Episode 17: New Year, Same Me

[00:00:00] Hello everyone, it is 2024 and I am back with my first episode. So you know it to do.

[00:00:09] So back, relax, grab a drink or two, and let's listen to The Staredown.

[00:00:31] Man, a lot has happened since I last talked to everyone and you all heard my voice.

[00:00:37] I hope you are enjoying the beginning of 2024.

[00:00:42] I know that in our household, COVID has struck so we are quarantined but that's okay because before COVID hit

[00:00:53] and it only hit my husband thankfully not me but I'm keeping his germs far far away.

[00:00:58] But before that happened, we got to go to the Peach Bowl in Atlanta to watch my Rebels take on Penn State

[00:01:08] and my goodness you guys what a game.

[00:01:11] 38, 25, pre-scorn comes out of nowhere or so everybody thinks like I knew pre-scorn was a star

[00:01:20] he's made and impact throughout the whole season especially after he came back from his injury

[00:01:27] and sat out through the first 30 games and then came back in the fourth game against Bama.

[00:01:31] And you could see then, you know he's a little slow but or slow we're kind of getting into the hang of things

[00:01:36] but he was there and he just started making an impact immediately so loved it for him so happy

[00:01:42] especially after he did lose his dad during the season, during our by-week they hold the funeral.

[00:01:49] So really happy for him, really happy for the entire team.

[00:01:52] Some of the other big news obviously coming out of Ole Miss is that Jackson Dart is coming back next year

[00:01:58] so a three-year quarterback under Lane Kiffin System I'm really excited to see what he does

[00:02:04] and then obviously the other big news that ties into a lot of college football news is transfer portal

[00:02:11] so Quenchon is going to be going into the transfer portal he's put his name in

[00:02:18] we wish I'm nothing but the best and all of the success in the world as long as he you know doesn't play against us at any point

[00:02:26] I'm just kidding, you know but I think part of the argument around him and some of the frustrations that we've seen

[00:02:33] with the transfer portal as a whole I kind of feel like it came to ahead with Quenchon especially on Ole Miss Twitter

[00:02:39] right and Ole Miss social media anything.

[00:02:42] Everyone's so sad and is there no loyalty to the team and blah blah blah but yet these are the same people who just you know a week or so before

[00:02:50] were so excited when we were getting all of these commits from kids in the transfer portal who were coming from other schools

[00:02:56] so it's kind of a little bit of a pop-meat kettle because we can't be excited about getting these kids out of the transfer portal

[00:03:03] and then be upset when one of our stars goes in that's just the name of the game right and it leads to the larger discussion

[00:03:10] that's being held about college football and IEL and what the NIL does for the transfer portal and it provides an opportunity

[00:03:18] for these kids because like I've said a million times before these are kids it allows for them to go maximize their value

[00:03:26] while they can and the adults in charge are now upset about it because they've created a system and allowed for a system to be created

[00:03:37] to where these kids can do this but what bothers me I think the most about it is when the adults in the room start getting upset at what's happening

[00:03:47] I really want to stand back and be like you guys we have no one to blame but ourselves at this point and in all honesty

[00:03:54] how was this any different than you going into work one day someone hit you up on LinkedIn offers you a job it's your dream job

[00:04:04] it's making more money it's doing everything you ever wanted to do and then you go turn in your two-week notice to your current boss

[00:04:10] to take this dream job or your boss leaves and you go to another job because you really like that boss

[00:04:19] and the new boss just isn't really a fit for you so you go find something else that's exactly what these kids are doing

[00:04:24] they're going in finding places and yes it's school not business and this is where I blame the NCAA a lot in this

[00:04:32] is because the NCAA still wants to push at these or student athletes but and I think that's where a lot of people keep getting hung around the axle

[00:04:39] is that the loyalty to schools that the fan the average fan even the fan for like myself the above average fan that loyalty

[00:04:51] it's not being created in the atmosphere and in the environment that the NIL and transfer portal allow so we can't be we can't be angry at these kids

[00:05:03] for going and maximizing you know their value and maximizing the system that we've created for them so you know I think it's there's a lot of talk of reform

[00:05:15] how do you reform it at this point I don't know because I think we've let it get to a point to where you know there are rumors that you know

[00:05:23] dark wanted well over seven figures to come back next year I mean y'all I would love to make seven figures I really would and it's hard to you know for me as a fan to

