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It's our last show of the week. Fire this thing up! I'm in a terrific mood today. It is our last show of the week, which means it's our last show before. The final four.
That round. Uh but in spite of that In spite of that, we got so much NFL to bring you today. And that just makes my heart smile.
Something else that makes my heart smile is the fact that four years ago today. We got this iconic moment. Inside 30 overall. Love top of the key. Oh, big time for Luke.
Caleb love. the shot heard round the world. The shot that extinguished Coach Kay's career. One could make the argument that that shot actually kept Hubert Davis employed for as long as he was. Potentially.
But I digress. Yeah. Let's talk about the actual Final Four matchups that we're going to be seeing. this weekend in Indianapolis. Going to make some prediction for that.
And if you have thoughts on Both of these games, 336-777-1600 is the number to call. Or you can chime in on our YouTube chat or our X. Feed. Get in on those. Starting with the first of the two games we're going to see.
On Saturday night? Illinois. Yukon. Three against two. Both of these games, by the way, are so evenly matched.
Like it's stay away from the bedding window. Just stay away from it.
Now, we're going to make some Final Four specific bets later in the program. But In terms of the spreads. Your boy ain't going that dicey. I get it's called gambling and everything, but your boy ain't going that far with it. But Illinois Yukon, the first one of the games we're going to see, Illinois.
They're going to be a tough out. They're going to be a very tough out. In fact. I think I got Illinois win in this game. Beating Yukon.
Apologies to Mark in Greensboro, our friend, friend of the program. His big UConn guy covers Yukon as well. But I do think it's going to be a tight one. I would guess maybe something in the ballpark of 72, 68, something like that. I think it's going to be one of those tough defense grinded-out games, but to look at some of the pieces of the puzzle here.
It's Illinois' first time. Back in the Final Four since 2005 with that Darren Williams team when. Carolina Beat Illinois. For Roy Williams' first national title since coming to Carolina. Just thought I'd throw that out there.
No reason. Um I think a lot of people were surprised that Illinois was able to beat Houston the way they did. And the building there in Indianapolis is going to be rocking for Illinois. It is. It kind of I don't know.
That building is going to have so much juice to it for all of these teams, but Illinois specifically, I think, is going to have a lot of juice.
Now, on the Yukon side of things, I do think a big key for them. Like either of these teams can win. Either of them. I know you're probably thinking, well, no, seriously, either one could win. I'm taking Illinois, but not by much.
Now the case for UConn, if they did. I think Alex Caraban, a lot of it's going to depend on how he plays. You know, banging down low. I think that's going to, he's going to need to do that. He had it going in the second half against Duke, as we saw.
That was a big reason why Duke fumbled the ball the way they did. Uh also Something else UConn can't, so that's one thing they're going to need to have happen. What they can't have happen is it just be the Terrace Reed show. Can't do that. Not Not like in the first half against Duke, where he's looking terrific, but he was it.
The second half is when a lot more pieces got involved and got in the mix. Also, They're going to need to shoot. UConn's going to need to shoot very well from the perimeter. And I'm very interested to see how Braylon Mullins. A true freshman is going to be doing in front of his home crowd.
He's from Indiana, so he's going to have a lot of friends and family in the building. He hit one of the all-time iconic March Madness moments. How does he respond to that? Does he shrink? Under everybody talking about him, watching it over and over and over again?
Or does that really give him some extra confidence and juice to rise to the occasion against Illinois? Maybe it does. I don't know. And UConn's also going to need solo ball to make some big shots as well.
So. It's going to be tight either way. I think I have Illinois. Winning this one narrowly against UConn. Morgan Corson, you're listening intently over there.
Do you have some prediction for this game? I do not be an echo chamber, but I also have Illinois being Yukon. The team that eliminated Duke in their last six NCAA appearances lost their next game. I think that trend continues with UConn. Illinois's a good team.
One of the highest rated offensive teams in the country, if not the best, depending on what numbers you're getting it from. Just a phenomenal team in Illinois. But that's no doubt. That's not Yukon's still a really good team. They made it this far.
You're not just a. Bad team that got lucky. They're a really good team. They made the shots they needed to do to come back against an amazing Duke team. I'm not a gambling man, but if I was, I would still stay away from this game.
Yeah, that's putting it model. I mean, UConn, they're very good. And. If I'm an Illinois fan, Caravan scares me and the experience Of Dan Hurley in these moments scares me if I'm an Illinois fan because experience is so important in the NCAA tournament, the deeper you get into it. But let's flip it over to the other game.
The heavyweight match up. The heavyweight fight. Michigan, Arizona. The 2-1 seeds. The two candidates.
For the Carolina Tar Heel job. This weekend is going to have a Carolina Tarhill Blue tint to it in the background. In fact, somebody posted a picture. And it sure looked like that Tommy Lloyd had a Carolina blue shirt on underneath his warm-up jacket. Like, all you could see was just a little bit of the thread that was coming from underneath the jacket, but it looked Tarhill Blue to me.
Just pointing that out. But This is another one. Stay away from the window. Just don't even try it. I'm telling you.
Michigan, they're still, what, one and a half point favor? Is that right? Yeah. Don't try it. This game, both of these games are really pick'ems, but this one's really a pick'em.
Um. The top of the Big 12, in my opinion, was a lot better than the top of the Big 10 this year.
So Arizona had that going for them in terms of the teams they were facing, but Michigan. They've got some serious size. We saw that in Washington, D.C., late in the regular season when Duke. uh took a crack at Michigan and was able to get that done. Uh They've got the size.
So ultimately, I think. what this game will come down to? is Jaden Bradley versus Elliott Godot. The the guards.
Now, Elik Do. Oh, that's right. You're a Michigan Van Morgan. Totally forgot about that. Totally forgot.
Uh. You're probably not going to like what I'm about to say.
So, Elliot Cadot had an allergic reaction to something he ate yesterday. Have we learned anything else on that? Did you read up on that? I haven't gotten any information besides his plane landed in Indianapolis this morning.
So, he is with the team. He was going to join the team after the fact.
So, that's as expected. But. I mean, listen, if you had an allergic reaction to something Now, you got a couple of days to recover, but I don't know. That might linger a little bit over the course of a couple of days. I don't know how that works.
I'm just, you know. Maybe it could. Maybe it doesn't. I don't know. But maybe it's a factor in terms of how he's feeling and how he plays.
