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Bubba On the Lake
#46 Greg Seitz on NIL and Revenue Sharing in college Sports, The Super Bowl
01:25:04
In this episode Bubba sits down and interviews Jax State Athletic Director Greg Seitz to elaborate on Revenue Sharing and NIL in college sports and talk about Jax State’s new 20 million dollar indoor practice facility! Bubba also talks with his son Hunter about The Super Bowl and their favorite commercials during the game. Thank you for listening! Don't forget to subscribe and follow us on instagram @BubbaOnTheLake
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This podcast is brought to you in part by Russell Lands Coke, Buffalo Wild Wings, Southern Immediate Care Guaranteed Labels, Central State Bank, Sunrise docks, bankers Bounty, Dr. Thomas Dudney and the Green Monster Fishing Light. Now back to Bubba on the Lake. Hey, it's Bubba. Hey, Bubba, Bubba, Bubba on the lake Bubba, hey, Bubba, Bubba on the lake Yay's got it going on. Gotta come and check this. Talking people, talking places from Bubba's perspective. This is Bubba, Bubba, Bubba, Bubba, Bubba on the lake Ain't Bubba, Bubba, Bubba, Bubba, Bubba on the lake let's go. Hello again, everybody, and welcome to Bubba on the Lake, America's fastest growing podcast and as a matter of fact, ranked in the top 2% by pod scan, a independent podcast ranking service. And we appreciate all that all of you have done to make that happen. But we still have work to do, so let's not get complacent out there. Welcome in it is another episode and man, we got a busy, busy show today. A lot going on. The super bowl just happened. We'll have to review that. We're going to try to get Hunter along to talk about the game a little bit. We've also got to talk about the commercials. Usually we review the commercials ahead of time. We should do that on the radio show, but this time I did not look at them until the actual Super Bowl. Now, the thing I hate about that is we had some folks over, had a great time. By the way, thanks to the neighbors for coming over. We, you know, you get to talking and cutting up and all that stuff and you don't, you don't get to really hear the commercials and get to digest them. But I have some that, that I noted that I particularly liked. And I've also kind of scanned the Internet for services who rank the commercials and that's based on social media and other factors. We'll review some of that. We right after the super bowl was over and I was glad that NBC did this. They went to the Olympic coverage of the downhill event and we got to see Lindsey Vaughn's run where she was hurt. Now, understand she has broken her leg. Now, she tried to do this after tearing her ACL just a few days earlier. I don't, I don't know how in the world that she was, thought she could do this, but she is an extreme competitor. She has shown that year after year, Olympic after Olympics and you know, that's what she does. But it ended in a, in a bad way for her. Had to be airlifted out. So we'll, we, we'll Try to get some more details about that. Greg Sykes, who is the athletic director at Jacksonville State University, is going to be with us and we're going to talk about revenue sharing. We're going to talk about nil. There's always a lot of controversy and confusion about that. I get asked about that working in athletics all the time, and it's really not my area of athletics. So I thought we'd go to Greg and he would be, you know, the source. He knows what's going on. He also is going to talk a little bit about the new just announced $20 million indoor practice facility for football and will be used for some other activities also. So you don't want to miss that. Greg is, he's a mover and shaker. He's on the NCAA baseball selection committee and works very close with the Final Four and other NCAA events. So he's always in the know. Great interview. Always good to talk to him. So we, we got, we just got all kind of stuff going on and we're here in the mellow yellow studio. I don't even think I introduced myself properly. I am your semi retired, mostly washed up host, formerly of the Rick and Bubba show and now your host of Bubba on the Lake are also known as the People's Podcast. So thank you for being along and we're very excited about everything going on with the podcast. Looking forward to a really big year this year. As a matter of fact, next week I will be in Orlando and it is, you know, this is where I have to give a nerd alert. I don't have a sound effect for nerd alert, do I? Can we, can we get a nerd alert thing? Let's see. Do I have anything that would fit for that? I really don't. I don't even know where did my air horn. Oh, here it is. Okay. We use the upset air horn on the tailgate. Tailgate show. I may also use it if you will allow me for nerd alerts. I will be in Orlando for the Orlando Ham Fest. This is where ham radio operators from all over the country gather. It is the second largest ham fest in the country, second only to the granddaddy of them all, Dayton, Ohio. But based on the growth rate, it will pass Dayton here very soon. Always a lot of fun. And for us, I think one of the more exciting parts of it is we get to go south. So it'll be 80 degrees. And after the week we had last week, I will take it ready for that springtime weather. I guarantee you I am Ready for that. Speaking of springtime and things, coming up February 28th, we have the big Russell Forest Run. We're glad to have them as sponsors here on the show. And this is a great event. It has raised over $152,000 for Alexander City School and Education foundation, the ACS E F, that's Alpha, Charlie, Sierra, Echo, Foxtrot. Just practicing up for my week in Orlando. Now, this is, this is a great run. Runners literally come from states all over the southeast. It's a 10k and a 5k. It'll all be Saturday, February 28th. The 10k is going to start at 7:45. The 5k is going to start 7:55. And if you need more information on that, go to Russell Forest run.com also keep a eye on Facebook for the Russell Forest Run. Registration is now open. If you're a runner, you don't want to miss this event. And it all ends up at the stables where they have a big party. And I will say this, the folks here at the lake, I have noticed since I have moved here, if they are good at anything, they know how to throw a party and they have a good time. They really do. And they will have the world famous Grits bar. Now, I mean, come on, Grits bar, that, that tells you a lot right there. And I love grits. I do put ketchup on them and that makes some people around me unhappy. But, you know, if I was from Louisiana and it had a fancy name like Grits LaRue, everyone would think it was the coolest thing ever. So there you go. Don't miss the Russell Forest run. And we'll be telling you more about that as it gets closer. All right, folks, a lot to cover. Greg Sykes will be here. We're going to break down the Super Bowl Hunter. We're going to talk super bowl commercials also. And we also have the latest pricing on that. I had some people that were watching the super bowl with us wanting to know what the price of these ads were. I've got that information and we will share it here a little later in the podcast. So we're going to go ahead and take a break and we'll be right back with Greg Sykes, the athletic director, Jacksonville State University, and a whole lot more. Stay tuned. You're listening to Bubba on the Lake. Hit Me Bad. A production of Intergalactic Ants and Tease.
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All rights reserved.
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What a matchup we've got, folks. Just non stop action. The energy is electric and the fans are all in. An intense game like this calls for a Coca Cola. Ah, crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer. Yeah, that taste scores every time. And just like that, they're back at it. Passionate fans in an ice cold Coca Cola.
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Now that's a winning combo.
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No matter the team, no matter the sport, Everyone knows fan work is thirsty work. Enjoy a Coca Cola. You know one thing I love about Buffalo Wild wings? You can get wings with any of their 26 sauces and dry rubs for takeout and delivery. That's like bringing an entire B dubs home with you, which you can't do.
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I tried.
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I've knocked down so many walls only to then be told to halt construction because I'm not zoned to be a sports bar. Kind of just looks like a big pergola or something.
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Because of the lack of walls, at least these 26 sauces and dry rubs are available.
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To go. Buffalo Wild Wings.
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Let's go Sports bar.
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I'm doing great. How are you today, bubba?
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I'm doing great, Greg. We have had a tremendous year in athletics at Jacksonville State. You've been at this a long time. There's been a lot of changes. How long have you been there?
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Now I AM in year 33 here at Jack State, year 12 as the athletic director.
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That is amazing. By the way. I remember back in the day when we were in the press box and I was hanging wires and you were dumping trash cans and all that. I mean, you've come a long way, baby.
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I have. I still dump the trash and you still do wires. So I'm not sure how far we've come.
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We got a better title than we used to have, that's for sure. Well, Greg, let's, we can talk about the program and where it's going and all that. But big news yesterday coming out of the trustee meeting when they announced a new indoor practice facility for the football team at Jack State. Tell us a little bit about that.
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Yeah, we're very excited about that. We want to certainly want to publicly thank Mr. Mr. Ken and Jeannie Howe. They were made a transformational gift for us. They're going to do $10 million to help jumpstart this football indoor facility, which we call it a football indoor Bubba. But I mean it will actually be able to be used by across campus, through multiple areas across campus. But football certainly will have, you know, kind of priority on that. But very excited. It's, it's going to be located right next to the stadium, right next to the new Loring and Debbie White football complex that we opened a couple of years ago. So it really should benefit not only the football program but the entire university.
