Nature's Glitter (5-8-26)

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News, talk, sports for the triad. I'm Will Dalton. On uh also known as the W D. Where When the person you're scrapping with on the eye starts laughing at you. That's when you know you've lost.

And that's what we saw at the end of Kane's flyers last night, and that scuffle towards the end. Yeah, this thing's a honey mustard chicken wrap. Yeah. It's done! It's not done.

But it's done. And I think it's going to be done. On Saturday. I think they're about to go for the sweep. I think that's what's about to take place here in Philly on tomorrow, tomorrow night.

And Just looking at this. The hurricanes With the wind last night. Uh they became The 13th team in NHL history to start a postseason with seven straight wins. 7-0. Haven't lost one yet.

And From the flyer's angle of this, That's got to be demoralizing. Because not only did you really look like you should have won game two in Raleigh. Yout shot the Kanes fifteen eight in overtime. and still couldn't get it done. I mean, they came out.

The Flyers came out last night and You know, they had the canes kind of. looking somewhat Of a slow start. Because It took Towards the end of the first period for the Kanes to get that First goal to get on the board first. And And just got to a point where. There was nothing the Flyers.

Kadoo. Every time this series, the Flyers have looked like they had an opportunity to do something, to take advantage of something, to get an edge. It just doesn't materialize. Here was Jordan's stahl. Last night After the game.

You know, just talking about the Kanes style of play, staying very. you know, physical and staying just Straight line arrow, not worrying about anything, and shutting down the flyers at every turn. No, it it's just w the the game that we've built as as a whole and uh I'm obviously a part of it, but um you know, it it's it's it's being physical, it's making it hard on them and um and playing their end and And um just doing that over and over and over again and until they break. And it's been obviously a great start to this series. We've played the way we wanted to play and it's part of our whole identity as a group and we want to continue to build on that.

I think they'll do it tomorrow night.

So The Flyers had a bit of a penalty problem. Last night. took fifteen penalties to the Kane's ten. Which ended up in 38 minutes worth of penalty time for the Flyers to the Kanes 20 minutes. And You know.

This appears to be a Flyers team that just can't afford to take penalties like this. They took seven. In game two in Raleigh, and again, Uh you had it. Last night, here was head coach Rick Tashay on. the penalties that the Flyers had.

We had a great first and then this then it was all power play penalty kills. We took nine penalties. Five on five, we're good. I thought we were the better team. And then the power plays and penalties.

You know, that's two games in a row. It's just too penalty fest. We're not equipped for that. Nine power play opportunities on those penalties that the Kanes ended up having. And so.

As we, but. As we predicted at the beginning of the series, even though The Senator series, they weren't great in the power play. They. came through with it when they needed it. And same thing in this series.

Which is, again, that's what we talked about. They haven't been terrific on the power play, the canes, that is, in this series, but when they've needed it, they've gotten it. And that was the case. Last night. Also Jacob Slavin.

Did you see this save that he had last night, Morgan, towards the end of the first period? I did not.

So the pot gets past Freddie Anderson, and it's going to go in. And then Slaven just says, not on my watch, not today. And he just swipes that thing away right as it's about to go to the net. And We got to have some appreciation for Jacob Slavan. He might be one of the most underrated defensemen in the NHL.

He might just be. That was a beauty. of a stop. And A lot of Flyers fans today are arguing and talking about the officiating last night again. 38 minutes worth of penalties, 15 penalties total.

There were a lot of them. Keynes had 10, so they had quite a few as well, just not quite as many. You know. I'll say this, that The officials seemed a little too involved across the board last night. On both sides.

But at least it was consistent. You know what I mean? At least it didn't just come out of nowhere. Like, it was like that the entire game. Because if it's going to be that way, all right.

Make sure it's consistent. I'm a former college baseball player. If I've got an umpire. That just randomly starts calling an inch off the outside corner. What's that?

No, that call better be there. From the get, so I know, all right, I need to foul that pitch off. I'm not gonna get that call. You know, it's gonna be called a strike on me, and I'm gonna be going back to the dugout.

So That's all we ask. Just be consistent with the officiating. And however involved they might have been last night, it was. consistent. With that said.

The Keynes They really made it hurt. They put it away with that Nikolai Ehlers goal in the third period to make it 4-1. That was kinda when they put the nail in the coffin, so to speak. And Now They will go for the sweep. Tomorrow night in Philly.

I think they're going to get it. You know, going into game three, I Thought there was a chance. Like, I thought the Kanes would win game three. And then I thought, depending on how that looked, I might say Flyers get game four. I don't think so.

I think. I think the Flyers are a bit demoralized right now. With how this thing has turned out. And Despite that, it's not going to be easy for Carolina whatsoever. It's not going to be easy.

And Rod Brenda Moore, he knows this, you know? That one of the themes of this team, the Hurricanes, is that They have very much. Played. the same way the entire way. When things have gotten in the gutter, when things have gotten, when they've gotten down, like in game two, they've stayed consistent.

They've continued to play the right way. And in an opportunity to go for a second straight sweep tomorrow night, they're not going to let their guard down and just think they've got it in the bag because they don't. Here was Rod Brendemore. last night ongoing for said sweep. You're asking all the right questions.

I mean, um Again, we talk about the first question was asked. I mean, it starts in the room with your leadership and. You know, we're all gonna say the right things as coaches and get tried to get them prepared, but they've gotta. come ready to go and we've been able to do that all year.

So Uh No, I would anticipate we're gonna give it our best because we're gonna need to. We know that. That's the thing. You guys understand we're not gonna win if we don't put our best foot forward. Keynes lead it.

