UNC v USC: first game of the season – biggest game of the season?

Adam Smith, my friend inside Carolina joins us on the Adam Gold show. I'm not sure you're aware of this, but there's a big football game in Charlotte on Saturday night between Carolina and South Carolina.

So we need to make sure to put those people in their place. Yeah, I'm sorry, I have heard mention of this game. I was telling Victoria, I was actually just trying to text the fine people at the IC, the Inside Carolina headquarters to try to figure out. We have an official Inside Carolina tailgate down there on Saturday in Charlotte. We need to get that info.

Well, failure to prepare on my part there. I just thought about it. I was like, this might be something decent to mention on the radio in Raleigh.

It could be, yeah. I know we had one in December before the ACC championship game against Clemson. I heard it was a very great time.

I did not attend. I was in the press box with my binoculars on. Maybe I can figure that out and get back to the fine folks. Shoot it to me.

I'll be happy to tell everybody about it. First, before we get to issues with this team and this game, walk me through everything you guys had to deal with yesterday when everything was going on around campus. Yeah, it was, I don't know the right way to describe it.

In retrospect, it was scary, but I did not realize it was scary at the time it was happening. I don't know if that makes any sense. So Mondays, as you very well know, Mondays in the college football world, when it's game week at UNC, at NC State, these are heavy days for the stuff that we do. At UNC, Mack always talks to us for a good hour.

He really fills up the notebook. Then we get the coordinators, which is great. We get Chip Lindsay, the offensive coordinator, the defensive coordinator. And so we're there at the football center at UNC, which is attached to Keenan Stadium for a good long while.

And then we're trying to crank out these stories and these videos and this content. And I was leaving the football center to go to our office to work. And I'm not sure the exact time.

I think it was probably around one o'clock. And I got to where I was parked and realized I had left my wallet at the football center because I was tired of sitting on it. Not because it has a lot of money in it, but just because it needs to be. Adam Smith has a fat wallet.

Victoria, put that down. It's an older man's wallet, I think you would say. Oh my gosh. There has to be a George Costanza reference here somewhere.

It's not a pretty sight, as it is with me generally. So I realize when I'm about to get in my car that I'm like, geez, where's my wallet? So I head back over, which is not a long walk, but the going back to get it, which shout out to Jeremy Sharp at UNC.

He protected me big time there. Go back, get it, head back to the car. When I get back to my car, which is in a parking garage on the third floor, I am scared. I get the crap scared out of me because a UNC police officer, like campus police officer, was parked in there like an SUV. And all of a sudden he turns on his siren and his lights, like super loud, like indoors.

I'm thinking, why in the world would this guy on the third level? And he went screaming out of there. And so I had obviously no idea what happened. And then just a few minutes later, I think by the time I had made it over to our office, which is not far, it was suspect at large. You know, like, so it was, it was all the things that we unfortunately hear about all the time. Surreal. You see the videos of kids climbing out of classrooms. Jumping out of second floor windows. Yeah.

It obviously puts everything in perspective. And from a strictly reporter media side, UNC, like, you know, we usually talk to players on Tuesdays. That was canceled today. Correct. We won't be talking to them and understandably so. They don't have class over there. So, you know, I thought there was a lot going on from the football side of things, which there is.

And then, you know, something like this that's just so life altering happens. Adam Smith from Inside Carolina at Adam underscore Smith underscore IC is joining us here on the Adam Gold show. Let me get a quick update from you. And cause I know Mac addressed it as best he could yesterday, but, uh, Tez Walker, uh, I know no movement from the NCAA. They apparently they're closed.

It's a bank holiday, uh, I guess in Indianapolis, I don't know. Uh, but is there any notion that North Carolina could just play him and deal with the repercussions later? I asked Mac that you hear people saying that, like, just, you know, shoot the bird to the NCAA and play him and see what happens. And Mac said, he didn't think Bubba Cunningham or Kevin Guskiewicz, the chancellor would, you know, write and sign off on that.

It was what he said. Right. Um, so that is a notion that they are going, he's going to go, he's going to travel. I mean, you know, guys that aren't in, that are ineligible, like the Tamari Fox situation last year, you know, he did not travel with the team. He was ineligible for the entire, entire season. Typically injured players, um, you know, who have no shot of playing, don't travel with UNC. When Josh Downs was hurt last year, him and Antoine Green drove up to Boone to watch the app game, like, because they didn't go with the travel squad. Um, so test, test, you know, it might sound ridiculous, but I was asking like, will you take his uniform? Will you take his shoulder pad?

If you haven't heard by Wednesday or Thursday, will you do these things? And they're going to, they're going to do it. They've told him to try to mentally prepare himself to play.

