Mayo on …Oreos…?

I often get to talk Mayo Bowl.

I liked it when it was back. It is North Carolina's only bowl game. I loved it when it was the Bell Bowl because that was a North Carolina brand obviously, but once you became the Mayo Bowl it has gone up to another level and one of the people who's helped take it to that level is our next guest. We love him because he's the voice of the Panthers, he's the voice of the Mayo Bowl, and he is a true North Carolinian. He lives here. He's our friend Anish Sharoff. Anish, how are you doing, sir? I'm doing well. How are you?

I'm doing very well. How excited are you for the Duke's Mayo Bowl? Actually, let's go back a year first. How excited were you when Mike Golick Jr. brought in a plate of Oreos and asked you to dip it in Mayo?

You know what? Last year when we did that ball game, that was as much fun as I've ever had on the air calling a game. And having a crew like that where we could lean into it, Golick obviously, you know, he had a unique taste.

He's got a unique palette. We sort of saw that on the road every week all season and the Mayo Bowl was sort of this culmination. It was our magnum opus, if you will.

A lot of the stuff that went on behind the scenes, a lot of folks got to see it being played out on national TV. It was a lot of fun and, you know, part of what makes this bowl fun as you kind of alluded to it is you have a sponsor who's really invested, who understands it, who understands the entertainment factor. There are so many bowl games. You got to differentiate yourself a little bit. And the reality is a lot of these bowl games just have sponsors who generally their only purpose is just to be, you know, the name of the bowl.

They don't really do much beyond, uh, beyond that. And you know, the folks at Dukes and you know, the Charlotte Sports Foundation have really leaned into it. And it was kind of fun to be a part of it last year. Anish Shroff joining us. He will be on the call there.

Yeah. Shout out to the Charlotte Sports folks. I know it's a whole crew of folks, but Miller Yoho is one of the dudes.

He does a lot of creative stuff down there, including as a driving force behind this stuff. One thing that comes up is a lot of fan talk for this matchup, but I wonder if it even gets mentioned at all among players or coaches is the fact that Maryland left the ACC. Now being a native North Carolinian and the guy who grew up with tobacco road and basketball and all this stuff. And I even see UNC fans say, no, forget this.

I'm pulling for state tomorrow. Like the team that left the ACC is always dead to us. My guess is that does not register on any player or even any coaches radar. Is that right? Or is there any mention of the former ACC aspect to this?

No, just think about it. You know, it's been almost 10 years since Maryland left for the big 10. And you know, these guys who were freshmen, sophomore juniors, weren't even in high school.

Then they were in grade school at that point. So it doesn't register, but it does create this awkward dynamic. And from my perspective as a broadcaster, when you're trying to weave narratives in, you have this awkward dynamic of Maryland at NC state, never having played since the Terps left the ACC and they play in the bowl game that has now opened itself up to awkward concoctions. So there is some narrative interplay in this matchup. Yes.

At least you're off joining us. He'll be on the call tomorrow at noon for the Duke's Mayo bowl. When you evaluate teams before a bowl game, I imagine it's a little bit different than regular season. Regular season, you assume that everybody's, you know, building and trying to give their best and win the game. This is, it's not a full exhibition.

It matters. And coaches will talk about why it matters, but how do you evaluate, uh, not how seriously teams are taking it, but, but, uh, how do you size up a team and try and figure out, all right, is this a team that is here to play and win versus a team that is coming in and enjoying vacation? Is it, how does that different from a regular season game when you're evaluating the teams? Really the biggest thing is first who's available, you know, take Maryland, for example, they went into the season and for most of the season, they had one of the best receiving rooms in the country. We've got three guys opting out to get ready for the draft. So the guys that we will see play a prominent part in the Maryland receiving game are guys that you haven't seen all season. And the coaches can tell you, Hey, we've recruited well, and these guys are the next stars.

But when we turn on the tape, there's nothing to see. Those guys have registered only a handful of catches all season. So it becomes a bit of a mystery, uh, MC state, you know, by the same regard, you know, MJ Morris, how healthy will he be? If he plays, uh, will they use both quarterbacks? Devin Carter transferred. Does that create an opportunity for another one of the young receivers is Michael Allen going to get more carries and how does the teams view the game for NC state winning this ball game?

I do think it matters. Um, one, look at what happened last year. They go to the holiday ball 11th hour UCLA cancels because of COVID the way it was handled, the optics of it, how it all went down after NC state was already out on the West coast.