Three. To zip over the flyers in this series. Also, on a completely different note, what a terrible Jersey matchup last night. Just awful. Did you see this?

Yeah, I watched the game a little bit, and yeah, I was confused. At one point, the Kanes scored, and I thought the Flyers had scored. It just. I wish I don't know how they coordinate these things ahead of time. It's like, okay.

See, I'm all about the swag. I'm all about the jerseys. I'm one of those people who love jersey talk. I love seeing the jersey.

Some of you could give a rip.

Some of you don't care. Like, I remember. Uh when I was in college and when I play Madden with or 2K with my friends, I was the guy that was always changing out the jerseys where my buddy would be like, just whatever is that. Like, why? It doesn't make a difference.

I know, I want to, I like the drip, okay? Sue me. Yeah, this game kind of reminded me of the US and Slovakia game in the Olympics where both teams were wearing red and white and blue and you couldn't really tell who was who. Gave me the same vibes. But the Flyers had a chance at one point.

They did. They had a three on five.

So the Kanes only had three guys on the ice for a minute and a half. And that can survive without a goal allowed. Yeah, I mean, I. It's stuff like that that has me thinking While this is not just going to be a gimme in game four, it's just, I don't know. I feel like the Flyers have thrown everything they could possibly throw at them, including making things.

Obnoxiously ugly, like at the end of the game, trying to get him in a fight like that. Like. That's just when you know you've done all you can do.

So I think the Kanes go for the sweep tomorrow night. Hopefully, the Jersey matchup is a little bit better. I will say that. That voice you heard there, Morgan Corson, the producer of this show. Got any good uh weekend plans?

My brother graduates from App State. Congrats to him.

So I'll be heading up the mountain once again. I feel like this is the third straight weekend. You do a lot of traveling to the mountain. Yeah, I've been trying to clean up my old apartment so I can sublet and save a little bit of money. Does that mean it's a little Caesars night?

Yeah, it's Little Caesars Night. Any time you travel, you go get Little Caesars. It's pizzas probably like, I love subs and I love burgers, but they're just hard to eat on the road and not to swerve into other lanes. I find pizzas pretty easy to handle. It is.

Especially like when you fold it. It's I I have habits. I'm I'm weird. I have habits when I eat.

So Like when I would get a biscuit. Like I used to get a Biscuitville sausage or a a deluxe Yeah, deluxe sausage biscuit, ultimate, the ultimate sausage biscuit, I think it was called. And what I would do is is I would I would eat about half of it, a little more than half, like of the biscuit. And then I would just pull it apart and start eating all the different pieces separately.

So I would eat the bacon separately, I would eat the sausage separately. It was a weird habit that I created. And similarly, With pizza. I'll get to about halfway. Especially if it's like a large proper slice.

I'll get about halfway and then I'll do the fold thing where I just fold the slice. See, I know somebody who starts with the crust. Yeah, that yeah that person's a wacko. I'm sorry if it's your family. No.

I'm done. I'm sorry. Don't want to offend anybody. No, no, she kinda is a little got a few little screws loose.

Well Now I'm hungry. That's great. Good to have you in on a Friday. Let's talk Panthers. Let's do that.

Because. It is the start of Rookie Minicamp. And I I love rookie minicamp 'cause You see the new guys out there in their gear and their helmets for the first time. You see the action. Live action, as it were, for the first time.

We'll do it live.

Okay. We'll do it live! But There's only so much you learn really from the first day of practice out there. You probably already have opinions. going into it.

Here's three thoughts that I have today. In terms of Starting mini camp, what I'm thinking about. One is whether or not Monroe Freeling, the offensive tackle taken out of Georgia. Or Sam hecked. is gonna start either one of those guys.

So In terms of Monroe Freeling, The Panthers O-line coach. He indicated that Monroe is going to be getting snaps both at right and left tackle. He's going to be getting work on both of those sides because he is capable of playing both sides.

So. That's another reason why he... could end up starting down the road in this season. Uh the prop the r see I would say he's gonna be your starting left tackle. 'Cause first round pick and he's very, very very athletic.

The problem is the Panthers sign Rasheed Walker. The offensive tackle, who was considered the best offensive tackle in free agency from Green Bay. signed him to a one-year deal, so He's kind of in the way, and I don't know that I see him Monroe starting over Rashid Walker, even though it is just a one-year deal. I mean, this guy's pretty darn good, and Monroe feeling he's a rookie. And then you got Taylor Moten at right tackle.

So I don't think I see Monroe Freeling starting right out of the gate, but. I do think He's ultimately going to end up being your left tackle or right because Taylor Moten's getting older. Down, you know, in the bigger picture.

So maybe he gets the start later on in the season. But that's one thing I'm thinking about. Then you got Sam Hecht at the center position that. This is the one where I genuinely could see him starting over Luke Fortner that they brought in in the offseason.

So. That's one area I'm thinking about. The second one I'm thinking about is: Xavier Legette better have his head on the swivel for Chris Brazzle out of Tennessee. He better have his head on the swivel. Chris Brazil.

is very Very um Highly regarded? amongst people that were scouting him uh around the National Football League. There was one veteran, Joe Person was writing some stuff on him, and he was saying that there was a veteran talent evaluator. that was with another team that was actually a little puzzled. By the Panthers' decision to take Brazil unless they were ready to move on from Xavier Legette.

Who was their first-round pick, of course, at the end of 2024's first-round drive? I. They claim that they're not. Dave Canalis claims they're They're willing to continue to work with him, but Chris Brazzle flashed big play ability at Tennessee. In fact He had an SEC leading 84.8 receiving yards per game.

and nine touchdown catches in 2025.

