Latest / Johnny's World / Tanner Allen talks new Mississippi State Coaching Hire and NCAA Tourney

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Tanner Allen talks new Mississippi State Coaching Hire and NCAA Tourney · Johnny's World

0:22
SPEAKER_00: All right, welcome back to a brand new episode of the Johnny's World Podcast.
0:25
SPEAKER_00: Johnny here, my co-host BW's out today, so I'm doing this interview solo.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: Uh with baseball here, regional start today.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: And we got Road to Omaha coming up.
0:34
SPEAKER_00: Cod World's here's be here in a couple weeks.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: Super regionals next weekend.
0:38
SPEAKER_00: Perfect time to talk baseball.
0:39
SPEAKER_00: And no other person better than taught baseball is my buddy Tanner Allen.
0:42
SPEAKER_00: TA welcome Johnny's World.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: Appreciate you, buddy.
0:45
SPEAKER_01: Man, yeah, we're gonna have a blast, dude.
0:46
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I appreciate you having me on.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, man.
0:49
SPEAKER_00: Uh well, first off, tell everybody what you're doing.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: I saw you were doing uh some hidden clinics in Flowwood.
0:53
SPEAKER_00: Talk a little bit about that.
0:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I actually got some cool things coming down the pipe right now.
0:58
SPEAKER_01: I'm actually about to start my own baseball academy and uh start developing guys that want to be and have careers just like I did and want to accomplish things I did.
1:07
SPEAKER_01: And I believe there's no better person in the southeast or southwest that knows what it takes to uh achieve a dream of playing high-level college baseball and playing in a world series than me.
1:17
SPEAKER_01: So that's what I've been doing.
1:19
SPEAKER_01: And uh I've been doing these clinics in uh in Flowwood, and they're really, really uh, these are for I guess you can say the younger guys, but I have older groups too.
1:29
SPEAKER_01: But uh they're really just fundamental.
1:34
SPEAKER_01: And I basically show them a few things of what I think they need to work on, and then I just encourage them, hey, look, this is what you got to get better at.
1:40
SPEAKER_01: You gotta go do it.
1:41
SPEAKER_01: Like I can you can come and see me every time I'm over here, but if you don't, if you're not doing it on your own, you're not gonna get any better.
1:46
SPEAKER_01: But if I was you, this is what I would do to change my game to make me a better player.
1:51
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, and I know these these these parents of these kids into this.
1:55
SPEAKER_00: I mean, like you just said, you got the experience.
1:57
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's they're they're in good hands, so I know you're doing it.
1:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, man.
2:00
SPEAKER_01: And the number one problem is this right here.
2:02
SPEAKER_01: There's so many people out there that don't have the experience, but act like they know what they're talking about, and they're taking everybody's money and they're and they're wasting people's time and they're giving people false hope.
2:10
SPEAKER_01: I'm not gonna do that.
2:11
SPEAKER_01: I know I'm a real person, you know, and I know what it takes.
2:15
SPEAKER_01: I've lived it firsthand.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
2:17
SPEAKER_00: I I see I see your post about like these parents are travel ball kids all the time, they're just spending all this money on all this stuff, and I know I see what you're saying.
2:25
SPEAKER_01: They blow them money, they'll they'll wanna they'll buy Johnny a$400 bat and pay three thousand dollars worth of of tournament fee fees, but won't give me$150 to show them how to do it the right way, you know.
2:35
SPEAKER_01: Right, crazy.
2:37
SPEAKER_00: Right.
2:38
SPEAKER_00: Well, uh, well, yeah, man.
2:39
SPEAKER_00: Congrats on that.
2:40
SPEAKER_00: And I know I know you're doing doing big things there.
2:42
SPEAKER_00: Uh well, I want to get you on really to talk about when we got reasonable start today.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: Let's talk some baseball.
2:47
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I know the SEC this year is just just stacked.
2:50
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like Mark's Madness.
2:51
SPEAKER_00: You know, we had all these teams, record-breaking number teams in the NCAA basketball tournament.
2:56
SPEAKER_00: Same thing with baseball.
2:56
SPEAKER_00: Uh, just loaded.
2:58
SPEAKER_00: Uh, just tell us about your thoughts on this season uh in the SEC.
3:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, man, it's loaded.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: It's it's the best conference in all of America, and it's not it's not even an argument, right?
3:09
SPEAKER_01: Right, it's not even an argument.
3:11
SPEAKER_01: And uh it's gonna be there was a lot of teams that got to host, uh, you know, they get to host regional that were uh kind of nervous when they saw SEC school end up in their regional, I promise you.
3:26
SPEAKER_01: Wherever Florida went, who I can't remember what regional they're in, but wherever Florida went, those people are shaking in their boots.
3:32
SPEAKER_01: Wherever we go, Mississippi State, Florida State's like, uh-oh, we got Mississippi State coming.
3:36
SPEAKER_01: I promise you.
3:37
SPEAKER_01: So and uh that that's how it works, man.
3:41
SPEAKER_01: This here's the difference, you know.
3:43
SPEAKER_01: And as a being in SEC, you play the best of the best every single weekend.
3:48
SPEAKER_01: And honestly, when you see somebody like, I don't know, like everybody's talking about man, where they're playing tonight northwestern and northeastern, yeah, northeastern, yeah.
3:58
SPEAKER_01: Everybody's like, oh, northeastern is a hot team.
4:00
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna be like, well, look, I'm gonna be honest with you.
4:02
SPEAKER_01: They're yeah, they're a good team, they're playing the best baseball in America right now.
4:05
SPEAKER_01: But this is not like I'm going to Alex Box to play LSU three times this weekend.
4:08
SPEAKER_01: I'm telling you, right.
4:09
SPEAKER_01: Okay, now they might beat us, they might beat us, but I'm just being I'm just being real here.
4:13
SPEAKER_01: Like uh they're a really good team, but this is not going to Alex Box to play LSU three times.
4:18
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
4:19
SPEAKER_01: So as a player, I'm like, I have a lot of confidence because I've played against the best of the best all year long, right?
4:26
SPEAKER_01: So I'm we're prepared for this.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: Well, yeah, it's it's it's just really amazing to see.
4:32
SPEAKER_00: I think we had like six teams in the SEC number one at one point of the year.
4:36
SPEAKER_00: Um, I can't believe AM, you know, preseason number one didn't even make the tournament.
4:39
SPEAKER_00: That's just uh that's unbelievable.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: We've never seen that before.
4:43
SPEAKER_01: That's how it goes, man.
4:44
SPEAKER_01: That's called, you know, you when you have that much smoke being blown up your dress early in the year, you uh you start to believe uh that you don't have to work as hard or that you're entitled.
4:55
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
4:56
SPEAKER_01: That's why I always, I always our teams, you know, my three years in Mississippi State, we were never really concerned with standings or ranks.
5:02
SPEAKER_01: Now, did we want to be a top 16 seed?
5:04
SPEAKER_01: Uh 16th seed, yeah, or top eight host.
5:07
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
5:07
SPEAKER_01: That was but like I feel like it was nothing but a distraction.
5:12
SPEAKER_01: All the praise and all the hype was nothing but a distraction.
5:15
SPEAKER_01: And at the end of the day, uh a preseason rank and all the preseason hype isn't gonna help you when the bullets are flying under the lights Friday night.
5:23
SPEAKER_01: Right, absolutely.
5:24
SPEAKER_00: Well, well, TA, you're you were part of that 2018 team, and I want to talk about that because the the parallels between this year's team, 2018 team are just are really kind of eerie.
5:34
SPEAKER_00: You know, we have a we have the coach, coaching change, interim coach coming in, and we're playing Tallahassee.
5:39
SPEAKER_00: Same thing, same reasonables, and and you know, we we we made a run finish third place in the College World Series.
5:45
SPEAKER_00: I mean, just what what are your thoughts on this year's team compared to that 2018 team and playing in Tallahassee?
5:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, man.
5:51
SPEAKER_01: So I actually did an interview yesterday with this yesterday afternoon.
5:54
SPEAKER_01: Same thing.
5:54
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, it's kind of weird, man.
5:56
SPEAKER_01: We you know, an 18, we lost our coach, we got beat up all year long, and somehow we squeaked our way into the tournament and they sent us to Tallahassee.
6:03
SPEAKER_01: Same thing this year.
6:04
SPEAKER_01: We lost our coach getting beat up non-stop, but we finished strong and we squeak our way into the tournament.
