Best Place To Get A Happy Meal (9-3-25)

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. We welcome you to a Wednesday drive. It's WSJS, News Talk Sports for the Triad.

But there's a lot going on this afternoon. Carolina Panthers just finished practice without Iki Aquanu. Not a great sign, four days before the opener. Dave Canalis, just now meeting. With the media.

Perhaps we can get to some of that shortly. Bill Belichack. Met with the media as well today. That was a couple of hours ago. And let's actually start with his tar heels.

One way or another, North Carolina's response. To the TCU disaster Monday? Their response this weekend. could define the entire season. Because there is quite a bit.

stacked up against this Tari Hill team right now. Not only is it a five-day turnaround, Which is pretty quick. And your competition, Charlotte, has had eight days to prepare since its opening loss to Appalachian State. Not only is it Bill Belichick's first College Road Game. It also happens to be the first time the University of North Carolina Our state's flagship school.

is facing Charlotte on its campus. Even without Belichick, This game for a while now. has been circled as the biggest Football game. in the history of Charlotte. The history of Charlotte 49er football.

This is the biggest game.

Now, Charlotte has only been an FBS program for a dozen to 15 years. But having North Carolina visit your stadium, not Bank of America Stadium. Jerry Richardson Stadium. And to have Bill. On the other sideline?

And oh, yeah, by the way, your quarterback spent the previous two years. As a tar heel, Connor Harrell. Goodness. The expression This is Fill in the Blanks Super Bowl. Does it fully capture the meaning?

For the 49ers. The concern For North Carolina. lies with Bill's ability and willingness to pick up and motivate college players. It dawned on me it didn't dawn on me until the game actually kicked off. Bye.

And all my years covering the Panthers and the NFL, I'd never covered a Bill Belichick game. Never seen Bill. Coach a game in person. And what struck me was He doesn't interact with his assistants. He doesn't interact with his players.

pretty much the entire game. He's standing 10, 15 yards away. Every time there was a key penalty or a big play, I'd look straight at Bill. to see how he's reacting and he's not. Same stoic, stone face.

Response. We saw it when ESPN cameras panned to him on the touchdown and. Again, not reacting at all. And there seems to be purpose with that, And in the NFL. These are hired guns.

In the NFL, you get the top 1% of athletes. Regardless if you're the worst team in the NFL or the best team. That's why coaching, it really... Matters. Games are decided on the margins.

So every schematic advantage you can get from your coaching makes all the difference in the world. In college, it's completely different. It's Not the same deal at all. In college, you kind of need your coach to interact. You kind of need your coach.

to build you up. to motivate you. With these younger guys Bill's gonna talk about the noise on the outside. I'll just drown out the noise. It doesn't help us.

Control what we could control, all that. And He does that. You have to. to do what he's done as long as he has successfully. These players though?

They've never dealt with that. They've never dealt with anything like yesterday. Where the entire sports world is talking about you and mocking you and laughing at you. Easy to say, easier said than done for 18, 19-year-olds who've lived most of their life on Instagram and TikTok to just say, oh, put that away, it doesn't matter.

So Can a 73-year-old adapt at all in building up this team? And will North Carolina look like they're interested and motivated to play Charlotte? That is the story. Strangely enough, This game became so much more interesting. Game two.

Because of how game one went. Short week. How motivated are you going to look? facing a team that's going to play like this is the most important game of their lives. North Carolina a 13.5 point favorite, by the way.

Either way, Saturday could be pivotal. If Carolina wins impressively, well, it should launch them to a 3-in-1 start. If you win this game impressively, you're going to win at home against Richmond and you probably beat a bad UCF team in Orlando. You're probably 3-1 going into the Clemson game off a buy. If they lose, You can call it a season.

You could call this an unmitigated disaster. If you're 0-2 and you lose to Charlotte. Unmitigated disaster.

So here was some of Bill Talking about Facing those challenges. heading on the road. We honestly we take the approach we can you know play anywhere, anytime. You know, day and night. you know home away in a parking lot.

in in Ireland, in North Carolina, in California, wherever it is. Just, you know, we we gotta be ready to play when the games are scheduled. We'll control, we can control. Mm-hmm. Gio Lopez.

Quote, looks pretty good. Today, according to Bill. But They're practicing as we speak right now. This was before they started their afternoon practice. They did not practice.

Yesterday, the day after an 8 o'clock game, that's understandable. We are streaming video. on YouTube and Twitch.

However, and wherever you're listening or watching, greatly appreciate that Will Dalton is the executive producer of today's show. Officer and Gentleman, your movie this week, next week in honor of A Leo DiCaprio Paul Thomas Anderson movie, One Battle After Another dropping. We got... Options, Leo, and PTA movies. Blood Diamond?

The remnants Boogie nights. And Magnolia. Those are the four options for this week. Will Dalton, do you have a preference? Not that it matters, but do you?

Yeah, it doesn't matter. You know, I think I'm pulling for Magnolia. May or may not be because Tom Cruise is in it. Mm-hmm. But um Yeah, I wouldn't be upset with boogie nights either.

That would be an interesting movie for us to try to talk about online. That's why I want to see it. Shifting things. While the NFL is going to command so much of the national interest, beginning tomorrow with Eagles, Cowboys, that's a game you can listen to on WSJS. There is a local college football game, a game being played in our backyard that might quietly be.

One of the marquee matchups. across the country this week. Also another game you Calissa Do on WSJS. That is. Duke hosting Brett Bilema.

and Illinois, Saturday at Wallace Wade. And here's the case.

Well Before we get to Duke, Illinois, Let's look everywhere else. In college football week one. Mostly because there's no conflict with the NFL. Give us as many good games as you can before the NFL starts. There were countless ranked showdowns.

You had three top 10 matchups alone. In week two, there's just one ranked game across the entire country. That is number fifteen, Michigan. visiting 18th ranked Oklahoma and Norman. John Matier.

We'll see if he has money on this game or not. Saw that our friend Chip Patterson calls him Money Lime Mateer. Like that. Jake Dickerts, former quarterback at Washington State, now at Wazoo. Or at Oklahoma.

