Speaker 1: It's the most wonderful time of the year, and off
the Bench is here to bring you some holidays year
presented by All Star Toyota, join us for a cozy
chat about sports, laughter, and the spirit of Christmas Alive
from the Mercedes Benz of Baton Rouge Studio. Here's Jacob
Hester and t bab a Bear Christmas next Day.
Speaker 2: What's happening y'all? Welcome man.
Speaker 3: Friday the thirteenth, Roll around along. Here is Christmas season.
War the heros out today?
Speaker 2: Guy?
Speaker 4: Wait?
Speaker 1: What war?
Speaker 2: There are heros out today?
Speaker 5: Okay?
Speaker 6: Hell ya? What's that?
Speaker 5: I can't wait?
Speaker 2: Kind of sounds like I'm rolling it all into one word.
Or to hear him? Yeah, do y'all know? I mean
row hear them? Doesn't give it away? Yeah hear them.
Speaker 5: No, it's a video game, Taylor.
Speaker 2: It is a movie set where row hear him? Yeah,
row hear him? Row Han Like Rohan? Are you that's okay?
Speaker 7: To my mind?
Speaker 2: Taylor? We made you watch a lot of The Rings
last year.
Speaker 6: Now, yes, oh this is that animated one?
Speaker 4: Right?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Yeah? Yeah?
Speaker 6: Where was the.
Speaker 2: Entire second movie?
Speaker 3: Basically said thank you, unbelieved?
Speaker 2: See what I have to work with?
Speaker 3: Guys, I'm proud of Yeah, at least you got there
quicker than Taylor did.
Speaker 2: Alandro. Sorry, Uh, even though I cameraer, have you seen
literally a very long time ago. I don't know. It
sounds like it's time for. Sounds like it's times for for.
Speaker 5: How are you gonna force me to do it?
Speaker 2: But just uh annoying you, you know, just.
Speaker 3: Just Chinese water torture, peppering you like I did with Taylor,
to break him down eventually and and and make him
do it.
Speaker 6: I think you asked me once. I was actually curious
in watching them.
Speaker 5: You have him on DVD, sorry to borrow him?
Speaker 2: Curious I I do on old DVD.
Speaker 3: I want to get him on like some like four
K like Blue rayth Tips, But then I don't have
any way to play that, so I guess I don't
actually I want to do that. But so though, hope
everyone's having a great Friday. Uh, We're gonna have a
good show today. It's gonna be a fun show, kind
of a relaxed show.
Speaker 2: Dead week. We got some pertal news, we have some.
Speaker 3: Other stuff you do. We'll see where today show goes. Guys,
I don't I don't know, you know, we're we're gonna
kind of we're just gonna gonna fly by the seat
of our reindeer pants this morning. I I did want
to get my I got my chest dot Com shirt on.
Speaker 2: It's not my accent.
Speaker 3: Didn't want to give a shout out to Guqusto Moraju,
who just became the youngest chess world champion in history,
just eighteen years old. Guys, and Gukesh now world champion.
Speaker 2: I've told you all before India's coming.
Speaker 3: You know, it seems like every day you wake up
and there's a new youngest ever grand master and he's
always from India. And now you have your youngest ever
world champion.
Speaker 2: It's Guqush. But is he actually world champion?
Speaker 3: I mean, here's where it gets a bit complicated, right,
because Magnus Carlson is still the best player in the
entire world. But after ten years of defending his title,
he vacated basically bored, right, he didn't want to keep
playing these classical title matchs that they take so long
to prep whether they're so grinding.
Speaker 2: So hard.
Speaker 3: But nobody was really even close to him. Nobody was
exciting him, and so he ends up walking away from
the title. Ding Laronnaignacci to get it, and now Lukesh
has beaten Ding, so he.
Speaker 2: Is world champion.
Speaker 3: But I still gotta hope against So then maybe Magnus
will come back out and you can you can get
a more satisfactory world champion. But it does not take
away from what Gukesh has done working through the candidates
and uh now beating Ding on that stage in the
last game. They were tied going into the last game, guys,
and then Ding blundered. That's what's crazy about that sport game,
whatever you want to call it. I mean the fourteen games,
countless hours and and and in the end, all it
takes is one mistake.
Speaker 2: And you're no longer world champion.
Speaker 3: Shout out Cash, that's the one dude today, Lauger, what's up.
Speaker 2: How you feeling.
Speaker 5: I'm feeling great. Is Friday, and it's been a long week,
so I'm very excited that it's Friday. Oh yeah, I
can go to sleep tonight and not have anything to do.
You know, Like I feel like the friday before you
have a day off, or like the day before you
have a day off is better than the actual day
off because you're like, I don't have to do anything tomorrow,
and then you can just sleep knowing you don't have
anything to do tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Okay, so the way the Friday, what'd you say.
