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News Talk Sports for the Triad, I'm Will Dalton, also known as the WD. As we're continuing to follow the Masters. Rory McElroy has absolutely been in his bag. on day two. We'll get to that here.

In just the next couple of minutes, got a jam-packed show for you today, full of great guests. Got Darren Vought going to join us of ESPN and D1 Baseball. Also have Will Pelagic. The voice of Charlotte FC that's actually going to be joining us in the next 15 minutes or so. And then we've got Stephen Beck.

Who is now not only does he do Waking Up Proud 9 to 11 a.m. on Saturday mornings, he does the daily pulse 9 to 10 a.m. weekday mornings.

So we're going to chat with him. later on this hour. But Getting to that golf. that we just teased. Rory McElroy leading the way right now, seven under par.

So he finished yesterday at the top of the leaderboard. Um, At five under. And She Did not miss a beat. He started the day. Three straight birdies.

Continuing to roll. It's pretty clear that winning the Masters last year really did not affect him coming into this year at all. There were some that maybe thought. Is he going to be a little less hungry for it? Or, you know, now that that chase, you know, now that the chase is off, is he going to be a little more lax?

No. Not the case at all for Roy McElroy. And I don't think you should have thought anything differently coming into this course as we discussed with John Dell a couple of days ago as he's live out there at Augusta. Enjoyed listening to him sit down with Scott Van Pelt yesterday. Uh as They were Talking about the champions locker room.

They had a great conversation and You know, Rory kind of opened up about what it's like to be able to beat in that exclusive club. And he said yesterday, after his round, he was talking to SVP after his round was over, he's like, I'm literally about to go have a drink. Put on my green jacket, and I'm going to call it a day. And that was what Roy had on the agenda going to the champions locker room yesterday after. His great round.

So When he met with the media though, After the rounds, somebody asked him about How he felt when he got to the course yesterday. Uh before we teed off As he was warming up, you know, did it feel any different? Which...

Sometimes I roll my eyes at that just because it's like he feels the same all the time. Because I know these athletes, they have. Pretty much the same approach all the time from game to game, from match to match. It doesn't really matter. But It is, I think, a little bit of a valid question.

Given the fact that he just won it last year, are you feeling anything different as you step up for your first round yesterday and here was Rory talking about it? No, I was nervous. I was anxious, just like I always am in that first tee. It's the first round of major season, um you know, the first round of the 16 most important runs of the year. Um So yeah, I'm I'm Thankful that I felt the same as I always have.

I think it would be worrisome if I didn't feel that way, because it definitely still means something to me. Yeah, I but I would say that I didn't hit the ball very well the first seven holes and sometimes here that would lead me to get tentative and a little guidey and I just kept swinging, just trusting that I'm going to find it eventually. And he played like it. He played like it, and he's still doing it today. Uh as he sits at seven under par through eight.

And he leads right now by a couple of strokes. We'll get you some live masters updates here a little later on.

So that was one takeaway from yesterday and day one. The other one was Whew, buddy. Tough start for the live golf guys, huh? We'll talk to Stephen back. About this at 4:45 because he's very much very vocal about his feelings about live golf.

We'll talk to him about that. But I mean Bryson D. Chambeau, who was your boys pick to win it all, who buddy. Not a great day.

Now, as of right now, he is in the cut. He is. above the cut line, which is, you know, the top fifty. Currently sitting at tide for 44. Uh he's now at plus three, so he has improved a little bit, but still got some work to do.

Uh But not even just him, John Rahm had a horrendous day. He's currently above the cut as well. At four over par, but it's not gone great for him because those were the two live guys that were viewed as. guys from Live that could be most favored to win it. Yeah.

You know, Bryson, he was in that final round and collapsed last year, but he had just won his last two live events. And I think this is a good lesson of. You got to take those live results with a grain of salt when it comes to the Masters and PGA events because. It's just a different Set up. It's different layout.

And it's just not the same.

So I mean, they didn't even have anybody finish under par yesterday. The highest they had yesterday was Sergio Garcia, who finished even. That, yeah, Morgan's over here grimacing. Yeah, not so good, huh? Not so good.

Uh The last thing that was obviously noticeable from yesterday was not having Tiger Woods there. not having Phil Mickelson either, Um Very notable.

Now We know very recent, you know, Tiger Woods, the rolling his car. You know, having the drugs that he was on. He's very much. Seems to be addicted to the pain meds. Which, I mean, he's in a lot of pain a lot of the time with all the surgeries that he's had with you know his legs and his back.

In fact, there were many, many years ago, he actually did Navy SEALs training. Um And it's funny, well, it's not funny, but. It's interesting.

So Gary Player, he was. Talking to the media yesterday, and he was actually asked about Tiger. And before he gave the answer, we're going to play for you here. He was talking about how he has a buddy that went through. Navy SEALs training and he told Gary Mark my words, Tiger is going to have back and leg issues and pain later down the road from what they do in that SEALs training.

You know, obviously there's been some car crashes that have Aided in that pain as well, but mixing all together, plus, you're an athlete. Uh Not great. And so, yes, you can become addicted to the pain meds as apparently Tiger has. But here was Gary Player when asked what advice he would have for Tiger. If I had a friend who was a Navy Shield Scout, And he said this long ago, he said, Tiger will really suffer in future with his back And his legs.

And look what's happened. I think it's 20 operations on one, either the back or the legs, but many, many operations. on his leg and his back.

So he's in pain. Do I blame him for taking medicine? Hell no. He has sleep deprivation. Do I blame him for taking somebody to help him sleep?

No. but I don't think he should drive a car. When you're taking that medicine, it's dangerous when you're driving a car. Same as it's dangerous when you look at your cell phone in the car. There's 6,000 accidents a day in American motor cars.

So I just think all he's got to do is just not drive a car and get a chauffeur. And part of the problem with that is, I don't think Tiger wants to do that because I don't think he wants a chauffeur. taking him where he goes and For what he might want to do. Don't think he wants anybody to know about some of those rendezvous. Just a thought.

336-777-1600 is the number to call. If you have thoughts on the Masters, if you have thoughts, I want to hear from you. You know, if you have thoughts on what we saw from the Live Golf guys yesterday, how, you know, surprise, you know, the reaction to Roy McElroy and the day he's having so far, or any other. Masters items. We'd love to hear from you in our YouTube comments, on our Xtreme, WSJS Radio, The Drive with Will Dalton, all of those things.

Morgan Corson is the executive producer of this show. Uh So you had some little Caesars earlier. That seems to be a common theme here. Only when I'm driving. Only when you're driving, yeah, it's a good dinner snack combo.

It's easy to eat pizza on the road. My man loves some little Caesars. Like, I got into the office today, and he, you know, he was about to go to lunch shortly thereafter. He's like, yep, going to Little Caesars. I'm like, didn't you just go there the other day?

Yep. It is good. It's good pizza. You can't beat it for $7.49. It is good.

I went and see a friend the other day, and they had some little Caesars boxes on the counter. And I thought of you, I was like, oh, boy. There's Morgan's favorite. Uh before we get to Wilpa Logic. Let's talk some Charlotte Hornets because there's a number of items on the bone, or there's a little bit of meat on the bone there.

Uh so tonight It's the rematch. Detroit. Coming into Charlotte. The first time the Hornets have faced the Pistons. Since the brawl.

