NSMA Awards Banquet

This is The Drive with Josh Graham Podcast. We are killing it online. Tune into The Drive weekday afternoons, 3 to 7 on Wash J Yachts.

So glad to have you on a Monday Drive. It's WSJS, News Talk Sports for the Triad. Where we are coming at you live from the Grand Over Resort. It's live action, Tracy. Site of the National Sports Media Association's annual awards banquet.

More on that in just a bit. At six o'clock this evening, right as we're getting off the air, The MBA Free Agency Period Where negotiations Can start happening between teams of free agents. Contracts can be agreed to, then officially signed. In about a week, That's when it all takes place. Free agency begins in just a little bit Because apparently the NBA is now a lot like Black Friday where You get the Black Friday sale before it's actually Friday.

You don't have to wait till midnight or the next day. We'll just give it to you the day before. As for hockey, July 1st, tomorrow Middle of the day, noon, one o'clock-ish, that's when their free agency opens up.

So. They're making it so we don't have to be up at midnight expecting contracts to be handed out, and we appreciate them for that. For perhaps the first time in modern history, NHL free agency is much more intriguing than NBA free agency, and it's almost by default. It's an indictment on the NBA's free agency class. Here are The top unrestricted free agents.

So far, that we're expecting to see go to different teams. in the next few hours, in the next few days. Indiana Acers Center Miles Turner. Brooke Lopez Nikhil Alexander Walker. DeAndre Ayton?

Karis Laverte. Clint Capella. Mo Wagner. Those are the top names. And it's because LeBron James picked up his player option.

Chris Middleton did the same. Hashtag Pro Deek, John Collins, did so with Utah. Kyrie Irving. James Harden, Nas Reid, they all signed contract extensions to remain in place. Fred Van Vliet.

Did the same thing as well.

So that's the free agency class that we're looking to see. Signed in the next few hours. Malik Beasley would have been one of the bigger names. He's being investigated for sports gambling. He's being.

investigated by the feds right now.

Something that should probably scare off any teams that were interested in him.

So that's the NBA.

Meanwhile, the Carolina Hurricanes, they are big game hunting right now. They are the current favorites to win the Stanley Cup, according to. According to FanDuel Sports, they are the favorites to win the Stanley Cup, and they have a ton of cap space to make some moves. Sadly, the player who would have made the most sense for Carolina was just inked to a long-term extension with Florida over the weekend, Sam Bennett. But there are a handful of players that could make a splash.

Carolina could make a splash by signing. Mitch Marner is the most obvious name from Toronto coming off a one hundred and two point season. But What contract he's going to be commanding. And after what Carolina just dealt with by bringing in Miko Rantinen and that circus, and seeing how little interest he had. In coalescing to the Carolina hurricane system versus finding a team that is willing to adapt.

their system to the player. Mitch Marner, probably not going to be a fit. That is the biggest name on the market, though. That is the splashiest move Carolina could make up front.

So. If not him, who? Keep an eye on A couple of wingers, Brock Boser from the Vancouver Canucks, Nick Ehlers from the Winnipeg Jets. Late twenties. In their prime.

Coming off. 20 plus goal scoring seasons, 50, 60, 65 points apiece. Last season Trending upwards. Those are the kind of guys Carolina needs in order to bolster what they already have. and turn into that Stanley Cup contender they are expected to be.

For all these reasons. Perhaps For the first time and what we can remember An HL free agency more intriguing than the NBA. Until the Hornets traded for Colin Sexton, we started to think maybe Chris Paul. comes back to Charlotte. And finishes his career here.

He's one of the most noteworthy free agents because of what this class is. On X at Josh Gramps Show and at WSGS Radio. That's where we're streaming video in addition to YouTube and Twitch. Will Dalton, he's the executive producer of this show, and you're not going to be here the rest of the week. Yeah, I'm gonna be chillin'.

Taking a whole week off.

Well, not a whole week. You're here today. It's good enough. Good enough.

So for that reason We will not have live streaming video From Tuesday through the end of the week. Friday being the 4th of July. Tomorrow, I will not be with you either. It will be our morning host, Jeffrey Griffin. That is.

