Carolina Hurricanes HOF goalie Cam Ward

Everybody's pretty busy this evening because Cam Ward will be inducted into the Carolina Hurricanes Hall of Fame and Cam Ward will join us in 15 or so minutes because yes, of course.

Let's talk to the man himself to find out if he's nervous about all of it. I've got bigger things tonight. You have bigger things than that?

Yeah. Is there a wrestling event? No, there's no wrestling event.

So what is on your agenda this evening? Well, the reason why I'm flipped with Victoria is because of normally producing the OG from three to six on the fan in Raleigh. Is Bananarama playing somewhere in town? No, I wish, though I don't know who they are, but sure.

You don't know Bananarama? No, no, I don't. I actually, because of media availability, there's a media skate at Carter Finley on the ice today. And that was my thing. I said, when this whole thing started, we were trying to figure out who's covering what. I said, one thing, if I can get on the ice, I'm going. Okay. Simple as that.

Bring your own skates. I've signed my waiver from the NHL. Oh, very nice.

Yes, this whole big two-page thing. Was that the waiver? Is that the waiver in your hand? Yeah, this is the actual waiver I have right here.

They list all like 90 properties of the NHL on here, including NHL China holdings. Can't hold them accountable. No.

Never. So anyway, that's my big thing. So at five o'clock, I'll be at Carter Finley actually skating on the ice. Are you allowed to bring a stick or just skates?

No, I asked about that. I was like, can I bring stick? Puck loves. I got all my equipment in my car. Let's go. They said, no, can't bring anything. Do you have to wear a helmet? No.

Interesting. Well, I guess if they're signing the waiver, they don't care. We no longer care about your safety. Don't bleed on the ice, though.

That's all one thing that we know. What if I did, though? They don't want you to bleed on the ice.

What if I did? There's a spot left there. Is that a face-off? Why is there a face-off circle there? No, that's Dennis Cox's. That's his blood.

Yeah, that would be like, wait, what's his blood stain on the ice? Like, that's mine. Maybe. Yes.

Oh, that's awesome. How long do you get to skate? I don't know, to be honest with you. I really don't, but I'll skate as long as they let me. I can't skate. Okay.

I would be useless, useless on skates. I had a game last night, so this is the second of a back-to-back for me. Very nice. You'll be fine. Yeah, no morning skate today. Keep your shifts short. Yep. Alright, 40 seconds, get off.

Alright, let me ask you this, because I know you do some, this is becoming an issue now, but I just want to explore it here for a little bit. Bally's, which is owned by something called Diamond Sports Group. Yeah, which is a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcasting.

Right. I don't have people, how many people know of Sinclair, maybe the parent company or not, but yes, it is a syndicator, basically, of sports, and they own a lot of regional sports networks. Matter of fact, if you watch Braves baseball, you watch it on Bally's Sports South, right? And I guess we also watch it on Bally's Sports South here, but there are like, fractions of, like, if the Hurricanes and the Hornets play at the same time, depending on where you are, you get one but not the other. Bally's Sports Southeast has Hornets, Hawks, as well as the Memphis Grizzlies. Bally's Sports South has... So what happens if you, Bally's Sports Southeast, if the Hornets and Hawks play at the same time? Great question.

Right, I mean, so depending on where you live, you're going to get one but not the other. Yeah. If you have the app, which I do for various reasons, or one reason, then you have a choice of whatever they're showing. Like, if I wanted to watch the Hornets, I could watch the Hornets. Okay.

On my app. If I wanted to watch that, I could watch that. If the ACC is, I guess it wouldn't be opposite that, regardless.

I don't want to get in the wheelchair. But anyway, there's a financial problem right now with Diamonds Sports Group. Depending on the news, I guess, aggregator or whatever you look at, there is some question as to whether or not they made a $140 million tax payment, and there is some fear that they are about to declare bankruptcy. And if they do, what will that mean for the regional sports networks? These are called RSNs. And there are roughly a dozen, give or take, in the NHL, the NBA, and Major League Baseball. A dozen teams, about roughly a dozen teams, a couple more here and there.

19 total RSNs for Bally. Right, but impact football, impact baseball, basketball, and hockey. Doesn't impact the NFL because everything is a national television contract with the NFL, which is their huge advantage. So what does it mean if Diamonds Sports Group declares bankruptcy and essentially they pull the plug? They're the rights holder.