The brew ha ha. That resulted in Miles Bridges, Musa Diabate, Jalen Duran, and Beef Stew. Getting Suspended.

Now Detroit is fully healthy. Coming in fully healthy. We saw Cade Cunningham return the other night, put up a 13-point double double.

So he's back in the mix. And. For Charlotte? Got Kobe White activated, ready to go. He was out.

In the last game for the Hornets, which really probably cost them a little bit against the Celtics, but. Nonetheless, Um It's going to be an exciting game tonight, exciting atmosphere at Spectrum Center. But I want to talk a little bit more about this because the conversation's been ramping up. about the rookie of the year. debate between Con Kniple and between Cooper Flag.

It's been a discussion for months now, but it's starting to ramp up because we're getting closer and closer to those awards being unveiled. And It's essentially come down to this. Do you value the numbers more, the eye popping numbers that Cooper Flagg has put up and the fifty points here and there that he's done lately? Or do you value also really consistent and good numbers in Con Knipple But somebody that has affected a culture of a franchise and winning and getting them to the postseason and actually being talked about seriously for the first time in a decade minimum. Which one do you prefer?

And some of the people that we've heard from, they have thoughts on it. Charles Lee yesterday at practice. Had thoughts on this? You know, the rookie class this year has been pretty impressive and you know Flagg is one of the guys that's up there and I think that he's shown some good moments but I said it about a month ago. To me it's not even close.

I still feel that way. I think that this period of time has shown it even more. When you have a guy that's been as productive as Khan has been, when he's been as consistent as he is and as efficient as he's been on a playoff caliber team, I think that's pretty impressive and there's things that show historically what he's been able to do as a rookie. But then there's even some stats if you dive even deeper into the advanced stats and stuff of he's just one of the best players in the NBA, not even just as a rookie. That's Charles Lee talking about this matter.

But it goes even beyond hornet circles. Here was Reggie Miller. On a show that you can listen to here on WSJS, the Dan Patrick Show. Went on with him and, you know, he gave Cooper flag his props, rightfully so. But he had some thoughts about Khan as well.

But what Cooper flag has done Over the last week or so, 51 and then I think 45 against the Lakers. That's great and all. But Khan and his team Every game means something. I mean, they've had the second best record, I believe, since January 22nd, only behind the Spurs. And if you look at their starting five: Lamello, Brandon Miller, Khan, Miles Bridges, Musa Diabate.

They're plus minus by far. They're starting five by far. is superior than any other starting five. Since January 1st.

So there's Reggie Miller. Echoing.

Some of the same things as Charles Lee there. Lastly, we get to Doc Rivers, who. He was kind of split on it, but here he was discussing the rookie of the year conversation. As Cooper flags numbers. Just scream at you.

They really do. Scoring 40, scoring 50, being the point guard, playing a position that he's never played before. Uh hell in the night and and the featured guy each night like when you play dallas you're preparing for cooper flag But what Khan has done is, in my opinion, He's changed the the culture. of an organization that has had cultural problems. And that's no small thing.

You know, I don't want to say anybody can come in and put up Cooper flag-type numbers because they can't. But I don't know, I just feel changing the culture of a franchise is such. a different thing. Yeah, I'd agree. I think that what Kubernetes flag is doing is Extremely difficult to do at his age.

Scoring fifty points as a teenager is. No easy feat. Scoring 50 points at all is not easy. But the consistency that Knipples had and The change that we've seen at Charlotte. Like Lamello had a small change when he came into Charlotte.

But I feel like this was really what the team needed to get over the hump and get to the next level. And Cooper Flag really hasn't done that with the Mavericks. Facts, feelings, and the occasional bad idea. I'ma get it, I'ma get it, I'ma get it. I'm locked in.

Welcome to The Drive, the Triad's longest-running live sports talk show. Back at on the drive. Right here on WSJS, as we welcome in the voice of Charlotte FC Will Pelagic, who, when we were in the break and he started, he saw the first thing out of his mouth. when he saw me and my shirt. He started doing the reading rainbow theme, and then he asked, Are you even old enough to know when this debuted?

And I said, I don't know if I am or not. LeVar Burton, man, that was part of my childhood. That definitely was. It's probably what, in the 90s, this thing debuted? I don't know.

Maybe late 80s. I want to say late 80s. Yeah, it's a little before my time. That's the whipper snapper over here, as you called me, in the break, as well. I believe it was warranted.

It was very warranted. Yeah. Willie P, he knows how to make the magic happen. He does it every match on the call for Charlotte FC. And this past weekend against Philadelphia was no exception.

A 2-1 win for Charlotte. And One of those goal calls See if you can detect. A little bit of magic that might be on this call by our guy, Willie P. Let's go show happen below us right now. Zaha for Pepelle, one touch and totemani.

Got himself free and couldn't shoot it. Wesley shoots it in the middle! Yeah. The captain in the ring, Ashley Westwood, is first the funny party's dance and the crowd to the front foot makes the purple raid in Charlotte. They put the auto-tune on it.

They auto-tune. Yeah. I mean, that's. That is the club trying to go innovative. I didn't get any.

I didn't get any advance notice on that one. That showed up, and I was like, man, I had a couple people put it in my mentions, and I was like, ooh, okay.

So. Hey, man, anything that keeps getting the word out on our broadcasts and on how much we love this team. That's right. We'll get to the match against Nashville tomorrow night here in just a minute. But.

Something that's happening before that. Tonight. The Detroit Pistons. They're rolling into Charlotte. It's the first time these two have met since the big brawl that.

Got several players. Uh suspended. back when that happened and this is a fully healthy Detroit Pistons team. Cade Cunningham made his return just the other night, had a double-double in his return.

So the good news for Charlotte is you got Kobe White activated for tonight as well.

So what do you, with this being the second to last game of the regular season, the finale will be against the Knicks, what do you expect to see from the Hornets tonight who have a lot in the balance here in terms of play-in seating?

Well, I know the Hornets will definitely be up for it. Getting Kobe White back tonight is huge. Particularly because you saw how much they missed him in the game on Tuesday night in Boston. I wonder. Yes, Detroit is at full strength and Detroit is healthy.

But I also wonder how much they really want. any part of this game after, say, maybe the first half. I mean, they'll There will be obviously the initial bout of emotion that comes into play. And I know Detroit isn't a team that you automatically think of that has the ability to throttle down, but. Seeing this from a lot of teams here over the course of the last couple of days that, you know, even when they have all their guys available, they are somewhat kind of pulling up on the airbrake a little bit in the third and fourth quarter.

So it would not shock me if there comes a point in the game where if it is still very much in the balance, maybe Detroit starts pulling some starters and putting some longer minutes, some of their reserves on there just to make sure that those guys are safe for when the playoffs actually start to come around. I know that on Sunday, I feel like none of the, I think all those guys will probably be in street clothes, and they've basically said as much. But I'm curious because it's weird, Will. I find it hard to believe that. All these teams just seem to be saving their best guys to play against Charlotte.

It used to be that they all would sit guys against Charlotte before Charlotte got good, and now we're seeing the inverse. And I'm wondering also if it's just a way of being like, hey, by the way, we want to get Charlotte down because that's the last team we want to see in this postseason.

So it almost kind of feels like they've tried to eliminate Charlotte via natural selection in a way.