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So is it a full hundred yards or is it, you know, part of a field? Kind of. What are we looking at size wise?
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Yeah, I mean it's, it's, it's a 420 yards on the football side. So yeah, it is a full football field, full enclosed field and it will have about a 12,000 square foot weight room primarily for football which will be located right there. So football as you know Bubba now is basically a year round sport. So when they come back they can get in there in that weight room and then we'll have some garage doors that will open. So they'll be able to utilize the indoor as they're also doing their strength and conditioning and off season training.
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Greg, I know this went into a place that used to house the RV lot and the drawing I saw had RVs around it. So how many RVs can we get? What's the deal with all that?
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Yeah, that's a great question. We currently have 27 RVs and so we wanted to maintain as many of those as we could. Bubba. We're still in the design phase of it. For the folks that are familiar with our campus, we're going to have to mitigate a creek that kind of runs between what we call Dillon Field now and our RV lot so that that new football facility will run straight across there. But we'll have hopefully when this whole thing is said and done, we'll have at least 30 RV spots. It's kind of what we're pushing for because we actually have a waiting list now. That's the thing that I even told in the board meeting yesterday, said all my RV people were going to maintain and ensure that we're able to keep our RVs for that because we know it's an important part of our game day.
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Sure, sure. And as far as an rv, you supply power and water, but not septic, correct? I mean, you have to save all your gray and black water and dump that out when you get home, right?
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That's correct. Yeah. We have power, television and water hookups at each spot.
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Well, the drawings were amazing. And as you said, a 20 million dollar project. So how much of that do you have to have to get started? What's the time frame?
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Well, you know, we'd love to get started on that this year. As we stated earlier, we do have to mitigate that creek. So we're going to go ahead and get started on that. Having to go through the Corps of Engineers because we are touching a stream within the state of Alabama. So we've already done all that paperwork and we're waiting on the permits to come through for that. So even though the project has passed and we do have some initial funding on that, you know, it's really the timetable is what kind of sets this project up. So, you know, we're hoping to get some of that completed this spring and then, you know, hopefully if we can finalize all the funding for it, we'll be able to start breaking ground on the actual indoor, you know, by this fall possibly.
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Well, it's a beautiful facility. The renderings are unbelievable and I think it just reflects the growth of the program as a whole. I know you're very proud of that and looking forward to it. Did you, did you ever think the day would come where Jack State had an indoor practice facility? I mean, we've come a long way, baby, since Kudzu was in the end zones and little Bill Bussey was selling Cokes as a Cub Scout, you know.
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Yeah, absolutely. We really have. And when you look over, obviously by joining FBS and the opportunity to join Conference usa, you know, it was a big step in that. But as you know, but we've, we've been winning at Jack State for a long time. We've won 26 football championships won the 1992 Division II national championship. So we've had some great coaches and we've won around here a long time, and we feel like this new facility is just going to continue to elevate that. You know, as you look, our third year at fbs, we become the second school in the history of the NCAA to go to three bow games in your first three years of eligibility. It really is. And to your point, I mean, I do sometimes just sit back and reflect on it and be like, man, is this, is this really Jacksonville State? And for, and you know it too, for the people who have not been back on our campus within the last five to six years, they're always just blown away by the progress, everything that we've got going on.
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I tell you, if they wander over to the baseball field or the soccer field, they're really going to be in shock when they see all those buildings. What is that, 700 new dorms over there?
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It is, and I tell you, it's a beautiful backdrop for both our soccer and baseball teams. And of course, we open up, you know, in the next week in baseball with Cincinnati coming in for three games. So I know our fans that tune in will have an opportunity to see that. But that project, I think it is. It is incredible. It just really transforms the entire west end of our campus.
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Can you talk about what else is going on there now? Or is that premature? Can we, can we cover any of that?
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Yeah, well, I mean, we. We can cover a little of it, I guess.
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I don't want to give away anything here. Greg, I'm kind of looking to you to tell me where to tap the brakes.
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Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, we do have, as you mentioned, about 700 dorm rooms coming in on that side of campus. And, you know, we've got some other things in the, in the books that we want to continue to do. One of them is, is honestly is just to try to work with our bowling team. You know, we have a national championship.
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How about that? National champion. And then what was runner up last year? Right.
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We were on the NCA side and won the ITC national championship. So. And so we would love to have them place on campus where they can train. And then also for our local students and community, you know, maybe an opportunity there. So we are looking at some options about how we can incorporate a bowling alley and maybe tie it into a national restaurant brand as well and get that over on that side of it campus for us.
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Well, that, that's going to be an exciting project, too. I Suggested maybe some offices over there, but I noticed that got scratched out. You know, not calling the names that want to be over there. But it sure was a great view of the baseball field.
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Yeah, we, we call that value engineering. We have to make some cuts at times. Right. That was some value engineering that we had to do.
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Greg, just in general, you mentioned the bowl games. It's just, you know, again, I go back to being a little kid and I watched a lot of Jack State games coming along. I saw Ralph Brock play when he was Ralph Brock, not Dieter Brock. And I remember the great teams of the early 70s and of course the championship teams that Coach Burgess had. I think 56 wins in five years or something. It was some crazy number. Just unbelievable. But, you know, you've been the architect of a lot of that. Tell us a little bit, how do you, how do you go about that? You've, you've had two very well known head coaches and how does that process go? You, how do you, do you, do you keep a short list on that or do you, do you meet people and say, hey, we might could get him? Or how do you go? Because you, I mean, you have to be thinking ahead, right?
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Oh, yeah, absolutely. You know, in this day and time and as fast as college athletics moves and with the transfer portal and everything that is tied with that, when there is a coaching change, you certainly want to make sure you're on the front of that. So. I do. I always kind of keep a list and I watch a lot of games. I'm fortunate. I'm pretty involved in a lot of NCAA and bowls and things, so I get, I have the opportunity to get out and meet a lot of folks. So I have a pretty wide Rolodex, just to be honest. So it pays off. I mean, it does when you have a coaching search and a coaching change from that stuff.
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And you're on the SEL selection committee for baseball, correct?
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I am. I'm currently beginning year two on the Division one baseball championship committee. And I tell you, I really is. Baseball is just a great sport, folks who never had the opportunity to come to Omaha. I mean, it's, it's one of my favorite championships.
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You know, some of the staff members would love to go sometime if you just, you know, if you got an extra seat or something, you know, just, I mean, we'll be glad to work. Just let us know.
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Yeah, okay. Well, I'll make sure. And make a mental note of that. So I've got that down.
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Greg, let me ask you this because I Get asked this all the time, and I tell you, I have a very frail working knowledge of it. College athletics has changed dramatically with the court cases with the ncaa. Nil. Revenue sharing. Can you explain to everybody, on a level that we all can grasp it, how this revenue sharing is going to work and how it's different from nil and how that work? And I know it's a very complicated topic, but can you. Can you give us the 100 level version of some of that?
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I can. And you know, this is going to be effective. It's early February of 2026. So that's. As of today, as we know, with all these court rulings and court cases and stuff, how fast things change. But as of the first week of February in 2026, here's where we stand. So we had the House settlement, which went into effect last July 1st for all of the FBS and Division 1 schools. And what that allowed schools to do is they were able to allocate $20.5 million in revenue to distribute back out to the student athletes. And so that's a little different. So that the revenue share comes directly from the school.
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Right. It's a school thing.
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It is a school. A school disbursement. Whereas nil, which stands for name, image and likeness, now that's distributed typically through a company, through their marketing budget and stuff, or they want to engage some student athletes to maybe go out and promote, you know, promote a certain product and stuff. So that typically comes outside of the athletic department and is not managed by the athletic department. So that's kind of the difference between the two revenue streams that schools are able to use right now, you know, to pay our student athletes, which I'm 100% in support of. Of paying the student athletes.
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Right.
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You know, I'm happy that here at Jack State we are able to do some revenue share for our. For our sports to generate revenue.
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So NIL is handled independently of the school. But how does. How does this work? I mean, how do we. If I'm the NIL person, how do I know who the coach wants or don't want or how much money I should invest in a quarterback or a point guard or. I mean, because they're. They're not supposed to be communicating, right? Or are they communicating? How does that work?
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Yeah. So, you know, again, it's. It's kind of two different sides. So on our revenue share, we actually have a general manager in our football program, just like the pro teams do.
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Right.