Speaker 5: The day before the day you have off, Yes, I
feel like is so much better than the day that
you have off. Yes, because you have that relief of like, oh,
I have nothing to do tomorrow. You can go to
sleep just knowing.
Speaker 3: It's kind of a classic Saturday ver a Sunday scary thing.
And now but you quote your people are like, well, yeah,
it's every week. Well no, I mean the line has
been working Saturdays for a for a long time now, right,
for for the whole football season. Yeah, I too nothing
to do tomorrow, right right, it feels feels great. I'm
gonna go. Well, I guess I don't. That's not true.
I don't have nothing to the nutcracker. But that's like fun,
it'd be very fun. Yeah, that's not work, that's fun.
I just can't screw up like I did yesterday.
Speaker 5: You screwed up yesterday.
Speaker 3: Yes, I don't know how we're doing the student performance.
So it's like a dresser or somebody buy a bunch
of students come, they bust them in.
Speaker 2: And and uh, what a faux pas.
Speaker 3: I went into step touch when I should have been
into slide, and I looked like a big, dumb, clumsy idiot.
Speaker 8: I'm sure you did about a dollar for every time
I did the costead of the slide.
Speaker 3: Man, It's just it's it's unbelieve I'd have one dollar.
It's never happened before. You know, I'd rather have it
happen in rehearsal. But there was a crowd there, and
I feel like it looked like again, just a big
dumb bull in a china shop.
Speaker 2: Everybody's like, look at the fat guy.
Speaker 5: They probably were saying that, so make sure you don't
do it again.
Speaker 2: I have so much.
Speaker 3: Like like personal not insecurity, but I've created this whole
like war in my head where everybody wants me to fail. Like,
look at this guy. He's not a dancer. Yeah he's
not a he's just a big sec of me. He's
not a dancer, He's to look at him. He's just
a big bison out there just clopping around on his hoofs.
Speaker 2: And I want to prove him wrong.
Speaker 3: I was gonna say, and then you slide when you're
step touching, you're still slide.
Speaker 2: Pathetic, dude, it is. I proved them right.
Speaker 5: You did, so I need to clean it up and
prove them wrong tomorrow because they're.
Speaker 3: Right right now. I guarantee it ain't happening tomorrow. Okay,
it ain't Hatten on Sunday, Okay, film we won't be
locked in. I don't think there's any film from yesterday.
And I went to put it out there.
Speaker 2: There was.
Speaker 3: It's practice, it's rehearsal. Okay, there will be film come Saturday.
Speaker 5: We're gonna break it down.
Speaker 2: Yeah good.
Speaker 5: I'm gonna make sure you didn't touch instead of slide.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's it's not hard done it a thousand
times pathetic Taylor speaking up pathetic?
Speaker 2: What's up? Man?
Speaker 8: How does that relate to me in any way? It's
just I'm confused. Friday, We're we're almost out of here
for the week. I'm a little slow this morning. But
that's very confusing. If you're wondering how I'm doing.
Speaker 2: Uh, how are lights? Last night?
Speaker 6: I'm doing good. Yeah, the lights all signed at the
Burton Gardens. It was dog nights. We took Frankie out
there and we had a good time. I took about an.
Speaker 3: Hour TikTok that had like hundreds of thousands of lights
about these bird and garden lights.
Speaker 6: It was it was a good time a lot of.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 8: So like I didn't know this. You had to go
like in time increment, so you had to book your time.
Like we went at six o'clock right after so like
you know, we went at a good time because it
wasn't overly crowded. But when we were leaving, like the
seven o'clock was coming in and it was it was crazy.
I mean they were using three different parking lots and
they had tops directing traffic.
Speaker 6: It was a big deal.
Speaker 3: So guys, if you're looking for some fun do the
holidays just a little free plug there.
Speaker 2: Uh, it's it's supposed to be.
Speaker 3: It seems like a great way to set the Christ's
mood much outside.
Speaker 8: Right, you'll love this. So I've showed you a picture
of my dog. He's an Australian. Okay, well I've shown
you a picture. Nonetheless, I don't care what you.
Speaker 5: I'm looking at these pictures of the lights.
Speaker 8: So he's an Australian shepherd named Frankie. Anytime we see
another Australian Shepherd Victoria's like, hey, look another Australian shepherd
they bumped into us.
Speaker 3: That is that might be no, I know, but that's
Taylor described that.
Speaker 2: That's the most empty sentence.
Speaker 6: I'm getting.
Speaker 2: We have an Australian shepherd. Every time we see another
Australian shepherd. Look, there's an Australian shepherd.
Speaker 6: Okay.
Speaker 8: So anyways, as I continue, she always likes to go
up and pet the dog, you know, and all that,
and uh, this Australian shepherd also named Frankie.
Speaker 6: What I know?
Speaker 2: Wow, that is crazy.
Speaker 5: Do we have picts of Frankie by the lights.
Speaker 2: Or no, by the lights? What are you doing?
Speaker 5: She has them, I don't know, tell her to send them.