Meanwhile, they have prepared two different game plans is what Max says. Um, and I have, you know, we, we are digging on this and, you know, there's, there's a lot that I've heard. And it, it, unfortunately, in Tessa's case, if what we're hearing is correct, it sounds a lot like the Tamari Fox situation, which by the way, was Victoria's homework. I'm assuming she's read the story. I assume she read the story and briefed you on it.

Um, it, it sounds a lot like what he went through and what Tamari went through. When he finally got a hearing, when he finally was able to appeal their decision to suspend him, he was on a teleconference and it was not like this. It was like a speakerphone. He couldn't see anyone. It was blind. It was anonymous. He didn't know their names. This was not an NCAA committee.

This was a committee of representatives from the different conferences in the NCAA. So, I mean, you could have also, he made the comment to me, Tamari did, that, you know, you got to kind of got the feeling that people were driving home from work or people were shopping. And, you know, like, I remember thinking, talking to Tamari, like, man, and the more we've learned about this, this is what it seems like the MO is when you get one of these appeal hearings. Um, Tamari said that he could not tell them who he was.

He had to present the facts of his case. Like, he could have been Adam Gold. He could have been Tamari Fox. He could have been Tez Walker.

All physical specimens. But, you know, like, it's wild. If UNC fans and supporters have not read the story we had up last week on Tamari, it was a labor of love for some of us. It's really insightful into, turns out it's really insightful into what Tez is going through, because if he does, they have not gotten this, Adam. They are trying to get the appeal heard. They have not had their appeal heard yet. And so, what is, today's Tuesday. I mean, if you get the appeal heard right now, will they be able to tell him in the next couple days yay or nay? I mean, he might not, he might get the appeal heard and then might not know what they think, even when they kick off at 730 on Saturday night.

So, it's pretty maddening and exasperating. Now, if I can't add to this, I know I'm probably going long, but I think if you're a UNC fan, there is, you had a sense of hope on Friday or Saturday. The Wilkerson kid at Colorado, the running back, I think his name is Savion, I'll probably butcher his name, but I know his last name is Wilkerson.

He had a situation where he played at Delaware State, he transferred to West Virginia to walk on, he went to Jackson State to play for Deion, he followed Deion out to Colorado. Hey Carolina Panthers fans, Chris Lee and Dennis Cox here. We're excited to offer you all the inside information on your team with the newest member of the Capital Broadcasting Podcast Network, Panthers Playbook. Twice a week, we'll keep you updated on your Carolina Panthers. We're talking about locker room insight, exclusive interviews, and of course, in-depth looks at all of the Panthers' wins. Touchdown Carolina!

Panthers Playbook, download and subscribe today at wrelsportsfan.com or wherever you discover your favorite podcasts. He had a situation where the NCAA had denied his waiver request of a transfer exemption, just like Tess Walker, and on Friday, I think it was Friday or Saturday, the NCAA granted his appeal, he can play. So, from the checking that we've done, you know, UNC compliance, and those people on that end are hitting up Colorado compliance like crazy. What did you do?

What did you do, right? They've sought out, Tess, as you know, went to NC Central. He did not play because of the pandemic. The MEAC and Central and the FCS canceled those seasons. UNC has sought out help from Central and the MEAC. They've gotten letters from Kent State saying like, you know, like we are not trying to hold him back in any way.

He's, you know, we're releasing him, I guess is what they're saying. I haven't seen the letters, obviously, but there's a million different layers and they're pursuing the heck out of them. And it's yet another reason to sort of despise the NCAA for as much as we love March Madness. Well, they do tournaments well. It begins and ends there with the NCAA and maybe they should just stay with that. They do tournaments well, for the most part. They try hard not to screw those up, and sometimes they do. But they don't handle this stuff well, which maybe we're sort of seeing them try to get out of this business, but they're still in this business and they do that poorly. Adam Smith from Inside Carolina, we are out of time now and that's unfortunate.

No, it's good. Look, I thought that's really good information that I am incapable of dispensing to the people, but you're here and I appreciate you doing that. Adam Smith from Inside Carolina, at Adam underscore Smith underscore IC. If he tells me where the tailgate is, I'll tell the people. And I appreciate you saying that I'm a physical specimen, because you are. My slack has been going off, so maybe the answer is in there. I was trying to get it done before I got brought on.

With a fat wallet, apparently. And that's nice. I'll talk to you soon, man. Thank you, man. Good talking to you. You too. Adam Smith is hysterical.

Living a busy, full life? MITOQ is a science-based, cell-health supplement that helps your cells generate renewable daily energy. Discover more at MITOQ.com. That's MITOQ.com. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.