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Let's fire this thing up You are on a Wednesday drive right here on WSJS, News Talk Sports for the Triad. I'm rocking a sweet Mariana Rivera t-shirt. Yankees getting a dub against the Mariners last night. All types of bets were cashing. The Swarm, the Greensboro Swarm, won a playoff game.
You just can't. It can't get much better than this. Unless you're an NC State fan, it gets even better because you got to meet your new head coach today, Justin Gainey. We'll get to that in just a minute. But first Let's talk about Bryce Young's Extension.
Because I've come to the conclusion As they have. decided to pick up his fifth year option. An extension is It's just a matter of when. Not if.
So Yesterday Because the NFL meetings are going on over in Arizona. What a great time that looks like. Just an NFL vacation. Love that. That's just heaven for people like me that love the shield.
Tons of news, tons of headlines that come out of that. But yesterday Dan Morgan looking all spiffy. Probably about the best dressed GM in the NFL. I'd like to point that out as well, the dude's always just styling. The shade's rocking.
They do cover up that stare he has, like, when he doesn't blink. But he looks pretty great in those shades. And he joined. Kay Adams yesterday on Her Up an Adams show said a number of things. And The clip that's kind of making the rounds that really would lead you.
to believe it's just a matter of when, not if. is this one right here when Dan Morgan was talking about Bryce Young's future. Yeah, we picked up his fifth year option and you know Bryce is definitely our future. We have a ton of belief in him. I think you can see by what we're doing around him, we're building around him and what he does.
He's just a special guy, you know, just the way he carries himself in the building every day, the leader that he's becoming, the command that he's taking of the offense. Like we're super excited.
So there you go. Talking about Bryce Young is the future.
Well You know? when you're looking at extension talk. Those are words that you need to pay attention to. And quite frankly, I believe Bryce Young and the Panthers are going to take another step this year. Mainly because, kind of like last year with drafting T-Mac and some of the other things they did, adding Rico Dattle in the backfield to join Chuba Hubbard.
They got better last year because of those things after kind of starting the process of laying the foundation. With those last couple of months of the year. Uh that they put together in 2024. That was the year that Bryce Young got benched in week two. In fact, speaking of that, Uh Dan Morgan did speak on that because He was talking about Bryce being benched and how The way he returned and responded to that really shaped.
Um the way Dan Morgan perceived Bryce Young's character. Here he was. For somebody to get benched, come back and be as resilient as he is, I just have so much respect for who he is, not only as a football player, but as a human being. He's a special person. I mean, that it it is true because A lot of players, especially given the first year that Bryce Young had, where they won two wins.
Frank Reich didn't even make it to the end of the year, barely even made it past the midway point in the season. I think he got fired after that Thursday night disgusting game against the Chicago Bears. Um And then you had like the Too many chefs in the kitchen, all the coaches, just too many voices in Bryce Young's ears. Joe Person of the Athletic wrote a lot about what was going on there. That's a tough thing for a new quarterback, especially when said quarterback's been surrounded by elite talent at the high school level and elite talent at Alabama.
Now you're in this firestorm. Uh And then you get benched after week two. A lot of players would have just shrunk and. Crawled into a hole, or just said, You know what? Y'all don't believe in me.
Let me go somewhere else. A lot of players would have done that. And Bryce Young, he He did talk about When he went on Ryan Clark's podcast, that he just drove. That night or that day when he found out that he was benched and Andy Dalton was going to take over his store, he just drove. He put Atlanta in his GPS, even though he knew he wasn't going to get there.
He just drove around and just thought. But he came back, he did what he did in the last two months of the year, and then last year. He and A lot of other pieces of the pie. Led the Panthers to an NFC South title. Eight wins.
So Now you factor in a really, really splashy free agency. On the defensive side of the ball, and with Iki Akwanu being hurt, you add Rashid Walker to the left tackle position. Hopefully, Jonathan Brooks is going to be looking the part. We had Desmond Johnson on yesterday of Tobacco Road Sports Radio, and he does a podcast Blevin Panthers. He does one, Believe in Heels Hoops, with our guy B-Dot and former tar heel P.J Harrison.
But he does a Panthers one with Jonathan Brooks, former running back. Uh for the Panthers. was part of that 2015 Super Bowl team, of course. And he's been in the building there with Jonathan Brooks, and he's gotten to see a lot of his work in the offseason.
So I like Jonathan Brooks' chances of coming in and really complimenting Chuba Hubbard. I think all of those reasons, a T-Mac, a Jalen Coker. Whether it's XL or whether it's John Mechie, there is going to be a third receiver that establishes itself. All of these reasons are why the Panthers are going to be better this year and going to help Bryce Young be better this year, aka why they will ultimately extend him. Let's get to the last thing, though.
From Dan Morgan. Because as I've rattled all of this stuff off about where the Panthers are and where they're likely going to be going next year. There is a change in perception. to the Carolina Panthers. A lot of the newcomers have talked about it.
Jalen Phillips talked about it, the perception of the Panthers now in the league. People actually kind of want to go there with what they got cooking. Devin Lloyd said kind of the same thing. Here was Dan Morgan on the perception of the Panthers from when he took over. as the GM three years ago.
to now. Coming to the owners' meetings, like coming here, like even my first year, like we're just kind of the lowly Panthers. You know, you kind of feel there's not a lot of respect for us.
So, I kind of feel that respect growing. And we really care about what we think in the building. We really don't care what anybody else thinks. But at the same time, you can kind of feel the perception towards a franchise. And, you know, you definitely feel that shifting to where people are starting to take notice and starting to gain respect.
And, you know, we got to go out and earn that. He wanted that logo to be feared. He said that in his opening presser with Dave Canalis sitting there beside him. He wants that logo to be feared again. And it wasn't when he took over, as you heard just then.