Hosting the program from Triad Today, a congrats to Jeffrey Griffin. for winning the annual Reader's Choice Award put out. by the Winston-Salem Journal. Really special congrats to him and appreciate him. Stepping into Our chair tomorrow.

and pitch hitting for Ross. Speaking of awards. We are at the National Sports Media Association's annual awards banquet. And this organization is both special and it's local. Every year that we do this show, every year that we talk about this event.

We get the emails, we get the response from people saying, I I had no idea that this was in North Carolina. I had no idea that this existed. It's almost as if it's still a secret. And it's a secret that we're trying to get out. Because we want as many people to experience this that love sports in this area.

The same people that listen to us every day would love to be here at the Grand Over Resort watching What happens tonight? There's so much history associated with this organization. The first national winner for the NSMA was in 1959. Red Smith. recognized.

One of the great biggest names in the history of sports media. Jim Murray, the legendary writer most known for his work in Los Angeles, won ten straight times in the sixties and seventies. Frank the Ford, Sports Illustrated, Peter Gammons winning several times in the eighties and nineties, Rick Riley after that. If there is a big name in sports media, they've been recognized in the state of North Carolina at this event. And the great names of today's sports media are here today.

Guest on today's show, Mike Tarico. Ken Rosenthal, national winners. Anish Raff's going to join us at about... Five minutes, the voice of the Carolina Panthers. Recognized alongside Trip Tracy and Luke Deco.

Outstanding show that we're going to have because of those great guests who were dropping by. But the local nature of this event, that's what makes it special. It was in Salisbury. For Nearly sixty years. Then in Winston-Salem for close to five.

And then it was right here in Greensboro. And Given the fact it's a nonprofit, it's also something that needs to be supported as well.

So I direct you to national sportsmedia.org to learn more about the event. To be a part of events such as this, to support it. If you have someone in your family interested in sportscast, if you're just a sports fan and want to be around the people that tell the stories. The NSMA is for you, and we're very happy. To be here.

The co-North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year is Carolina Panthers play-by-play man Amnes Schrath. He is a first-time North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year winner, and he'll be joining us.

Next on the drive. Let's get the show, guys! It's the Drive with Josh Graham. I need to give a shout out while I haven't been in. To Spencer Tom Set.

Who Is an up-and-comer in the industry, works really hard, gets people plugged in here at the NSMA. He has, the last few years will, taken offence. with the fact that I don't veer away from conventional Pop-tart flavors? Yeah, I take notes of that too.

So he brings me different Pop-Tart flavors. And what he has brought me Is the frosted marshmallow hot cocoa flavored. Pop-Tart shit. I've had that. That's good.

It's good. I'm not opposed. I'm not opposed to it. Did you try it? He had another one that I was absolutely vehemently again.

It's behind us here.

now be enjoy'n by Anish Raf. I bet you he's with me on this. I could be wrong. you know, we'll never know what happens in live radio. But someone from Alabama just dropped off frosted marshmallow hot cocoa Pop Tarts.

And I don't think that that's something I don't think that's something I want to try, but how about you? You know the story. You are the voice. The former voice of the Pop-Tarts Bowl. You know the story.

prior to the Pop Tarts bowl. I had never had a Pop-Tart. Wow.

So, how many flavors have you dabbled in since? I've had a few since. I've had a few, but prior to the Pop-Tarts ball, that was part of the gag. I had never tried a single Pop-Tart. Is your wife Faye into Pop Tarts too?

She's had them at least.

Okay. Got it.

So she shops at all the healthy places.

So we unfortunately do not find Pop Tarts in the pantry. Let me give you a proper introduction. You are the voice of the Carolina Panthers. You are the co-North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year with the NSMAC. You've lived you've called yourself a North Carolinian for how long, Anish Rah?

It'll be fourteen years this fall. And now, voted on by your peers, You are The North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year, along with Trip Tracy. How does that hit you?

Well, first congratulations to Trip, who does a great job. with the hurricanes. You've been doing this for a long time. You know it's not just the person. Behind the mic.

and in front of the camera. And with the Carolina Panthers, I've been incredibly fortunate to step into a situation where I was surrounded by great people and am. continued to be surrounded by great people. Our producer David Langton, Jim Zoki. Jake Delome.

Luke Keekly, Eugene Robinson, I can go on and on and on. Guys like Harrell and Jason behind the scenes.

So I always feel awards like this, recognition like this, is a product of what we do collectively. Getting to the Carolina Panthers. Tederoa Macmillan has been a lightning rod of interest. And it happens when you're a wide receiver that gets added. But being a top 10 pick, that's the highest any receiver's ever been selected.