You look at other games. Iowa, Iowa State, that's a rivalry.

Okay. Oklahoma State, Oregon. Huh? This one stands out.

South Florida embarrassed Boise State opening night of week one. Their next game, Gainesville. They're playing Florida top 15 matchups.

So we'll see how legit South Florida is. When they face the Gators, that could be good fun. But then you have Duke and Illinois. And this is the case for the Blue Devils and the Illini. Illinois is 11th ranked in the most recent AP poll.

That is the highest ranking for Illinois football in close to 25 years, 2001 or 2002, the last time. That Illinois was ranked this high. Duke is coming off a nine-win season, nine wins in two of the last three years, of course. Year two for Mandy Diaz, and Mandy Diaz has one of the best transfer quarterbacks in America. Dariam Minsa from Tulane to Duke, and in his debut started slow, missed the deep bomb touchdown.

Duke was tied with Elon at halftime, 10 to 10, but As Dariem Minsa goes, Duke goes, and in the second half. He lit it up, so Duke won by 28. Three touchdowns, no picks, 389 yards passing for Dario Minsa. Because of this light slate, Duke? They're getting a prime window for this.

It is After the First League Horso list. College Game Day. on Saturday morning. This is what it leads into. Noon game ESPN.

National TV window at Wallace Wade Stadium. For Duke in Illinois. A sneaky Marquee game. App State Head Coach Dal Loggins. is now with us.

App. Home opener. this weekend coming up against Linden Wood. Coach. The last time you visited with us, you were telling us about the prized possession you had, Xavier Legette's first touchdown ball in the NFL, which is sitting in your office.

Last Friday night, you were given another game ball. It was for your first win as a college head coach. Your Mountaineers, 34-11 winners against Charlotte. Where's that game ball going? Um I don't know that.

You know, it's just hopefully it's the first of many. Um, we got a talented team that I'm really excited to coach and humble to coach. And got a long way to go, but there's nothing like being one-and-oh. There's nothing like a celebrated locker room after the game. AJ Swann started at quarterback, three hundred sixty eight yards, three touchdowns, no picks.

But stats are one thing. Seeing it on the side line I'm sure is another in real time. Then there's the eye in the sky, which, as we know, sees all and it doesn't lie. When watching back at his night, What were you most impressed by with Ajax No, the thing I was most impressed with with AJ is he ran the offense efficiently. And that's through the camp.

Like when we were waiting to name a starter, that's what we were looking for, someone just to run the offense efficiently. And he did. He took care of the ball. He was aggressive in the timing of the play. He took his shots when he needed to take his shots.

He showed toughness standing in the pocket. We do a lot of check-off me stuff, and he's got a lot of responsibility line scrimmage, and he did a really good job handling that stuff as well. In practice How much more difficult is it to you know, track how it's going to translate to a game. your ability to run the offense efficiently. Is it still Let's see what it looks like when the lights turn on.

Yeah, absolutely. And one of the messages we gave the team was survive the assault, work the cut. We knew that it was going to be a highly emotional game to start just because we haven't played a football game. It was a first one. There's no preseason in college football.

So the emotion was high. The. The half-fans showed up, and when the fan, when we took the field, there was a bunch of black and gold in the stands, and you could hear the guys talking about it. And I knew that early on they'd be juiced up, and they'd be just trying to do too much instead of just do their jobs. I knew eventually we'd settle down and play football, but we make practice really, really hard around here.

I kept telling the quarterbacks, I'm like, guys. This is what I want from you. I heard it from sellers, I heard it from Rattler. The games were easy because they don't have the yell the little guy yelling at them the whole practice, pressing them. And AJ said after the game walks up, he goes, Hey, the game was a lot easier than practice.

You were nice to me the whole time, and uh, it was just it was easier, and it slowed down. But it's by design that we're really hard on you in practice, so the games are easier. Dabo Sweeney made headlines yesterday when he was talking about how difficult it is to play well. In week one, he said, We lost to LSU, they were better than us. But if you were grading on a test, it's like getting an exam, I think it's an exact quote: getting an exam on the first day of class.

They maybe scored a 65 and we scored a 58. when you watch yeah, 34-11 win, How well did you feel you guys played for an opener?

Well, at the end of the day, this is a production business, and it's either it's like goes back to Gladiator, it's either there or there. And our guys played well enough to win. And there's so much improvement that needs to be made. And it could have vary and it should have been, in my opinion, 48 to 3. Um, if we just do what we're trained to do, and so we got uh, the awesome thing is we had to coach him really, really hard this week.

because they've experienced some success. They know they're in great shape. They know that they built a little confidence for those guys because a team really shows you who it is. That it shows itself who it is on the field. And it's only It's You know, they got to go figure out: hey, are we good?

Are we not good? Everything we've been working for, is it going to show up? Are our coaches going to put us in good positions? Are they not going to put us in good positions? And So for those guys, you got to build confidence.

You got to. Matt Aspek told me this. I tell this story all the time. You know, when you take over a program. You gotta win as you build.

And there's no, hey, it's a rebuilding year. It's it's a what have you done for me lately um sport. And profession.

So we needed that win, and we're excited about it. And we got a great opportunity to get better because we need to have a really good week of practice this week because we didn't play our best. App State Coach Dal Hoggins is with us here. Let's call this portion of the interview. Let's turn this portion of the interview into a coaching clinic.

And you can tell us how A coach views things. Do you feel you need to coach your team with college kids harder after a win than versus a loss? I think each team's differently, or each team's different. I think that you can coach. guys after wins, um I think they accept criticism a little bit more.

uh you know when you lose there's a fine line of You know, you gotta be all in it together and it can't be a coach versus a player. It's all of us have to own our mistakes and be accountable. And you want to create the atmosphere where every game is a championship atmosphere. It doesn't matter if you're playing Linda Wood or Charlotte. That the game you're playing is the most important game of the season.

