This is The Drive with Josh Graham Podcast. For internet sensations, guys. Tune into The Drive weekday afternoons, 3 to 7 on WSJS. We were on a Monday Drive. It is WSJS, News Talk Sports for the Triad, where since it's officially game week for all our local schools, We're opening the week with a monster shell, a rare visit.
on Monday. By BDOP. Who, in addition to being the six-man of Carhill Basketball. Is a proud Grimsley alum, quite happy about the Whirlies' overtime win at Bank of America Stadium Friday. Dot will be here at 4:15, plus, West Durham will join us.
At 5.30, I'm going to go to the Ahead of calling East Carolina in C-State at Carlos. I'm a legendary WSJS. Precisely at Carter Finlay Stadium Thursday night. He has ECU NC States. And let's actually start there.
Well, kinda. Around here in the state of North Carolina, Week one of the college football season is an annual reminder of our state's priorities, and more specifically, where football lands in those priorities. That is plainly evident in the fact that we have not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, seven FBS programs in the state of North Carolina, and not one of them. Not one of the seven. are playing On Saturday, It's game week in college football.
You got seven In-state FBS teams. College football is known for being played on Saturday. Nobody's playing on Saturday. ECU NC State, Duke Elon on Thursday. Charlotte App State from Bank of America Stadium on Friday.
North Carolina TCU on Monday. Juxtapose this with the SEC. which has 13 of its 16 teams playing on Saturday. Even in 2025, it is sacrilege. In SEC country to not play on Saturday.
In fact, when you look at the examples of teams that are not playing on Saturday, two of the three examples. They are not playing home games. Again, if you're not giving away a Saturday home game, if you are an SEC. football school. It's just too valuable.
In the SEC, this is probably the best way to put it. In the SEC, This weekend is a football holiday. In the state of North Carolina, it's another holiday. It's called Labor Day. You see what we're saying here?
The reason why Our state's teams Do not want to schedule games on the weekend. on Labor Day is because People around here are smart. And they know if given the option between the beach, the lake, Or a pool. They're going to choose that on Labor Day weekend over going to a football game. This was taught to me a few years ago.
This was maybe 2019. It was Mac Brown's first game. of Tour of Duty number two. They're playing South Carolina. At Bank of America Stadium.
Sam Howe, hometown kid, Charlotte Kidd, making his. College debut. It's the start of the season. It's Mac Brown back. Mac's back.
I'm sitting in between two Print legends in our state. Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, Ed Harden, Greensboro News and Record. And I point to the upper deck and I ask, I say out loud in the Panthers press box: why? Is it sparsely attended up there? You'd think this would be completely packed.
One of them. said Josh. Given the option between the beach and going to a football game in late August, early September, where In our state, We choose the beach. Plain and simple. That will never change.
Just like basketball coming first. Rather than football. Schools know if they play on Saturday and you give people the option, they're going to choose Labor Day over football. Because of this The crowds, it could be a story. What will?
the atmospheres look like at some of these stadiums. What's going to be the best atmosphere this week? We put this question up. on our X page at Josh Graham show at WSJS Radio. What will the best atmosphere be?
this weekend. ECU NC State, Thursday night in Raleigh. These two teams meeting after the bowl game last year. Tightly contested. A brouhaha breaking out at the end?
App State facing Charlotte. That's a fun. Local rivalry? North Carolina TCU sold out Bills first game, college game day there. We're going to be there as well.
Put that poll question up. On are X pages, Josh Graham Show and at WSJS Radio. And right now, overwhelmingly... The audience has said ECU at NC State. It's only been up an hour.
Little bit more than 100 people voted, 60% saying ECU and C-State. Pretty overwhelming. on that subject. But your thoughts are welcome, 336-777-1600. Let's go to Mark in Greensboro who wants in.
Mark, what's your thought? This weekend is a football holiday for the SEC, and in North Carolina, the holiday is just called Labor Day. What say you? Yeah, I I wanted to ask I would kind of wanted to ask you a question off of your opening monologue, if you will. Like, right, it's it you mentioned like the state being smarter.
Like I would push back on that. I don't know, man, like, I just think again, to your point, if it's a basketball weekend, You're inside. I don't care if you have. A beach house, and you know, you're the richest person in North Carolina, you're probably gonna go watch, you know, Duke North Carolina or whoever's playing. And It's just not as important in this state.
Hold on a second. Just so you want to clarify my position. I'm not saying one's smarter or the other. I'm just saying that it's a smart observation to point out reality, which is basketball matters more than football in this state and so does the beach. Yeah, well I mean like But I again, like, I also feel like as not a native of North Carolina, and even though I've been here for almost 15 years.
The beach is so overrated. You know what I mean? Like, it just is. I mean, are we serious? Like, give me a lake any day of the week, and then maybe we have a conversation, Lake Norman, whatever.
But You're going to go to the beach on Labor Day with all these crazy lunatics out there putting up their stupid. You know, umbrellas that maybe you know, pitch you in the face when you're going by with your kids. You got a young kid. Is that what you want to do? I kind of want to watch football.
I love it. Yeah, we got takes. That's outstanding. Mark just taking a flamethrower to the beach. I resent that.
There actually was ACC football this weekend, though. Not a great start for the league and for Frank Reich. WD turned on Frank Reich's press conference today and started having PTSD. As soon as Frank Reich said the words, we need to go back and revisit the tape, he started laughing out loud. Paul in Mecklenburg County, did you have PTSD watching Stanford as well?