By the Panthers, and last year there were three rookies that finished top 10 in the NFL and receiving yards. One of those a tight end, and Brack Bowers, but the others, Lad McConkey, and it was Malik Neighbors. Yeah, Brian Thomas had a really good season, too. He did.

So, what's a realistic place to set expectations for Teteroa Macmillan, given how high he was selected? You know, it's fascinating because I think at some point. We are sometimes collectively prisoners. to the draft position. And so if you're a first-round pick, you have a.

a longer leash. Do we look at a Jalen Coker differently had he been drafted in the first three rounds versus him being undrafted? I think so. And so there's never a recalibration of expectations based on what the player actually is. It always defaults to where that player was drafted.

I think in McMillan's case, watching a lot of his clips at Arizona. I did a few Big 12 games this year, so when you go back during the week and you're watching tape, Arizona popped up quite a bit and there were a bunch of moments where I'm going, whoa. Whoa. One-handed catch, incredible body positioning. like a Russian contortionist at times in midair.

He checks off all the boxes and now he's going to play with The best quarterback he's ever played with.

So to me, there's considerable upside. It's a further investment in an offense that already brings back a lot, and an offense that. Played well as a unit without Macmillan over the last half of last season. The only area I look at. For the Panthers, that I don't know if they're going to be better than where they were a year ago.

Is Edge Rusher? You j I I don't know that yet. You did draft a guy in the second and third round. You do bring DJ Wanham back and he should be more healthy than he was a year ago, you hope. But when you remove Jadavian Clowney from the situation, that It's just an area of I don't know.

And when I say that, it isn't I know they're going to be worse, as some people use that term. That's just the one spot. Derek Brown, Interior D-line, how they invested in it, feel confident that's going to be better. JC Horn, Mike Jackson, that combination. Trayvon Merrick, that's the player that they love the most that they've brought in on defense.

It seems. Offense, you already mentioned the investment.

So, what's the case for the edge rushers? Potentially taking a step for Carolina, that pass rush ticking.

Well, one, a full season of Wanham is not insignificant. He made a huge difference when he came back into the lineup. It freed up Clowney a little bit. You go to the game against the Chiefs. The Panthers had five sacks on Patrick Mahomes in that game.

Uh the guys they drafted, uh Omanlien and Score Again. Rookies. I'm not going to place a great heap of expectations on them right away, but. Panthers had high grades on both those guys. They had a first round grade on scored.

So, again, if you're trusting the GM, you're trusting the scouting, they feel there's something there. And then. You still have guys who might be playing for a roster spot. We're going to have an awful lot to prove: a DJ Johnson potentially, and Amari Barno coming back from injury.

So I think the prevailing sentiment was: yes, they were going to go use that eighth pick or trade that eighth pick to go get a pass rusher, whether it was Jalen Walker or somebody else. They went and doubled down on offense. Do I think it will be a question mark when you have so many unproven guys, a guy coming off injury and rookie? Sure. It will be.

But overall, Again, Derek Brown coming back and you hit his name right away. That opens up a lot of things because he commands so much attention. And don't forget, A. Sean Robinson last year had five and a half sacks for the Panthers. Again, playing in that 3-4 front.

So maybe they have to get a little creative with the pass rush, but I think part of the issue last year wasn't so much running rushing the passer. The issue was they couldn't stop the run. And so there weren't enough opportunities to get to the passer. If you're in second and two, you're in third and one. You can't dial up blitz packages.

I think so much of what they wanted to do on defense was neutered last year because of a historic inability to stop the run. They should be much better against the run, just with Derek Brown coming back. Forget about Wharton and some of the other guys they added. What did it tell you about the way things are run now? That despite what the numbers pointed to a year ago, they bring a Giro Everett back.

I think if you look at it rationally. The calculus going into last year was we have to find out what we have in the quarterback. Defensively, there wasn't a lot of depth. Everybody knew that going in. Free agency, they didn't invest in it.

The draft, a lot of offensive investment, it seems like. And if you look at the team from last year, had they had good health on defense, they would not have been as bad as they ended up being. Once they got hit, not with just one, but multiple significant injuries. Shaq Thompson, Derek Brown, Clowney was on the injured list every week. He missed a few games.