It's on the way. It's on the way of being feared, but more importantly probably being respected. By the NFL community. But Bryce Young, all of these reasons. Is why I believe he's going to be extended.
It's not a matter of. If It's a matter of when. 336-777-1600 is the number to call if you want in on the show. If you have thoughts on whether or not you believe Bryce Young should be extended. Would love to hear from you.
Morgan Corson? Is the executive producer of the show, wearing Michigan colors again today? This is what, three days in a row or something? All week long. Yeah.
I think Dustin May is probably safe. You're probably safe. I don't think he's coming to Chapel Hill. I would hope not. I know you do, but I don't foresee that one happening.
I only for a while there, I thought about maybe loser of the Arizona-Michigan game comes, but Tommy Lloyd's picking up a lot of. Stuff, which we'll get into a little later. We will. We will get into that. I'm very excited for that Arizona-Michigan game.
I personally believe that. even though a lot of people don't like to go about it this way. Because you kind of discount the other teams. I think that's the championship between Michigan and Arizona. I mean, that's the two best teams, it is.
So we'll get to Tommy Lloyd. He said something else yesterday. We also got some new insights. about the situation yesterday from some Um From a former champion, a national champion for the Tar Heels. We'll get to that in a little bit.
But. We've buried the lead long enough here. Justin Gainey. He landed in Raleigh yesterday. And he was officially introduced.
as the new head coach of the NC State Wolf Pack. Just a couple of hours ago, I was on ACC Network and all the you know, YouTube channels of the news out in Raleigh. And there's a I gotta say. I am genuinely so happy for NC State fans right now after Will Wade spit in your eye. A week ago, I couldn't be happier for NC State fans right now because you are getting.
Somebody who is one of you, as it was pointed out numerous times in the press conference. You're getting somebody who wants to be there. Like the more I read and the more I watch stuff about him and about this hire. Um If he was ever offered this job, he was going to take it. Like, I'm pretty sure I heard somebody say, if Rick Barnes...
Was retiring today, and because he was the associate head coach there for four years. If Rick Barnes was retiring today and was like, hey, I want you to take over, and NC State offered him the job. He would have taken the NC State job because that's his dream job. That's the one he wanted. But getting to the press conference here.
I mean, he's a high point native. He's not only one of Raleigh's own, NC State's own, he's one of our own right here in the triad. High point native. Greensboro Day. In fact, he scored.
The first points in the Lenny. We call it the Lenovo Center now. But He scored the first points. for the pack in that building. As Boot Corrigan pointed out, Today.
So Before we get to comments from Justin Gainey, though, here was. The new chancellor at NC State Kevin Powell. And I was waiting for something to go here. It didn't take long. Here was Kevin Powell talking about Justin Gainey's values.
Coach Gainey's values. We learned a lot about values, didn't we? I'm not sure. Coach Gainey's values reflected. who we are.
At NC State. It's what equips him not only to lead our program. with integrity. but to lead and shape the lives Yeah, he Huh. Talking about values, because NC State has learned a lot about values here in the last week or so.
It is true. But getting to Justin Gainey, though. This was his dream job, as I mentioned. He He echoed this, and he was talking about how incredible it feels to be back home. This is Uh surreal.
It's it's a surreal moment for me. It's like a dream come true. that's still hasn't fully set in. I'm just so excited to be here, to be. in front of you is home.
I'm excited to be back home. That's genuine right there. Like you can all like humans are very smart Even if sometimes you don't think they are, like subconsciously, humans are able to detect. People that aren't being sincere or not being genuine. And we're also able to detect people who have good intent pretty well.
And That dude loves NC State. You can hear it there. If you watch the press conference, you can see it all over his face. He is like. humbled and thrilled to be here.
So he went on though. to talk about You know, what did Boo Corrigan say a week ago at the press conference after Will Wade skipped town? Wolfpack ain't for soft people. Philip Rivers said it best. And Gainey alluded to what his teams are going to be like.
in NC State. I understand what being on Tobacco Road is all about. I understand it. And Boo said it great in his last presser. You gotta have a certain type of toughness.
to be here. And if you look at my career, my path, I was never the tallest guy. I was never the fastest. I wouldn't say I always shot the ball the best. But the one thing that I prided myself on was toughness.
And I tried to bring that every day. As long as I'm your head coach. You can count on that every single day that I'm going to bring that toughness in all of my teams. and my staff and everybody that's in contact with us. will have that toughness.
You got to love hearing that. That's got to be music to your ears if you're an NC State fan. Um, The way he talked, like there were some former players there. There were some current players there. The way he talked to those guys was.
It just gives you goosebumps, really, especially when you consider how Will Wade used to talk about his team several times after games and press conferences. And Justin he said it. Quote quote. Low character will not exist. in my program.
Close quote. Straight up. And the next order of business for him He needs to get on the phone with Paul McNeil, and he needs to get on the phone with Matt Abel, ASAP, and try to keep those guys in Raleigh.
Now, there were some current players there. Those two guys were not in attendance for the press conference, so. But those are two guys, especially Paul McNeil. You want to get him on the phone and try to get him back to Raleigh next year. But Justin Gainey, introduced as the new head coach of.
The Wolf Pack. Make some noise! Makes it If you've ever yelled at a ref, this show's for you. You're on the drive. Back at it on the drive, right here on WSJS.
Good to have you in on a Wednesday. Your chance to win.
Some Thunderbird tickets. here in just a few minutes. But before we get to that, Let's talk about Tiger Woods a little bit. Let's do that. Because He After The accident that took place The other day Um he put out a statement.
And uh I'll I'm going to share this on the screen right now. If you're watching us on YouTube or X, you should be watching us on YouTube or X, assuming you're not driving. Here's what he had to say. I know and understand The seriousness of the situation I find myself in today, I'm stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment and focus on my health. This is necessary in order for me to prioritize my well-being and work towards lasting recovery.