So I think. The guard matchup is going to be what's the separator here. I think if Arizona can hold serve. In the front court. against some really tough Michigan size.
I think I like Jaden Bradley better than Elliot Cadeau. I think Jaden Bradley's one of the better closers in college basketball.
So for that. I like Arizona. To get this done against Michigan and meet Illinois in the national title game. Morgan, your thoughts? Cadoz had his moments.
And I'll give it to you. He he does struggle a lot. He's very inconsistent at times, especially with turnovers. There's games where he's had four or five turnovers on his own.
So Michigan's really dialed that in, though, with him and the whole offense. And with they lost a player, he slipping me off the top of the mind right here, which one we lost, but They figured out, I feel like, since Duke. how to go on without him. And moved past it. And Cados kind of stepped into a bigger role this time.
He met LJ Kayson. Yeah, Kayson. Um But Michigan stepped into a bigger role and some players have stepped up. Yaxel stepped up big time. Mara stepped up and they've stayed out of foul trouble.
That's something that hurt us against the three losses we have: Duke, Wisconsin and Purdue. Michigan's got into big foul trouble with Mara and Yaxel early. It's gonna be a matchup. This is being hyped up as the game of the decade. Yes, it is.
I have seen it. Rightfully so. There's a rating out there called the Ken Palm rating. I don't know if you've seen this. These are the two of the top five highest-rated teams of all time.
I did not see this. Yes. Ken Palm's been round since the nineties, early nineties. It number three and number four rated teams all time right here: Michigan and Arizona. This is going to be like one of these, it's supposed to be one of these all-time matchups that we will talk about forever.
I think Michigan outlasts just a little bit. It's going to come down to the final possession. Oh, it is. It's going to be amazing. I want Michigan to roll them, but it's not going to happen.
It's not going to be one of these blowouts. Michigan's. And Arizona are just dogs, both great teams. They are. Your thoughts at 336-777-1600.
Would love to hear your prediction for the national title game. Who are we going to see in it come Monday night? Let's uh Before we get to Kerry Ross, who's the CEO of the Twin City Thunderbirds, they got a massive weekend of hockey ahead of them. Big game tomorrow night. against the P D Ice Cats.
Thunderbirds, they're trying to chase and get into playoff contention. They got a little got a little bit more work to do before they are able to get to that point. We'll talk to Kerry Ross about that here in just a few minutes. But looking at the Charlotte Hornets for a minute. They got a big game tonight.
Big game. Against the Phoenix Suns at seven o'clock.
Now luckily. The Hornets were able, so they went from the 10 spot in the play-in tournament. Seating They moved up to eight, jumped two spots. Thanks in part by losses to, or losses by the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat, the Magic kind of sputtering here late. But The Hornets now sit at 40 and 36.
So they're locked even with the magic. At that record, the Heat, they're 40 and 37. The Toronto Raptors, who are the seven seed in that mix. Uh they are A couple of games in front of both the Hornets and Magic at 42 and 34. The Sixers, they're also 42 and 34.
So it's narrow. It's very narrow. I don't know if mathematically, I think there's still a world where the Hornets could sneak in. and skip the play-in tournament completely, but they have to what I'm getting at here. They have to take care of their business tonight against the Phoenix Suns and.
I'm going to talk to Will Pelagic, the voice of Charlotte FC, about this later in the show. He's going to join us at 5:30, but. I'm very curious about how the hornets could look. Because they're a lot for the play-in, regardless.
Now we're just talking about seeding. We're talking about where they can end up. I'm curious and very excited. to see how they're gonna look in a playoff play in tournament, you know, setting. What is that going to look like?
If they make it through the play-in tournament, they get into real playoff series, like you got back-to-backs and fatigue and like. This is a situation we haven't seen the Hornets in in a long time, about a decade. In fact, I think it is a decade since Purple Shirt Guy and the last time the Hornets made it to the play. Do you know what I'm talking about, Morgan? This Purple Shirt Guy, Hornets Heat.
Hornets got swept back in 2016. That's the last time they've sniffed the playoffs. They have been in the play-in tournament twice since then, but it hasn't gone so well.
So. The hornets What are they going to look like when it comes postseason? What could that look like? Because they had a couple of big games. In the weekend, this previous weekend, one of those against the Sixers, one of those against the Celtics, back-to-back nights in Charlotte.
The Sixers was a close game. They really should have won that game. They kind of let it slip down the stretch. And then the Celtics, the next night, they just looked tired, really was never in it. When I saw that on back-to-back nights, I started thinking because these are two really good Eastern Conference teams that are in front of the Hornets in the rankings.
The Celtics up near the top, of course. I think they're still the two-seed in the East. I think that's right.
So it just got my brain thinking about what they could look like in postseason action and when they have to start strategizing in that way. We must talk. Go ahead. Talk. Turning your ride home into appointment listening.
Welcome to the drive. Back at it on a Thursday drive right here on WSJS, and I've been looking forward to this.
So. The Twin City Thunderbirds, man, they've had a lot of action going on, and they are in a playoff push right now. Got a massive game that we'll actually have a chance for you to win tickets to here in just a little bit against the PD Ice Cats tomorrow. Night, 7:35 puck drop. And nice enough to join us right now is the CEO of the Twin City Thunderbirds, Carrie Ross.
Carrie, how are we doing? It went well, doing well. Good. Looking forward to the game tomorrow night. Love it.
Very excited to have you on here.
So. I mentioned that the Thunderbirds are in a playoff push. Uh and for a lot of our fans and a lot of our audience members uh You know, certain teams have to lose and certain things have to happen. You guys currently have the fifth spot in the division chasing the ice cats. What are all of the things that need to happen in order for the Twin City Thunderbirds to get into the playoffs, just to kind of lay it out for the fans out there?
Well, I don't like looking at it and looking at what other teams need to do.
So I'll just cut right to the bottom, and that is the Thunderbirds have four more games to play. We need to win out and we create our own destiny. by winning out, we should lock in the playoff position.
So it's really that easy. You know, we're six points behind the PD IceCats. We play them Friday and Saturday. Which, if we win both, we'll tie them, and then it's up to the final weekend. If we win, we'll end up with a better record.