No, Ash. Josh, I'm one of your nemeses. I graduated from UT in 76 and UT Law in 1980. Nemesis, I have nothing against UT. Nothing against the bill.
You talk stuff about me all the time, even though I'm an SEC mongrel and I'm a tick attached to the butt of Saban. It's tall in Mecklenburg County. It's tall. It's that. It's tall.
That tall. That's right. Paul, you're watching in the ACC. Hold one sec. Hold one sec.
WD, it's WD's fault. He put it on my screen, Paul in Mecklenburg County, and he spelled it P-A-U-L rather than P-A-W-L.
So that's his bad. He's still learning. This is Paul, who used to have the afro and worked in Birmingham. You, God bless you. I want wait to make the tournament this next year.
And I ain't talking football. I shouldn't say ain't because I'm an educated lawyer from Memphis. You have a great day, and I love the ACC. Bye. I love it.
Oh! Yeah. Paul is saying nicer things about the ACC of late because he was dead wrong about Clemson. And also wants to get into the good graces of Belichick.
Well, then again, he's taken some shots at Belichick, too. It doesn't have to be tradition. Matt writes in: Mark needs to shut up. About the beach, I assume? Yeah.
We're off to a roaring start this afternoon. Will Dalton is the executive producer of this show. Taking your calls at 336-777-1600. How would you? How would you vote on this poll, by the way, in terms of the best atmospheres this week?
in college football in our state, the options being Charlotte app, ECUNC State. I suppose you could go with the wake. Or Duke Games if you like. North Carolina TCU. I would answer NC State ECU because I am aware.
Ruckus.
However, chaos. With this being the first game of the Belichick era, and Kyle's. Those are the two options. I I think that one will be second. I just don't know how much.
Like, I'm fascinated by what it's going to look like. Both should be packed. One of the two places The air will be drunk. And there will be probably fights in the stands. That's Carter Finlay Stadium.
How? West Durham has on occasion, and he'll be joining us at 5:30. Called them the Irates rather than the pirates. Oh, yeah. Does so for a reason.
On the legendary WSJS. Getting to some ACC news today, Wake Forest head coach Jake Dickert officially announced that senior Robbie Ashford would start at quarterback this Friday night against Kennesaw State. Don't forget, we're going to be broadcasting our show live from a legacy federal credit union stadium. It's live action, Tracy. Plus, Coach Dickert will be a guest on Wednesday's program.
But back to the quarterbacks. Here are three reasons why Robbie Ashford was the right choice over Deshaun Purdy. He adds a real dual threat. aspect to the position. Pairing that mobility with DeMon Claiborne, one of the best running backs of the ACC, that could be lethal.
And Jake Dickert even noted that in his press conference earlier today: the ball-carrying physicality aspect to. Robbie's game.
Well, we talked about physical football, you know, and when I spoke to the team and I talked to those guys, there's an ideal of offense that we will continue to shape here. Uh But Robbie, right now, there's a tough physical guy in there. There's a guy that plays with a chip on his shoulder. There's a guy that has always competed no matter what situation we put him in. and excited for him to take the next step.
New offensive coordinator Rob Ezell, he wants more explosiveness. He wants as much explosiveness as he can get on the field in Ashford. Add some of that that Deshaun Purdy does not. Also, Ashford's just a more experienced option. He's a senior, while Purdy's a sophomore.
Ashford has started twice as many games as Purdy has. And where he started them is significant. Starting games at Auburn is different than starting games at Charlotte. Starting games at the SEC is different than starting it in the group of six. And That matters.
When you do you know all the stops that Robbie Ashford has been through, Robbie Ashford, was it Oregon? Auburn.
South Carolina behind a Heisman candidate, a Heisman Dark Horse and Donora Sellers. And now here at Wake Forest. That's different than playing at Charlotte. It just.
So, So it makes sense to have Robbie Ashford be the guy right out of the gate and give him Wake's schedule how it shakes out. This is better. Having a starter now rather than a two-quarterback system, it's better than splitting reps. The first two games are against Kennesaw State and Western. You should blitz both those teams.
This is about building confidence. This is about building rapport. This is about building chemistry.
So that way you're firing on all cylinders when NC State comes into your stadium. Thursday, September the 11th, in week three.
So those are the reasons why Robbie Ashford, the right choice at quarterback, for Wake Forest and good on Jake Dickert making that announcement today. The drive with Josh Graham, only on WSJS. Yes. Fighting words. Being exchanged.
The attacks And YouTube comments, big Deke Energy. Responding to Mark and Greensboro calling in. Quote, only a transplant would say the beach is overrated. Typical transplant. Close quote.
I mean, I love the beach. Everybody, love everybody. Everybody love everybody. It's week one of the college football season. It's B.
DILIGENT AND VIGILANT. Over the weekend there was a lot that happened. Lot of different sports included in this. To efficiently recap the weekend, we attach letter grades to it and Gramps grades. Every week is a test for your favorite sports teams.
Is this a test? Who passed the test? I don't know. Who dropped the ball? I don't know.
Josh Graham has the answers. Yeah. What? Time for Graham Scrape. The good, the bad, the ma.
from what we saw and let's start on a positive note. Hey. The Grimsley Whirlies overtime victory. 28-27. In Charlotte.
Against West Charlotte. This was inside Bank of America Stadium. They needed some clutch plays by the number one player in the country, quarterback Fazen Brandon of the Whirlies, and they needed to stop a two-point play at the end. Which they did, the number one team. In in state high school football.
Begins the season one and oh, and does so inside a pro venue that. is certainly worthy of an A. B. Tommy Fleetwood winning. The Tour Championship.