I'm committed to taking the time needed to return in a healthier, stronger, and more focused place, both personally and professionally. I appreciate your understanding and support and ask for privacy for my family, loved ones, and myself at this time. Signed. Tiger. Uh you also had The masters, they put out a statement as well.
Um about Tiger's statement. And You know. I thought it was a good statement by them. Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament fully support Tiger Woods. As he focuses on his well-being, although Tiger will not be joining us in person next week, which I don't think anybody really thought he was, his presence will be felt here in Augusta, and that is from Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club.
So I get it. That Tiger has Had his struggles, to say the least, in his life and his career. But it's just Yeah. Let's try to have a little bit of empathy for the guy. Like, trust me, nobody is giving him a pass for the stuff with his marriage and, of course, the car accident.
Like, the guy needs to he can afford a driver. Like, he really can't. Like, there's so many jokes to be made about a driver. I get it, but I'm serious. Like, he, and it doesn't sound like he wants to get a driver, but.
But He's had his issues. But I you know I've often found that For some reason. When it comes to Legends, like people who are like the greatest of all time at what they do. There's just so much, I guess, greatness that they feel that they have to achieve and maintain that a lot of times they find releases in certain avenues that maybe they shouldn't. Like, I think about Michael Jackson.
I'm a big Michael Jackson fan, and God knows he had his struggles with painkillers and drugs. And it sounds like a lot of what Tigers' issues have been in terms of drugs has been painkillers for the many injuries that he's had. Over the years. But Michael Jackson had his issues, Prince had his issues.
So There is a certain Additional side that comes to these legends. and these greatest of all times. Not all of them have it, but a lot of them do. Like, again, going back to Michael Jackson, like, I remember. One of the things that did him in was the sleep meds that he was taking just to try and rest from all the rehearsals and the pressure and everything going on.
And I remember. Uh in the 80s where he really officially got hooked on the drug stuff. Was when he did that Pepsi commercial and his hair caught on fire and there were burns. And that was when his thing with pain meds really started. And I've watched several documentaries on that.
And a lot of people close to him said, that's really where the issues started. That's where Michael kind of started to slowly go downhill with the opioids, with the drugs, and things like that.
So While I'm not giving Tiger or any of the any people who... have struggles like that a pass. Let's just still treat them like they're human beings and have a little empathy. For their situation, not just, oh, this is just a terrible person. They had it coming.
They, you know, like, these are still human beings that are really going through something. And it's just in the world that we live today in social media, you see a lot of discourse of just zero empathy for these people. And partially because you would never meet them or be around them.
So you can say whatever you want, as opposed to maybe taking a higher route, like having some empathy for somebody going through something. But. Tiger's still one of the greatest, is the greatest of all time, in my opinion. He's on the Mount Rushmore of sports. But He's had some issues that Off the Course, he's going to have to figure out, and we hope that he does because the game of golf is better when Tiger is a part of it.
And that's all I got to say about that. To go all four is gump. Let's get to Tommy Lloyd. Let's do that. So By the way, you know what?
We'll get to some tickets here in just a second. Tommy Lloyd We're getting closer and closer to getting a Roy Williams-like moment. At the Final Four in Indianapolis.
So you might recall back when Roy was with Kansas and the Carolina job was coming to colon. Bonnie Bernstein. And Roy had an iconic moment that I'm just waiting for somebody to recreate with Tommy Lloyd this weekend. Here was Roy on the Carolina job back in the day. Bonnie, I could give a flip about what those people want.
As a journalist, you have to ask that question. I understand that, but as a human being, That's all those people that want that answer know right now. They're not very sensitive. They offer you the job, though. Would you be willing to take it?
I haven't thought about that for one second. I haven't thought about that for one second. And the guy in your ear that told you you have to ask that question as a journalist, that's fine. But as a human being, that's not very nice because it's not very sensitive. And I've got to think that in tough times that people should be more sensitive.
I could give a about North Carolina right now. I've got 13 kids in that locker room that I love. Coach, thank you. That's not very nice. I can't.
I could give a flip about Carolina right now. And then we know the rest is history three titles later. Uh but I'm just waiting for somebody to recreate that. We've come close a few times. Tommy Lloyd has been asked a few.
about this job. He's not quite gone as far as Roy did with I don't give a flip about Carolina.
So here he was yesterday, right before. Arizona had their final practice before leaving for Indianapolis. It's absolutely true. There's going to be another coach. This is a great program.
I didn't say when. You know, I mean and and people are gonna speculate all they want. Guys. This team has my full focus. Nothing, nothing.
I promise you, nothing is knocking me off that path. And you guys might call them distractions because you're distracted. That doesn't mean I'm distracted or we're distracted. You know what's pretty cool? Once you get some experience in this deal and you're a player or you're a coach who's been at it a while, you get pretty good at eliminating the distraction.
So he was referring to that Clip where he was talking about people that came before him in Arizona, people that are going to come after him as Arizona.
Well, I didn't say when. Again, though. He is not telling you no. He's telling you where he's focused at right now. He's not said no.
So, Justin Jackson, who's a national champion with Carolina. Uh He had some thoughts on this. Yesterday while on a podcast on Tommy Lloyd. You look at some of these coaches that have basically flat out said no, right? Like Tija Hulzelberger at Iowa State.
was basically just no. Right.
Some of these other coaches was a no. There I haven't seen him really say no. You know, and whether that's just him saying. You know, I'm focused on the team. I'm focused on this moment.
you know, and whatever happens after that happens, I don't know. Um But one thing that I think you can talk about names of coaches. You can talk about a list of coaches. But when I look at this Arizona team, and I've been telling people this all year long. When I look at this Arizona team, it looks exactly how The North Carolina teams were under Coach Williams.