What happens next? Before we get into the little back and forth here with me and Dennis about this, Rob Manfred, the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, addressed this yesterday. And remember, they haven't even gotten into their season yet. They were a month and a half away from Major League Baseball starting, maybe less than that, maybe six weeks away or five weeks away from Major League Baseball season starting.

And he said, look, we already have a backup plan in place. And what it more than likely involves is the league simply taking all these broadcasts, you know, undertaking them themselves and distributing them online. You know, through maybe it's MLB app that you can just put on your television. Doesn't really help the, you know, the common cable subscriber, but that might be available through MLB network.

What they're saying is we're going to make sure that you can watch your team for maybe the same or less of a cost than you currently incur. Yeah, that would eliminate local blackouts. Right. It's something that will also look to do as well. Right. And honestly, if you had the Bally's sports app or if you just had a cable system, whether it's cable or DirecTV or Dish Network that had access to Bally's, you don't have to worry about a local blackout.

You only have to worry about the local blackout when you get it through a national source. So basically, they would be stepping in and acting as the RSN, Major League Baseball. So basically, baseball is taken care of according to the commissioner. We haven't heard anything from Gary Bettman from the NHL.

We haven't heard anything from Adam Silver at the NBA level. These seasons are entering the stretch drive. So real quick, as somebody who does do some work for Bally's sports south, what are your fears about this?

My fear is that one day I'm going to be told, hey, sorry, we got nothing for you. Right. Is that these games are no longer going to be broadcast on Bally and the Canes are going to take over that broadcast because they're going to be able to pull out of the deal and take over the broadcast however they want to.

Now, it might be different, like you said, with the NBA and Major League Baseball because their seasons are winding down. Yes. Because the regional sport networks are only allowed to carry the NHL, for example, through the first round of the playoffs. That's it. Then it's ESPN TNT after that.

Right. Used to be through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Yeah, used to be, but then with the new contracts that ESPN and TNT have with the NHL, it all kind of changed a little bit. So, I don't know.

It's a really big question mark and it's kind of frustrating for me just not knowing, like, am I going to be able to work on Monday next week or Tuesday next week when the Canes have their next game after this Saturday? I don't know. Because the way this whole thing is going to possibly go down, I'm curious to see how many more teams, for example, the Washington Capitals, who the Canes play this Saturday, actually Monumental Sports Group, whom Ted Leones owns, the owner of the Capitals, he now runs, I think it's NBC, it's the Comcast, NBC Sports Washington, he runs that, he owns that himself, so they own their own rights. Right. So I'm wondering how many more teams are going to use this as to their advantage and negotiate their own rights and their own broadcast with somebody else. But, I don't know.

It's an interesting dynamic right now, but for us as consumers, I think it's better if we have more access to what we currently have. Because Bally you can only watch if you have, let's say, Spectrum, for example, but I think they did move to Fubo TV, you can watch it through that as well. But people who are YouTube, Hulu, things along those lines, you can't watch these games, which is really frustrating. You have to get the app. You have to get the app. Which is what I did. Which is 20 bucks a month, but again, how do you reach a casual viewer?

I think if you are able to open this up a little bit more for casual viewers to watch, then I think it might be better for the leagues in the long run than trying to deal with what's going on right now. Yeah, there was a time for a very short minute where ESPN was going to buy the RSNs. Yeah.

Right? There was. And then I think they realized, you know, maybe this is not a great idea, and they tried to buy it and then sell it right away. Well, that was part of their deal when they were buying a lot of creative content from Fox and FX. Right. That was part of the deal. Okay, we're buying these, because it used to be, again, Fox Sports Carolinas, that was part of the deal. They had to flip it. Again, that's why they're now able to have The Simpsons on Disney Plus. So that was part of the deal. They had to flip it, and that's where Sinclair with Diamond Sports Group came in and bought it, but they didn't anticipate the amount of people that were going to cut the cord the way they have. But that's also part on Bally as well for not negotiating with YouTube TV and Hulu to have your product on those platforms too.

