your house more injury efficient, great products, go to Go
Tommies dot com two two five, two five oh eight eight.
Speaker 1: Eight, two thousand and seven Champs Purple and Gold to
the Core. This is off the Bench with Hester and Flynn,
Matt and Rouge's go to for all things Louisiana sports.
Speaker 2: Not you, man, I feel you inside the Bay four chat,
he says, Damn Jake. You know the Braves won fourteen
straight NLS championships and you go with the Yankees It's
a good point.
Speaker 3: We didn't finish.
Speaker 2: You know, thirteen of those got one in nine before
the Braves won the last one a couple of years ago.
And I'm still hurt by Jim Larrets. Man couldn't do
that again if he tried. Man couldn't do that again
hit that home run if he had one hundred more attempts.
I'm one of those people that hope nothing but bad
things sometimes for Jim Larrets. I'm gonna be honest with you,
same thing I say about Mitch Williams and Lenny Dyksha
and rest in peace, Darren Dalton and that whole Phillies
crew as well.
Speaker 3: So good point. Good point.
Speaker 2: Not you man, you were blabbering about something. Yeah, I
don't think something about athletes.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I really wanted to talk about like we doesn't
probably get the headlines down here on many of the shows,
or definitely this show, but we really need to start
paying attention to one of the more more impactful I'm
not gonna say the greatest, but probably one of the greatest,
have one of the greatest impacts in their sport in
the history of sports for what they're doing. That's the
one Caitlin Clark. We're gonna bring up w n B
A talk about just for a minute right here, all right,
I does not know that that's where you were going.
You didn't, all right. I was scrolling, all right, So
I was scrolling. I was scrolling. I brought up golf, and.
Speaker 3: We're going to break up like tennis or cycling.
Speaker 5: We're going to bring up cycling in a couple of weeks.
N B A no, no, w n B A. All right,
So I want you I'm going to tell you some stats,
and I want you to think of an athlete that
has a has had a bigger, bigger positive bigger, a bigger.
If you're going to crack out everything, I'm rested for now,
it's gonna be like a nine hour show. It's uh,
there's nobody that's had a bigger impact or.
Speaker 3: Sorry, oh good good, I'm good. I'm sorry. I apologize.
Speaker 5: Are y'all laughing at the w n B A no, A.
Speaker 3: Little bit of a bigger.
Speaker 2: It's a little bit of both for me, because I mean, look,
I mess up boards all time.
Speaker 5: Sure well, it's kind of like a combination of like
big deal and bigger. So I just got like kind
of Yeah, I'm a little list exic. It's fine. Sorry, sorry,
I want you to think of an athletes have a
bigger impact on their game. So, before she got to
the WNBA, and we're talking about like the ESPN National
Game for the WNBA was averaging like three hundred and
ninety four thousand viewers. Her rookie year, they averaged one
point one to nine million on it, which is like
a two hundred and two percent drop. Twenty two of
her games exceeded a million people in viewership. Of that
she was televised her debut is like two point one
three million. In comparison, their games were one point one
eight million average viewers. Every other team was three hundred
and ninety four thousand viewers. And then again in twenty
twenty five, like they aired one of her games on ABC,
two point two million was the average viewership of that game,
It like spiked to like two point eight million. And
then when she was hurt, the average for this season
has been one point eight million viewership. Now it's like
a fifty something percent jump from last year, but when
she got hurt and she wasn't playing, it dropped over
fifty percent to like eight hundred thousand viewers. So you
go from one person playing getting amazing ratings, which they
had never done. They averaged two years before over three
hundred thousand viewers. Now they're averaging one point eight and
then when she gets hurt, it drops back down over
fifty five percent. Now, tell me if there is an
athlete has that has ever had an impact on their
particular sport, like Caitlin Clark has an appreciate and she's
not even leading the league in a lot of things,
Like you see the threes, she's not even top three
and threes, like average threes made per game, like she's
leading the league or tied for like assists or something.
She's playing great, and she's like leading and like all
Star picks and all that stuff. Not saying that, but
like having that sort of impact and not even like
and she's famous for three's not even leading the league
in average threes per game.
Speaker 3: I would.