This man has been known for final round collapses. A couple of weeks ago, he had a trademark one that was terrible. terrible in Memphis. This weekend though, he figured it out. He won his first PGA Tour event and he did so at the most opportune time, the Tour Championship.
So not only did he win his first PGA tour event, Tommy Fleetwood is your 2025 PGA tour. Tour champion. Tommy Fleetwood. Very deserving of this. The reaction by many in the golf world was similar to the reaction when Cam Young.
won the final regular season event. On the tour schedule in Greensboro at the Wyndham Championship, his first PGA tour win. This is a tremendous player that's very well liked. He's from English, from England, his fellow countrymen. Justin Rose.
Said He's just as happy to watch him win as he was to win. himself out there. Really cool to see that for Tommy Fleetwood, a very likable guy on the course, getting his first win and doing so on quite the stage. See. The Browns Rookie quarterbacks.
It's a C because There's some good, there's some bad. WD owes Dylan Gabriel an apology first and foremost. Do I? Yeah. Your words have said, Shador Sanders is clearly better than Dylan Gabriel after Dylan couldn't play in the first game in Charlotte.
Yeah, it was a good player. It was unnecessary. And I called you out on it at the time and You owe Dylan Gabriel an apology because Dylan Gabriel's been better than Shador Sanders since then. And he was better than him on the same field on Saturday. A lot more opportunity in said game and different.
the lineman but Shador was not as good as Dylan Gabriel was out there. Dylan Gabriel. deserves some credit. This is gonna be framed as... Josh is Dylan Gabriel's guy, and W.T.'s a Chador guy.
No, I just. I like them both. You're the one that denigrated Dylan Gabriel. I did not denigrate. Because I thought Shidor was bad.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, jokes. about Dylan Gabriel. You would say, oh, they drafted Dylan Gabriel in the third round, so disrespectful to Shador. That's what you said. You said it was disrespectful to draft, which is a shot at Dylan Gabriel.
I thought it was disrespectful for everybody that he dropped a fat fifth round. But you made it about Dylan Gabriel, which isn't nice. Dylan Gabriel was good. He deserves some flowers today. Shadora was not.
But the problem is that neither are great and they're on the Browns. And the Browns are going to keep four quarterbacks, according to reporters. On their roster.
So we'll see if some get traded. It's a C all around. It's a giant nothing burger that we only talk about in the preseason because once the season starts, it's the Browns, and none of them are good. D. Kansas State's loss in Ireland.
So many missed opportunities. Muffed punt. Turnover on downs on a fourth and one. Couldn't get the key stop on fourth and three to get the ball back. At the end.
And don't forget, this is a rivalry game. It's called Pharmageddon, Kansas State against Iowa State. And Kansas State gave away a home game, got $2 million to play this game in Ireland and give away a home game in doing so. Congratulations, you played yourself. You gave away a home game and you lose!
As the number 17 ranked team in the country, and when you are in a national spotlight game where there are no other games going on. The reaction, what happens in that first game generally is how people feel about you for the entire year. And K-State, you got to wear that. It's a D.
So, not an awful loss. but a pretty bad one, a D. F. A pretty awful loss is Stanford. It doesn't have to be tradition.
Oh, boy. It wasn't. They should have beaten Hawaii. Yet? They're up.
By Three Or they're up by seven. And they're marked, no, it's they're up three, but they're marching in about to score a touchdown. to go up two scores, put the game away, fumble the ball. Turnover. Give it to Hawaii.
Hawaii ties it. They're helped. A guy gets a sack for Stanford. And he goes too far in celebrating. Gets a 15-yard unsportsman-like penalty, continues a drive to allow for the score to happen.
And Frank Reich just decided, you know what? We're not going to manage the clock. Who was he saving those timeouts for? He's got three timeouts, and he just let. He doesn't have any of them.
He just let. Hawaii Kill the clock at the end of regulation. Yeah, just kill the clock. To the last second. Rather than you f Calling timeouts to get the ball back.
Not great. Stanford's collapse on the island. That's an F. Tough for the ACC. Stanford, the worst team in the league.
A lot of stuff going on this weekend. Didn't it even have Room to include the crazy finish at Daytona. Four wide and Blaney getting across first. Ahead of the NASCAR playoffs. WD, I was invited.
earlier today to do a ride along later this week. With Tyler Reddick at Charlotte Motor Speedway. On the Rovil course, either Roval setup. But because It's the same day that college football is going on and we have this Talk show that we have to do here. Or that we get to do Sup Ernie Johnson.
We uh Not going to be able to do that. Is that your way of just getting out of going out on the track? No. Do you know? No.
I'm not scared. No. It sounds amazing. I don't think I've ever even been in a stock car. let alone on a track.
I've been in a stock car. Win. I mean, not like uh So they had, um at the Greensboro Children's Museum Is this the same children's museum that had An otter or what animal was it? No, that's the Greensboro Science Center. What animal was it?
I think it was an otter of some kind.
Sorry, sidetracking you. They had a stock car in the museum that you could like hop like get in there, and I did. It was fun. Yeah, but that wasn't on a track. No.
And I would love to do it. Yeah. Having a NASCAR driver show you the ropes. Yeah. Be pretty cool.
Just not able to do it this week, but, you know. One of these times. We'll figure that out. NASCAR playoffs are ahead. Speaking of the NASCAR playoffs.
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Sounded a bit Irish there, with my Reading. It's 'cause you've been watching that the game out. Iowa State. K-State. I said the thirteenth.