Yeah, or they did negotiate, they just demanded too much for them. Exactly. They hurt themselves by not doing that. Yes, I mean, it's very easy to say that. But before people go, wait, I'm not going to be able to watch the Hurricanes in the playoffs or down the stretch to see where they're seated in the playoffs, we have to be so far away from that being the case.

Right? Now, that doesn't mean that these RSNs aren't going to try to cut corners. I mean, I'm assuming they will.

I mean, it's very possible they could decide, you know what, for those who control the purse strings about travel, well, maybe they won't travel, right? Remember, we had almost an entire season where we didn't travel. Yeah. The pandemic here, everybody called games from home. Frankly, ESPN is still doing that. Did you know that? Oh, yeah, they still do some of that. Yeah, the Australian Open, they didn't send anybody.

I believe it. So they stood in the studio at four o'clock in the morning with a picture of a court behind them and pretended like they were there. They were just standing up talking about tennis, but it was just a picture behind them and it wasn't the court. They weren't near the court. ESPN had a few reporters who were already going to be there.

In the case of Darren Cale, he lives there as an easy one. That's what they did. It was just it was terrible. It hurts. It hurts the coverage and it makes you think, well, they don't really care about this event. But there are different ways to cut costs, but it does bring up that we are probably, I would say, a year, maybe on the outside, two years away from a new way of getting these.

And I'm waiting for the league, as you said, to make it available on a widespread basis with no blackouts. Well, here's actually how it potentially not only affects us as viewers, but actually how it impacts the on ice product, because the way the salary cap is structured is through hockey related revenue. The RSNs, the TV money is part of that deal. So the salary cap, if you're pulling in less money from RSNs or however the new structure is going to be moving forward, that hurts in terms of the salary cap and how much you can pay guys. So if you're looking at in two years, oh, Sebastian Ajo needs an extension. He needs a pay bump. Well, if you have less money coming in, you have less salary cap room to work with.

The the only other the only response to that is when you. Control all of the broadcast. Yeah. Then you keep all of that money. True. So you could make up for it on the back end, potentially, and for I would say that a lot of these like Rangers, Red Wings, blah, blah. Rangers is MSG anyway. But for Red Wings, who play in Bally's Sports Midwest or Detroit or Minnesota on Bally's, they probably get a lot more money than Carolina does. Oh, yeah. Right.

They probably get a lot more money than Carolina's media rights are worth. So but it's it's important. It's it definitely will have an impact on a ton of things. But also just the the convenience factor for people like me who didn't want forget about paying for another app. I didn't want to have to jump through another hoop.

Right. Yeah, that's what I didn't really want. I I'm not I'm not excited about paying another $20 for a month for stuff I need to watch. But it was more about, all right, I got to do this, I got to do another password, I got to put it on these TVs. I got to make sure I get it on my phone. I got it on my laptop because sometimes like the beauty of YouTube TV, right, is that you are wherever you've got your laptop, you've got your television. Yeah. I watch a lot of stuff on my laptop or my phone.

A ton of stuff. I watched Dortmund and Chelsea yesterday while I was driving home. I know I'm kidding.

I didn't do that while I was driving. He was a true professional and I'm so happy for him and he deserves this. I wouldn't have been anywhere I was without him. He meant so much to our franchise. His dad, Ken Ward and my dad, Grant.

They got they got to know each other pretty good and they text every once in a while, which makes you nervous. But no, I think Cam was the reason I have a Stanley Cup. Besides all the other guys, don't get me wrong, I'm not like dismantling that. But I believe he was the piece. When you win games, you go to the game winning goal.

When you lose games, you just blame it on the goalie. So he's had, I'm sure he's had quite the life. Me and him were close and I checked Cam this week and I'm really happy for him and this is well deserving. I appreciate you letting me even speak about him. So thank you, Adam. Cam, congratulations.

Love you, bud. Chad LaRose, teammate of Cam Ward's tonight. Cam Ward will have his number go to the rafters, although it's not an official retirement.

I don't really know the difference, but that's that. Cam Ward's Hall of Fame night for the Carolina Hurricanes is tonight against the Montreal Canadiens. And I talked to him about all of it. So Cam Ward is going into the Carolina Hurricanes Hall of Fame.