Speaker 3: Oh, guys, I owe a bit of an apology.
Speaker 2: Why I watched?
Speaker 3: So we are going to Polar Express in New Orleans
later the old Amtrak station. Yeah, and so last night
we watched Polar Express.
Speaker 5: About to backtrack, I'm.
Speaker 3: Look, I think I think my animus for it was
a bit too extreme. I would still not put it
in my twelve team bracket. But it is by no
means a bad movie.
Speaker 2: It's depressing, It's a little bit of that.
Speaker 3: What it is, though, is exceedingly odd, and I like
odd things, and so I don't know why it rest
didn't resonate with me before.
Speaker 2: That movie is a fever dream of a plot.
Speaker 3: It is, I mean, you might which I guess is
the point, right is it dreams are real whatever the
whole time?
Speaker 2: Right, But like it. It is.
Speaker 3: Just psychedelic a most not in its visuals, but in
terms of how you move around that story, and that
is cool and I like that. And you know what
the animation creepy as hell. I mean it is the
oh what what is the oh? The Uncanny Valley? The
Uncanny Valley is a big disconnect, right when something's going
for realism but you kind of know it's fake. But
it's like like it is the Uncanny Valley, Final Boss.
But also so as we move on for it in time,
I do appreciate at the time what they were going.
I mean, they went for it. They went for it
some weird the whole hot chocolate scene. The animation on
those dancer as so weird and fluid and kind of
human but kind of not. It's unsettling in a lot
of ways, but.
Speaker 2: I appreciate it. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3: So again, I think I was a bit too harsh
on the Polar Express.
Speaker 2: It's still not my favorite, but it's not god awful
like like I made it out to me.
Speaker 8: No, I hate the movie Polar Express and Dollywood. We
used to go to Dollywood every year. Jake talks about
it all the time. It's up in Gallenburg. We go
to Galluenburg for Thanksgiving every year. They had a brand
new Polar Express ride and they're like, everybody, you gotta
ride it.
Speaker 6: It's our big thing.
Speaker 8: You had to get like a ticket to like wait
in line, like everybody wanted to do this. Okay, we
wait about two and a half hours for this ride.
It lasted maybe fifteen seconds and it was a motion simulator.
Speaker 6: So Screwpolar Express.
Speaker 3: I don't know what is the longest that you would
wait right for a theme park ride?
Speaker 6: Me, not long at all. My family always makes me wait.
Speaker 5: Though I'm not waiting. I'm getting that fast passed.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, okay, but like I think I probably max
out thirty that ideally, Yes, So I think probably an
hour's where my full full peak would be. I wouldn't
do an hour because a lot of times you just
have to so look, I mean, look, at you exactly right.
So when we went to Disney this last time, me
and my wife made an awful mistake. You can plan
everything out ahead of time nowadays and fast past and everything.
The problem was we were both very drunk and my
mother in law was as we were trying to coordinate
everything and like, but you know, a couple of weeks
before and we completely ruined the plans. We got none
of the fast fastest rite nothing, so we had to
get refunded for all of it because none of it worked.
Speaker 2: Like we screwed it all up.
Speaker 3: So the only way we could get onto Tiana was
like waking up hitting that virtual cue and then we
had to wait about an hour for that ride, which
which was extreme. But in the end, you know, you
had to write it. You had to write it, I guess.
But like, yeah, I've seen that seven dwarfs. Mind training
it up to like three hours? I thank doing that.
Speaker 2: That's insane.
Speaker 3: There's nothing that you could do at the end of
those three hours that would that would justify that amount
of waiting. Scott Dyce says at his seven brow they're
playing Eric Pride's Call on me.
Speaker 2: They're raving.
Speaker 3: I was laughing the other day I was thinking about,
like I went to Starbucks and it was closed. Some
reads other guy whatever, go by Seburger, check it out
my way.
Speaker 2: But have y'all ever seen brink.
Speaker 4: No.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's a classic dynamic, so I'm sure there's
also better examples of it. But the vibes of Starbucks
or Sember is a bit like it's a bit like
Team pupp and SuDS versus Team Explades. Right, Like Team Explades.
They're there for the money. They're the professionals, right, they
know what they're doing. They're kind of established. And here
you got.
Speaker 2: Team Pubbnsutz and they're the soul skaters.
Speaker 6: Man, they're just damn for the fun.
Speaker 2: Young kids playing fast and loose.
Speaker 3: And if you know, I LB, what's m I LB? No? No, no, no,
not exactly.
Speaker 2: More like they're there for fun.
Speaker 5: They like they do all these crazy promos that they
don't do in MLB.
Speaker 4: More.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but if they could be MLB players, they would, Yes, people,
this is more like, uh, this is more like you
you're watching like an old like skiing movie, okay, and
you have your like you know, you're it's it's like
your preppy like skiers whose dad maybe owns the lodge
and they want to take over blah blah blah, and
they got to race like the kind of hippie ski
instructors or something, right, just just kind of like, you know,
kind of buttoned up and then like hey man, uh
that that's that's kind of the dynamics that I see there.