Is it always rainy in that game? No. I felt like last year it rained there too. When the Panthers went to Germany, it was raining last year. We'll get to this later.
The Bets went 2-0. Easy first half under. K-State, easy first half cover. Comfy. comfy start to the season.
Let's Let's update the poll question that we have. out there for today. Which NC college football game will have the best atmosphere in week one. ECU NC State. App State Charlotte, TCU North Carolina, or other.
Sixty one percent. Say It's The NC State ECU game. Yeah. 61%. That's a little surprising.
Thought some would say, All right, it's gonna be a jam-packed house. When North Carolina's playing TCU, that's going to be pretty cool. But ECUNC State. There are three fan bases in North Carolina. That Truly get the football mindset.
When it comes to like how to tailgate. How to Win the cheer, creating an atmosphere that's hard to play in. It's ECU, it's App State, it's NC State. Yep.
So when you get two out of the three of those together, It's a zoo. It it's the best atmosphere, whatever The question whatever local teams you wanna you wanna mention. Jay Austin writes in as you can on our YouTube channel. Search the drive with Josh Graham on YouTube. When working for a Chevrolet dealership, we were sent to Atlanta Speedway for A track day with the new Chevy models took a then 2017 Corvette for lapse.
at around one hundred and twenty miles an hour. Again, not knocking it, that sounds incredibly fun. Just not able to do it with the schedule. I have other prior commitments, sadly, including, not sadly, fortunately, Wake Football. We're going to be doing our show from a legacy federal credit union stadium.
It's live action, Tracy. Yes. On Friday. Friday Show. Fuck.
Woo! Woo! Woo! Okay, wow. Let's go!
You're on the drive with Josh Graham. Our guy holds many titles. Six man Atari Hill basketball. grammar school teacher Mr. Alumni at Winston-Salem State.
And for this segment's purposes, Mr. Alumni. At Grimsley High School as an alum. How cool is it seeing? Grimsley Become that team because for 60 years they had never won a state championship.
And then they did during the COVID season. And now Grimsley is a power, number one team in the country, number one player in the country, Faze and Brandon, and winning in Bank of America Stadium in West Charlotte's backyard in overtime. How cool has it been for you? It's been a dope ride man big shout to Coach Brown and just uh Just the dedication to greatness and the standard that they've set over there, man. Big shout out to all the guys that came before to sort of set that standard with Travis Shaw and them boys.
It's just awesome, man. Like, it's great bragging rights. It's been a bunch of 704 folks that thought they were going to whip us and. You know, just thought they were gonna beat us and talked a lot of trash to me before the game. And I've been very, very, you know.
I've been a lot opposite of how I usually act as it responds to this, but I'm very happy. I'm glad we came down here and handled business and showed that the 336 is no slouch when it comes to athletics. And the 704, you know, just being in different conversations and being in different mediums. They really have an arrogance about them here in the 704 in the Queens City.
So to come to their neck of the woods in Bank of America Stadium. The whole Ford was out, man. Beatty's Ford. That's where West Charlotte is on.
So the whole Ford was out there in Bank of America Stadium. And to come away with that victory, man, I couldn't have been more proud, man. I'm happy for the boys, and I'm happy for Coach Brown for sure. Let's Knockouts. a rare Monday edition of Grammar School.
Josh Graham has his own way of speaking. And just when you think it can't get any worse, ra-ra-rah! Josh is going to attempt to learn B-Dot's vernacular. I'm gonna put one in the air. It's time.
For B Dot's Grammar School. Nobody better than B Dot, pregame, during game, post game. I'm so excited to ask you the callcastic question.
So last week. I told you I was at the beach. I asked you to name three North Carolina beaches. You really struggled. Not men at the park.
This weekend is Labor Day. A lot of people are gonna spend be spending Labor Day. Out near the water.
So rather than ask you about the beaches, I'm gonna ask you something closer to home. Name a North Carolina lake. Oh, Lake Norman. There you go. Can you name another?
Nope. Yeah. Oh man. I used to be a little bit of a bad. And I know Lake Norman, of course, because I'm in Charlotte and I got a birthday party on Lake Norman, September 7th.
It ain't going right. There it is. Yeah. That's outstanding. Okay.
How many lakes in North Carolina can you name? I can name about like a dozen. I could name like Falls Lake, High Rock Lane. I could name Granville Lake, Lake Glenville. I can name.
What's that one? It started uh Lake James. There are a ton of them. There are tons of lights. I've never heard of any of those names that you just said.
The only James I recognize is in the Bible. Lake Gaston? Lake Gaston, maybe? Like, there are a lot of Kerr Lake, or I think it's Kar Lake. How it's pronounced, I got baptized in Falls Lake.
Like, again, there are plenty of great lakes all over the place. Uh not to be confused. Is that butter made by Country Lake? Who makes the butter?
Now we hit on that. What do you got? What do you got? Alright man. My daughter's gone back to school.
And I'm telling you, man. This slang is totally different now. Like middle schoolers and high schoolers, and the way they're talking now, it's like they have their own slang, Josh. And we're learning all of this together, but I'm able to teach it. Because I have a 13-year-old that speaks it to me often.
Good. Yeah, good.
So. When she calls me a bot. B-O-T, a bot. What is she saying? I think that means you're a troll.
Like, when I think bots, like, on social media, it's like, oh. Don't listen to the bots. You're like a troll. B-O-T, a bot. Is that your final answer?