6:11
SPEAKER_01: So I feel like these guys are playing with a lot less pressure on them versus being Florida State.
6:17
SPEAKER_01: You follow me from States and National Seed.
6:19
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, we got Mississippi State coming, they're playing good ball right now.
6:22
SPEAKER_01: And honestly, they got no pressure on them because if they lose, nobody expects them to be here, anyways.
6:27
SPEAKER_01: And that's a that's a fun way to play.
6:29
SPEAKER_01: You play a lot more free.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, is that kind of how y'all were like in 18?
6:33
SPEAKER_00: 100.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: 100.
6:35
SPEAKER_01: We had five pitchers in A in 18, okay.
6:37
SPEAKER_01: We had five pitchers.
6:38
SPEAKER_01: We lost our coach.
6:39
SPEAKER_01: We didn't, I mean, we were just like a bunch of junkyard dogs, just fill out the lineup and get us, flip the ball out there on the mound.
6:45
SPEAKER_01: We'll go play, okay?
6:46
SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
6:47
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's what it takes.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: I love I watched an interview you did not too long ago.
6:50
SPEAKER_00: You said something about Mississippi State players need to be get back to that dirt bag mentality, and I think that's what's 100% right, what you what you're talking about, guys like that, because you know, those guys grind it out, and I can take so many guys on our team with you and and all those guys uh that did that.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: And that's what it what it takes to be good.
7:06
SPEAKER_00: And I feel like that's what we all did.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: And we need these guys on this year's team to step up and be that type of mentality, especially this time of the year.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is the important most important time of the year right now.
7:15
SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna be a it's like a big kudos to our guys and our team by the way they've handled the whole situation this year and how they reacted.
7:22
SPEAKER_01: That is the biggest kudos we could give them because they had every excuse in the world to lay down and roll over and not fight anymore.
7:29
SPEAKER_01: But they chose to keep playing and staying together and keep playing, man.
7:31
SPEAKER_01: That is a good sign.
7:32
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
7:33
SPEAKER_01: That's why I like where they're at.
7:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
7:36
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you're right.
7:37
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we were we were we were down for the count, people were counting us out, and they did not, I mean, just came talk about finishing strong.
7:42
SPEAKER_00: It's all about finishing strong, and that the way they finished the end of the season was just uh really amazing.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: Well, well, talk a little bit about uh I want I want to ask you something, man, because you you played Virginia firsthand in the Codrill series.
7:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that big home run.
7:55
SPEAKER_00: Talk a little bit about um about Virginia and you know, well, it's not it's not a it's not right now, it's kind of you know, Brian O'Connor.
8:06
SPEAKER_00: You know, you've heard this.
8:06
SPEAKER_00: I know you've heard everybody's talking about these the coach, it hasn't been announced yet.
8:10
SPEAKER_00: But uh talk a little bit about that team you played with against Virginia that was led by him, and if it is true, what he brings, what he will bring to Mississippi State baseball.
8:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, man, Coach O'Connor's had Virginia good for a long, long time.
8:23
SPEAKER_01: I know they didn't make the tournament this year, but that's just part of it.
8:25
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you have down years.
8:26
SPEAKER_01: I don't care if you're Argy Garrito or who you are, Skip Burbank Ron Paul, you're gonna have down years, right?
8:31
SPEAKER_01: But he's a really good coach.
8:33
SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, I believe that he would be a good fit.
8:37
SPEAKER_01: Now, I do also believe this right now, and this is one thing that kind of bothered me a little bit.
8:41
SPEAKER_01: Hey, look, our guys are still playing.
8:43
SPEAKER_01: That's the staff is still playing, they're playing for something.
8:46
SPEAKER_01: Okay, we can put this aside until the season's over.
8:49
SPEAKER_01: You know, don't get caught up in all this bull crap.
8:51
SPEAKER_01: We our guys are still playing.
8:53
SPEAKER_01: The coaches are still they're still going in the office every single day, doing their job to best prepare their guys to perform the best of their ability, right?
9:00
SPEAKER_01: We should respect that and say, hey, look, whoever the miss Zach Selma's gonna make the right decision on the next coach, he's gonna make the right decision, okay?
9:07
SPEAKER_01: We're not worried about that.