Well, that's got to be music to every Carolina fan's ears. That's Justin Jackson on that. But here's the other thing about Tommy Lloyd that we can that makes it Seem like, okay, well there's a bit of a riff. Between Tommy Lloyd and Arizona's athletic director, Uh So that could be a reason, right, that he would come to Carolina. But what is the problem?
What's the riff over? We have yet to get that until. Jason Shear, who covers Arizona. Uh very closely. He went on with John Henson on the Tar Heel 24-7 podcast yesterday, and he gave some.
insight to what that riff is about. You know, when you're dealing now with revenue sharing and how much money a roster is going to cost. You have to make sure that whatever you're being told from your A, and this is every coach, whatever you're being told from your school president or your AD is accurate. If you go to build a roster and you say you have eight million dollars and then you find out you have six million dollars, uh, any coach is going to be going to be pissed at that, right?
So, you need to know what the future holds with the revenue sharing and all that. Am I going to be able to keep up this success? You know, Arizona had budget issues. They don't have them anymore. She did a great job with budget, but a lot of that came with cutting stuff.
So, it's are you going to cut from basketball and continue to cut from basketball? And if so, that's an issue, right? It just is.
So that's some insight on what some of those Issues between Tommy Lloyd and the Arizona AD is. The bottom line is a lot of people believe that if Arizona wins the title, and I believe Arizona and Michigan is a title game, essentially. No shade to Illinois or UConn, even though that's exactly what it is. But it's like, I believe those are the two best teams. I think whoever wins that game is going to go on to win the title.
I do. Terrence Oglesby, our friend of the Field of 68, ACC Network, VanDuel Sports Network with the Hornets. He made a good point that Even if Tommy Lloyd wins the title with Arizona, he actually thinks that might be better. Because then it's like, well, all right, I've done all I can do. I'm leaving on a high.
I won you a title. Why?
Well, bye. Maybe. That actually might sit better with him than like getting to the championship and then bouncing after you lost. I don't know. Interesting stuff from T.O.
You know what else is interesting?
Okay. Hockey. Twin City Thunderbirds hockey is what I'm talking about specifically. They have a massive game. Coming up.
Friday. out at the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds Annex. It's against the P D Ice Cats. They're battling for the last playoff spot coming down the stretch of the year here towards the end.
Okay. and we want to send you there. We got a pair of tickets for you.
Well, we got one pair, Morgan. Is that right? Gotta make sure of this. Don't want to give out more particulars than what we actually have, but appreciate it. We got two pairs.
Aha! Abundance. If you'd like to go out and see the Thunderbirds battle the PD Ice Cats for an extra spot. The last spot in the playoff mix: 336-777-1600 is the number to call as we've already got somebody on the line with one more pair to give.
So don't miss out on that. Shout out to the Twin City Thunderbirds. We appreciate them. I'm gonna I'm fired up today. I'm in a good mood.
I uh Yeah. I'm low on sleep.
So If you were up late last night, you could have heard... My guy, Lynelle Willingham, on Westwood One Sports Night, but you could also listen to it here on WSJS, 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. weeknights. And I was in there filling in for their usual producer, Denton Day.
So your boy pulled a double yesterday. Double shift. We did. I was hanging out with you guys four to six right here. Uh and then 11 p.m.
to 3 a.m. Woo! Your boy was just talking football with Linnell for four hours, and it was great. But I did hit a wall. Like around um It was a little past 2 a.m.
We'd been on for three hours and then it hit me. I was like just. As Linnell was going on his spiel and I was like do working on something behind the scenes, like I was like, uh like I hit the wall. I just started staring at the camera, but I wasn't actually looking at it. I was just kind of staring past it.
See, Moi's a little tired today.
So I had a fair amount of caffeine, a fair amount of snacks, too. I need to get the energy up, but it sounds like we gave away a pair of Twin City Thunderbird tickets, Morgan. We did. We gave away one, but we still have one more if somebody else wants a pair.
Well, 336-777-1600. If you want that last pair, as we go to break, give Morgan a call in the break. All takes, no breaks, and no chance you're bored. You're clocked out email off. Back to the Triad's longest-running live sports talk show: The Drive.
All right, back at it on the drive, right here on WSJS, and it's time to bring you one of my favorite segments. You know, most of the sh no no no. Pretty much all of the show is for you. We design it to give you the best information and entertainment. But we save one segment for us.
It might be for you too if you're into that sort of thing, but This is for me. This is for Morgan if he's into this too. It is time. to get back to Nerd Corner. We'll do it live.
Okay. We'll do it live! What is that? MLB action. All day to day.
Heck yeah. Both reigning Cy Young winners. Are in action today. Skeens already played. Five innings, three hits, five strikeouts.
Good bounce back for him after that horrible opening day. Got more than two outs. Got that done. Um. Yankees are up 1-0 at the bottom of the second versus the Mariners.
Mets and Cardinals tied one a piece top of the ninth. The Red Sox are losing 3-6 to the Astros on top of the 9th. Angels down to the Cubs five to two in the bottom of the seventh. Tigers at the end of the fourth are losing to the Diamondbacks 1-0, and the Padres lead the Giants at the top of the second. Uh Orioles beat the Rangers 8-3.
Braves Getting a win five to one over the A's. Pirates win three or eight to three over The Reds And with some free baseball here, Nationals lose to the Phillies in the 10th inning, 6-5, and the Rockies. beat the Blue Jays in extras 2-1. All I heard's Red Sox losing and made me happy. The Rays lost also 8-2 to the Brewers.
Yeah, we'll get to that game and the game between them last night as well. There's some stuff there.
Now we get to Nerd Corner. At least I think. Talk nerdy to me. For the curious mind, knowledge never sounded so good. Talk nerdy to me.
It's where nerdiness takes the mutt. Tune in, geek out. Your attention please. From sci-fi to Wi-Fi. Talk nerdy to me.