Yeah. That is incorrect. Is it like a critic? It's like when you're awkward and just And I'm being fake. Oh, like a robot.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes. I still do the Chappelle show thing at parties sometimes. It made me smile so much. When you walk to the party, don't act like you're a robot.
You're a freaking idiot. I do that when it's like a lot of people and the music's playing. Only one time ever has somebody come up to me like, Are you doing the Chappelle show today? I'm like, Yeah. Just one time it made me so happy.
But now Dot knows exactly what I'm talking about. Large group of people. I'm just around and I'm like. Freaking ridiculous. You're a nut job, baby.
Yeah, you're gonna start doing that now, I bet. I might I might take you up on there, Josh. I might take you up on there. All right, what's next?
Alright, second. Looks maxing. Looks Maxing. I'm gonna spell this. L-O- Oh, okay.
Yeah. M-A-M. X X I-N-G looks maxing. W D? I know it.
You just say the word.
So it's You've already gone to WD. No, I haven't. No, he didn't. He didn't. I guessed bot.
He guessed bottom, and I just said the correct answer after. Yeah, I need to get this one right, so I'm going to WD. Looks maxing is what it says. It's your looks maxing.
So it's like where you have a face routine or you hit the gym. You are making yourself look. I hate you so much. If this is wrong, I'm going to fight you because that's not the most obvious thing ever. You're making maxing.
You're going to maximize your look with look maxing. That's what it is.
Okay, if this is wrong, you're going to host the rest of this show today. Dot, tell them I'm right. Is that your final answer? Yeah. You're 100% correct.
I thought it's so stupid. I mean, it's what it is. I wasted my my uh Oh dena, I guess I didn't fully waste it. We got it right, but. Still, I could have figured that one out.
And it just means you look great. If somebody tells you your looks maxing tonight, Josh, you look amazing. Have you been in a gym? Did you get a tan at the beach? Your looks maxing.
I love these things. I gotta get this one right. What do we got? If someone says you're a brat, They're calling you a brat. Clarifying note, need clarifying.
Clarity. Are you Are you referring to brat as in referring to somebody as a brat or something being brat? Saying, you know what? This Orange mix with my water is brat. You know what I'm saying?
Yes, and to that point I think it will be the latter.
Okay. I think Brat It's something really cool. It's in vogue. It's like in the zeitgeist, you're brat. Is that your final answer?
Yeah. It's 100% incorrect. What? It's the opposite? The exact opposite.
Yeah, Brat means you look a mess. Yeah. Yeah, Brad means you're looking like you're looking trash. But I thought that was like the whole thing last year where they brought the brat pack back, and then they were talking about Kamala saying, oh, she's so brat in like a cool way. I guess this is a different type of brat.
There's a lot of brats. Where's just by bringing up a political candidate? Where's the Gary Hondrup? Yeah, just for a minute. Get out of there.
Yeah, by the way, Tony Haynes retiring after this football season.
So this is the last season of the Gary Hondrup. Drop. Retiring after this year is the drop. You don't say you're going to retire the drop just because the man retires from the sport? That's what he's saying.
The man's voice and the guy he's referring to retired. Both of them. I think it's time to move on. No man, you gotta keep it. Have you watched the Cowboys dock on Netflix yet?
I've been watching some of it. I'm up to episode three, I believe. See, I just finished it. Damn it. Spoiler alert, the Cowboys won three Super Bowls.
Are you serious? Because I was worried about that second one. But you know, my biggest takeaway from the series, honestly, though. I have a new appreciation for Jerry Jones. Yeah.
It's weird. I found myself saying, you know. I want to see Jerry win one more. I want to see it happen because that'd be good for sports. And I don't think there are many people in sports like Jerry Jones.
And I think uh Jerry Jones. I don't know. How high, you're a Cowboy fan, how high of an approval rating do you have for Jerry Jones? No, I think that was the exact reason why he did this or why this documentary was done, man, to show a different light to Jerry Jones. And I'm not sure I believe all of it.
It's a great story, like the great stuff. I mean, I understand he has some facts to, you know, to really support the story that he's telling. But, you know, this is painting Jerry in a light. To much of your point, where there's an audience now that's really more empathetic to old Jerry now and more understanding to old Jerry now, and you know, rooting for old Jerry now, even. And I think that was the reason for this whole documentary and whole 10-piece project.
But that does not make us fans any more excited about this season and this Michael Parsons situation and how Jerry Jones has single-handedly ran us into the dirt because he just continues to do things his own way and being a general manager and an owner and is just driving us crazy. And what does this season take, or what is this season having? We don't know. But I will be in Bank of America Stadium October 12th. My tickets are already secured and I cannot wait to see the Cowboys put belts.
to them Panthers. Hearing this crew followed Jerry Jones around during the 2023 season, which ended with that blowout loss to the Packers.
So, when you get to the episode where Jerry's mic'd up. in the sweep and dropping the F-bomb. It's just. It is funny.
So, like, to your point, I'm not somebody who's easily swayed by these documentaries. As long as it provides Like this stuff that's critical. And there's an episode later on that you'll get to. Called Cocaine cowboy that is about Michael Irvin. And they get through, they get into all the stuff, all the laundry with everybody involved.
So, for that sense, so you're telling me they get into all the stuff, all the stuff. Yeah, all of it. B-Dot, we love you. We'll talk to you next week. Outside, guys.
The drive with Josh Graham only on WSJS. Thursday night ACC Network. Our next guest. We'll be calling East Carolina at NC State alongside Steve Adasio. Just guys being dudes.
On the call. Thursday night. It's Wes Durham who's joining us. What do you imagine? Those tailgate lots.
