Latest / Johnny's World / Joe Birch Interview and Georgia Game Preview

Transcript

Joe Birch Interview and Georgia Game Preview · Johnny's World

0:22
SPEAKER_02: All right.
0:23
SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to another episode of the Johnny's World Podcast.
0:26
SPEAKER_02: This is BW with my co-host Johnny.
0:29
SPEAKER_02: Johnny, we're finally back to a Victory Monday today.
0:32
SPEAKER_01: Victory Monday.
0:34
SPEAKER_01: Oh man, it's been it's been uh SEC Victory Monday.
0:37
SPEAKER_01: It's been two years from right now.
0:39
SPEAKER_01: Pretty hard to believe it's been that long.
0:41
SPEAKER_01: Man, it feels good.
0:42
SPEAKER_01: You know, a lot of people were down, including me.
0:46
SPEAKER_01: I was I was I'm ready to eat crow man on Levi.
0:49
SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, I was I was sick of man pardon me, crazy to admit this.
0:53
SPEAKER_01: I was hoping we'd lose so we could go 0-20 and get that guy out of town.
0:57
SPEAKER_01: But man, like he did it.
0:59
SPEAKER_01: He did it.
1:00
SPEAKER_01: He did something that that uh we hadn't been able to do, he hadn't been able to do is win the SEC game.
1:05
SPEAKER_01: And I think that winning that SEC game is gonna, it's got the monkey off his back.
1:10
SPEAKER_01: I think we'll I think we're we're we're gonna beat somebody else.
1:13
SPEAKER_01: I have a feeling, BW.
1:14
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna beat somebody else and get to a bowl game.
1:16
SPEAKER_01: And uh uh yeah, Levy just, you know, I was cussing mad again when he puts in uh Kamario Taylor is doing great, yanks him out, puts in shape, and I was so mad.
1:27
SPEAKER_01: I was like, get this guy out.
1:28
SPEAKER_01: I was so freaking mad at him.
1:30
SPEAKER_01: And then lo and behold, he wins the game.
1:31
SPEAKER_01: So all that, all that can be pushed aside.
1:34
SPEAKER_01: Winning cures everything, you know.
1:36
SPEAKER_01: Everybody said, We're so close, we're so close.
1:38
SPEAKER_01: And I kept saying, the guy hadn't won anything, and I don't care how close you are, win or lose, and he got the win.
1:43
SPEAKER_01: So credit to Jeff Levy, credit to Blake Shapin for coming in at the end, credit to Kamaria Taylor, Anthony Evans, the whole guy, Brendan Thompson.
1:52
SPEAKER_01: You know, Fluff and Booth weren't able to do much.
1:55
SPEAKER_01: And man, Evans and and he really stepped up, and and uh it's just it was man, it's just so good to get a win.
2:01
SPEAKER_01: That's that's what it at the end of the day, it's really a win.
2:04
SPEAKER_01: I know the Levy haters are mad that we won.
2:07
SPEAKER_01: I've kind of gotten over it, man.
2:08
SPEAKER_01: I was like, you know, but hey, we got to get on board, support the guy.
2:13
SPEAKER_01: Like you said, like we've been saying all along, we've been close in every game.
2:16
SPEAKER_01: I suspect us to play Georgia close this weekend, and uh we can just build on that and next year, hopefully have a good year and win these games next year that we lost this year.
2:25
SPEAKER_01: So uh it's crazy how one game, BW, one game can change your whole mindset.
2:31
SPEAKER_01: If we had lost that game, I mean, people are already falling off the bandwagon, including me.
2:37
SPEAKER_01: It would have been the most toxic thing in the world if we lost that game, uh, as far as Mississippi State football and Jeff Leby and everything, and then just winning one right at the end of the game, fourth down play.
2:49
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's down to the end again.
2:51
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't make the fourth down, we lose.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: And he makes a fourth down play, Evan scores, and and and the rest is history, and we get a win.
2:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, it was almost bad there.
3:00
SPEAKER_02: And it's easy to forget these little moments like that that can go can go wrong.
3:05
SPEAKER_02: And and I'm sure there's there's been moments in other coaches' tenures and that kind of stuff, just barely winning games.
3:09
SPEAKER_02: But you know, at the end of the day, you just look back at the wins and losses.
3:12
SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, I mean, like you said, I mean, he puts Shapin back in and uh you know, throws that pick right off the bat.
3:21
SPEAKER_02: And you know, if if Shapen, if we don't come back at the end of that game, it is a totally different story.
3:27
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, and and still the thing that really, I guess, concerns me uh the most still is that he he is right in Shapin, which I get.
3:40
SPEAKER_02: Um, I don't know if you saw his quotes after the game, you know, kind of like why he put Shapen back in and all that kind of stuff.
3:44
SPEAKER_02: He really believes like Shapen because he's a 50-year senior, um, all of that is is the best option at quarterback right now.
3:52
SPEAKER_02: And uh you can you can clearly see that Camario Taylor is is the more talented option, but Shapen has the experience.
3:59
SPEAKER_02: So I really hope that he will at least play Camario a little bit more, give him some more snaps, whether it's the middle of the game or whatever.
4:08
SPEAKER_02: And and if he wants to rely on Shapen in the you know game ending situations, whatever.
4:12
SPEAKER_02: But I just want Camario to play.
4:14
SPEAKER_02: I've been saying this all season, like he needs to get a taste of that field, he needs to get some experience, and he needs to know that Levy trusts him and is gonna stick with him, and he's the guy going forward.
4:24
SPEAKER_02: I just really don't want it, you know, him to feel like he's he's felt slighted and that he's you know been benched or whatever, and and then you just lose out on this talent and he goes to LSU or somewhere else.
4:34
SPEAKER_01: Right, you know that's that's the worst case scenario.
4:37
SPEAKER_01: You know, there's a transfer portal because he's not getting playing time.