So I'm wondering if Charlotte takes that personally. I still feel like Charlotte has the ability to win this game on balance. I thought they were very much in that game against Detroit the first time or last time around before the ejections of Diabate and Miles Bridges. I think those definitely put them behind the eight ball. But it's a very, very curious game tonight.

And then if they win tonight and they get the requisite amount of results, then everything's on the table Sunday. And it very well might happen that if the Knicks get the right results in their favor, that game means nothing to them on Sunday.

So then maybe they lay down against Charlotte at MSG on Sunday night.

So They still can finish anywhere between, you know, outside of the play-in or any one of the four play-in spots.

So, uh, Incredibly intriguing tonight here at the Hive. It is. Will Pelagic, the voice of Charlotte FC, with us here on WSJS. Before we get to a Charlotte FC match, tomorrow night with Nashville. One more item on the Hornets because the The conversation's been going on for months now, but it's starting to kind of ramp up again.

Like we heard from Charles Lee yesterday at practice. We heard from Doc Rivers on with Dan Patrick about it. Heard from Reggie Miller again about it. And the consensus between Khan Knipple and Cooper Flag for rookie of the year seems to be: either you go with Cooper Flag, who has the better numbers and the 50-point games and things like that that just pop out at you, or you go with a guy in Con Knipl who has had. You know, NBA veteran-like numbers, really good numbers, but he's actually impacting winning and leading his team into the postseason, a place that the Mavericks are not at.

Where do you land on this conversation? Here's the thing. Cooper Fly's got good numbers. I don't think anybody's denying that. Conconippa literally is setting an NBA record.

He has shattered an NBA record for most three-pointers made by a rookie in a single season, and he very well might lead the entire darn league in three-pointers made. And yeah, I know he's had a little bit of a backslide here, and maybe there's a rookie wall. I know he's been dealing with a back injury, but breaking an NBA record. Having requisite numbers. And oh, by the way.

Affecting winning. There's no comparison. Like like I I understand that there's this love and desire about what Cooper Flag is doing from a singular standpoint. But look at all that did for the Dallas Mavericks. The Dallas Mavericks can be sitting at home on Monday afternoon and evening.

They're doing a clean out day at American Airlines Center. on Monday night. As far as I'm concerned, you go with the guy who's going to be in the playoffs. You go with the guy who's playing beyond game 82, and you're going with the guy who's going to have his name etched in the record books with something that feels like an unbreakable record, Will. And I know when Keegan Murray did it, you know, with the 208 or whatever it was, three-pointers made of him, was like, wow.

Well No one's ever done what Conka Nipple's ever done. And if that doesn't get rewarded requisitely by the NBA, then they're stupider than I give them credit for, which is not a lot. That's a fair point. Really is.

So I want to get into this game. Or this match, I should say, Charlotte FC, Nashville, because 7:30. at the bank you and Anna Whitty on the call you can listen to it right here on WSJS And Nashville is 4-1-1.

However, They did just have a midweek CONCACAF quarterfinal match and. I'm wondering how much do you think fatigue could play a role for them as they come into the bank tomorrow night? Not just fatigue, Will, but also just. Knowing that they will have to play again on Tuesday night. At altitude in Mexico City in the second leg of that quarterfinal against Club America, who is no slouch, by the way.

This is a competition that MLS teams traditionally have not done well in. Only one team has won it. And that was the Seattle Sounders a couple of years ago.

So This is a tournament that the club has been very, very public about prioritizing, and they have shown a demonstrated. Precedent in the past of rotating their squad.

Now, how much they rotate in this matchup versus how they've done in the past, it could be opponent dependent. I know they have a lot of respect for Sherlock and so maybe they rotate a little bit less. But knowing the fact that they have to literally Go from Charlotte. To Nashville and then to Mexico City in a matter of 62 hours. It it to me, I feel like Begs the question: How much of these guys are actually going to play?

I do think you will see. Each of the top three at some point in this match, Suraj, Hani Mukhtar, and Christian Espinosa, the newly acquired winger from San Jose. I think you will see all three of them on the pitch by the end of it, but I don't know if they'll see all three of them at the start or any of them at the start, quite frankly, just because I know that they've wanted to see themselves through that CONCAF Champions Cup match. Having said that, they're still very dangerous. They're probably deeper squad than they have been in recent memory.

They've got a great coach in BJ Callahan, who definitely has a cup victory under his belt already with winning the U.S. Open Cup last year.

So it's Part of the reason why they got themselves a concalf berth is because of that U.S. Open Cup win.

So. I say all that to say. Charlotte's home form has the ability to win out. The problem is, you don't have Wilfred Zaha. They did get the shot in the arm of getting Rodolfo Oloco up on the first team roster, 19-year-old.

Don't know if he's going to start or not, but he's definitely somebody who provides a little bit of that magic off the bench for Cheryl LFC, 19-year-old Benin International. And I think a lot of it falls squarely on can you get the same amount of offense without Wilfred Zaha from that front three in Charlotte? And can they be also as difficult to beat as they have been? They've had a pretty good run of play against Nashville in their building, a three-in-one record all-time against them.

So I'm thinking that it's a situation where Charlotte still comes into this as a favorite because of just how demonstrative the home road splits are, but it's far from a walkover. It's great, great measuring stick test for this team going up against a team that currently occupies first place in the Eastern Conference. It's a match you can listen to tomorrow night at 7:30, right here on WSJS. Will Pelagic and Anna Witty on the call. Yeah.

At what point does Willie P start to do his NFL draft deep dive? for the Panthers, because they got that 19 pick and We heard Dave Canalis at the NFC coaches breakfast the other week talking about he did give three positions. He gave wide out, tight end, and safety as some things they would be looking at. I get smoke screens are a thing, but They could afford to upgrade at tight end. When do you start looking into such things?

First off, I don't believe anything that comes out of the mouth of either of those dudes. Because last year, they were all talking about: oh, we got to do this, we got to do that, we got to do this, we got to do that. And we took a wide receiver.

So I I I I'm not believing anything that comes out of Dave Canalis' mouth. I know Dan Morgan's got a presser, I think, Monday or Tuesday. I don't believe a damn word that comes out of Dan Morgan's mouth, other than, you know. Uh different Flatterings about certain players. I'll believe those things.

But in terms of any kind of inklings or if you're trying to read any tea leaves, I don't think anything that you could say that they say publicly is worth a darn at this point. Having said that, I feel like safety is the position that. Is one the Panthers should be circling around. I mean, the kid Thieneman is the one guy who I feel like is my current draft crush if he is there. I know that Kenyon Sadiq has been kind of mocked to the Panthers in a couple of different mocks as well.

It does seem like a lot of that smoke we saw early about Edge Rusher is gone because of the Jalen Phillips signing. I wouldn't like a tight end that's not Sadiq at that point. And I wouldn't, I mean, if it comes down to it, if you see a tackle there that maybe. Drops down from say that top 10 or top 15 level grade and is there for you at 19, I wouldn't mind taking it because you can never be criticized for bulking up the offensive line. I also wouldn't mind a trade back.

And that's another situation, too, the Panthers could find themselves in because I think there are a lot of players. between 19 and 51 that make a heck of a lot of sense. But it could be considered a reach at 19 or not available with them at 51.