9:08
SPEAKER_01: He's gonna do that.
9:09
SPEAKER_01: We gotta be worried about supporting our guys, okay?
9:13
SPEAKER_01: So uh going back to O'Connor, I think he'd be a great fit.
9:17
SPEAKER_01: Virginia's been good for a very long time.
9:19
SPEAKER_01: You know, he's just got to realize this.
9:21
SPEAKER_01: Coming into the SEC, SEC is a different animal than the ACC, and I'm sorry, that's just the truth.
9:26
SPEAKER_01: But I believe you don't just end up in Omaha that many times on accident.
9:32
SPEAKER_01: He's there all the time.
9:33
SPEAKER_01: So I think he's the perfect guy for coming up for the challenge, especially being from a different, let's put it like this.
9:39
SPEAKER_01: If there was anybody else getting a job outside of the SEC, I wouldn't want it to be anybody but him because he's always in Omaha.
9:45
SPEAKER_01: Always.
9:45
SPEAKER_01: Yes, all the time.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: So I think that's a very good, that's a very good, that's a very good hire for someone.
9:50
SPEAKER_01: Yes, yeah, I think so too.
9:52
SPEAKER_01: I mean, when you look at the hey, look, you know, uh, I had a I had a few cool moments against you.
9:58
SPEAKER_01: Maybe if I get on the staff or uh a grad assistant role this next fall.
10:03
SPEAKER_00: Oh man, that would be awesome, TA.
10:05
SPEAKER_00: Uh, that would be I mean, I could see you doing that.
10:06
SPEAKER_00: That'd be perfect.
10:07
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, that uh that that 21 World Series was just unbelievable.
10:11
SPEAKER_00: Um uh, but yeah, yeah, it's kind of like when they were doing the they don't do it, I don't think anymore the drafting during the Omaha.
10:19
SPEAKER_00: That was kind of talking about distraction, that was a huge distraction.
10:21
SPEAKER_00: People getting drafted while they're playing the game.
10:23
SPEAKER_00: I was watching the Thunder and Lightning documentary, it was rerun the other day, and they were talking about how back in '85, uh, you know, Clark and they were playing Arkansas and right before the game, he got drafted.
10:33
SPEAKER_00: He didn't even know.
10:33
SPEAKER_00: Uh that talking about distractions.
10:35
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's that's crazy.
10:36
SPEAKER_00: I think they've changed that now.
10:37
SPEAKER_00: But but like you said, the way that the we need to let the season play out.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: I mean, these guys like Justin Parker and me's been working his butt off to to get to get the guys prepared for the regionals and see how that goes.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: But it will be interesting to see.
10:51
SPEAKER_00: And you know, we we got this uh ballport do noble at just the best premier ballpark in in the college baseball sitting empty again in June.
11:00
SPEAKER_00: So I think that's that's what we strive for is to host, host, host, host.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: And I feel like once we get the right guy in, hopefully it is O'Connor that that next a year from right now, TA, we're sitting here, we're hosting Dude Noble.
11:11
SPEAKER_00: So that's the plan.
11:12
SPEAKER_01: That's the goal, man.
11:13
SPEAKER_01: That's the goal.
11:14
SPEAKER_01: That's truly nobody understands how special that is.
11:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: Mm-hmm.
11:27
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, talk about that uh, you know, in football, you got the 12th man, whatever.
11:30
SPEAKER_00: That's that's what that is at Duty Noble.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: The the dude effect, as they say, is the it's like welcome to the jungle.
11:37
SPEAKER_00: That's what it is.
11:39
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: But uh, but yeah, you get so you got any picks on on Omaha or you think the eight teams will be, or any any predictions on TA?
11:47
SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking uh Arkansas's gonna be there.
11:51
SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking LSU's gonna be there.
11:55
SPEAKER_01: And I don't I'm gonna go, I'm gonna thinking Florida's gonna be there.
12:02
SPEAKER_01: And I'm gonna uh I'm gonna take, you know, I I I can't go against us.
12:07
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I just that's just I just know how our prediction is and how we are.
12:10
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna I'm gonna say we're gonna surprise everybody and go.
12:13
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't be surprised.
12:14
SPEAKER_01: Let's put it like this, I'd be thoroughly surprised, okay, if we didn't go, just by how our team is.
12:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and uh I'm gonna say Vanderbilt's gonna be there.
12:23
SPEAKER_01: Now, I out of conference, I don't really don't know that much about many guys or many teams out of conference.
12:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, so I really can't speak on that, to be honest.
12:31
SPEAKER_01: Right.
12:32
SPEAKER_01: But just out of the SEC, I could see those teams going.
12:34
SPEAKER_01: I mean, as bad as I hate to say it, I wouldn't be surprised if old misgoes.
12:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
12:41
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's yeah, I was talking to someone yesterday about this.
12:43
SPEAKER_00: It's it's crazy how if you think back, uh, and I mean, uh Arkansas, I know their fans give us hell all the time, but I mean they're they're due to to win a national championship.
12:51
SPEAKER_00: That uh because if you if you go back, you know, uh 17, uh uh Florida won it.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: Arkansas had the freaking foul ball drop in 18, and they would have won it.
13:02
SPEAKER_00: And then Bandy 19, COVID 20, then us 21, Ole Miss 22, LC 23, Tennessee 24.
13:08
SPEAKER_00: That just shows right there the priority of the Southeastern Conference.
13:11
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I mean, it's not like one team dominated.
13:14
SPEAKER_00: Everybody, it's a different SEC team all along the way.
13:17
SPEAKER_00: So uh it will be interesting to see it, see if Arkansas.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: I feel like talk about that, TA.
13:22
SPEAKER_00: Uh when you're when you're playing, you have something like that happen.
13:25
SPEAKER_00: Uh, obviously, these guys are long gone from that team, but still, I think it kind of affects where your mental state, doesn't it?
13:31
SPEAKER_00: You probably think uh no doubt.
13:33
SPEAKER_01: It's something you gotta flush, though.
13:35
SPEAKER_01: It's like, hey, look, last year's last year.
13:38
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
13:38
SPEAKER_01: Like, for instance, if I'd have came back after uh I had another year after we won the national championship, I'd have came back, I'd have been instantly, hey, last year's last year.
13:45
SPEAKER_01: We have got to completely get off the wave and get back to work, you know.
13:50
SPEAKER_01: And that's kind of how you handle the Arkansas situation as well, where they they were down in their last out, missed a fly ball, and then it came back and bite them in the rear end.
13:57
SPEAKER_01: Like that is last year, it's over.
13:59
SPEAKER_01: It's over.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: Okay, like you can't dwell on it.
14:02
SPEAKER_01: Nothing you're gonna do is gonna change it.
14:03
SPEAKER_01: Only thing you can do is move forward and and and not and do what you can, do your best and not let it happen again.
14:09
SPEAKER_01: That's all you can do.
14:11
SPEAKER_01: That applies to a lot of aspects in your life, right?
14:13
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
14:14
SPEAKER_01: A lot of times you make mistakes and you go through things, and you're like, look, there's nothing I can do about this to make it change at all.
14:20
SPEAKER_01: Only thing I can do is move forward, right?
14:23
SPEAKER_01: That's it.
14:24
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, yeah.
14:25
SPEAKER_00: And I want to talk a little bit about transitioning from baseball to to Christianity and spirituality.
14:31
SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, what you're talking about right now, God's in control.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: God's in control of everything.
14:35
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing we can do.
14:36
SPEAKER_00: All we can do is is give our best every single day.
14:38
SPEAKER_00: I I I live, uh even you know, this and uh everybody who listens to the podcast, I live with cystic fibrosis every day of my life.
14:45
SPEAKER_00: And uh, I mean, I have a choice every day to get whether to fight CF or just or or quit.
14:51
SPEAKER_00: And if I quit, you know, I'm I'm gonna die.
14:53
SPEAKER_00: So it's it's constant battle, constant grind with anything in life.
14:56
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to be someone suffering from disease.
14:58
SPEAKER_00: It could be any anything that happens, uh, it's all about your mindset, a way your attitude.
15:04
SPEAKER_00: Your attitude goes a hundred percent.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: And uh, and I I know everything happens for a reason.
15:10
SPEAKER_00: I believe that with all my heart.
15:11
SPEAKER_00: I don't know why I I have CF, but I feel like I do in a way to inspire others to keep fighting and keep living, keep uh trusting God and knowing.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: And talk a little bit about that, TA.