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So they've assigned a value bubba to each Position, you know, on our football team. And so that's how. So once coach, once we tell him what his budget is for the year, then he goes in and he knows, okay, we're going to allocate, you know, 12% for the quarterbacks and then we're going to allocate 8% for the offensive lineman and then go through the entire roster for football. And then once he plugs his budget in, then he'll know, you know, what that money kind of shakes out to. Obviously your first team quarterback is going to probably be your highest paid player on the team typically. And then, you know, and then your, your, your lines, offensive defensive lines are probably going to be next there. Because if nobody's blocking for the right back, then. Right.
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It doesn't do any good no matter how much he's getting paid if he's laying on his back, does it?
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That's right. And then your skill players are wide receivers, running backs, right, Your defensive back, safety. So from that standpoint, that is how our general manager ended up determining, okay, how much do we want to allocate for those positions. Now on the nil side and say we have our quarterback, we are able to help our student athletes sell some of their merchandise. So say somebody wanted to go in and buy a Kane Creel jersey, We actually facilitate that through our athletic website through a third party. So they go in, the fan goes in, orders his jersey, the jersey is shipped directly from a third party, and then that third party would end up giving Kaden whatever agreement that Kaden has agreed upon with that third party.
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Now, so y' all don't negotiate that, but you, you're made aware of it. You get a copy of it, right? Don't you get to track that on some level or something?
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Yes, that's exactly right. 100%. That's. That is any nil deal over $600 has to be submitted by the student athlete through what they call the NIO Go program, which is mandated through the house settlement and those things. And the main reason for that, Bubba, is to ensure that those deals are legitimate name, image and likeness deals. So it's not, you know, you still cannot have pay for play at the collegiate level. So that's what that. So that's what the whole purpose of that is.
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So if in any school, not just Jack State, but any school, if I'm a car dealer or real estate person and I want to help support the team and I want to, you know, support a defensive end that I know or I think is really cool and Want to see him driving my car? How do they go about that? Do they have to contact the official nil for that school and work through them? Do they go to them direct? How does that work?
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Yeah, most of the time, honestly through social media and stuff, they're just probably sending them a direct message and those things and just contacting that student athlete on their own. A lot of student athletes also have representatives, right. You know, who are out there marketing those students to, you know, to different groups and stuff. So for example, say in our area, and these are just examples, these student athletes may not have deals with the folks that I'm going to talk about. But say our quarterback, say the local Mexican restaurant wants to do a nil deal and want to have our quarterback come in and on a Monday night and sign autographs and have a meet and greet, they're able to engage that student athlete and pay him directly for.
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That service, you know, and that I always thought even back in the, I'll call it the dark ages, although it's the wild, wild west now. I know there's got to be a happy medium here somewhere. We haven't found yet. America always, the pendulum always swings too far the other way. But it's, it's just so strange now because it used to be such a bobo. No, no, if you had an agent and I always thought that was bad because I think everybody needs a good lawyer and a good accountant. You know, it doesn't matter what you're doing because you're going to run into issues you need to be advised on. And I think it's good that these kids now can have that kind of professional input. And you know, a lot of times their, their person's going to tell them, look, you need to stay here, this is good money or you know, there's a better market for you or whatever. And I guess with mid major colleges, you know that people are going to move on, right? I mean, isn't that just kind of figured into the equation how you, how you look and how you restock the team?
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Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think you're, I mean you're 100% spot on there and you know, and the more success that Jack State has on the football field, you know, it's going to be due to the success that the players have on the field. So they'll get opportunities just like our coaches. If we win a lot of games, someone's probably going to come and try and take, you know, some of our coaches so they can move on. And so it's no different with our student athletes. So the more success that they have, you know, they may have the opportunity to move on and make additional revenue and have additional nil opportunities. More like a power, power force than here at what we call the group of six schools.
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Well, Greg, I'll say this. I. I get to work with a lot of the coaches and get to see them. We're all there on the same floor, most of us. And you have just a real talent for. For pulling these coaches because we have some really good coaches. I hear people talk about a good fit, but a lot of them, you know, they're just. They're very friendly. They're. And, you know, they want to win. They want to do it the right way. They're all heavily invested in those kids. You know, they want to see them be successful as people, not just win games. And I've really been impressed by that coach, Charles Kelly, the football coach, man, what a home run he was. I mean, you nailed that one, buddy.
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C
Yeah. Well, thank you. I appreciate it. And I appreciate everything that you said from the standpoint that, you know, I think with my background in media relations, sports information, I tell people all the time, for me, it's all about relationships.
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Right.
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You know, in. In the world that we live in today. And so that's. As I'm going through and interviewing coaches. I mean, I interviewed over 25 folks to be our head football coach once. We had the opening last year and then. But I feel like that. That is, you know, one of my, kind of. One of the. One of my really good talents is being able to evaluate and know people as we get into those relationships. And as we're talking about those, you said a little earlier, how are they going to fit in at Jacksonville State? And so that's very important to me is how they're going to fit in, not only with our fans and community, but also internally within our athletic department and on campus. And when they're dealing at the cafeteria and they're having to go and work with financial aid or the registrar's office or any of our folks on campus, you know, they really do. We at Jacksonville State, we are the friendliest camp in the south. And we've got a great. Just a lot of great things going on, and we want to continue that. And I think you win with people, but I think that's exactly the success that we've been able to have here at Jacksonville State. And we've been fortunate to have some really good folks here.
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And I will say, too, not Only on the field and coaching. You've done a pretty good job with the broadcast talent. I mean, you've had Mike Paris that has been there 40 years, who does a great job, and we're lucky to still have him. He could have gone many places, several times, but he, he felt like that this was his home. He wanted to stay there. You landed Eli Go when he became available. So, you know, I think our broadcast department that I'm involved in, we've got a lot of good talent there. And not just that, we have a lot of part time people and, and people that fill in. And you know, this time in the spring gets kind of crazy. You got basketball, baseball, softball, all at the same time, men and women's basketball. And we have a lot of people we have to call on. And I tell you, we've got a great stable of talent. I think over on the broadcasting side too. I think it reflects the whole athletic program. Good.
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C
Yeah. And I would agree 100%. We're certainly very fortunate that Mike has, has been the voice of the Gamecocks. I figured he probably doesn't want to leave because he'd have to get a new car because his car tag is a Jack State tag. It says voice.
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Voice.
- [32:38]
C
Yeah. And so I'm hoping that's one of the main reasons. But certainly, you know, we were thrilled to have the opportunity to hire Eli Goad. When you go back and look at his career, 60 plus years broadcasting and 36 years with the University of Alabama, 42 years with NASCAR. I mean, just the opportunity to add him in, to be our TV voice, you know, Jack State. And you know this better than any of us by moving to Conference usa. I mean, the name and the brand of Jack State is now nationally known.
- [33:09]
A
Oh, yeah, right.
- [33:10]
C
When you look and we have, we've had just in our three years of. In Conference USA, we've had 41 broadcast and 26 of those have been national broadcasts.
- [33:21]
A
Yeah.
- [33:22]
C
Which is an incredible number when you look at that. And, and just now when you go through the airports or anywhere in Jack State. Oh, man, that was a great win over Troy in the bowl game. I mean, people know who we are.
- [33:33]
A
I was wondering if he was going to bring that particular one up. I was going to ask you for a. Right at the end of it there. So.
- [33:40]
C
Yeah, absolutely. So, yeah, we've. That was, you know, it's always great to go to a bow game. I think it was more special that we were able to win the. Win the game. 17:13 over, you know, our longest and oldest rival in Troy State. I still call them Troy State.
- [33:57]
A
Yeah, I know and it was a great game. I mean I don't, I don't know what the average attendance of that bowl game is in Montgomery, but that place was full. Had to be one of the best crowds they've had, if not the biggest crowd. And what a game. I mean it literally went down to the last play and it, it was such a shame before that because we've had a whole generation of kids, 18, 20 year olds who have never seen the Trojans and the Gamecocks play. And it used to be such a great rivalry. It really was the Division 2 version of Auburn Alabama, you know, and, and, and what a great history that it's had. And you know, a lot of us who I speak now as a fan, I was. We just want to see that rivalry continue somehow. So you know, anything you tell us about that would be great.
- [34:43]
C
I would love to. For that rivalry to continue because you know, as you stated, I mean it was a great matchup and you know we have, we have available dates in our future schedules. I've expressed that with the folks at Troy and so just waiting to see, you know how they respond if they come back with some dates and stuff so. But it's, there's no hold up on our end Bubba, for to extend and continue that rivalry.