[00:05:40] give to these collectives which I do I do give to the growth collective it is not a whole lot it is some but it's hard for me to continue to give more and more and more

[00:05:51] when I I don't have a few money as we joke about it and our house and with our friends I don't have that kind of money to do that but I will give what I can because I don't want it to just go and help

[00:06:05] football I want it to go help other sports as well obviously I want it to go help basketball men's and women's softball baseball all of these things like I wanted to go

[00:06:16] help all of them and it's just it's hard to do that when you have these more high profile sports and athletes you know when you have them demanding these six

[00:06:33] figures how do you spread that wealth to these other sports and of course then there's always the argument too of well you know women's basketball brought in more money

[00:06:42] okay that's great and yes I do understand that football helps fund some of these women's programs or lesser programs even on the

[00:06:50] men's side but that doesn't diminish what those athletes are doing either so I don't know how you reform it at this point I think it's an

[00:07:00] animal that grew some legs and ran a lot faster than anyone expected but honestly NCAA this is this is looking at you kid like you're the reason that this is happening so

[00:07:12] you know I think a lot of the adults in the room who are trying to keep the average fan engaged and keep you know the student athletes first and

[00:07:26] foremost as they say they are doing they've created this atmosphere you know they they got greedy it's all about money because once you start

[00:07:34] doing things like conference realignment and you start having these massive television contracts you know it's hard how how can you look a kid in the

[00:07:44] eye and say hey you know you you barely have any money to go home during Christmas much less you have no money to

[00:07:53] like eat or take home a present or anything like that but hey your coach over here he's going to make nine million a year oh and by the way if

[00:08:01] another place comes and offers him ten million he's going to take that and he's going to jump why because it's just a job

[00:08:07] it's just we've lost I think we've lost sight as to what this whole experience in college is supposed to be you know we've basically

[00:08:20] in terms of college football it's now a little mini NFL so you know I I hate for the kids that maybe went somewhere and you know thought they were going to go do big things or if they asked for money

[00:08:33] and didn't get what they were asking for so they go to the transfer portal and maybe somebody will give it to him maybe there's another school that can

[00:08:39] give it to them but you know money is not unlimited and I think when you start treating this like the business that it is

[00:08:48] teams have to make business decisions and so you know specifically in the in the case of Quinchon and I'm sure in others I

[00:08:55] obviously only really know how to talk about that specific situation because I have paid more attention to it but you know I think a lot

[00:09:01] of these kids are going in and saying hey I want this amount of money and they're being told no we don't have that because we do need to spread it around

[00:09:08] we've got a budget for you know offensive lineman and these kinds of things I think that's that's hard and that's what you're starting to see

[00:09:15] and it's a business decision on both parts you know business decision on the kids part to go make the money while they can

[00:09:21] business decision on the colleges parts as well and the coaching staffs parts and collectives and all of that so you know I

[00:09:27] don't blame either side in any of these situations everyone's got to do what's best for them and at the end of the

[00:09:33] day winning is what's best you know winning is what what gets you to the playoffs unless you're Florida state and you are

[00:09:41] perfect until your bowl game and you go in and have a bunch of people sit out and so that kind of brings me

[00:09:50] to the next thing that I wanted to talk about is you know all of the opt-outs that we saw during bowl season

[00:09:56] Ole Miss had one opt-out Cedric Johnson and I don't blame him in fact I actually kind of got into a not an

[00:10:04] argument but a little bit of a back and forth on this particular subject because I personally the kids got

[00:10:12] to make the decision whether they want to play or not and and some of these decisions that are being

[00:10:18] made you know like in the in the case of Florida state like their players were like forget this I'm going to go to a

[00:10:24] bowl game that's meaningless in terms of you know being rewarded for going undefeated and winning our conference championship so

[00:10:32] why am I going to take that risk and getting hurt or no you gave us the middle finger so I'm going to give you the

[00:10:40] middle finger I don't know whatever their reasons were but whatever their reasons are they're their reasons

[00:10:44] that they have that right you know I think in the case of someone probably like Cedric Johnson and maybe some of the other ones

[00:10:50] who did sit out who were going to go play in a senior bowl or something like that or who are going to go get ready for the draft

[00:10:56] it's a calculated risk right there is a risk that they're going to step out on that field and get injured

[00:11:02] and as we saw too on a lot of the bowl games there were a ton of fights and we're talking about between teams that