15:19
SPEAKER_00: I know I see you uh speaking, uh talking about your testimony and sharing your faith, and just talking about what that means.
15:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, a lot of time, a lot of the times I talk about how life is full of non-tops and valleys.
15:34
SPEAKER_01: And my life has been one constant up and down, up and down, up and down.
15:39
SPEAKER_01: And the thing you gotta learn to do is do your best to not ride the wave of emotions.
15:43
SPEAKER_01: Now, that is very, very difficult to do.
15:46
SPEAKER_01: But you know, one thing that I have learned is when you're buying to God's plan for your life and whatever he's got for you, you don't get really rattled when things don't go your way.
15:58
SPEAKER_01: Just like, hey, look, I know you're in control, I know you got your fingerprints all over whatever you want me to do.
16:04
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
16:05
SPEAKER_01: So, in a way, when you freak out and you panic about what's if something's not going your way, you're slapping him in the face because you don't trust him.
16:10
SPEAKER_01: I am, buddy, I have been number one, okay, guilty of that one right there.
16:16
SPEAKER_01: I promise you.
16:17
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
16:18
SPEAKER_01: You know, and uh, but as I get older and I try to get more wise, I try to learn different things, I've gone through different experiences and different situations with all kinds of different realms of life.
16:31
SPEAKER_01: I've learned, hey, look, God's got his will for you, and nothing's gonna change that.
16:37
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing's gonna happen, nothing's gonna change it.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: Like nothing.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, you can do all you want to do, but if he wants that door to be shut, it's gonna stay shut.
16:46
SPEAKER_01: You can knock on it, knock on it, and knock on it, and knock on it, and knock on it, it's staying shut.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
16:52
SPEAKER_00: And you know, just uh it's so hard.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: I feel like it's human nature on us because I've had that happen multiple times to me, where health-wise, health scares where I freak out and like man, oh my god, but you just have to let it let it go, let it go, and trust in God.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: And and it and I think as human beings, it's hard to because we want to be in control of everything in our life.
17:10
SPEAKER_00: We want to control everything, and you can't.
17:14
SPEAKER_00: God is in control, and we just have to let it let it go.
17:17
SPEAKER_00: And it's just uh every day, it's a daily thing.
17:20
SPEAKER_00: You can't just say, oh, you know, uh always every day you're you're fighting that inner inner part of you is trying to control something, and just give it to God and let it go, and and uh and it'll be amazing to see how your life changes when stuff like that happens when you when you let when you when you let go, let God handle it.
17:36
SPEAKER_00: So uh I know making a big impact on on kids' lives speaking to and letting them know because a lot of people out there need to hear that, TA.
17:42
SPEAKER_00: They need to hear that.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: So no doubt.
17:44
SPEAKER_00: No doubt.
17:46
SPEAKER_00: Well, uh well, what else you got going on, man?
17:48
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh uh you uh you you've been hunting or fishing?
17:51
SPEAKER_01: I wish.
17:52
SPEAKER_01: I'm actually uh snapper season just opened up back home, so I'll be snapper fishing here soon.
17:58
SPEAKER_01: And then I've got a few places in Mississippi guys are like, hey, I need to come kill some hogs.
18:01
SPEAKER_01: So if I get some free time, I'll go do that as well, man.
18:04
SPEAKER_01: I love being in the water, I love being in the outdoors.
18:06
SPEAKER_01: Keeps my mind occupied, and it's and it's hard to get in trouble with if you're on the water in the woods.
18:11
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
18:12
SPEAKER_01: Ready.
18:13
SPEAKER_01: Uh I'm always down to do anything like that for sure.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: Awesome, awesome, good deal.
18:18
SPEAKER_00: Well, uh, well, Tia, if you if you know any coffee drinkers out there, uh spread the word.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: Johnnypacker.net is our website.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: We do all right, we we sell uh we saw coffee products.
18:27
SPEAKER_00: We used to do eyeglasses and sunglasses, we were selling them online and it got to be uh kind of an issue.
18:33
SPEAKER_00: People obviously they want to try if they're wearing glasses, they want to try them on.
18:36
SPEAKER_00: So and they were more expensive and everything, but man, we're selling coffee products like less than 20 bucks, very affordable.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we got we partnered with uh uh a guy in New Albany, Mississippi.