Carrie Ross with us here on WSJS, the CEO. of the twin city Thunderbirds. Um How gratifying has it been to you as the CEO to kind of see the support? from the city of Winston-Salem around this team. And as they make this playoff push and not even just Winston-Salem, Greensboro High Point, the support from the entire triad and beyond.
How gratifying has that been to you as a CEO?
Well, the bottom line is without the fan support, the team's not here. And it's 100%. The team relies on the fans and the support and the guys on the ice. It all depends on the fans. We're in a great building that's very, very loud, and when we fill the building, It's very tough for the opponents to play in our building because it does get so loud and our fans are great behind us.
Kerry Ross with us here on WSJS. I did want to ask you because six months ago, you guys rebranded from The Twin City, or from the Carolina Thunderbirds to the now Twin City Thunderbirds. And you guys got a fresh look. What all went into the decision to make that rebrand? And how happy have you been with that so far?
So, unfortunately, the branding was cost. caused by some issues with Partner and did some things that. He shouldn't have done and we ended up having to Rebrand because of that. I was a minority partner of the team. I am now the majority partner.
My wife and I run the team.
So we got into some legal issues and we were advised to change the logo and change the name, which is what we did. Um Okay. We had to do it.
So You know, a lot of fans, the old Thunderbird logo had been around for a while. It was a great logo. I wasn't happy about having to change it, but you know, we had to. um we about mid-season we uh put out a request for fans to redesign the logo. Um our initial logo was not uh a bird.
The fans loud and clear put out messages to me that they wanted a bird.
So we had fans actually design logo ideas and The new bird logo was designed by one of our fans. That is awesome. I love that. Getting the fans involved that way. I did want to ask you because you're the CEO, but I know you wear and you've been here since the beginning, you've worn multiple hats for this team, director of hockey operations as well.
What does a typical day look like for you, Carrie?
So, I do have a full-time job as well, and I travel quite a bit.
So, I carry. Two phones. One, everybody laughs. I have a hockey phone and a full-time job phone. And I am on both of them nonstop.
My wife and I moved down to Winston about four years ago. We're actually from Chicago.
So we ran the team from Chicago and then I had an opportunity with my full-time job to relocate, and we came down here four years ago. Love it here. My wife actually runs the front end of the business. business operations side and I handle the player and the sales side so tickets and sponsorships and then I get involved very heavy with the coach and players and all that.
So Days are very long and very packed. And when I go to bed at night, I am very tired. I can believe that. And you know, it's not the first time I've heard.
Somebody moving from a big city like Chicago or elsewhere coming to Winston-Salem. What's been one of your favorite aspects about living in Winston-Salem now and being able to call this home?
Well, so being in Chicago, you're not golfing in January. No. You're you're golfing down here. I absolutely love the mountains and you know 45-minute drive, you're in the mountains. The weather down here and just the scenery down here is just fantastic.
You know, Chicago, my house was about half the size of my house here. We live very close to one of the big nature trails, so I have two big dogs that every morning I'm out there at 6.30 in the morning walking my dog. We just love it here. Carrie Ross, the CEO of the Twin City Thunderbirds with us. And with this massive game tomorrow night against the PD Ice Cats, we want you, the audience, to be able to get out and support the Thunderbirds for this game.
So right now, we want to send you there. 336-777-1600 is the number to call if you want to get out to that game tomorrow night between the Twin City Thunderbirds and the PD Ice Cats with a playoff spot hanging in the balance that the Thunderbirds are trying to get. Carrie, I know you're busy as you just described for us. Thank you so much for spending a little bit of time with us here on WSJS, and we'll do it again sometime very soon.
Sounds great. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. There he goes. Carrie Ross.
CEO of The Twin City Thunderbirds. 336, 777-1600 is the number to call. If you want to get out to that game tomorrow night between the Thunderbirds and the PD Ice Cats with some playoff action. Hopefully, uh, in the Thunderbird's very near future. Wanted to get to this very quickly before we get to an NFL-themed this or that.
Uh So John Shire. While Duke is not. In Indianapolis, obviously, for the Final Four. John Shire is. You know, this is what happens a lot of times, whether it's the Final Four or the Super Bowl or, you know, all the big sporting events.
A lot of times, people that are not participating in it will go, you know, for. Business reasons, media obligations, or just whatever the reasons may be.
So, John Shire is in Indianapolis, and he actually sat down with our guy, Josh Graham. Of Westwood One Sports, and I assume, I don't want to assume, but I think this is the first time. That John Shire has sat down with anybody since, in terms of a sit-down interview, since. the very disappointing loss to UConn uh the other night. And Josh asked him you know about I guess a lot of the outside scrutiny in terms of The way that they lost this one, the final four against Houston last year, the other two losses they had against Carolina and Texas Tech this year.
Uh And John Shire, he was not shying away from how heartbreaking of a way they lost was. Here he was. I'm not shying away from the fact that there's incredible heartbreak and disappointment when you lose that. lose the way we did on Sunday. I mean, we've lost two.
Unimaginable ways the last two seasons. At the same time. We've been in back-to-back-to-back elite eights for the first time in 30-something years. We've had really good success in the tournament. It just hasn't ended with a win.
the way that we want. And you know, it would be one thing, and the scarier thing is if we're not close. The thing is, we're knocking the door. We're right there. And we just got to continue to.
Find ways to win the margin, regroup with a different team for next year, not quit. Like, we're gonna keep, we're gonna stay at it. We're gonna stay at it until we're there. Outside noise. or expectations or Uh anybody uh Trying to say because of one game that changes the result of an entire year.
Um I'm not going to let that happen because this team deserves to be praised for the year they've had. 35-2 with the schedule we had going into that game. Incredible. And they're a great group to coach. Couldn't agree more with that.
Good stuff from Josh Graham in Indianapolis. Uh they are on Radio Row. Um I mean, listen, it's true. A lot of fans are gonna have things to say about the way they collapse, but the bottom line is in four years John Shire's been right there. Three Elite Eights, a Final Four, three ACC titles.
You can say whatever you want about the way he lost. But there is some nuance to this, as we discussed with David Glenn yesterday. We must talk. Go ahead, talk. Turning your ride home into appointment listening.
Welcome to the drive. Back at it on a Thursday drive right here on WSJS, and I've been looking forward to this.
