Smelling Salts

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Where we are a week out. A week out from hearing this. Two. NFL draft night. A week away.

Between that The benches clearing between the Reds and Giants about an hour ago, and David Tepper unveiling stuff in downtown Charlotte earlier today. How could I not be in a great mood? Not going to let the fact that the Yankees are losing to the Angels right now get me upset. Not going to do it. Not gonna.

Seven to four, top of the seventh. Um And the Hornets have their opponent. We know who it's going to be. The last thing standing. in front of the Charlotte Hornets.

and ending a 10-year playoff drought. is the Orlando magic. I don't know what I assume it was smelling salts. That's what it looked like it was last night on the broadcast.

So I was getting the magic and the Sixers queued up because I'm like, all right. The Hornets got one of these teams, so let me dial it in here. I was eating up some food. What did I eat last night? I can't even remember.

Sometimes you're just so busy you forget what you ate earlier. Um Salmon. I grilled salmon. I was grilling salmon and I cut the game on. And I see this on my TV here as you're looking at the broadcast on our YouTube and X, and as you hear it over the radio here.

Oh my god. Sunday's lost. The Bostons. Jamar Mosley. Must have been smelling salt there.

Second play in tournament appearance. This team knocked down Atlanta. We assume it was smelling salt. Whatever it was. You better get a good sniff tomorrow night, buddy, because the Charlotte Hornets are coming to town.

That's right. If you're a Hornets fan. This is the matchup you wanted over the Sixers because. First of all, you got to play on the road as the nine seed. And You'd rather play in Orlando than Philly.

Those Philly fans are crazy. Even if you're a Philadelphia, whether it's the Phillies or the Sixers or the Eagles, even you sometimes playing in front of your home crowd is a little. A little dicey. Uh Also The Orlando Magic are not playing particularly great basketball right now. It's okay.

But I don't think they're having the season that they kind of wanted to have. They've kind of fell down into the play-in as opposed to like a team going up in it. It's not exactly where they wanted to be. In fact, I believe the former host of this show, Josh Graham, actually had the Orlando Magic going to the finals, NBA Finals, I believe that was. Yeah.

Sixth Man of the Tar Heels B Dot's going to join us at 4:30. We'll chat with him about this matchup, too, maybe get his thoughts on that. But, um, This isn't how Orlando thought it was going to go this year. And Paolo Bancaro specifically hasn't been very Consistent offensively the last month or so of the year here. And he can be a little turnover prone sometimes, the former Duke Blue Devil.

And Paulo After the game last night, He actually, you know, talked a little bit about the Hornets and It is true what he said here, the Hornets have had Orlando's number this year. Yeah, they're been playing really well. You know, they've kicked our ass this year.

So we got to be ready. I got to be ready. And. You know, we have to be locked in from the jump. You know, I thought we played hard tonight, but it wasn't enough.

And so it's going to take even more of an effort. And it's going to take, you know, me playing better as well, you know, for us to get the win.

So it's definitely a big game on Friday. Hornets are 3-1 against the Orlando Magic this year. You had that first match up. In Charlotte. back in October.

Uh that was the first one that the ma and first and only that the magic won. But Then the Hornets. Got Orlando the next three times. Two of those three being in Orlando. And then the finale of those about a month ago on March 19th was just a blowout win for the Hornets, 130 to 111.

in front of the home crowd.

So As Paolo pointed out there, the Hornets, they've had the Magic's number.

Now, you don't want to take them for granted. if you're Charlotte, and I don't think they will, but When you look at the way The magic had been playing. And even just listening to what Paolo said, there's like, yeah, they've kind of kicked their ass this year. It's like, it's true, but. I don't know.

It just.

Something's not right with Orlando right now. And I think even Magic fans would appreciate it, would agree with that. There's also A draft pick angle to this.

So I was reading that If Orlando lost to Philly last night like they did. What that would mean for Charlotte is, obviously. You play them in Orlando, but then Uh you also would have had The hornets getting A lottery pick via Orlando? That's something you're going to get.

So, there's also draft implications here, which is a nice little bonus as well.

So This is the matchup you wanted if you're Charlotte. They only scored 97 last night against the Sixers. It was a disappointing loss. And meanwhile, the Hornets are on a bit of a high here. But this win.

the other night. against Miami. And that Could be detrimental just to look at every possible angle here if you're Charlotte. You don't want to Go into this where all we emptied the bucket against Miami. And then you don't have as much left in the tank for Orlando.

But I actually don't think that's going to happen because what did we talk about the other day? Mah. The hornets were able to beat the heat. Despite the fact that they shot Awful. One of their worst shooting nights of the year.

2 of 16, Lamello from 3. 0 of 6, Con Knipple from 3. I don't think that's going to happen again. And That's the next thing I wanted to get to was Con Kenipple. I don't think he's going to shoot that way again.

Because there are certain shooters, there are certain players where when they get in slumps like this. It's almost like maybe a good example of this could be like Bryson D. Chambeau as a golfer. On the Masters. You know, out at the Masters this last weekend, and sometimes other places he's done this, where, like, it's not working, it's going bad for him.