And then, when you create that kind of accountability. Then you're able to coach guys hard because they know where you're coming from. And when someone knows where you're coming from, they're going to take. criticism or praise The right way. And it's, you know, you got to treat each play like it has a life and history of itself.

And we're in the process of kind of learning each other and we're one to know. and we have a chance to get to 2-0, which we haven't done around here since 2019. And so this game is really, really important for us. And we need to have a really good practice today because the only way you win and the only way you play well is to have great practices. Let's make it situational.

in terms of this coaching clinic we have here. In the first half, wide receiver Jaden Barnes makes an incredible catch, but then he eases up, walking into the end zone, unbeknownst to Jaden. A DB comes in and punches it out from behind. It's a touchback. How much differently do you handle That teaching moment on the sideline in real time with Jaden versus after the fact in meetings.

Well, in real time, you got to try to take as much emotion out of it as you can, which is really hard because. In that moment, it's a touchdown pass, and AJ Under threw the ball a little bit if he puts it out. Barnesy smoked the safety. I mean, we got the matchup we wanted. We had Barnes on the safety and he ran by him.

It's slightly underthrown.

So then Barnesy has to go climb the ladder to go up and get that thing and make a contested catch. And then it's about finished. It's about finished through the line and doing things the right way. And so when he comes to the sideline, you're heated. I mean, as a coach, like you're mad.

I mean, that's a bad football play. And we could talk about situational masters, and we talk about anti-situational masters, and that was the ASM. But now it's about how you respond. And it's about the next plate. And Barnesy was, he was, he came right over to me and goes, hey, Coach, I love you.

I know I made it, that was selfish. I know I made a mistake.

So at that point, I don't have to I have to control my own emotions and not be mad at him because He responded the right way. He goes down later and scores. And that's what you want to see from people. And he makes a great catch because the ball's thrown a little bit behind him. And he goes up across the middle and he's fearless.

And makes a play, and that's what you want to see. Like, you don't want repeat offenders, and it's a lesson we all need to learn. And we show, we have a situational master's meeting every Friday where we show those type plays.

So then you gotta look at yourself as a coach. Like, hey, maybe I need to be a little bit harder. On this situation. Maybe they didn't understand it. Maybe you know you got to look it in the mirror and say hey we got to put them in every situation possible Because if it's the first time they're doing it, there's a good chance they're not gonna succeed and it's not gonna be as successful as you'd like it to be.

So you look at everything, but it's a great teaching moment for all of us. It's definitely easier to do it in a win than it is a loss, but Like we want to be You know, process-based and not production-based, so we got to get those things cleaned up and eliminate the things that hurt us to your credit. Stripping the emotion out of it, that you might just be tempted, like, I'll go off on the kid, but well. He, you need him, and he scored a touchdown for you: six catches, 135 yards. But since he responded the right way, is that something you even bring up in practice or in meetings during the week?

Absolutely. Yeah. The Monday after the game, like we had a Saturday, they were off. Sunday, they come in and have a voluntary lift. And Monday, we're back at it.

We do a good, bad, ugly tape. And on the ugly part of it, we showed it. And it's because everyone needs to learn from it. But they also need to know how he responded.

So you show that play, so everyone learns from it. And you show the next play where he scores a touchdown. And these kids today, they don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And I can promise you no one hurt more after that play than Barnesy. Like Jaden was down on himself on that.

And you worry about kids, and today, like, how resilient are they going to be? How can they control their own minds? Can they go back out there and compete? And that's what Barnesy did. And so it's also a lesson to how you respond the right way because life's hard.

And we talked about that all the time. You can't control your circumstance. You live in vision or circumstance.

So, do you want to be a great player that competes every snap and can respond when things don't go well? versus like feel sorry for yourself and pout because 80% of the world doesn't care that you did that, and 20% of the world is glad you did it. Dal Loggins is with us here at App State hosting Linden Wood this week. It is your first game day experience at The Rock coming up this week. Speaking of which, All the App State fans are going to be in the building.

Have you already had a chance to connect with App Super fan Luke Combs? We have not yet. I mean, I was just jamming this music. On the on my little like uh Bose device over here. And then I got my players texting me.

After the game, saying, Coach, how can we get Luke Homes here? I said, just keep winning. Yeah. But uh you know, he's busy too and uh And we've talked to his manager and we send him their their gear every year and those things, but hadn't had a chance to connect with Luke yet. Both Longneck Beers and App State did not break Luke Holmes' heart over the weekend.

Because you have such a rich history In the NFL, working alongside players, everybody would know. I do like the idea, kind of like with Laguette last time, picking a different guy each week we visit with you, or each time we visit with you, and seeing what stories you could share with us. Today I learned, I did not know this until now. That You were Johnny Manzel's quarterback coach, his rookie year in Cleveland? What do you remember most about the media circus surrounding that and trying to help Johnny?

block that out once he got on the field and in the meeting rooms. I mean, how how long is our show?

Okay. However long you want it to be. I'm going to have to cancel practice if we're going down this path.

Well, it was. It was. I love Johnny. Still to this day, I love Johnny. You know, and he's grown up a lot and understands the mistakes he made.

And we all saw the organs that the mistakes that the organization made. And it was unique. Um unfiltered? Um Very w um We were all very exposed in the process as well, as far as just the media attention they got, the eye. Um on it and it was uh You know, we spent one year in Cleveland and went to Chicago after that, but we started off 5-2 when we were first placed in the division.

We played a Thursday night game, and we beat Cincinnati and. Um It was awesome. And Brian Hoyer was playing really well for us. And then, you know, the whole. I'll say this.

I'm going to say, and I'm going to sum it up this way. Every day Carnival or Crisis. That reminds me. Steve Logan's a friend, and he was the quarterback coach in San Francisco. when the entire Colin Kaepernick situation was happening.

And I said, what was that like? And he said, Wasn't bad, brother, because once he got in the room, we didn't talk about that crap. We were talking about football. Was it difficult at all with a young player to just try to, hey, we're in this building, we're in this room, let's focus on this? No, because we had a great room.