So they're in a tricky spot in terms of the type of player I feel like could really be. Impactful for them. I think about the center position too, as well. If you trade back and you get another pick at the top of the second round, that probably helps you get your center of the future as well.

So there's a lot of intrigue surrounding it, but I think the biggest thing that I like about what the Panthers have to do in this draft is that they're not beholden to any singular need. I think a lot of it is going to come down to how the board falls to them. And that's an enviable spot to be in, knowing that you have confidence in the current build that you have and also. The fact that you don't feel like you are so far behind you have to take somebody specifically at a certain position. I too am a fan of Kenyon Sadiq's work.

We were talking about him yesterday. We'll see what Dan Morgan does or does not have to say on Tuesday of next week at his presser. Willie P., we will be listening to what you have to say, though, tomorrow night on the call. Charlotte FC Nashville, be listening right here on WSJS. We appreciate the time, and we'll do it again next week.

That is our slogan. Charlotte FC broadcasts more believable than a coach or GM pre-draft press conference. See you, Willie P. Thank you, Paul. There he goes.

Will Pelagic, the voice of Charlotte FC. Your team, your take, let's get the show going, your drive home. Back at it on a Friday drive, right here on WSJS. Stephen Beck is going to join us. What about Seven to eight minutes.

But before we get to him Got a little college basketball breaking news from last night to discuss, but before we get to that. Let's try to make some money in Dalton's dollars. Stack it up, stack it, stack, gotta stack it up. The more they get the Money on a sound note. It's time to cash in.

Welcome to Dalton's Dollars. Yeah. Breaking down the board and building the bankroll. That's right. Just had two bets last night.

Wanted to keep it simple. That's what we did. Went one and one. Um Took the rockets Four and a half point favorites. Against the Sixers.

Rockets cleared that one. 113 and 102. Stroving the The one that did not hit, that I admittedly bet with my heart, not my head, because I wanted to try and manifest this, something you should never do when gambling. I took the heat money line against the Raptors. Should have known better.

The second time in a row, these two were playing. Raptors beat them the first time. Probably should have taken them last night, but I didn't.

So that one did not cash.

However, let's look at what we got going on today. Let's do that. I got three bets I want to place. Starting in baseball. Yankees Tough couple of days.

Lost some games. Got the Tampa Bay Rays starting a fresh series. in Tampa Bay tonight. S I think I like the Yankees' money line at minus 116 odds. I like him to get right.

I do. Shifting to the NBA. I was taking a look at Of course. Pistons, hornets. That's the event tonight.

I like Brandon Miller. to go under. 19 and a half points. SHOW VENGERS I think I like that. And then looking at The spread Hornets, they're favored by five and a half.

I think I'm gonna. Take the pistons to cover five and a half point dogs. That feels a little bit better.

So in review, pistons. Five and a half point dogs. Going to take Brandon Miller under 19.5 points, and I like the Yankees' money line against the Rays. It's been Dalton's dollars. Very quickly before we get to Stephen back.

Wanted to hit on this, Elliot Cadeau. is gonna be returning to Michigan. The Final Four, Most Outstanding Player, Morgan? You're the Michigan fan over here. How you feelin' about this?

I love this. I love this for Michigan. We've got a lot a good group of players coming in from high school. I don't think any of them have what Elliott Cadeau has in the playmaking ability, whether it's dishing the ball or taking the clutch threes that he needs or driving to the basket. I think this is a great sign by Michigan.

I think all Michigan fans were hoping for this. This is a best case scenario for the Wolverines. I think it's terrific because this is senior year for Elliott Cadeau. And while he could have gone to the draft. I don't know where.

I mean, do you know where his draft stock would have been? I personally have not looked at it. Maybe late first round. If that, I don't even think it would have been that. Mid to late second at best.

Yeah. Like, I don't. He might have gone undrafted. He. He could have afforded.

To come back to Michigan another year because when he got under Dusty May, that was somebody who really let him turn it loose, and it resulted in. Similar-ish stats for the year as his time in Carolina, but down the stretch of the tournament. And in the final four, he just turned it up a notch.

So I love that for them. Also, love it because you got. Tennessee transfer JP Estrella that committed the other day, actually, yesterday that happened. And That's pretty big.

Now... What if you get Juke Harris over there? I'm just saying. It would be an amazing thing to happen. Because if Juke Harris comes, he had, I think he put 19 to 20 on Michigan when they played.

Just a phenomenal player. And pair his shooting abilities with Cadeau's ability to pass the ball in random ways. It would be a spectacular show to watch. Pair it with a 6'11. Forward that we just got out of the portal.

I love it. Jew Karras. He's going to be a name to watch for Michigan or Carolina. What if we swipe him away from you? Wouldn't that be funny?

Jay Davis in our comments here says, So you're telling me the Hornet's going to win by more than six and Miller's going to have 20-plus points. I'm telling you, he's going to have under. 19 and a half. That's what I'm telling you, Jay Davis. But yes.

Lomello's gonna cook. Conkinipple's gonna cook. And Jay Davis also adds, WD, we want Juke and Chapel Hill. Yeah, we do. Yeah, we do.

People in Durham might have something to say about that too. The Triad's only live sports talk show, The Drive. Will Dalton turned your ride home into a full contact sports debate. Back at it on a Friday Drive, right here on WSJS, where we're now being joined by Stephen Beck. Who is the host of Waking Up Proud on Saturdays, the Daily Pulse now, 9 to 10 a.m.

weekdays? Where are you at right now? I am out swinging the sticks, brother. I mean, this weather master's weekend, about two hours ago, I get a call and it's like, let's go play golf. And I'm just like, how can I pass that up?

Let's do it.

So we're out in the triad playing a little bit today. I'm taking this hole off. They already agreed they'd give me a birdie.

So win, win, win. I love that. You you swinging them okay? Like, how's it looking? It's fair, man.

I mean, so I need to work on my short game, honestly. If I could putt, that would be a world's difference for me.

So Let's start with this. The live golf people Not having a great go of it. Especially day one didn't have a great go of it. And I know you're somebody who. Is not crazy about the live golf situation.

So I'm sure you have thoughts on this. Why do you think? The live golf people are struggling so much out on the masters course today. Yeah, I mean, I think it's a fair question. I think after day one, I saw where they were like 33 over par or something along those lines.

Um, honestly, because they don't face the pressure, right? I mean, the whole idea of live golf is that they've gotten the exorbitant amount of money, they've got the paycheck, they get to go out and play, you know, worlds away golf. But while they're doing it, they're wearing shorts and they're listening to tunes on the T-boxes. And up until this year, they were only playing 54 holes, so they weren't even getting in a full 72. And so I just think, you know, when you.

When you go from All amounts of pressure. In the PGA tour, and you got to have your card, you got to be in the top 100 or so to keep it. You got to win majors to really make some money. And then you take all that away and it's just handed to you on a silver platter. I don't think it sets you up for the best competitive advantage.

So, you know, it's interesting. I think I would add that I don't know that any of the courses, no matter where these guys go to in the world, that they would play. A caliber, of course, as difficult as Augusta. I just don't think they see that very often. Stephen Beck with us here on WSJS, where you can listen to him 9 to 10 a.m.

weekdays and 9 to 11 on Saturday mornings.

So, Patrick Reed, Rory McElroy, currently tied at the top of the leaderboard at 6 under par. Who are you liking? Who did you like coming into the tournament and how was that person doing so far? Yeah, no.