[00:11:08] before I mean it even got kind of Chippy and Ole Miss Penn State and we've never played Penn State I don't think

[00:11:14] at least not in my lifetime so you know how do you how do you take take that risk out of that when games

[00:11:22] are getting Chippy because once you are out on that field you very rarely see guys who aren't going to give their all

[00:11:28] every single game and so they've got to take that risk and they've got to determine their their risk tolerance

[00:11:34] and so like in Cedric's case okay so he's that out he's going to go play in the senior bowl

[00:11:38] so my argument that I made or the point that I tried to make was to me it is no different than you were up

[00:11:46] in your first game of this season 70 to nothing so you start sitting starters and you put in second string

[00:11:54] and the argument that I tried to make is if a coach can make that decision for the kid why can't the kid make that decision for themselves

[00:12:01] the counter argument that was given to me was well you do it and you pull those players so that you can get back

[00:12:07] ups and other players playing time right exactly and why do you do that so that they have real game experience

[00:12:15] in case somebody gets hurt and in case they need to go in for whatever reason a helmet comes flying off

[00:12:21] they've got to sit out of play you know in Jackson Darts case during the peach bowl you know we saw in his left leg

[00:12:29] he injured it so you know Walker Howard having some experience man that's what we need like you don't want to throw a guy in there

[00:12:35] who's never seen real game experience at the college level so it's all done because of injuries and because of longevity

[00:12:45] and how do you continue to do that but still go win these games and so I feel like to me the opt-outs

[00:12:55] you know there were a lot of people who made a big deal about it I definitely feel like we had the extreme case in the Florida stage

[00:13:01] Georgia game I understand why Kirby kind of went on his rant a little bit about it but I also think it all kind of ties back into the NIL

[00:13:09] and the transfer portal where now you've got this playoff next year you're going to have 12 teams

[00:13:15] are these bowls meaningless like yeah it does great for tourism in these cities where these bowls are held

[00:13:23] it brings in a ton of money for the sponsors it the schools get money you know the conferences get to go split all of that money as well

[00:13:31] you know it goes into the big pot and everybody splits that so yes it does and again we all know it's about money right

[00:13:39] but at what point do you have to take those calculated risks and so I don't necessarily disagree with Kirk Kirk Street of

[00:13:47] hey do we just need to maybe do away with all of the bowl games but then also what about some of these kids at schools

[00:13:55] who get to play in a bowl game and get some national exposure that maybe they didn't get because their conference doesn't have a massive TV deal

[00:14:03] like you know the SEC or the big 10 or the big 12 for the ACC you know I mean now granted don't don't give me wrong the CW

[00:14:11] wasn't quite the national exposure that I think anybody wants but how do you how do you balance that

[00:14:19] and I think it's just because we've seen such a gap because of the money and because of these things

[00:14:25] we see the gap growing even more between your big four now basically and everybody else

[00:14:35] I think all that does is go back to reinforce what I have said all along which is that at some point you will see a different

[00:14:43] version of the NFL that will be college you will end up with your four major conferences I think they will either end up being re-aligned

[00:14:51] via geographical locations or you'll see them say the way they are now add in teams and stuff

[00:14:58] and then you'll end up with you know within those four conferences I think you'll end up with four divisions with four teams each

[00:15:05] so you really end up kind of with a 64 type team situation there I mean I think you could even expand it out past that a little bit

[00:15:14] so you're not really truly looking like the NCAA tournament men's basketball tournament women's basketball tournament

[00:15:19] and even college baseball but you know I think you could expand it out a little bit but you're not going to expand it out too much

[00:15:26] right so you add five in to each of those divisions you could always do something like that but I think all this is to say

[00:15:33] that you're gonna start to see some of those teams that are kind of more mid-tier they're gonna jump in

[00:15:38] I think we've even kind of seen it a little bit with like as a mute joining the ACC like maybe you start to see that kind of stuff

[00:15:44] where they're gonna jump in they're gonna join that I mean what UCF joined the big 12 you're gonna see those things happening

[00:15:51] and I think it's because they understand now that they're gonna end up having to close that gap

[00:15:54] and they're gonna have to be aligned with a larger conference because kicking teams out of a conference

[00:16:01] kicking schools out of a conference is going to be a lot harder than people realize now they can leave right