And those stands are going to look like Thursday night when the irates get together with the wolves. You got that part right. Yeah. What do you imagine that looks like? What do I think it looks like?
Yeah. Well, here's the thing: as I've come to find out. the largest alumni base Outside of metropolitan Greenville and Pitt County. Mm-hmm. for the East Carolina University is Raleigh.
Yeah. Not Greensboro. Not boom. not Winston Salem, not Ashborough, Not a Randolph. Raleigh.
So it's a chapter meeting is the way I look at it. Have you Called ECU NC State before? Never. Never. You excited?
I asked for it. I asked for this game. And I said, I want to do that game. And they're like, why? And I'm like, you don't know.
And if you know, you know. And if you don't, it don't matter. I just want the game. What most interests you?
Well, fact of all, and my producer, Ben Ward, I should say our producer, not mine. Um Our producer, I started telling him, okay, you got to dig in on this a little bit. East Carolina actually won a game in Raleigh and they tore down the goalpost at Carter Finley. He's like, no way. I said, yes, way.
And it happened in the 80s. 87. Yeah. And then East Carolina's Shining moment of football since the late Clarence Stasevich. And yes, I know who Clarence Stasevich was.
Well done. Thank you. Uh You know, their shining moment was the 10-and-1 season where Jeff Blake threw to Luke Fisher. to win the Peach Bowl at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta. Side note only t only meeting in the history of the series where both teams are ranked.
I think it was 34-14 in the second half, closing in the start of the fourth quarter. And Luke Fisher caught that pass from Jeff Blake. The Do You Believe Pirates? And then you have Charles, baby. Absolutely.
You can paint those peaches purple, the whole deal. And then they tore down the goalpost for good measure in 99. Even though NC State wasn't on that field. Yeah. Yeah, they played the game because of the hurricane, right?
Yep.
Played Miami. Played Miami, beat Miami in Raleigh, and tore down the goalposts. After Hurricane Floyd. This is all good fun.
Okay, so I started today's show with a theory. You let me know if this is another one of Graham's theories for you today.
Well, this was stolen a few years ago from Ed Harden, and I think Scott Fowler agreed with it in the press box. Ed Harden, ladies and gentlemen. At a Saturday North Carolina, South Carolina game. This is Ed Harden. Exactly.
Three straight years at least. That our local ACC Big Four schools. are not playing the first Saturday of the year. And the working theory is this year, we have seven FBS teams in the state. None of them are playing on Saturday.
This is the second time in three years that's happened. And the working theory is Yeah, for some people. Football season. Labor Day is a football holiday. In North Carolina, Yeah, it's a football holiday, but it's a beach, pool, and lake holiday first, and administrators know this.
Do you buy?
Somewhat, yes. Probably wise to not compete with the beach, the lake, and the pools on Labor Day Saturday. Here's the other thing too. And look, I've had a lot of conversations with a lot of people in North Carolina in the last 60 days regarding the value of the state of North Carolina in the next wave of college expansion, okay? And that's another topic for another visit.
when you've got more than 20 minutes. Um Because The state of North Carolina's population density growth in the last decade has changed dynamically.
Okay. Um You know, the foresight, and I don't know which governor, probably Jim Hunt, put it in place to get I-40 from Raleigh all the way to the beach. That was a huge move. To and I think Josh Stein has done as good a job as possible dealing with one of the worst natural disasters of all time to reinvigorate western North Carolina. And You know, my North Carolina heritage, even though I've lived in Georgia for 30 years, my North Carolina heritage is proud of the way the state is rebounding from last year.
Yeah. So, I would say this: you have to respect your population if you're the college administrators. Here's the other thing, too. You don't necessarily want to tax your workforce. Of state employees at certain institutions over a weekend when you can do things that can eliminate some of that.
So if you play the if Duke plays on Thursday night, NC now the thing I'm I'm tr I'm not troubled by it. It's just what happened. Duke and State are playing at the same time on Thursday night. In a perfect world, probably Duke would like to have been Friday like they were last year when NC State was on Thursday. And then remember, Carolina actually opened at Minnesota opposite NC State last year.
So, for me, they probably would like to have three separate days if they could work it that way. And maybe they can do that in the future, but I'm not surprised at all that. That we're not seeing Saturday and Sunday football in the state of North Carolina. And if it weren't, For Carolina TCU, the Labor Day is all about Belichack and the arrival on the scene in college.
So that would probably have been a Saturday game as well. But. Nonetheless, I can certainly understand it, and I respect it because I see what it's meant to the population growth in the state as a whole. And I'm one of those guys, Josh, that I've been away long enough from the state. as a resident.
That now, when I come back, I've enjoyed engaging in some of the new growth that the state has occurred. That has happened. And I think that's something that people ought to be proud of in the state of North Carolina, too. I respect it as well. The root of the conversation, as I mentioned, the great riders Ed Harden and Scott Fowler was sitting at a North Carolina, South Carolina game, Max game, first game back in his second tour of duty.
And we look at the upper deck, and it's sparsely filled. I'm like, that's interesting. And he's like, No, it's not. It's Saturday, Labor Day weekend, Josh. It is.
There it is. So I think I agree with it too. And while we're citing some of the best sports writers to cover the league. David Thiel wrote today that this week's ACC slate might be the biggest ACC opening weekend slate they've ever had. A record five ranked opponents are on the slate.
And in addition to that, you mentioned the prime time slates on Monday night where North Carolina is facing TCU. And then on Friday nights, you have. The visit the Folsom Field for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on ESPN2. These are seven massive games that you have. The five ranked games, and then those two national spotlights.