Well, I did a four-pick parlay, and I won't go there. It's not turning out too great because one of those guys was Bryson DeChambeau and four-pick parlay. You know, some of the other picks, Hideki Matsuyama and Matt Fitzpatrick and some of the other guys, again, struggle fast. But a part of that four-pick parlay was my out-right winner as well. And that's Justin Rhodes, who he's unscathed through today's round, actually picked up a couple of strokes, I believe, on the leaders.

And he's a guy who, honestly, he's very comfortable at Augusta Nashville. He's finished in runner-up position three times, I believe, notwithstanding the one that he had just a year ago. He's driving it, I think, the furthest he's ever hit the ball. And he's, what, 40 plus?

So we're talking about a guy who's, he's, he's just comfortable. I think he's going to be playing pretty free now. Will that compare at all to Rory McElroy? I swear I don't know. You know, Rory, he's got that.

I don't know if you know that Rory strut about him. He's got all sorts of confidence that's been built up now that he got the monkey off of his back a year ago.

So, um, what did he say last night? He was going to go up to the champions clubhouse, put on his green jacket, and have a drink. I mean, call it not many guys. Not many guys can flex that way.

So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see those two go against one another in a playoff setting, maybe again coming this year if they can both. Stay right there on moving day coming up tomorrow.

So we haven't uh Talked to you since High Point University, you know, had a nice little Cinderella story. In the tournament, we talked to Chase Johnston also here on the show to get some of his thoughts. And I'll just ask you, because you're somebody who's very involved with High Point University, it means a lot to you. What's something that's going to really stick out to you that you'll remember about this most recent run for High Point? Man, so much, honestly.

And I had I had. Large amounts of FOMO being back here in North Carolina, getting ready for that daily pulse program you already mentioned. And, you know, my guys are, of course, across country and Portland, but still, still, you know. Taken in all of what happened with Chase going from just.

Solely seen as a three-point sniper, which back here at home, we know better than that. But I'm talking just across general observers. That's all he was seen for. And he makes the winning layup. I mean, that's so divine.

I can't begin to really describe it.

So I would say that's probably the biggest thing. Aside from that, I just, I've really been. Immensely impressed at the alignment, top down. I'm talking, you know, president of the university to Dan Hauser, the athletic director, to Flynn Clayman, head coach. And when you get that symbiotic alignment, I'll just tell you, it's a world of difference made in a time right now where I think it's very slim margins in college basketball that separate really good from great.

I know you're out on the course and you're moving around on the golf cart, so I we'll just give you one last thing here. Waking up proud tomorrow morning, 9 to 11 here on WSGS. What give us a tease what we might expect tomorrow. Oh man, so much. You and your crowd should open up the phone lines.

and pitch this question. If you go wedding shopping and they Expect a tip. for the dress. Is that frowned upon or is that you know, is that normal? Stories like that coming up tomorrow.

I will be curious to listen to that because I assume you should tip, but I. I don't know. I have no idea. I think tipping culture has gotten completely out of hand. I never, as a dad of two young daughters, expectant that I'll have to pay for said wedding dress eventually.

I just never imagined at that venue that I would be expected to leave a tip.

Now, I'd certainly pay for the dress, but. I don't know that that's Not expected for me. That's coming up tomorrow, 9 to 11 a.m. Waking up proud. You can listen right here on WSJ.

Yes, Steven, enjoy the round of golf. Hope you shoot them well, and we'll talk to you next week. Absolutely. I got a birdie here, and I talked in all their backswings, so they're thrilled. Love that.

All right, Steven Beck. There he goes. Uh Love it. I love it when people call in from like just out in nature somewhere. Like, it's, I love that authenticity.

I really do. Just be where you are. You don't have to get all professional set up looking. Just. If you're at the grocery store, you're at the grocery store.

That's that's the way I view it. Tell you what else. YMCA. They'll get you right. It really will because A lot of times, if you are trying to get Into shape, get a good fitness program going for yourself, get a little more disciplined.

Sometimes by yourself, it can be difficult because you might not. Have the fortitude to keep yourself accountable, you might need somebody for that.

Well, The YMCA, they got people for that. And, you know, they got great. Machines at the gym there that they can help you with and kind of help you know. Because a lot of times you get on a machine for the first time, you don't even know what you're looking at or how to use it. They can help you with that.

Certified personal trainers.

So. They'll work one-on-one with you, help you stay motivated, accountable, and on track. Visit YMCANWNC.org. And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. This is the drive.

Talking sports the right way. Roy McElroy just reclaimed the lead. He's seven under par. Just got a birdie on 12.

So That put him a stroke above Reed there at the top of the board. We'll keep an eye on and keep updating you on. The Masters, what's happening out there at Augusta? But You know, golf is something that's very important to the triad. College basketball obviously is two.

But so is racing.

So is NASCAR. And as it just so happens, The producer of this show, Morgan Corson. Loves himself some racing, loves himself some NASCAR. Love it. And he's actually pretty knowledgeable about it.

Like me, I like racing. I was a little bit bigger of a fan as a kid. Um But I still like racing. I'm not as knowledgeable about it, like the ins and outs and everything like that. But Morgan is.

He's good at talking about it.

So this is us debuting something That we think the triad's going to appreciate. A racing segment called in the fast lane. Wow. Where speed meets the mic. Wow, what a move!

Channel this time! Get a rich chance! This is the Fast Lane on WSJS. Put on your seatbelt, check your mirrors, let's begin. Your fast track to racing talk.

Love this music. It reminds me of uh a like a a menu screen for a racing video game. That's that's what I'm that's the vibes I'm getting here. All right What do we have today? What all do you got for us?

So tonight kicks off. A three-day Three days of events at Bristol Motor Speedway. We've got the trucks tonight at 7:30. O'Reilly series tomorrow at 7.30 p.m. and Sunday five hundred laps.

at 3 p.m. at Bristol. In the truck series this year, it's pretty been dominated by Corey Heim this year. He's only raced three of the five races, but he's won two of them. He won 12 of the 22 races last year.

And despite that, he did not. Get a full-time ride in any of the three series. The truck series is the bottom series. And a lot of people expected him to get a Cup Series ride full time. And he didn't.

No one offered him one. No, we don't know why, but my assumption would be he didn't have any sponsors coming with him. Sponsor money is how you get rides in NASCAR, it's all money. You could be the best driver in the world and have no sponsors, and you won't get a ride. It wouldn't matter.

So, my assumption is: sponsors, that's just speculation. But.

There's currently amongst the media rumblings that he's gonna try and compete in the playoffs for the truck and run the rest of the truck series. But that would require him to get a waiver from NASCAR. You can't participate in the playoffs unless you've raced all the races. Mm-hmm.

So, you need a waiver for that. There's currently a movement right now amongst media and some fans. That that might happen for him. Because he's absolutely dominating. And semi-decent equipment for Tricon Garage, a Toyota-funded team.

So that's an interesting story developing. Um this weekend he's gonna be racing at Bristol in trucks. And he has a chance to win half a million dollars if he wins the race. as part of a mid-season update kind of refresher for the series. He won the two previous races at Darlington and Rockingham.

And if he wins this one, it's a $500,000 bonus, but he's going up against eight cup drivers. Have you ever heard of Kyle Busch? We've heard of him around here. He'll be racing Friday night. Just a little idea of what he's going up against.