- [35:07]
A
Well, we'd love to see and home with them because that would be. They'd be hanging from the rafters at both places. You know, just be good I think for both programs. Well, Greg, thank you for taking time. Anything else we need to cover sports wise? I know Coach Helms asked me to ask you about an indoor tennis facility. I don't, you know, I don't know, I don't want to get into that but he just asked me so I thought I'd ask you.
- [35:31]
C
Yeah, well you always depend on Helmsy to come through with those hard hitting questions right here. And like I've told him we would love to do the Bill Bubba Bussy indoor tennis facility.
- [35:44]
A
Give me a checkbook, let me find that.
- [35:46]
C
And I think he would be 100 in support of that as well. So we don't want to announce everything all the same week. So.
- [35:54]
A
Right. We'll wade into but I'm sure you know, they play tennis on grass so you know you could, you could throw you some lines in there in the end zone and have you a quarter to. I mean just you know when the football guys and there. So he just wanted me to mention that that's all I just thought. Greg, listen, thank you so much for taking time. I know you're extremely busy. Thank you for staying late to do this interview. And you know, stay cocky, baby. We love it. We love Jack State. We love what they're doing. And you've been driving that bus, baby. Keep that pedal to the metal.
- [36:27]
C
Well, thanks. And I would encourage, if you have, if you're a Jack State person and you haven't been back on our campus in the last five or six years, I encourage you to come back. I always tell people, how can I help the program? Buy season tickets or just buy tickets to our events. Come and support those kids because they really do deserve it. We have a great brand of all of our teams are really, really good. When you look at our second full year, our football team won the conference championship. Our men's basketball team played in the championship, our baseball softball teams all played in the championship game. And then our, obviously our bowling team had another great year. So we've got some great things going on at Jack State and we want to continue those.
- [37:07]
A
Greg, I've got to mention, since you mentioned basketball, going to the nit, going and beating Georgia Tech on their own floor. Now you were there during Bill Jones when we won the national championship. But would in your wildest dreams, do you if somebody come up and said in a few years you're going to beat an ACC team on their own floor in the nit, would you have ever believed that?
- [37:29]
C
I mean, it was hard. I mean, when you look, that was our first win over a power four school bubble since 1952. Yeah, obviously. No, I mean, I would not have. And I mean it wasn't like it was a buzzer beater. I mean we won like 20 points. So I mean we pretty much dominated the game for there and obviously the game was national broadcast on espn. So coach Ray Harper and what he's been able to do because our men's basketball, when Coach Jones retired, I mean honestly, I mean it was, that was probably the sport that struggled the most through the transition because we've had a long, proud history of basketball, certainly at the Division 2 level by winning in the 85 championship with numerous Final Fours and stuff. But certainly it's a, you know, it's a whole different league when you make that move up. But when Coach Harper got here in 2017, his first year, we were able to make our first ever appearance in the NCAA tournament and were able to go up to Louisville or we played Louisville and up in Indianapolis. And then a few years later, we made our second NCAA appearance and actually played the Auburn Tigers over in Greenville. And then last year, for the first time in our school history, we had an opportunity to go to the nit. Not only go, but we won the won the game. So yeah, I mean, we've had so many great things happen for our athletic department in the last year.
- [38:50]
A
Well, Greg, and you've been the driving force, so thank you so much. Appreciate you taking time to do this. I get so many questions about the revenue sharing in il, and I'm really not in a position to answer that. So you've cleared a lot of that up. Thank you very much. And stay cocky, Greg. Give me that. Give me the fear of the beak there one time.
- [39:10]
C
Yo, Gamecocks.
- [39:12]
B
One, two, three.
- [39:14]
A
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C
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B
Because when you bank local, you invest in your community.
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A
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C
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A
Visit us today or learn more @central state bank.com Member FDIC. On the line we have Hunter Bussy, Hunter own sports Hunter. How about that Super Bowl?
- [40:59]
B
That was. It was something. I didn't think we were going to have a you know my term buns. It was lack year's super bowl was not that fun and this year's was not that fun. But it was a little bit more special just because one of my favorite former Auburn players finally got a Super bowl ring. So it was exciting. But as far as the game goes, it was a very Defensive heavy Super bowl for sure. So an offensive showcase like last year with the Eagles versus the Chiefs, who couldn't even score so well, it.
- [41:33]
A
Most of the experts had picked Seattle. The Seahawks, they just, they just look like they had the better team, top to bottom. The Patriots, you know, they're trying to make a return to glory. Still look like they may be a year or two out, but the Seahawks defensive line just absolutely own the game now. The Patriots defense played pretty good, too. Yeah, but the Seahawks defense just was too much for the young Patriots.
- [42:01]
B
Yeah, they, they're, they've coined the, their defense the dark side. Which is funny because, you know, everyone, their fan base was calling them the legion of Boom 2.0. And their defense, you know, currently was like, no, that's their thing. They've inspired us. But we're going to call ourselves the dark side and we see why, because they are ruthless, relentless, and they will kill you any chance they can to. They, they would not let Drake May get comfortable in the pocket last night, and it showed. And it's just, they're, they're, they're. I don't know how to describe it. They're just relentless. It's almost scary how quick they were able to get a defense that good again after all those, you know, big names like Richard Sherman, Cam Chancellor, Eric. What's that guy's name? Eric Thomas, I believe. I think I'm going blank on his name.
- [42:56]
A
But his last name was Thomas.
- [42:58]
B
Yeah, yeah, Earl Thomas. Earl Thomas.
- [43:01]
A
That's what it was.
- [43:02]
B
Yeah. And there's some. I'm obviously missing, but just names like that now you got, you know, former Auburn linebacker Derek hall out there, you got Nehemiah Pritchett out there. And then they have DeMarcus Lawrence out there, too, who used to be on the Cowboys. So they, they reloaded, you know, in the draft like you do, but they, they have utilized free agency down to an art. And Seattle's back on top.
- [43:29]
A
How about Sam Darnold? What a story. His fifth team, he's from California, played at USC and he put together back to back 14 and 15 win seasons. Tom Brady the only other person to do that. And of course, I must note that the Minnesota Vikings let him go. But other than that, you know, I enjoyed the game because I really didn't have a dog in the fight, so I could just kind of sit back and watch. Excuse me. And so, you know, it was more enjoyable than, say, watching the Minnesota Vikings get beat again.
- [44:07]
B
But it, what a story, though. I mean, he, he went from Being a, you know, I think it was the third overall pick in the draft when he got drafted in to the Jets. Didn't do well there. Didn't do well at Carolina, went to San Francisco thinking he was going to get the starting job. And then here comes Mr. Irrelevant, last pick in the draft, Brock Purdy, took that starting job and then ends up going to Minnesota where he was at one point in the MVP conversation and then got unfortunately lined up to play the Detroit Lions, like out the gate, who was on fire that year. And then after that goes to Seattle and year after, you know, he fell short with Minnesota, he wins the Super Bowl.
- [44:54]
A
So, you know, good for him. I love stories of people who, who hang in there and finally achieve. I mean, there's very few people can say I was the super bowl winning quarterback, you know.
- [45:08]
B
Yeah.
- [45:08]
A
So good for him. And you know, no matter what happens to him now, he's got that. He can always hang on the, on the shelf. And he's had a successful pro career. He's been to the pinnacle, so it doesn't get any better than that. Congratulations to Sam. And I might point out it's the second time that Minnesota has let a quarterback that, you know, they, what was the guy's name? He. That, yeah, Case Keenum went all the way to the NFC championship game. They were paying him like 60,000 a year. I mean, it was some ridiculous minimal amount. They make more than that. I'm joking. But. And they let him go and then, you know, they flopped. J.J. mcCartney, I think, I really do think. McCarthy. McCarthy. McCarthy. Well, you know, if he'd play more, I'd know his name. He, I really do think he is a good quarterback, but he's a China doll. What does. He played six games in two years. Maybe he's hurt constantly now.
- [46:07]
B
Part of it, part of it isn't his fault. The Vikings need to get a better O line and they, they've had some injuries on the line. I'm hoping that they'll draft, you know, some people to protect JJ And I think the Vikings are going to probably, if I had to guess, either draft the quarterback or go get one in free agency to cause a little competition and maybe it'll wake them up.
- [46:29]
A
A. No, let me announce to Minnesota because they, they always make the wrong move. The wrong move is to go and spend a pile of money on another dang quarterback you can't protect. Let me take Minnesota, get you an offensive line, get the best offensive line money can buy and JJ will be fine. That's What? That's what they ought to do.
- [46:51]
B
He has the best receiver in football right now on his roster, as well as one coming.
