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Episode 9
42 Plays1 year ago
I'm back! No more "hiatuses". This week the loss of Anne Hodnett, Daytona 500 visit, the "Road to Wrestlemana", March Madness, the disappointing UNC Tarheel basketball season and my lifelong roller coaster with being healthy. Thanks for listening!
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Transcript
Introduction & Future Plans
00:00:01
Speaker
And we're back another hiatus as Colton calls it, who is the, I'm just going to call him my executive producer, marketing director, graphic designer, assistant to the Ross sports report. Also Ray helps out. Of course they were on the new year's episode two months ago, he pointed out. So here we are. And I'm, I promise I'm going to be more,
00:00:29
Speaker
frequent. So I'm probably, in fact, I'm going to do one two weeks in a row today. And then next week, I'm going to break down the March Madness bracket, how I see it unfolding and things of that nature. And then it'll be baseball season. So we'll have Braves baseball to talk about.
00:00:54
Speaker
So, good stuff.
Sports Updates
00:00:56
Speaker
Today, college basketball, conference tournament time. March is here. The players' championship is underway. So, golf is underway as they are in the Florida swing. You know, last week was Bay Hill. Valspar before that. Honda players this week. The largest purse ever.
00:01:20
Speaker
in a golf tournament, $3.4 million to the winner. I think I saw something where the tops 40 or something take home six figures. It's crazy, crazy for the players. Uh, so this is, uh, in the middle of round two, as we record this rainy, yes, I said rainy for the first time. And I don't know how long, uh, afternoon here on St. Simon's Island. Thank goodness it, uh,
00:01:49
Speaker
knocks out some of the pollen. Lots been going on since I was last here.
Personal Health Journey
00:01:55
Speaker
Talk about a journey of mine that I have been on for a long time and it's been a long roller coaster and that is a journey with dieting and exercise and being as healthy as possible. Everything that I can control. Talk about that.
00:02:17
Speaker
Also, crossed something off the bucket list a month ago.
Daytona 500 Experience
00:02:23
Speaker
The Daytona 500 attended that, it was really neat. Been to Charlotte, been to Atlanta, been to Talladega, been to Darlington, but never the Daytona 500. So that was really cool, we'll talk about that. And also, college basketball, the North Carolina Tar Heels.
00:02:43
Speaker
Goodness, that could be a whole episode in itself.
Tribute to Anne Hodnett
00:02:50
Speaker
But first, a little personal message. It's kind of a somber week here. My wife's grandmother, Anne Hodnett, 98 years old, passed away on Saturday night. Funeral services were held on Tuesday
00:03:12
Speaker
And, um, of course I was late, I guess, coming into her life or, um, uh, coming into her life about, I guess, six, six years ago. Um, when that, when Kelly and I came into each other's lives, um, dating and, and all that, um, before we married in 2020 pre COVID, um,
00:03:41
Speaker
But Mimi, as she was called by everyone, pretty much in the family, 98 years old, the youngest of eight siblings and numerous relatives came to town Sunday and Monday as she passed away Saturday night after six weeks of hospice care.
00:04:07
Speaker
At home, that's how she wanted, she didn't want to be in a hospital, didn't want to be at a facility, she wanted to be at home. So she was, and it was a long six weeks with hospice care, a couple of false alarms, as Kelly and I kind of joked about, tongue in cheek, of course. But then finally, Saturday night, she went on to be welcomed into heaven by her husband, Roy,
00:04:37
Speaker
And her son Kelly. A remarkable, remarkable lady. Probably the most remarkable lady I've ever had in my life and very privileged and blessed to have had a short window of time with her since she, I guess she was 93.
00:04:59
Speaker
And she acted up until the last couple of months like a 73-year-old or a 68-year-old, whatever. Very active, cooking, still going to the grocery store, still taking care and doting on everybody in her family. So seven grandchildren, including Kelly and her brother Luke,
00:05:27
Speaker
Let's see how many great grandchildren. Colton, Jenna, Ray, Camden, Anna, Brynn, Hugo, and Phyllis. So five, six, seven-ish great grandchildren. But the amount of, as I said, one of
00:05:47
Speaker
eight brothers and sisters. So she had a numerous, numerous amount of nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews. The family just flocked to her and being the last living of eight brothers and sisters, um,
00:06:12
Speaker
The family, as I said, the family just flocked to her as she was the matriarch of three generations, four generations, really, four generations. So we later to rest on Tuesday, a very tough day for everyone, but we know that she is no longer hurting in a better place and still watching down upon us and sending us
00:06:40
Speaker
lessons already and along the way. So just wanted to mention that before we get into anything else.
Podcast Appearance Highlight
00:06:50
Speaker
Kelly's cousin Bree has a podcast as well that Mimi was on back, I think, in December. So that was pretty good.