[00:16:07] and conferences are going to probably make that hard you can go look at what Florida State's going through right now

[00:16:12] but I just I think you're gonna start to see a little bit more movement in that area so I don't think we're done with the discussion about

[00:16:20] you know the transfer portal and NIL and those types of things I don't think we're ever going to be done with it

[00:16:26] because I think if we're never done with an FL free agency talk then we're never really gonna be done with this

[00:16:32] so I just think this is kind of the way it's headed and I hope that's an adult in the room who truly wants to be an adult

[00:16:40] can stand back and look and help to initiate the changes that need to happen whatever they may be

[00:16:47] and do what is best for everyone involved but ultimately what's really best is going to be what's best for these kids

[00:16:54] these students who still have to go to college still have to go to class still have to become eligible

[00:17:00] and if not then they won't play and again you saw a couple of those things like that Ole Miss added player

[00:17:05] Spencer Sanders he wasn't academically eligible to play so we didn't he didn't play the beautiful

[00:17:11] so I think we just need to take a deep breath sit back and and not relax because I don't think there's any time to relax on this one

[00:17:20] but I think we've got to be patient and I think we as fans need to maybe not have such a knee-jerk reaction

[00:17:27] and don't don't bash these kids when they leave and they get in the portal

[00:17:31] I mean nobody goes on LinkedIn and bash you when you change jobs so don't do that to them

[00:17:36] plus I think it just shows your immaturity if you do that so just my two cents on this

[00:17:41] let's jump back into a little bit of what we talked about the last time you heard me was the playoffs

[00:17:47] and I was right you know I called it absolutely that you know Florida State was going to be left out

[00:17:52] Michigan, Alabama, Texas, Washington that's who you're going to see

[00:17:59] and I understand the argument for Florida State I truly do but now that we've had the games

[00:18:06] and we know that the final is going to be Michigan and Washington I do find it fitting that

[00:18:11] the last two remaining undefeated are going to be playing against each other for the championship

[00:18:16] and really that's all we could have hoped for at that point you know after all the dust settled

[00:18:21] from Florida State being left out so I'm interested to see how it works

[00:18:26] my prediction is that either Washington's offense completely goes in and dominates

[00:18:36] and just runs away with it early or I think you end up with a really really close game

[00:18:42] and maybe whoever ends up with the ball last wins it

[00:18:46] I'm not going to be surprised either way if either team wins it.

[00:18:52] I'm just not you know I thought Mike O'Pinnock Jr. should have won the Heisman

[00:18:56] he did not, Jaden Daniels did. I thought that was an interesting thing

[00:19:01] I do agree that I don't know that LSU would have been as good and won as many games

[00:19:06] if Jaden Daniels wasn't on the field but I just, I don't know that one was just a head scratcher to me

[00:19:13] and it also could have been you know a lot of voting and splitting amongst regions

[00:19:17] and that kind of stuff but man Michael Bittnext Jr. he's somebody to watch out for

[00:19:22] but you know that Michigan defense they're not to be messed with either

[00:19:26] so I'm interested to watch that one I think Washington's defense has played very well

[00:19:30] to throughout the whole season I think they came out and showed a lot of good stuff against Texas

[00:19:35] and so I'm interested to see kind of how they handle the test with Michigan

[00:19:39] because Michigan's offense and they can be really really potent

[00:19:42] so yeah looking forward to a good game excited to see who wins

[00:19:47] and then be able to turn the focus on to the NFL playoffs

[00:19:50] and you know I haven't really talked a whole lot about the NFL throughout the season

[00:19:55] just because it kind of felt very expected.

[00:20:00] You know once Aaron Rogers went down the first week, you know all right

[00:20:05] well then the Jets became the Jets again you know I think you do kind of have some surprises

[00:20:10] that maybe Kansas City and the Eagles and even the bills

[00:20:14] they didn't quite live up to the dominance that we seemed to remember from last year

[00:20:20] but I think we kind of remember that more from the playoffs and the Super Bowl

[00:20:25] and that kind of stuff but they're so really good team.

[00:20:28] So to me the way this year has kind of played out in the NFL is that

[00:20:32] you're not really going to see anything until we get to the playoffs

[00:20:37] so you know last regular season weekend coming up this weekend

[00:20:42] a lot of playoff implications actually on the line you know Trevor Lawrence

[00:20:47] I just saw that he is still you know it's kind of a determined but they've got to play off

[00:20:52] both on the line so and they could actually I think still win the division.