So. The Twin City Thunderbirds, man, they've had a lot of action going on, and they are in a playoff push right now. Got a massive game that will actually have a chance for you to win tickets to here in just a little bit against the PD Ice Cats. Tomorrow night, 7:35 puck drop. And nice enough to join us right now is the CEO of the Twin City Thunderbirds, Carrie Ross.
Carrie, how are we doing? Doing well, doing well. Good. Looking forward to the game tomorrow night. Love it.
Very excited to have you on here.
So. I mentioned that the Thunderbirds are in a playoff push. Uh and for a lot of our fans and a lot of our audience members Uh You know, certain teams have to lose and certain things have to happen. You guys currently have the fifth spot in the division chasing the ice cats. What are all of the things that need to happen?
In order for the Twin City Thunderbirds to get into the playoffs, just to kind of lay it out for the fans out there.
Well, I don't like looking at it and looking at what other teams need to do.
So I'll just cut right to the bottom, and that is the Thunderbirds have four more games to play. We need to win out and we create our own destiny. by winning out, we should lock in the playoff position.
So it's really that easy. You know, we're six points behind the PD IceCats. We play them Friday and Saturday. which if we win both, we'll tie them and then it's up to the final weekend. If we win, we'll end up with a better record.
Carrie Ross with us here on WSJS, the CEO. of the twin city Thunderbirds. Um How gratifying has it been to you as the CEO to kind of see the support? from the city of Winston Salem around this team. And as they make this playoff push and not even just Winston Salem, Greensboro High Point, the support from the entire triad and beyond.
How gratifying has that been to you as a CEO?
Well, the bottom line is without the fan support, the team's not here. And it's 100%. The team relies on the fans and the support and the guys on the ice. It all depends on the fans. We're in a great building that's very, very loud, and when we fill the building, It's very tough for the opponents to play in our building because it does get so loud and our fans are great behind us.
Kerry Ross with us here on WSJS. I did want to ask you because six months ago, you guys rebranded from The Twin City, or from the Carolina Thunderbirds to the now Twin City Thunderbirds. And you guys got a fresh look. What all went into the decision to make that rebrand? And how happy have you been with that so far?
So, unfortunately, the branding was cost. caused by some issues with Partner and did some things that. He shouldn't have done, and we ended up having to Rebrand because of that. I was a minority partner of the team. I am now the majority partner.
My wife and I run the team.
So we got into some legal issues and we were advised to change the logo and change the name, which is what we did. Um Yeah. We had to do it.
So You know, a lot of fans, the old Thunderbird logo had been around for a while. It was a great logo. I wasn't happy about having to change it, but you know, we had to. Um we about mid-season we uh put out a request for fans to redesign the logo. Um our initial logo was not uh a bird.
Um, the fans loud and clear put out messages to me that they wanted a bird, right?
So we had um fans actually design logo ideas and um. The new bird logo was designed by one of our fans. That is awesome. I love that. Getting the fans involved that way.
I did want to ask you because you're the CEO, but I know you wear and you've been here since the beginning, you've worn multiple hats for this team, director of hockey operations as well. What does a typical day look like for you, Carrie?
So, I do have a full-time job as well, and I travel quite a bit.
So, I carry. Two phones. One, everybody laughs. I have a hockey phone and a full-time job phone. And I am on both of them nonstop.
My wife and I moved down to Winston about four years ago. We're actually from Chicago.
So we ran the team from Chicago and then I had an opportunity with my full-time job to relocate, and we came down here four years ago. Love it here. My wife actually runs the front end of the business. business operations side and I handle The player and the sales side, so tickets and sponsorships, and then I get involved very heavy with the coach and players and all that.
So Days are very long and very packed. And when I go to bed at night, I am very tired. I can believe that. And you know, it's not the first time I've heard.
Somebody moving from a big city like Chicago or elsewhere coming to Winston-Salem. What's been one of your favorite aspects about living in Winston-Salem now and being able to call this home?
Well, so being in Chicago, you're not golfing in January. No. You're you're golfing down here. I absolutely love the mountains and you know 45-minute drive you're in the mountains. The weather down here and just the scenery down here is just fantastic.
You know, Chicago, my house was about half the size of my house here. We live very close to one of the big nature trails, so I have two big dogs that every morning I'm out there at 6.30 in the morning walking my dog. We just love it here. Carrie Ross, the CEO of the Twin City Thunderbirds with us. And with this massive game tomorrow night against the PD Ice Cats, we want you, the audience, to be able to get out and support the Thunderbirds for this game.
So right now, we want to send you there. 336-777-1600 is the number to call if you want to get out to that game tomorrow night between the Twin City Thunderbirds and the PD Ice Cats with a playoff spot hanging in the balance that the Thunderbirds are trying to get. Carrie, I know you're busy as you just described for us. Thank you so much for spending a little bit of time with us here on WSJS, and we'll do it again sometime very soon.
Sounds great. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. There he goes. Carrie Ross.
CEO of The Twin City Thunderbirds. 336-777-1600 is the number to call. If you want to get out to that game tomorrow night between the Thunderbirds and the PD Ice Cats with some playoff action, hopefully, uh, in the Thunderbird's very near future. Wanted to get to this very quickly before we get to an NFL-themed this or that. Uh So Johnshire.
While Duke is not. In Indianapolis, obviously, for the Final Four. John Shire is. You know, this is what happens a lot of times, whether it's the Final Four or the Super Bowl or, you know, all the big sporting events. A lot of times people that are not participating in it will go, you know, for business reasons Media obligations or just whatever the reasons may be.
So, John Shire is in Indianapolis, and he actually sat down with our guy, Josh Graham. Of Westwood One Sports, and I assume, I don't want to assume, but I think this is the first time. That John Shire has sat down with anybody since, in terms of a sit-down interview, since. The very disappointing loss to UConn. Uh the other night.
And Josh asked him you know about I guess a lot of the outside scrutiny in terms of The way that they lost this one, the final four against Houston last year, the other two losses they had against Carolina and Texas Tech this year. Uh And John Shire, he was not shying away from how heartbreaking of a way they lost was. Here he was. I'm not shying away from the fact that there's incredible heartbreak and disappointment when you lose that. lose the way we did on Sunday.
I mean, we've lost two. unimaginable ways the last two seasons. At the same time. We've been in back-to-back-to-back elite eights for the first time in 30-something years. We've had really good success.
in the tournament. It just hasn't ended with a win. the way that we want. And you know, it would be one thing, and the scarier thing is if we're not close. The thing is, we're knocking the door.