It tickled me though thinking about it yesterday. All right, guys,
so as you can see, this is probably going to
be uh indicative of how today's show is going to go.
So if you're into this stick around, it's gonna be great.
If you're not, well, we'll see you on Monday, even
though I will talk, I will Okay, coming up next,
I'll give you my opinion on Emery Jones and say
Dryan and we can talk about the portal visitors that
LSU had yesterday.
Speaker 2: Keep a locked to here on off the bench, off.
Speaker 1: The bench, back to sports talk maybe off the bench.
Speaker 5: So I probably should have fast forward this, but I
didn't realize that I was going to do all this.
Speaker 2: What is this? What's this song? That tea? Yeah? What's this?
Speaker 5: Right here we go?
Speaker 2: What's this? What's this? There's color everywhere? What's this? There's
white things in the air. What's this? I can't believe
my eyes. I must be dreaming. Wakeum Jack?
Speaker 8: This isn't there?
Speaker 6: What's this?
Speaker 2: What's you don't know too? What's this night?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 7: Yeah?
Speaker 4: This night?
Speaker 6: Member before Christmas?
Speaker 5: Ye yea?
Speaker 3: Why are we doing it? Because it's Friday the thirteenth, guys?
Speaker 7: Oh?
Speaker 2: How about that a little spooky Christmas? Huh.
Speaker 8: I don't know how we neglected to mention this yesterday.
Yesterday the four year anniversary of the shoe throw when
LSU beat flo Let's Go, and the two year anniversary
of Mike Leach's passing.
Speaker 3: And you really really, I mean you're up and then
you just just smacked us down. Rest in peace to
the pirate for sure.
Speaker 2: Serious man.
Speaker 3: That Florida game one of my favorite games of all
time to watch. We were here in studio at that time.
We were doing something called the fan Cave, or we
would stream watching it live. And I remember we were
dressed up in our Christmas gear and Cade York. What
a narrative scene that was lining up to kick a
game winning fifty plus yard or in the fog that
was so thick that you could even see the goalpost,
I mean standing on the gator as you're going for
the kick. It was truly a Luke Skywalker esque trench
run to blow up the swamp Star and it was.
It was delicious and amazing and again one of the
most fun wins that I've ever seen. Remember twenty point
Dogs LSU was in that game. But hey, what goes
around comes around right this year because I mean, look,
Florida was what gonna go to the playoff if they
had won that year the country. Yeah, and this year
you would have gone to the SC Championship. But a
Florida team that you were favorite ever beat you. So
you know, again, what goes around comes around. Speaking of
coming and going, Uh, Emery Jones yesterday made a decision
on whether or not he would be returning, and the
answer is he will not. Emery Jones is headed to
the NFL. Now this is a bit unexpected because of
what we had been hearing. Uh, there was a lot
of confidence and I would say a growing belief that
Emery was going to return. I heard it for the
first time maybe like a month or so ago, and
then it continued to come up and it kind of
started to look I don't want to say likely, but
but I was getting the feeling maybe I'm wrong here.
You know, I'm sure there's people to know who'd say, uh,
you know, opposite. But that's how all these situations go, right.
One guy's in the know, and he thinks. One guy's
in the know and he thinks that. But I would
I would say it's probably accurate to say that they
believed or there was growing belief, optimism, hope what everyone
to say that he was going to return in the
second grad age comes back? Okay, well maybe a first rounder,
but no Emery Jones going to go to the NFL.
And uh, this is a this is a big one here,
simply because U this would be a fourth year starter,
four year all conference, four year starting linemen just don't
grow on trees, you know, like that's not really something
you can just go dive into the portal and replace
one to one. Now you're gonna go in the portal
for this offensive line. You have to just like you
have to a lot of other positions. But again, I
don't think you're going to land anybody or find an
option that would have been as good as Emery Jones.
So there is a negative effect there, like an objective
undeniable negative effect where your offensive line to by extension,
your team not as good as it would have been.
Speaker 2: Had Emory Jones returned.
Speaker 3: I mean, if Emory Jones would come back, you'd have
still DJ Chester at center. You'd have Jones somewhere in
that mix. And then so what I mean is so yeah,
just Chester. Now, I mean Paul Mabinga who got some
starting time at the end of the year, you expect
he would factor in heavily. Tyrie Adams, he was like
one of the next guys up. Still exciting to see
what Weston Davis can do. Maybe Borderlon factors in. But
as you can see, at a time where you're gonna
be replacing so much there bringing back a fourth year
starter that was all conference level and an NFL player
that would have been massive, massive, not even get into
the knock on effect that Emory could have played guard
or tackle. See, you lost somebody a bit versatile that
could have plugged holes some multiple different ways. So yeah,
this is undeniably unfortunate. And it's so funny to watch
the mental health and temperature of LSU fans waffle back
and forth during this time where you get a piece
of good news. Okay, we're fine, we're back. You get
piece of bad news. Oh my god, we suck again.