- [46:55]
A
He does for now.
- [46:56]
B
Yeah, for now.
- [46:57]
A
He's not gonna hang around if they don't get a quarterback that can throw back to Seattle.
- [47:03]
B
And how, you know, I was talking about how their defense is kind of like, you know, it has the echoes of the Legion of boom from the early 2010s. The MVP of the game was Kenneth Walker the third. He, he is like their Marshawn Lynch 2.0 in a way. Even though Marshawn lynch is his own, you know, its own beast, if you will. You know, you had the beast mode run. That's what got him famous against the Saints. It literally caused an earthquake in Seattle. Registered. But he, when he gets open, just, you know, when he gets out of that, you know, that, that scramble behind the O line, he. He's one of these running backs that will kind of almost walk to the line of scrimmage after he gets the ball to see where, you know, a gap will open up.
- [47:52]
A
And.
- [47:54]
B
Oh, he, he. I was like, what is he doing? And then he would just like shoot through there like a cannon. It was like crazy to see that. Like, you don't think that type of player exists anymore. And here comes one every other year. I feel like, like, carry on Johnson was like that. Le'Veon Bell was like that. I'm thinking, who else was like that? Well, Saquon, Barclays, like that.
- [48:16]
A
And he's kind of a unique story too, because he wasn't even the starter, but he's got in the playoffs and he's had 150 yard games every game. If he hadn't had that long run callback last night, he would have been close to 200. Got called back on a holding penalty. I think he'd had 170 or something. But he wouldn't even have been in the game if their guy hadn't got hurt. And he's basically carried them through the playoffs.
- [48:41]
B
Yeah, whenever he got in, I think it was against the 49ers. He. He showed out and it was late in the game too, and he was still able to put up, you know, a decent amount of yards in the half that he played. So it's crazy. And I remember when they drafted him and they were looking because it was after Marshawn lynch went to the Raiders.
- [49:01]
C
Yeah.
- [49:02]
B
And I think he ended up coming back to Seattle for a little bit, but it wasn't the same. And that, you know, that Was a mistake.
- [49:06]
A
Well, let me tell you one team, you don't beat time. Time is going to win every time.
- [49:12]
B
And especially with running back in the NFL. It's, you know, the NFL's nickname is not for long and there's some running backs that have honestly surprised me. And you like Christian McCaffrey, who you wouldn't think would have made it this long, but he's just like a piece of muscle. And most of the time, whenever you see him hit somebody, the other. The defensive players, the one that gets the, you know, the brunt of the hit. So it's. It's kind of. It's kind of funny in a way, too. But. Yeah. Congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks. The Patriots will be back. I. I like Mike Vabril a lot. He's a great coach, former player of the Patriots, so. But I like what Seattle's got going. I like their coach a lot. He's the third youngest coach active to win a Super Bowl.
- [49:57]
A
What a great story, too. You know, he was an assistant at Georgia and was going to get out of coaching. He thought he had topped out and couldn't go any further and actually interviewed for a job and he was about to leave coaching. Now he's the winner of the Super Bowl. How strange.
- [50:15]
B
I know. Did you see his story?
- [50:17]
A
Yeah.
- [50:17]
B
Sports center after where he was talking about. He was like, he goes, God, do you want me to be a coach or not? I need a sign. And then got a call from Seattle to be. You know, he. At one point he was just a coordinator, and now look at him now. So it's. It's cool to see that.
- [50:33]
A
You know, these are all great heartwarming stories. You never see any of these in Minnesota, by the way. Never. And real quick.
- [50:41]
B
Quick, too. I'd be remiss.
- [50:42]
A
Not that I'm better or anything.
- [50:43]
B
Yeah. Real quick, too. Just because I, I'm a big fan of Derek Hall. He had two sacks and one of them caused a fumble that essentially iced the game for Seattle. So that. That was really cool to see. And I'm happy for Derek Hall. He got a Super bowl and he's a champion. There was a video of him kissing the trophy yesterday, and he was. Looked like he was having fun on the sidelines, too. So it was a. It was a lot of fun to see that.
- [51:10]
A
Well, let me. Let me ask you this. We're talking to Hunter Bussy. Hunter owned sports as we recap the super bowl halftime shows. That was a big controversy in this. We had discussed it here. We stayed with Bad Bunny. We were going to watch Bad Bunny and see what all the hoopla was about. I. You know, maybe. And somebody needs to maybe educate me on this. Okay. Because Bad Bunny is Latino. Yeah. He sings most of his songs in Spanish. Yes. And he did a halftime show in Spanish. Now, I assume he said a bad word once or twice at the beginning because they, they, they. They cut it out. Probably, but I wouldn't even know. I wouldn't even know what he said. Okay.
- [51:58]
C
I.
- [51:59]
A
But it was. The production was high level. Now, I thought it was a great.
- [52:05]
B
Production as far as, like, oh, yeah, you know, better than last year's, I'll tell you that. Like, I. I like Kendrick, but I. That super bowl halftime show shouldn't have been a thing with Kendrick. I thought it was just. It wasn't as good.
- [52:16]
A
It was a little weak. But, you know, the. The Spanish music is really not my cup of tea. I mean, I like pit bull as much as the next guy, but. But, you know, I didn't understand. I don't know, Bad Bunny songs, but I thought far as a production, it was. It was very good super bowl level. I just didn't know what he was singing about. But, I mean, there was a lot of dancing and all going on, which you would expect. I mean, that's the kind of scene I would expect to see in Miami if I was out at a nightclub in Miami somewhere.
- [52:50]
B
Yeah. Like, his music is good. Like, party music. Like, to have one in the background, I think. And if it. Honestly, if it had captions, I think I would have enjoyed it a little bit better, I think. But as far as, like, people were worried that it was going to be controversial because he's been like that in the past, but it, you know, it wasn't. And I thought overall it was all right. I'm not gonna put it up there in, like, my top super bowl performance.
- [53:13]
A
No, it's not Michael Jackson or Prince.
- [53:16]
B
You know, I think Prince is, like, the top dog. Just because it rained when he was singing Purple Rain.
- [53:21]
A
I know that that was kind of cool, but I. I have to go. Mj. I still. I still. Michael Jackson flying out of the place with a backpack was still one of my favorites. And then, of course, I just like him there.
- [53:33]
B
Whenever he came out on stage and stood there for, like, 10 minutes. Yeah, I'm sure he let it breathe.
- [53:39]
A
We call that letting it breathe in the business. Yeah.
- [53:42]
B
Letting it breathe. But, yeah, I mean, it wasn't, you know, as far as halftime shows go, I. I definitely enjoyed it better than last year's. I thought that. Now, what was really cool, that I don't know if, if. If you're listening to this and you watched it, I don't know if you watched the halftime show or not, or watched all the way through, but there was a part where there was a couple.
- [54:01]
C
Yeah.
- [54:02]
A
Getting married. Yeah, right.
- [54:03]
B
That was. That was an actual wedding. Because they. So the backstory on that, I looked it up. They invited Bad Bunny to their wedding a while ago, and he couldn't make it due to, like, a tour date or something. And then he ended up inviting them to get married on the stage at the Super Bowl. Well, you know, they had, like, all their friends and family up there. Like, it was cool. It was cool to see that your.
- [54:25]
A
Your mom was like, are they really getting married? And I said, betty, this is a production. I mean, just because you have a couple at a Broadway play, you know, getting married, that doesn't mean. I mean, it could just be part of the production. But you're saying it. That it was legit.
- [54:42]
B
Yeah, you know, it was. It was legit. I looked it up and people, you know, all over the place were confirming it, so that was cool. There were also some cameos in there. Lady Gaga showed up and did a song that. Honestly, that song needs to be the original song, and that's how it needs to go. I didn't like that version of it, but. What's his name? Ricky Martin. Ricky Martin. He was in there. And then there were some faces that they were quick if you looked close enough, but you couldn't realize it if you saw it. But Jessica Alba was up there and Pedro Pascal was up there as well. And then Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna was up there as well.
- [55:20]
A
Really?
- [55:20]
B
So, yeah, so all.
- [55:21]
A
All of them are very fluent Spanish speaking.
- [55:25]
B
Yes. I'm pretty sure, Robin. Ronald Acuna is Cuban or Puerto Rican.
- [55:30]
A
Yeah, probably Bad Bunny's Puerto Rican.
- [55:33]
B
Yeah. And that whole, like the whole.
- [55:35]
A
He get that name Hunter. Do you know how did Bad Bunny get his name?