So There is production there to work with. And I gotta tell you, I was, again, you only take so much from practice reps. He looked good out there. Like there were some passes. I don't know who it wasn't Bryce Young.

I don't know who was throwing these passes. There were a few behind him. And he went and he got him.

So XL better have his head on the swivel. Plus, Razzle has an edge on him on size. Like, XL is. Big, he's 6'3. Chris Brazzle's 6'5.

So Just something to keep an eye on. And lastly, I think Lee Hunter at nose tackle. is going to be an instant impact player. I believe that.

So Apparently his He really looks up to Derrick Brown and his like smash mouth style of play, and he and he likes to emulate that.

So the Panthers In terms of stopping the run. They were a little under middle of the pack last year, ranked, I believe, 20, 21st, something in that ballpark. Not quite as bad as the year prior, but still not great.

So I believe Lee Hunter is going to have an immediate, immediate impact. For the Carolina Panthers. Just three things that I'm thinking about today as we start rookie minicamp. We'll talk to Will Pelagic, the voice of Charlotte FC, in about an hour. about such things.

So I can't. Take me home. Take me home. Will Dalton turns group chat arguments into live radio, The Drive, the triad's longest-running live sports talk show. Back at it on the drive right here on WSJS.

So Gio Lopez who's now at Wake Forest. Obviously, Carolina playing for Bill Belichick last year. Had something very interesting to say about what that experience was like for him. We'll get to that a little later on. But We Listen.

We kept it simple last night. We just placed two bets. I did my homework. I felt to rip. I told you right here on this show: these are going to cash.

Just two bets. Mm-hmm. Let's just get the Daltons dollars. Stack it up. Stack a stack, gotta stack it up.

Get the money, get the money on the founder. It's time to cash in. Welcome to Dalton's Dollars. Yeah. Show me the money.

Breaking down the board and building the bankroll. We took the Lakers. To cover is 15 and a half point dogs. Versus the Thunder. You know, I thought.

Man. Turnovers Austin Reeves only having eight points. In game one. Maybe that led to... The thunder.

Covering his 15 and a half point favorites, which we did get that right. But I flipped it for game two and I thought, you know what? I think the Lakers cover 15.5 point dogs. They lost by 18. And you know what really frustrates me about this?

is the fact that Austin Reeves went off last night. He had 31. LeBron had 23. Just steady Eddie over there. Just he just...

Again. He's been their best player. Austin Reeves, 31 points. And it still resulted in the Thunder winning 125 to 107.

So that. nearly missed or did miss nearly. The second bet that I placed was on the Cavs. Uh Detroit. Game.

The line was three and a half again. Favor of Detroit? I bet that in game one, we got that right.

However, I didn't really want to mess with the spread last night. I just, I don't know, something. Felt I didn't want to mess with it. I simply wanted to take Donovan Mitchell. to go over two and a half threes.

He had four in game one. He'd been over that mark. in eight playoff games so far. He had two threes. Two of nine.

Two of two of nine, so that um That did not work out at all.

So let's move along, move the goalpost as it were. To the weekend slate. Let's see if we can right the wrong here. Starting with the Carolina Hurricanes. I have not.

I have not bet this. I haven't bet anything Keynes related so far. Yeah. I I met the wild the other day. That's right.

Um That changes now.

So if the Kanes lose and don't sleep tomorrow night? You know who's responsible. Canes Plus 132 odds, I get them as one and a half point favorites game four against the Flyers. DOVEN LINE! Gotta take that.

Not going to really mess with any of the other hockey games, I think, for the weekend. Don't think I want to do that. I do want to go to the NBA though. Want to do that?

So looking at the Knicks And the Sixers Tonight. Going to be in Philly. First game back in Philly. I think. I think I like The Sixers to cover two and a half-point favorites.

Stroving the budget! I think I like that. They looked great early on in game two in MSG. Knicks just came back in the second half and ended up winning by six. I like the Sixers to get one here on their home floor.

Spurs, Timberwolves tonight. I think the Spurs are going to get this one. They're four and a half point favorites. I will take that. Drop me the- So that's what we've got in review.

Three bets for the weekend, two of those are for tonight. Tonight it's n it's Sixers. To cover as two and a half point favorites on their home floor. It's Spurs to cover as four and a half point favorites in Minnesota. And tomorrow night.

Keynes cover one and a half point favorites, sweeping the flyers.

So again, like if If the Kanes don't get that done, you know who to blame. You know who to blame. I do want to look a little bit more a little bit closer here at this Cavs Detroit series. Because somebody's got to help out Donovan Mitchell. And Jared Allen.

So last night Donovan Despite only having two threes, going two of nine from three, he did have 31 points. Jared Allen had 22. The problem is James Harden is not doing his part. Or some of you might argue: actually, no, James Harden is doing exactly what he does in the playoffs. 10 points, 3 of 13 from the field, 0 of 4 from 3.

And apparently In nine playoff games. this season, He's had more turnovers than baskets in four of those games.

So Yeah. I I feel a little bit silly for Drinking the Cleveland Kool-Aid, as it were. Because I I'm somebody who has And I'm going to, you know, die on this. That's what you do when you. Talking to one of these things for a living, talking about sports, you make predictions, you make, you know, you give takes, you try to be smart about them, you don't try to just say stuff to get a reaction.

But you're going to get things wrong and I'm not feeling great about Cleveland going to the finals to play the Spurs, which is the matchup that I had, and the Spurs winning, of course. Not feeling great about that with how Detroit looks right now and how Cleveland looks. Just not feeling great about that.