And it's almost like he. Like he doubles down and it gets worse. Golf is a terrible sport for that. Baseball is a terrible sport for that, where the harder you try, the worse you do. And sometimes shooters can do that when they're in a bit of a slump.

Con Kniple doesn't strike me as that type of guy. He got benched the other night. All the national shows were talking about it yesterday. People that have not watched the Hornets until the last little bit here. We've watched pretty much every game.

Our local media covers every game. They know the real story here, they know the real con Knipple. He's not going to be phased by being benched the other night. It was as simple as he didn't have it. It was an off night.

This is a winner-go-home, and they had to make a move. And that was Grant Williams being in there instead, Kobe White being in there instead, who had it? Kobe White.

So Con Canibble I don't see him going over again, and I see him being just fine, despite what maybe the national media might tell you. That also brings us to Lamello Ball. And the situation there.

So They Investigated, took a look at everything. Lamella Ball has been fined $35,000. For his tripping of Bay Metabayo the other night. And they also upgraded that to A flagrant.

So Then they also fined him for Cursing on the postgame. interview there with Prime. 25k, so 60k in in all, all in all, flagrant, no suspension. which is about what we thought. It was going to be And Yesterday as we watched the national media again.

most notably Nick Wright, who called him a clown. On first things first. And then LeVar Ball had a response to that last night. You can go look that one up. It it does give The national media Some fodder for LaMelo Ball because they haven't really had it because the Hornets haven't been relevant.

And yes, LaMelo Ball is immature. He is very immature. He's also a hell of a basketball player. Those two things can coexist, and I don't think the Hornets are asking him to be the face of the franchise and the leader. That's not.

That's not his role. They just need him to be LaMelo and to play the way he plays and to facilitate for everybody else. But I wouldn't expect the national media to know that because they don't watch the Hornets that way or that closely. But they do like to tee off on figures like LaMelo when they get an opportunity to do it. We did hear from Charles Lee yesterday.

He had things to say about. Lomello and the apology that Lamello did give after the Miami game the other night. I love that Melo took accountability, apologized. I think the league handed out something that was what they peeked to be fair. And we're glad that we still have him going on to the next game.

I know he never has the intent to try to hurt anybody out there on the court, but glad everything is kind of settled now. Hornets Magic in Orlando tomorrow night for a trip. To play a series against the Detroit Pistons in the first round. Please, basketball gods, we're almost there. Give us the Detroit Charlotte series we've all wanted.

336-777-1600 is the number to call. If you have thoughts on the Hornets. Face off with the Orlando Magic tomorrow night. Do they get it done? Do they get to the playoffs for the first time in a decade?

Do you like the fact that they drew Orlando instead of Philly? I want to hear from you at 336-777-1600. Morgan Corson. We'll do it live. That's the exact.

We'll do it live! Producer? of this show? Baseball's on today. Hey, we got live action.

Hit it again. Hit it again. We'll do it live. We're doing live! That's right.

What do we got? What's going on? Don't talk about the Yankees. I want to hear about it. What's going on?

Tigers are up 6-3 on the Royals in the top of the seventh. Bottom of the sixth, the White Sox leading Tampa Bay 2-1. And in the top of the fifth, the Rangers lead the Athletics 1-0. And we have three games that have finished. The Brewers beat the Blue Jays 2-1, the Giants beat the Reds 3-0.

And we had some free baseball in the Washington Nationals Pirates game. Went to 10 innings. The Nationals ultimately win 8-7. I will add to that. I don't want to talk about the Yankees right now.

But I do want to talk about the fact that Mike Trout and Air Judge have put on a show. in this series Between the b the both of them. They have combined for seven home runs over the course of three games. seven. You actually had an interesting fact about Aaron Judge.

Yes, before the game today in his last fifteen at bats, Aaron Judge has had five home runs. He's home running once every three at bats, which is ridiculous. He is now tied with today's home runs for number one in home runs in the MLB. Yeah. Mike Trout had one in this game.

Aaron Judge, he's actually at the plate right now. He's also had a homer in this game, which, again, it just, it's so crazy. Both of them three-time MVPs. I hate that Mike Trout is an angel because it just wa I just think he's wasting his career there. Two outs, bottom of the seventh.

Aaron Judge is at the plate. I'm sure I won't react to that in the next few minutes. Let's get to the Carolina Panthers. Because David Tepper Been kind of busy. And he was uh showcasing some stuff.

in Uptown Charlotte to day. As we're now a week out of the draft, a lot going on there, but what we saw was. They actually unveiled And I'll see if I can get a picture of this up on our YouTube and X stream here. They've unveiled a new practice facility that they're about to get to work on. And they're going to be create it's going to be an indoor facility.

A hundred-yard full field indoors. That's right. And Morgan just had a. Eye-popping reaction to that. And according to David Tepper earlier today, this is going to be The only indoor one hundred yard training facility in the NFL.

Really? That's correct. 'Cause c it's pretty common in college to have that, actually, up north. A lot of the Big Ten teams have a full 100-yard- Which is surprising why an NFL team hasn't. Yeah, I mean, Cincinnati just got an indoor facility a few years ago.

Yeah. Dave Canalis was hitting the keep pounding drum. He was up there today. Here's a rendering of what this is going to look like if you're watching on YouTube. An X.

