Another holiday weekend is approaching – in fact, some are saying it’s already here. Colleen Crain reports.
Cut 1 (32) “…I’m Colleen Crain.”
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The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled former LSU football coach Ed Orgeron’s ex-wife is entitled to half of his 17-million-dollar buyout. Kace Kieschnick has more.
Cut 2 (32) “…I’m Kace Kieschnick.”
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Hurricane season is off to a slow start this year. Will it stay that way? Andrew Greenstein says don’t count on it.
Cut 3 (35) “…I’m Andrew Greenstein.”
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We’re coming up on yet another holiday weekend. In fact, Triple-A Louisiana says it’s already here. The Fourth of July is this Friday, and Triple-A says it expects more than 72-million people to head out of town for the holiday, the vast majority by car. Don Redman with Triple-A Louisiana says the calendar this year makes for a prolonged 4th of July holiday.
Cut 4 (12) “…we speak now.”
Redman says with some 12-million people hitting the road throughout the Gulf South region, you can expect heavy traffic – not just this week, but next week as well.
Cut 5 (12) “…on the roadway.”
Just like anything else in life, there are “dos” and “don’ts.” And Redman says one big “don’t” when traveling over the next two weeks is don’t procrastinate.
Cut 6 (11) “…smooth for you.”
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The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled Kelly Orgeron, the ex-wife of former LSU football coach Ed Orgeron, is entitled to more than eight-million of the coach’s 17-million-dollar buyout. Legal analyst Franz Borghardt says the couple filed for divorce just 43 days after Coach O signed his LSU contract.
Cut 7 (07) “…is income.”
The Supreme Court reversed the lower courts’ former decisions with a 5-to-2 majority. Borghardt says he’d certainly understand an attempted appeal from Orgeron, but he’s not sure how successful that would be.
Cut 8 (07) “…taking this.”
Borghardt says, barring any unexpected loopholes or reasoning, this ruling will likely be final.
Cut 9 (08) “…family law.”
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Hurricane season is nearly a month old; and so far, we’ve had two short-lived tropical storms – including Tropical Storm Barry, which made landfall south of Tampico, Mexico, last night. LSU Climatologist Dr. Jill Trepanier (tre-PAN-yer) says we haven’t had any hurricanes yet, because we haven’t gotten to the stage where we have that high sea surface temperature, low shear environment just yet.
Cut 10 (15) “…of the Atlantic.”
Trepanier says if you’re hoping that it stays this way for the remaining five months of hurricane season, forget about it.
Cut 11 (12) “…late into August.”
At this time last year, Hurricane Beryl was gaining strength in becoming a Category Five hurricane – the highest on the scale – as it took aim on the Texas coast. It eventually weakened to a Category One storm the time it made landfall in Matagorda Bay. Trepanier notes that after Tropical Storm Chris briefly formed during that time, the next named storm, Hurricane Debby, didn’t form until more than a month later.
Cut 12 (14) “…that it works.”
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The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame inducted the class of 2025 Saturday night. Headlining the class was former LSU coach Nick Saban. Saban says when he arrived in Baton Rouge, he knew there would be work to do, but his new school, players and fans bought in to something great.
Cut 13 (14) “…state proud.”
Saban arrived in Baton Rouge in 2000 and took a Tigers program that had gone 3-and-8 the year before to a national championship three years later. LSU, of course, would go on to be a perennial competitor in the SEC.
Cut 14 (12) “…ever since (applause).”
One of the leaders of Saban’s 2003 national championship team was offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth, who was also inducted Saturday. The West Monroe product was drafted by the Bengals in 2006 and, after 15 years in the NFL, won a Super Bowl with the Rams in his final career game — ironically, against the Bengals. Whitworth says he shared the support he grew up with in Louisiana in his career.
Cut 15 (14) “…be successful.”
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LSU baseball coach Jay Johnson is already hard at work building next year’s roster. He, like many fans, will be anxiously awaiting the July 13 MLB draft and the decisions from some LSU veterans who could be selected. Johnson says he expects center fielder Chris Stanfield to take the step to pro ball but is hoping pitcher Zac Cowan and D-H Ethan Frey consider staying in Baton Rouge.
Cut 16 (18) “…came back.”
LSU has already made some additions in the transfer portal, including two lefty relief pitchers who committed last week. Danny Lachenmayer was elite as a freshman for North Dakota State while Ryler Smart redshirted his freshman year with Tennessee. Johnson says they’ll join a talented bullpen with arms like Casan Evans, Cooper Williams and more.
Cut 17 (12) “…pitching staff”
The Tigers defensively will only return shortstop Steven Milam in the infield. Johnson has already added High Point infielder Brayden Simpson and Kansas State infielder Seth Darder in the portal. He says he feels good about his returning core roster.
Cut 18 (09) “…those three.”
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LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier spoke about the upcoming season at the Manning Passing Academy this weekend. Tigers coach Brian Kelly has said this year’s team is his most talented since he’s been in Baton Rouge. Nussmeier says he agrees.
Cut 19 (18) “…from within.”
Nussmeier went 9-and-4 with over four-thousand yards and 29 touchdowns his first season as a starter. The last two LSU quarterbacks — Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels — made a leap in year two and put together historic Heisman seasons. Nussmeier says he’s ignoring any early speculation.
Cut 20 (07) “…LSU Tigers.”