00:07:07
Speaker
that she was, uh, able to do that. And it was, it is, uh, it's fantastic to, uh, to listen to, if you want to, uh, you know, hear that and hear the lady that is, uh, go to pause to go podcasts. Brie Luck is, um, my, uh, my wife's cousin pause to go podcast. Um,
00:07:36
Speaker
and in on Apple podcast and on iTunes. And it was, let's see, uh, see which episode I'm just scrolling here in the library. Uh, where was it? Was it, uh, well, anyway, pause to go, uh, hang on, I'm going to find it. I'm going to find it here.
00:08:20
Speaker
Well, there we are, there we are. December 5th, episode 10, The Truth About Time Grief and the Healing Powers of Kittens. So Mimi shares her perspective.
00:08:33
Speaker
on Breeze podcast. Pause to go. So look that up if you want to hear a fantastic story about Mimi and hear her on the air, so to
Daytona 500 Pits Experience
00:08:46
Speaker
speak. Let's get into it. So Daytona 500, the Super Bowl of racing, and of course they have their Super Bowl at the beginning of the season. And it was fantastic.
00:08:58
Speaker
My buddy Andy Brown got us pit passes from a friend of his that works for ARCA. So Andy Johan and I, along with Andy's son Austin, packed up on a Saturday before and headed down to Daytona, played a little golf.
00:09:18
Speaker
Saturday afternoon, had dinner, spent the night in Ponce Inlet at my mother-in-law's condo, and then hit the racetrack on Sunday. Man, it was something. Being down in the pits during the race was something that was beyond my wildest dreams. Being able to walk on the racetrack pre-race,
00:09:47
Speaker
Being able to walk through the pits in the garage is pre-race and seeing the preparations and the equipment and everything. The cars, all like that was amazing. And then during the race, the speed, the noise, of course, earplugs were a must.
00:10:06
Speaker
Uh, but it was fantastic and, uh, a good race, fun race. Um, always been a fan of racing, uh, you know, uh, a peripheral fan, uh, I guess you could say from the outside looking in, I will, I'll watch the Daytona 500.
00:10:24
Speaker
I have watched a couple of races since then. I watched a little bit of Las Vegas on Sunday, a little bit of, uh, uh, Fontana the week after Daytona actually listened to a NASCAR on XM radio for a little bit, just to, to listen to that. And then when they get into the meat of things, uh, and some of the old school, you know, real race tracks that I like to call them because, uh, Darlington, North Wilkesboro, Martinsville, Bristol, Atlanta, Talladega, Charlotte knows.
00:10:53
Speaker
In the old school NASCAR will be fun, but saw a lot of people saw Bill Elliot my hero In terms of NASCAR Michael Waltrip doing some TV saw him Charlotte flair was there so two Mixes of two of my favorite things wrestling and and and and then also that NASCAR And of course the current racers Michael Jordan was there
00:11:23
Speaker
So you mix Michael Jordan NASCAR and Charlotte Flair and that pretty much sums up me NASCAR was it being third on that list with Rick Flair Charlotte Flair wrestling and Michael Jordan at the very very top Didn't get close enough to Michael. I did get a picture from about a hundred feet away but by the time I could make it down there to the pits he was back in his bus but
00:11:51
Speaker
To say I was within 100 feet of Michael Jordan, you know, not in a basketball game. Well, I think the one time I saw him play was his last game against the Hawks the first time when he was with the Bulls.
00:12:05
Speaker
Uh, 90, I guess, 98, it was in the Georgia dome and I was much farther away than a hundred feet from my, from Michael Jordan. Um, so a great day, a fantastic experience to be in the pits. I don't know if I'll ever be able to go to a race and sit in the stands again, but, uh, I'll certainly try. Uh, certainly try.
WrestleMania Storylines
00:12:28
Speaker
Another thing to talk about before I get into the North Carolina Tar Heels this year, it's WrestleMania season. Speaking of my love of professional wrestling, since I was, I don't know, seven years old, Kelly thinks it's odd. It's just something that I've always
00:12:49
Speaker
always loved and, um, you know, I follow a lot of things on Twitter, a lot of boards, mostly the NWA mid Atlantic championship wrestling from back in the day worldwide, you know, the, the old school stuff, WWE. Well, when it was WWF, it's, it's hard to watch sometimes now because it's just not as good. But the, I will say the storyline that they are cultivating for this WrestleMania
00:13:18
Speaker
with the bloodline is very fascinating and very well done so far, I think. We'll see how that plays out tonight, I guess, on SmackDown and then in the future weeks of Monday Night Raw, bringing John Cena back. You know, everybody was saying it was going to be Rock and Roman Reigns in WrestleMania and Hollywood. That is not going to happen. So we think, unless it's just a huge swerve where the Rock shows up at the end to lay the SmackDown
00:13:47
Speaker
on the bloodline and get them back right. I did see something on Twitter earlier this week that Stone Cold is now maybe confirmed for WrestleMania again this year. Of course, last year he made a return against in a pseudo match with Kevin Owens. So it is good to see John Cena back. He'll take on Austin Theory for the United States title. I really don't see them putting the belts on
00:14:17
Speaker
John Cena just because that's not something that is long lasting, I wouldn't think, but look for Cena to be able to put on a good show. The Cody Rhodes angle with Roman Reigns seems forced, really. I felt last year bringing Cody Rhodes back to WrestleMania in his first match in the WWE, back in the WWE after leaving AEW was
00:14:47
Speaker
way too predictable. And then how he and Seth Rollins went out and they had a great match. Don't get me wrong, it was a fantastic match. But I just think that Cody Rhodes has not been used well in his almost year back in the WWE. Of course, part of that time was due to injury in the pectoral muscle tear that he had to come back from.
