Dattitude with Jim Derry

The LSU baseball Tigers took care of business this past weekend with a sweep of rival-Ole Miss at Alex Box Stadium, but is it enough for the defending NCAA champions to earn a berth into the Regionals?

That is Question No. 1 on Monday’s Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 241) presented by Evangeline Securities, as host Jim Derry asks The Advocate LSU baseball beat writer Koki Riley, before he heads to Hoover, Ala., for the SEC Tournament. Also, how do the Tigers matchup against Tuesday’s opponent, Georgia, and potentially for the rest of the weeklong tourney?

Lastly, on the 'Extra Point,' Jim wishes a Happy 75th birthday to former Saints quarterback Archie Manning and goes through why Archie is one of the show host’s all-time favorite football players.

Dak Prescott. Jalen Hurts. Kirk Cousins. Patrick Mahomes. These are the quarterbacks the New Orleans Saints will have to face in succession over a four-game stretch early in the season. Can they navigate through that and find a way to a successful start?

This is the No. 1 question posed by host Jim Derry to Times-Picayune and The Advocate sports columnist Rod Walker on a special, schedule-release Thursday edition of the Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 240) presented by Evangeline Securities. They also will talk about best- and worst-case scenarios, what the Saints need to do to make this season better than the past two and make their “far too early” predictions for 2024.

And in the ‘Extra Point,’ Jim goes back 39 years to a day when the future of the team was very much on the brink of whether they would remain in New Orleans and what Gov. Edwin Edwards did to step in and help save the efforts for Tom Benson to buy the Saints.

The NFL schedule isn’t officially announced until Wednesday night, but we have the inside scoop on who, when and where the Saints will lineup throughout the 2024 season. (And it ain’t pretty.)

That’s the main focus for Jim Derry, as he welcomes in ‘Inside New Orleans’ show host Eric Asher on Wednesday’s Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 239) presented by Evangeline Securities. They will go through and talk about the toughest matchups and the waters the Saints will need to navigate through to have a successful campaign. Also, we ask Eric his thoughts on the addition of quarterback Spencer Rattler.

On the 'Extra Point,' Jim looks back 6 years to when the US Supreme Court struck down a rule that outlawed sports gambling, leaving it up to the states to decide. Was that a good thing or bad?

The first NFL practices are done for the newest members of the New Orleans Saints, but how significant were they? Do we like what we hear from quarterback Spencer Rattler and cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry? Do we make anything of Taliese Fuaga practicing at left tackle?

We hear from Rattler, McKinstry and new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak on Monday’s Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 238) brought to you by Evangeline Securities, as host Jim Derry shares his thoughts on the weekend. Also, former LSU slugger Cade Beloso joins the show to talk about what the Tigers need to do on the diamond in the near future to make this season a success.

Lastly, on the 'Extra Point,' Jim goes back 22 years ago to the date Mickey Loomis was promoted to Saints general manager, which Jim says very well could be the most significant move in the history of this franchise.

Much like last year – but maybe worse now – the New Orleans Saints have a quandary along their offensive line. Assuming right tackle Ryan Ramczyk is a no-go for at least the beginning of the 2024 season, first-round pick Taliese Fuaga likely will start there. So what does that mean for the rest of the offensive line?

Will Trevor Penning have a rebirth of sorts and be able to go at left tackle? What about recently signed Oli Udoh, who started 16 games for offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak when he was in Minnesota? Do the Saints need to get a left tackle in free agency? What about left guard?

These are all questions host Jim Derry has for FOX-8 Saints beat reporter Sean Fazende on Friday’s Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 237) presented by Evangeline Securities. They also will talk about the potential 2024 schedule, which will be released Wednesday night, and what are the most intriguing matchups. And in the ‘Extra Point,’ Jim goes back 22 years when it was announced the Charlotte Hornets were moving to New Orleans.

It has been a week many people in Pearl River won't soon forget. Hours before seniors from the school were graduating and the baseball team was pulling off an improbable comeback to advance to the semifinals, a senior classmate was killed in a car accident.