18:45
SPEAKER_00: So it's roasted here in Mississippi, and uh, and we if you order it online, it ships right to your door.
18:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, and there are different types of blends and all sorts of stuff.
18:54
SPEAKER_00: But the best part about it is the fundraiser goes to uh Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
18:58
SPEAKER_00: As I said earlier, I live with CF and find every day.
19:01
SPEAKER_00: So just kind of a way to uh to help others.
19:05
SPEAKER_00: That's what I feel like that's what we're placed on the search.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: What we're supposed to do.
19:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: So Johnnypacker.net is the website, and uh we love if everybody go on there and just uh uh select your bag of coffee.
19:17
SPEAKER_00: If you like it so much and you want to keep doing it, there's a subscription.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: You don't and you don't even have to go every time, it'll automatically renew and send it to your house directly to you.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: And uh yeah, so and the best part, like I said, goes to CF Foundation.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: So uh a lot of uh a lot of a lot of way to, you know, when you when you do something like that and you and you order something, you think, oh man, it's not gonna make a difference.
19:37
SPEAKER_00: It's not gonna make a difference, but it does, man.
19:39
SPEAKER_00: Every every penny matters when it comes to fundraising and stuff like that.
19:43
SPEAKER_00: And I've got this this miracle drug I've talked about uh my podcast before, TA.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you've heard about it, but uh 20 I moved up to Startwell in 2019.
19:53
SPEAKER_00: At that point, uh my lungs were failing me, and I was about to have to have a double lung transplant at UAB.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: And uh talk about beating death in the face, man.
20:02
SPEAKER_00: Like you know it's coming.
20:04
SPEAKER_00: And uh when I when I was born with CF, life expense was 15 years old, and I'm 44 now.
20:09
SPEAKER_00: So I've uh got his hand on that.
20:11
SPEAKER_00: I'll put my coverage on that, but uh but yeah, I was my health was failing and moved up here in uh 2019 to be closer to UAB.
20:19
SPEAKER_00: That's really why, because where I lived in Jackson was a four-hour drive from UAB and starved was only two hours, and I went to school up here and that hard board all fan my whole life, so it made sense to move closer.
20:29
SPEAKER_00: And and so from my door to UAB is two hours.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: And uh, so I went over there and met with the transplant team, and they had told me they're like, Man, if you can just hold off, there's a drug coming out there that is gonna be a game changer and change your life.
20:42
SPEAKER_00: And and I was like, and we moved up here in 19 and in 2019, I was hospitalized three times a month each time, just on IBN box, trying to clear up my lungs.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: I'd do that and I'd get home, start all this cough and stuff all all again.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: So uh the last time I was in the hospital, I was like, I'm not leaving the hospital until I get this drug.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: Y'all tell me about and they're like, Well, it's not here yet.
21:03
SPEAKER_00: And it was so frustrating.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: Talk about uh waiting and and and giving it to God, man.
21:08
SPEAKER_00: That in my life, in my life, that was the hardest thing I've ever had to do because I was seeing other um other medical centers get this drug and they were giving it to CF people and they were doing great.
21:19
SPEAKER_00: And and there was an issue with UAB uh on signing off the legal department getting it, so I had to wait longer.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, seeing all these other people succeed on it was so tough.
21:29
SPEAKER_00: But I got home and breaking news like FDA approves this drug, so they immediately because I was gonna get on a compassionate use because I was like real, real sick, and and then they approved it for the FDA.
21:40
SPEAKER_00: And when they said that, I was like, man, I'm coming over tomorrow.
21:43
SPEAKER_00: I blew over here.
21:46
SPEAKER_00: Took the drug that that morning, and I mean I couldn't feel it.
21:49
SPEAKER_00: And then that night, uh, I got a hotel room in Birmingham just to just because uh I didn't in case something bad happens, I wanted to be right there, you know.
21:58
SPEAKER_00: That night I woke up.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: I took the drug.
22:01
SPEAKER_00: You take it two in the morning and one at night.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: The one at night I took and went to bed.
22:04
SPEAKER_00: Everything's fine.
22:05
SPEAKER_00: Man, I woke up at 5 a.m.
22:07
SPEAKER_00: the next morning with the most violent, vicious cough I've ever had in my life.