00:15:16
Speaker
You know, all of a sudden the worst kept secret in wrestling last year. Cody Rhodes is back in WrestleMania now in what will be really his first big match back after the injury. They're going to throw him right into, I mean, they put him at number 30 in the Royal Rumble. That was predictable. And now here they are. It was predictable. He was going to win the Royal Rumble. Everything around the Cody Rhodes angle since he's come back has been predictable. And so that's kind of maybe they're setting us up for a swerve.
00:15:47
Speaker
on night two in Hollywood. I don't know, but everything so far with Cody Rhodes has been predictable since he came back. And that just doesn't sit, and his stuffs don't like that. That doesn't sit well. But who knows? You know, Cody Rhodes is a great talent. Don't get me wrong. And he did some great things in AEW. And apparently AEW had a pay-per-view this past weekend in MGAF and not Moxley, Daniel Bryan.
00:16:16
Speaker
Brian Danielson, his real name, went 65 minutes in an Iron Man match. That's unheard of in this day and age. That's unheard of since the mid 80s, really. Mid to late 80s when Ric Flair was the NWA World Champion and he would go 60 minutes eight times a week at house shows with the star in that territory or the star of the baby face of the day.
00:16:47
Speaker
Um, so that's unheard of for a match to go 65 minutes in this day and time. So, uh, fantastic match there. I watched a little bit of it on YouTube after the fact, um, which was phenomenal. Uh, what they do, what they do is, is unbelievable. And I know it's scripted. Um, but still, I would never use the word fake because there's no way that
00:17:16
Speaker
When you cut yourself your own accord with a razor blade, that's not fake. And dropping to the floor and being hit in the back with a chair and whatnot, you can't fake that. But yes, it is scripted and predetermined, but still has some real aspects to it. So WrestleMania season in full bore, it'll be interesting to see how that plays out with the, also Seth Rollins and Logan Paul is an interesting angle.
00:17:45
Speaker
And what are they gonna do with Bray Wyatt? I mean, they just keep teasing and teasing and teasing it. I don't really understand that, but Bray Wyatt is a fantastic talent. I think maybe the most talented performer on the roster at WWE right now outside of maybe Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes. But Kevin Owens, I mean, Bray Wyatt's fantastic. It's just what character are they going to focus on and use going forward in WrestleMania?
00:18:16
Speaker
Uh, we're 18 minutes into this and I haven't really dove into the North Carolina Tar Heels yet.
North Carolina Tar Heels Analysis
00:18:21
Speaker
Of course, back on an earlier episode, uh, we had the 2005 national champion, David Noel on, uh, in the preseason talking about how both excited we were with four starters coming back from a national runner up team.
00:18:43
Speaker
The team that led at the national championship game by 15 points last year, lose Brady manic, pick up Pete Nance, uh, a year older puff Johnson, Jalen Washington, who looked to be a fantastic freshmen and a couple other freshmen as well.
00:19:07
Speaker
The McCoy kid from Virginia was a nice roll piece, we thought. So the sky was the limit, and pretty much the coronation was basically happening in October and November with the Sports Illustrated cover, preseason number one, starting out 5-0.
00:19:30
Speaker
Um, not really in convincing fashion, uh, and then, uh, losing two in a row or losing, excuse me, four in a row. Iowa state was a head scratcher that, uh, I think what triple overtime, quadruple overtime game to Alabama, which not a bad loss now because Alabama is the number one team or is going to be, uh, one of the number one seeds come Sunday, uh, bad loss.
00:19:58
Speaker
now but not bad then to then number 10 Indiana. And then Virginia Tech, a loss on the road at Blacksburg to open conference play. And you were like, okay, what's going on here? Scored 65 points losing to Iowa State, a lot of points, 101 losing to Alabama, 65 again to Indiana, 72 to Virginia Tech. And just never
00:20:27
Speaker
got on track. They did take care of Georgia Tech, who had fire, who had incidentally fired their coach today. Josh Passner is gone after seven seasons in Atlanta. The ACC title and NCAA tournament appearance, the one ACC title out of nowhere has run out. The luck with that has run out. So Josh Passner is gone. So there'll be a new coach in Georgia Tech. Also, Georgia Southern's coach was let go yesterday. So two new basketball coaches in the state of Georgia
00:20:57
Speaker
next year. It'll be interesting to see.