I mean, you got to think we had Brian Hoyer as our starter. Connor Shaw was one of our backups. had him in Chicago as well. He was really instrumental in talking me into going to South Carolina when I made the move from Arkansas because at first my answer was I was leaning towards no, not going there. I had some other opportunities and just concerned about.

You know, the The programme and Connor and Al Sean were guys that. You know, help recruit me to go there.

So, but once you get in the meeting rooms, it's about ball. It's about football, and um, we had a great staff. It was myself, Kyle Shannon, and Mike McDaniel, and uh, really enjoyed working with those guys and. Um we didn't win as much as we wanted to and uh uh fortunately for For us, at the end of the year, we were all able to go other places and have success. Man, Connor Shaw, Jadavian Clowney.

Lattimore, Al Shawn Jeffrey, they had some good players at that time. Great players. Dow Loggins, you got some great players. This week, Lyndon Wood, best of luck. Congrats on the win, and thanks for making the time for us as always.

Appreciate you guys. Appreciate you as well. There goes Down Loggins, WD. We transition from that to playing one of our favorite weekly games. W D horribly guesses.

Point spreads for this week. Guessing the lines next. There are a lot of so-called sports talk guys who don't do anything but flap their gums. Yeah, exactly. But not Josh Graham.

He doesn't even like gum or flapping for that matter. He's so talented. You're on the drive with Josh Graham. Who knows what tomorrow brings honestly? Don't remember.

The beginning of this song. It's when it Pops. In the chorus? That you remember. Up where we belong.

Okay. Maybe the greatest movie score? Ever?

Okay, maybe not that far. But in terms of a number one hit, Choosing the right song. To be in your movie and to close your movie, Officer and a Gentleman. and its association with this song, Will Dalton. disappointed in you.

You gotta get to the Thank you. If you were gonna play this song without getting to the chorus. But we're picturing Richard Gere carrying Deborah Winger out of. Wherever she was working, that mill. I was gonna fight you.

In the street. Outside on Providence Lane here in Winston. You might be confused if you've listened to this show for the first time. Thank you, W D, that's enough. You might be thinking Wait, doesn't football kick off tomorrow?

Why is he talking about a movie that came out 43 years ago?

Well, What we do around here is is Make Will Dalton watch movies he hasn't seen before. An officer and a gentleman, happened to be the movie that won the poll last week. And We'll get back to football. momentarily But We talk movies. On this program.

By the way, make sure you vote on the poll that we already have out there. For next week, there's a Do Leo DiCaprio Paul Thomas Anderson movie. coming out.

So we have P T A and Leo movies up on the pole, Boogie Nights. Magnolia Blood diamond And the revenant your choices, boogie nights, the early advantage In that poll, that would be an interesting movie to try to talk about on air. But that's not the movie this week. The movie this week. Officer and a gentleman, let's find out if Will liked it or not.

Unless you're talking about Star Wars, OB1 has taught you well. Movies aren't exactly Will's thing. I don't get it. You and Carl. But that's about to change because Josh can't stand it anymore.

This is Adam Movies with Will Dalton. What you liked, what you didn't like, best quote, Rotten Tomato Score. Those are the categories we have here. Will Dalton? Did you like this movie?

If so, what did you like? I did like this movie. Um The first thing I liked about this movie as it got going was Sarge. The sergeant.

Well, Luca Jr. is the actor. I believe he actually won Best Supporting Actor. He won the Oscar. For this performance.

This was the best. Of Lou Gossett Jr., even though really good in a movie called Toy Soldiers that came out a few years after that, a young Sean Aston in it.

So I really liked him. I liked the um watching kind of the Back and forth between he and Richard Gere's character as the movie went on. Mayonays. Mayonnaise. Um But yeah, it was just You didn't it.

You weren't surprised by the fact that he... Also happen to know karate. And that was a culminating scene. That was I wasn't expecting that. This was an age where there are a lot of military movies.

We've already done Stripes, which came out right around the same time.

Well that's later, but later on. I'm talking like boot camp. I'm talking We haven't done Full Metal Jacket, but that was an 80s movie as well. Don't know if that will appear in this segment. At any point, that's a Stanley Kubrick movie.

But seeing the love story develop, I. Private Benjamin was around this time. I'm a sucker for even though we don't do, you know, romance movies all that much, I'm a sucker for them. Like, I like Titanic, I do. Yeah, and on that note...

This is the best of Richard Gere and Deborah Winger, I think. Richard Gere has more to do in this than he has in Pretty Woman. I think he's probably most known for Pretty Woman. But the fact that he has the charm, the being cool, and also the physicality to do The The course, the obstacle course, and all the other things required in this movie. That's impressive.

Uh Deborah Winger. You probably had never seen a movie with Deborah Wingerberg. I had not. Urban Cowboy, this movie, Terms of Endearment. That's quite a triple header in the same.

Age. But I mean, if you're just talking about Richard Gere and Deborah Wingert, noteworthy love scene in this movie that is. Yeah. Iconic. The terrific Terrific ending where you're literally sweeping Deborah Winger off of her feet.

Ghost. They didn't get along on set, those two. Really? Yeah. Volatile people.

Richard Gierin. Deborah Winger. What didn't you like about this movie? The blonde girl sucks. Wait, what was her name again?

Is it Annette? Uh what was her name? Paula's friend. You're supposed to be taking these notes as well. She was uh let's see did I get it right?

Who's the f What's her name? Uh her name was Lynette. Lynette. Yes. The blonde girl is what I call her and she was terrible, man.

Chasing Pilots. Yeah, like.

Well here's the thing, he's not an angel either. He's not, but... The fact that when he goes cheating on his wife I mean, yeah. He's got a kid back home. Come on.

I I I get it, but just looking at it from her perspective When he goes to propose. Yeah. Cause like I I mean we're all thinking okay she's pregnant she's got a kid on the way.

Now. At first I really didn't like her because I thought she because There was numerous conversations. In this movie, about trapping these guys by getting pregnant. I mean, the movie set you up for what was going to happen. That's what I'm saying.

And.