22:12
SPEAKER_00: And it went on for a good 10 minutes.
22:14
SPEAKER_00: Just awful cough, violent man.
22:16
SPEAKER_00: Coughing up all this crap, just nonstop.
22:18
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, oh my gosh.
22:20
SPEAKER_00: Well, it turns out they call that with this drug, uh, uh, they call it the purge.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: And what it does is it it goes in and all this crap.
22:27
SPEAKER_00: Well, see if it mucus is in your body.
22:29
SPEAKER_00: Everybody has mucus in the body.
22:30
SPEAKER_00: People with CF, the mucus is real, real thick, especially in the lungs.
22:33
SPEAKER_00: That's the deadly part of disease.
22:34
SPEAKER_00: And it traps in the airways where you can't breathe.
22:38
SPEAKER_00: And if it I have to do breathing treatments and IB antibiotics, and I do a therapy best to break up all this crap in my lungs.
22:44
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, I've been dealing with it, you know, for 40 years, and and uh they call the purge what that is.
22:49
SPEAKER_00: When you took that, the way this drug works, it opens up your chloride channel, which allows the mucus to flow free like a normal person.
22:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this crap that was in my lungs, I was getting up to put it in there for years, and I was getting it up.
23:02
SPEAKER_00: It was so crazy.
23:03
SPEAKER_00: Went on about 10 minutes, and then like, dude, it was like someone turned on a light switch, and like I could breathe.
23:08
SPEAKER_00: It was the most amazing.
23:11
SPEAKER_00: And of course, I mean, it's not a cure, it's not a cure at all.
23:14
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I still have to do if I if I quit doing my treatments, I go right back to where I was, but I just had this pill in the morning and night and and uh carry on my my routine, and and uh I can't I have 40 years of uh irreversible lung damage, so they can't go back and clear the stuff up that's already been damaged, but hopefully it'll keep me stable from that happening in the future.
23:34
SPEAKER_00: But they're saying kids today born with CF today, uh, they're expected to live to adulthood like 65 or 70 is the best.
23:43
SPEAKER_00: All because of one drug.
23:45
SPEAKER_00: So so my point of saying this is the people out there listening who think, oh, we're not that buying one pack of coffee is not gonna matter.
23:51
SPEAKER_00: It does because the crazy thing about this is this drug treats 90% of the population of CF.
23:57
SPEAKER_00: So there's 10% of the people with CF cannot take this drug.
24:01
SPEAKER_00: So they're still in the boat.
24:02
SPEAKER_00: I was, they're dying.
24:04
SPEAKER_00: They don't they don't have anything, and it's because it's a genetic disease, and there's a uh the uh gene mutation does not work with this drug on 10%.
24:12
SPEAKER_00: So they're out there, they're not giving up until everybody with CF gets their own miracle drug.
24:16
SPEAKER_00: And uh, so but obviously to get drugs, it takes dollars and uh all that sort of stuff to to uh to to um get research.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: So all our all that money goes to research.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: So so uh just uh I encourage everyone out there listening.
24:30
SPEAKER_00: Johnnypacker.net, buy a bag of coffee, get shipped to your house.
24:33
SPEAKER_00: It's less than 20 bucks, and just know it's going towards a good cause, towards research to help and find more uh drugs out there to help save the lives of statistic fibrosis patients.
24:42
SPEAKER_00: Uh so uh really, really appreciate everybody out there listening.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: Appreciate y'all listening to this podcast, appreciate uh everybody's support.
24:49
SPEAKER_00: And uh and TA, I thank you so much for coming on, man.
24:52
SPEAKER_00: Sharing story and talking about baseball and uh especially this time of the year, it's the best time of the year with regionals and road to Omaha coming up.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: So uh and good luck with you and all your uh future endeavors with uh with uh teaching baseball, helping get that uh that GA spot, Miss C P say baseball, man.
25:08
SPEAKER_00: We'd love to have you.
25:09
SPEAKER_01: That'd be fun, man.
25:10
SPEAKER_01: Appreciate it.
25:10
SPEAKER_00: Hi, TA.
25:12
SPEAKER_00: Have a good one, man.
25:12
SPEAKER_00: If you're ever storm, holler at me.
25:14
SPEAKER_01: Anybody safe