Wanham was out. You go up and down the lineup. They were playing guys who were practice squad guys. They were playing guys who were discarded by other teams. throughout the season.

Hard to judge a D coordinator when you have so many moving parts. And so many guys who, let's be honest, probably weren't ready. to be playing on Sundays, now you have more depth. And they have doubled down with depth, especially in the front seven. And it speaks to me that there's a belief in Adriow.

The part that was annoying is the instant amnesia of it, where it's. I mean, people were acting like he wasn't terrific his first year, making something out of nothing. It's like, oh, this guy doesn't know what he's doing. Wh wh where were you in twenty-three? when the team couldn't score And the defense was managing to keep them in a lot of these low-scoring games for a half for three quarters before they just got worn down.

Yeah, Anish Raf's with us here. Mike Torico gave us a tip. earlier saying that he was in the gym and that a niche Was putting in more work than he was putting. You know, Mike's got an excuse because he's coming off in Achilles. What?

Yeah.

Okay. I saw him and he was telling me he was coming off in Achilles, and so he had to get his rehab work in. I'm just trying to. Keep up. That is a hallmark, by the way.

This is your first time at the NSMA. Yes? Yeah, it is. A hallmark, it always seems to go back to what your workout regimen is. I will never forget.

I don't know if Will Dalton was there. It was me, my wife. It was Ernie Johnson and his wife. And all of a sudden, Peloton just came up, and people were talking about what their PRs were, and that was the entire night. I don't know what it is.

Are you a Peloton guy? I have a Peloton. Uh my wife's laughing over there because she knows I don't use it as much as I should.

Okay. How do you approach the Peloton? See, I made this mistake of trying to, like, you know, find people to do. Asking Randolph Childress, for example, what his workout looks like. Yeah, and then he's going to run by you.

Resistance is 65, and that's where we're going to stay for the next half hour. Yeah, he's going 80 to 90 with resistance 55 plus. I have my Peloton set up strategically. Oh, I'd love to hear this.

So I've got two T V's in front.

So what I try to do during football season a lot of times, I'll be up in the man cave and I'll be on the Peloton and little contraptions where you can put your laptop or you can bind your notes. In front of you while you just attaches on, right? Oh.

So a lot of times I'll watch tape. I'll watch games. And then I'll probably get a workout in. I wouldn't call it a. Real workout because at some point you get lost in the game.

So they're telling you. No sound? There's a little bit of sound, but you'll be going, let's say, you got to hit 90 to 100 or 80 to 90, and you're supposed to be going 40 to 50, whatever it is, right? And then I'll look down, oh, 28.

Okay, I should probably turn it up a little bit. Anish, this goes without saying, this is an award that is voted on by your peers. Yeah, that means a lot. And it's well deserved. You've always been great to us.

We greatly appreciate that. What are you most looking forward to tonight? Do you know what to expect? I don't. I don't.

I want to enjoy it. I'm looking forward to meeting a lot of great people and award winners from other states, writers, broadcasters. I'm hoping we get to hang out a little more. I'm hoping that You know, you meet some good people. I enjoy talking to a lot of the young guys who were, you know, making their way around yesterday at the banquet, trying to soak up as much knowledge as they could.

We were all in their shoes at one point, so it's kind of nice to see that hustle as well. Go to nationalsportsmedia.org to learn about the NSMA. It is a nonprofit. There's a lot of really neat things that they do. Anish Raff, enjoy the night.

Thanks for being here. Thanks, Josh. Your attention, please. This is the drive with Josh Crab. John Gruden received another local box.

Over the weekend, it came from Jake Dicker and Wake Forest Football. These videos Are just treasure troves because of how passionate John Gruden is about anything John Gruden happens to be doing at that moment. Is that Jake Dicker? We do have a j Drop from the breakfast king of the Midwest himself, the new head coach of Demon Deacon football.

So let's. Dig into what John Gruden dug into. Wake Forest is a hell of a place. It's in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. And remember Norm Sneed, the quarterback of the Eagles, old school Kelly Green helmet?

Norm Sneed played at Wake Forest.

So did Sam Hartman. Arguably the best-looking quarterback in quarterback history. Hehehehe Yeah. Yeah.

We've detected it. We've detected where the humor is with Gruden. There's something strangely... sensual. about the way he talks about football.