Pretty cool, huh? That is awesome. I love that. Not bad. And then so that's the indoor piece of it.

And then here's an overhead view with The Charlotte skyline in the background, and then down the lower third of the screen on the left side, you can see two fields on the outdoor. part and then you have the outside part of the indoor facility. Right there. In the heart of Charlotte. Pretty cool stuff, methinks.

So that's what was going on in Uptown Charlotte today, as Morgan is now taking up the entire screen on our YouTube feed. Hey, what's happening? Um But yes, so you had that going on.

So those are positive vibes. And then... With Chuba Hubbard there, Wesley Walls, the Panthers legend there today, Musa Muhammad was there. You also had Derek Brown there today. And, you know, he was talking about.

We tried to get a clip of it, but the audio was off somebody's phone there, and it just wasn't good audio. But. He essentially was talking about Whether the momentum surrounding the Panthers helps attract free agents. And Derek Brown says ultimately it comes down to the money. That's really what it's about.

But he did say That having guys that want to be there, like a Jalen Phillips, like a Devin Lloyd, Rasheed Walker, who we're going to hear from in a second. That's very beneficial to have. It really is. And you want to have guys that want to be there. Let's get to Rasheed Walker.

Here he was a couple of weeks ago when he was introduced to the media for the first time talking about what the Panthers are building. I'm just ready to get in and start building, you know, building the program, you know, building the franchise up and you know what I'm saying? Like the last three out of the four seasons I was at Green Bay, we went to the playoffs.

So, you know, I think I know what it takes to, you know, make through the playoffs and win in the playoffs. And, you know, with the group of guys that we have and what the team is building, I feel like, I mean, we have a shot. Things getting very busy. For the Carolina Panthers, as we are a week out from the NFL. Draft.

That drive home vibe. Sports talk that doesn't care about your feelings. This is The Drive, the Triad's longest-running live sports talk show. Back at it on a Thursday drive, right here on WSJS. We'll get to the six-man of the Torah Heels B-Dot in about 10 minutes from now.

But before we do that Our producer Morgan has compiled a list. It's a list of things you didn't realize, you didn't know. You needed to know. And we get to that now. Things you want to know, you should know, but you don't know.

What? What? Oh my. The game within the game. What do you mean by that?

Let me give you an example. Time for stuff you didn't know, you needed to know. Really? So, earlier this month. We had a high school softball game.

Between Southwood and Huntington, In Louisiana. That set a national record with 99 combined runs. The game featured 575 pitches, 62 hit batters, a cycle, and the same player had a 14 RBI performance.

Southwood's Sedera Kalars threw all 296 pitches over seven innings for Southwood. She walked 21 and struck out 11. And there were five Huntington pitchers. We don't have their rosters, but they had five. for about 300 pitches.

Addison Patterson Hit the cycle, went 8 for 9, hit the cycle, and had 14 RBIs, which is the sixth most all-time nationally for a high school softball game. 99? 99. That's a lot of offense, man. 54 to 45.

Jeez, that just sounds so chaotic.

So chaotic. Going to Steph Curry now. Ha ha ha. Steph Curry has a career three-point percentage of 42.2%. Tom Brady has a Super Bowl appearance percentage of 43.4.

which means Tom Brady is more likely to make a Super Bowl. Then Steph is to make a three. What a stat. Yeah, Don Bridge went to 10 Super Bowls in 23 years. Went to a few.

That's insane, man. Good stuff. Today is also the day that Tom Brady was drafted by the Patriots. To the day. Shout out.

New England, what up? It is calculated that Major League Baseball goes through about 850,000 baseballs a season. The checks out. Text out. And the first draft pick ever.

in the 1936 NFL draft. Jay Berwanger. Never played professional football. He declined. to become a rubber salesman.

A rubber salesman? And that was actually pretty common at the time, but it's kind of funny that the first. Rubber. Rubber salesman. I can't get over the fact that it's more likely that Tom Brady goes to a Super Bowl than Steph Curry on threes.

Not if he's playing the Clippers. Let's talk about that. That's been things you didn't know you needed to know. Very good stuff. Ninety-nine runs.

That's a lot of offense. And softballs Fast. Like, that's the difference between baseball and softball, is like, it's, it's a. Much everything's a lot more closer together. And it's faster and it just That just sounds like chaos.

Um Yeah, the Warriors. They did it Steph Curry did it to you last night.

So They were trail uh the Clippers led. By about 10, give or take. Down the stretch of most of the fourth quarter of this game, it was in LA. And Even with six minutes in change, the Clippers led by ten. But down the stretch You got close.

It got interesting. And yes, Steph Curry is back. With the Warriors now, he's healthy. You love to see it and with 50 seconds to go. Everything was tied in the fourth quarter.

117 apiece. Steph Curry did this. Buck Curry, three. Come on! Thirty-four thirty-five.

Four for Curry. Playoff Steph is back. How did that make you feel? You're a Clipper fan. How'd that make you feel?

Same old run-of-the-mill Clippers. Speaking of that. Chris Paul got in on this last night. And I'm glad he did. I am too.