So at first, I thought that's what she had done, which I didn't like about her. But then, when I realized, oh, she just faked it because she wanted to get with a pilot, and then she didn't want to be with him because he wasn't a pilot, like, oh, you really suck. I also think she's just a tremendous villain. That might be a thing I like about this movie: that she's really good. That last scene.

Or the scene with her. What the last words Deborah Winger has for her when she walks out. I have written down here, I'm gonna go with unnecessary nudity. The first five minutes of this movie are the exact opposite of the first five minutes of the movie Flight. Where It's a lot of Robert Loggia.

And I don't know exactly what's happening with him and his dad and the other people that are in that. That's not great. But also, Sid hanging himself, spoiler alert, with after what happened with Lynette. They gotta see it. Does he have to be fully naked?

No. I that That didn't seem completely necessary. You gotta humiliate the guy even more.

So I just got a necessary nudity written down for Officer and a Gentleman what I didn't like about this classic.

Okay. And also, it's a trope that people just randomly don't like military people in these small towns. Like, what's the deal where it's the they're walking out of the bars like, what's up, military guy? Whoa, what's happening, Vietnam? Hey!

Okay. I don't know why we need that. Who is that person? Does that okay? Because that also happens.

You named it in the beginning, though. That also happens in Con Air. Like, why are they going after Nick Cage? This guy's like a military hero.

Okay, best quote. I got nowhere else to go. A lot of good yelling in this movie. Way to go, Paula. Way to go.

How you doing, Sorge? Everything he said. Only two things come out of Oklahoma. And then he just repurposes it at the end. Only two things come out of Arizona: Steers.

Um be proud of them weighings. I want your DOR! They the Mayone's Seegar! Seegar.

Okay, Rotten Tomatoes score. One out of a hundred. 100 being good. See if you can get within five. Let's go with a Let's go with an 82.

81. Bam! How closer on that than you are. The sports betting lines. And that's been At the Movies with the WD.

Instead of just talking, why don't you listen? That's why you have people call in. Listen for a minute. Oh, welcome back to the Happy Circle. The drive with Josh Graham.

Last call. For phone calls, last call. For voting. Will Dalton's movie next week. Seems like it's down to two options: boogie nights.

or blood diamond. Um not Magnolia. Yeah, that only has 5% of the vote will. More people like. the Leo Bear movie The Revenant than that.

So Don't like your chances there. On X at Josh Graham Show and at WSJS Radio. You. can chime in. Vote on that poll.

They were that fifteen minutes. From now. The Carolina Panthers. Just wrapped up practice. Dave Canalis.

meeting with reporters. This is in the last hour or so. There's some good news and there's some bad news. The good news is Tommy Trimble, not even on the injury report anymore. The Panthers produced their first injury report.

of the season. It's positive development for him. Had the back surgery in the spring. He seems to be good to go.

So you have your tandem of Tommy Trimble. and JT Sanders Week one against Jacksonville. as you hoped you'd have. Carolina Has some problems on the offensive line though. Last week.

We thought Carolina was going to escape unscathed. Damian Lewis. He had some injuries a little bit at left guard, but we were told he's going to be good for the opener. The good news is he's not even listed on an injury report as well. He's fine.

But then a week ago we learned Ikiya Kwanu had an emergency appendectomy. Not this previous Sunday, but the Sunday before. And he hasn't been on the field since. Canalis, is it ruling? Icky out for week one?

The quote from Dave? The hopes that Icky can do a little more Friday? He mentioned hitting bags. In order for us to see if he could be available Sunday. Translation It's doubtful.

If Icky hasn't been on a football field for a week and a half, And you're not even looking to see him fully practice on Friday. It's just do a little bit more, maybe hit some bags. You're not playing him week one.

So get ready. For big Yash. To be at left tackle, Yash Nyman, which isn't ideal with Trayvon Walker, the former number one overall pick. Lines up on the other side. With 10 and a half sacks, but it gets worse.

During practice today, per canalis, Robert Hunt. Tweaked. His foot.

Now he returned to drills, so that's a good sign. Medical staff decided. To then hold him out once they learned. About his foot. Oh, Damian Lewis is still listed as limited, but He's going to be fine.

shoulder slash ankle The real concern is Ickiaquanoo. and Robert Hunt. This was supposed to be a strength for the Panthers. And we're looking at some attrition. Right out of the gate.

David Tepper was out at practice today with Dan Morgan, Dave Canalis, chopping it up. Hadn't seen a lot of Dave. Dave Tappers during the preseason so far. Don't think Panther fans have. great issues with the fact that we hadn't seen a lot of tepper.

out at practice.

So those are some of the updates to bring to you. Broadcast team announced. Chris Myers. Mark Schlariff. Will be the booth?

For the Panthers game on Fox. On Sunday, a one o'clock kick Travis Hunter is listed as the first team wide receiver. Second team DB. Which runs counter to what We thought even last week.

So when we say this is a tricky scout. We don't know what Jacksonville is going to do with Travis Hunter. We mean it. New coaching staff. new head coach, new coordinators and And a new commercial.

Do you see Trevor Lawrence and Travis Hunter? In the newest. Commercial that just came out? No, no, no, not a Heisman commercial. No, I didn't see that.

It's them just having the best of times, Will. See if you could pull that up. Trevor Lawrence. Travis Hunter. Having A terrific time it's an Adidas ad.

Where they are just Best friends. Yucking it up. Number one pick. Number one overall pick in Trevor Lawrence, key year for him. and a number two pick.

And Travis Hunter. Let me know. If you see it. And if you got it, Then we'll move on to. North Carolina.

But those two Somebody pointed out, in none of these clips is Travis Hunter playing DB. Yeah, let's break down the tape. Let's break down the commercial tape. Here we go.

Okay, so they're sitting. on the stands together, now they're a cart together. Jump talk sweet, he ain't got much to say. They're working out together, watching film together. Loves me.

I know he loves me anyway. Travis on her back flip. More dancing? Because what he does, he does. Good song, Charles.

Oh side bump. They're best friends will. Shoot that. That looks like the janitor. From Rudy.