Nerd Corner starts now with Will Dalton. Get nerdy with me. Oh yeah. Chew that up. I love Nerd Corner.
Makes me so happy. It's like one of the few segments I really don't even have to prep for. They just get out here and rip it, let it go. Today, in Nerd Corner, here's what we got. And this actually might interest many of my.
Show bingers out there as well. My TV show people like the previous host of the show, Josh Graham. Big movie guys we know. I was not. He got me educated on that.
I'm a big TV show guy. I love all the. 90s, 2000 sitcoms. Like, I was watching Home Improvement the other night. It's one of my favorites.
Fresh Prince, all of that stuff. Everybody loves Raymond's one of my favorites. But I also love Now, in the streaming culture of Netflix and Hulu and HBOs. Those types of shows that run like 45 minutes to an hour. And my favorite show.
Bar none. is Game of Thrones.
So Game of Thrones has officially begun their campaign. Because it's almost 15 years to the day. of the first airing or the airing of the first episode of Game of Thrones. Are you a big were you are you in the game of throw tag? He's shaking his head.
Have you ever watched it? Not at all. Dude, you're missing out. 336-777-1600 1600. Tell him he's missing out if you love Game of Thrones.
15 years.
So, April 17th, 2011 is when the first episode dropped. We do it for love. If you know, you know. And It's really a show that changed TV history because of the way it was formatted. It was one of the first shows.
That started to get people buzzing on social media as social media was ramping up. And it got people talking about every episode and what's gonna happen on the next one. And then you would get a preview of the next episode. After the episode. or after the previous episode, you get a preview for the next one.
And it would just get people talking, and it left the cliffhangers, and it left people wanting more. And despite what you might think about the ending or the last season or two, which I actually think is perfectly fun. hot take apparently. It's a TV show that changed TV history, quite frankly. And, uh,.
Yeah. Happy 15 years to Game of Thrones. But that's not all I've got in Nerd Corner. Very quickly. Have you ever seen these uh GQ 10 things I couldn't live without videos on YouTube.
You've seen these? Yeah, I've seen those.
So GQ Sports does them as well. And they recently did one with Cooper Flag. And one of the things that he pulled out that he couldn't live without really interested me. I'm just gonna play the clip and let you have a look at it. Here was Cooper flag.
All right.
So, essential number one, I would say, is this poga. Portable gaming systems, new balance, actually gifted me my first poga. It's a PlayStation in here with a monitor. Open it up. This thing is so cool.
So you can kind of see. Got the Monitor in there is a PlayStation. Controller. But yeah, it's perfect for going on the road really useful last year. I was at Duke Used it a ton, we would go on bus rides.
We drove to Wake Forest's, we won the game, and then we were driving back that night. And we set it up on the bus, and me and the guys were playing 2K in the back of the bus. Perfect for being on the road. Yeah. So that Sorry Wake Forest fans that you had to relive that.
That thing is so cool. And this actually is something. Are you a big gamer, Morgan? I dabble. You dabble.
What do you play? What do you play? You play mainly. Xbox or PlayStation? Big Xbox guy.
Okay, I'm a big PlayStation guy.
So I was a college baseball player and when we would go on bus trips like The charter bus always had like a plug-in that you could plug, like a power plug-in. And I remember my senior year. I saw some of my teammates start doing this where They would bring in like a small little 15 to 18 inch TV. Plug it in on the bus, and then start playing like somebody would just hold it in their lap. And then they would just plug in a PlayStation and start playing MLB the show or whatever the heck else they were going to play.
2K, like Cooper Flag said. And so The poga, which by the way runs like No. Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen hundred dollars. Certain ones are up in the two grand range. That really would have come in handy.
That's essentially what we were doing. We just, it was kind of a makeshift. And I do remember. My last Bus trip. My senior year.
I decided I was gonna do this. I was gonna be the the hookup guy. for the gaming. I go to Best Buy. And I buy a 20-inch little, it's either an 18 or 20-inch TV.
And I take it on the bus. I brought my PlayStation. We start playing MLB the show. And you know what I did as soon as I got back from the trip that weekend? Took it right on back to Best Buy and returned it and got my money back.
Because what the heck do I need an extra TV for? I just needed it for the weekend.
So yes, I I pulled a little bit of a rental in Best Buy. That's been Nerd Corner. It's me, Mario. All right.
The YMCA. It's the place you go. If you want to get to the gym, get some goals going.
However, Sometimes it can be tough to keep yourself accountable.
So that's why they have personal trainers there for.
So go and check them out. They will have somebody who have plenty of options for you there, get you a trainer that will keep you accountable for. Your goals, YMCA, nwnc.org is the place to go. Get you a fitness journey going. And you just kind of eliminate the guesswork and the uncertainty when you do that.
I need to go to the gym later today. Didn't have time this morning because I slept in a little bit because I was up till 3 a.m. Working. Grinding. It's real talky, but it's not real listening.
Will Dalton has local takes, big opinions, and the Triad's best sports talk. This is the drive. No, no, no. And I'll drop it in. I love NFL League meetings.
I love the shield. And it's just, it's like Christmas. It really is. Because there's just so much juice. There's so much.
Gossip. And just so many stories that come out. People people talk when they get together at these league meetings.
So. Let's take a look at some of the stuff that we've heard. over the last few days. Starting with the Detroit Lions. Because this story right here, have you heard this story?
So Essentially what the lions have done. They have a policy of repaying portions of signing bonuses for retired players. And they've recently faced some criticism. Rightfully so, in my opinion. For requiring former center Frank Ragnell to repay a portion of his signing bonus back to the team.
which included a $6 million bonus from a contract signed in 2021. They're asking him to pay it back. Yeah. Type what? And I get it.
There's... I think there's a There's stuff in the CBA. About this, to where it's like it's kind of a thing. But again, They had Barry Sanders do this. One of the greatest of all time.