We'll ask our guy Beatot about this here in about five minutes. But Chris Paul, who was. Inexplicably let go and cut by the Clippers this year for, God forbid, daring to. Ask for accountability from players. That's essentially what it is.

You know, Chris is a very intense guy. He's got standards, and he apparently was looking for accountability players and coaches. And I guess they didn't like that very much. This was back when the Clippers had a terrible record earlier in the year, and they let. Would you say he's the greatest clipper or the biggest clipper legend of all time?

Yeah, he's uh he's definitely number one. He is.

Some people might say Blake Griffin.

Okay. I think I would put Chris Paul. I would put Chris Paul above Blake Griffin. You let the greatest legend in the history of your franchise you did him that way. You cut him in that way and the way you did on the road just saying, Yeah, find a way home.

It's a joke, man. And I'm glad that Chris Paul got in on this.

So he posted this meme on his Instagram story. And for our radio audience. It's the um It's the black guy in a suit with the shades on, just like posing in front of the camera. While the casket's being carried in the background, my guys just chill here while this funeral procession's going on in the background. That's the meme he chose after the Clippers lost last night.

That's um Yeah. And the Clippers don't even get a draft pick this year in the first round. That lottery pick goes to the Thunder. Mm, mm-mm-mm. Clippers.

What are we doing? Trade the team. Get Kawhi out of here. Yeah, I don't foresee that one happening. Which you should do though.

is go to WSJS.com. Because what you can do Unlike the Clippers last night, is you can become a winner. Yeah. And what we're doing here is we've got A chance for you to win a hundred dollar gift card to East Coast Wings and Grill. And we have an opportunity for you to win.

Some tickets for each game of the series between NC State and Wake Forest Baseball out at the couch. We've got that for you. Oh, great. The Angels lead 11-4 against the Yankees. That's lovely.

Um.

So we can get you in on that. WSJS.com, register there. And you could win tickets to go see Wake Force and NC State go at it for an entire series out at the couch. And win a $100 East Coast Wings and Grill gift card. That's how you can do something the Clippers didn't and win.

That's all I got to say about that. And now It really is my honor to talk about arguing sports so you don't have to argue at home. You're on the drive. We are joined now by one of our favorites. Maybe our favorite.

It's the sixth man of the Tar Heels, B Dot joining the show now. B Dot, how are we doing, my guy? Man, life's great, W.D. How you been, my boy? I'm just up here saying things into this microphone here, you know, talking some hornets and whatnot.

Hey, talking to them hornets, man. Hey, just booked my flight. I will definitely be touching down in Orlando at two o'clock tomorrow. And I can't wait to see the Hornets make history. I saw, I heard you yesterday talking about it's gonna be history when the Hornets, the Panthers, and the Canes all make the damn playoffs for the first time ever.

Man, I'm super lit for that. I love it, man. I love it.

So let's get into. where you're going. Do you were you happy that the Hornets drew Orlando and not Philly? Because I mean, that Philly crowd, that can be tough. That can be even tough for the Sixers, like much less the opposing team.

Were you happy with the draw? Yeah, a little bit, man. Just because Orlando's been a little like they're limping. They're limping. And Philadelphia, Maxie, and them boys, they get the getting buckets and VJ.

And like, I just didn't, I didn't want that test. Those guards, they held on wheels. I would rather go down here to, I was listening to you earlier to the Paolo Bencaro, who just sounds so defeated. And I absolutely love everything about that. I love everything about it.

I love how we won because a tar heel had to come off the bench and save us. I love the fact that it's tar heels up right now, man. You dig, like, I was joking on the podcast with PJ and Dez telling them, like, yo, like. You depend on a Duke player. What happens?

It goes 0 for 6. It goes 0 for 6. What do you need? A tar heel to come save you. It's always Carolina.

We up. Go heels. Man, tell me about it, because you and I were texting during the game. Just tell me how that made you feel. I mean, Kobe was killing it in the third quarter.

Like, he was making it happen. And then just that moment where it felt. It felt like they were done. And I'm sitting here. Dez joined me yesterday, and he was saying exactly how I felt in the moment.

I don't want to stop watching this Hornets team play. Like, I don't want this to be over. And then Kobe, North Carolina's finest, does that. How did that make you feel? What was your reaction to that?

I was just lit, like all of the Hornets, like we are Hornets fans, I mean, like, we all felt the same synergy, like. It felt so good to be on this side of one of those games. You did, like Dez had, of course, mentioned. The the the the Matt Stafford drive down the field and taking the harder, like the Charlotte area, the fandom here, like just needed something like this. And to your point, man, Kobe, when he hit the three at the end of the third, like it was just energy.

And then uh, uh, Mellow comes down and just makes the bonehead play like fouling hero on the three. And I'm just like, damn, like, then he goes and gets a bucket, like, it's just. Even when Kobe hit the three to go into overtime and they're playing, big shout out to the Hornets game day entertainment staff because to have the rocky theme music playing and don't turn it all the way off, to still have the steel playing a little bit in the background as he takes the shot, and then you bring it back up full volume and the crowd is chanting, Kobe, Kobe, like, oh my gosh, it was orgasmic. It really was. It really was.

Six man of the Torheels beat out with us here on WSJS. You mentioned LaMello. I mean, that dumb play. Let's go a little further back because we got to talk about it because everybody is. the tripping of a bam out of bio, Did you think it was a dirty play?