That might actually be who that is. And then at the very end They're in full uniform. Running out of the tunnel. together. 16 and 12.

There you go. See that, Will? Travis Hunter. Trevor Lawrence. The vibes are good.

We need to make a call on this movie. That's what we need to do. Boogie nights We'll wait a little longer. We'll add some more suspense. Let's first get to Hubert Davis.

Hubert Davis laid out the vision. For North Carolina basketball in 25-26. When meeting with the media. Yesterday. Perfect timing, by the way.

Hey. How soon is basketball season after the disastrous loss to TCU in football, Chapel Bills debut?

Well, if you want to talk basketball, here's Hubert Davis the day after. The game meeting with the media about a half-hour availability inside the Smith Center. And here's what we learn. This is their vision. Seth Trimble is expected to be the leader.

He is the four-year player with institutional knowledge of the program, institutional knowledge of how Hubert Davis operates, now entering year five somehow. And he's stepping into the R.J. Davis role. He's stepping into the Armando Baycott role. Are mine?

So here was Hubert with high praise for Seth Trumble. You know, he's an ambassador for this program. He really is. You know, I mean, for him to be here four years, he's done a lot, he's seen a lot. One of the things that's really important to Seth is not only for Carolina to be good, but for Carolina to be good.

You know, when he leaves. And Um this place means something to him. And the way that he leads and the way that he carries himself every day puts our program in a position to be successful.

So Seth Trimble is your starting two guard. One of the ACC's best. perimeter defenders, and the one ACC basketball player that owns an ice cream shop. Owns a basket in Robbins. Oh wait.

Been in Jerry's. There you go. on Franklin Street. Gotta get it right. As an inverse of last season.

where the lack of size for Carolina was such an issue, This Tariel team is going to go as far. as its post takes them. See if you agree with this. Henry Vesar and Caleb Wilson should be the two best players on this team. Agree or disagree?

Yeah, I'd I'm with you on that. Henry Vesar was the biggest ad in the portal. From Arizona. Seven footer. You bring him in.

For his experience, you bring him in for his defense. Blocking shots, of course, but Hubert even made a point to say it's not just blocking shots, it's altering shots as well. It's really going to help us with rebounding, which was a problem a year ago. And Caleb Wilson is a lottery-level talent. North Carolina has not had a ton of lottery picks.

In recent years, Caleb Wilson could be one of those guys. And don't forget. Alabama transfer Jaron Stevenson. is coming home. the Chapel Hill native.

So a lot of talent. in the post. The X factor of this team though. is international transfer Luca Bocabach. In other words, North Carolina should be a tournament team regardless.

But if they're going to be A team that's ranked in the top 25 the entire season and closer to the top 10 than they are being out of the top 25, it's going to be because Luca Bogovak hits. If he doesn't, You're better than you were a year ago, but not enough that people feel good. about Hubert Davis and the direction of the program. Luca, he was Carolina's play and seat. On the wing.

They wanted to bring Drake Powell back, but Drake Powell left to the draft was a first-round draft pick. They did not land Andrei Stolyakovich from Cal. They were in a battle with Illinois and Illinois ended up winning it.

So Luca, it took a lot to get him to the States. Once he finally got here, There was a play in practice. It's gone viral on social media. WD roll tape for those watching. Rather than just listening.

Where he grabs a rebound off a miss. Behind the back dribble over the center court logo at the Spiff Center. Pull up three bottom. Looks pretty good. Wearing number 44.

If he's good, then that starting lineup is scary. It's okay, you got Kyan Evans and Seth Trimble in the backcourt, Luca Bocabach at the three that you have to worry about. And then those two bigs that are your two best players. But if Luca Bogobaga isn't. But They hope he is.

Then you look at that lineup, you're like, all right. You got a good post, but then Seth Trimble, is that your best shooter? In the back court and Kyan Evans, okay. For Colorado State and What do you have here with this Montenegro transfer, international transfer? in Bogavak.

Lance Wrights in Graham Cracker may not be the best player, but Luca seems. likely to be the leading scorer. I don't know. Maybe Or maybe it's Kyan, or maybe it's Seth Trimble. Who's the leading scorer?

This team does have more depth. Jonathan Powell is going to bring some defense from West Virginia, a really good shooter. And We mentioned Darren Stevenson off the bench. We mentioned... or we haven't mentioned yet.

But Jaden Young Pride of Greensboro. He's going to be playing for the Tar Heels too, transferring in for Virginia Tech. But that's your vision. Don't know if it's all gonna shake out the way North Carolina plans, but that is their plan, the vision for this team. Will Dalton, we need to pick out your movie.

Boogie Knights has 40% of the poll. Let's do it! I don't know how we're gonna do it next week, but what Unites is the movie. Darren Vaughat answers unusual questions with us next. Derevot!

You slapping the bass, or are you playing the guitar there for those watching on YouTube, Twitch, and X? Turn down the music when Darren's talking. He's getting drowned out, Will. The music was just that good. Was it?

I don't know. I mean, you were Jamin to it. Have you ever seen I Love You Man? Is that a movie? Just hit the button.

Well. Slapping the bass. Slapping the bass. Slapping the bass. D1 baseball.

Let me give you a proper introduction. ACC baseball, et cetera. D1 baseball. Darren Vought. I'll let you choose your own adventure.

Usually we allot for this segment. to be baseball discussion. It is Penn at race time. I've got an Oriole jersey on. They just took.

Two in a row against the Padres, no big deal. Truthfully. No big deal. Do you want to talk about baseball? Is there a favorite storyline in baseball you want to talk about?

Or do you want to pick from the fruit that everybody else seems to want to pick from? Brooke Pryor is as busy as anybody the week the NFL started, but wanted to come on the show in order to vent about North Carolina. Everybody seems to have some interest, some angle to Bill Belichick's disastrous loss on Monday night.

So, this is me being kind to you, Darren, in allowing you to choose your own adventure. Yeah, okay. I like this. I used to have there was a particular Goosebumps Too Your Own Adventure book that I have just like a very specific memory of. There was this like killer alligator on the front of it, and it was like this.