Where He gets a little bit too excited. When talking about And it revealed itself right. when he noted the actual good looks. of Sam Hart been there. Hey.

Act like you're throwing a bomb. I want you to touch your toes. Spired to why banana And then he had some thoughts on Wake Forest's mascot. You know what their nickname is? A demon deacon.

It's this guy. Looks like he has a nerf ball head. He wears a bow tie, a tuxedo, a top hat. One of the coolest mascots. in all of football, period.

The demon deacons. Does he look like he has a nerf ball head? Does he? Nerf ball head? That's how we would describe the Demon Deacon?

I mean, it's a lot of foam, so I guess that's what he's getting at. Maybe. Sure. You're not going to talk about the stapled Bow tie to his to his chin? We're not going to talk about that at all.

And how dashing he looks in a suit? Yeah, I get the nerf ball analogy, I get it. Then he branched out and decided we need to start talking about other sports. But the most famous of all time The most famous demon deacon. didn't play football.

didn't play basketball. He played golf. Arnold Palmer, man! Arnold Palmer played it the weight. Look at this, man.

You believe that? Imagine Arnold Palmer walking around Winston-Salem. All right. I'll take a couple boxes of titles. Quite an impression of Arnold Palmer there at the end.

It's so exciting. Does anybody have the heart to tell John Gruden that Wake Forest was still in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and not Winston, Salem, when Arnold Palmer was there. Yeah.

Or does that make me a nerd for having that type of correction? As somebody who grew up Ten minutes. from where the original Wake Forest campus was, in the city of Wake Forest. That is an important distinction. They have a place that Arnold apparently frequented quite a bit that I loved.

called Shorty's Hot Dogs in downtown. Wake Forest? And they were known for having the red dogs, Will. They were red. like a bright red hot dog at Shorty's Hot Dogs.

So Yes. Those were some of the highlights from John Gruden. receiving a Wake Forest box.

Now Let's get into a jam-packed edition. You want to talk about jam-packed show, hashtag jam-packed show. How about. Hashtag jam packed. Graham's grades for this Monday.

Every week is a test for your favorite sports teams. Is this a test? Who passed the test? I don't know. Who dropped a ball?

I don't know. Josh Graham has the answers. Yeah.

Yeah.

What? Time for Graham's grades. The good, the bad, the... Meh? From what we saw over the weekend.

And let's start on a very positive note. A The best This is an encouragement. to watch on YouTube Twitch and on X. Because the only thing I can make an A is the best video that I saw all weekend. And it is Ed Orgeron.

Hat A Louisiana wedding. And it goes about as beautifully as you could imagine it goes. God dang it! He is taking off his shirt. Shoulders, chips, praise.

Louisiana version of White Me Down plays. Six, three. And now he shimmies after taking off his shirts. That is a TikTok video. W D are all tigers.

And roll wave. Go wave. No tigers. I can't stress enough. how much of an A plus plus that is.

the musical selection Ed or Geron's willingness. At every turn, to pop that top off. Go tag it. Love that man. I wish someone would hire that man.

B. USA soccer win.

Now They win the match. Freeze Wins. the game for the United States with three stops and penalty kicks, which is almost unprecedented at the international level to get that many stops in a single penalty shootout. It required six kicks apiece. But It's still just Costa Rica.

It's still just the Gold Cup, and there isn't. Because of how damaged how Bad it looked. At its worst over the last few years, obviously, with the last World Cup. It's hard to have a lot of optimism. For the Americans' chances as hosts.

Next year. And about the direction of things, if they win the gold cup, Different conversation waiting a couple more games. That's why it's a B 'cause It still is very positive. It was an exciting game in Minnesota. But going beyond that feels.

Like a stretch. Yeah.

The Hornets Colin Sexton Trade. What was your read on this? Because Okay, you bring in Colin Sexton. He's a backup point guard. It's another guy who's going to add some shooting.

Just had a 41% three-point shooting season. But you just Trade it away. Yousef Nurkic after trading away, Mark Williams and Nick Richards and You already brought in a bunch of guys who shoot the basketball and play no defense. Khan Kadipple. Liam McNeely Now, Colin Sexton.

It's like, when is the defense going to come, and when are the centers going to arrive? Is my question. See, I took this as like, oh, like, that might be your starting two right there. Which is interesting because I thought who do you bench?

Well I don't know. That's not your starting two. That's your backup point card.