And Did you think it was intentional? Where do you land on that? By definition, I do think it was a dirty play. I do not think it was malicious nor intentional. I don't.

Um paint. Uh, Mello as a Grayson Allen. I don't paint him as someone who does this often, even though there is a clip circulating where he has done it to Bam before. Um, I think he needs to apologize. Um, he needs to get on the phone with Bam.

Like, I don't think he should have gone and tried to go to the locker room after the game. Bam was probably very, very high, and that could have got very, very. Absolutely.

So, like, give them a call. Like, let them know it was nothing malicious about that. You apologize.

So, that narrative can just get out there and folks can just shut up about that whole situation. But, Melo, the reality is he's got to grow up, man. He's got to grow up because he's in a space where he can be the face of not only the hornets. But of the NBA. He is one of those guys, man, that kids look up to.

They want to be like Mello. They want to have their hair curly and dye different colors. And they want to look around with the tattoos. And they want to shoot off one foot. And they just want to be him.

And he has a real, real responsibility. And I hope that he can understand that and follow suit in that because he can be legendary. He can be a legendary figure in not just Charlotte, but in the NBA. He's in the space where I felt like they wanted John Morant, but John Morant got the shooting and looking at strippers and types of things on it all time.

So he sort of messed it up and fumbled the bag. But Mello, if he can just get a designated driver, get a ride share service like Wave or something, and go sit down somewhere, he'll be straight. Do you find it frustrating like listening to? The way the national media talks about Lamello and just how he is as a personality when they haven't watched the Hornets really all year long, but now because you have this moment with Bam the other night, oh, you know, Lamello's a clown and he always has been types of. Like, does that frustrate you hearing that when they really don't even know anything about it?

Nah, because I'm personally used to it. You dig? Like, it's all the time I get introduced to new audiences and they're like, who the hell is this guy? And people say all types of ridiculous stuff. But all you got to do is, well, all Mello has to do is what I've been able to do for the past 20 years in my career.

Stay consistent and keep delivering top-tier content and quality content. The reality with Mello is if he continues to win, nobody's going to be able to say nothing. If he messes around and goes down here to Orlando tomorrow and goes for another 30 ball and we win that game, then we go to a Detroit series and oh my gosh. Like, everybody's talking like we can't beat Detroit in seven games. Why not?

Detroit's not used to this either. Detroit is just as new to this whole experience as we are. Like, they're having a great year and they are above the east. They're the top dog in the east. But this is new territory to them, just like it's new territory to us.

The difference is they're playing with a number one beside theirs, and we're playing with house money. Do you know the freedom we play with house money? That's how I know I'm going to take the over with Kon Knipple on these threes. He's not going to go over again. It's not going to go over.

Oh, he's going to bounce back. He's going to bounce back. He's like, Come on, man. This dude is a shooter. He just had one of those nights.

And that's what's great, though. That's what's awesome about this Hornets team. Brandon Miller didn't play the best game, but Miles Bridges balled his ass off. Yes, he played. Mello had 30 points on 31 freaking shots.

He didn't have a great game. He was two for forever from the three-point range, but he hit the game winner for us to win that joint. Miles had the game ceiling block. Kobe can't. We got so many weapons.

Like, we didn't play anywhere near our best game. And beat a heat team that was damn fighting their fourth year in the damn play in. You know, they wanted to get out of that play in if nobody else. And we held it down in Charlotte, man. I like this team.

You know, I did love that it was Miles Bridges that had that block because he's been here for eight years. He's seen it all. He's seen every man. And they like, and they try to talk trash about Miles. Get Miles out.

I got a best friend. I hope he's listening. Kwame Opada. If you're listening right now, Q, you are a fool. And now, how do you feel?

Because all year he's been telling me, get Miles Bridges. A lot of them have. And look at Miles. Miles with a game ceiling block. Because if Miles doesn't get that block, guess what?

We're crushed. Yeah, he was getting to the hole. He was getting to the cup. He was. We'll get to the Tari heels in just a second, but lastly, since We both love our former host of this show, Josh Graham.

And we still hang out on Westwood One Sports Night, which you can listen to on WSGS as well, which is pretty cool. You know, he's a little bit dismissive of the Hornets and Lamello ball. We both get frustrated at this. Do I remember correctly? Do you know where I'm going with this?

Oh, absolutely. I was on Josh's show last night. Oh, you were? Oh, yeah. Caroline.

Do I have it right that he had Orlando going to the finals? The finals. and didn't have us um winning 40 games. Yeah, didn't have us winning 40, had Orlando in the finals, didn't want Brandon Miller, wanted Scoot over Brandon Miller, and didn't want Mello at all. Wanted Anthony Edwards.

Everybody wanted Anthony Edwards, but it wasn't just he wanted Anthony Edwards. He vehemently did not want Mello Ball. He hates Mello Ball. And now he's trying to be on this nationally syndicated show.

Well, I'm here in the Carolinas and Charlotte. No, no, no. Don't you dare think you're going to get on this national platform and act like you're a Charlotte Hornet supporter. You are not, buddy. And I'm here to let everybody listening tonight know that Josh Graham is not a Charlotte Hornet supporter.