Holographic gold in color. I never read the Goosebumps books, but this would be a good unusual question, which we'll get to a little bit. What was what books did you get from the book fair? Most notably in elementary school. You know, I I think about Artemis Fowl.

I remember picking up and You know, Captain Underpants. School Kids, or like the Magic Treehouse books, to get into those. Yes, Captain Underpants when I was younger. There are those core books that you just like, I like I, you mention books that. You read as a kid.

Just as a concept. And I picture that choose your own adventure goosebumps book with the crazy killer alligator and the shiny gold. And I, you know, I remember sitting in a laundromat reading it. It's a great way to tease unusual questions, but. This doesn't sound like the adventure you wanted to choose.

No, so to choose my own adventure, if I may, I'll get one baseball thing in quickly. And that is to Plug ACC baseball, et cetera, because last week Jared Salta Lamakia, a New England legend. Yo. Making his ACC coaching debut. And again, an ACC or a New England legend making their ACC coaching debut, it kind of aligns with.

Talking about Bill Belichick here. Salty is a new assistant at Miami as of this fall. By the way, while he's talking about this, Will, you should be pulling the Imagine Dragons drop because he is. Jared Salatamakia is definitely that. Just it.

There it is. I could have pressed the button where I talked to you, where the audience couldn't hear and. I didn't interrupt Darren, but... No matter. We're just letting this.

Anyways, Jared Salta Lamakia, the latest guest on ACC Baseball, et cetera. Would love if you check that out, part of the D1 Baseball Podcast Network. Your guy, Andrew Abbott? Of formerly of Virginia, the Cincinnati Reds is going to join us in the next couple of weeks. Whoa!

Make sure you talk about South Boston. I will. I will. So, I got to know him with the collegiate national team, anyways. We'll get to that.

You can find it, subscribe, and you'll get that too. But I appreciate it. that. With Bill, I was fascinated because you know, I don't, I'm not in ACC football like that. I cover football, I call football.

I know Jordan Shipp pretty well because I covered him in high school, the number one receiver on North Carolina's team.

So I was interested for a number of reasons, like anybody else.

So I watched the game. And I was just fascinated. By The buildup. And even on that first drive, The the I mean, it was like a feature film. when they scored that first touchdown.

Because it was like From shot to shot with nothing in between it was Touchdown is scored. Cut to that suite where it's Michael Jordan, Roy Williams, and LT yucking it up. in the same same room. The very next shot was Jordan Hudson over in another suite area with like her hands on the rails, watching over everything with just simply a smirk, like she's a super villain or something. And then, right over her shoulder, Randy Moss is celebrating, like, And then they go down from that shot to Bill.

And, you know, like college football stadiums have now stone face. Yeah, oh, I mean, he was stone-faced, but there's the light show going on. You see players jumping around and celebrating back behind him like it was the Super Bowl. And it's like. It's the first drive of the season.

Um It was, it's wild that that happened because that seemed like a fever dream. And then the rest of the game happened, which was the total opposite. It was crazy. Darren Vought? We need to get to unusual questions.

Let's do that. But last week, guys, everybody made it out that I got mad at Josh and I left the press conference. That's not right. I thought it was an unusual question, and it's okay. It's time for unusual questions.

with Josh Graham. I'll get us started. Tarren bought with us. Unusual questions. We answer them.

We ask them of each other. The Carolina Hurricanes released their New Road Jersey to day. This leads to a very difficult, broad question to answer. What is your favorite jersey? In sports.

Yeah. Now Maybe we do this step by step. process of elimination. Do you prefer What is the best Type of jersey. Sweater and hockey.

baseball jersey such as I have on right now. Football jersey basketball Casual wear. This would help us get to what category you want to break things down into. Where does your head go first? Like, where did your brain take you?

when that question was asked. Um Well, I immediately started thinking of like color schemes that I enjoy. Ah.

So my high school rocked orange and black. I've always been kind of favorable toward orange and black. I'm not going to let Will answer this question because I already know what he's going to say. I mean it is, but I can come up with something else.

Well, I mean, I think that's a... It's a good point to make because, like, okay. There are good Uniforms that we like because they are cool designs. And then there are just like classically good uniforms. Right?

Like classic uniforms, iconic uniforms. The Yankees are there. Powder blue, LA Chargers. Yeah, like the 49ers are there. Like, that's a classic uniform.

Mariners have probably the best colors in baseball, but I love the red, white, and blue with pinstripe, Chicago Cub. Home. Uniform? Notre Dame, Alabama. See, when I think college football, I think more helmets.

Then I think Jersey. Who has the best helmets? And that's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about jerseys. But funny enough, I mean, but see, also are we talking about you Uniforms?

Nope, I said jerseys. You said jerseys. Because that's what the news today was: it's jerseys. I think if we're doing college football, Maybe Ohio State. Just how But I think college football jerseys are just so basic.

It's about the tradition. Chicago Blackhawks. Hockey jersey. Needs to be in the conversation. In terms of iconic?

The Duke home basketball jersey. is pretty good. With dupe. Across the front. Like that?

I so okay, so I'm gonna bring college baseball into it. It is a popular opinion. That North Carolina has the best jerseys in college baseball. I think that's a fair. A fair point.

Yeah. Um. I think LSU in baseball has some pretty pretty iconic Jerseys. I don't hate the gray Tennessees. The Gray Jerseys, Baseball, Tennessee.

Oh. Like the charcoal almost looking color. Yeah. I don't hate those. Again, that's sort of what I was talking about.

That's the differentiation I was making earlier, right? Like, that's a cool-looking uniform. Whereas I don't know if it is just like a good jersey in the sense that others might be a good jersey. I don't think any of the NFL jerseys are great. Except Powder blue charger jersey.

I think that's just far and away the answer. What about cowboy? White cowboy jersey? See, okay, I love And again, I grew up in a Cowboys household, so this is...

some some a little bit of um bias maybe But I love The old school cowboys with the white helmet. And the non-bordered star, and they're the navy uniforms with the white over the shoulders, Thanksgiving home uniform, yeah, yeah.