This is a no crap, the magazine exclusive. So he joins us here. So let's talk to Cam Ward about the I want to start at the beginning. I want to start with not just making the team, but what was that first year for you? Because you backed up Martin Gerber all year. What was that first year for you like? Yeah, I mean, it was essentially like just being a kid, just living my dream of making the NHL. And like you mentioned, Martin Gerber, we had just traded for him in the off season. So he took over as the number one goaltender and had a had a great regular season. So I tried to make the most of my opportunities that I was given during during the regular season. I think I ended up playing in 24, 28 games and yeah, just was had a comfortable seat and just was waiting for that. For that big opportunity, which obviously came, you know, come playoff time. So when that opportunity comes and you again, it wasn't like you never played, you played plenty during your rookie season, but you go from the backup and then starting with game three in Montreal, you become the main man other than the one game in Buffalo. What was what was that like?

I mean, how did you get how how were you ready for that moment? Well, actually, I kind of credited my time in Red Deer with the Rebels organization, the WHL. I had played we had gone three years deep into the playoffs. I believe I played maybe sixty eight playoff games during my junior career. And I know that's at a different level, not the NHL level, but it really kind of prepped me for the situations kind of like that, you know, to be able to take your game to another level, come playoff time and and be ready mentally. So, I mean, that was kind of obviously unfortunate the way it happened with Martin Grover getting sick and and games one and two against Montreal. But that opened the door for an opportunity for me. And when you get an opportunity like that, you you want to make the most of it and run with it. And, you know, I'll never, never forget, really, when, you know, Coach Lavi, I let told me I'd be starting game three in Montreal and just embracing that moment.

And, you know, like I said, again, just taking advantage of it and and having some fun with it. No pressure down 2-0 after the team drops games one and two going to Montreal with a little momentum. Carolina having a little bit of a struggle scoring.

No, no pressure at all. What was that team like for you as a rookie? I mean, there were some other young players on it.

You're one of your best friends. Eric Stahl was really in his second NHL season. Eric Cole was still a young player, but it was a pretty veteran group. What was it like being with that group?

It was great. We had such good veteran leadership, you know, both on and off the ice. You know, and I think when you look back at the team, there is it was just a great mix. You know, you had Rob Brynamore, who we all know is one of the, you know, one of the greats both on and off the ice, but he's very quiet when he was back playing.

And, you know, would do his talking by his play. And then on the other hand, we had guys like Ray Whitney who could really lighten up the room and be kind of more of a comedian within the locker room. And so it was just a real good mix of players. And like you mentioned, you know, with Eric Stahl being young and being the player that he was.

And then I roomed with Chad LaRose, you know, so everybody knows what kind of character that he was. And it just made for a great team. And obviously when you have that success, winning the Stanley Cup together, you always remember the guy that you did it with. And, you know, that will forever be etched in our memories and history. Yeah. And in the Stanley Cup, you roomed with Chad LaRose.

That is just fantastic. When you went to Chicago, I know you played here. I remember the Blackhawks came in.

I remember talking to you after that game. What was that experience like for you? Well, it was something new. Up until that point in my career, I had never been a free agent. So that was a new experience for me. I really didn't know if even if the phone was going to ring in the off-season, if I was going to get another opportunity. But, you know, when Chicago called and gave me the opportunity, it was a great experience to take my family.

We did the high-rise living down in Chicago, really enjoyed the city. Yeah, so it was just an opportunity to see a different side, I guess. You know, all I had known up until 13 years for 13 years was with the Carolina Hurricanes.

And obviously, if it was up to me, I really wanted to play my whole career there. But things led to one to go to Chicago and I enjoyed it for a year. It was a lot of fun, obviously.

But as a goaltender, you obviously want to win hockey games and certainly would have wanted to win a win a few more there. But as a vet, you know, as a guy coming into this building as a visitor for the first and I think only time in your career, how awkward was that? It was really awkward.

You know, you make a habit of, you know, 13 years coming in the exact same way, having the same routine, coming into PNC. And to be directed to the visitor dressing room was definitely odd. We had our father's trip with the team in Chicago at that game, so we had a lot of people there. My dad was there, which I think he would have been there regardless, just being my first game back in Carolina. But I was really appreciative of the way that the crowd responded when I stepped on the ice and thought it was a close game.

But good old sea basket got me in overtime. By the way, the visitor's dressing room at PNC Arena is awful, isn't it? It's not one of the best.