4:40
SPEAKER_01: So um and and you need to put him out there.
4:43
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I've been saying that as as well.
4:45
SPEAKER_01: Like, don't just give him the ball and let him run up the middle.
4:47
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's what he had been doing.
4:49
SPEAKER_01: Oh, let's put it out the everyone in the stadium, everyone knew he was running right up the middle.
4:52
SPEAKER_01: Let him let him work.
4:54
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he threw a touchdown pass, let him throw, let him run, let him do, let him have some action then, and uh and give him a series.
5:00
SPEAKER_01: Don't just put him in for one play and take him right out and never play him back.
5:03
SPEAKER_01: Give him a series at least and just get some playing time in.
5:07
SPEAKER_01: Uh, because man, you don't want that guy to to leave.
5:09
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he's the future of Mississippi State right now, and it's looking bright because he is a gifted athlete.
5:15
SPEAKER_01: And um yeah, it's um he's going through it with experience, but man, you know, sometimes uh sometimes uh athleticism takes more more over than experience.
5:26
SPEAKER_01: And and Kamario is definitely the better athlete than Shapin, but Shapin's got the experience.
5:31
SPEAKER_01: But like I said, he's I don't know.
5:33
SPEAKER_01: Uh we just gotta trust him.
5:34
SPEAKER_01: He got the win, so I'm gonna give him give him a break on it.
5:37
SPEAKER_01: But uh um I I really think uh gosh, like I said, it would have been awful, and nobody would come up to the game this weekend, but I really think we'll get a good good crowd, and I think they're gonna play Georgia's close.
5:48
SPEAKER_01: I think it's gonna be Georgia's not that great.
5:50
SPEAKER_01: I mean, they're great, obviously, but they're not like world beaters.
5:52
SPEAKER_01: There's no none of I in the SECS.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: Um, we've shown we can hang with everybody.
5:57
SPEAKER_01: I suspect this Georgia game is gonna come down to the end.
5:59
SPEAKER_01: Looking ahead, Missouri's on their third string quarterback, I heard.
6:02
SPEAKER_01: So I mean that's a winnable game, and then they all miss the egg bowl.
6:05
SPEAKER_01: You never know.
6:06
SPEAKER_01: So I mean, there's a there's a chance getting six wins.
6:08
SPEAKER_01: Jeff stinks that we should be eight and one right now.
6:11
SPEAKER_01: I mean, in the playoff discussion, hard to believe.
6:13
SPEAKER_01: Lebe would probably be up for coach of the year if that was the case.
6:15
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but uh, you know, it's just that's just the way it works.
6:19
SPEAKER_01: And but uh, but we got the win.
6:21
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, we'd love to love to see Camorio uh play some more.
6:25
SPEAKER_01: But uh just uh just it's just feels good to come out on the on the winning side finally.
6:30
SPEAKER_02: Who did who has Georgia lost to?
6:32
SPEAKER_02: I'm trying to remember now.
6:33
SPEAKER_01: Georgia has uh they lost to um gosh, I'm blank now too.
6:40
SPEAKER_02: Uh because they almost okay, Bamba.
6:42
SPEAKER_02: That's right.
6:43
SPEAKER_02: That's right, yeah, yeah.
6:44
SPEAKER_02: Because they almost lost to Tennessee, and uh that Florida game was close.
6:48
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, you see those kind of games, and you you know, as like a state fan, you kind of hope that it's always like it seems like when we play Alabama, you don't want Alabama to lose before you play.
6:58
SPEAKER_02: Right.
6:59
SPEAKER_02: Um and so they've been in all these close games, and you can see obviously like with Texas, they were in that close game with Kentucky.
7:06
SPEAKER_02: It it does make you feel like you can hang with them.
7:08
SPEAKER_02: And Kirby Smart's not going to lose more than one of those games a year uh unless he's just outmatched, you know.
7:14
SPEAKER_02: And so you feel a little bit better about your your prospects of possibly knocking them off.
7:20
SPEAKER_02: Um, does it happen?
7:22
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
7:23
SPEAKER_02: I feel better about Missouri or Ole Miss than I do about this one, but I do think it will be a competitive game.
7:29
SPEAKER_02: And and you know, I think some of it comes down to if we can run the ball.
7:33
SPEAKER_02: Obviously, we couldn't do that against Arkansas.
7:35
SPEAKER_02: I know Albert Reese was out again.
7:36
SPEAKER_02: I don't know what his status is for this week.
7:39
SPEAKER_02: Um so we'll see.
7:42
SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm excited to see what happens.
7:44
SPEAKER_01: Albert, if you're listening, drink some Johnny Packer coffee like you've gotten before, and it'll you know make you better and you'll be able to play this week.
7:50
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
7:51
SPEAKER_01: Do that.
7:51
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
7:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Arkansas credit to Arkansas, man.
7:54
SPEAKER_01: They they uh they really uh zoned in on stop of the run.
7:58
SPEAKER_01: That I think that was their plan from the get-go.
8:00
SPEAKER_01: Like, we're not letting them run the ball, we're gonna make them throw it.
8:02
SPEAKER_01: And uh man, they booth and both can really do much.
8:06
SPEAKER_01: So uh, but man, Arkansas as uh that that game, Mississippi State Arkansas game, was not really won by it, was won by what Shapin and Evans did it in, but really what it boils down to is Arkansas's penalties.
8:18
SPEAKER_01: They're undisciplined.
8:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, they lost the game themselves, they shot themselves in the foot by by all the penalties.
8:24
SPEAKER_01: It was the most penalty yards game I've ever seen.
8:27
SPEAKER_01: It was over 190 something six yards or something like that on 18 minutes.
8:30
SPEAKER_01: Just absolutely crazy.
8:31
SPEAKER_01: So uh yeah, just credit to that because I mean Arkansas didn't make that many penalties.
8:37
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I don't know who win the game, but uh thank goodness they did, and that's just the way it works sometimes.