Calvin Johnson. Megatron. These are people that mean a lot. To your franchise, and you're asking them to pay back money after their retirement?
Now the Lions argue that they're returning money paid back in advance for services not yet completed, emphasizing that the money is the teams, not the players. Yeah, Morgan has a very funky look. I mean, when you hear that, what is your reaction to it? Wait, where's the money going to that they're asking back? Like, where is that going to be?
It's going back to the team, I guess.
So then, why give it to them in the first place?
Well, I mean, it's a signing bonus. But if you retire, I guess, prematurely. Like, retire before your full contract's over? I guess so. Uh they have some val I Mm-hmm.
I guess if you're signing like a $12 million signing bonus or whatever, and then you're retiring after one season, yeah, maybe pay some of that back. But that should be in the contract, not just out of the blue asking for it. I think it is in the contract. I just don't like it. I don't like it either.
Like, again. It's th there's always something up with the Lions. Same old Lions. Like, they wouldn't pay Megatron for years. That last few million that they owed him.
The great arguably the greatest. Lion. You can argue that he's the greatest lion ever. You absolutely could. And he wouldn't come to the building or anything because.
He ne they wouldn't pay him that money. Same old lines with this. I mean, the team might be better, but Admin, come on, fix yourself. It's not a great look, in my opinion. Let's get to some other items here.
Let's get to the Browns because there's always something to talk with them about. Morgan, you know exactly where I'm going with this.
So, not only does it sound like there's going to be a genuine quarterback competition between Shador Sanders and Deshaun Watson, this is the part again where I apologize to my boss, Mike Carbone, who's a die-hard. Cleveland Brown fan. Yeah. hate this one for you. I really do.
There's a legit shot that Deshaun Watson could start week one for the Browns. Like, there's going to be a competition here. As opposed to just exploring what you've got in Shador Sanders, who showed some real promise last year. Get some pieces around him. You know?
As opposed to Deshaun Watson, just because, yeah, you owe him a lot of money, but it's like. You don't know him other than money. Like, you don't know that creep anything after what he did. Come on, give Shador a legit shot here.
So, there's going to be a real competition there. I. The funniest part though is not even that. The Browns are going to brown. Todd Monkin.
It's the new head coach. of the Cleveland Browns. Spend some a lot of time with Baltimore Ravens, as we know. And they have this coach's picture. Morgan can't stop laughing over there about this because we talked about it earlier.
They have like the class photo. We showed you these yesterday with the GMs, then they do one with the coaches. Todd Muncin is not in the coaches picture.
Now, why might that be? Why did he miss it? He missed it because he was getting a haircut. For the picture. Yeah.
So because of that he missed the picture. It's unbelievable. It's so Cleveland Browns that it hurts. The season hasn't started yet, and the Browns are already fumbling the ball. Come on.
Yeah. Yeah. Then you got Jalen Hurts. The stories about him today. Listen.
I hate anonymous sources when they talk bad about players or whoever. You know, like people were talking about him, like some about his body language or something in the locker room because Jalen Hurts is a little bit more of a serious guy, it's just the way he is. One of my favorite comments though. Was somebody responding with a picture, and the caption on it was, How's this for body language? And it was Jalen Hurts just sitting down, smoking a cigar after winning the Super Bowl.
Few years back. How's that for body language? And again, I hate anonymous sources because like, say it with your chest. Put your name on if you're gonna say it. Like, that's some weak sauce.
It really is. Just the anonymous thing. I hate it. Um The Steelers quarterback situation is fascinating. They're still waiting on something from Aaron Rodgers.
Rooney. Uh was asked about it. the other day and They said they're still waiting, but they're not going to be waiting all the way up until the NFL draft. And Mike McCarthy was singing praises about Will Howard already. Talking about how if he was the coach, he wouldn't have dropped that far in the draft.
And he really likes him and loved his tape from the college football playoff.
So. Just some interesting storylines in the NFL. Yeah. And now, it really is my honor to talk about arguing sports so you don't have to argue at home. You're on the drive.
Back at it on the drive right here on WSJS. Where we are happy to now be joined by our pal David Glenn of the NC Sports Network DG. How are we doing? I'm doing great, Will. Hope you're doing well.
Happy April Fool's Day. Yes. Yes, it is. That's. Roy Williams made sure that we have to be careful on April Fool's Days from now on.
I want to get to a number of the topics that came out of last week. I mean, this is stuff they write books about in terms of our local teams. But let's actually start with what we saw from Duke against Yukon. Blowing that 19-point lead the way they did, an iconic moment from Mullins just being dropped right on Duke's head with that shot. But there is a pattern here.
Duke Being in control I mean heck they did it three times this year being in control of games In the second half, Texas, Carolina, and then Yukon. And then down the stretch, it just unravels. And then you could even look to Houston in the Final Four last year. What do you make of the pattern of losing in the manner that they have from Duke?
Well, I know in the year 2026, a lot of folks don't like to live in a world of nuance. Yeah. But there are actions, it is both true. I'll put it this way. It is both true.
That John Shire is off to a phenomenal start as Mike Shyzzewski's successor as the head coach at Duke University. There are now three coaches ever who've been to three Elite Eights before their 40th birthday. Their names are Dean Smith, Bob Knight, and John Shire. That's a pretty darn good list to be on.
However, we also live in a world Where, even though coaches are not going to come on your show, Will, and say this out loud, they will say privately, that when you have a 98 to 99 percent chance of winning As you did up nine very late against Houston in the final four. And as you were losing a record-setting lead to UConn, where even Dan Hurley himself, the head coach of the Huskies, was shocked that his team completed that comeback. When you're up that big on those platforms, two years in a row in a do-or-die game in the NCAA tournament, and you fall short. Coaches are going to point out. what your guys did wrong.
when they couldn't inbound the ball against Houston. And that lead got away last year repeatedly. It's not like one mistake. All coaches will give you the benefit of the doubt for, you know, it's the human element, right? If it happens two years in a row.