- [55:39]
B
I don't know. Bad Bunny or.
- [55:41]
A
I mean, what. I wonder what finished second. I mean, if he was making a list and he goes, yeah, I'm going to go with Bad Bunny. What. What was say, number two? Bad Goat.
- [55:53]
B
I don't know.
- [55:54]
A
Bad Butterfly, Anybody?
- [55:58]
B
It worked out, like, I'm glad that he found a nickname that worked out in a stage name. But, yeah, overall, like, the whole, you know, stage was cool to see. I don't know if you saw the video, but apparently those, you know, those massive bushes Were people dressed up in that?
- [56:14]
A
I thought the bushes. I thought the bushes were gonna dance. I thought at some point they were going to dance, but, you know, when you have to get that much stuff on the field. We were talking about it. It's. It's better to have legs in there, just to run it out there. Yeah, But I really thought at some point in the performance, all those bushes were going to start dancing.
- [56:32]
B
Yeah, me too. I thought we were going to have a left shark moment like we did with Katy Perry Super Bowl. But, you know, as far, again, I didn't hate it. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either.
- [56:44]
A
Did you catch the alternative halftime show?
- [56:48]
B
I watched a little bit of it. I enjoyed that, too. There was about 5 million people watching it at one point, which was cool. Whenever I texted Y' all that 4 million people were watching it, it jumped up to 5, like, pretty quick in the middle of the Super Bowl.
- [57:02]
A
Okay, so I'm confused why. What was so controversial about Bad Bunny that they had to have a second halftime show?
- [57:12]
B
I think it had to do with. He was a.
- [57:15]
A
Not in English speaking.
- [57:17]
B
Yeah, I think that's the main thing, and I think people had had enough.
- [57:20]
A
Hey, you better get ready for that, folks. That's coming in 2050. By the way, you're going to. You know, our Latino brothers and sisters are going to be the majority in this country. Yep. Oh, Wadi is going to be a minority. Okay.
- [57:33]
B
But, you know, I.
- [57:34]
A
As far as, like, all a senorita.
- [57:37]
B
Yeah. As far as that performance went, like, I. If it had some, you know, English captions, I think I would have been fine with it. I didn't. Again, I didn't love it. I didn't hate it either, though. I know some people just were straight. Like, I don't like it.
- [57:52]
A
Let me ask you this. On the alternative halftime show, somebody. We were all trying to figure out what it was going to be on, and somebody said it was on tbn. Trinity Broadcasting Network. Now, that's a. That's a religious network. Is that true? And. And I thought Kid Rock on TBN, something.
- [58:16]
B
No, it was on Turning Point USA's YouTube channel. You know, they put it together pretty. I guess it was after they announced Bad Bunny was going to be the halftime right artist.
- [58:27]
A
There was some backlash, but I really. I didn't understand if they thought he was dirty or they. They. The lack of English offended people. I don't. I never really understood.
- [58:39]
B
I think they thought he was going to be very anti, you know, movement of what's happening currently in the country.
- [58:45]
A
Well, listen, I did see him on the American Music Awards about a week ago, and he. He gave a long ice out speech which I didn't care for.
- [58:55]
B
Yeah, yeah. Which is expected, but, you know, the. The.
- [59:01]
A
What is your problem? What do you care?
- [59:04]
B
Yeah, that's. That's the point that they're missing. But as far as, like, that Turning Point USA halftime performance, it was fine up until Kid Rock came out there and he kind of ruined it. He had a cool moment where he was talking about Jesus, and then, like, I turned back, you know, I turned it back on to see what was going on, and I was like, what is he doing? Like, he was just like. Like kind of running around whipping his hair. I was. I was like, it was cool. You know, when you had the other artists on that, I didn't really know the names of, to be honest with you, but it was just interesting.
- [59:39]
A
Well, I have not seen. I'll be honest with you. I have not seen the alternative halftime show. I was going to watch it sometime today, and maybe we can form some kind of opinion on it, but I thought the Bad Bunny production level was. Was high. I thought it was super bowl worthy. I didn't. I didn't understand anything they were saying, but. But it looked like a lot of fun.
- [60:00]
B
Yeah. Yeah, it did. And like, it, like, the vibe was way better than last year's. I'll say that. Nothing against Kendrick Lamar, like, in some of his.
- [60:09]
A
Kendrick Lamar too much.
- [60:11]
B
No, there was like one part that I like just because there was some beef going on between him and another rapper last year that was really fun to keep up with. And no one thought he was going to put the song out about, you know, or at least, you know, sing the song or rap the song, whatever you want to call it. Perform the song that he put out last year that went viral, but other than that, it wasn't that impressive to me. But Bad Bunny, the production, like you're saying, was way higher. The. The vibe was way better. It just. I don't know, the whole. The whole thing, production wise, I was very impressed with it. If it just had captions, I think I would enjoyed it more.
- [60:48]
A
You know, maybe. Maybe I messed up. Maybe I should have gone with the name Bad Bubba. Bubba. You know, maybe it should be Bad Bubba on the lake. What do you think?
- [60:57]
B
I don't know. I don't. I think Bubba flows pretty well.
- [61:01]
A
All right, we're gonna take a break right quick. Hunter, can you hang around a minute? I Wanted to talk super bowl commercials briefly.
- [61:07]
B
Yes, yes, I would love to.
- [61:08]
A
We'll be right back. This is bad. Bubba. With Bubba on the lake. Where's Bubba? I'll tell you where. He's on the lake. Just got that new boat. Let Sunrise Docks protect your investment with swift shield boat covers, Neptune boat lifts and easy ports for your personal watercraft. Plus they have composite decking that stays cool. Designed with your feet in mind, Sunrise Docks is always first in quality, first.
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B
In service, and first in customer satisfaction.
- [61:38]
A
Right off Highway 63, your Lake Martin headquarters. With two barges in, the most experienced boat lift crew on the lake. Sunrise Docks is your lake Life Expert. Call 256-392-5200. On the water or off, experience lake life to the fullest at Russell Lands on Lake Martin. Spend your mornings with breakfast at Fanny's. Afternoons you can explore over 100 miles of trails through Russell Forest. And for dinner, how about the southern farm to table flavors at Spring House? Whether you're here for the weekend or you've made your home at the lake, Russell Lands is where community and the land come together. To learn more about upcoming events, visit Russelllands.com come see what Lake life is all about. Another staff meeting. Another push for cross selling. Another awkward silence. Then Banker Bounty happened. The first referral platform made just for banks. One app that empowers every employee, not just your top producers, to bring in business. No more spreadsheets, no more silos. Just clarity, culture and actual growth in real time. Banker Bounty fixes more than your referral program. It fixes your momentum. Go to bankerbounty.com, watch the video, book your free demo. Banker Bounty Create, manage and track referrals in real time. We're back. Hunter Bussey, Hunter owned sports. We're recapping the super bowl, the halftime performance, and of course, Hunter. We cannot move forward without talking about super bowl commercials. The conversation broke out at our party about how much the commercials cost. Do you. Do you know how much they cost? I'm gonna tell you.
- [63:32]
B
I know. It goes up every year. I saw. I don't think this number is accurate, but I saw, like, it's up there mid millions.
- [63:40]
A
Oh, Hunter. Hunter.
- [63:41]
B
Crazy.
- [63:42]
A
You're way low. You're way low. Super Bowl 60, a 30 second commercial, according to USA Today. $10 million.
- [63:50]
C
Good.
- [63:51]
A
10 million. Now, this is in contrast to Super Bowl 1 in 1967. 37,500. Okay, so there's your range. We broke the million dollar mark in. In 1995. Super Bowl 29 commercials were 1.15 million, up from 900,000 the year before. In 1994, we broke 2 million. In the year 2000, very appropriate. I think that year, in 2000, they were 2.1 million, up from 1.6 million in 1999. We broke 3 million in 2011, we broke 4 million in 2014, 5 million in 2017, 6 million in 2022, 7 million in 2023, 23 and 24 was flat 7 million. Last year, 8 million. And then this year 2026, $10 million. Of course, it is the most watched it is program in the country. So tell me, was there a commercial that stood out to you as very good or any that you thought were very bad?
- [65:16]
B
I didn't think there were any that were bad necessarily. The ones that stood out to me that made me laugh was the Michel of Ultra commercial with Lewis Pullman. And I'm going blank on his name now. Where they're skiing, where he's teaching them how to ski. You know, they're like making fun of them for not being able to ski. And they're like, who needs a credit card when you have so and so, right? And he, he goes, he goes, we can fix that. He goes, meet me at the top of the mountain dawn or something like that. And he like, teaches them how to ski. I thought that was good. I got a Ted Wiser. The Budweiser commercial was hilarious. That was so funny. And that guy goes, are you crying? He goes, no, the sun's my eyes that owned me.