So it's not going to be easy for him. It's not what I'm gathering here, even though he's been on a roll. Going up a series to the O'Reilly starting their mid-season cash grab called the Dash for Cash. Convenient. Four highest racers, four that finished at the top of the bracket there last weekend at Rockingham.

Race this weekend. for a hundred thousand dollars. and will automatically qualify next week if you win it. Put a dash for cash based there.

Okay.

Now on to the Cup Series. This is the fun stuff right here. This is the main event. Goodyear has been producing semi-decent tires for NASCAR for a while now. They're not road tires, they're racing slicks.

Yeah. But they haven't been very competitive with the tires. Goodyear designing them. This year we have a brand new tire for Bristol not seen before on track. Part of the issue is going from practice, qualifying to racing.

the tie, the different track temps. Cause tire wear to wear differently and rubber to be laid down on the track for extra grip differently. This is fascinating.

So you were telling me about this yesterday, and I did not know this. This is really interesting. Yeah, so depending on the temperature of the track, rubber gets laid down onto the track at a different pace. Thus, grip on the track is going to be a little different. The hotter the track, generally, the more.

Slick, it's going to be cooler to track, less rubber, a little more grippy.

So, this tire is going to be more even across the different times of the race. And gonna allow for more grip throughout the race, which has been a struggle in the last 10 years in these cars.

Okay, so. There's some things that, like, they've made some adjustments to these cars, like the fuel conserving or whatever it's called, that people did not like so much.

So, that doesn't apply to this track as much.

So, this is a half-mile track. That's going to be more about your two and a half miles, your Michigan, Daytona, and Talladega. Those are your fuel-conserving tracks, and they're kind of finishing, figuring it out. They just flip the stages, which. Doesn't really do much.

So, what they did is instead of having a 100-lap final stage, they're doing 100-lap first stage and then 50s after that. Doesn't really do much for the racing. It's just NASCAR saying they can pretty much say that they did something. But it sounds like the tire modification, though. Like that, this is probably a welcome change, actually.

This is a very welcome change. NASCAR and Goodyear actually listened to what the teams were saying, and they tested this tire in November. The three drivers that drove it, I think Bubba was one of them, had nothing but glowing reviews for it.

So that's a big one. They're gonna have 10 sets this weekend, which, fun fact, the teams actually have to buy the tires from Goodyear. They're not free.

So each team has to buy them. They'll get 10 sets for the race, and one for practice, and one for qualifying. And you mentioned some modifications to the car. Short tracks this year, 750 horsepower. They listened.

This is a huge deal for the cars. They've been flat out all the way down to the ground, pedaled to the metal, and they're not getting passes, and it's hard to pass. This 750 is gonna give the engine more go. And you can get fatty people a little easier, and it's easier to move these cars. They're heavy cars, the tires are super wide and super grippy.

These cars don't like to be moved, and you have to pretty much wreck somebody to get past them. This is going to be an interesting Bristol race for last year. This race, not a lot of passing. Kyle Larson pretty much dominated. This year, I'm expecting a lot of passing in a very competitive field.

Speaking of a competitive field though, Returning. to the Hendrik 48 car is Alex Bowman after a month and a half of vertigo issues that started at a road course. He left it early. Justin Allgard, then filling in, then doing okay for him, but. This car needed to have his driver back.

Alex Bowman is on the hot seat right now, if you don't know this. I don't. Hendrick is like the premier Mascar team. Yeah. They are.

That is like Jeff Gordon. He's the second in command there, I think. Second in command. Jimmy Johnson. Dale Mart Jr., later in his career, when he was driving that 88 car.

That was all Hendrick Motorsports. Chase Elliott, right now, Hendrick. That's the cream of the crop. That's the best stuff. And he's been underperforming.

He is on a contract year this year. If he doesn't win at least two or three races, he's probably not gonna be back in Hendrick equipment next season.

So, this vertigo really set him back a lot in his hopes to stay with this team. Onto the standings. Ooh. Tyler Reddick and Michael Jordan. have been absolutely crushing.

the competition. Four wins for Tyler Reddick. Three of the First three! First three. First time that ever happened, the driver won the first three races of a season.

He's been crushing it. Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin put together a really good team this year. Toyota's won five of the seven races this season so far. Chevy's got a new body.

So generally, when you get a new external body, It's gonna take a minute. to figure that out. Right, they were in the Mustang body or the Camaro body.

Sorry, they just went to a generic Chevy body, but the Chevys are figuring it out. This race looked for Kyle Larson. Kyle Bush, and Denny Hamlin to be out front this race. Those are my three picks. Mm.

A sleeper pick, Ryan Blaney.

Okay.

And that's been In the fast lane. Already got some good feedback on this segment in our uh In our YouTube comments here, little dog Writing in, Hell yeah! Racing talk. I love NASCAR in racing. And the only place I hear about it is on the NASCAR XM channel.

And now you can hear on this show too. That's what I got to say about that. And then he said Heim should be at in the 35 next year for the 23XI racing. Yeah, so the 2311 racing is Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin backed. The current driver in that is Riley Herps.

And he the reason he has that is because he has a huge monster backing. Huge. Monster's been with him for like the last five or six years. Um And while he's rising the ranks from Arca all the way up. But I feel like Heim is on a hot seat as well.

Or a. Not Heim, but Heim could take that from Herps this year. There's a potential for that. Herps has been massively underperforming compared to, well, Reddick winning four of seven. It's very fascinating stuff.

We know the triad appreciates racing, is passionate about it, so we just kind of wanted to get to.

some of those things.

Something else I wanted to get to though. Uh I saw this.

So wake four is golf. has put out a new logo. I'd like to know your thoughts on it.

So... If you're watching on our YouTube X stream, you can see this. It's what they're calling the swingin' deacon. Get this on a shirt and get it to the studio, somebody on a hat, on a hat. This would be awesome.

Like on a polo? Like, get it on a nice horizontal striped polo. Yeah. 336-777-1600 if you have thoughts on the swing in Deacon. I think this is sick.

Like, I. I know a lot of times people don't like to go away from traditional logos, but I think it's pretty cool. And if you're not watching on YouTube or X, first of all. what's wrong with you other than if you're driving then I don't want you to do it. And what it is, though, it's the demon deacon, shocker.

And he's got a driver. He's. He's all the way back. He's about to swing. And then the golf ball and the T here.

It's just got the Wake Forest logo on it.

So I think this is pretty cool.

Something else, though. The MLB Special uniform City Connect? Those have been revealed too. And if you're on YouTube and X right now, You're also going to take a look at these. Have you seen these, Morgan?

Is this the first time you got to see them? Briefly looked at them. It's nice to see another look at them so I can see just how bad all these jerseys are. Except for Atlanta. They are not bad.

Atlanta and Cincinnati have a good one. Uh the Pirates, that's a great one, I love that. All the other ones can go in the can though. Here's what I'd say. And we're going to talk to Darren Vought here in just a minute.

So, this is very fitting that we're doing this now. I'm sure he's seen these. He loves this type of thing. The Atlanta ones are sick. Loves that.

Um I saw the Royals Uniform getting a lot of hate. It's like an R with a crown over top of it, and then the crown is on the hat, too. Saw that getting some unnecessary hate and I don't appreciate it. I think it's pretty sick. Uh the Pirates With the all black, that's pretty cool.