00:21:00
Speaker
Who gets who Georgia Tech goes and gets, but, um, another one over the citadel and then the win over Ohio state by five beat Michigan. And then the head scratchers again, you score 74 points on the road, lose to pit by two in a game that you, uh, were leading by six with about two minutes to go. You beat a good, they better wake forest team. You beat Notre Dame. Then you go on the road, lose to Virginia without Armando Baycott.
00:21:29
Speaker
who again has tweeted last night, the season's over. Luckily, I don't have to hear or ever utter the words or hear the words, Baycott ankle injury ever again in a sentence. It's been a common thread from last year in the championship game to against Virginia back in January to
00:21:59
Speaker
Last night, it's just Armando Baycott's a very good player. He's done a lot. But the curtain has closed on his career with good reason, and that's fine. You win Louisville, Boston College, beat NC State, Syracuse. So you're feeling pretty good at, you know,
00:22:24
Speaker
three losses in the league, and then you stumble your toe again at home against Pitt in a game that you had the lead with under two minutes to go, then you go on the road and you only score 57 points at Duke, really kind of get blown out at Wake Forest. It was 92-85, but it was not that close. Wake had a working 15 to 20 point lead, the majority of that second half, and they just got hot at the end.
00:22:51
Speaker
You beat a Clemson team that could end up winning the ACC this weekend. Clemson is peaking at the right time. They blew the doors off NC State last night and I see them beating Virginia tonight to get to the championship game. And then you drop another two straight at home against Miami where you were really kind of in that one.
00:23:13
Speaker
But again, offensive woes at the end of the game. You lose by eight, Miami could win the league. I think it's going to be Clemson in Miami tomorrow night in Greensboro for the championship. Miami is really, really good. They were an elite eight team last year. Jim Laronega does a fantastic job coaching that basketball team. Jim Laronega is a fantastic basketball coach, and he has been for a long time. Remember George Mason back in 06 that he took
00:23:42
Speaker
to the final four. Lose the state on the road in a game that you really never were in, and then you needed to win a bunch in a row. And you beat Notre Dame, and you beat Virginia at home in the best shooting performance of the year, although you still only scored 71 points, but you hit 14 threes in the first half. And then you win a game that you needed to badly against Florida State on the road, a bad Florida State team. And then you come home and you got Duke on senior night
00:24:11
Speaker
And you can't finish, lose by five, score 57 points in both games against Duke. And this Duke team is not that good. This is not a Duke team of Coach K of the years where he would win a national championship or anything like that. This is not that team, although they are getting a little bit better. They blew out Pittsburgh, but I still don't think Pittsburgh was very good. And then Boston College was not good, you blow them out on
00:24:38
Speaker
Wednesday and then you run into Virginia last night and you cut it to two and you just could not score and they go on a 9-0 run and win it. And now you're sitting there, every bracketologist, Joe Lenardi and CBS and everybody you look at says North Carolina's first four out. Not gonna make the NCAA tournament. 20 and 13, 11 and nine in the ACC.
00:25:06
Speaker
12 and 10 if you count the conference tournament games, but not going to get into the tournament. And now, you have Armando Baycott last night, you have other players in the post-game press conference, Armando Baycott saying to reporters, we just were not that good. We are not that good. This is one player removed from a national championship runner-up team. Brady Manick.
00:25:36
Speaker
Was Brady Manik that much better than Pete Nance? Yes, absolutely he was. Absolutely. But was Caleb Love better last year than he was this year? Yes, absolutely. RJ Davis, I think, was the only player. Leaky Black showed improvement offensively. I'll give him that. Baycott was about the same.
00:26:00
Speaker
He got all the accolades in the preseason. He got what first team all ACC, but that's where that's going to stop. Basically because of his double doubles when he was healthy and when they would get the ball into him. Caleb Love was not good, but you think back, you know, during the regular season last year until they got hot in the NCAA tournament, they weren't that good of a team to begin with, but then they got hot Brady manic.
00:26:27
Speaker
was the glue. And Pete Nance was terrible. Pete Nance was terrible. And I don't know if because, I don't know if he, let me rephrase that. He was terrible in this offense on this team. I think he has some positives, he has some negatives. When he got cold, he got cold. When he was on, he played okay. When Brady Manik was on, he'd score 30, 25.
00:26:55
Speaker
Pete Mance could not go out and score 25 points any time. So what's next? Do they accept the NIT bid with this group? I don't think so. I just don't think so. I mean, what's the point of accepting the NIT? I think what has to start, it starts at the top.
00:27:19
Speaker
with Hubert Davis and the coaching staff, and they have to figure out an offensive game plan, an offensive system, an offensive identity. Because there were so many times that you did not see, I mean, this North Carolina team got out rebounded all the time, got beat on fast break points, got beat in the turnover game.
00:27:41
Speaker
That is not North Carolina basketball. North Carolina basketball is out rebounding your opponent, out offensive rebounding your opponent, out winning the transition battle, and out running, and then also winning the turnover battle. This team did none of that, and it showed. And late game offensive opportunities, or late game offense, was nonexistent.