- [66:00]
A
Okay, so. And you're talking about the one with the Clydesdale and the baby eagle.
- [66:04]
B
Yes.
- [66:05]
A
Okay. Yeah. I thought that was one of the best ones at our party. That commercial got the biggest response from the crowd.
- [66:12]
B
I mean, they played Free Bird for.
- [66:14]
A
Yeah, I mean, when you have Free Bird in a commercial and you have a baby eagle that learns to fly and that one moment where the. The horse is jumping over the log and the wing span of the eagle, it looks like Pegasus, you know, I mean, and then the comedy bit, the comedy line. Is it. I mean, that. I mean, I don't use that product, but I sure thought it was funny. I thought it was a great commercial.
- [66:38]
B
The State Farm commercial with Keegan, Michael Key and Haley Steinfeld was funny too. I don't know if you saw that one where they were singing halfway there because the insurance she was at that she was trying to buy only covered half of her things and whatnot. That was funny.
- [66:52]
A
Now, I will, I will tell you this, but my two favorite were the Bud Budweiser with Clydesdale and the Eagle. And I thought funny was Kendall Jenner and the Kardashian curse. Now I thought that was hilarious.
- [67:09]
B
That was funny. That was really funny.
- [67:11]
A
Now that. That's where you know there's this running joke about the Kardashian curse and that anybody they date ends up bombing out.
- [67:21]
C
And.
- [67:22]
A
And the commercial was actually for four fan sports book. So she was saying she was betting on players are betting against players that she had dated because she knew they were going to crash. And they showed all these pictures of her and her boyfriend and the heads had been torn off the boyfriends because she's had so many.
- [67:44]
B
Obviously. Yeah, it probably the great line right.
- [67:47]
A
At the end, she goes, kardashian Kurt. That ain't even my name. I mean, she's her. She's a Jitter.
- [67:53]
B
You know, she's a Jenner.
- [67:54]
A
So what? I thought that was funny. I thought that was funny.
- [67:57]
B
What's funny, too, is she's dating the shooting guard for the Phoenix Suns, Devin Booker, who I really like as a basketball player, played at Kentucky, killed Auburn whenever he was there. Kelly. But he. He's not under the curse currently, knock on wood. But he. He's like an all star.
- [68:17]
A
He.
- [68:17]
B
I mean, he's a great basketball player. One of my favorite. So as far as her dating him, I think the curse is fine. It's the other ones that you got to watch out for. For Kardashian comes your way, just run.
- [68:28]
C
I just.
- [68:28]
A
I thought her father. The Kardashian curse, and then pointing out that her name is Jenner was funny. Yeah, I. I mean, if you can't laugh at yourself, you know that. That's where the great humor starts. Some other ones that were, you know, I think a valuable, important message. Relax your tight end for pro state exams with all the former tight ends from the NFL in it. I thought that was pretty funny.
- [68:59]
B
The amount of Patriot fans on X, not only were they getting slapped around in the super bowl, the slap in the face of. Of Rob Gronkowski not wearing a Patriots uniform. He was wearing a Bucks uniform, which it was Bruce Arians. He used to be his coach. That makes sense. But it was just. Just funny that that happened. Unfortunately, I thought I was gonna have to do a welfare check on our friends at Blackerby, who's a big Patriots fan. I have not heard from him today yet, so I don't know. Maybe he's still recovering. I don't know. He was nervous about the game. So what about.
- [69:31]
A
I'm gonna tell You. Another one that got a lot of attention here was the Uber eats with Matthew McConaughey.
- [69:37]
B
Yes.
- [69:38]
A
And what's his name? The other actors? Bradley Cooper. Big Eagles fan.
- [69:44]
B
Yeah.
- [69:44]
A
I thought that was kind of cute, too.
- [69:46]
B
Yeah. Wherever at the end, he was like, he goes, can we just squash this beef? And he goes, he goes, he goes, beef's food. And he goes, you know, so good.
- [69:56]
A
Now, I did, I'll tell you one that got me moving was the robot and the vodka commercial that were singing Super Freak. I couldn't, I couldn't stay in my seat for that one. I had to, Yeah, I had to get up and move a little bit.
- [70:09]
C
Yeah.
- [70:09]
B
Yeah, that one was good, too. The one that stood out to me. It wasn't really necessarily, like a funny commercial, but it was a trailer for Steven Spielberg's new movie.
- [70:18]
A
Yeah.
- [70:18]
B
Did you see this? Disclosure Day.
- [70:20]
A
Yeah.
- [70:20]
B
With Emily Blunt.
- [70:21]
A
Yes.
- [70:22]
B
It's going to be really good. I'm very excited about it. It is basically the day that aliens decide to reveal themselves to the human race.
- [70:30]
A
Yeah.
- [70:31]
B
It's gonna be.
- [70:32]
A
We're all looking forward to that.
- [70:33]
B
Oh, I know.
- [70:34]
A
So I, I, I combed the Internet a little bit. Some of these sites that rank the commercials and not saying that this is number one, but the Clydesdale commercial scored real good. So did the Kardashian commercial. The Relax your tight end. Sabrina Carpenter with her Pringles, man, that was funny. Jurassic. Jurassic Park. They had all the characters for that.
- [71:02]
B
That AI Half that they did.
- [71:04]
A
Yeah.
- [71:04]
B
They inserted a guy into the movie, the original movie. And then when they were on the, you know, the vacation, that was all AI which is kind of scary, by the way, because, like, their voices sounded the same. So. But you continue.
- [71:17]
A
What about touching. Did you like the ring commercial where they're saying, now that you can search for your dog. How.
- [71:25]
B
Okay, here, here's my question with that. I get that they have AI that helps with that, that, you know, pairs with their software. And ring cameras work like, I'm a, I'm a believer in ring. They're great products. Their, their ecosystem is great to me. They're like the apple of, you know, smart home. Smart home doorbells.
- [71:45]
A
Right. I agree.
- [71:47]
B
The how when they say, if you lose your dog, right. And you program that dog into the system and it's going around the neighborhood and it hits a match of a golden retriever.
- [72:01]
C
Don't.
- [72:01]
B
Doesn't. I feel like you, I feel like majority of your neighborhood has to have ring cameras, which a lot of people, A lot of people Do?
- [72:08]
C
Yeah.
- [72:09]
A
Oh yeah, you do.
- [72:10]
B
It's a thing now. But how, like, what are the odds that your neighborhood, you know, happens to have all that synced up, updated, unless it does it automatically, which I'm sure it does.
- [72:22]
A
Yeah, I think hunter, if, if. And like say I've got some ring cameras. So I've seen the little pop ups on it. I think you have a button you hit if you have a lost dog and you upload a picture of your dog or maybe several pictures, and then the AI, because everybody's ring camera uploads to a server. You know, you know, you're, whatever's happening in front of your house right now is going to one of their servers. So if you have a lost dog, they, they have a geo fence, let's say, I don't know what they use, what their algorithm is, but let's say a mile around your house, they're going to look for that dog on every one of those cameras. And that, that AI technology, I mean, our hunting cameras now when I get an alert, it tells me if it's a buck, if it's a doe, if it's a fox, if it's a coyote, if it's a car. I mean, they can recognize that through these algorithms. So I, you know, I think it's a pretty cool feature. I mean, I know some people think, well, they're, there's, you know, they're spying on me, they're looking at my camera. They're already looking at it. You, you ain't lost any privacy. They're already, you, you upload it to their server and they're scanning it for different things anyway. So. Yeah, you know, I think, you know, I got a, I got a ring camera because I, I want to see what's happening at my house and have it as a doorbell. I don't necessarily get it because I want to hunt lost dogs, but you know, if it'll, if it'll help out, if I've got a lost dog, that's pretty important to me, you know, so why not feature. Why not?
- [74:00]
B
It's, it's a cool feature. I just, I want to know like if say, like, say if like a neighbor loses their golden retriever and then I lost my golden retriever. How do I know the difference if you know it's mine or theirs? Well, that's what, that's what sucks.
- [74:14]
A
Well, yeah, you could, you could have a problem there. The AI could probably not differentiate between the two if they were the same color, same size, you know, but you know, if all else fails, send out one of those Clydesdale's to find it. You know, they'll. They'll bring it back. They take care of Eagles, why not dog?