Where coaches are asking again privately, nobody wants to throw John Shire under the bus publicly, why did 53% free throw shooter Dame Sarr even touch the ball with less than 10 seconds to go when 90% free throw shooter Isaiah Evans was at the other end of the floor? Yeah. Why did Caden Boozer, a freshman but a pretty smart point guard, not do what almost every point guard will do after receiving that pass under pressure? Fake the pass. Worst that happens.
You get fouled and go to the line. He's an 80% free throw shooter. Maybe there's a tied ball, you know, a held ball situation. Maybe there's, it's not going to be a turnover if you don't let go.
So, and the clock was ticking away.
Now, you know how this works. If Mullins doesn't hit that three from the logo. Which is no better than, you know, a what, 15% chance when you're 30 feet from the basket. Yeah. Then all this stuff goes away because Dukes had to do its second straight Final Four in that hypothetical.
But listen, man, John Shire's both off to a great start, and for two years in a row. He has left something on the vine, meaning you didn't just get beat by a better team or get outplayed on a specific day. The Blue Devils contributed to both of those late game disasters. And when John Shire is 70 years old writing his memoirs, he's going to circle both 2025 and 2026. As things that make him wonder years down the road, what if, because both of those teams were good enough to win the national championship?
And I'd argue last year's team. Had an even better chance than the obviously banged-up Duke team that we watched this year. It is true. It's what stings the most, like if you're Duke or a fan, like it's what stings the most about it because you had an all-time freshman in Cameron Boozer this year and an all-time freshman in Cooper Flag and an all-time starting five last year, and you came that close and you blew it the way you did. David Glenn with us here on NC or from NC Sports Network on WSJS.
Let's get to the Carolina coaching search, which is ongoing. Dusty May. Tommy Lloyd, Billy Donovan, those are the three that everybody and their mother seem to have a lead or some type of scoop on. But It seems like Tommy Lloyd has Would be the best option if you wanted to try and keep Carolina family people somewhat happy with the Mark Few ties there. Where do you sit?
On where Carolina could likely go here, or what do you see happening at all? Yeah, I can tell you, as a guy who's been covering coaching searches for 39 years. There's no doubt that Billy Donovan has shown preliminary interest, at least, in the Tar Heel job. There's no doubt that the Tar Heels have talked through a search firm. With Tommy Lloyd and/or his representatives.
Absolutely no doubt.
Now, I don't have those same sources on Dusty May of Michigan. Maybe others do have those sources, and credit to them if they do. But we know this, something is holding up Carolina's announcement of a new coach, okay?
So it is either A coach is still coaching in college basketball, Final Four Saturday night, championship game Monday night, or. an NBA coach, and I can tell you this with certainty as well, Billy Donovan of the Chicago Bulls has told colleges, including UNC, for several years in a row when he's been asked about a possible return to the college game, He absolutely, positively will not, as a matter of principle, abandon his team prior to the end of the regular season. That's not rumor. That is rock solid. Information from people extremely close to Billy Donovan and also people who've been on the receiving end of that message at the college level.
Now, you might ask, well, the Bulls aren't going to the playoffs, what's the big deal?
Well, the final regular season day in the NBA this year is April 12th.
Well, if Billy's made that, if Billy's the guy, and Will, we don't know who's the guy. But whoever the guy is, whoever's number one on Carolina's pecking order, is not ready to say yes yet. Yeah. So it's either. They're str They know who their person is and simply can't announce it out of respect for whatever, chasing a national title at another school, for example.
Or they're not certain who's giving them a hard yes yet. And they have to wait for that hard yes or hard no. for a handful of days longer. You know, if you're a Carolina fan, you'd sleep a lot better at night knowing there's a private yes. That you just need to let the coach finish his business, then it becomes a public yes.
If there's no private yes yet, well, then Carolina's got to have a backup plan ready to go because, man, the transfer portal starts. April 7th. And a lot of those guys make decisions ahead of time, they do not wait. I know NCAA tampering rules don't allow communication, but those rules are ignored to a large degree. And that's why there's a sense of urgency in Chapel Hill.
To get that new coach in place, because you got to build a staff quicker than ever. It was okay that Roy Williams in 2003. Coached Kansas in a national championship game and then was hired at Carolina a week later. There was no such thing as name image likeness or the transfer portal or immediately eligible transfers.
Now you'll have coaches Jay Lucas of Miami said. If he hadn't left Duke early to take that Miami head coaching job, remember he left in early March. He did. He had to leave his team as it was ready to play for the ACC title. No coach wants to do that.
What he has said, paraphrasing. If I didn't leave early, my first year at Miami would have been doomed. He did leave early. He lined up a really good bunch of really good transfers. And guess what?
The Hurricanes won 19 more games than they did the year before and finished third in the ACC. There's no way that would have happened in the transfer portal era if Jay Lucas had done what Duke fans said he should have done, many of them, and that was stayed with his team all the way through the final four. No way, man. Not in today's world. And Carolina's got to at least play this waiting game a little longer, although.
One way or the other. You know, either April 7th or April 13th, that thing has got to get done. David Glenn of the NC Sports Network with us here on WS. Jazz. Let's get to the third.
Of the Triangle teams. Because again, it's the stuff they write books about. Just a trifecta of a week. And I don't want to spend too much time talking about Will Wade anymore since he's not here anymore, but we haven't gotten to talk to you since it all went down. The way that at every turn It seems like everybody knew that he was going to ditch other than NC State because at every turn, but I could believe it because at every turn, he was telling them.