And I would just say this, after this season, I
feel a bit hmm, how do I want to describe it?
I said on the phone yesterday talking to someone, and
I'm trying to remember the exact verbiage that I use.
It's not apathy. Maybe it's a bit more cynicism.
Speaker 2: I've been so.
Speaker 3: Positive, you know, worked myself up now three years or
whatever you want to say, like so many times to
be like oh yeah, okay, okay, this one. Then now
it's like okay, I mean what what Eventually you get
enough of these news pieces, this guy transferring unexpectedly, this
guy leaving unexpectedly, this guy decommitting, this guy not coming that.
At a certain point, like you're like, well, why do
I keep what? You know?
Speaker 2: It just PiZZ on, It just PiZZ on. So the
Emory Jones news is bad.
Speaker 3: But again, my my reaction to is kind of like
shrug of the shoulders.
Speaker 2: Here we go, just kind of par for the chorus.
Speaker 3: This team's gotta find a way, And I feel bad
for this staff because that's kind of the cold hard
truth of the situation is it's a really tough situation
to deal with. The Yah, you're bringing your quarterback back,
but now who's gonna protect your quarterback and set him
up for success. You're gonna have to replace basically this
entire offensive line.
Speaker 2: But hey, just comes with the territory. You gotta find
a way.
Speaker 3: And every team's gonna deal with this in one way
or another, in one position group or another.
Speaker 2: But if you would have told me.
Speaker 3: Who were the players that could leave that would have
the biggest impact, I mean, who would have been higher
NUS quarterback? Obviously that would have been first name me,
A player that would have been a bigger loss had.
Speaker 8: He chosen to leave than Emery Jones, camp Jones and
Campbell and they're both gone.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean that's it.
Speaker 8: I was talking about this yesterday when y'all had to
take off early, like you could say, okay, well it's
just another loss on the offensive line and you already
lost thoughts changes everything. His ability to play garden tackle,
and if you really wanted it, you didn't feel good
about left tackle, You're like, hey, we got a four
year guy, let's throw him there at left tackle. Maybe
he could be a band aid there for a year.
And you know, we spent all day yesterday talking about
how much of a progression we hope Nus takes, how
we hope he takes that step forward, how much of
a step back does the offensive line take? How much
does that hinder Garrett Nosemier, Because I mean that that
makes all the difference in the world.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, Now now nuts will have to learn to
protect themselves in some way help his oat line out,
like you'll have to coach around it.
Speaker 2: Like it's it's not just some.
Speaker 3: It's not a problem that is unsolvable, but it is
a tough problem to solve. And Dane Bergeron asked the
question I think many are asking, do you think players
do not want to play with Kelly?
Speaker 2: With so many players leaving?
Speaker 3: That's also tough to say, man, because players are leaving everywhere.
Speaker 2: Give me a list of the.
Speaker 3: Top like the schools who's had the most players leave,
because I feel like it's gonna be many of the
premier rosters. Now there is some insane situations like the
Marshall one where what the whole team's in the transfer portal?
Speaker 2: I believe, like quite literally.
Speaker 6: They also have.
Speaker 3: A bowl game coming up. So, yeah, I don't know
what's gonna happen in that Bowl game. Dude, I guess
you got to cancel. I don't know, but give me that.
Uh So, I guess I'm not saying that the players.
I have no idea how the players feel about Brian Kelly.
I do agree that there seems to be a lot
of circumstantial evidences.
Speaker 2: No, go ahead.
Speaker 5: It looks like Arkansas with twenty four players.
Speaker 2: Like give me, give me, like, give me, like the
top five, ten.
Speaker 5: Whatever, Arkansas, UCF, Arizona, Kentucky and Mississippi State. They're tied
fifth with Nebraska.
Speaker 2: So where does Elsie?
Speaker 5: It only goes to eight, so they're not in the
top eight.
Speaker 3: Okay, Yeah, so again I look that I would imagine
a sixteen and yeah, but where House And then I
would imagine that's basically comparable to Alabama and Georgia and
basically any school kind of on that level.
Speaker 5: So I gotta say it'd be ninth because the eighth
the tied for eight. They have seventeen departures, so.
Speaker 3: Give me, give me, give me, give me like Alabama
and Georgians who were there at Because actually, right now,
my theory is not.
Speaker 5: Being A and M has seventeen. Okay, A and M
has seventeen in the portal.