And the fact that the Hornets. Very well could eliminate the Orlando match. And I'm going to be there for it. I'm going to be there for it. I could not wait.

I love it.

It's terrific. V. Six Van of the Tar Heels with us on WSJS very quickly, and we appreciate you joining us here. as you get ready to go to Orlando and watch the Hornets get to the playoffs. Make history, baby.

Talk in some Carolina hoops. Believe in Hills Hoops, you, PJ Harrison, our guy Desmond Johnson that was with us yesterday. We had PJ in here last week. How have you felt about What Michael Malone has started to put together so far with his roster, or maybe not put together just yet, because there hasn't been a ton of action just yet. We're obviously waiting to hear what Juke Harris is going to do, Terrence Brown as well.

What are you noticing so far? What are you liking or not liking? I'm liking the size that's coming in for sure. The V-Tech transfer was amazing. Like, I'm hoping that, you know, I'm seeing all types of crazy stories about Henry, but I'm pretty sure Henry staying.

I like Jaron Stan. I like Jaden Young stand. We need a shooter. That's what I really need more than anything. Like, we got a lot of size, even with guys talking about trying to get Slim Jesus in.

And we're very excited about Miko coming in. I would love to see him in a Tar Hills jersey, but I want a knockdown shooter. I'm talking about just a you did. Like, even with Juke Harris coming in, I love Juke. That's 19 points a game at weight, but I need somebody.

I need a sniper. I need a Wayne Ellington back. I need a, you know what I mean? Like, I need somebody to shoot the laces off the ball. But other than that, though, man, like, I'm liking it.

I'm a little nervous. I'm hearing some names getting going. I was really hoping that we could make a move possibly on Bryson Tiller when he left Kansas. We didn't get that. I don't even know if we were pursuing that, but that was just on my own personal goal list, just so I could sing the Bryce.

Until the song don't every time he did something, but that's just for on personal selfish. That has nothing to do with nothing. I like what Coach Michael Malone is doing, man. And I'm supporting it. I'm full ride.

I think it was smart on the Mingo decision. After the reports are true, that yeah another year after for injury and that type deal. Like, you know, I was going to ask you about that if you thought that was a big deal or not. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I did.

I thought that was a huge deal. Like, because at first I thought it was a possibility. And I said Coach Mingo a second ago. Of course, I meant Coach Malone. But I thought it would have been a dope idea for the Mingo brothers to both be at Carolina.

You know, but if the Mingo, the younger Mingo brother is demanding that he gets more money and demanding that you bring my brother and demanding that I got to sit out another year.

Well, you can take that baggage on, brother. We're not really dealing with making demands now. We want somebody that wants to be a Tar Heel by any means necessary. And that's all we're about. He apparently uh Malone, Michael Malone, he apparently told Jaron Stevenson that he could play like an Aaron Gordon.

Tyve Roll. And that man, he turned Aaron Gordon into a jump shooter, a beard jump shooter. Do you hear me? Yeah. Jaron can shoot.

He's got it in him. It wasn't always consistent last year, but he could do it. And somebody else that he can turn into uh Aaron Gordon is uh is that uh uh Maximo Adams is coming. Yeah, like I absolutely love his game, man. Like, he is one of those guys that like can just I was saying, I don't believe in heels hoops.

Like, he gets it off the bounce, he can like just bink, bink. Like, he loves a 1v1 five dribble. Let me get to the cup. He can catch and shoot the big physical presence. Like, I really like that, man.

I like him. I'm excited about next season already, man. I can't wait to see what Coach Michael Malone can do, man, to get us back on track to being the dominant Tar Heels that we know we are. Sixth man in the Torheels. D-Dot.

He's heading to Orlando. Have fun down there. Hopefully, you get to see the win that we're all hoping for on a. We'll get you on here next week to tell you, to hear what you did or did not see in Orlando tomorrow night. Feedout, we appreciate it, man.

We'll get you next time. Y'all be good. You got it, man. There he goes. Six man of the Tar Heels.

B dot. Clock out. Turn it up. Let's ruin some narratives. What she wants I know Welcome to The Drive, the Triad's longest-running live sports talk show.

Back at it as we wrap up hour one here on the drive. You are listening to WSJS. Appreciate B Dot. Six Man of the Tar Heels. For joining us just a little while ago as he's getting ready to head to Orlando.

To see the Hornets take on the magic tomorrow night. Can't wait for that game. Speaking of the play-in tournament. I played some bets last night. I did.

And we had some winners. Let's get to it. Stack it up, stack it, stack, gotta stack it up. Get the money, get the money on the side up. It's time to cash in.

Welcome to Dalton's Dollars. Don't be the money! Yeah. Show me the money. Breaking down the board and building the bankroll.

All right. Yeah. I placed a bet on each of these games last night, starting with Philly and Orlando. I was able to get the Sixers as a one and a half point favorite. Was able to do that.

And That cached. Drop me the money! You darn right. You darn right, Jerry McGuire. Only 97 points last night.

Only 97 that the Magic were able to score. The Sixers, however, had 109. I also took. Um But warriors to cover I ended up get them I ended up getting them At Six and a half point dogs last night going to LA to take on the Clippers. And thanks to Steph Curry.