So James Arden. Not looking so great in the playoffs. Yet again. Cleveland might have an issue there. Welcome.

Ready? Built for afternoons, powered by opinions. This is the drive. Back at it on the drive, right here on WSJS. It's stories like this.

That makes you even m More, roll your eyes at the whole 33rd team. 33rd NFL team. branding that UNC Tried to roll out last year. Mike Lombardi. Bill Belichick.

It sounded nice in the moment. And You know, they did bring in NFL people. They did bring in the goat. But That roster that they had in Chapel Hill last year. That ain't a 33rd NFL team.

In fact, none of those guys were drafted. Did not know you were going to play that. That's well done on your part. Yeah, Caroline did not have. Anybody drafted.

Not great. Not great. Um Geo Lopez. He was the quarterback of that team. Is feeling a lot better in Winston-Salem.

He's feeling a lot better five minutes up the road from where I sit. Reunited with Rob Ezell, who he was with at South Alabama. Playing for Jake Dickert. After a really nice 9-1 season that they just had. And He reflected the other day on his time in Chapel Hill.

His time playing for Bill Bell a check. He was four and seven as a starter. Completed 65.4% of his passes, 10 touchdowns, 5 interceptions. Ten passing touchdowns that is. And You know, it just.

The way he describes it here. in this article that I'm reading. or that I did read. He said That Back at the other school. That's how he framed it.

It felt like there's no air. Here it's fun again. They're moving us in the right direction, energized. Guys are enjoying football. It's like fresh air.

It was more like work. at Carolina. After that first game, it felt like getting through the day. You don't want to live like that. where you're up at night thinking about the next day.

His dad, Barney. uh was also very critical of Carolina. Saying Gio was losing his love for the game while playing for Bill Belichick. I believe he was quoted saying that in the piece that David Hale wrote for ESPN about this. Uh several weeks back.

Oh boy. It doesn't make you feel very optimistic for year two under Belichick, does it? No, I mean Yes, it sounds nice to have an NFL program-esque. College program? Yeah.

But you also have to remember, these aren't 30-year-old dudes. No, they're not. eighteen, nineteen twenty. If you're lucky, twenty-one or twenty-two.

So these are kids and you're it sounds like he's trying to run a program. like they're thirty, forty year old vets of the league. And you can't really do that with kids 'cause to them it's not a business, it's a game still.

Well, and it is It is one of those things that going into this people had questions about. Like they knew how Belichick was going to try and run this. But To your point, they're college kids. They're not grown men that have been playing in the NFL for seven, eight years, or whatever it happens to be. It's a little different.

Like, you gotta. You got to have a little bit more connection to your players. I believe in college. A little bit more You know, I'd I don't know, it's hard to describe, but I think you get what I'm trying to get at. And if you watch, and we were at the games, if you watch, one of the things we notice is like he doesn't, stone face Belichick.

He doesn't interact. To or talk to any of his players on the sideline. He's just over there, you know, with the Belichick face. And Looking at his tablet. Like he doesn't interact with anybody.

So That doesn't sound like it was a great environment. And his dad. goes even further, said, quote, you were ridiculed if you didn't do it exactly the way he was told. You could be at the dang line, see the play is about to be blown up, but if you try to call it off or audible, you are ridiculed.

So It does feel slightly more optimistic, depending on who you ask. That it's not Freddie Kitchens calling plays anymore, that it's Bobby Petrino there. Which is, that's good. There's still the question of who their quarterback's going to be. Maybe it's Billy Edwards, the Wisconsin transfer.

My gut says that's probably what it's going to end up being, but we'll see. But it ain't that much more optimistic, especially when you look at the fact. That That what we looked at the other day The ESPN rankings for each Power 4 conference The off-season rankings? Carolina was 15 out of 17 in the ACC. Yeah.

So But but any Patriot fan or any NFL, like you know, NFL Shield. You know? Fan of that? I'm not gonna Because there are people that prefer NFL to college, or vice versa. You know very well.

What Belichick is like. what playing for him was probably going to be like. just based on things you would hear, but just how rigid it was in New England. And That's why it ended the way it did there with Robert Kraft. It's why things went the way they did when he was interviewing for the Falcons job there.

So. It shouldn't be that surprising hearing some of this if you're really plugged into the NFL like that, but Gio Lopez. Takes a breath of fresh air now in Winston-Salem. Charles Lee. Head coach of the Charlotte Hornets, as we know.

Got himself a contract extension. Going to talk to Will Pelagic, Willie P, about this. at 5.15 next hour. We don't know the details of the contract yet. Hornets improved by 25 wins this year.

They started four and fourteen. Ended up winning 44 games total. Looked like one of the best teams in the NBA from about mid-January. to the end of the regular season. Obviously, very disappointing ending.

The way they lost to Orlando. after the Thriller win against the Miami Heat in the first play-in tournament game. But Charles Lee, he earned every bit of that extension. And he took it in the teeth a little bit from you fans. You know who you are.

That would criticize him for leaving, you know, early in the year when they were struggling, obviously. When he would leave in. Liam McNeely, Tijan Salon, and some of those young rookies Trey Mann, who's not a rookie, but you know. When he wasn't playing well, he'd leave them. And some of his rotations, people questioned it.

And A big reason why he left his younger guys in there. Late in the fourth quarter, even when the Hornets were losing. I believe is because Charles Lee was trying to teach them how to win. He realized they were not a contender of any kind. And he was trying to teach them how to win these games, how to get through these situations as young players, seeing the bigger picture, which will get you.