We're right there. And we just got to continue to. Find ways to win the margin, regroup with a different team for next year, and not quit. Like, we're going to keep it, we're going to stay at it. We're going to stay at it until we're there.
Outside noise. or expectations or uh anybody uh Trying to say because of one game that changes the result of an entire year. Um I'm not going to let that happen because this team deserves to be praised for the year they've had. 35-2 with the schedule we had going into that game. Incredible.
And they're a great group to coach. Couldn't agree more with that. Good stuff from Josh Graham in Indianapolis. They are on Radio Row. I mean, listen, it's true.
A lot of fans are gonna have things to say about the way they collapse, but the bottom line is in four years John Shire has been right there. Three Elite Eights, a Final Four, three ACC titles. You can say whatever you want about the way he lost. But there is some nuance to this, as we discussed with David Glenn yesterday. All right, coming up next.
I mentioned there's a lot of football in today's show, with Final Four being on Saturday. Let's play an NFL themed this Or that. Let's do that next on the drive right here on WSJS. Sports fans, get ready for Magic when Wade Forest University's face-to-face speaker forum presents conversation with basketball legend and global businessman Irvin Magic Johnson. When I go speak, who is my role model?
And dad, I always say it's you. You taught me that anything in life I was going to achieve and get, I had to work forward. September 16th at 7:30 p.m. at the LJVM Coliseum. The conversation will be moderated by CBS Sports Journalist Tracy Wolfson.
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To start your free online visit and save up to 95%, go to him.com slash joy. If that made you mad, good. Call Will Dalton. You're on the Drive, the triad's longest-running live sports talk show. Back at it on WSGS, it is a Thursday drive.
I mentioned I'm in a very NFL mood. Let's be honest, I'm always in an NFL type of mood. Even the last show before the Final Four, it's NFL heavy. Want to get into some football? This is how we're gonna do it though.
Wanna play this or that? But let's do an NFL theme, this or that, where Morgan has compiled. Four sets. Of NFL storylines and I have to pick whichever one I think it has more validity or is a bigger of a deal.
So let's do that right now in this or that. It's this or that with Will Dalton. Two choices. One answer. No offense sitting.
You're in or you're out. This or that. Boom.
Alright. Morgan, what do we have? The first this or that pair The Steelers not having a QB1. or Philadelphia having a potential falling out with theirs. I think I'm going to go Steelers here.
Listen. I feel like every season over the last few, even the one where the Eagles won the Super Bowl. We hear a certain level of discourse about Jalen Hurts. And Whether or not he's got it in terms of. the locker room stuff and Like listen.
Nobody's a better leader. You're going to find very few better leaders in a locker room than Jalen Hurts, in my opinion. Like I remember the stories I used to hear about him at Oklahoma. You know, going from being bench for Tua at Alabama to then going to Oklahoma and being the leader that he was. The dude's been through a lot in his career.
I'm not saying The Jalen Hurts chatter. These anonymous sources that talk about him in the locker room. Are not valid, but I also think it's just that chatter that I don't think they actually know what's happening in a locker room. And a guy has a Super Bowl a couple of years ago.
So it's the Steelers for me.
Now we heard. that Aaron Rodgers According to Rooney... In Pittsburgh, he was at the NFL meetings. They're expecting a decision from Aaron Rodgers by the NFL draft. There's also Will Howard.
You got him. Mike McCarthy was singing his praises. But I do think the Steelers are at a crossroads here where they have to decide: are we ready to get our guy? For the future and for the long haul? Or do we want to try and splurge right now and maybe.
Maybe win something, or maybe not, and go with an old Aaron Rodgers who's at the end of it. He might have one more year in the tank. I think the Steelers situation is a little more big, a little bit more of a big deal. In the last week Geno Smith and Kurt Cousins have signed deals with new teams. Would you rather have Geno Smith as your starting quarterback or Kirk Cousins?
Oh. Uh See These are very different situations. Geno Smith is the starter. He's taken, according to Aaron Glenn, he's taking the Jets to the Promised Land, whatever the heck that is. Kirk Cousins, it is interesting because I believe he was brought in to kind of be a mentor to Fernando Mendoza.
I'm kind of like an Andy Dalton to Bryce Young type situation. But I also don't think it means that Like, he might be the starter right out of the gate, though, Kirk Cousins.
So, I think if I had to pick one. I think I'll take Geno Smith. At this point in their careers, I think Geno Smith is more athletic than Kirk Cousins is. Boy, Kirk Cousins knows how to get a bag, though. I know that.
He knows how to get a payday. We'll get to more on his contract here in a little bit. In that whole situation, Fernando Mendoza had his pro day yesterday as well. I think if I had to pick one of these two guys to be my starter... I'm gonna take Geno Smith.
Which QB room is more interesting? Minnesota with J.J. McCarthy and Kyler Murray, or Atlanta with Michael Pennix and Tua. To me it's the Falcons. Cool.
So Uh the Vikings room. Where you got J.J. McCarthy, who couldn't stay healthy last year.
Now you got Kyler Murray, who. Definitely more talented than J.J. McCarthy, but. You know who he's... A small quarterback.
Uh I thought it was interesting. Uh the other day Uh as we were listening to I was listening to some Vikings reports, you know, some beat reporters talking about their situation and. McNa McConnell. He told J.J. McCarthy straight up, like when they added Kyler Murray, that You know, they want the best guy to play.
And He pointed out that when Sam Darnold was there, they had a pretty good season. That happened. Um When they got a good quarterback, things are kind of popping in Minnesota.
So. I think the more interesting room is the Falcons because I don't know. Like, I don't think we've heard the last of Michael Pennix. I think he's going to have something to say about Tua being there. I think there's a legit battle there.
And What's Tua going to look like outside of Miami? Like, what's he going to look like playing in a dome? Is he going to be better? What's he going to look like playing for this staff? Um,.
I think the Falcons room is the the more intriguing one to me. Yeah. Who makes it further into the playoffs? The Ravens or the Denver Broncos? See this one's fun.
I'm gonna say the Broncos. I loved when the Ravens went out and they got Max Crosby until they didn't. I thought that was really going to be a. Yeah. A move.