Speaker 2: Burden Magic the NBA was struggling a little bit. That's
a combo. It's not one singular person. It's the only
one I can kind of. When burd and Magic had
their rivalry and they were going back and forth, Lakers Celtics,
the NBA needed them badly.
Speaker 3: They had to have them. And that's really I don't
know if y'all have another one.
Speaker 2: That's the only one, maybe Sosa Maguire in their home
run race that they had, right they were going back
and forth to try to beat Roger Merris's single season record.
That kind of saved baseball after the baseball strike in
the early nineties. But that was because of circumstance, right,
it was because you had to strike. Baseball was a
little boring at the time, and here come these two
guys who may or may not have been on pds,
who cares, are hitting the ball far and it was fun.
But like to your point, all those have been tandem.
Hasn't been singular.
Speaker 6: There's one little the only thing I can think of.
Speaker 8: And maybe this is just me because I'm not like
a big golf follower, but one that I like. I
don't know what it was like before him, but Tiger
Woods kind of put golf, and I don't know, it's a.
Speaker 3: Good one, so Tiger would be Tiger still has it, Yeah,
long time.
Speaker 7: He's kind of doing it now golf like since standpoint,
Scotty's kind of but he's bringing a lot of eyeballs too,
because you always want to see that one dominant guy
like to her point, like I mean, after Tiger got old,
like Scott, he's kind of the next guy that's bringing
everybody in.
Speaker 8: I just didn't really know anything about golf until Tiger
Woods was a thing. Like I was kind of young
whenever that whole scandal happened. But like I that's the
only thing that I ever really knew.
Speaker 2: About it was the only thing I knew was Hal
Sutton and David Toms for from report, and I watched
them when they played.
Speaker 5: I mean, it was a middle aged white dude sport
from whoever played it or watched it.
Speaker 3: Really.
Speaker 5: I remember I would have it on when I was
grown up and it was so boring. But then when
Tiger came on, I was like, all right, I can
watch this for sure, and he made such like his
impact probably great greater than the Caitlin impact. This is
a very short term situation, but that is like when
you have the top like fifty golfers playing right now
that all like gush over tiger Woods, like Scotti Scheffler.
You're seeing Warrabbit's got tiger Wood shoes on, Like that's
like that's the impact he had.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I like for golf, now you kind of know
more of the people, like I know Jordan's Spee, Scottie
and Brooks, Kapika or I don't even know if it's Kapika.
Speaker 6: I don't even that's what I'm saying, like I've only
ever seen it, but.
Speaker 8: Yeah, or maybe even like tennis when Pete Sampras and
Agustine maybe I was Andre.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, you were one of the other uh MESSI
had a big impact on the MLS, right, Yeah, I've
been like yeah, but.
Speaker 2: To your point, like nobody to what you're talking about
with Kaitlyn Clark, nobody when he comes with.
Speaker 5: Yeah, you all kind of like poke fun of me
for like bringing it up, but like it's a real.
Speaker 3: Now, that's a real had nothing to do with it
was the word you made it.
Speaker 5: Well. I mispronound sports all the time, I know, but.
Speaker 2: It's funny because then you kept saying it right, but
it still sounded like it was wrong.
Speaker 3: Just what made it fun exactly?
Speaker 2: I will I've told this story with Taylor and Laundry
in the room, but I'll tell it with you.
Speaker 3: So my father in law, who played in the NFL.
Speaker 2: His brother played a decade plus in the NFL, my
brother in law who played college football. They've both been
a tunne of LSU games, so they've seen crazy atmospheres.
Speaker 5: Right.
Speaker 2: They went to the Masters one year and they followed
Tiger and they said, it's not even close. The best feeling,
the most electricity they've ever felt in a sporting event.
And again they've been everywhere they've seen everything. Was the
crowd following Tiger Woods to Augusta. They said it was
you couldn't even compare it to anything.
Speaker 5: Yes, oh my god, all Tiger fans, that was such
a you for to day watching them do that. I
can only imagine what it was like walking through that seat.
Speaker 2: I said, it was incredible. They said it didn't matter
where they've been, what they had seen, nothing compared to that.