Um kicked in the teeth by the fan base. And maybe by media who don't necessarily See that part of it. the coaching aspect and the teaching aspect that they he's trying to accomplish. But It clearly paid off. The Hornets clearly Flip the script.

Turned a page. And you know what? It's funny. When you listen to some of the players after they. Got things going the way they did, they'll tell you: like, nothing changed.

We just kept at it, we kept at it, kept tackling every day, and eventually. We got where we wanted to go.

So. Charles Lee, shout out to him for getting that extension. Earned every bit of it. We'll talk to Will Pelagic about what some of the priorities should be in the Hornets offseason next hour, but. Charles Lee, I like where the franchise is headed under his leadership as head coach.

Jeff Peterson is the GM. Just get Kobe White extra. Get him signed. Get that done. Yeah, we need to do that.

Um. Con Kniple apparently is going to represent the Hornets at the draft lottery.

So got that to look forward to? Local teams, real fans, and opinions that don't ask permission. Go ahead, show me what Back to the Triad's only live sports talk show, The Drive. Back at it on a Friday drive. You are listening to WSJS.

Where Skip Bayless. And Stephen A. Smith. We're reunited again. On first take earlier today.

It was a beautiful thing to watch. That's just one of the moments I want to get to in today's edition of Sound Check.

Sound check. Hey, I'm just here so I won't get fine. Plug in, turn up, and catch what everyone's talking about.

So Skip and Stephen A.

Some of the OGs of sports debate. Uh They reunited. Today for the first time in about a A little over a decade on first take. And I know there's a lot of people. That Have negative things to say about this.

Like, oh, nobody cares what they have to say. But it's those reactions that's why this was going to be probably the best-rated first take. In a while. Like whether you love them or you hate their opinion. They're entertaining together.

And you watch, and it's moments like this where Skip came in. and had LeBron as his ninth. All-time best player. Most people have him second, where he should be behind Michael Jordan. He has him ninth.

Here's how it sounded. At one game from my life, I'm taking Larry Bird over LeBron any day, any night, any month, any year. Give me Larry Bird with the ball in his hands at the end of games. I don't know how you can refute anything I just said. He's ninth on the list, and he's lucky to be ninth on the list.

He's worse than doggies. Yeah. That Is one of the most asinine things that have ever come out of your mouth in your illustrious career in television. It's almost so blasphemous, I don't know if you should be banned from television. I mean, I can't believe what the hell you just said.

It's unbelievable that you would say come to this stuff. Skip benefits, did you know that LeBron James holds the NBA postseason record for the most game-winning buzzer beaters of all time? Yeah, because he. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You said, you said, you said you got a countless amount of evidence where he didn't show up.

I just told you he is the all-time leader. That was just one of the moments they had today. They obviously had to have a Tim Tebow moment where Skip said he was right about Tim Tebow the whole time. That was a whole thing back in the day. Again, I just ate this up like it was candy.

I know there's a lot of media members that don't rock with this just because it's... It's it's sports debate, it's heated, it's like I don't care. It was nostalgic. Watching them together is where I first decided. I might want to get into sports broadcasting and talk about sports for a living.

I thought it was terrific. I hope they make it a regular thing.

However, they end up going about that. Skipping Stephen A on first take earlier today was terrific. Terrific. Charles Barkley is another one of those guys in sports media that He knows how to ruffle feathers, but that's why you watch him. That's why you hear what he has to say.

And Draymond Green made it a little personal the other night on Inside the NBA. Talking about how he's just trying not to look like Chuck in a Houston Rockets jersey, even though that team actually is pretty good. And Charles Barkley went on Dan Patrick's show, a show you can listen to right here from 2-4 on WSAS. and had this to say in response. The the word has been a play-in, I think.

Four straight years.

So they've been irrelevant. And I know he don't want to say it. But, and listen, you know, everybody get mad when I say this. Old people don't get healthy. Old people die.

Okay, they don't get healthy. The notion that him and Steph are gonna get better when they get healthy and being a year older, they're not, they're not. They just don't get older, Dan. Uh so it's over for Golden State. They had a great run.

And he should like he took a personal shot of me, but I'm not sensitive. But yeah, it's been over in Golden State. I mean If if hey, if Goldstein was relevant, he wouldn't be in the studio with me. The Warriors, they might want to blow it up. I'm not...

I just don't know what move they can make to keep that. chan championship aspiration alive. Because Jimmy Butler's not going to be healthy right out of the jump. That's gonna take some time. I'm not sure what poor Zingas' contract looks like.

Not sure about that. I mean, can I get a Giannis? Would LeBron go there? Draymond. Chart Going at it.

Makes for great television. Uh Josh Pate. Pate State One of the top, in my opinion, guys to listen to in terms of college football content, it's him and Joel Klatt. That's what Morgan and I were talking about that before the show. Both of those guys.

a terrific listen if you just want to learn about more about college football. And As we continue to hear conversation about college football playoff expansion. Josh Pate strongly opposing it. And here he was talking about how it would affect, because this is one of the top ramifications of this, if it got to like 24 teams, is how it would water down the regular season. Here he was.

The regular season in this sport is the most valuable commodity we have. The regular season in college football should make you feel something. Especially two losses on your resume, you should feel like you're walking a tightrope 100 floors above the ground. And if you fall off of it, you die. That's what's supposed to happen.

You shouldn't have a safety net under you. In the real world, Highly capable people fail every day because they don't handle their business. And similarly, in college football, For your regular season to mean what it should mean, then any given year you should have very highly capable teams who don't handle their business when they're supposed to, lose out. on a shot to play for a national championship. It's not a birthright.