Come on, you don't have to be diplomatic. We all know. I've been in it. It's terrible. Yeah, well, the way they have it set up is that the goal setters don't even sit with the team. They're kind of on their own, but maybe sometimes it's not a bad thing.

I don't know, man. That's just an awful dressing room that they stick the visitors in. It's like, wow, this is like very high school-ish. When all of this stuff is going on and Trip Tracy is talking about you in front of 18,000 plus at PNC Arena, what are you going to be thinking about?

Oh, probably to not faint or throw up or anything like that. You know, but it's it's a it's going to be a great feeling. I know that I'm a little bit nervous with the lead up and but it's given me an opportunity to bring my entire family here.

I don't think my I've ever had my parents, my two sisters and their kids in Raleigh at the same time. So I'm thankful that this has caused that. But I also think it's a it's a great opportunity to address the fans to, you know, I guess have a bit of closure and retirement of properly addressing the fans. So I'm I'm excited for it. The fact that Trip Tracy, a good friend, is going to be doing it means a lot to me, too. So, yeah, I think it should make for a fun night. I hope so. Do you have do you have a long speech planned or no? No, I you know, it reminds me of when Rob Bryn Mawr did his Hall of Fame induction and in Philadelphia.

Right. He he totally winged it. He was prepared, but he totally winged it without reading off anything. And I couldn't believe that I was like, I hope to not anticipate me doing something like that because I got to have something written. And hopefully I read it not too bad and don't butcher it too bad.

But yeah, like I said, it should be a lot of fun. You are such a gentleman. You are so deserving of this. I cannot wait to be in the building for it.

Cam Ward, congratulations on this. And I hope to see you. First of all, you're coming to the you're going to be hanging around the outdoor game. I hope you played in an outdoor game for Chicago at Notre Dame Stadium.

But this should be pretty cool considering you're part of the ground floor here. Yeah, I'm excited for it. It's, you know, when I played at Notre Dame at my time in Chicago at the outdoor game, I kind of always thought that I wouldn't want to play in an outdoor game, just being the goaltender, being called, being stuck out there.

But I got to say, it was one of the cooler experiences of my NHL career. So I'm I'm excited for the players that haven't taken part of a outdoor game. And I'm excited for the city and the Hurricanes fan base because I think they're going to put on a great show and, you know, make it very memorable for for everyone. So I'm excited to be I got my tickets. I'll be sitting there. I'll be cheering them on. So looking forward to it. We're looking forward to seeing you against Montreal. Man, who knows? Maybe they'll put you in the lineup.

Who knows? We, you know, you could still I'm sure you could still get down into a butterfly and stop Fernando Pisani again. Cam Ward, Hall of Famer for the Carolina Hurricanes. I appreciate your time, man. I'll talk to you soon. All right.

Thank you. I leave my door open. I'd leave my money on the table. Because I know that you'd be there. If I wasn't able. And I'd leave the light on.

You know, my couch is always faking. If your heart gets broken. Or your spirit is shaking. Like a freight train that's rolling through the night. Like a soldier with his man in the fight. Years go by and sometimes life goes green.

You always held me to find my way. That's James Dunn. It's the Adam Gold show. We thank Cam Ward for his time.

He gets into the Hurricanes Hall of Fame tonight. James Dunn, that album, that song, Five My Way comes from the album The Long Ride Home. I used to use that as a opening theme for a golf podcast I did a long, long time ago. I don't do the golf podcast anymore. Gosh, I've known James. How long have we known each other? Probably back to 2007 when I did my first album. I remember specifically having you guys talk about one of my shows starting exactly 20 minutes after the Duke Carolina game. That was a strategic start time because I knew nobody would come if you all watched the Duke Carolina game.

Very, very smart. You're going to be playing at Fan Fest tomorrow, 6 to 7. There are two different stages.

Which stage are you on? I'm going to be on the ABC City Plaza Stage down there on Fayetteville Street. It started at 6 p.m. It looks like the weather is clearing up. It should be a good night. A lot of good bands. I've got some good buddies of mine. Jack the Radio, another local band. They're going to be backing me up.

That should be a blast. You also wrote a theme song for Joe and I. Joe and I did a morning show a long time ago. I think you wrote two different theme songs for us. I think I did an acoustic that was a little more edgy where it talked about your personality. And then I did a slamming rock version.