- [74:30]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [74:32]
A
So anyway, Super Bowl 60 is in the books. The Seahawks are the champions. Ads cost $10 million each. You've heard recap of the game. You've heard a recap of halftime and of the commercials, which always end up being as big a story as the game itself. Any other parting ideas or thoughts here? Hunter, on the super bowl as it wraps up, who.
- [74:58]
B
I do have a couple, or just one specifically, as far as halftime shows go, who would you want to see now or again? Like if. If they got a. If they got a mulligan or a chance to do it again. And the one that I want to do it again has in it twice. Once doing it on his own and then once making a cameo.
- [75:20]
A
Bruno. Yes. Bruno Mars.
- [75:22]
B
Bruno Mars. Bruno Mars. Halftime show.
- [75:26]
A
He put on a good show.
- [75:27]
B
I. I get that one. When he came out with Coldplay and Beyonce and did, you know, Uptown Funk and then did like that. I guess it was like a dance off between Beyonce and all that. Like, that was really good. And then his halftime show, oddly enough, when it was Seattle, they were in Met life, I want to say, playing the Broncos when they blew them out. I remember watching that in the movie room with you. I was like, the super bowl is lasting 10 hours because no one, the Broncos can't score. That was a really good one. But I would like to see him get a, you know, an updated one. But I don't know.
- [76:01]
A
They normally don't let you do that. That's probably a lot. I don't know if you. Do you go with somebody hot or do you go with a legend that hasn't done it?
- [76:10]
B
Yeah, I don't know.
- [76:12]
A
You know, there's, you know, you. You could argue that. Has the Eagles ever done the halftime show? I can't remember.
- [76:21]
B
I don't know.
- [76:22]
A
You know, them or the Rolling Stones or, you know, somebody like that.
- [76:28]
B
I don't know.
- [76:28]
A
They may be too old now. If you're going to get them, you better get them now because they're dying off.
- [76:35]
B
Real quick to the other commercial, I forgot to mention the Instacart commercial with Ben Stiller and Benson Boone. Did you see that one?
- [76:42]
A
I didn't think it was funny, The.
- [76:45]
B
The one. Well, it was. To me, it was funny because they were trying to outdo each other, you know, or at least I maybe still was trying to outdo the younger Benson Boone and he tried to do a flip after he cut one just standing and like wiped out that body double they had where it was just a mannequin flailing around. Made me laugh so hard. I don't know why it did.
- [77:06]
A
Maybe all I can think of I really didn't get to see, but it, it didn't, it didn't hit me. If I think Ben Stiller's in a commercial, I think it's going to be the greatest ever because I. He is so funny.
- [77:18]
B
Yeah, he's.
- [77:19]
A
It just didn't hit me. I don't know, maybe I was in search of chips right then. I don't know. But anyway, Hunter Bussey, thank you for stopping in with us, sharing your thoughts on the super bowl, the halftime show and commercials and real quick, plug, plug, plug away.
- [77:36]
B
Yeah, you can find me every Monday through Friday. Helping out with the Barn. I host a show or co host a Show with Graham McLean called the Barn Social Hour. Monday through Friday, 7pm we talk all things Auburn and just funny stuff in general, as well as, you know, college football, basketball, you name it. News that's going on. Help out with this podcast, Bubba on the Lake and the Tailgate Tailgate show. And uh, I have my personal YouTube channel as well where you can find me. Just look up my name and uh, I might eventually change that into something that's more recognizable instead of just my name. So. So I don't get doxed by somebody that just decides to be like that one day.
- [78:13]
A
So Hunter, thank you for taking time with us. We'll be right back on Bubba on the Lake.
- [78:21]
B
It's Bubba on the Lake. Bubba on the Lake.
- [78:26]
A
Attention business owners, print buyers and production managers. Guaranteed Labels is here to help you focus less on your printing labels, decals and focus more on growing your business. Guaranteed Labels wants to be your reliable printer. Quality on time. Shipments and stock programs set us apart. If you're needing to focus less on your printing and more on your business, Trust Guaranteed Labels. 205-640-4552 or guaranteedlabels.com Guaranteed Labels still sticking since 1988 Since 1965, Vice Motors has been Lake Martin area's home for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram sales and sales service. For 60 years, families have trusted bicemotors in Alexander City for honest deals, friendly service and the best selection around. Our team of certified technicians services most all makes and models. Plus we've got a tire center, parts department and a full collision center to keep you rolling. Bice Motors, your hometown Chrysler, Dodge Jeep ram, dealer since 1965 and Alex CD are online at bicemotors.com buying@bice bice Motors on the water or off. Experience lake life to the fullest at Russell Lands on Lake Martin. Want to know what's going on around Lake Martin? Check out the calendar of seasonal events that include Fridays on the green, naturalist events, fireworks, concerts, poker runs, boat shows, juried art shows, boat parades, and much more. If you're here for the weekend or if you've made your home at the lake, Russelllands is where community and the land come together. To learn more about upcoming events, visit Russelllance.com come see what Lake life is all about. What a matchup we've got, folks. Just non stop action. The energy is electric and the fans are all in. An intense game like this calls for a Coca Cola. Ah, crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer. Yeah, that taste. Scores every time. And just like that, they're back at it. Passionate fans in an ice cold Coca Cola.
- [80:25]
B
Now that's a winning combo.
- [80:27]
A
No matter the team, no matter the sport, everyone knows fan work is thirsty work. Enjoy a Coca Cola. All right, folks, we're back and thank you for being with us for Bubba on the Lake here in the mellow yellow studio. We've had a great show, a lot of information out there. I want to thank all of my guests for being on and it is, we've had a really fun time. I want to remind you our website is bubbaonthelake.com you can email me bubba@bubbaonthelake.com and we always have our comment line 308 Big Lake. You can leave a message there. Some of that will make it to air, some of it will not. We always want to remind you to subscribe, turn on notifications wherever you get this podcast and also on our social media. A lot of the news that we have for the show or happenings, we go ahead and put on social media. It gets just gets to you quicker that way. And we want you to always be a part of that and never miss it. And if you subscribe to the podcast, it shows up on your podcast app automatically. You don't have to worry about it. You get in your car, you cut it on, it's going to update and say, hey, you got a new Bubba on the lake. And that's what some people call the happiest day of the week. It's what I call it. I know y' all be good over there. You know, there's nothing like doing the show with producers who. Who want to be comedians? Well, we've had a great time. Thank all of you for tuning in. I hope you enjoyed it. We'll be in Orlando next week. They call it Hamcation and they want you to come to the big Ham fest down there. What a minute. Nerd alert. And they want you to hit the theme parks. They want you to go out to Kennedy Space Center. I mean, they say come and stay a month. You can't see it all. And I believe it. By the way, they're rolling another rocket out the. The Artemis 2 is still on the pad and they're rolling out a one of Elon's SpaceX rockets. So there's going to be rockets everywhere out there. I'm plum giddy. I don't know if we're even going to get time to go over to Kennedy Space center on this particular trip because we're focusing on Hamcation. Sorry. Nerd alert. And I realize it's a nerd thing. I got that. But there's a million of us in this country that do this hobby and, and, you know, spend all of our extra money on it and extra time. But we also made a lot of really nice friends and I hope to be able to introduce you to some of those next week. We'll see. We haven't been on the road with the podcast yet. We'll, we'll. We'll see how it goes. It may be, it may be a big bomb. We'll find out. But anyway, thank you again. We appreciate you being part of Bubba on the Lake. Spread the news, spread the word. We're looking forward to a big growth year in 26, but it can't happen without you. So remember, until we sail into port again, God loves you and so do we. And thank you for being part of Bubba on the Lake. This podcast is brought to you in part by Russell Lands Coke, Buffalo Wild Wings, Southern Immediate Care Guaranteed Labels Central State Bank, Sunrise docks, bankers Bounty, Dr. Thomas Dudney and the Green Monster Fishing light B U double B A on the lake hey wishing I could listen to the show every day hey gotta hear what Bubba and his buddies gotta say on B U double B A on the lake in the mellow yellow studio putting on a show Betty say what she always on the go we got on a bus sitting at master control don't wanna miss a moment cause Bubba's got the flow roll B you double B A on a lake hey, wishing I could listen to the show every day hey gotta hear what Bubba and his buddies gotta say on B u double b A on the lake hey B u double b A B U b B A B u double b A hey B u double b A on the lake hey.