How has the team dealt with the tragedy, and can this group of young men continue to uplift a community in their first trip to Sulphur for the state tournament? Coach Buddy Turnage joins Jim Derry on Wednesday’s Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 234) presented by Evangeline Securities, to talk about the journey, as well as his own long two-decade trip to this point in his life.

Jim also shares his thoughts on Andrus Peat leaving the team to go to the Las Vegas Raiders and what would be the ideal schedule for the New Orleans Saints. And in the 'Extra Point,' he looks back 29 years to the great May 8 flood that dealt the city another blow.

With less than 4 months remaining until the LSU football Tigers take the field in Las Vegas to play USC in the Trojans’ first game in the post-Caleb Williams era, where does this team stand? How does Brian Kelly’s offense look with Garrett Nussmeier set to take over behind center and one of the most experienced O-lines in college football? Can the defense be better (It has to be!)

Host Jim Derry brings in The Advocate’s LSU Sports beat writer Wilson Alexander on Monday’s Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 235), as they also talk about the the baseball team and whether Jay Johnson’s crew is back in the running to make a regional with three straight SEC series victories, including over No. 1 Texas A&M this past weekend at The Box.

Lastly, on the 'Extra Point,' Jim brags about his big Derby hit this past weekend and looks back 46 years to May 6, 1978, when Affirmed and Alydar struck up one of sports’ great rivalries in the Run for the Roses and Affirmed’s first leg of what would be the last Triple Crown winner for the next 27 years.

It's nearly a week since the Atlanta Falcons drafted Michael Penix with their first-round selection and the eighth overall. That doesn’t make them better now, but the Las Vegas oddsmakers have not budged the odds in the NFC South and still have them as big favorites over the New Orleans Saints, the defending champs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Carolina Panthers.

Why? Does the draft mean nothing? Does the fact both the Bucs and Saints finished ahead of Atlanta last year mean anything? Does Kirk Cousins mean THAT much? What about the Saints adding Taliese Fuaga and Kool-Aid McKinstry and the Bucs drafting needs, as well?

We ask our friend Terrin Waack, who is a NOLA.com alum and currently serves as beat writer for the Dirty Birds at AtlantaFalcons.com to share her thoughts with host Jim Derry on Wednesday’s Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 234). Also in the ‘Extra Point,’ Jim goes back 33 years to a doubleheader of big-time records in Major League Baseball on one day.

The 2024 NFL Draft is in the books, and what grade to we give the New Orleans Saints? If one were to judge by the first two picks alone – Taliese Fuaga and Kool-Aid McKinstry, it might be as high as an A+. However, some of us think that “wasting” a fifth-round pick on quarterback Spencer Rattler drops it a bit.

Is it a wasted pick, and does Kool-Aid for sure signal the end of Marshon Lattimore’s tenure in New Orleans? Jim Derry analyzes the weekend with Times-Picayune Saints beat writer Luke Johnson on Monday’s Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 233), as they also talk about the other third-day picks and undrafted free agents that could make an impact on this team.

Lastly, on the 'Extra Point,' Jim is looking back to one of the signature drafts in recent memory, as on this date in 2006, Reggie Bush was a splash pick – the first by Coach Sean Payton – before others like Roman Harper, Zach Strief and Marques Colston – were picked. “Just one time for ya boy!”

Taliese Fuaga is the newest member of the New Orleans Saints after the team picked him with the first round of Thursday’s NFL Draft. Was this the right choice, and where does he slot in as a starter? What were his thoughts after being picked, and what did Coach Dennis Allen have to say?

It’s a post-first-day Friday edition of the Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 232) presented by Evangeline Securities, as we also get into the possibilities for the Saints on Day 2 at pick No. 45. Wide receiver? Running back? Another offensive lineman? A cornerback in case Marshon Lattimore is traded away?

Jim Derry shares his thoughts on the Saints and the laughable decision by the Atlanta Falcons to draft Michael Penix, along with some of the other Day 1 moments. He finishes the show with his ‘Extra Point,’ which looks back 21 years at one of the top busts in team history, as the Saints traded their two first-round picks to move up and grab lazy, out-of-shape Johnathan Sullivan with the sixth pick.