Speaker 3: Well, the point of all is that I don't think
LSU has like an extra normal number. But I do
understand that there seems to be some circumstance, circumstantial evidence
as to whether or not Kelly's connecting with these players,
with these recruits. But the other factor here is the
gold rush, because there is so much money being thrown
into the marketplace right now with any trust settlement suit
coming uh or the settlement coming on July first, and
all of these collectives wanting to uh spin their entire
nut that they've been saving up. I mean, you know
this is this is, this is winter time only we're
gonna eat all the acorns. And if you want some acorns,
you gotta be eligible to feast. And the only way
that you do that is by putting your name in
the market. Now, memory, that's not the case, right maybe
every like, look, guys, sometimes you just want to go
to the NFL if you're a good enough player, you know,
like college is a grind and he's done it for
three years, should he do another year of wear tearing
his body? Or should he go start his NFL career.
I mean that's like, you know, go test well go
previously Like that's.
Speaker 2: Or maybe he's unhappy.
Speaker 3: That could be anything, though I can't ascribe motivations there,
but in terms of when I see guys hit the portal,
I think it's It's also hard to describe motivations because
simply like, sometimes you just want to maximize what you're
gonna get paid, and the only way to do that
is by entering the portal during this cold drush.
Speaker 2: Say Dryan also entered the portal yesterday.
Speaker 6: Go ahead day Alabama has eleven in the portal.
Speaker 3: Oh okay, actually that's a strong it's strong than by Diboris.
Strong player attention, say Drying all the portal yesterday. I
heard of Rumoris going to Nichols, which would be pretty fascinating.
I don't know, but either way, look sage solid player
at LSU. Unfortunately, he could never get out of his
own five star shadow. That's the weird thing about being
at five star out of high school is if you're
a legitimate starter, like you could be a fine starter,
but you suck because you weren't a superstar. Whereas if
you're a two star and you become a starter. Everybody
loves it and you're great because you've overachieved here. So
it's weird. I think Savee is a very solid starter
for you, but unfortunately his own ratings out of high school,
he just could again never escape that shadow.
Speaker 2: I don't think that's a massive loss.
Speaker 3: I think you were already really going hard after safeties anyway,
and I think you're gonna just I mean, you were
basically going to try to replace him anyway this offseason,
so that makes sense that he would hit the portal.
But make no mistake, Emery Jones leaving this team, There's
no argument, no world, no way to say that LSU
is a better team with Emery Jones going in the NFL.
Speaker 2: You got worse. But now you just got to try
to mitigate that damage.
Speaker 8: George only has five in the portal, but they're still
playing meaningful football games in the playoffs soon.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, who knows. Maybe maybe I'm wrong, Maybe
I'm wrong.
Speaker 3: Maybe LSU is on the higher end of of of
of player exits, and maybe it does speak to something
because every other team that was around that number and
that top eight, there's coaching changes, strife, disappointment with Elco.
It's like a new coach that makes a bit of sense,
So maybe that would speak to Dane's point again, it's
it's it's tough to parse without knowing.
Speaker 2: But then you look at things like Charles.
Speaker 3: Turner and and which I don't know if we ever
talked about what he said in that article here about
coach Kelly, but we can get that all right when
we get back here on Off the Bench LSU was
hosting some top transfer portal targets as Hey, let's get
to it next O TB Off.
Speaker 7: The Bench, Off the Bench drivers switching safe with Progressive
Quick Safe.
Speaker 2: U Welcome back TV.
Speaker 5: I have no idea why I just did that.
Speaker 3: Brad, the Zyda coke guy, he says, can we get
a shot out for our Zydi coode tonight's Teddy Bear toss.
Let's pack the chicken finger to get those kids more bears?
Is that we're calling it the chicken finger? That is excellent.
That's the raising canes arena there. Look again. I went
to his dacoad game a couple weeks so really fun time, guys,
really chill, you have yourself a couple of beers eat
some good uh you know, some good concessions.
Speaker 2: Still a bit shocked that there's no canes in there.
Uh you know. But but either way, no.
Speaker 5: Canes in the Raising Canes River Center. No, no ironic right,
feels like a missed opportunity.
Speaker 8: Agree, I agree to what they do. Have muffle lot
of fries, Huh is it good? Never had them, I've
seen them though. They look really good.
Speaker 3: Uh, I've been so I never liked muffal lot. As
we know, your taste buds change every few years. I've
been I've been getting into him a bit lately. Sometimes
they can still be a bit too olivey, but there's
there's a little in between that I'm really liking.
Speaker 2: Uh. But yeah, I go get that.
Speaker 3: Uh that that Mufflada Monday special over there. Canna tell
is very good, very very tasty stuff. My son likes them,
which is weird. Weird kids normally do not like something
that tastes that extreme. But he freaking smashes him.
Speaker 5: I don't even like olives.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I've never liked olls my whole life. So this
is again, this is kind of a recent development.
Speaker 2: It's like I hated.
Speaker 3: Pickles fair Now I love pickles, so you know, you
never know. Yeah, stuff changes.
Speaker 6: My best friend, like could not be a pickle on
the table.
Speaker 2: It's we love.
Speaker 6: It's weird.
Speaker 5: You know those memes that are like me looking at
people's pickles on their plate.