Now Hendrickson, obviously, they got it done with him with Trey Hendrickson. But the Broncos were right there. They were right there against the Patriots. Your Patriots, Morgan, they were potentially a bow nicks playing in that game away from getting to a Super Bowl. Maybe.
I don't think Drake May played convincingly enough to where if Bonix is on the other side, Who's to say the Broncos don't get it done?
So. Denver was one of the hottest teams last year, as we know. Bo Nicks, that young roster that just added Jalen Waddle to it. I would have liked to have seen maybe Stefan Diggs go there, but either one, Jalen Waddle, like you add that to that roster? Oh, yeah.
In terms of the Ravens. Maybe this is me having a little bit of scar tissue because I've picked them to get it done and get to the Super Bowl for the last couple of years now, and they just can't get over the hump. It's getting to a point now where. Until I see them do it. Kinda like the Buffalo Bills.
Until I witnessed them actually do it. I'm not picking them anymore. I'm just not going to do it.
So, Denver. That's the one right there. Come on! And that's been this or that. Should have queued you on that.
Nah, man, just thinking about that Broncos or the Vikings situation. Heck, even when Kirk Cousins was there, like. They were a really good team. Darnold made him a good team. You get some good quarterback play in there.
Who knows what could happen? I want to give some tickets. That's what I want to have happen. Only right now. Let's give away some Charlotte FC tickets.
We got a pair of those left. We're gonna hang out. With the voice of Shawl at FC Will Pelagic here in just a few minutes, or a few minutes, next hour. Get time mixed up. Uh Philadelphia.
Gonna be in town. They haven't gotten a win yet. Charlotte has a couple. And we want to send you out there. 7:30.
out at the bank in Charlotte. 336-777-1600 is the number to call. If you would like a pair of tickets to go see Charlotte FC take on Philadelphia, This Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium. We would love to send you there. It's one of the best environments in the MLS.
That is not just our bias. Look it up. You can check it out. The vibes are really nice and very highly respected around the MLS in terms of what Charlotte. brings to the table.
Looks like we got a winner on the line there. Love that. By the way. While Morgan's on the phone. Let me actually get to this because it's a tale old as time.
And what am I talking about? By the way, uh This is a good opportunity. If you're not watching on our YouTube or in our X feed, You should right now. Because I'm about to put something on the screen. Because the Atlanta Falcons revealed some new unis.
some new uniforms today. And It truly is a tale old as time, and that is a new uniform being released and then people complaining about it.
So, I'm going to pop this on the screen here: what Atlanta has got cooking with their new uniforms for our YouTube and our ex-audience. Here it is. Uh right here. There we go. Atlanta.
Making it happen.
Now I've heard a mixed I've heard mixed reviews to this. A lot of people are calling them the Atlanta Texans now because of these. Because the white uniforms do kind of slightly resemble the Texans' uniforms or Texans' uniforms. Um There was a different picture that had a black uniform for them as well. The thing that I will say, and I'm not one that complains about new uniforms, I actually think most of the designs that come out are pretty fresh.
And Morgan, you can chime in here and tell me what you think of these new Falcons uniforms. The one thing that I wish they wouldn't have done Is Go away from the old helmets with the little bit smaller Falcon logo on them and the black face mask.
So now they have these like gray or grayish silver face masks. I wish they would have And and the helmet's like matte. texture. I wish they would have stuck with the old Falcons helmets. But Morgan, tell me what you think of these.
You're shaking your head. You're not impressed. They just rebranded like two seasons ago. It's true. It's true.
They're not bad jerseys. No. But there's nothing special about them. I think the the stripes on the side, if you look at the black pants, the stripe on the side are silver, white and red. That's like Ohio State.
It's a good touch. No, it's a good touch, but um. There's nothing special about them. I mean, last year they had those red to black gradient ones. Yeah.
I loved those. Those were some good. That was a good jersey. But, I mean,. There's nothing crazy about them.
I guess the Falcon logo on their shoulders is nice, but my favorite is the red ones here with the white pants and then the red socks and cleats. That's fire, man. Makes me think of a ketchup bottle, but it's fire. I would have liked a black jersey. I feel like a nice one.
They have one, but they might already have an alternate, like a throwback alternate. Yeah. So, probably why they didn't do a black jersey, but they're not bad. They're just not special. They're nothing special, but like the people that just.
Oh, they suck. It happens every time a new uniform's released. If you had to give it a number rating, 1 to 10. Hmm. 6.8.
I'm giving it a solid 6. Just nothing special, but nothing horrible. Like, they didn't mess up astronomically. Didn't change a ton either. Didn't really do that.
Another segment, another bad take you'll argue about all night. You're on the triad's longest-running live sports talk show, The Drive. Back at it here on the drive, on a Thursday drive, right here on WSGS. We welcome in one of our favorites, the voice of Charlotte FC Will Pelagic. Willie P, how are we doing?
Willie D, how are you, pal? I'm doing terrific.
So I have something very important to discuss with you right here at the top. We got to get the important business out of the way here. That is the statement. That Charlotte FC put out. They had to break some news here.
They offered their apologies and condolences after we learned that 12. Tons. of Kit Kats had been stolen. And they're offering apparently 413,000 kit cats. It's Saturday's match against Philadelphia.
What can you tell us about this? I haven't heard anything more than what has been published on our social media. I think that that might be something that is the creation of our fantastic creative director, Ryan Disdier, who is brand new to the club this year, by the way, and is trying to have Charlotte FC enter any creative spaces they possibly can get into. I don't know if that 413,000 number is rooted in reality, but Count Charlotte of C among those trying to have fun, maybe at Kid Kat's expense. When I saw that, uh, it gave me a chuckle.
And I know a couple of other companies uh tried to take their stab at it, and uh. Let's just say if you don't get a Kit Kat on Saturday at the match against the Philadelphia Union. Um You're probably not alone.
So I would just be cautious about maybe taking a little bit too much of that and rooting it in reality.
So we gave away a pair of tickets last hour for the match against Philadelphia. You know, got to get the promotions out there, got to get people out there. Get the people out there, get the triad out there, triad rise up. Let's go. Even if you don't get a Kit Kat, get out there anyway.
We'll get to the match here in a second, but I had seen. Or Charlotte, they added a little Premier League experience to their coaching staff. With the addition of Carl Hooper, how impactful do you expect him to be on Dean Smith's staff?