[00:20:56] You know how do you how do you make those decisions?

[00:20:59] I think in his case if he if there's any chance that he can go he goes

[00:21:03] you know then you look at the Ravens okay well do you sit Lamar Jackson

[00:21:08] I personally I don't think you do I don't think that

[00:21:14] you've seen a lot of teams the past few years there's always one team that seems to sit there starters

[00:21:21] get that first round by and then you know basically they're they get two weeks off

[00:21:25] and then week three they're coming back and playing and that's hard.

[00:21:28] So I think you you keep them consistent and you at least let them start

[00:21:32] you at least let them play a little bit right like you keep them in that football

[00:21:35] just that kind of routine that grind you maybe like I said you maybe don't let them play the whole game

[00:21:40] but you you set them eventually but maybe that's what Ravens will do who knows.

[00:21:44] So I am I am kind of interested to see like what teams do that kind of how these things start

[00:21:49] shaking out a little bit more and who does get the playoff birth so then I think we'll talk a little

[00:21:54] bit more about that next week.

[00:21:56] So another about football let's jump to what I'm really excited about

[00:22:02] and what you're definitely going to hear me talk a lot more about which is women's

[00:22:05] basketball started and we started conference play last night on Thursday my lady

[00:22:10] rebels went into Tuscaloosa and walked out with win.

[00:22:13] We did the same thing last year it was great I was very happy to see that I think this

[00:22:18] team is jelling and I think you know we're we're going to see some fun things

[00:22:25] some fun games within the women's college basketball world this year you know

[00:22:31] we've got Caitlin Clark who is just she's picked right back up where she left

[00:22:36] off then you've got the crazy antics of Kim Mulkey and Angel Reese and you know guys

[00:22:44] like what happened there like where was she was it lock I mean it was locker room

[00:22:49] issues but what were those locker room issues the world may never know and I have a

[00:22:54] feeling we probably won't ever know but you know are they going to be able to

[00:22:58] come back are they going to be able to dominate the way that they did and make the

[00:23:02] run the way that they did I don't know but almost plays a lissue this Sunday we

[00:23:07] actually host them an Oxford so as long as the covid doesn't spread from my husband

[00:23:13] to me between now and then I will hopefully be making it if not though I will be

[00:23:18] at home on the couch yelling I know they heard us in Tuscaloosa last night so I have

[00:23:23] a feeling they'll hear us an Oxford on Sunday if we don't get to make it but yeah I'm

[00:23:27] excited to see kind of what what happens within conference play with women's

[00:23:31] basketball I think it's going to be a lot of fun and then men's basketball

[00:23:34] too right like I think men's basketball to me the last few years has kind of gotten

[00:23:38] overshadowed a little bit more one because Ole Miss wasn't that good but in general

[00:23:43] I feel like it just it's been a little bit of a slower start and it is because

[00:23:46] the college football world has and the season is kind of expanded out so much

[00:23:52] more so conference play also starts for everyone this weekend as well so excited

[00:23:57] to see what happens there you know Chris Beard has already come into Ole Miss

[00:24:00] and done a phenomenal job and honestly that's about the only conch basketball

[00:24:04] I've paid attention to on the men's side so you know you'll have to bear with me

[00:24:08] as I kind of get my bearings back underneath me for that

[00:24:12] and on that note I think I think I'm done with the college world I think I'm

[00:24:16] done with football as well I do want to talk about a couple of other things

[00:24:21] it feels a little weird kind of getting back into the into the scheme of things

[00:24:26] right now and back into the rhythm I think a couple of things that I saw during

[00:24:31] the last few weeks kind of as I did take a little bit of a break it was a

[00:24:35] little unexpected but you know sometimes you just got to take care of yourself

[00:24:38] and you've got to slow down a little bit and I tried to that doesn't mean

[00:24:41] I actually slowed down I'm pretty sure I didn't but I had to take a break from

[00:24:45] this just because to add one more thing on top of the craziness of the holiday season

[00:24:49] just would have been too much but one of the fun things that I did see

[00:24:53] a friend posted it is that there is going to be a new bar opening up in Minnesota

[00:24:58] and it is called a bar of their own and it's Minnesota's first women's only

[00:25:03] sports bar it's actually not the first one that's going to be opening up