No, it's not. But I do fear that this is inevitable. Just like NCAA tournament expansion was Now We might have to wait. We might have a decent wait before we get to the college football playoff expansion again because we just expanded it. But I do think it's going to expand again in some way.

I don't know if it's going to go to 24 teams, maybe it'll go to 16. or something like that, but I think it's a losing battle, I really do. And as somebody I was listening to. the other day on this pointed out it's like The fans have all the opinions in the world on this. Cannot want this.

David Glenn even said this with us. The fans can be opposed to this all they want, but at the end of the day, The people that run things are not going to turn down loads and loads of more cash. They're just not going to do it. I feel like this decision is going to be, like you said, a cash decision. And it's unfortunate because I feel like the way sports, but more specifically college sports, is going is away from a quality product and to a money aspect.

And that's just a lose for the fans. Mm-hmm. I agree with that 100%. Lastly. Rod Brenda More last night.

Was asked about the flyers because He was a member of the Flyers for over a decade. before becoming a hurricane's legend. He was a part of the Legion of Doom. They're in Philly. 95 to 97.

And Here he was being asked about being back in Philly last night. I love Philadelphia. I love my time here. It's been 26 years, which is hard to believe. But I think once a flyer is always a flyer.

Not this series, but I love how I was treated here. And I'm happy for the fans that they got a great team to support here now. And you know, That you're One of the you're you're a stand-up dude. When you're Dealing with Philly fans. And you're hearing things like, They they can't make me hate you, Rod.

Awesome flop. Like...

So many compliments from the Flyers fanbase. Like when I was reading through some comments under this clip. And it just goes to show how much respect the league as a whole has for Rod Brendemore. Hurricane fans should be very, very appreciative. And happy that they got a guy like him at the helm.

He needs to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. It's a travesty that he's not yet. I hope he is one day. And Maybe this is the year. where he not only brings a chip as a player, but now he does it as a coach.

That would be Awesome. That has been Sound check. By the way. Got to give a shout out to our friends at the YMCA. Not only can you go there to get a personal trainer.

Things like that. They have summer camp. They got that for you. You're ready for an unforgettable summer. The YMCA Summer day camp.

They offer the perfect place for kids to stay active. Build friendships? Extreme exciting adventures every single day that they're there. Outdoor games, swimming, arts, crafts, team activities. There's something there for everybody.

Go check out the YMCA and get signed up for their summer day camp. Like I remember back in. My childhood, like I I went to a tennis camp over at the Hartley Drive YMCA in High Point. 'Cause that's where I grew up. Went to tennis camps, went to basketball camps, Delaney Rudd.

Put one on or you put one on every year. I used to go to those things. Took swim lessons from the Y. Did it all. YMCA, they got it going, okay?

I never wanted to jump off the diving board, though. I was always afraid of that. That's what That's one of my that was one of my fears growing up as a kid is is I didn't have a problem jumping off of it. It was when they wanted us to dive headfirst. I just was scared to do it.

I don't know what it was. Yeah, I I'm not a competent swimmer. I don't go in the ocean because I know once I go in there I'll get taken away as I almost did one time. Did you really? Yeah, quite recently, yeah, in the last two years I almost got taken out by the ocean and was swimming alone.

I mean, I'm glad you I'm glad it worked out for you. Me too. Me too. Uh I love going out going out in the ocean. personally.

I don't like sand. It's nature's glitter. It gets everywhere and stays everywhere. Nature's glitter. Is that what you called that?

Nature's glitter. Gets everywhere and stays everywhere. Hard to get out of your clothes and off the t off the carpet. I'm more of a mountains guy. I think we just got our podcast title.

Nature's glitter. That that That sounds like something else. I'm not even going to go there. No, I love the beach. Except for the time.

Or I love going out in the ocean, except for the time that I got stung by a jellyfish. But I wasn't even out deep. Just die linked. Got stung by one. Right on the wrist.

It was not fun. Talk about sports. I like it. Spoons. Thanks, buddy.

Sports Talk in the Triad lives right here. You're on the drive. Back at it on a Friday drive right here on WSJS. And when it is a Friday drive, you know what that means. We're going to be talking to the voice of Charlotte FC, Will Pelagic, or as we call him, Willie P.

How we doing over there? What's going on, Willie D? How are you, pal? I'm doing pretty great. I mean, the Yankees, God, they just look like one of the best teams in baseball right now.

They just look so good. I don't know what else to say. I'm in a great mood over it. That's that's fascinating to me. It's fascinating for you.

That's That's not why I brought you in, though, to flex, you know, the Yankees stuff. Then do that. I brought you in. Remember, it is May.

So Yeah, I mean, hey, the earlier the better, I say. Charlotte FC. They are searching for a win. They do not have one since about mid-April. And they have Cincinnati on the docket tomorrow night at the bank.

You and Anna Witty are going to be on the call for that. You can listen to that right here on WSJS. But from what I've been told, Charlotte FC getting a pretty significant piece back for tomorrow. They should, according to what Dean Smith told us yesterday. Tim Ream is going to be available for selection.

He has missed the last three MLS contests, four, if you count the U.S. Open Cup contest against Atlanta. Although, again, I don't know if he would have played in that matchup anyway. But regardless, he went out at halftime of that victory over New York City. And while they were able to kind of.

See out the result there in Manhattan in Flushing, I should say. They have not been as fortunate in the last three contests.

Now, I will say the Orlando and Nashville contests, you really saw some of the punitive errors defensively. I don't think that was necessarily the case against New England last weekend. You just had one really punitive moment that. Decided the contest. And I think Charlotte, outside of that, was pretty good defensively.