8:43
SPEAKER_01: But uh yeah, uh talking about that, I don't see Petrino surviving uh Arkansas now after this debacle.
8:49
SPEAKER_01: You know, last night we heard uh Hugh Freeze, the Reverend Freeze out, Ryan Kelly, LSU out, uh Billy Napier out, Florida.
8:57
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, Pittman's already gone.
9:00
SPEAKER_01: This is crazy, man.
9:01
SPEAKER_01: I've never seen so many coaching openings.
9:04
SPEAKER_01: So so yeah, yeah, as much as my I want to get rid of Levy last week before the Arkansas game, you know, this is not the time to be getting a new coach.
9:12
SPEAKER_01: I mean, this is insane how many people are how many teams are getting rid of it, and Lane Kiffin's throwing the name out everywhere.
9:17
SPEAKER_01: Then LSU, uh LSU's uh um governor is getting involved.
9:22
SPEAKER_01: They don't have a sitting president, AD and a football coach.
9:25
SPEAKER_01: You know, I thought Lane would go to LSU.
9:27
SPEAKER_01: Nope.
9:27
SPEAKER_01: I think Lane stays in Oxford now.
9:29
SPEAKER_01: Uh that he's not getting in that mess.
9:31
SPEAKER_01: Uh Florida's kind of a dumpster fire as well.
9:33
SPEAKER_01: So man, Lane's got it good.
9:35
SPEAKER_01: He's rolling in Oxford, everything's good.
9:37
SPEAKER_01: He's uh I would not, if I was him, I would not leave, and I don't think he will now.
9:41
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but it's just crazy how this day and age, man, if you don't win the games, you lose.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: You get fired.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: You know, that's just bottom line.
9:48
SPEAKER_01: And that's what I kept telling people last week.
9:50
SPEAKER_01: We're saying, give Levee a chance, give Levy a chance, and let him build with these players.
9:53
SPEAKER_01: Like this age of college football is not built for rebuilding and giving players coaches time to get rosters in.
10:00
SPEAKER_01: It's win at all costs right now because of the transfer portal.
10:04
SPEAKER_01: And man, these these guys that he got in, Anthony Evans and Brendan Thompson, you know, last year was kind of bummed out when we lost Kevin Coleman and Mario Craver.
10:12
SPEAKER_01: Man, these two guys are putting up better numbers since they're closed down.
10:15
SPEAKER_01: So he so credit to Levy on that.
10:18
SPEAKER_01: He worked the portal and got two guys to replace the two guys we lost, and they're putting up better numbers.
10:23
SPEAKER_01: So uh uh that that's a credit to him.
10:26
SPEAKER_01: So uh working that portal and and everything is is the way, and and uh man, I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm it's totally opposite feeling right now.
10:34
SPEAKER_01: I feel BW about Mississippi football just by that one game against Arkansas.
10:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I know Arkansas was a terrible win.
10:39
SPEAKER_01: Embarrassing, uh embarrassing football program uh did they have, and it was kind of an embarrassing win on our part, but hey, a win's a win, and I'll take it any day.
10:48
SPEAKER_01: And uh uh going into this game, like we said, Georgia's coming in the starville.
10:52
SPEAKER_01: Crazy that seems like we used to never play Georgia.
10:55
SPEAKER_01: We played them so many times here recently.
10:57
SPEAKER_01: Seems like every year we're playing them now.
10:59
SPEAKER_01: And uh I expect BW this game to go down to the wire.
11:02
SPEAKER_01: I think it's gonna go down to the fourth quarter, but I think that, you know, like you just said, you can't Kirby Smart's not gonna not gonna drop many games.
11:10
SPEAKER_01: And I think uh I think something's gonna happen.
11:14
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what it is, but I think we're gonna be right there within the game, and we'll make a crucial error or turnover or something like that, and Georgia will capitalize on it.
11:22
SPEAKER_01: I'm picking Georgia to win the game, but I do think it's gonna be something like, you know, I'll pick the score to be uh Georgia 34, Mississippi State uh 24.
11:32
SPEAKER_01: Let's say it's about 10 points game, but but that but that swing at the end of the game, I think it's we have a chance to to time or something like that, and then we make an error or something, and then Georgia gets the ball and then they score again and make it look like it's wasn't as close, but I do think it's gonna be a close game.
11:46
SPEAKER_01: What are your thoughts?
11:47
SPEAKER_01: Score prediction.
11:48
SPEAKER_02: Okay, I can see that happening.
11:49
SPEAKER_02: I was actually gonna say 35-21.
11:51
SPEAKER_02: So I'm I'm kind of right there with you.
11:53
SPEAKER_02: I think fourth quarter, you know, they either go on like a 10-minute long drive and just put it away, or you know, we do something stupid, turnover, you know, that in our territory and they get the ball and run around, you know, something like that.
12:05
SPEAKER_02: Um, but I think we do score a few points and we're we're in the game, but I don't think we I don't think we pull it off.
12:12
SPEAKER_02: Hope we have a good crowd though.
12:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and last year's game, you know, that would have been uh well, we played them last year, but I mean, it's just a totally different mindset we have going in.
12:22
SPEAKER_01: We think we're gonna be into the game, you know, close game and everything, but uh not that way.
12:27
SPEAKER_01: Uh this year, thank goodness we're we're into the we're we're close and it's not blowout fashion, but uh uh that's what it is.
12:34
SPEAKER_01: But hey man, I got I meant meant to mention this to you, BW last week.
12:37
SPEAKER_01: We talked about uh our buddy uh did you see did you watch in the Texas uh Vany game?
12:42
SPEAKER_01: I missed that game.
12:43
SPEAKER_01: I did not get did not get to see it.
12:45
SPEAKER_01: I was at the took uh Natty to the Martham and Sweet Potato Festival, so I did not watch that game.
12:50
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but it looked like Texas took off uh the from the start, but then Vandy came wrong.