I like that the Padres went back to the OG colors, the navy blue and orange. Went back to that? I don't get the Brewers' one. I mean, I get it, but I don't get why they went with this. It says whisko.

Should have just did Wisconsin. She just did that. Or just whisk. Yeah. Yeah, I guess.

I don't know. I don't. There's nothing pu There's no pizzazz there, in my opinion. If you want the pizzazz, look at this Cincinnati red uniform. That is terrific.

The best one of the group. Yeah, you got the C on one side, the number on the other, and it's all red. Red jersey, red pants. Go big red. He's a microphone popping over here.

That's not good. Baltimore. It's fine. It's yeah, it's pretty solid. I I don't like to give compliments to my indivision opponents, but um Yeah, the Boreals did pretty good here.

The Boreals. I love that. The Texas Ranger one where it's just Tejas. T E J A S Yeah, I don't. I'm not feeling that one.

Atlanta's the OG.

Now, I feel like they've done versions of this baby blue, powder blue, however you describe it, Atlanta jerseys before in different ways. But I mean listen. If it ain't broke. Those are the City Connect uniforms. Yeah.

No scripts, no safe takes, no chance, you're bored. You're on the Triad's longest-running live sports talk show, The Drive. Fight a drive right here on WSJS, and this is a segment we always look forward to where we welcome in our perennial baseball guy here on the drive. It is our good friend Darren Vought of ESPN, ACC Network, D1 Baseball, Lottery Boy, all of it. Darren, you sound like you're on the road.

Where are you heading? I am. I've got Duke at NC State. tonight. Uh big game one of a series, fun pitching matchup, and then um flying out tomorrow for Louisville for my network game.

On Sunday. It's a busy weekend, but glad to be with you. Love it. Always glad to have you.

So let's get to. Uh, that game that you're going to be on the call for ACC Network, one o'clock Sunday, part of your ESPN. Package, Louisville Stanford. Louisville is a team that made it to Omaha last year. Give us the scoop for this game.

What are some things we need to be watching out for as we listen to you on the call? Yeah, those familiar with my work know that I'm all about Stanford first baseman, the sophomore of the Japanese beanom Rentaro Sasaki. This will actually be since. Since I did that, that mini audio documentary series, however you want to categorize it. This will be the first time I've had San a Stanford game on my schedule, so I'm excited to see Renzaro, catch up with him and the rest of that staff that I got to know so well throughout that project.

Uh they just Stanford can hit it. Louisville can absolutely hit it. They hit about 340 as a team for the season, top 10 in the country.

So I would expect an offensive matchup, especially on a Sunday where pitching staffs are a little more uncertain. It's a series that both teams could really use. You mentioned Louisville baited to the College World Series last year. I was talking with Coach McDonald, Dan McDonald, their head coach, earlier today. And he, without really setting the bar at this team should be in Omaha.

He drew some parallels between this team and that team that they had a season ago. Louisville has struggled in ACC play, no doubt. They continue to hit it well. Pitching has been a bit of a question mark for them, but they've started to get some consistency with it. Like they've got their weekend rotation.

It feels like it's set. And that can settle a bullpen that's been in disarray as well. That was kind of the case for them last year. And they've had some star players out due to injury, much like they did last year. A season ago, Will, Louisville finished the regular season in ninth place in the ACC.

Yet they were the the league's only representative. in the College World Series. I I think there are some valid Parallels between that team and this team. Again, not that it's going to go to Omaha or is guaranteed to go to Omaha, but they've got some real star power with the bats. Tague Davis is if you're not familiar, You should probably tune in for him and him alone.

He's in the past week or so, he's hit two home runs. of four hundred ninety feet or more. One of them was at his eyeballs when it was pitched.

So like he's a stud. One of the more intimidating hitters in the country. They've got a guy like Zion Rose back in their lineup at the top of the lineup, who's just an electric player. Don't let him get on the base pad. He will terrorize you.

So I'm looking forward to it. Should be a lot of fun. And, you know, me, when we do these TV games, man, I root for the show. Therefore, I hope Stanford wins one and Louisville wins the other, and we got a rubber match on Sunday. Darren Vought with us here on WSJS of ESPN, D1 Baseball.

So switching over to the major leagues now. uh there have been a number of good storylines throughout the young Season that we've had so far, but what are some of the things that are standing out to you so far, Darren? I I think the young talent In baseball, this was a story last year, a story the year before. Like, that's one of the massive storylines to me, and it's just an. an illustration of how good we've got it in the game of baseball right now.

A guy like Connor Griffin making his major league debut at 20 years old for the Pittsburgh Pirates. I like I think this dude is is A-Rod, when it's all said and done, he's that kind of talent, and they just inked him to a long-term deal through 2034. Good for the Pirates, good for them in terms of. You know, a franchise that to be blunt, doesn't always try. And they're doing what they can to maximize the years in which they have Paul Skeens at the top of their rotation.

Connor Griffin's going to be a big piece of that, right, over many years to come. I think another story, Will, is. You remember how terrible the Colorado Rockies were last year. Oh, yeah.

Well, how about the best, the longest active winning streak in all of Major League Baseball right now? I don't think they're going to be good by any means, but again, another team in a market that bluntly doesn't always try to be successful. As a baseball team, actually putting it in and and trying some. Uh I like the A's for that reason too. We talked a lot about their young talent, including Well former Wake Forest star AL rookie of the year, Nick Kurtz, a season ago.

Jeffree Springs pitched another phenomenal outing as their starter yesterday. I like the A's a lot.

So, you know, kind of some unexpected. teams uh entering the fray is is one of the One of the things that really stands out to me early in the season, in addition to, and I'm sure you guys have covered it, the ABS challenge system. I mean, just what a. What a revelation. I think a few years ago when the pitch clock was introduced, We might have predicted that nothing could ever enhance the game more.

ABS is knocking on that door, man. It's been great to see. Yeah. Darren Vought with us here on WSJS. Before we get to out of left field, so we threw this up on the screen just a little while ago, putting it up on there now.

Obviously, you can't see it because you're driving, but I'm sure you've had a look at these City Connect uniforms in Major League. Baseball. There's some bangers in this, like Baltimore. I don't, you know, I don't like saying much good about the Orioles, but I actually think they did a good job with the whole B-more on the front. The hat, the logo's a little.

Meh. I think Cincinnati crushed it with the all red look. Atlanta with the baby blue, powder blue, whatever you want to call it, and just Atlanta on the front. I thought that was good. But what were some of your thoughts on the City Connect uniforms, Darren?

Yeah, I like Milwaukee's too. The Brewers with the whisko theme, sort for Wisconsin, obviously. That's a pretty good one. I honestly, flipping through the photos, I think it was on an Instagram post when I first saw them. All the new ones, I don't know that there are any bad misses.

With these uniforms, I like all of them. I'm with you on Baltimore. The hat logo is not it for me. I don't like the the Dialization on the numerals on that uniform, either. Otherwise, it had a chance to be a really, really clean uniform.

Um, but those, you know, I'll dock points for those two things and still like it a lot, right? I like the old school old school bird perched up onto the lettering over the chest. That's cool. Uh, Atlanta eight. Like, this is yeah, that's the best one.