And then, of course, the fact that that putative moment was a literal judgment call. I think a lot of people will look at that and have varied interpretations of that. I've heard impassioned defenses on both sides of whether or not that was. It wasn't a penalty with Morrison Ajuman. I'm done discussing it.

I don't think it was. I don't know what he's supposed to do with his hand. But I also think, too, the thing that makes me more angry is that they have not been able to pee consistent offensively over the course of a 90-minute game. Having said that, being at home against a team that you have done pretty well against in Dean Smith's history, he's got three wins and only one draw against them. He's never lost to Cincinnati, the only Eastern Conference team he hasn't dropped a match against, which I think is incredibly interesting and intriguing.

And I even asked him about it. I said, hey, you know, is there anything to this? He says, I have no idea. But for whatever reason, they seem to have found something in playing Cincinnati. And something also that's intriguing about this game, too, Will, is that in the three wins for Charlotte FC, they've gotten Cincinnati to concede red cards in all three of those contests.

So. It's something where, you know, well, you could call it lack of discipline, you could call it good fortune, or some mixture of the two. One thing is, Charlotte FC has forced the hand of Cincinnati in that fashion. And Cincinnati's been kind of up and down to start this season. They got a big victory last weekend against Chicago.

And really, as I look at the Eastern Conference, There's Nashville, who I think is far and away the best team of the bunch. But the strength in the league is in the Western Conference because once you get beyond Nashville, I just think there's a lot of teams from basically two to even nine where New York City is, where they're all kind of about the same. You know, three, four, five wins, couple of losses, couple of draws. I understand Charlotte's got more losses than anybody in that grouping, but they also have four wins. And This will be a four-game stretch here for Charlotte where you have four games at home.

And I think they're all against teams that are basically in that Same general vicinity. You're going to play a Cincinnati team that's one point ahead of you in the standings. You're going to play a New England team who's five points ahead of you in the standings, but you kind of played pretty even in their building. You play Toronto and you play New York, who are right behind you in the standings.

So this is an opportunity. I feel like this is a 12-point stretch where Charles kind of feel like they can get at least nine, 10, or if not all, 12 of those in the next four. Being at home and putting yourself in a pretty good position going into the World Cup break, when, as we've talked about over the course of time, Will. Is going to be a period of time where many teams are going to think about transforming their rosters, and I'm curious to see how Charlotte factors into that. That is Will Pelagic, the voice of Charlotte FC, right here with us on WSJS.

So Panthers minicamp, rookie minicamp started today. I'm not going to ask you a ton about because there's only so much you can take away, I guess, from a rookie mini camp practice. Like, you can have your opinions on which rookies might make an impact, but ultimately the first day of practice, I don't think, is going to shape that too much. But I will ask you this. Because we discussed this on yesterday's show, and a lot of people have been talking about this, not just North Carolina media, and that is.

The number that Vegas has put the Panthers win total at. Uh for this coming season.

Some places it's six and a half, some places it's seven and a half, which has led to. A lot of people that cover the sport on a national basis to view that A little disrespectful. Do you view it that way? And why do you think that number is where it is, Willie P?

Well, I think it's disrespectful, but I also think it's not unexpected because I think people are reacting to a division that has. Annually been panned for whatever reason. You know, it used to be this thing has kind of happened in cycles. Like there have been some years where it's the NFC West. There are some years where it's been the AFC North.

I think the AFC South had a run at this a couple of years ago as well. But there always seems to be one division that the Assembled media at the National Football League like to throw out there as the runt of the litter.

Now, for whatever reason, the NFC South has become that, and because. The Panthers won the division with a sub-500 record. People are going to look here and say, Oh, well, because now you're going to play a first-place schedule. All of a sudden, that should inform you that you're probably going to take a step back in your build. I still look at the team as having made the most improvement and strides of any in the NFC South.

I think Tampa made incremental improvements. I think New Orleans is improved, but I still think it is probably about a year away. And I don't think anybody with a functioning brain can tell you what the heck the plan is in Atlanta with the Falcons.

So I say all that to say. I don't see any reason why the Carolina Panthers shouldn't be the favorite again in this division as the defending champion. Another year of Bryce Young under their belt. Improvements they made on defense, Devin Lloyd, Jalen Phillips, et cetera, bringing back some of their great offensive talent from a year ago. The offensive rookie of the year at Tyro McMillan, the Monroe Free draft pick, which I think solidifies an offensive line that always is going to get more improved under Bryce Young.

And I even heard someone like Mina Kai's make this point. Carolina was never healthy over the course of last year when it came to the offensive line. You didn't have Rob Hunt for a lot of the year. Damian Lewis was in and out of the lineup. They had a revolving door at center.

I know they've come to expect Taylor Moden to do his thing at right tackle, and I understand that the Icky Ikwanu injury brings a lot of concern to the forefront, but I think the drafting of Monroe Freeling stabilizes that. I think you have a couple of other pieces at the swing tackle and at the center position that have at least given you some reason to think that those positions have been stabilized. And I think the Fortner versus Hecht battle is going to be an incredibly intriguing one at center come the fall. You've got competitive depth at every position. I know the tight end is still a concern for some people, but I'm still a believer in Jatavion Sanders.

And I think Mitchell Evans is also somebody who can also continue to contribute as well. And I think that the Chris Brazil drafting is something you look at and say, gives Carolina, I think, something of another hope for that slot receiver position if you are intending to bump Jalen Coker outside. It obviously puts into question Xavier Lee get spot in the roster. I think you also can't underrate the fact that they brought in one of Bryce's old college teammates. And John Bacchy.