Morgan shaking his head over there. He's a Clipper fan. 126, 121. Warriors win it outright. You'll be the lion!

2-0 the last two nights of the play-in tournament. Oh, my bets. It's not bad. There's no play-in action tonight. Which is why we got to play some baseball bets.

That's what we got to do. Let's start here.

So You've got the Astros. Taking on the Rockies. It's in Houston. Rockies, not very great. I like the Astros money line.

I get that at minus 172. Drop me to the- I'm not sure what I'm doing. Placing these bets in real time right now. Yep, we'll play some on that. All right.

Guardians They got the birds. The Birds in Cleveland. I'm in a bad mood because the Yankees lost to the Angels 11-4. I don't want to see anything good happen to the Orioles. Ever.

But especially right now. as I'm suffering a loss.

So give me the Guardian's money line against the Orioles. See? I get that at minus 126 odds. And then, other than that, Let's see. Looking at some player props.

Mm. I don't think I'm gonna do any player props tonight. Not gonna do that. I will place one more bet, however, on the Padres and on the Mariners. I'm gonna take with Walker Bueller on the mound.

I'm going to take the Padres money line tonight. At home against Seattle, I get that at plus one or two odds. Drop it! We love that. We love that.

So, in review. Astros money line against the Rockies. Guardians money line against the Orioles. Padres money line against the Mariners. Let's have a sonite.

I like that. I like that a lot. That's been Dalton's dollars. You know what you should do? You should go to WSJS.com.

It's a great website. Shout out to DJ Turner. Here that makes everything sound good at the station. You know him very well on this show. And That's where you can go to listen to all of our programming.

Um Whether it's us right now. You might not be able to stay in your car, but you want to keep listening to it wherever you're going. Pop in the AirPods, WSJS.com. And you can keep listening to it. You can also go there to hear the herd with Colin Cowherd that comes on every day at 6 o'clock after us, 2 to 4.

Before us, you got. Uh the Dan Patrick Show. Try out today, Jeffrey Griffin, seven to nine AM in the mornings. Daily Pulse, 9 to 10 AM. With Stephen Beck every weekday morning.

So we got options for you, we got plenty of that. We also got winning options for you too. Yeah. Springtime of winning. Actually, this is the last day of the week.

that you can get in on this.

So you better hurry. Better get to the site right now. If you go there, WSJS.com, here's your options. Hank Williams Jr. Going to be coming May 30th to Charlotte.

It's going to have a special guest, Joe Nichols. Darius Rucker, multi-Grammy award-winning singer, as you know. Going to be coming with Hootie and the Blowfish to White Oak Amphitheater here in Greensboro. I said here. I'm in Winston-Salem, but up the highway in Greensboro.

Here, I say here because I live in Greensboro, but I'm not at the house right now.

So you got Darius Rucker coming to Greensboro, the Hayes Jewelers. 200 modified feature. Hey, this is a nice treat for you. Austin Schuffert, Who is the GM of racing operations out at Bowman Gray Stadium? Is going to be our guest at 5:15.

and excited to talk to him about everything that's going to be going on out there. Plus, The reception that they've seen in the cookout clash. last two years. But that's what made me think of that because you can win tickets to go see the Haze Jewelers 200 modified feature Saturday night. As things get rocking it, The Madhouse and John Fogarty.

John Fogarty and Steve Winwood, Wednesday night, September 18th, out at True Lion Amphitheater in Charlotte. These are all options at WSJS.com. Go there now to try and win. We must talk. Go ahead.

Talk. Turning your ride home into appointment listening. Welcome to the drive. Back at it on the drive right here on WSJS. And this is fun.

I've been looking forward to this. Austin Schuford, who is the GM of racing operations out at Bowman Gray Stadium, is joining us now. Austin, how are we doing? I'm good, well I appreciate you guys having me on. Absolutely, man.

So opening night. Out at Bowman Gray, it's the 77th race season, and it all starts with the Hayes Jewelers 200 lap modified feature this Saturday night at 8. As the GM of the operations out there, what are you looking forward to most getting the action started again this weekend? You know, that's a pretty easy question. The fans.

Honestly, we have the best fans in the country, hands down. And just seeing all of them back, I know quite a few of them. I've talked to quite a few of them. I know they're excited to get back here. Also, just seeing all the race cars back.

It's like the first day of school. They all come in nice and shiny. You know, no dance, no nothing yet. And uh it Looking like good weather this weekend, so even better racing action, it's going to be hot, it's going to be uh. Cars are going to be flying around pretty quick and should be fun to watch.

You know, I'm glad you mentioned the fans, and you go to BowmanGrayRacing.com, you can get your tickets there. But for fans. that haven't been to the Madhouse before. This might be their first trip. What type of things throughout the weekend can they be expecting?

That's you know, we open the gates right at six. Um, that's when everybody can get in. Um, it I you can go online, find all the directions, parking, all that good info that you need. Um, you know, you can bring in food, drinks, um, all that good stuff. Just In a 14 by 14 cooler.