00:28:07
Speaker
They would go late game minutes without scoring baskets, missing layups, missing free throws. Last night they missed 10 layups, missed five free throws when they were down two possessions. So, I mean, you can't do that. And especially against the Virginia team where you're not going to get that many possessions. So a lot of questions are going to be asked and a lot of questions need to be answered.
00:28:32
Speaker
But it's my opinion, and I don't know if it's a popular one, that North Carolina does not need to go to the NIT with this collection of players. R.J. Davis, yes. I would watch R.J. Davis play, and I hope he comes back. I hope he and Puff Johnson come back. Jalen Washington, the other freshmen.
NCAA Tournament Anticipation
00:28:50
Speaker
But to say I'm gonna miss Armando Baycott and his attitude here lately, I'm not. I'm not gonna miss Caleb Love's attitude. He was, when he,
00:29:01
Speaker
The few times in a game when he was in the offense, involved in the offense, they were very good. He was very good, but when he would come down and shoot a three from a logo or shoot a three out of nowhere before the rest of the offense was down and be able to offensive rebound or position offensive rebound, no, no thank you.
00:29:24
Speaker
So we will see, um, going to be interesting. The NCAA tournament should be fun. I think this, this thing is so wide open. Um, right now, um, there are a number of teams, I feel that can win the NCAA tournament this year. If you look at Joel and Artie's bracket watch,
00:29:50
Speaker
Carolina has now dropped from the first four out to the next four out. So it's not a chance. Vanderbilt is fun to watch. Vanderbilt plays Kentucky tonight in the SEC tournament. They need to win that game. I think if they win that game, they jump into the last four in now that Pitt has lost in the quarters of the ACC. I don't think Pitt deserves to get in.
00:30:12
Speaker
The first four at Oklahoma State Clemson. Clemson can get in with a win tonight, I think. Nevada, Wisconsin, next four out in North Carolina, Oregon, Vanderbilt, Michigan. Vanderbilt with a win against Kentucky, I think therein, no matter what happens on semi-final Saturday in Nashville. Pittsburgh is in trouble.
00:30:30
Speaker
Utah State, I think they solidified their selves last night by winning. Mississippi State took a hit today, but I think they'll stay in as they got kind of blown out by Alabama. But Alabama is one of the number one seeds. If not, gonna end up the number one overall seed. So you got Kansas, Alabama as your one seed, Houston and UCLA. I think those are cemented no matter what happens this weekend in the conference tournaments.
00:30:59
Speaker
Your two seeds, Arizona, Purdue, Baylor and Texas. Now those are all up for grabs. I don't know what happens if Baylor and Texas face each other in the big 12. I don't know what happens if UCLA loses to Arizona. They could flip flop, even though I just said that I think UCLA is safe. Gonzaga is a three seed, which Gonzaga always a joke to me.
00:31:26
Speaker
They don't play anybody, but if they get high seed and they're ranked in the top 25, they don't play anybody. And I would be very surprised that everyone asked for championship. Of course we saw what happened, you know, a couple of years ago when North Carolina beat their best team ever. So they said, um, shout out to the Furman paladins, the Furman paladins right now. First time in the NCAA tournament since 1980.
00:31:53
Speaker
1980 the paladin of course lost on a buzzer beater from three quarter court or from half court last year in the southern conference championship game the Chattanooga they avenged that loss and finally got over the hump to make the NCAA tournament they're slated as a 14 seed against Tennessee and Greensboro I like the location of Greensboro I do not like the matchup playing Tennessee
00:32:21
Speaker
But congratulations to the Furman Paladins for making the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1980. They've won a couple of regular season conference championships, but never the tournament since 43 years ago. So we'll see how that shakes out. NC State at Tennessee. That's interesting. Kennesaw State here from in Georgia. Congratulations to them. They
00:32:47
Speaker
are in the big dance for the very first time in their program. I think two years ago, two years ago, they were one in 29, one in 29, two years ago. And now they're dancing in the NCAA tournament. So the closest regional to us here in South Georgia, I guess would be Birmingham or Greensboro. And then
00:33:11
Speaker
Well, Orlando, but I don't really want to go watch Miami Drake, Indiana, Yale, TCU, VCU, Virginia, Iona. Love NCAA tournament though. Birmingham's hosting. And then the, the regionals are in Louisville, Kansas city, New York and Las Vegas. Uh, the final four, where's the final four? Huh? I don't know. Oh, Houston, Houston. Yes. I'm glad I didn't buy tickets.
00:33:39
Speaker
because Houston is a city that will ever haunt me. And that probably is why Carolina's not good this year because the Final Four was going to be in Houston. Of course, Houston was a side of Villanova winning at the buzzer in 2016. Houston was a side of the Atlanta Falcons, blowing a 28 to three lead in the Super Bowl. Yeah, Houston's not my favorite place. But I mean, Thursday and Friday of NCAA tournament, the best two days of sports
00:34:10
Speaker
Every year, I mean, we are folks, we are in it. We are right here in, in my opinion, the best time of year for sports, because we have conference basketball tournaments right now this weekend, next weekend, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, first and second rounds and until the tournament. The following weekend, sweet 16 and elite eight major league baseball opening day, the final four WrestleMania and then masters.