Okay. Because you're not sitting Brandon Miller. No. I honestly, I wasn't overly moved by the move. That's why it's a C.

Yeah.

I guess that is why we would do that, isn't it? D The Atlanta Braves weekend. They got beat 13 to nothing on Friday, Will. Did you see what happened with the Orioles, by the way, this weekend? No, I didn't.

They were trailing 6-0 in the second inning on Friday. Remember when the Orioles were down? or leading eight to nothing and blew the lead.

Well, they were down six to nothing to Tampa and they won the game twenty two to eight. Because baseball karma. And then on Saturday. The Orioles get beat. 11 to 1.

Yeah.

Went on Sunday, so they did take the series. Atlanta is the D because. You're at home, you're playing Philly, you let early on in yesterday's game, you squander it. You lose 13 to nothing. You really need to start getting back into it and It just doesn't seem...

All that optimistic in both the Atlanta and Baltimore Corners. It's something we want to ask Ken Rosenthal about when he joins us next hour. Which of those two teams could you see really getting back in that mix? F. Can only be one thing.

The death of Dave Parker Pittsburgh Pirates legend, friend of the show, was on with Darren Vott when he filled in Once Upon a Time. One of the coolest players to ever play Major League Baseball. Part of the We Are Family. Pittsburgh Pirates and Had a missile of a right arm and right field. Dealt with Parkinson's for the last ten, fifteen years of his life And what makes this such a Gut punches.

He was inducted into the baseball or selected for induction for the baseball hall of fame in January and He was supposed to be inducted next month in Cooperstown, so. I hope wherever he is, he feels the love from the baseball community, the baseball world next month in Cooperstown. Even though we lose Dave Parker. over the weekend. And it's also worth noting That a good way to pay tribute to the ultimate bopper.

Pittsburgh. With a combined aggregate of over thirty plus runs and allowing just five. handling its business this weekend. Just an unfortunate headline with Dave Parker. First guest.

In Greensboro at the Grand Overs, Mike Torico going into the Hall of Fame at the National Sports Media Association Awards Banquet. You get a speech tonight. What's one thing that you're wanting to convey during that message amongst your colleagues.

So I from what I understand, the format has changed. West Durham interviews us. Oh, even better.

So it's uh it it's a lot of pressure off. And I didn't have to make a speech, which is uh a right one, which is great. Just better thank the people who uh who came with me here this week and family and make sure I knock that out. But uh no, I'm uh I'm I'm so excited to be here. I would say if there's anything to convey, it's damn.

I didn't think I was this old. I'm uh uh a little taken aback by um The Hall of Fame tag because I always associate that with people who are done with their careers, and I hope I'm not done. At least this year we've got an exciting year coming up. But it's been a great run, and we're in the middle of a very special part of it at NBC, and I'm just so blessed to be around so many good people and to be down here this weekend. What the organization does, and Dave Goren's put together, is pretty special for all of us.

Here is a place that you did arrive, Mike. When you call. An event, particularly in football, it's a bigger deal because in North Carolina, they're the Carolina Panthers. I did a little bit of research. Do you know the last time you called the Carolina Panther game?

Because when you call NFL now, it's either Monday night football or Sunday night football, which is what fans circle. That's an amazing question. I don't think I've done a Panthers game while I've been at NBC.

So it's going to have to be the year after the playoff game at what was then Bank of America. Oh man, I don't remember what game it was. I did a Cardinals Panthers playoff game in Bank of America on a miserable day, and it was a terrible game, to be candid. But Ron Rivera got that group to overachieve and win and all that stuff. Yeah, so is it the next game?

The answer is a rainy night. The Colts playing the Panthers Super Bowl season ten years ago. Ten years. It's insane. See, that's crazy.

I just saw Anish Shiroff in the gym. Anish was working out harder than I was. He'll be with us next hour. Good. We were just chatting about college football, and I started thinking of Anish and a bunch of the other Syracuse alums who are NFL Play My Play announcers.

I think we've got like five or six that are voices of teams around the league. But I'm so proud of Anish and all those folks. But I kind of laughed. I was thinking, like, man, I talked to Dave Canalis at the owners' meetings for a half hour. I had a great time, a great visit about Bryce and all this stuff.