We're talking about next year. You know, we're six weeks into the process of moving forward. These are the type of guys we want to get. This is the mentality we want. Heck, he met with Boo.
that he met with Boo Corrigan Tuesday night and then no showed for a second meeting. What did you make of the way that Will Way just departed and kind of spit in their face the way he did. It was disgraceful, but it was not surprising. You've known me long enough. If you and I were best friends from 10 years old.
And you told me you met the woman of your dreams.
Okay. And I just happen to know her. And she had cheated on her last three husbands. and ended up divorced all three times. But you were convinced that this is your person.
There is not a 99% chance that, as your friend, I would have said, hey, Will, you're a grown man. Do what you want to do. I love you. I'll support you. But your friend DG needs to run something up the flagpole that you and I are going to have a conversation about.
NC State was in that position with Will Wade. And you know what happened? Wolfpack Nation ran people like me over the Coles one year ago. As I was telling the full truth. The full truth a year ago was that both it was exciting to get Will Wade, a proven winner at McNeese, at VCU, even at LSU, and he had a track record for leaving schools very quickly, and he was booted out of college basketball for cheating so badly repeatedly.
I mean, come on, like. You could both, and Wolfpack fans, not all of them, many of them, you know, said, Oh, I was raining on their parade a year ago.
Well, fast forward a year, you know what? Wolfpack Nation was criticizing Will Wade, ready to burn him at the stake. My words from a year ago, while perfectly accurate, seem mild in comparison to the way they now describe Will Wade. That is the difference between legitimate journalism, which is what we did a year ago, painting the true picture. Rather than what a lot of media does nowadays, much of the Wolfpack media included one year ago, just celebrating the Will Wade story rather than painting a little more of the picture, which would have at least made what happened last month a lot less surprising.
Goes back to that nuance thing, I believe. Yeah. But I tell you what, they've got a good one. It seems in Justin Gainey, who's one of them. We heard from him today in his introductory presser, and he seemed just blown away by this opportunity.
And you could tell he means it with the things that he was saying. As somebody who's been in the triangle a long time, you probably remember him as a player. What are. The Wolfpack getting in their next head coach. How do you like the hire?
They're getting a person of integrity for starters. They're getting an intelligent guy who played for one of the great high school coaches of all time at Greensboro Day, not far from where you're sitting right now. They're getting a guy who truly understands, lives, breathes, and is proud of North Carolina State University. Whereas Will Wade was just a mercenary, you know, looking for his next power four opportunity, and the Wolfpack happened to be the mark. Justin Gainey truly loves the place where he earned his diploma and was Herb Sendeck's point guard for four years, 25 or six years ago, right?
So We'll see. First-year head coaches, first time, I should say, head coaches are always a risk. But he has not only the good things I mentioned, he was Rick Barnes' defensive coordinator at Tennessee for the last several years. We typically talk about coordinators in football, but they do happen in basketball as well. And guess what?
Tennessee, the rock, the foundation of the volunteer success under Rick Barnes is absolutely defense. I mean, they've done other things well, but Justin Gainey had his fingerprints all over. One of the best defenses in college basketball in the last several years.
So that's a nice foundation. You and I both know, got to get players. Gotta get players. And that guy Shire down the street has already won three ACC titles in his first four years and been to the final four. And we'll see who Carolina gets down the street.
So it's a tough neighborhood for a first-time head coach, as is the ACC at large. But he was gonna get this opportunity. He was respected in the coaching community as someone who was going to be a head coach someday. And now, after years of learning from Rick Barnes and Herb Sendeck and Steve Wojahowski and others. He gets that opportunity at his alma mater.
And I wish him well. He's a great guy. I'm proud that Wolfpack Nation, I'm excited for Wolfpack Nation, I should say, that they have one of their own and they're excited about supporting him. And it'll take a while for us to know whether he works out or not. But I'll say this: he's a lot more qualified than when NC State kind of panicked and hired alum Sidney Lowe years ago.
He was not qualified for that job. Or when UNC panicked and kept it in the family with Matt Doherty in the early 2000s, that was a train wreck.
So somebody's got to be qualified. And I do think Justin Gainey's 20-plus years in college basketball as an assistant makes him qualified in ways that I did not think Sidney Lowe was or Matt Doherty was on the day those guys were hired. Last thing for you here on the way out: David Glenn with us on WSJS. We're down to the final four: Illinois, Yukon, Arizona, Michigan. Who do you like to come out on top this weekend?
Yeah, in my original bracket, I feel bad because I'm winning, or I think I'm second or third in our bacon and basketball competition.
So I might steal free bacon for a year from one of our viewers or listeners. I'm not even sure I'm eligible to win, actually. But if Arizona beats Illinois, which is the championship I had in my original bracket, then I get free bacon for a year or else I have to find somebody else to give it to.
Now, my other two picks were not correct for the record, so it's not like I'm some kind of swami here. But I felt good about Arizona all along. I felt great about Illinois as well. I still pick them to play in the championship game. And I like the Wildcats of Arizona to win the national championship.
But you know how. I find some games a lot easier to predict than others. And we're at the stage, Will, where it's like back away from the betting window, right? Like, don't bet the kids' college tuition fund. Because as much as I like Arizona over Michigan.
Of course, Michigan's good enough to win that game. And as much as I like Illinois over UConn, of course, UConn could win that game. It's just so tight now that the margins are razor thin. I just like the way Arizona has played all year. They've only lost twice.
And I think Arizona has some similarities to the three teams that beat Michigan this year, which are Duke, Purdue, and Wisconsin.
So that's kind of what I hang my hat on with my pick of the Wildcats, but I think we're going to have one heck of a Final Four weekend. Can't wait for it. David Glenn, get his work at ncsportsnetwork.com. Follow him at David Glenn Show on X. DG, we appreciate the time, the insights.
As always, we'll do it again here very soon. Thank you, my friend. Keep up the good work, Will.