So How much How well do you think the ACC needs to do to view this weekend as a success, given that type of slate? Let me qualify this. Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night, and Monday night are all ACC teams. Primetime games. Yeah.
So even Sunday afternoon would be an ACC team. Saturday on ABC and ESPN, it's a noon ACC team, a 3:30 ACC team, and a 7:30 ACC team. Yeah. So, I mean, look, you take all that into account. Um Okay, there are five of them, right?
Five ranked, and then Georgia T, Colorado, and North Carolina TCU.
Okay, so let's call it. Um seven games. Yeah. I'd like to see the ACC five and two. Four and three.
And I wouldn't be mad if somebody went six and one.
Now, what do I think's reality five and three? I think five and three is really possible across the board. I wouldn't hate three and four just because of the games. Like, I you look at the game. Yeah, I mean, three and four is going to be fine.
People are going to pick on whoever the four are. You'd have to tell me who the three and the four are. Like, if let's say the three highest-ranked teams win, right? Or highest thought of teams.
So we're talking about Clemson, we're talking about Miami, and we're talking about. Yeah. Okay. Or Bill.
Well, Bill's not higher ranked than Georgia Tech. No. I mean, it's Belichick coaching, but Georgia Tech's thought of higher than Carolina right now. Yes, they are.
So those three win, then the ACC has done enough to kind of put their flag in the ground. what you want is you want an upset somewhere in there too. Like Syracuse find a way to beat Tennessee. Virginia Tech. Keep it close with South Carolina.
Maybe find a way to win at the horn type thing. I just don't know that those two games are exactly. Sarah, I really worry about what Virginia Tech's going to be.
Now Florida State and Alabama That's a referendum game because whoever wins and whoever loses, there's going to be a major referendum on Monday morning. I mean, because you think about that is an intense 60-minute game. Mike Norvell, after a horrific season. And Kalen DeBoer lost, what, four times last year? Yeah.
Two times too many at that school.
Well, I mean yeah, you I mean, you go 0-1 there, and you got problems with if you go two.
So he lost four, and now all of a sudden they got issues. I'm at Notre Dame, Miami. is the most intriguing. Marcus Freeman's off a national championship appearance. He's clearly built that program to a place it's trying to get to.
and we are waiting on Miami. And if you want to believe they have to beat Notre Dame. In my opinion, it's still think, and here's the other part, too. And I may have said this to you on a previous visit, and if I have, I apologize. The thing I'm trying to talk about as we start this college football season is also.
It's really important people understand. That in the playoff system we now have 12, potentially 16, or Tony Petitti has his way 64. Um When you have 12 teams, Josh. You can lose. Just like in the NFL.
If you don't go undefeated in the NFL, it's okay. You can still find your way into the playoff if you have a good year, win your division, whatever.
So even if you lose a game, kids. you can still make the playoff. All right. It's when you lose two or three, depending on where you are. that it becomes Troublesome.
But wait a minute. Wait a minute. I thought after Clemson got blown out by Georgia after last weekend.
Somebody on a particular network said that. Clemson's season was over, and that Dabo might be finished. Yeah, and he's, you know, somewhat. bald with glasses and Yeah, I know exactly who it is. Yeah, I'm well aware.
Oh, so that all being. Yeah. Oh, that's exactly. We have a West Durham. That part of it is where I think we've got to learn to understand in the new world of college football that we all want to be in.
That's a scenario that people have to certainly respect and understand. We have a Wes Durham drop in our computer as well, I think, somewhere. On the legendary WSJS. Yes, we do. We've got it for everybody, Wes.
It's true. I know. Dave Flowler, Glenn Scott. Gene Overby. Shout out.
Gene Overby. Shout out, Gene Overby. I need some advice from you on the way out. I'm taking baby Daniel to his first. Sporting event.
It is in Charlottesville, America, a nooner. William and Mary Against UVA, shout out to mutual friend of ours, George Costas. Has uh giving me tickets to uh Virginia. Football at the 50-yard line. I'm excited to.
Go with Sarah Bradford and Baby Daniel in a few weeks. It's very exciting. Any advice of what I need to do? Yeah, first of all. First number one is sunscreen.
Sunscreen's important, yeah. Sunscreen for Daniel, sunscreen for your fair skin. That is very true. I visited the beach and I got somehow paler. I don't know how it happened.
Yeah, 'cause you wore seventy five, which is what a man of your ilk and mine should wear. Um That's why like if you ever see me on the golf course now it's the big wide Hat. Yeah. I'm tired of people coming at me with knives every six months. You need to play, by the way, with Dickert sometime.
I hear Jake Dickert's really good at golf. That's the rumor I've heard. He needs to play with his left-handed radio voice then. The left-handed voice of the legendary voice of the deacons is a stick. He's going to be with us.
No matter what he said, he'll be with us on Friday. I'll make sure to pose that with him. We're doing our show from a legacy federal credit union stadium. And I'll have to ask Dan about that, Stanley. Yeah, make sure you get all that out there for Curry, by the way.
The legacy federal credit union stadium. They did say, like, the day they dropped that news, it's just the legacy stadium, but every time I see Curry talk about it. Every time Curry mentions it, it's the full name.
So that's what we're calling it. If mama calls it a legacy federal credit union stadium, that's what we're calling it. Yeah, and Dr. Wente, I will certainly. Take a knee to the legacy Federal Credit Union Stadium.