12:55
SPEAKER_01: Is that what happened?
12:56
SPEAKER_01: Then and then Texas came on the issue.
12:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they came, you know, they they scored at the very end of the game to make it look closer than it really was.
13:03
SPEAKER_02: I mean, they they put together a little comeback, but I think Texas was just too far up to really material.
13:09
SPEAKER_01: Everyone saw on social media was like Mississippi State fixed Texas problems.
13:13
SPEAKER_01: Everyone's like, you know, Texas was struggling, then Texas we give up, well, we give them the game pretty much, and then they they beat the uh Diego Pavave or whatever bandy who's who's really good.
13:23
SPEAKER_01: So uh that was actually surprising.
13:25
SPEAKER_01: I've never seen a game where Bandy is picked to win.
13:28
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's pretty crazy that what Bandy is doing.
13:31
SPEAKER_01: But but uh but I meant to mention this last week, BW.
13:34
SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, you sent me this picture of me and uh my buddy uh Matthew McConaughey, and the rumor was that he was in town that he had rent out of the bar of the cotton district, and and I put that picture up.
13:44
SPEAKER_01: I said, here's McConaughey rumor in town.
13:46
SPEAKER_01: He's at the cotton district.
13:47
SPEAKER_01: Really, he's out here at Browning Creek with me and daddy's catching the sunset.
13:50
SPEAKER_01: And man, that picture went viral, BW.
13:53
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it got the hundreds of hundreds of likes, comments, everything.
13:57
SPEAKER_01: I ended up getting like over a hundred followers off of that one picture.
14:00
SPEAKER_01: And someone messaged my mom during the game and was like, is Matthew McCone staying in someone's barn in Browning Creek?
14:06
SPEAKER_01: I heard that.
14:07
SPEAKER_01: Oh, because of that picture, it's pretty crazy.
14:10
SPEAKER_01: Uh pretty crazy.
14:11
SPEAKER_01: So it's funny.
14:12
SPEAKER_01: Uh uh, someone sent me a picture of him with a wearing a maroon shirt now.
14:16
SPEAKER_01: Doctor, uh, I sent it, put it in and said, Hey, yeah, I think after the Bulldogs got finally got a win, McConaughey's entered the transfer portal.
14:22
SPEAKER_01: He's gonna be a Bulldog fan now.
14:23
SPEAKER_01: And uh and pushed that.
14:25
SPEAKER_01: But it's amazing how people felt for that.
14:27
SPEAKER_01: You know, I guess because I was on the show with McCone, and everybody knows I'm a big McCone fan.
14:30
SPEAKER_01: They thought that he was really out here, but he wasn't, he wasn't even in start.
14:34
SPEAKER_01: Well, uh, but that's just how rumors go.
14:36
SPEAKER_01: But um AI, man, BWAI is just uh it's it's funny, you know, it's kind of crazy how it's taken over the world.
14:43
SPEAKER_01: It's it's helpful in some ways, and then you know, it's pretty funny in that way, like that.
14:47
SPEAKER_01: You know, we we got a kick out of that, and then the picture of him and me eating barbecue look like someone coming and goes, Oh, it looks like little deweys has been uh been updated.
14:55
SPEAKER_01: It's like it's funny stuff, but uh yeah, that was that was uh that was pretty funny, man.
15:01
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, out of out of the like we said last week, out of the disaster of the Texas game, there was a lot of funny stuff that we got to see from it.
15:08
SPEAKER_01: And this week, uh it's gonna be awesome.
15:10
SPEAKER_01: Uh uh, you know, I would always take Bo to meet Tim Tebow every year at SEC Nation.
15:16
SPEAKER_01: And uh wait, I'm gonna take Natty on Friday.
15:18
SPEAKER_01: I hope Naddie will get to meet him.
15:20
SPEAKER_01: Uh he Bo always loved Tim and Tim will always love seeing Bo.
15:24
SPEAKER_01: So hopefully I'll get to introduce Natty to Tim Tebow this year.
15:26
SPEAKER_01: And and then Brandon Walker is back on campus again, BW with Barstool, and uh they're gonna be there.
15:32
SPEAKER_01: Dave Portnore, you know, he does the pizza reviews.
15:34
SPEAKER_01: I'm actually seeing what what pizza restaurant he's gonna review.
15:38
SPEAKER_01: And uh yeah, it's gonna be a big weekend in Starbucks, man.
15:42
SPEAKER_01: So come out, sport the dogs early morning kick this time, not at 3 p.m.
15:46
SPEAKER_01: like usual.
15:47
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but yeah, uh SEC Nation will be in the junction.
15:50
SPEAKER_01: I think Barstool is gonna be in the amphitheater.
15:53
SPEAKER_01: So uh looking for looking forward to uh to a good weekend.
15:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm excited about it.
15:58
SPEAKER_02: Just just glad that you know we're still relevant this time of year.
16:01
SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah, that SEC would would want to come come down here and and do that.
16:06
SPEAKER_02: So looking forward to the weekend and and everything.
16:09
SPEAKER_02: And um, y'all stay tuned for the the end of this episode.
16:12
SPEAKER_02: We have a guest.
16:12
SPEAKER_02: Uh, we're not talking about football, but it's it's Joe Birch.
16:15
SPEAKER_02: He's a uh really well-known news anchor here in Memphis, um, instantly recognizable voice and face.
16:22
SPEAKER_02: Um, really great interview, really great guy.
16:24
SPEAKER_02: Uh, he talks a little bit about uh you know how he became a newscaster in Memphis and then um some of the philanthropy he's done with St.
16:32
SPEAKER_02: Jude.
16:32
SPEAKER_02: Um it was really good interview.
16:34
SPEAKER_02: Really enjoyed talking to him.
16:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we wanted to get him on because uh last year we were at the Uncorp the Cure.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's a fundraiser for cystic fibrosis in Memphis.