00:34:40
Speaker
Folks, it doesn't get any better than this. I know, I know, I know. People are gonna say, oh, bowl week is great, or the BCS is great, or FPS is great, or college football playoff, whatever they call it. Bowl week does not hold a candle to the next four weeks of sports in this country. College football season does not hold a candle to the next four weeks of sports in this country. NFL playoffs does not hold a candle.
00:35:06
Speaker
This is it. We are in the prime sports time of the year. Enjoy it. Have fun with it. There's basketball on right now. There's basketball on till two in the morning today. There's conference championship games and semi-finals tomorrow, conference championship games on Sunday leading into the selection show. And for the, and I will say, I will do it again. I've done it every Sunday night.
00:35:36
Speaker
of Selection Sunday since 1987. I've had a legal pad and I've written in the brackets on my legal pad every Selection Sunday night since 1987 and I will be right in front of the television this Sunday at 6 o'clock with Jim Nance and whoever else they throw up there next to him to reveal the brackets and I'll do it again and then I'll fill it out one time all the way through how I feel like it's going to go
00:36:06
Speaker
And it'll be a little bit, this year it's going to be a lot more objective than in years past when North Carolina not being in the tournament. It'll be a little more objective and a little more realistic because I always somehow managed to have the Tar Heels in the Final Four of my bracket, regardless. But they will not be in there this year. And then I will go with it. That will be my one bracket that I fill out on that legal pad. I'll transfer it to a printed sheet on Monday.
00:36:36
Speaker
And then I'll put it into how many ever tournament pools I enter. And then I'll lose because I've never won one, but it's a lot of fun. And then Thursday and Friday, you know, it starts with Tuesday. There's four games on Tuesday night. And then it starts on Thursday with, uh, what 16 games, Thursday, 16 games, Friday, eight games, Saturday, eight games, Sunday, the two best days of sports. And then we are in the best four week run.
00:37:05
Speaker
of sports in this country each and every year. The Players' Championship, I mentioned it. It's going on right now. Let's see. We are in the middle of round two as we are recording. And as of right now, it's Christian, of course, Buesendaught. Of course, the person that's leading, I can't hardly pronounce. He's eight under. Svensson's eight under. Ben Griffin from St. Simons.
00:37:35
Speaker
and Sea Island at six under and third tie with Lee and Colomora Cowell. Pindrith at five under Scotty Scheffler, who I think will probably win this thing on Sunday afternoon. He's five under Will Gordon and other Sea Island, St. Simon's Island guy. He's four under tied for eighth. Jason Day. Where's he been? Jason Day four under par. Victor Hovland four under par.
00:38:00
Speaker
Let's see the next Ricky Fowler hanging in at two under par. He's won this tournament before Keith Mitchell another Sea Island guy even par Kisner another St. Simon Sea Island guy even par patent desire one over par He's done tied for 53. So that's got to be looks like the cut lines to over seb straka Underneath the cut line another Sea Island guy also
00:38:28
Speaker
Brian Harmon, three over, still with nine holes to play. He can still make the cut. Matt Kutcher, formerly of St. Simons, now lives in Florida. Grayson Sig, four over, only through eight.
00:38:43
Speaker
He's a Georgia boy, Sea Island guy, great guy. See him a number of times a week when he's home in the workout facility at Sea Island. Four over for him, he has an opportunity to make a move and still make the cut. JT Poston as well, and Andrew Novak, a Sea Island guy as well. John Rahm withdrew. Two under par. He withdrew.
00:39:08
Speaker
um, because of an illness. So that's interesting to see.
Inspiring Weight Loss Story
00:39:14
Speaker
Now, finally, as we wrap up, I mentioned earlier, um, a lifelong battle, a lifelong roller coaster, um, that I've been on in my life of
00:39:27
Speaker
trying to eat healthy, trying to be healthy, trying to exercise. And I don't really put this out very often. I don't, I don't post pictures on Facebook of progress. I don't put it on Twitter. I don't put it on Instagram. Um, but I am very proud and I want to share a little bit of the story because I never thought here I am at age almost age 46.
00:39:52
Speaker
I've done it before. I did it four years ago where I lost. Well, first of all, I did it back in 2006 after Jenna was born. I lost a ton of weight. I was 298. I got down to 195. Um, and then ate my way back up. That's the, that's the cycle. I can lose a bunch, eat my way back up, lose a bunch, eat my way back up, lose a bunch, eat my way back up. So I did that in 06, got down to like 195, something like that.
00:40:22
Speaker
Did it again in I think 2012, was 240 or so, 250, got back down to 197. Ate my way back up and then kind of hovered around 220, 230, 240.