Coming in and out of a bump, though. It's going to be a push. Uh I think What was the question again? Oh, we were talking about, yeah, baby Daniel going to Charlottesville, Scott Stadium. I don't think you need any bloody Marys at the tailgate.
You're with the child. You want to set a good standard. Yeah. Um UVA sneaky team sneaky good. Yeah, look, I think that game Saturday is coastal.
Yeah, we had originally thought we were going to coastal. We're now going to Dallas for East Texas AM and SMU because SMU is in the top 20.
So we'll get to see the Mustangs on the. On the hoof, if you will, Saturday morning. Darn, I thought you were going to sneak into the double header, Syracuse, Tennessee, and sneak into South Carolina, Virginia Tech. Oh, coach, I'm landing here Sunday morning at 7:15 after doing two games in three days, and I'm going to. feet up and Get ready for week one of the Sunday game.
I would say this: stay away from the cocktails. Monday game hot in Charlottesville. The grounds. On the grounds, yeah. The I like the who's.
I think, you know, make sure baby Daniel understands the rhythms to old anxiety. Sarah Bradford went to Virginia, correct? She did. I've sung. Um.
It's not all lang sign. It's in Virginia Circles. It's the good old song.
So I've sung the good old song to Daniel a few times. He enjoys it. Good. Very much so. On the way out, NSMA.
I don't think we've chatted post-NSMA. What was the highlight of this year's? Event in Greensboro at the Grand Over Resort. Mike Tarico apologizing to the Greensboro folks for Coach Bohem. That was that was pretty funny.
It's good.
Sorry for our coach. That made it for social media. I got a phone call on that. What is he apologizing for? Your broadcast partner?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. been known to run in the same circles with the man. Yeah, I think the NSMA, first of all, I can't thank Kelly Harrell and the people at the Grandover enough for what they've done for us the last couple of years. Incredibly excited about where the organization is going. We're going to announce some things in January.
Actually, in December, I think people are going to see it if they're members of the organization. We are expanding the breadth of our awards this year. Um in 2026 In June of 2026, I feel pretty confident that we're going to announce some new awards. As media continues to grow, our organization wants to meet those challenges.
So we're going to announce some awards and categories for voting. that will also Expand our reach.
So I'm pretty excited about that. And, you know, the blessing for our organization. And the great teamwork we have is that the membership of young people younger than you, Josh, have really started to generate a lot of enthusiasm for what we do. And those are college students. And I say that about college students not just in the state of North Carolina, but nationally.
Have come to our organization. And now, membership also, if you're a college student and you're a member of the organization as a student. You're going to get four quarterly video conferences. Like we have one in September that's going to be done with Nicole Auerbach and Ryan McGee. And they bring on a guest each time.
The ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips this year. Yeah. Jim Phillips is going to be the guest there. And then we're going to have one more in November and we're going to have two in the spring.
So if you're a young person and you listen to sports talk, you want to be in sports media. NationalSportsmedia.org. Sign up for a student membership. You just have to prove that you're currently enrolled at a High school or university or college and so forth, and we'd love to have you, and you can be part of these kinds of. symposiums we're going to do online during the course of the year.
So That and the new awards are pretty exciting. It was pretty cool to have a handful of listeners show up to the event and. They said they're going to come right back. Like, more and more people ask about the event who are just sports fans showing up. I tell people all the time.
Once you come in the room once, you'll come in the room again because you're kind of like, holy cow, this is who's here? It's kind of weird like that.
So, I mean, you were there the night, Van Pelt, and Barkley, and good lord. That's one of those ten nights of the organization's history that's unbelievable. That's what I imagine the bars in and around Carter Finley Stadium are going to look like Thursday. I will say this. I'm really excited about it.
And I know some people who have the split houses. Oh yeah. On Thursday night, the ECUNC State House. And I'm looking forward to being there and thankful that they've entrusted me to handle the broadcast with Coach and Medana.
So we're looking forward to a full house on Thursday night at 7 o'clock. I mean I can go through all of them being an East Carolina graduate. Andre Brown, J.H. Rose High School in Greenville. ECU was the team ranked against NC State.
scores a touch down for the Wolf Pack. With Russell Wilson at quarterback, looks into Brian Bailey's camera and says.
Sorry, Greenville. Pretty good. Pretty good. There's a lot of stuff like that in the rivalry. Just don't mention the gold uniforms that they wore once.
With John Thompson as the coach in Charlotte in the mid-2000s, lost that game by a million. Then he got fired. I talked to Blake Carroll. I know he's been on your show. I've talked to Blake Carroll today and his coordinators.
I really, really like what they're doing. I really do. Is he putting out an injury report tomorrow? Does the American require that, or is that just the ACC? I don't know, but Dave's answer is the best I've ever heard.
You'll get it when I'm told you'll have to have it. Love that answer. Can't wait to hear Bill's. Yeah. West on to Charlotte.
Thank you for doing this. Can't wait to hear you on Thursday night. Guys being dudes, you and Steve Adazio. Have you guys ever worked together? I didn't know Dazio did this.
He did 14 games last year. Oh, how about it? On the ESPN family of networks. No, Steve and I have never worked together. We're looking forward to it.
I've covered him a ton as a coach. He is the only coach who I have had production meetings with over cannolis from Mike's Pastry. In Boston. Oh, he's so great. He's good.
He's good. I mean, people are going to be surprised if you. I mean, you saw him. Wake fans remember the fire adasio throwing headsets in the vaunted 3-0 game. Wait till you see a dozio on the telestrator.
Oh, toughness. My God, look at him. You know, that kind of thing. Wes, thanks again.