16:43
SPEAKER_01: And he was the MC at the event, and uh we got to know him through that, and and he got to hear my story about my fight with CF and and the fact that we do uh we sell coffee on johnnypacker.net as a fundraiser for CF uh to help spread the word, really just getting public awareness out there that the CF is still out there killing people every day.
17:02
SPEAKER_01: And and though we have we're so thankful for our miracle drug, there's still people dying to get a drug, and and just playing a little part is by buying coffee and and it goes towards uh CF research so they can come up with a drug to uh help these kids.
17:16
SPEAKER_01: He's 10% of the CF people that don't have access to a miracle drug.
17:20
SPEAKER_01: So um, so yeah, really cool get to get to talk to Joe and uh hearing his story about how he became uh how he landed in Memphis and how he's been there for 50 years now.
17:29
SPEAKER_01: Uh it's close to 50 years, I believe, uh in Memphis.
17:32
SPEAKER_01: So uh really good interview.
17:33
SPEAKER_01: So stay tuned if you're uh still listening right now.
17:36
SPEAKER_01: Stay tuned to to Joe or uh and you'll you'll really enjoy hearing that interview, and then we'll be back and uh recapping Georgia weekend next week.
17:44
SPEAKER_01: And and Borderwall basketball BW starts Wednesday night.
17:47
SPEAKER_01: Get to the hump if you're out there listening.
17:49
SPEAKER_01: Um you know, Josh Hubbard and Chris Jans are back again.
17:52
SPEAKER_01: And I think this year is gonna be uh be another good year.
17:55
SPEAKER_01: Um, I think you know, NTA tournament bid again, hopefully.
17:59
SPEAKER_01: Um I'm getting uh we're getting Josh on the podcast next week to talk about uh Borderwall basketball.
18:04
SPEAKER_01: So looking forward to that as well.
18:05
SPEAKER_01: But uh thank you everyone for listening.
18:07
SPEAKER_01: Thank y'all for uh uh checking out jonypacker.net, helping us with the cause, spreading awareness about CF and helping raise money for CF research.
18:15
SPEAKER_01: So uh thank y'all listen to Joe Birch and we'll check y'all out next week.
18:19
SPEAKER_01: And happy be happy birthday, BW BW's birthday.
18:22
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Johnny.
18:23
SPEAKER_01: Give him a shout out for happy birthday.
18:24
SPEAKER_02: Number 44.
18:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you caught up to me, man.
18:27
SPEAKER_02: That's right.
18:29
SPEAKER_02: Couple months.
18:30
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
18:31
SPEAKER_02: All right, we'll talk to y'all later.
18:33
SPEAKER_02: Appreciate you.
18:34
SPEAKER_01: All right, yeah.
18:35
SPEAKER_02: All right, welcome to another episode of the Johnny's World Podcast.
18:39
SPEAKER_02: This is your host, BW.
18:41
SPEAKER_02: I'm here with my co-host Johnny.
18:43
SPEAKER_02: And Johnny, we have a very special guest on here today.
18:46
SPEAKER_02: We're normally here talking Mississippi State football, but we're gonna put that on the table for for now.
18:50
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna we're gonna talk to our guest here because we're very excited about our guest.
18:54
SPEAKER_02: Um we actually saw him at Uncork the Cure last year in Memphis that it was a cystic fibrosis event that we were we were at, fundraiser for cystic fibrosis.
19:05
SPEAKER_02: And uh he was so gracious to um host uh to the MC of that event there.
19:10
SPEAKER_02: And um, when I walked in and I and I saw that he was there, I was I was taken aback because I I thought it was such a great thing that he was there.
19:17
SPEAKER_02: Um, if you've been in Memphis, if you've ever watched TV in Memphis, you know exactly who he is.
19:22
SPEAKER_02: Um he's been with News Channel 5 since 1978.
19:26
SPEAKER_02: Um he's probably won every award there is to win.
19:30
SPEAKER_02: Um, this is Joe Birch.
19:31
SPEAKER_02: So welcome to the show, Joe.
19:33
SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much for your hospitality and the invitation.
19:37
SPEAKER_01: Yes, we're looking forward to it.
19:40
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we remember meeting you at Uncourt Court the Cure.
19:42
SPEAKER_01: I guess talk a little bit about that, about your uh philanthropy, uh, how you got involved in in that that particular event, I guess.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: Well, the cystic fibrosis event is something close to our heart because my wife and I have uh a work friend of my wife's who had a child with um cystic fibrosis, and she kind of engaged us uh in the effort.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: And so we've been uh throughout the years been involved with different fundraisers, and that uncorked the cure is a great one.
20:17
SPEAKER_02: Yes, it definitely is.
20:19
SPEAKER_02: So is is your friend uh your wife's your wife's your wife's friend still still alive in Memphis or oh yeah, yeah.
20:27
SPEAKER_00: So she worked at Hilton, my wife did.
20:29
SPEAKER_00: Um my wife worked for 16 years with FedEx, and then she moved over to what became uh the Memphis iteration of Hilton Hotel Company.
20:37
SPEAKER_00: You know, their their their headquarters, believe it or not, are here.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: Uh right there on um, the real headquarters, I guess.
20:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right, or on in Beverly Hills, but you know, the real support system is uh is right there um behind the target on Colonial and uh in East Memphis.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: And uh my wife worked there for a number of years uh and uh became acquainted with uh the individuals who have had the the CF challenge.
21:08
SPEAKER_01: Well, well, yeah, we uh we do this uh podcast, we've been doing it about four years now.
21:13
SPEAKER_01: We usually in the fall, we both graduate from Mississippi State, so we usually talk about Mississippi State sports in the fall uh football season.
21:20
SPEAKER_01: But our main main reason for doing the podcast is to help uh promote and raise money for cystic fibrosis.
21:26
SPEAKER_01: I I'm uh 44 years old, live with CF every day, and uh it's a constant battle.