[00:25:08] in the U.S. there is another one that is I believe

[00:25:14] oh there's three according to this article that I'm scanning back through

[00:25:18] that I did read originally there's the sports bra in Portland Oregon

[00:25:23] love the name the Icarus in Salem Oregon and the rough and tumble and Seattle

[00:25:28] so kind of excited to see a women's only sports bar making its way out of the Pacific

[00:25:33] Northwest and into the Midwest you know I would love to see this kind of

[00:25:38] expand out through the country I do know that the whole portion of it is

[00:25:44] that in the whole idea behind it is that you go in and you can watch women's

[00:25:48] sports and it's not always some you know basketball game between a division

[00:25:53] two men's team and a division three men's team or something insane like

[00:25:58] that like if there's a good women's basketball game that's on that's going

[00:26:01] to be on instead of just the men automatically taking top billing in some

[00:26:06] of these sports bars which seems to be seems to be the case so I would love

[00:26:10] to go visit some of these maybe we can you know if anybody has any links

[00:26:14] to them and he's obviously very excited about it in the background if you can

[00:26:18] hear her barking but if anybody has any you know links or contacts with

[00:26:23] these let me know like I'd love to maybe have them on and see if we can talk

[00:26:26] about you know what their experiences were and so I think they'd be really

[00:26:31] cool so that's one of the things that I wanted to mention the other one is

[00:26:35] that there is a rugby player I think her name is Alana mayor she posted a

[00:26:41] tick-tock the other day and it shows her cellulite during a game and

[00:26:46] she does this whole thing talking about like yeah like I am an Olympian I

[00:26:51] have cellulite on my body and so just kind of adding to that whole body

[00:26:54] positivity thing and I think that's so important that we see that in society

[00:26:58] and especially as you know social media it's such a huge thing right you've

[00:27:03] got to look perfect you've got to have those perfect you know filters and all

[00:27:06] of these things on and and to show that like no like my body is imperfect

[00:27:11] but it can do very powerful things I think that's such a good a good

[00:27:15] message so you know hats off to you Alana for that I know I would be a

[00:27:20] little self-conscious and wouldn't want to do that so I'm glad that we have

[00:27:24] role models like you out there who are who are willing to put themselves on

[00:27:28] the line and and again allow the keyboard warriors to kind of come at you

[00:27:32] you know that's the other thing too that I think is so hard is that for athletes

[00:27:36] at any level it's so easy for fans to sit back and just berate them

[00:27:43] and just say whatever we want behind a keyboard like but you would never say

[00:27:47] some of these things to these people's faces so I applaud you for that

[00:27:51] because that can't be easy you know words they're just words but man can

[00:27:56] they hurt so and actually that leads me into my last thing and then we will

[00:28:01] wrap it up for this episode but if you follow my personal Twitter account

[00:28:07] you saw that I posted a picture of a person

[00:28:11] and their spouse who sat in front of us at the peach bowl and it was not a

[00:28:20] good experience with them at the end of the game I will say this my husband

[00:28:24] and I have potty mouths if you've ever been around us you know that that is

[00:28:29] not unusual there is a certain word that starts with the letter F that we

[00:28:35] probably use way too much and it probably does make people uncomfortable

[00:28:39] but it doesn't matter it's still something we use and then the heat of the

[00:28:44] moment and in watching games I do personally say it a lot and after this

[00:28:50] stuff happened with the refs and them calling the off sides play dead

[00:28:54] even though Ole Miss continued to play and and that thing you know we were

[00:28:58] incensed and so yeah I probably did and my husband probably

[00:29:02] dropped the F bomb a lot more than we should have the good news is there were

[00:29:05] not any small children around there were some kids around but old enough

[00:29:09] that you know they've heard these words before I'm sure and so with about

[00:29:14] four three or four minutes left in the game the man in front of us finally

[00:29:18] turned around my husband and he bowed up on him like he came around ready

[00:29:22] for a fight and basically said are you so effing stupid that you can't use

[00:29:27] another word which let's think about that for a second he used the word

[00:29:33] when asking my husband if he was so stupid he couldn't use another word

[00:29:39] being the same word I find that very ironic and kind of hilarious and my

[00:29:45] husband was very very smart and he sat down and he didn't say a word and

[00:29:49] he just let the guy kind of go off on him and you know I I didn't

[00:29:55] appreciate it especially with three minutes left in the game like dude if