It left a real bitter taste in the mouth of their fan base, their coaches and their locker room. So I do think there's some motivation there. Mike Locksley in a number of press conferences and to us has come out and said it, we view the ball game as a springboard for 2023. It doesn't mean they're not going to try to win, but you'll see some younger guys. You'll see some guys with red shirt eligibility. They did that last year with their two running backs who were now featured players. So it creates a unique dynamic because a lot of the usual suspects that even the fans of the team got accustomed to seeing throughout the season won't be playing. Uh, that's a very good point about, uh, NC state not getting a bowl game last year. It's, it's hard to think that it can extend motivation a year later, but I swear ECU had the same situation last year. They earned the way to a bowl, didn't get to play in one. And you could just tell they were, you know, licking their chops to be in a bowl game again. It'll be interesting to see if, if state gets that extra bump of motivation of like, you know, what was taken from us last year. You can't take us again. Uh, that's excellent.

Well, I'll say this probably within the first five minutes of the broadcast, I've got a feeling America will be rooting for NC state for one reason and one reason alone. We're going to say this on the air and I'll give you a sneak peek. Yes. Dave Doran does not like mayonnaise.

Okay. It is his least favorite condiment. He's not a fan of Mayo. So the minute we put that out, if you have no rooting interest in this game, you want to see that guy get dumped in mayonnaise. So you're Dave Doran, you know, has said a lot about a, what the NC UNC coaches have said, and, and, you know, there's a little bit of a Rodney Dangerfield. They can't get any respect. They're about to be America's team for three hours tomorrow afternoon. I love that aspect of it because I feel the same way.

I do feel we talked about this last year. It feels a little bit like they, uh, um, I can't think of the right term for it, but basically they're holding the cousins hostage because it's charity money. It's like, Oh, well, if you turn down the Mayo bath, we're not giving them money to charity. So you're basically taking money away from a charity if you don't agree to do it.

So like, it doesn't hurt you. You have to agree to do it, but I'd be Dave Doran. I would agree to do it because it's going to be, you know, good for charity. It's good for everybody will be watching and see that I'm the NC state coach, but I hate mayonnaise. I could not have done what you and Golic did on the air.

And I absolutely like, I don't know what my reaction will be if you dumped Mayo on me. So I will, like you said, I will be sympathizing for Dave Doran and I will also be rooting strong for him to get that Mayo bass. We get to see what it's like, uh, initial off joining us, he will be on the call tomorrow.

He you've also heard him all year on Sundays and occasionally Saturdays and other days of the week as the radio play by play voice for the Panthers who yes, are still in playoff contention. I know it doesn't just boil down to one thing, but after the coaching change, uh, has it been more scheme or more like mental camaraderie? Does it feel more like there's a team that hunker down and try to win for each other and their interim coach? Or is it, no, there were some strategical things that went a little bit different that have worked well on the field.

Is it one more than the other? I don't know if it's one more than the other, but they founded identity. This team from an identity standpoint, just didn't have one for the first four or five games. And I will say this, I know Matt rule gets a ton of grief and there's some stuff that he's opened himself up to in terms of criticism, which is absolutely fair. The one truth is he never lost the locker room. Um, you know, it may not have been as together as it is now, but that locker room was still intact and they picked the right guy and Steve Wilkes. And I was talking to coach the other day at one in five, there was a message to the team.

And even a lot of the players have echoed that where there was a direct messaging. We believe we're still in this. We're better than what we've shown. And there was this outline of a plan. This is what we're going to do to be more competitive the rest of the way.

And the first thing that the new regime did, so to speak, they identified what's the best way to win. And they said the strength of the team is in the trenches. It's the offensive line, which is surprising given what we saw a year ago, but this is a top 10 offensive line in the NFL.

Make no mistake. It is a vastly upgraded unit. It has been the strength of the team. So they said, we're going to lean on it.

And then they amplify that strength. You see, cam Irving is your third tight end. He's an offensive tackle.

Kate Mays is a backup garden center. He plays full back. So they really leaned into that. Deontay Foreman's running style helps with that. And then the other thing which I've noticed is unlocking certain guys throughout the course of the season, Terrace Marshall didn't dress for the first four games.

Now he seems to make at least one wild sketch on a weekly basis. Chuba Hubbard think of the way his season started, couldn't catch the ball, had ball security issues. Chuba Hubbard is starting to look like the guy that we thought we might see out of Oklahoma state, a dynamic running back hit two runs of 30 plus three of the last four games, he set a season high or a career high in rushing. And in the other game, he set a career high in receiving yards.

So you're seeing Chuba Hubbard go to the next level. Eddie Pinero misses the two kicks against Atlanta. And again, just from a coaching standpoint, there's no X's and O's here being able to read your player, read the locker room.

We're going to stick with Eddie Pinero. He hasn't missed since he's made 17 straight field goals. Sam Darnold is another great example, lost his job in training camp. He gets hurt.