21:30
SPEAKER_01: But uh we were able to get this drug in 2019 called Tricafta, which is the miracle drug for CF.
21:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, and it really has changed my life.
21:38
SPEAKER_01: I was on the I was about to be on the list to get a double lung transplant, which is the end stage of CF.
21:44
SPEAKER_01: And they were told me if you can just hold on to get tricapta, it'll change your life.
21:47
SPEAKER_01: And it really did.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: It changed my life.
21:50
SPEAKER_01: And uh, but you know, with CF, it's uh genetic disease.
21:54
SPEAKER_01: So there's 10% of the CF population that does not have the genetic makeup enabled to.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Take this drug called Tricafta.
22:01
SPEAKER_01: So they're it, they're in the boat like we all were before Tricafta came about, and they don't have a miracle drug at all.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: So they're the ones that are are still dying from this uh disease right now, uh, waiting and just trying to find some type of uh drug.
22:14
SPEAKER_01: And the TF Foundation said they're not stopping until everybody gets uh gets a miracle drug.
22:20
SPEAKER_01: Um it's it's a lot harder for this 10% because they have uh something called a rare uh mutation, a nonsense mutation, which is very rare.
22:28
SPEAKER_01: And uh I have one of those mutations, but luckily I have the common TF one, uh, which is how I'm able to take tricaptor.
22:35
SPEAKER_01: But people in the 10% have two rare mutations.
22:38
SPEAKER_01: So our our goal on this podcast is just to promote it.
22:41
SPEAKER_01: And uh we do Johnnypacker.net.
22:43
SPEAKER_01: Brandon's an avid coffee drinker, and he and we partnered up with uh some people in Mississippi and New Albany at High Point Roasters, and we uh we get we we sell coffee pretty much and they'll send it to your to your door.
22:55
SPEAKER_01: You can do a subscription basis, very affordable, and uh the money goes to the 65 Roastes Foundation.
23:00
SPEAKER_01: We we originally, as Brandon is an eye doctor in Memphis Carriville area, we used to do uh we were selling glasses and sunglasses, and and then we switched over to uh coffee products.
23:10
SPEAKER_01: But it's a as we tell everybody every every week it's a win-win deal.
23:13
SPEAKER_01: You get you know, people like golf, they like to drink coffee, and you're helping out at the same time a good cause by helping raise money for CF.
23:20
SPEAKER_01: So uh so yeah, I'm I'm I'm glad that uh that we were able to get you on to talking a little bit about your philanthropy efforts.
23:27
SPEAKER_01: But uh switching over, let's talk about your your uh news career.
23:30
SPEAKER_01: What what got you into the news field?
23:32
SPEAKER_00: Well, the need for a job, a J O P, you know, and so uh I never say this on the air, okay?
23:39
SPEAKER_00: So I'll say this on a podcast.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: I'm a Yankee, I'm one of those damn Yankees.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: I stayed, you know.
23:45
SPEAKER_00: And uh so what happened to me was I went to the Christie Brothers High School of Northern New Jersey.
23:50
SPEAKER_00: You know, many people know about CBHS, great football team, the Purple Wave, 5900, uh Walnut Grove, uh Tom Nick Stadium there, and uh a whole lot of folks gathered there on Friday nights, usually to see some great high school football.
24:05
SPEAKER_00: Well, I went to the same kind of a school up in northern New Jersey, right across from New York City in Paramis, New Jersey, Paramis Catholic Boys High School.
24:13
SPEAKER_00: There were girls at the school, but they had a door about that thick between us.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: We were allowed to have lunch with them, and uh, we were allowed to take biology with them senior year.
24:23
SPEAKER_00: So they tried to get do their best to keep us apart.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: Didn't work very well.
24:27
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, the um the thing that happened was uh I grew up there and I delivered the newspaper.
24:33
SPEAKER_00: I was a newspaper delivery boy um literally from age seven.
24:38
SPEAKER_00: I was a subcontractor for a kid who was 12.
24:42
SPEAKER_00: And then I had my own route, and one of my best friends and I took over this giant neighborhood and we delivered the newspaper every day.
24:49
SPEAKER_00: So I've been delivering the news since I was a kid and interested in it and got to know some of the reporters, believe it or not, who wrote for what was called The Record, uh, a newspaper printed in Hackensack, New Jersey.
25:03
SPEAKER_00: And some of the reporters who wrote for that paper while I was delivering it went on to work for NBC News and other outlets, and I got to meet them over the years as a journalist, as I became a journalist myself.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: So I went to CBU, Christian Brothers University.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: It was called CBC back in the day when I got here 51 years ago.
25:22
SPEAKER_00: And I went to CBC, I wrote for the college paper there, and I I knew I was always interested in the news.
25:29
SPEAKER_00: I watched TV news with interest, um, you know, after school and high school and stuff like that, and uh just decided I wanted to do this.
25:40
SPEAKER_00: And so I literally, this sounds like Abraham Lincoln walking to uh his school in the snow and bare feet, but I walked from channel from uh WMC to WMC because it was so close to Christian Brothers.
25:54
SPEAKER_00: And so I walked here, I didn't have a car, and I I uh got an internship and I convinced them to let me in the building, and I never have left.
26:03
SPEAKER_00: That was January 28th, 1978, and I've never they've never been able to get rid of me.
26:08
SPEAKER_00: My key card keeps working.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
26:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and so I've been blessed, you know.
26:15
SPEAKER_02: What made you pick Christian brothers in the first place from uh all the way from up there?
26:19
SPEAKER_02: What made you decide to come down here?
26:21
SPEAKER_00: Well, this is a confession, okay?
26:23
SPEAKER_00: I was a reluctant high school student, and I was one of those kids who actually showed up at this school, which was a you know, a school that would challenge you.
26:33
SPEAKER_00: I showed up one day without my homework, and it was like a three-alarm fire.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: Like these guys got in my face and said, What do you think you're doing here?