[00:29:58] it had bothered you that bad at any point during the game you could have

[00:30:01] turned around and said like hey I know we're in a public place whatever but you

[00:30:07] know that word can you just can you maybe not use it as much like maybe

[00:30:11] cut back on it like you could have been nice about it cool yeah absolutely

[00:30:15] more than happy to do so I've even been in situations personally before where

[00:30:19] I didn't realize there was a child around me a small child and I said it and

[00:30:23] somebody pointed it out and I yep stopped using it like okay great fully

[00:30:28] understand that but to wait three minutes with three minutes left in the game

[00:30:32] and then to bow up at us like that was just not that wasn't the way to handle it

[00:30:37] so then he basically says that he calls my husband an ass or says he's showing

[00:30:44] his ass or something and I was like oh so F isn't okay but ass is well

[00:30:52] I should have probably kept my mouth shut but I didn't and so the guy then turns

[00:30:57] and directed his eye are at me and this is where I I want to talk because this

[00:31:05] he said this directly to me and it's part of the reason why I did want to start

[00:31:13] this podcast and so in this week's don't flinch moment he turned around to me

[00:31:20] and very hatefully said well I'm not really sure that you are a woman

[00:31:28] and I can I can laugh about it now but I will also say this there is a weird

[00:31:34] pit feeling in my stomach even talking about it because yes I have short hair

[00:31:40] yes I have had cancer and I've had no hair on my head before and I've been

[00:31:45] called a boy and all of these things and yes I am a female who has short hair

[00:31:51] who knows a lot about sports who honestly I'm not I don't dress extremely thin

[00:31:56] then right like I don't I didn't have an address I had on a football jersey

[00:31:59] the same jersey I've worn all season during red games I had on blue jeans

[00:32:04] the same jeans that I've had on pretty much every game

[00:32:09] and it just it rocked me because it wasn't that he was questioning my knowledge

[00:32:20] about football it wasn't anything like that he was saying it in a very hateful way

[00:32:25] you know and yes words or just words but the tone that came along with it

[00:32:29] y'all he meant he meant to hurt me any thought in hurting me he would hurt my husband

[00:32:35] and get my husband to you know bow back up at him and start a fight

[00:32:40] and all of that Cody thankfully it did piss him off when he said that to me

[00:32:47] but Cody was very smart and did not say anything well the problem is

[00:32:51] Cody wasn't the only one there with me my mama was and y'all let me tell you

[00:32:55] mama is feisty so if you ever wonder where I get my feistyness from

[00:32:59] mama let him know real fast that that was not cool that was unnecessary

[00:33:04] and she's absolutely right you know it's it I cried after the game as we left

[00:33:19] because I did refuse to leave my seats I and as I very not nicely told the man

[00:33:26] I paid for my seats to say miss him and so you know I wasn't yelling FU Cody

[00:33:33] wasn't yelling FU at him we weren't saying we were it was just an adjective right

[00:33:38] we weren't telling anybody to go do the actor whatever it wasn't meant like that

[00:33:43] it was just being used as an adjective and you know we have the right to do that

[00:33:47] and we have the right to say that and we weren't being the ligerent

[00:33:50] we weren't doing anything like that and so you know I paid for my seat

[00:33:53] the same way he paid for his seat and we had every right to be there

[00:33:57] to personally attack someone though and yes he has every right to question whether

[00:34:01] I'm a woman or not but to do that just to me it shows the level of maturity

[00:34:08] that he has and I'm I'm very proud that I didn't cry where he could see me

[00:34:19] you know it hurt guys like just because I don't look like what you think a very feminine

[00:34:26] pretty girl should look like you know that's not okay to turn around and say to someone

[00:34:32] and it's not okay to throw that up in their face and you know kind of going back

[00:34:36] to the to a conversation that I had about this whole incident after the game

[00:34:42] you know there are a lot of college athletes out there that are females

[00:34:50] that have been told their whole lives they don't look very feminine

[00:34:55] and I wonder would this man have said that to any of the Ole Miss female athletes?

[00:35:04] What do you have said that? What do you have said that to their face?

[00:35:07] What do you have said that to them in front of their husband or their mom

[00:35:11] because he's trying to get a rile out of them or is he going to go cheer for them as well?