No alcohol, no glass bottles, simple, simple kind of things there, just like normal city properties. And We start practice right at six. Qualifying starts at seven, uh, 7:35 or so. We uh start pre-race and then we get started with racing at eight o'clock with the uh 40-lap sportsman race, which is going to be pretty interesting. We've got some guys moving up, some rookies there.

Um, it's going to be. A lot of eyeballs on that one, I think, for the most part. Kind of seeing who's going to be that next guy up. In the sportsman division. And then, of course, right after we get done with that, we're going to go into the Hayes Jewelers 200.

And then, right before the Haze Jewelers 200, we're actually going to give away a diamond ring courtesy of Haze Jewelers.

So, you know, all the fans that are coming in, just stop by the ticket booths and get your entry card. for that and make sure you turn it into the South program seller there. And we'll draw that one lucky winner and get them down right before the start of the Hayes Jewelers 200 to receive that gift.

So there's plenty of action going on out there is what I'm gathering. And With all of the divisions going on there.

So you, Austin Schufer, the GM of Racing Operations at Boom and Gray Stadium is with us here on WS. What all goes in? Because there are so many divisions and there's so much going on each weekend. Like, what all goes into the. planning and the scheduling of all these races ahead of time.

A lot of checklists, Will. A ton of checklists. And then you finish one checklist and then you get another one just right behind it. And it's, you know, it's. 18 weeks back to back, except for that July 4th break that we take.

So it's a lot, but you get in a pretty good routine. Um, after about the first three weeks, and everything uh kind of just falls into order. Um, you we got you know our four main divisions, which is modified, sportsman, treat stock, and uh stadium stocks. And then we've added a sideshow event this year, which we will bring back the demolition and derbies and skid races that everyone loves. But we're also adding in Crown Vicks this year for four races to come out, which is going to be exciting.

And we're looking forward to that as well. Bowman Grayracing.com. Get your tickets out. There to be a part of all this.

So we'll get back to this weekend and the action out there here in just a minute. But I did want to ask you, because we haven't had a chance to talk to you since. The cookout clash took place and It's a back-to-back year that you guys have had it out there, and it's been very well received, it seems, among the fans and the NASCAR community. What has been most pleasing to you about the way it's been received coming back out to Bowman Gray? Yeah, it's amazing because, you know, most of these NASCAR drivers, you go to any other NASCAR track, and everybody's, it feels like they're, you know, five miles away, especially the drivers themselves.

But at Bowman Gray, we don't have that luxury. I mean, it's tight, tight quarters here.

So, you know, both times, the first year and this past year, you know, when we do driver introductions and you just see. All the fans on top of the drivers, um, you know, either cheering or booing one way or the other. Um And it's amazing how close and connected that they can get to those guys. And uh it It seems they feel the same, the drivers feel the same way.

So that's that's one of the coolest parts. And I think, you know, the fans have, you know, been very receptive to it. It's been, this year was a little tougher with all the snow, but we still managed to get through it. And it turned out to be a pretty. Crazy event.

It was one for the history books, that's for sure.

So.

So we'll close with this. Um, Austin Schufer with us here, the GM of racing operations out at Bowman Gray. Uh, what is your favorite madhouse moment for you personally? Because I know things can get crazy out there sometimes. Like my producer, Morgan, you got it, you got a good one for this, don't you?

Yeah, I was watching a few years back, I was there, and uh The stadium socks, uh somebody didn't like something, he got dumped or something uh He drove around the track backwards and crashed into him, and then they were full-on demo derby in the infield grass, and they were fist fighting. The police got involved. That's that's my madhouse moment.

So, Austin, I'll pose it to you. What is your favorite or your just personal madhouse moment that you remember that you think of? Yeah. I'd have to say, you know, my first race here is GM two years ago, which seems like 10, to be quite honest with you. But seeing the amount of fans that rush into this place.

And their excitement and their passion for it. Um, it's something else. I mean, this place is electric, it gives you goosebumps. You have to see it in person, it's not something that you can watch on TV and get the same feel from sitting in the stands here. Um, and you know, you got generation after generation who's sat in the same seats up there every single year, um, and it is just It's something else.

So I would have to say, just experiencing that for the first time as the GM was. was hands down my favorite moment so far. And then there's been a whole bunch of madness in between there. Austin Schuford, the GM of racing operations at Bowman Gray Stadium. Again, opening night out there, they will have the Hayes Jeweler 200 lap modified features Saturday night at 8, but there's plenty more going on out there as well, as you just heard.

The 77th race season. Get your tickets at Bowman Gray Racing. Austin, good luck to you this weekend with everything going on. And we'll talk to you again sometime soon. Yeah, absolutely.

Thank you guys for having me. Really appreciate it. That was Austin Schufert, the GM of Bowman Gray Stadium, the racing operations out there joining us and. By the way. If you want to catch that interview again.

Or You know, if you miss any of the stuff on each day's program. Check out our podcast. Because that's where we compile the best stuff of each segment and/or each show. It's a two-hour show. You know, you can't listen to all of it all the time.

So we get the best stuff, put it into an hour-long pod, and throw that up on Apple Podcast and Spotify. We can say words. Uh wherever you get your podcast, we got that. Plus our YouTube channel. You might be listening to me right now on the radio on your drive home.

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