So to your point, all right, the show is only
going to get biggerer as we continue to deal. We'll
wrap it up when we come back here, OTB, I mean,
trust me, just give me enough time and I'll say
a word that does not exist, all right, Something that
does exists is doci words see exactly letters why you
should go for dose And no matter what you're doing
Tiger fans, if you're sitting there and you're tailgating for
a baseball run, if you're watching the last out in Omaha,
if you're getting ready, you know, to watch a game
in Clemson, South Carolina. You're in the parking lot, tailgating,
whatever it is. Do Sekis always brings the flavor, the
vibes and the victory energy. So you should go for
dose and joy a dose sequis, which is the gold
standards a beer.
Speaker 5: All right, let's hump day today. We got a national
championship celebration. We got a new intimidator company. Go to
your local wherever you like to buy groceries, beer, whatever
it is. Go get some do sacquis. Start icing it down. Now,
have some cold fresh Mexican logger. Slice up some limes.
Get ready to roll. Cheer on the tigers tonight. Celebrate
them with doseaquies. Go for dose.
Speaker 1: Tigers, turn talkers. This is off the bench. I'm going
back to five or five.
Speaker 3: If it's a seven hour flys or forty five minute drive.
Speaker 1: In my imgination, new ways and line on your side
with your runs between your thighs.
Speaker 5: Come swere.
Speaker 3: Master stop be dropped little bit wacky, waited for that song.
Speaker 5: That's the song you wanted to wait for.
Speaker 3: You've never heard five of five by Monkeys.
Speaker 5: I mean, but like, there's a lot of great songs
up there. Yeah, and this is one of This was
not a bat drop. It's a bad song.
Speaker 3: This is I hate target Monkeys couldn't be me.
Speaker 5: I hate the way I pronounced words.
Speaker 2: Dude, are you being Are you gonna getivity fine it?
We will have a kangaroo court, my man, and we'll
throw sensitivity fine right up on that board.
Speaker 5: See if I ever try to lead a segment again,
I can't deal with this Matt song Like, this is
what I get for carry in the show. That's right back, hurts.
Speaker 2: Kangaroo courts going up tomorrow. I'm getting your list every
every time you heard something, it's gonna be a sensitivity fine.
Speaker 6: Five dollars, five dollars scenes reasonable.
Speaker 3: We'll put it in a.
Speaker 2: Pot at the end of the month, we'll put it
all together and we'll go have a little OTB lunch
on the kangaroo court.
Speaker 3: It feels like you're gonna be paying.
Speaker 5: For it even really know what you're talking about right now?
Speaker 3: You know, like a kangaroo court is in the NFL,
Like I didn't.
Speaker 5: Have that a fine system. Yeah, kangaroo court.
Speaker 3: That's what we did.
Speaker 2: Like everybody came up in the room, came up with
the fines. It was like a handclap was because they
hopped up. There was a kangaro Never heard that before. No,
I've heard what you like, you talked about it, but
I just kind of went with it.
Speaker 6: Y'all. That video real quick, we have like fifteen seconds.
That video of Joe Burrow throwing a baseball gave me
the egg.
Speaker 3: Somebody was like, whoa also never adjust it was shocked.
Speaker 6: Gave me the eck.
Speaker 3: It was shocking.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I promise you will break down the fells trade tomorrow.
Join us tomorrow morning, OTB.
Speaker 1: Have a good off the bench.
Speaker 6: We have two I mean they traded wait, what what
was it? They traded CJ. McCollum for a younger CJ.
Speaker 2: They literally got my column for Jordan blind They kind
of did, Yeah, we'll get Jordan's take on it maybe tomorrow.
Speaker 3: Go to Koze Blinds dot com.
Speaker 2: Kt o z Blinds dot com is the website Interior
Outdoor Living. Brandon Barton and the team gonna come out
and make sure that you've got exactly what you need.
Excited brands coming back in the studio tomorrow, always excited
to chop it up with him. Always got something big
going on over at k two Z. They've helped me,
they'll help you. They've helped so many in the greater
Baton Rouge area.
Speaker 3: Go to Katz Blinde and.
Speaker 5: We promised you yesterday you can still be gritty and
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