It's still great I think. Look, you sent me a clip of it. At first I didn't realize it was the theme song. I'm like wait a second, James just sent me a real song. Oh yeah, that's the studio rock and roll version. 99.9 The Fan. That's right.

We're still on. Turn it up as fast as you can. So that's James Dunn. JamesDunnMusic.com for any other information. Before we get to halftime entertainment, I know you play. You still play around. Give me a thumbnail of what James Dunn Music is about right now.

Yeah, sure. So I've got some new music coming out. I've got five or six new songs written. I'm going to put a little EP together coming out here in 23. I've got a couple different shows coming up. A couple benefit shows. One I'm real excited about is the Pat Tillman Foundation.

Okay, very cool. Got in Charleston in April. And then I'll be doing some shows. Wilmington, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem. Sort of the North Carolina circuit as I kind of crank things back up a little bit. Getting married and having kids kind of put the brakes on things.

A tad bit. It's getting hot again and ready to make it happen. Two kids busy with everything.

Baseball, dance. Anyone give them a shout out? Hey, James and Anna. I'm on with the Adam Gold.

Not the Adam Gold at all. Alright, we do halftime entertainment. You're going to play with us here. Halftime entertainment.

Absolutely. Alright, let's go. Let's go to half. And now, your Halftime Entertainment. This is where we take a little break from the heavy sports stuff.

We let Dennis, usually it's Victoria, but Dennis do some work here. And then we just play off it. It's easy.

Let's see what happens. Alright, well, you mentioned Stadium Series and the Fan Festival that Friday. Well, let's actually go to Saturday. We put together a little Stadium Series survival guide out there for the people because there's a lot of people who are going to be going to the stadium. Because, tailgate again, parking lots. First of all, parking lots open up at 2 o'clock. If you don't already have a parking pass, you're not going to be able to park.

I will say this again. Do not show up with 50 bucks or something and be like, hey, I'm here to park to tailgate. Buy it ahead of time.

You can't do that. You have to have your parking pass and they're only selling it to people who have bought tickets. Yeah, you were supposed to buy them when you bought the tickets. Exactly.

So, go back and find that. I had to do that for Hootie and the Blowfish too. Yes. So, don't try and show up if you don't have a parking pass. Now, if you're not going to the game but you want to ride with somebody who does have a parking pass because you want to tailgate the whole time, cool. Awesome. That you can do. They're not checking tickets for everybody in the car.

They're not. So, you don't have to smuggle somebody in in the trunk. I am waiting for tickets, so if anybody's selling them, call in now, 860556. Yeah, there you go, 919- My neighbor's going on my ride out with him. By the way, if you get tickets, look for upstairs. I think upstairs tickets will be better than downstairs. I think the cheapest I saw was like $450. Yeah, for the secondary market, I would imagine.

Yeah. But the upstairs tickets I think are going to be a better vantage point. Okay, so here's a survival guide for people out there going to the game on Saturday. One, have a full tank of gas because you're going to be stuck in traffic trying to go park, but also when you're leaving the stadium, it's going to be just as hellacious if not even more rough getting out of that place. So make sure you have a full tank of gas, or at least plenty enough, because the last thing you want to do is be on the side of 440 and you run out of gas and you're trying to go to the game. Don't want to have that to happen.

No. Also, plenty of snacks and water. Again, you're going to be sitting there for a while, so have some sandwiches, packs of nabs, bring some fruit, you know, for your health. Uh-huh. Some baby carrots, whatever it is you want to do, have plenty of snacks to go along with. Baby carrots, very nice. Whatever you want to have, maybe if you're doing a tailgate, if you have your grill, whatever it is that you're doing.

Okay? Also, use the bathroom fully before you go leaving for the stadium. Use it fully, because again, if you're going to be sitting there stuck in traffic, yeah, you don't want to have to pull off to the side of the road. This is a serious survival guy. Oh, no, this is a serious survival guy, because you know this is going to happen.

How about just bring a big empty container in your car? One of these? Yeah. Yeah.

But I meant fully for a reason. Oh, okay. Yeah.

I see. We need a bucket then. Bring a bucket. Yes. Bring a five-gallon bucket and plenty of natural water.