So there's. I look at this and I say. People are just looking at the surface schedule and thinking, oh, well, you're playing all these playoff teams from a year ago. It must be difficult. Carolina came into the year.

Last year is playing something in the neighborhood based on the previous season, 28th or 29th in strength to schedule, whatever the metrics were. By the end of the year, it ended up being the 10th toughest strength of schedule in the league based on the team's records that season.

So, Um to make a Summation answer to your question. Anything said by anybody about the schedule before it even comes out is a load of crap. Will Pelagic, voice of show at FC, joining us here on could I have just done those five seconds and saved you all that time, or would you rather have had the long explanation that preceded it? I mean, I always appreciate the long answer. I like to get into the details of these things, Willie P.

I want to hear. That's why I have you. I want to get the explanation here. Sure. That's what we got to get to.

In fact, I'd like to get an explanation on some Charlotte Hornets topics of interest because Charles Lee. Uh we learned yesterday after a 25 win improvement Over the previous season, he is getting a contract extension. I don't think we know the details of that extension at this time, but. I personally believe it was well deserved. I think Charles Lee took.

Some heat from fans early on last year as they fell to 4 and 14. Questions about the way he did his rotations, leaving rookies in kind of late in some games, into the fourth quarter of games they were trailing. I think he did that to teach them how to come through some of those situations, seeing the bigger picture. How good of hands do you view the Hornets to be with Charles Lee at the helm? Dan, to give you an idea of how long it is, I'm not 100% sure on this, but I think the first contract he signed was a three-year deal.

And by the just kind of parsing the The wording of the release, again, the Hornets don't typically release these things, but when I think about it being a multi-year extension, to me, that tells me it's probably two years on top of the one that he's still already owed.

So I think he's probably under contract for this upcoming season and the next two after that.

So that at least I think gives you some stabilizing feeling to think that they believe in Charles Lee for the long haul. In terms of just What this means for the organization, I think it is a continued commitment to. This game model, which is the Boston Celtics game model, which is Shoot a lot of threes. That is your first pitch, your second pitch, and your third pitch.

Now, We have seen Boston. Who unfortunately get taken out as a result of maybe sticking to that pitch the other night too long? And I think that the thing that has to happen. I know that you're banking on in a seven-game series, you shooting lights out three-pointers in four contests. And I think that's something you look at and say, is that?

But I think the best teams, and I'd even go back to even what the Warriors had, is that you have a secondary pitch that you can go on. And I think that's kind of what this offseason means for the Charlotte Hornets. You have to figure out, okay. What is that secondary pitch going to be? Is it going to come by virtue of a free agent or a center or a free agent at Power Forward, some sort of trade, or something that happens in the draft?

And the lottery is Sunday night. Conconipple is going. I don't have a lot of hope that they're going to have anything happen to them. Long odds to even move out of that 14 spot, let alone move up at all. I know that, again, you have that 0.5% chance to get number one overall pick, and an even still minuscule chance relative to the rest of the teams to get a top five.

But having said that, you have now a treasure trophy picks to be able to go out and look at and say, okay, do you want to move up in this draft? Do you want to take these picks and something in the future and go and get a veteran? They've got to figure out where they want to be undersized. Because I think At the center position, they feel okay about Uza Diabate as long as you can pair him with a stretch four that brings you a little bit more size, defensive tenacity, and somebody just has a little bit more length than a Miles Bridges does, while not sacrificing the ability to step out and take a three. Those kinds of players don't grow on trees.

I think the prototypical name that's out there that fits that mold would be somebody of a Lowry Marketing.

Now, I don't know if Lowry Marketing is somebody the Hornets are looking at. I know it's something that has been banded about by a lot of people from a suppositional standpoint. But if you're looking at something that I think improves them, that probably is the name that I'd look at, or at least somebody of that ilk.

Now, it could happen again in the draft. It could happen, you know, they can just go get another center, and then you have that young center paired with Kalk Brenner. The problem is playing A center alongside Musa, you're going to have to have them be a very offensively dominant center. They need to have, they can't sacrifice too much offensively if you're going to keep Diabate on the floor to start.

So, I say all that to say this is the most intriguing offseason of Jeff Peterson's tenure because. They could do absolutely nothing outside of the draft and re-sign Kobe White and still feel like they're feeling okay. Or they can start pushing some of the chips to the middle of the table. And I think it's something that is incredibly intriguing when you think about the prospects of what this season could be for them. Because I think a lot of people looked at this past season as a free roll for them and looked at it as, hey, you know, this is a little bit of kind of house money.

But now that the money's kind of come into the kitty, I think there's going to be a lot of fans who are out there saying, okay, Jeff, let's put your money where your mouth is. You mean to tell me you don't think Charlotte's going to have good luck in the draft lottery? I can't believe it, Willie P. I can't believe it. The odds are not in our favor.

These ping-pong balls are not in our favor. Even when they are, even when they are. Willie P., Voice of Charlotte FC, Charlotte FC, Cincinnati, tomorrow night, 7:30. Be listening right here. On WSJS.

Will he pee? Have a great call tomorrow night. I'm not going to say anything else about the Mets or the Yankees. I just hope I've provided you with more substance than bluster because all the Mets have provided me since the month of March is just that, and that's bluster. I'm sorry to hear that.

I hope you have a great weekend. And in spite of that, I really do. Have a great call tomorrow night, Willie P. Thank you, Will. There he goes.

The Voice of Charlotte FC I never want to make him upset. Don't want to. I never want to bum out any Mets fans. That's not what I'm trying to do here on the program.