Okay, so that was my unusual question. WD, would you like to ask one? I would.

So growing up What was your favorite place to get a happy meal. There's only one place to get a happy meal. Because Williams, I mean, well, if that was. McDonald's had it? No.

Different places had kids' meals. I guess McDonald's is the happy meal, but okay, what's the best place? Where did you get me? This might be the worst question you've ever asked. Where was the best place to get a kids' meal?

Because Wendy's had a bad place. Pause, pause, pause. Pause. Where's the best place to get a happy meal? is amazing.

I You know, it's kind of crazy because the second question I had written down was: where's the best place to get a whopper? And I decided that I decided against it. At the last minute, if it wasn't for the Keynes news today, I probably would have asked the best place to get a Big Mac. I mean, cause listen, Wendy's had a good kids' meal. What you're asking is, yeah, kids' meal.

Value meal. Burger King had good kids' meals with the, you know, with the.

Now you can factor in toys. I think what you mean to get at is what is the best place to get cheap food at? No, I was specifically talking about a kids' meal. Like, where did you like the middle of the middle? The answer is McDonald's.

Although, let me say this. You guys remember? The the Giveaways the toys that they would have at Pizza Hut back in the day, like the King Griffith Jr. Uh that, like the it's it was almost like a It was like clear, you could see inside of it, but it was pumped up. As a bat, like that thing rocked.

You know, the best gift I think, or the best giveaway I ever remember. Was actually at Burger King, where I think they gave away in the year 2000. Backstreet Boys Millennium albums. Like I think Like they were giving those away. I think you had to pay a little extra.

But it was certainly a lot cheaper than it would cost just to buy the album. And I think I got the Millennium Backstreet Boys album. from a Burger King circa 2000. I think that happened. Yeah.

It's larger than life. Um Darren, what's your unusual question? Good luck topping that one. Yeah, good luck. It is with Bill Belichick and the...

Hubbub about his collegiate debut in mind. I'm glad it wasn't centered on. Jordan Hudson, I've had enough. Sure, I get it. I get it.

So. In that sweet area. Where MJ, Roy, and LT were.

Okay?

So envision. Josh, I don't know what the equivalent would be for you, but it's like, okay, you know, you're making some sort of big debut in your career. Oh, I thought you were going to say, what would that booth look like for me? Coward 20. 2131 anniversary coming up on Sunday or Saturday of this week.

At Cal Ripkens in a booth with Jim Palmer. And I don't know who the third is since Brooks, unfortunately, has passed away. And same thing for Frank. Miguel Brian Roberts is in that booth. Cause like there's a dream suite Yeah.

Where it is perhaps people you don't know. Oh, I got you. But then, again, like, there's, there's people you could, you could, like. Maybe the question here is: how star-studded could you make? A suite at an event, say again, hypothetically, you were making your collegiate coaching debut.

Okay, yeah.

So, who would I invite? To this booth.

Okay, I got Steve Forbes. Hanging out. in the booth. Yep, done. Steve Forbes is there.

May I make a suggestion? Please. Charles Barkley. Let's get him there. Let's get him there.

I don't think I'd be able to pull that off. That's not the question. Are you just talking about based on people who are in my phone or who I've interacted with? Is this the question? I think we can suspend disbelief enough to just assume that if you have a connection with them and you want them there, you'll get them to show up.

Cowherd's there. Cowherd's going to be able to get it. Oh, dude, give me. Yeah, Steve Forbes, Charles Barkley, and Colin Cowherd in yours. That's beautiful.

Yeah, Cowherd, you can listen to them in about 20 minutes, not even 15 minutes. Cowherd. Boom. There's my booth. Will, who's in your booth?

Aaron Boone definitely is in your booth. Aaron Boone is in there. BFF's tar heel. Hoody tied around his waist. Yeah.

He's there. Mad at him because their biggest series of the year is coming up. Aaron Boone's in there. I know I and Eagle's in that booth. I and Eagle's in there.

I and Eagle. Every time I see him with or without Will. He will just not even say what is he seeing. He'd be like, Kindergarten cop, has you seen it? Like that's that's what he'd be i'm trying to think who else who else have I run into I and Eagle Aaron Boone.

I don't know who the third is. Darren, who's yours while WD thinks? Ian probably would have been one of mine, so I'm going to replace him. With Kevin Harlan. Excellent.

Wow.

So g give me Harlan. Mm. See, it's funny when I ask these questions, I rarely think about them before. Will Dalton's third is going to be Robert Walsh. Just to see Aaron Boone, I and Eagle, and Robert Walsh.

Can I get Robert in mine too? I miss him. Yeah. That's an excellent threesome. Give me Kevin Harlan.

Tubby Smith Oh, that's great. And Kyle Peterson. In my in my suite. I'd like that to be just a broadcast team. I don't know what just get those three together.

Honestly, get them on a golf broadcast together. Because Tubby and KP, both really good golfers. And, you know, golf commentary could probably use a little Kevin Harlan to spice it up. Yeah. And if you're going to dinner, make sure you got steak on the menu because that drop that we have is actually Kevin Harlan reacting.

To a memory 15 years ago where he had Angus Barn for the first time. Wow.

Darren. That's a true story. Darren Vought, D1 baseball, ACC baseball, et cetera. Jared Salatamakia. Salta La Machia.

Sala Tamakia.

Okay. Oh, yeah. And also, there's this person every time I say the word particularly gets mad. Say I mispronounce it. Like, who's in the comments right now?

particularly, particularly. Nice. Am I saying it wrong? Particularly. Yes, you're switching the L and the R, much like you are switching the L and the T in Salta Lamachia, it sounds like.

Particularly? Yeah, there you go.

Okay. Got it. Darren, we'll talk to you next week.

Okay, see you guys.

Some people could be very particular. What do we got in ticket to the house? Find out. Why Chuck E. Cheese got arrested again.

AGAIN?

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