Let's be honest. I don't think any of us thought we would see him take a meaningful snap to the Panthers again. With the new Chevy Silverado, you might be driving in this, but with the Silverado's redesigned interior and large infotainment screens, it'll feel more like this. Introducing the new 2022 Chevy Silverado.

Find new upgrades, find new roads, Chevrolet. He's now stabilized that quarterback position. He's playing with confidence. They don't put a ton on his plate. He's got to make three, four plays a game.

He's doing it with his feet. He's been decisive. I think you got to give this coaching staff a lot of credit. They've unlocked a lot of guys who, when we looked at at times early in the year, we said, did we get it? Did we get it wrong?

Is this guy going to pan out? And you're starting to see the coaches tap into that potential. And I think Steve Wilks and the guys that are still there get a ton of credit for that.

Anish Sharafam on Twitter at AnishESBN. Fortunately, even after the Panthers, we get to hear him in this part of the world because he does college basketball and even some college lacrosse usually. And we usually have some good teams there. I want to end by giving you one compliment and then ask you one favor. The compliment is you've done an outstanding job all year. The one time that really stood out to me was actually before the team got back on its upswing. And I wish I could remember the exact instance, but you guys are doing a game and just your whole demeanor was the team had been bad, like objectively bad. There was no sugarcoating. And you guys both, A, weren't sugarcoating it, weren't, you know, making fun of the players or any, weren't being disrespectful at all. But you just kind of embodied what the fans felt right now. Like, hey, this is bad, but it's also sports, not the end of the world. And like, they're really, you know, you analyze the game, but you just had the perfect feel of like these guys feel like they have their finger on the pulse of what the fans are feeling right now.

And I don't think you could ask for more from a, from a radio play-by-play crew. My favor, I know that you were doing an oral history of the Duke's Mayo bowl last year with Mike Gold Jr. I just want you to ask him, just want to ask Michael Jr. who came on this show a day before the Mayo bowl last year and was given several scenarios about mayonnaise, including Oreos and some other things. I just want you to ask him if he got inspiration from anywhere on any of those, those hypothetical Mayo sit-ups last year. That's all I'll ask.

That's all I just want. Wanted to ask him next time you talk to him where the inspiration came from. I can give you the answer. I can give you the answer for that. We were brainstorming about a week or so out.

Okay. What could we do with mayonnaise and on our production call, we brought up, Hey, maybe we dip different foods in mayonnaise. And the moment we did that, Mike raised his hand and said, let me pick the food.

And that's basically the story of, uh, how it all came together. So we had no idea what concoctions he was going to come up with. I saw him carrying a sleeve. Wasn't asleep. It was an actual box of Oreos pregame on the field.

He was cradling it almost as a running back with a football. And I said, what are you doing with those? And he just kind of gave me a look and said, Oh, you just wait and see.

And I said, Oh boy, here we go. Um, so we've got some stuff planned out tomorrow. Um, if you guys get a chance noon ESPN tune in, we've got some stuff planned.

Um, w we'll see how much we can get away with, how much our producer. Okay. But, uh, we have some stuff planned and you know, the one thing we established a year ago that whatever imaginary line in the sand exists, we're going to walk past. Yep.

Yep. We look forward to it. Uh, we'll see you tomorrow. We'll have the game on while we're doing the show. Everyone who's listening to the show now will probably not be listening tomorrow because they will be watching you call the, uh, the, the Duke's Mayo bowl with NC state and Maryland. Thanks for the time. Enjoy the bowl game. Enjoy the rest of the Panther season, maybe even into the post season. And then we'll catch you on the college basketball side. And I appreciate the time, man.

All right. He is a great dude. And he, again, we get him for Panthers, college basketball, lacrosse, college football. He booked into the season with NC state.

He's going to call EC. He called ECU NC state to start off the year, which is a great game. And then it gets to call NC state and the Duke's Mayo bowl.

And I think it's cool. He has embraced being a North Carolinian. Um, and we talked to him at the very beginning of the season, I think even before we did a game about, you know, the difference between college basketball is cool. And it's going to put you in North Carolina a lot because there's a lot of big games here. You can call Duke, UNC, NC state, the ACC is around, but it's different when you are truly connected to a team, you know, and because Charlotte has become his home where he raises his kids, uh, it, it is cool for him to be connected to that team that represents his community. Um, and he's a great representative of them and always giving of his time cause he's got a busy schedule. So we appreciate his time.

Check him out tomorrow on the Duke's Mayo bowl call. With the new Chevy Silverado, you might be driving in this, but with the Silverado's redesigned interior and large infotainment screens, it'll feel more like this. Introducing the new 2022 Chevy Silverado. Find new upgrades, find new roads, Chevrolet.