I haven't seen them in forever in person, so thanks for giving me that answer. That has now inspired me to go back and check the last time I did every team in the NFL just to see how long has been the longest route for me. But that's something, yeah, when you call an NFL game, that's the ones that people circle on schedules. Mike Tarico is with us here. It's been a while since you've done NBA as well, but starting next season, you'll be back.

A lot of people associate your voice with the NBA. When's the last time you called an NBA basketball game?

So it would have been May of 2016, nine full years.

However, I didn't want to go into next October as an unknown. When we start the NBA on NBC, we'll have new everything, new production team together, the old music, of course. Michael Rock. Michael Jordan's going to join us as special contributor during our coverage during the year. We'll have Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford.

Grant Hill has just been announced. Noah Eagle is also going to do play-by-play. Maria Taylor is going to host in the studio. We're going to have Carmelo Anthony as one of our guys on the desk, along with Vince Carter.

So we had a lot of great folks, but it's all unknowns because a lot of us are new to this project. I didn't want to be an unknown and say, I haven't done an NBA game in nine and a half years. How rusty am I going to be? Or will I remember where all the Easter eggs are hidden?

So I did two games this past March. NBC owns the regional networks in Philadelphia and Boston.

So Kate Scott, who does the Sixers, and Drew Carter, who does the Celtics, were kind enough to let me sit in and do a game of each.

So I did a six, both against Portland.

So it was great.

So I had three teams to prepare for. But I got to kick the rust off a little bit and do a game.

So at least I've got that answer that I still know like what's a two-pointer and what's a three-pointer. Mike Tarico is with us here. I remember being at the 2022 Final Four and Duke was playing North Carolina in New Orleans and we were catching up with Tracy Wolfson and she's called everything under the sun the Super Bowl you name it and I remember her saying I never thought I'd get a chance to call a Duke Carolina game right because of how protected that property is Is there still that great white whale for Mike Tarico, an assignment or something that you haven't had a chance to be there for? You know I've been lucky during my ESPN time I got to do some SEC games, not like a night game in Death Valley or something like that. Did a game at Bama so covered that in college football, college hoops we bounced around.

The ESPN time helped me check most of those boxes. To be honest, the boxes that were unchecked for me were all NBC properties. Kentucky Derby, Olympics, and the Indy 500, which we ended up getting.

So getting to work all of those were a big deal personally for me.

So I've kind of I've been able to work everything. There's nothing sitting out there that says, gosh, I've never done that. Australian Open Tennis is the only slam I've never done. PGA Championship is the only golf major I've never done.

So, what I love to say, I've done all four, yeah, but I mean, we're just kind of nitpicking at this point. I've gotten to most of the majors, but it does work out sometimes, depending on where you are and where the rights are at that moment. What is your fondest memory calling sports in North Carolina? We saw you last year piloting the U.S. Open Club.

Yeah, that was something. That last couple of holes with Rory and Bryson were memorable. You could feel the tension building and just kind of building up inside of you. And then I finished my call on 17, got right outside of our booth, which was to the players' left down the 18th, and got out and snuck around the booth to go do the trophy presentation and was right across the fairway as Bryson hit that bunker shot, which would be one of the great ones. And then this year I was on the green when J.J.

Spawn made his putt at Oakmont at the U.S. Open.

So, like, to be one of the couple hundred people. Within that shouting distance of those moments is pretty cool. But that Carolina-Arizona playoff game will stick in my brain forever because that was the first NFL playoff game that I got to be a part of. Wow, you had never called an NFL playoff game before, though. We had not.

We had Ryan Lindley as quarterback for the Cardinals. And the Panthers were an under 500 division champions. That's right.

So I was like, oh, we waited all this time for this, but it turned out to be a member. Obviously, I still remember a lot of it. Cameron, the Smith Center, you've spent time at any of those players? I called Steph Curry playing at Cameron. This would have been 2006 or 2007.

I think that would have been my first time ever going to Cameron. I was there that night, too, as a youngster. That was my first time there. What a small world. Games there, did a few games at the Smith Center.

There was an ESPN run where I had been doing Big East at that time when the Big East was still whole. That I spent most of December and January bouncing around to other buildings to do a game at Pauley, do a game at Kansas in December, non-conference games, just to experience them. And to get Steph in Cameron Indoor playing against Duke was really cool. Mike Terico, congrats. Thank you for doing this.

What a pleasure. Good to be with you. Thanks for having us.