00:40:41
Speaker
And then, uh, 2018, no, 2019. Yeah. End of the end of 2018 into 2019. I think I was two 48 got down to one 82. And then when we got married in, that was, uh, the summer of, oh, the summer of 19, I got down to one 82. And then we got married in 20 January, 2020. I had gotten back up a little bit around probably 200.
00:41:10
Speaker
Uh, and then COVID hit and I went and I, you know, COVID, you were sitting at home, you had nothing to do but eat two and three times a week. Yeah, gyms were closed. I'm not going to work out at home. I'm not a home workout guy. Got a Peloton, wrote it maybe 50 times in three years. You know, I have to physically go somewhere in order to get a good workout.
00:41:34
Speaker
Yes, I rode my bike a lot during COVID, but it wasn't anything like, it was like five miles, five miles, two or three times a week. Not enough to burn enough calories versus the amount of food and meals. Not a lot of food, but you know, I'd eat a big lunch. Oh, well, what are we doing now? Well, we watched TV. We watched Tiger King. We watched blah, blah, blah on Netflix. Let's have an afternoon snack. Okay. Let's eat dinner. Okay.
00:42:01
Speaker
So COVID hit, I think the end of COVID, it was about, I was back up to like 220, 225. Kind of hovered around there for the next couple of years. Then last year, 2022 got to 245. And I said, okay, that's it. That's it. So last March 8th, I was 245.
00:42:30
Speaker
And Kelly and I started, joined this Facebook group called M23, I think is what it is, E2M. Some of her friends were doing it, basically what it is. It's a fasting, it's an eight week program where you fast until lunchtime, then you eat six ounces of protein, a green vegetable.
00:42:57
Speaker
and a healthy fat avocado, handful of nuts, blah, blah, blah. We did that for eight weeks. I went from two 45 to two 17. Then summer hits kind of fluctuated to 22 30 back and forth. Um, you know, got back on in the fall. We did another eight week round. I got down to like two 20 never could really get under two 20.
00:43:22
Speaker
Uh, January, uh, March, you know, then here comes, you know, fall. It's tough for me to eat healthy on the road for football, uh, doing high school and college with Georgia Southern and Richmond Hill. It's hard to eat healthy on the road. That was always my excuse. It was a crutch. It was an excuse. Then, oh, well then here's Thanksgiving and Christmas. You can't diet then.
00:43:46
Speaker
So January came, I was like, all right, I'm gonna start back. We did another kind of eight week thing. I kind of got halfway back on it. And mind you, I was working out the whole time during all this. I still went to the gym five days a week, still did workouts, but was not eating right. Was not eating well.
00:44:04
Speaker
all the time, all the time. Sometimes, yes, like I would do good three days a week and then the weekend hits and we'd go out to eat and I would blow it. So hovering around 220, 225, March 8th of this year, no, no, no, no, excuse me, January, second week of January. No, no, no, we went to, yeah, second week of Disney, of January, we went to Disney. So that Monday I said, all right, this is it, I was two,
00:44:33
Speaker
242, again, I had gone back up from 232. I'd gotten back 235. 235 the Monday before, so I guess Monday, January 8th or something like that, because we went to Disney, Martin Luther King weekend. Monday, January 8th, I got on the scale 235. I was like, all right, that's it. That's it.
00:44:57
Speaker
So I started then two 35 and started fasting, exercising still five, six days a week, burning four to four to 800 calories in a workout, depending on the day. And lunch has been six ounces of, uh, of meat, green vegetable fruit, an apple apple sauce.
00:45:26
Speaker
tangerine, clementine, whatever, and a handful of nuts or a chopped salad, a chef salad, something small. Dinner has been much of the same. Piece of meat, chicken, pork chop, lean ground beef, patty, vegetable, and almonds. And I stuck to it. No cheat meal. None. Because the first time I was like, when I did this E2M, I said, okay, we get a cheat meal. Well, I found out that cheat meals,
00:45:54
Speaker
They call them reward meals on the Facebook group. Reward meals don't really reward you with anything, because it just gives you that taste of what you're missing. And if you eat clean for five to six to seven days, and then you eat bad, you're going to feel bad, first of all. And then you're going to gain a couple of pounds, and it's going to take more time to get that off. So 235 January 8, this morning, 192.
00:46:23
Speaker
So two 35 this morning, one 92 and haven't really had a cheat meal. Um, my cheat meal. Now we went out to dinner two nights ago. We split shrimp scampi and we split a Caesar salad and that's that, that was it. Um, I hadn't had any bread. I've had a couple of croutons on a salad here, there hadn't had any sweets. Don't miss it.