26:43
SPEAKER_00: This is about education.
26:44
SPEAKER_00: You got to do your homework, boy.
26:46
SPEAKER_00: And and they here's how they got my attention: they said, Don't bother holding on to your homework as you get off the school bus.
26:55
SPEAKER_00: One of the teachers said, I'll be here to collect it from you.
26:58
SPEAKER_00: And so you give it all to me and I'll turn it in.
27:01
SPEAKER_00: And I didn't have anywhere to escape to after that, and so he saved my life, and he made me into somewhat of a responsible young man, and then um the brothers here in town uh you know didn't have much to work with to start, but I ended up on the board of trustees, so they must have done something right.
27:25
SPEAKER_00: So it worked out, you know.
27:27
SPEAKER_00: But I was I was a little bit of a reluctance.
27:29
SPEAKER_00: So I this was the only place I was getting an invitation to come to college.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: They invited me down here.
27:34
SPEAKER_00: So this it was it was one of those situations, and uh, you know, in 2020 hindsight, you know, I I gotta think that there was some kind of divine plan involved here because because yeah, I met my wife here, and we have two sons who are now uh young professional business leaders uh in their own right, in their 30s, with uh, you know, five grandkids now for us.
27:59
SPEAKER_00: We have uh one of them has two, a boy and a girl, and the other has twins and a brand new little girl.
28:05
SPEAKER_00: And we're just crazy about them, and they're all here in Memphis.
28:09
SPEAKER_00: So I really feel blessed, you know.
28:12
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
28:12
SPEAKER_02: Well, I think the city dated you because you've given back so much to the city over the years that it was just a mutual relationship that that had to happen.
28:19
SPEAKER_00: So thank you, thank you.
28:21
SPEAKER_00: Well, I really and truly love Memphis, you know, and and I know uh lots of people have different feelings about our city, but I embrace it wholly and fully and love it and uh have gotten to know it.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: Um and and you know, one of the ways I got to know it was, you know, in a TV studio, it's pretty sterile.
28:42
SPEAKER_00: Right now I'm in our audio room at the TV station, and so like it's soundproofed and you know, it's quiet in here, but it's it's isolating, all right?
28:53
SPEAKER_00: And I decided the way I needed to go out there and find out about Memphis was to go into the homes of the people.
29:02
SPEAKER_00: And one way I got in was uh to deliver MIFA Meals on Wheels, the Metropolitan Interfaith Association has a daily Meals on Wheels program Monday through Friday.
29:12
SPEAKER_00: And so I I did that for a long, long time.
29:15
SPEAKER_00: And I got I got to know people so well that I ended up speaking at their funerals and stuff like that.
29:23
SPEAKER_00: But I mean, because we we became dear friends.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: You watch what what happens in with those kind of relationships is you make a few deliveries and then you fall in love, and and they and it's a mutual thing, and it and and for a lot of these seniors, it's their only you know visitor of the day.
29:40
SPEAKER_00: And so what the what the thing about that was is see, I learned so much history of the city as they shared it with me and that sort of thing.
29:49
SPEAKER_00: And and I was also doing my own private study of who was watching channel five, and I I found out that we we have some challenges in certain neighborhoods.
30:01
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, it was good, it was good for everybody, you know.
30:04
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
30:06
SPEAKER_02: Well, I know you're short on time, but uh I know I know you you you've done some work with St.
30:10
SPEAKER_02: Jude doing the marathon and everything.
30:12
SPEAKER_02: Are you planning to do that this year?
30:14
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
30:14
SPEAKER_00: Now, uh this has been a great thing for me.
30:17
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, what happened was when the St.
30:21
SPEAKER_00: Jude Children's Research Hospital, founded by Danny Thomas, opened on February 4th, 1962, when they decided to take over the marathon in 2002, it was whispered in my ear at a Grizzlies game of all things in the pyramid that they were going to do this, and they needed a cheerleader.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: They needed somebody who could get on the air and say, hey, look, this is happening.
30:46
SPEAKER_00: And so I was already in the running community.
30:49
SPEAKER_00: I already had a 5K race that I organized every year, and I knew a lot of the people who organized races.
30:56
SPEAKER_00: So what happened was uh I got approached by a guy named Paul Sachs, who is a just a beautiful human being.
31:03
SPEAKER_00: He just organized the 50th um Overton Park Five Mile Classic, which was held a couple Saturdays ago in Overdend Park and is the longest uh lasting foot race.
31:18
SPEAKER_00: It's the it's the one race that has lasted 50 years, so since 1975 to present.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: And this race it was great, but uh I uh I got to know Paul and he whispered this in my ear.
31:32
SPEAKER_00: And I've been involved with the marathon since its inception.
31:36
SPEAKER_00: So I ran the full marathon that first year, and then the way I went forward with my buddies was uh every other year I'd run a full, and in the off years I'd run a half.
31:47
SPEAKER_00: So the even number years I ran a full, and I did that five times till 2010.
31:52
SPEAKER_00: And in the even number years I run a half.
31:54
SPEAKER_00: Now I just do a half, and now I don't run anymore because I'm 70.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: And so I can I can walk slash stroll slash crawl slash just get to the finish line.
32:07
SPEAKER_00: And uh and I start in last place on purpose to be the rear guard, you know, and uh and uh I can't stand people to pass me, so I pass other people, and uh and and we've managed to do that all these years.
32:25
SPEAKER_00: So this will be my 24th appearance.
32:27
SPEAKER_00: Uh I have an asterisk on 2013 because we got iced out, and ironically, there was an ice storm, and ironically, the race was canceled, and I had a broken ankle, so I would have missed it, but through fate, I didn't.
32:42
SPEAKER_00: I raised money for St.
32:44
SPEAKER_00: Jude Children's Research Hospital that year, too.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: And then in 2020, we had the pandemic, and it was a do-it-yourself affair.
32:51
SPEAKER_00: And so uh what we did was uh we could make up our own course.