Speaker 2: Yeah that's me.
Speaker 5: I'm like, you eat that.
Speaker 3: I still I still don't have a desire for like
a pickle spear or anything like that. I like pickles
on stuff now or if it's like maybe like some
like good like some of the wickles pickles.
Speaker 2: It's like some of those sweet pickles. I got some
good ones. I do you like fried pickles? Obviously?
Speaker 5: I mean fed blank uh of course, fried crickets, I.
Speaker 2: Would, I mean I'll try any one for sure. I
don't know.
Speaker 5: You couldn't pay me enough?
Speaker 2: Why why?
Speaker 8: Okay, look have you ever seen snow pier so like
it didn't even have I feel like it's just a
crunch and it's done.
Speaker 6: It's one crunch and done. Listen.
Speaker 5: I'm not scared of much. Like there's really not like
snakes whatever, I love snakes, Okay, Hell.
Speaker 2: Yeah, bugs I can't do really.
Speaker 5: No type of bug like I can, especially roaches, Oh
my god. Like I have like a genuine fear of them.
Speaker 2: I remember in high school, wake get over the roaches
crawled on the phone.
Speaker 6: God, where were you?
Speaker 5: Oh my god, that's horrifying.
Speaker 2: Bedroom. Yeah, your taste buds changed.
Speaker 3: So you know, it's like Taylor, you never liked boys
for years, right, and then recently at some point that
just kind of the way around.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, other way.
Speaker 8: That growing up, because now I'm married to a woman,
so it's actually the other way around.
Speaker 6: I mean, I mean, your point still stands.
Speaker 2: So yesterday.
Speaker 3: LSU hosted three different transfer targets.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 3: The first one a big one here Kentucky wide receiver
Barry and Brown. Brown was a freshman All American?
Speaker 8: Was it two years ago? Or maybe three years ago?
So that was twenty twenty two, So two years ago?
Speaker 3: Okay, I get confused my years still he's played three
years of collegeable yeah, so okay, so he was a
freshman All American. But this he was actually a preseason
first team All American entering twenty twenty four, so very
high expectations. But as we know, Kentucky was an absolute
disaster this year. So here in year number three and
which you guys supposed to be peaking, he actually had
his worst season yet, twenty nine catches, three sixty one
only three touchdowns. But everybody can see, well, it's not
on Barry Brown, it's Kentucky, right, it's the context of
the situation. That was a god awful offense. I was
wasting his talent. So he is one of the premier
targets in the transfer portal. And apparently the visit went
very well, and the ON three recruiting prediction machine, for
whatever that is worth, is picking LSU to land the receiver.
Speaker 2: So that is massive, right, because you lose CJ. Daniels,
You're losing.
Speaker 3: Kyraen Lacy you get I mean, maybe you get Chris
Hilton back. We'll see, and after that it's just like, okay,
which young guys are gonna steit up? So barryon Brown,
like if he joins today, even if Chris Hilton returns,
that is by by far your most experienced and productive receiver.
Speaker 8: No, yeah, I mean him, and then you know Anderson
to break out year. But yeah, probably Barry and Brown
because he's done for three years.
Speaker 2: Oh, I forget about Aaron Erson. Sorry, you're right, you're right, Yes.
Speaker 8: My bad Brown, Hilton and Mikyle Parker back from injury.
Speaker 3: So I mean again, I think I don't think there's
a lot of talent in that group. I trust Cortes
Hankedon above anybody when it comes to developing wide receivers.
I mean, look at what has happened to Georgia since
he left, and look at what's happened to LSU since
he got here.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 3: But yeah, if you could land Barry Brown, that would
be a massive git for this offense.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 3: Maybe even bigger is Florida cornerback Jakeem Jackson. And this
feels like LSU. It makes all the sense in the
world that LSU would land him here. He was a
number three cornerback in twenty twenty three. It was a
massive git for Florida to get him. Why did they
get him?
Speaker 2: Corey Raymond?
Speaker 3: Where's Corey Raymond now at LSU? So Jakeem Jackson leaving
Florida one to reunite with Raymond, or at least we
think he does. That makes a lot of sense. Getting
him huge, Okay, because then you got him, you got picket,
you got andying, you still got Woodland, you still got stamps.
Like Okay, all of a sudden, we've got a lot
of guys to throw against the wall and have somebody
you know, have have legitimate starters emerge. Corey Raymond if
he lands a Keem Jackson fulfilling the the the kind
of DBU revitalization project, I think that could be massive.
And then there's Purdue defensive end will help six sixty five.
We touched on him a bit recently. He's kind of
he's he's not like your pure pass rusher. He's he's
he's kind of an every down edge guy right good
against the run, good, good at rushing the passers certainly,
I mean ten Tiffles five sacks this year in his
sophomore season. But he's he's a hot commodity right now.
Like the other two guys pretty too to LSU. He
visited A and M. Where else is he visiting? We
were talking about, Yeah, going to Clemson next, which is funny.