00:46:54
Speaker
haven't had any bread, don't miss had that pasta, no rice, don't really miss that. I think I've had quinoa a couple times or something like a healthy grain. I'll take that back haven't had any, any, any like biscuits or rolls or anything. I've had some of the
00:47:06
Speaker
Mike's power protein bread shameless plug there for for Mike's power protein bread Because you do need some carbs to sustain the energy now my blood sugar I do think dropped a couple of times where I felt lightheaded by not eating enough So you can't get in that you can't get into that way. You don't need enough But you have to eat enough of what is good for you and what is right
00:47:30
Speaker
And so I have my protein and a lot of egg whites, a lot of chicken sausage, a lot of deli, turkey meat, the fresh cut, not the pre-packaged stuff, a lot of, um, air fried broccoli, air fried Brussels sprouts, air fried carrots, a lot of tangerines and clementines, a lot of apples, applesauce, a lot of almonds. And I feel great. Went to the doctor back, um, into February for a physical last year.
00:48:00
Speaker
Uh, all my numbers were crazy. I was, like I said, two 40, I think two 44 when I went to the doctor last year. And then I was at that time, two Oh one. When I went and not like I said, one 92 this morning. And yes, I am one of those that obsess over the scale, which I know I'm not supposed to, but I do. This is just a measuring stick for me to see what I did that day. I measure before I go to bed and I measure the next morning. Cause I can kind of predict.
00:48:31
Speaker
When I measure at night, I can, when I weigh at night, I can kind of, kind of predict what I'll be the next day, um, within a half a pound or so. So I obsess over the scale and I know you're not supposed to, you're supposed to weigh once a week, but that's for the birds. I mean, come on, who's going to weigh once a week when you're on a diet? But, um, anyway, went to the doctor. He was very impressed. All the numbers were better. Blood pressure was better. Glucose was, glucose was better. Triglycerides.
00:48:59
Speaker
245 last year, 81 this year, cholesterol was better. Everything was better across the board. Um, because last year he told me you're a walking case of type two diabetes, just your, the way you, I mean, you're five, six, you're not getting any taller to, to, to stretch anything out to make room. It's all going right there. So.
00:49:20
Speaker
I've had to change clothes sizes and everything else. Um, but the reason I say all this, and I'm not trying to toot my own horn because I'm not going to put a picture on Facebook. I'm not going to put a picture on Twitter. I'm not going to put a picture on Instagram of where I was this time last year versus where I am this year. I have those pictures, but they're going to live in my phone.
00:49:42
Speaker
and send to my closest friends and family just to say, Hey, look, you know, because I am going to toot my horn there, but I'm not going to put it on there on social media. I don't need to do that. And the reason I'm saying this now is if you're listening and you have been on a roller coaster like me, you can do it. The first two weeks is awful. I'm not going to lie because you're hungry all the time. But after two weeks,
00:50:06
Speaker
you get used to it. And then after that two weeks, you see the progress in the mirror, you see the progress on the scale, and that is what keeps you motivated to eat the small meals. And we went to a place two months ago, I said, that a year ago, six months ago, four months ago, I would have, and so it's a kind of a tapas appetizer place with some entrees,
00:50:35
Speaker
I would have sat down at the table. The table ordered, there were eight of us, the table ordered four appetizers. And I would have gone through and I would have had half of each of something of those. The other night I did not. I had a couple of pork rinds, which were carbs, no carbs, protein. And I would have had a full entree with a salad and everything else.
00:51:03
Speaker
Now I don't feel that way. I've gone to functions. There were functions, dinners surrounding the funeral of Mimi that I talked about earlier. There was a big dinner with a big beautiful prime rib with all the fixings. I mean, you know, everything with it. Green bean casserole mashed potatoes. I ate before I went. I've turned the corner. I wouldn't used to do that.
00:51:31
Speaker
I wouldn't used to do, even when I was dieting, I would not eat before I went to a function. I have to go to a function tonight and I will probably eat before I go. And that's the lifestyle change that you have to put into place in your mental capacity, in your mental strength. And I've gotten stronger physically,
00:52:01
Speaker
leaner physically, but it's the mental aspect of dieting that I think is something that I was missing, um, to not put yourself in positions where you fall off. And so if you're going through this struggle, you know, if you want to reach out and talk, I'll talk you through it. I'm not going to, you know, talk down to you or talk better than you or anything like that. But if you need advice, I can tell you.
00:52:28
Speaker
how I did it and how it worked for me, not saying it'll work for you, but it's how it works for me and the progress I've made mentally being on a diet and being healthy versus the actual eating part. And I think until you hone in on that mental part, you're going to fall off and you're going to stay on the roller coaster that I was on for all my life. So, and I'm not sure I won't fall off again.
00:52:59
Speaker
You know, I worry about that. But I think I'm in a better place than I ever had been before when I dieted and watch my weight and watch what I ate than I ever have been. So anyway, next week, yes, next week, I will be back and I will preview the NCAA tournament.
Next Episode Preview
00:53:20
Speaker
March Madness coming up. I will go through my bracket step by step, game by game, all the way till they crown a champion in Houston. We'll talk about the end of the players and we'll probably take another look down the road of WrestleMania. So as always, thanks for stopping by and listening. I appreciate it. This has been the Ross Sports Report.