32:56
SPEAKER_00: So I ran from my house to um Arkansas across the big river crossing, you know.
33:03
SPEAKER_00: Then I turned around and went down to St.
33:04
SPEAKER_00: Jude and then went back to my house.
33:06
SPEAKER_00: Well, that uh turned out to be 15 miles, so I did a little more than I did a little more than a half marathon that day.
33:15
SPEAKER_00: But uh, you know, it was it was uh kind of fun, and there were a whole lot of other people doing it that day.
33:21
SPEAKER_00: So we were all kind of keeping distance and saying hello and cheering each other on.
33:26
SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, this thing has gone on now.
33:28
SPEAKER_00: So next year will be the 25th anniversary, so I'm sure there'll be a lot of uh bally hoo about that.
33:34
SPEAKER_00: There'll be a lot of rah-rah around that.
33:36
SPEAKER_00: This is number 24.
33:39
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
33:40
SPEAKER_01: Well, Joe, let me ask you this before we let you go.
33:43
SPEAKER_01: If people are out here listening to this podcast and they're interested in getting into the news professions and journalism, talk about what when you started.
33:52
SPEAKER_01: I can't imagine what it's like now with AI and everything going on.
33:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but it started from then to now.
33:58
SPEAKER_01: What would you what would you tell someone out there?
34:00
SPEAKER_00: Well, be prepared for a lot of change.
34:03
SPEAKER_00: So I I literally started in the film era, so I have to explain to high school kids what film is because they live in a digital world, you know, and have all their lives.
34:15
SPEAKER_00: And they think these cell phones that I'm talking to you on right now, you know, they're so ubiquitous now, but they're they did not exist in 1978 and didn't exist till that, you know, it's it's a fairly recent invention in the history of mankind, you know, and but boy, has it changed our lives.
34:32
SPEAKER_00: And so what I would encourage somebody to do is be prepared for a ton of change and make yourself invaluable.
34:41
SPEAKER_00: So find ways where uh an employer really comes to need you.
34:48
SPEAKER_00: And so what I did was like I made myself available 24-7.
34:52
SPEAKER_00: I was like gum ho.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I would do whatever needed doing.
34:55
SPEAKER_00: I was so excited.
34:56
SPEAKER_00: I was so surprised somebody put me on TV.
34:58
SPEAKER_00: I've stayed for 50 years.
35:01
SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, I was I've just been, you know, sort of uh willing to do whatever needs to be done.
35:09
SPEAKER_00: And and I think that's kind of like the attitude, but you also in this new world we're in, and you mentioned AI.
35:15
SPEAKER_00: Well, this is something that is changing our world uh in corporate America in a gigantic way.
35:23
SPEAKER_00: And we have to be really savvy about how it is that we're gonna proceed forward.
35:31
SPEAKER_00: But I always believe that the human element is going to be invaluable.
35:36
SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, if if you have the opportunity to be on the air, you want to be distinctive, you want to be memorable, and you want to try to write very well.
35:47
SPEAKER_00: And the way we write well is we read a lot first and read everything we can get our hands on.
35:54
SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about books, magazines, uh, websites, I'm talking about toothpaste uh packaging.
36:02
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm talking about read everything you can read.
36:06
SPEAKER_00: And and and find the writers you really like, find reporters that you really like and follow them, you know, whether it's online or on social media or however you do it, uh, in however in whatever form that takes, and really follow those people and see how they're doing it.
36:27
SPEAKER_00: And why is it that you like them?
36:29
SPEAKER_00: You know, well, it's probably because they have a distinctive style and they're they're getting right to the point of their story, and it has a beginning, middle, and end with a hook in it that makes you want to watch or read.
36:44
SPEAKER_00: And so I would encourage people to really be thoughtful and deliberate and uh and try to do their best.
36:53
SPEAKER_00: And of course, you know, when we're first on the air, whatever no matter what platform it is, we're we're all horrible.
37:00
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we all make mistakes.
37:02
SPEAKER_00: That's why local TV stations, you know, in in Greenville, Mississippi end up hiring people in Tupelo and you know, in um in Jonesboro, and people get their start and make their mistakes in front of hopefully a smaller audience and then get good and promptly go toward bigger markets like Memphis and and beyond.
37:24
SPEAKER_00: I what happened to me was I just got uh married to a sweet, good-looking thing uh here in Memphis, and I just haven't left yet.
37:34
SPEAKER_00: And so I stuck around for all these years, and I'm glad I did.
37:38
SPEAKER_00: I'm glad I did.
37:38
SPEAKER_00: It worked out great.
37:39
SPEAKER_00: So I'm an anomaly.
37:41
SPEAKER_00: If you're uh trying to get to the big time, you're gonna have to ask somebody else.
37:45
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
37:45
SPEAKER_00: I don't know the way.
37:49
SPEAKER_02: Oh, we sure appreciate you, Joe.
37:51
SPEAKER_02: And uh if if you send Johnny your address, we'll be glad to get you a uh bag of coffee if you like coffee.
37:57
SPEAKER_02: And uh I sure do.
37:59
SPEAKER_02: Good luck this year with the with the St.
38:01
SPEAKER_02: Jude and everything, and just uh looking forward to following your next adventure.
38:05
SPEAKER_00: Well, guys, thank you so much for the invitation, and I want to wish everybody uh happy holidays coming up.
38:11
SPEAKER_00: And um, your coffee product sounds like a perfect thing to give uh for the 2025 holiday season.
38:18
SPEAKER_00: So companies that are out there that might be thinking about a gift, you know, your Mississippi State faithful that listen might uh tap into some of your uh great product there and maybe maybe make a coffee gift to their best clients uh over the holiday season.
38:36
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
38:37
SPEAKER_02: We sure appreciate it, Joe.
38:39
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
38:40
SPEAKER_02: We really appreciate it.
38:41
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
38:42
SPEAKER_00: Happy holidays.