Five-gallon bucket? What are you eating? Well, you got to sit. All right. Never mind.

All right. Also, I would suggest it's going to be chilly outside. Bring a blanket with you, because if you do bring a blanket, have all your stuff to stay warm outside. Have your hand warmers, your hats, your gloves or mittens, your scarves, jacket, layer up, because again, it's going to drop down into the 30s.

You're very fragile, aren't you? Well, I mean, you're the guy who's wearing a down jacket when it's 70 degrees outside. You're going to tell me I'm free. When I left my house this morning, basically crack of dawn, it was still like 48 degrees.

I live in Canada, Dennis. Okay. I was kind of hoping you were going to wear the scarf today. Oh, yeah. The scarf's in the car.

Oh, okay. Scarf's in the car. 75 degrees. I need it for the arena. It's freezing in the arena. Imagine that. I just realized that I'm getting old, because I do.

When I get to the arena, I wear the scarf the entire time. Yeah. Yeah. They must think I'm... You're so pretentious, Gold. And I'm frail. Yeah, these are all good. Oh, yes, you are. These are... Yeah, sure.

Give all these things and take it into consideration. This is for the people, not for me. I'm going to be out there at 8.30 in the morning.

This is for the people out there. Again, it's going to drop down into the upper 30s during the course of the game. Right. So, yeah. If you want to stay warm, stay warm. But those are all things that would definitely make sure you have... And again, plaque plenty of food, because you're probably going to be stuck in the parking lot leaving the game as well.

Oh, yes. You're going to be stuck in the parking lot leaving. Yeah, listen to the aftermath. Yeah, you can listen to the aftermath.

And then, actually, I don't know if your car will even move by the time the aftermath is over. That's bad. In all honesty, if you wanted to feel phone calls out of them, you probably could. I said if you wanted to.

Don't tell anybody, Dennis. We were taking calls in one aftermath. Yeah? It was the second game of the year in San Jose. Oh, nice.

In San Jose! The game ended at 1.30. I bet you had callers, too. Like, why are we doing this? I bet you had callers. We did. We had three. I'll give us three callers.

Three or four of them. I had to stop giving the phone number out. That's wonderful. I want... It's time to go home. Okay. It's time to go home. I've been here all night.

All right. Last thing here. So, you know, Brett Favre actually has some defamation lawsuits out against some people. Yes, he does.

Did you hear about this? Let's see. Shannon Sharpe? Shannon Sharpe. He has one against the state... Pat McAfee? Yeah, Pat McAfee, as well as the Mississippi State Auditor, Shad White. He has defamation lawsuits against those three individuals. Now, here is actually a clip of Brett Favre's lawyer, Eric Hirschman, who's on with Jason Whitlock's podcast about, well, we're going to teach guys like Pat McAfee a lesson. Brett Favre is Bernie Madoff. Your response?

That's an insane comment. I mean, it's obvious when you listen to Pat McAfee, he never read any of the complaints. He didn't read the motion to dismiss. He just decided to get on the show and try to get as much attention as he could. And he accuses Brett, so we're clear, about stealing from the poor in Mississippi.

It wasn't in that clip, but that's what he has said. So he, contrary to what Shannon Sharpe was probably told, this is a good time to keep your mouth shut, decided to go on and speak again. And make a joke that he doesn't have a lawyer and that his wife says he's really terrible about apologizing. Well, I guarantee you, the jury in Mississippi will make certain he learns how to apologize. It's going to cost Pat McAfee millions of dollars.

And if it bankrupts him, then he will have learned his lesson about you don't try to promote yourself quite inappropriately and improperly attacking somebody else. Okay. Interesting. That's funny. Has this person never been on Twitter?

That's what I want to know. Eric Hirschman should know better that in this particular suit, the burden of proof is on Brett Farve, not Pat McAfee or Shannon Sharpe or anybody else that the defamation suit is against. Yeesh. What a horrible story.

I just love that we're going to teach him a lesson. By the way, whether Brett Farve knew or not, that's a question. But the money did come from a fund that was supposed to go to welfare recipients. That's not in question. The only thing in question is whether or not Brett knew. And we could debate that all day long.

I don't know the facts on it, but my gosh, Eric Hirschman should know better. All right. That's all I have. That's it? That's it.