[00:35:15] And it's kind of all going back to the point too of treating people with respect

[00:35:22] understanding that you want to praise these kids when they're out on the field

[00:35:27] or on the court and they're doing good things athletically but then they maybe

[00:35:32] dress a different way outside of the field of play and you don't agree with it

[00:35:39] so then you resort to name calling basically you know whether it's calling them a thug

[00:35:45] or calling them you know butch or something like that you know guys that's not okay

[00:35:51] and so the fact that this man even felt comfortable enough that he could say that

[00:35:55] I don't care how mad he was that's absolutely unacceptable and you know for all he did know

[00:36:01] I had just finished you know chemo treatments and my hair is growing back

[00:36:05] but it doesn't matter guys that's the whole point at the end of the day it doesn't matter

[00:36:09] why I personally choose to dress away I dress and to have short hair

[00:36:13] the point of the matter is is that I had every right to be there

[00:36:17] Cody had every right to be there he had every right to be there

[00:36:20] but if we continue to remember that everyone around us is just a person

[00:36:26] who has thoughts and feelings and emotions and let's maybe act that way

[00:36:30] towards each other even as fans like it will make this so much more enjoyable for everybody

[00:36:36] and I think to me the kicker was too like we were telling people this story

[00:36:40] and they'd be like oh obviously he was a pinstead fan no no it wasn't it was an Ole Miss fan

[00:36:45] and that just I think that just kind of hurt even more

[00:36:49] but it also was to show that you know because of incidents like that

[00:36:52] like I'm still going to sit here and I'm going to talk about it

[00:36:54] and you know the work is not done and I'm not I'm not going to stop trying to do the work until we can help people see that

[00:37:04] when they say these things like yes they're just words and nobody threw a punch

[00:37:08] so there was no physical harm but you know I do have thoughts and feelings and emotions

[00:37:12] and you know all of the things that socially were implied with that just

[00:37:18] it wasn't okay it absolutely was not okay so to that to that man wherever you are

[00:37:26] I hope that you learn from that situation

[00:37:31] I hope that next time if someone's words that are not even being directed towards you

[00:37:36] are bothering you that you choose to address it in a more mature and appropriate way

[00:37:44] instead of bowing up at somebody after listening to it for almost four hours

[00:37:48] you know maybe maybe don't let your emotions get the best of you

[00:37:52] don't sit there in what it's similar like address it early on

[00:37:55] and I guarantee you a little bit of respect will be met with a lot more respect

[00:37:59] so I'm glad to be back I'm glad it's 2024

[00:38:04] and I'm excited to see where this podcast takes us

[00:38:08] I think we're going to have some cool things I've got a couple of feelers out for some guests

[00:38:13] that will be upcoming throughout this year so you know

[00:38:17] I kind of feel like this is a little bit of the second half of season one

[00:38:21] in my mind of this year down and so

[00:38:25] we're just going to keep getting better we're going to keep talking about it

[00:38:27] I'm going to keep having people on who are going to talk with us

[00:38:31] I'm just pumped I'm ready to see where this goes and continue to share my love of sports

[00:38:36] with everyone

[00:38:37] and my love for just life in general right like

[00:38:41] everyone should have that love and so let's let's be nice to each other

[00:38:44] let's be kind

[00:38:46] so as always you know where you can go

[00:38:49] you can go to the alabametake.com

[00:38:52] check out all of the podcasts there

[00:38:55] all of the other podcasts that don't have to do with sports

[00:38:58] the other podcast that does have to do with sports take it on

[00:39:01] sports with TD and Goreg they're awesome

[00:39:06] yeah go check us out you can hear about books you can hear about Star Wars

[00:39:11] you can hear about wrestling WWE and other wrestling I think

[00:39:15] I don't know I don't really listen to theirs just because I'm wrestling

[00:39:19] not my thing but hey if it is yours there's podcasts there for you

[00:39:21] so a lot of pop culture stuff too so go check us out always

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[00:39:28] and you want to help us grow this leave a five star review

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[00:39:53] the Stairdown Stairdown is one word on Twitter we are at the

[00:40:00] Stairdown pod on Instagram we are at the Stairdown underscore

[00:40:05] podcast and as always if you have an idea for a show drop us

[00:40:10] a line the Stairdown pod at gmail.com so until next time

[00:40:16] sit back relax grab a drink or two and thanks for listening to

[00:40:21] Stairdown you'll have a good weekend.

[00:41:51] you

[00:42:21] you