Well, to give a little background on Carl himself, he worked with the under-18 squad at Aston Villa, which, as many people know, is the most prominent club that Dean Smith worked at. There was, I think, one year of crossover with those guys, if anything. But again, they never really worked directly together, but he comes highly recommended. And the really important thing is... The man he worked under, who is the set piece coach for Aston Villa, also happens to be in that same capacity with the Portuguese national team.
And he comes highly, highly recommended.
Now, we couldn't get that guy. His name's Austin McPhee. He's pretty well entrenched at Villa and in Portugal, but a lot of the same ideas will come into Carl's purview. And it's a spot that Dean Smith honestly has looked at and said is an underutilized part of where Charlotte F.C. can score goals.
And I think it's something where. He's okay with the way that they defend set pieces. And Aaron Hyde, who is Charlotte's goalkeeper coach, is not going to move off of that duty. He believes that they're one of the better set piece defending teams in the league. But when it comes to the amount of set piece opportunities that Charlotte gets and The lack of scoring that's come out from them, it's kind of become more of an emphasis when it comes to certain teams.
And if you look no further than what's going on in the Premier League right now, Arsenal at the top of the table in the English Premier League, and many of their goals, a high percentage of their goals, come from the set pieces. I would say it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 33%.
So, if you're scoring 33% of your goals from the dead ball, that's a pretty high number. I think Charlotte last year had more set piece goals than they had in any other year, but it's still not a relatively high number. The number I had down here, I think, was six, six or eight. I think it's one of the two. But it's not a high number when you think about the fact that they scored something like 50-something odd goals last year.
It's still a very, very low number.
So, from that sense, it's definitely something they want to improve on. It's not something that Charlotte FC has done really, really well in any part of their history.
So, it's new ideas, different things you want to put off. And also, they've got a lot of tall bodies, too. You know, they got Morrison Ajaban is up there. He's six. 6-4.
They've got Tim Ream up there. He scored a set-piece goal or two. Guys who should be better in the air than they are. Edon Toklamati is also very underrated in the air. And they've got a really great set piece deliverer in Pet BL.
And it's something that hopefully with Carl's expertise combined with the chess pieces he can throw out there, I'm excited to see what they look like. Let's get to the match that's going to be taking uh taking place at the bank. On Saturday at 7:30, you and Anna Witte on the call, because we haven't seen Charlotte in action in just under two weeks when they got a win against a six to one win against the New York Red Bulls.
So Against Philly, Philly hadn't won a game yet. They're 0-5. Charlotte has a couple of wins. Set the table for this match for us. It's interesting, Will, just because Philadelphia is coming into this at 0-5 in the league.
A lot of that can be attributed to the fact that they've had to rotate their squad heavily. They had to play in CONCAF Champions Cup action. The first team they played in that competition, Defense Force at Trinidad and Tobago, not very strong. The second team they had to play, Club America, one of the strongest teams in the Mexican League MX.
So they heavily rotated their squads the last two games and really didn't have a lot of success doing so in either sense.
So I think there's definitely an appetite from Charlotte's perspective to say, hey, maybe you feel like this game could be more of a game for you to potentially get healthy again after what you saw against Red Bulls. But I wouldn't take this team lightly. They are a team that won the Supporter Shield a year ago.
So there's still a lot of repute that comes with them in a positive sense. But it is a game that you'd favor the Crown heavily. The Crown beat them last year 2-0 in their building on Decision Day. I don't know if necessarily Philadelphia was all up in the mind for that game, knowing that they'd already clinched and done and dusted their supporters' shield trophy. But at the same point in time, I wouldn't look at it and say it's an automatic walkover because they've only they've been zero and five the start of the season in MLS.
I think there's a much stronger team out there maybe that we've seen in MLS play. And hopefully, Charlotte's up to the task and challenge this weekend.
Well, Pelagic, the voice of Charlotte FC, with us here on WSJS. Let's shift the conversation a little bit to. The Charlotte Hornets, because they've got a pretty significant game tonight. They were able, because of other people losing. Charlotte didn't play last night.
They were able to jump from the 10 to the 8 spot, and they want to stay there.
So they got a big one tonight against the Phoenix Suns. But it kind of Where my mind goes is as we get close. to play in action for Charlotte. What do you expect the Hornets to look like? In postseason action, you know, because they've obviously been great since the calendar flipped to 2026, but now they're really going to be playing meaningful games.
And they're going to be playing, you know, if they get into the playoffs, they're going to be playing series and they're going to be having to play back-to-backs and a lot of things like that. Couple of losses this weekend against really top-tier Eastern Conference opponents in Philly and Boston. How do you expect? Postseason Hornets to look? It really just comes down to how well they shoot it, Will, based on the fact that if you look at the totality of the seven-game homestand, you know, the first five games that Charlotte played in that homestand, and granted, it was a variety of different opponents.
Some of the lower-level teams like Sacramento were involved and Memphis as well. But you also played a team that is heavily involved in the playoff conversation of the New York Knicks. You played Miami as well. And in those games, they shot the ball incredibly well and were able to stand up to, I think, some pretty significant tests. You look and turn the page to what happened against Philly in the fourth quarter and the entire game against Boston.
The Hornets lost their shooting legs. And so. I feel like if this team can get to a series, It can be very, very dangerous against a team because of their high proclivity of shooting the three and what they've been able to do on the defensive end, and the fact that they've been able to be a much better road team than they have been a home team. And I think that can help you, particularly when you've shown the ability to be able to travel and do that on the road and have that same intensity. This is not a club that you worry about going out and playing on the road.
My only question is: can they get to that point? And I think the matchups in the play-in could be disadvantageous to them. Particularly if they can't avoid playing the Philadelphia 76ers in an elimination standpoint, particularly because of Embiid, they had a stat on the broadcast last week. Joelle and B to something like 21 or 22 and 1. All time against the Charlotte Hornets in games that he plays against Charlotte.
He has been somebody the Hornets have not been able to figure out for any stretch of the imagination. He is a very big matchup nightmare for them because they do not have somebody with size who can account for him on the perimeter. And while we did see Musa Diabate have very, very good success against Carl Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks, we did not see that carry over against Embiid. We know the Hornets have had their problems this year against Miami. They lost three of the first four contests.
Granted, they won the last one.