You're seeing Clemson.
Speaker 2: Now finally.
Speaker 6: Contacting him as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so we'll see. Man.
Speaker 3: I don't know on willhelp, but it would be a
you know, in a news cycle that's been filled the
guys leaving. If you could get commitments from Barry and
Brown and Jakiem Jackson, that is very good. That makes
you a better team objectively than you were previously. So
we'll continue keep and I in those situations, and we'll
continue the show next as you close that hour.
Speaker 4: One oh Ton and bound oh Ton and Bound v
Troys and.
Speaker 1: Welcome in to the best morning sports. This show around
off the bench with.
Speaker 4: Us the Troy and die.
Speaker 2: Bles. Oh yeah, grule Snake is German.
Speaker 3: I've always thought, just assumed its German and the beautifully
rough language night sounds German Baum.
Speaker 2: Oh Tan bamb v Troys and di Yes, German.
Speaker 4: There you go.
Speaker 8: What if anybody's ever asked, uh, Mike Tannenbaum if he
is of the same tann and bombs.
Speaker 2: Yes, the trees German for tree is actually don't know.
Speaker 6: If German for tree.
Speaker 5: Actually one time I was like urban Meyer, I would
have Urban Meyer's Catholic, because like, was he named after Pope.
Speaker 2: Urban Oh I've never I've never would have I've never
would have thought about it. Looked it up.
Speaker 5: Urban Meyer is indeed Catholic, and he was named after
that post.
Speaker 2: I just I mean, I guess it's the only way
you're arriving at the first name Urban.
Speaker 6: Right, But he was born in an urban area.
Speaker 3: Yeh see, No, that doesn't make any sense. I get
that would be I would Hi. My name's my name's
Rule Johnson. Nice to meet you.
Speaker 2: Uh yeah, Urban's not a but yeah, I mean whatever,
it's not till it is. Hi. My name is Suburban. Hey,
rich Rod to WVU Country Roads. Take me home?
Speaker 3: Indeed, how about it saying quote, I'm thrilled at the
opportunity to be the head coach of Western University. My family,
I or Phil with gratitude to lead the Mountaineer football program.
You in look forward to working with many supporters, fans
and friends to build the best.
Speaker 2: Football program in America. Take me home.
Speaker 3: Exciting in some ways, certainly very funny. You have Scott
Frost going back to you now Rich Rod back at
WVU and again rich Rod's being good nine and four
back to back years at jack State. Just beat West
Kentucky fifty two to twelve to win CUSA. So someone
who understands modern college football schematically and kind of you know,
where the not politics, where the market place of the
game is that currently I just do wonder as we
watch a school like LSU kind of founder in this
new cash driven age, I do wonder about WVU, because
if there's one thing that you know, West Virginia and
Louisiana have in common, it would be a poor state economy,
brain drain, not a lot of economic opportunity, which I
think are some of the common denominators that are kind
of negatively affecting them in this age.
Speaker 2: But it makes sense in terms of generating excitement.
Speaker 3: I mean, I know McAfee and a lot of his
old WVU teammates from the Golden era were very high
on this move. Pushing this move hard, or Josh Pate
talking about the potential of Pat McAfee's nil investment here,
I don't know about that. I'm I'm I'm a bit
on the fence there. I've heard through the grapevine that
sometimes you get him to spin can be a little
a little tough, So I'll be interested to see. But
I think this makes a lot of sense for WVU,
and I desperately hope that it works out. As a
resident WVU fan, you know, all my in laws from
Morningtown and everything and whatnot. Coming up next hour, we're
gonna talk about a potential New Saints owner as Gabe
for Tita Uh, the richest restauranteur in the world. You'll said,
Tilman Fritita, Tilman Fritida. Want to say Gabe, Now that's
the Tilman Fertida. Thank you to Catherine. Yeah, I know,
I know. Uh it's a unique last name, right, Uh No,
Tillman Fritida. Thank you to saying that he would be
very intrigued, potentially interested to buy the New Orleans Saints
if they were to come up for sale. Now they
are not for sale now, but they will be, like
we we know that they will be. It is written
into the Benson will. Dennis Laoshia is the executor of
the estate and he is supposed to oversee the sale.
Would they want to sail sooner rather than later? Just
for Tita have the money? Are there other potential names
that could be in the mix of something else that
we'll discuss next hour. And guys, I know many of
you thought that we wouldn't revisit it, but we're gonna
maybe an hour three go back to our movie, our
our twelve team Christmas movie bracket and try to set
it and get it ready for the playoffs.
Speaker 2: So we'll see.
Speaker 3: If you want to get involved. YouTube a comm slash
one O four five ESPN is the is the best
way to do so. You can hop on the body
for YouTube chat and uh yeah, we're gonna be with
you all morning long here.
Speaker 2: As I guess, so longer, what do you? I almost say.
My youngest son, kal El well off the bench.