Perfection. Perfection. Um that I Like those jerseys are gonna become pop culture phenomenons, I think. Like that, there will be. Yeah.

versions of that jersey worn in in music videos for years to come, I think. Like that it's gonna be uh a hit in that way just because of the the old old school but newness kind of nature of it, right? Like it's a perfect, perfect uniform. I thought the reds also did well with the solid reds. Those are cool.

The Pirates are it's a clean look. I just with the the lettering, when I first saw it, I was like, What's Paul Skeens doing in an Arizona diamond back? Like he doesn't play for them. You know, he's not he hasn't left the Pirates yet. But no, overall, I think it's a really, really good, clean set for everybody.

And now We get to out of left field. with Darren Vought. From minds that wander off a beaten path. Here we go. Unexpected, unscripted, unbelievable.

I like it. Simple to the point. It's the curveball of your day. Bring the bare necessities of life. Out of left field with Darren Vought.

All right, Darren. I'll get us going here.

Now, you can't see me right now because you're driving and you're on the phone. But I'm rocking a Reading Rainbow t-shirt. Then I got it goodwill. I thought it was pretty sick, pretty rad, and it got me thinking about a good question for today. What was your go-to kids TV show growing up?

What was your jam? Oh man, this is a long list, probably. Ricky Rainbow was one of them. Yeah. In the same vein, I loved Bill Nye, the science guy.

Get a little bit more into kind of like. The action hero boyhood side of it. Like know Power Rangers, the OG. Um And then, I mean, you know, you get a little bit older, and it's like, okay, I watched Stayed by the Bell before I caught the bus for school basically every day.

So like tha those are the ones that come to mind. But of course like some Saturday cartoons, like Teenage Beat the Ninja Turtles was one that aired. a lot when I was younger. Yeah. Yeah, no, that's a good enough list.

I don't need to hammer on that's a banger of a list. I was big on Arthur. Arthur was my jam growing up. Every day, 4:30, I cut on Arthur. That was it.

And then Mr. Rogers in the morning. That's what we did. And then that led into Reading Rainbow. Don't ask me why.

I still remember the TV slate. Morgan, what was your go-to TV shows as a kid? I loved Crocodile Hunter with Steve Irwin. That's a good ass. That was a good one.

I watched a lot of like classic cartoons, like the Jetson, Splintstones, and the Smurfs on Saturday mornings. Tom and Jerry, actually. Tom and Jerry's top tier. Tom and Jerry. I love Tommy.

I'll second that. I'll second that one, Morgan. My parents love to tell the story. You guys know I'm a twin brother.

So my twin and I were born. Actually, like these. Early in the morning, right? Like one of those weird birth times we see like 3 or 4 a.m., that kind of thing. And apparently, My mom, while birthing us, had Tom and Jerry on.

in the the the hospital.

So we often get sort of tied to that show as if it's part of our identity. But we watched it a lot as kids too.

So that, yeah, Tom and Jerry belonged on my list as well. I love that. I could watch that show for hours. Darren, what do you have for out of left field today? All right, so last time, I believe last time I was on, we talked about some TV shows, and I recommended shrinking on Apple TV for you guys.

Yeah. The finale, the season finale, season three finale aired earlier this week, or it came out earlier this week. And I've I'm man enough to admit when I get a little misty-eyed watching a TV show. Tear up a little bit with this finale. It was a feeler.

It was a real feeler, guys. Uh to which I ask When was the last time you cried? Oh me. Probably some astigma around this, guys. We gotta be out there and up front with right.

I agree. I agree. We've got to be very secure in our emotions as men. That's what we have to do. Men can cry all the time.

I would probably say the last time I genuinely cried was when Han Sola was killed in Star Wars. I think spoiler alert. It's been out for over a decade, so you'll be all right. Yeah, that one. That one got me a little teary-eyed, I'd have to say.

Morgan, what do you have an answer to this?

Well, you have to because you've cried before.

So, when was the last time?

So Monday evening. Michigan won the national championship, and a few tears may have been shed. Yeah, he's a die-hard Michigan fan, Darren. There you go. See, like we've got some joy.

We've got some some bucket on heartstring. It's applicable in so many situations. That's great. Fantastic. It really is.

Morgan. Very quickly, what do you have for us in out of left field? Rory had his master's dinner the other day. Yes. Two appetizers, a light main, and more of like a.

the second main like your main dish what do you have for that darren Two appetizers, a light main and a real mane. See, this is this is one that over the years we've kind of batted around on Masters Week. I I think Thank you. separate it into the tiers and that makes it a little more difficult for me 'cause I I kind of, Morgan, I want to go. I want to go like a little simple with the Master's Dinner.

Like, part of me, Will's heard me explain this, part of me just wants to be like, hey, let's just get a bunch of New York-style pizza and just like, make sure it's good, but have a lot of pizza, and then like. Donuts for dessert. I just would like to to Mystify Augusta a little bit with that menu selection.

So I'd have to put a little more thought into like a Uh you know a light Entree and then a main entree, and really dimishing it up like that. That's still an amazing thing. I think the pizza and the donuts crush it. That's the whole point. Like, me.

I went with um I don't even remember what I had in the entire menu that I did, but I had like breakfast foods. Because I'm a big breakfast guy.

So that would be awesome. Like breakfast. I think I had a breakfast pizza. Or breakfast nachos or something where you put like eggs. Was it breakfast nachos?

Okay.

With its like scrambled eggs on it, melted cheese, sausage. Maybe one half is sausage, the other's bacon. You just go all out with the breakfast Darren. Maybe I don't know. I just I just wanna like um A mean stack of of pancakes.

An omelette station. Uh you know, like waffles. I'm in. I'm in on breakfast for dinner at the Masters. Love it.

And that's been out of left field. with Darren Vought. Darren? Heading up the road. Be safe going up there to Raleigh, and we'll be listening to you on the call, Stanford at Louisville, ACC Network, 1 o'clock on Sunday.

We'll catch you then, and we'll do it again next time.

Sounds good. Thanks, Chance. Appreciate you guys as always. There he goes, Darren Vought. A V S P N.

We've had the latest statue disaster. It's fitting that we're talking baseball right now. Did you see this? I did just see this. See, I wish I had the video for you here, but um Maybe I could.

Pull it up in time. But essentially what it is, is Ichiro. is the latest to get himself a statue. And In Seattle, as it was being unveiled, And as the curtain, or the curtain, the sheet, whatever they put on it. was coming down Like, okay, what's his iconic stance?

It's the. The bat in front. That's that's Ichiro. He's he didn't that's his logo. and as the sheet comes down off of this statue, The bat bends and breaks and is just like Layin' flimsy there.

Like still attached. to the statue, but it's like bent over and it's How do you screw that up? It's the most iconic part of the statue is the Bat, the stance. Ichiro deserves better. What is that?

When are we going to get these statues right? When are we gonna get him right? Ah, geez. They got Peyton Manning's bust right at the Hall of Fame. They gave him a big enough forehead.

This is true.

Well, I tell you what If you're not driving right now, as you're going on X to look up the video that I'm describing to you, you know what you should also do? Go on our socials and take a look at it. See what I did there. WSJS Radio on X. WSJS Radio on Instagram.

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We would appreciate that. I'm sure Ichiro doesn't appreciate his statue being screwed up. Yeah.