Now, Miami had some different pieces missing in that contest that helped Charlotte potentially get themselves forward. But that's one that's a matchup that I don't necessarily want. If I'm Charlotte, I want to see the Orlando match because that team is scuffling badly, particularly without Franz Wagner.
So there is a situation where if they find themselves in either a 9-10 matchup against Orlando or find themselves in the eight and lose to either Toronto or Philadelphia, but no, they have a second entry in. By potentially beating an Orlando on the way out, I think that's the best case scenario. If you have to play Miami or Philadelphia, particularly in an elimination match, it's going to be very, very difficult. This is one of those things where, again, I wish that maybe the run had come a little bit sooner so that the Horns could be maybe in that Atlanta space where they're jockeying for maybe fifth or sixth as opposed to seventh, eighth, ninth, or tenth. But if they can get into a series, I liken their chances a lot more with the ability to be able to be a dangerous squad against them.
The other part of this, too, will, is that. Outside of these next two contests, there are no gimme. And I wouldn't even put Phillip Phoenix in the statement of a gimme either because Phoenix is a very good team. They're right around the same place the Hornets are in the Western Conference. Indiana has also had their success against Charlotte this year, which is something that's a little worrisome.
And then after these two contests, I mean, the last four, you've got Boston on the road, you've got Minnesota on the road, Detroit at home, and then Knicks on the road. Three of the last four away from home. I circled this stretch and said, hey, if the Hornets had not taken care of their business by this point, It's not going to get taken care of for them. It's going to be very, very difficult.
So I worry about where they sit, but at least they're in the conversation. At least they get a chance to play a play-in game at some point. And hopefully, they can get enough wins and losses and help against them to hopefully be in a position to be in their home building at least once within those two. Let me ask you a Panthers question before we get you out of here. Will Pelagic with us here, the voice of Sean FC on WSJS.
Because the NFL meetings they've been going on. And one of my favorite storylines to come out of the meetings was Todd Munkin missing the coach's picture because he was getting a haircut for the coach's picture. But the other thing that was interesting was Dan Morgan when he went on with Kay Adams. And he was talking about Bryce being the future. And it almost sounded like, without him saying it directly, that an extension.
Is going to happen. It's just a matter of when, not if. How did you read into these comments from Dan Morgan? I still think it might not be this offseason, Will, just because I think they want to see Bryce build on what he did a year ago and just display a little bit more consistency. Because if there's one thing you've known with Bryce Young is that you've seen spurts of good play.
But I don't know if we've seen a season of consistent play Over the course of 17 games.
Now, there's going to be blips and bumps in the road and games where he doesn't play well, but. I want to get to a point where we're looking at the plurality of the season, and not only is Bryce playing well, but he is affecting winning, and by affecting winning, I'm saying not having to get a game-winning drive at the end of a game, that kind of affecting of winning. I want to see the Panthers possibly be in a two-touchdown lead game, God forbid, and Bryce is actually taking kneel downs. That'd be great. I know a lot of that has to do with defense being better.
And I think they've taken some significant steps to make that happen: Jalen Phillips, Devin Lloyd, et cetera. But I do think there's an appetite for him to be here for a long time. If they continue to steal that progression. And of course, they've added to other pieces of this offense. They brought in A.J.
Dillon to be a security blanket behind Jonathan Brooks, which has been good for them as well. Maybe they add another pass catcher in the draft. And obviously, they've fortified the line in free agency. I expect them to do a little bit more of that in the draft, particularly with you having a real uncertain timeline on Icky Aquano's injury with the patellar tendon. I say all that to say.
I think this organization believes in Bryce, but I also feel like they're not ready to put a ring on it at this point. Until Bryce gives you the sense that this can be a player that continues to progress. Will Pelagic, voice of Charlotte FC, listen to him and Anna Witte on the call. Charlotte FC in Philadelphia Saturday at 7:30. Get out to the bank if you can, and maybe see if you can get some Kit Kats.
Let's find out about that. The old Houston Astros broadcaster, Milo Hamilton, used to throw candy. Out of the press box during the seventh inning stretch. And Robert Ford, who is now their broadcaster, has continued that tradition. Maybe I need to bring some Kit Kats into the booth and throw them out at people if Sherliff C wins.
Maybe so. See, look at this. We went the whole time, and I didn't even ask about Beau Bashe being free of 27. I didn't ask about it. Bobouchette is far from his daddy.
Put it that way. Far from his daddy. Dante Bachette was a mammoth. I know it's probably way before your time, but I remember watching Dante Bachette play with the Rockies. He was a mammoth dude.
Bo Bachette has a little ways to go in my mind to get there. Just a bit. Just a bit. Willie P? We appreciate the time as always.
We'll talk to you next week. Thank you, Will, as always. I had to do it. Had the Had to get the jab in there. I'm surprised he didn't come back with some type of Aaron Judge comment.
That could have been an order, but I guess he didn't want to do that. Before we make.
some final four predictions and bets on said final four. We have an update, or we have some sound from Dusty Mae. Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68 caught up with Dusty Mae earlier today. And he asked the question that Tommy Lloyd has been asked numerous times. He was asked it again today, Tommy Lloyd, but this answer.
is from Dusty May. Here they were. Last one, obviously there's been a lot said about the North Carolina opening. Your name has been attached. Tommy Lode's name has been attached.
Um Can you comment on it? I mean, I know what you're going to say. I know what you're going to say, but I got to do my job and ask as well. I decided last year when my alma mater came open that no matter what you said, It was going to be, it could be misinterpreted, and so I'm forever going to. not men not comment on any job that's not mine.
I'm incredibly happy and honored and blessed to be the coach at Michigan in the Final Four, representing this amazing university and athlete department, but I'll never comment on a job.
Alright, that's pretty straightforward stuff from Dusty May. I will also mention that's not a no. Morgan. Michigan Fan Morgan. He said this about multiple jobs.
Yeah. He stood his ground because he didn't say no during for the Indiana job, as he mentioned. And his name, because he said he made a comment about it, just exponentially got more thrown out with the rumors.
So. He didn't say no. You're not wrong. He did not. And in terms of Tommy Lloyd.
When he was asked about it today, we got another version of just, you know, I'm 100% focused on my team. Uh, The actual quote: I've got my full focus on this team. Nothing is distracting me. I'm 100% locked in on Arizona basketball right now. This team deserves my full attention.
So that's what I'm giving them. Again, not a no. Yeah.
