This is the Drive with Josh Graham podcast. Tune into The Drive weekday afternoons 3-7 on Sports Hub Triad. As Super Bowl Week has gotten more crowded and commercialized, the less interesting it has become. Players and coaches, they're terrified to say the thing that will end up on TV graphics for days, so they usually are pretty vanilla.
However, Marshall Falk said something about Christian McCaffrey that raised my eyebrows. Reading it this morning. This comes from Panthers.com. Bill Voth and Caroline Cann are down there collecting audio and video. For the team website, And for context, for those who don't know, McCaffrey did something this season.
That's only been done by two other players in the history of the NFL. He's a running back. That rushed for a thousand yards and received for a thousand yards in a season. The other two backs to do that. Roger Craig with those great 49ers teams.
And of course Marshall Falk. That's why the words you're about to hear From the Ram's legend. I think really resonate. They surprised me, if I'm being perfectly honest. I mean, he's a better version of me.
It's just, it's what happens. I mean, he got to watch me. He got to see me. He has no, it's what happens. Like, you get to be a better version of.
Me and Robert Walsh, we had two different reactions to that sound. Robert is the producer of the show. Sawyer Dillon is in the studio as well. My reaction to it was Usually, the older generation has difficulty. Saying that whatever is new is better than what they were or what they had.
It's why you're always going to have the barbershop talk, and we're hearing some of it this week. People who were Kobe guys say, yeah, nothing is better than what Kobe was. I don't want to hear about all this LeBron stuff. Kobe stands will go after younger generations who say that LeBron's better than anybody else. And then, before the Kobe generation, it was the Michael Jordan generation.
It's why. Older people might say there's no good music nowadays.
However, there's been interesting stuff being made the last handful of years. This is something that happens generationally all the time. Charles Barkley in the NBA. He said time and time before that These Three-point-centric shooting teams, they're never going to win. Then it's the Golden State Warriors becoming a modern day dynasty.
You have guys in the 90s. Scotty Pippen has said, oh man, a lot of these stars, they would get crushed. Without the hand checks and what you had in the 90s and how physical it was.
So my reaction to it was: Marshall. Just Giving it up, he's saying. McCaffrey is better than I was. And McCaffrey's only played for three years. McCaffrey, he's never won a postseason game.
And one of the greatest running backs ever is saying, nope, that guy's better than I am. I found that to be a little unusual.
Now, Robert took that as Marshall saying, The nice thing that you have to say about one of the stars in the league today. But also trying to give himself a little bit of credit. For McCaffrey's success. You think there's something sinister to this? No, I mean, not sinister, but my first reaction when I heard him say that was, ugh.
Like he's by being able to watch Marshall Falk, Christian McCaffrey is somehow better. As if Marshall Falk never existed, neither would Christian McCaffrey. Is he wrong? Yes, Christian McCaffrey would be just fine without Marshall Falk. And that's not me trying to talk crap about Marshall Falk.
It's just, I think he would be fine without the film of him. You're just saying Marshall Falk off. That's what you're saying. Yes, get off his lawn. Get off his falking lawn.
Yeah. Let's hear more. From Marshall Falk on McCaffrey. He and I, we text and we've had a relationship since he came in. And I told him at the combine when they were questioning stuff about it, his size and durability.
I said, play football. That's what you do. That's all you can do is just play football. They'll get a chance to see. See, I interpret it a completely different way, Robert.
I think McCaffrey's success. A large part of it. comes from his process. Personality and his background. He's not abrasive and loud.
Anybody who's been around him can tell you this. I've covered the Panthers. The last three or four seasons going into the locker room, seeing McCaffrey and how he handles himself. He is quiet, he is respectful. He listens and he learns from others.
I don't have to tell you how smart he is. You probably already know. If you go to Stanford and you hold your own. for many years there, the way that he did, you're probably a pretty smart guy. But he's also a lover of history.
From the football perspective, His dad prepared him for the NFL. Ed McCaffrey was a very good player. Super Bowl champion with those L Way. Bronco teams in back-to-back seasons. Then McCaffrey, Ed, that is, continued to stay engaged in football, not just having sons who were very good at the sport, but he was the Broncos color analyst for many years.
So, all throughout Christian's life, He was engaged in football, not just with his brothers, but with the NFL too.
So he saw how pros conducted themselves. But also his dad taught him about the history of the league.
So I think Marshall Falk has had great influence on McCaffrey's career. And even Roger Craig before that. Maybe this is the best example I can give you. To prove how much of a history lover, and heck. Maybe just a history nerd McCaffrey is.
On several occasions this year, I saw him wearing Bruce Lee t-shirts. I talked to him about it one time. And he said, Bruce Lee is my hero. That's the guy that he idolizes. He sees the mentality of Bruce Lee as something he can translate onto the football field.
Now, how many guys in their 20s? Do you know, Robert, that idolize Bruce Lee. Like Going back to the 60s and watching a lot of his old videos.
So, you're doing you're the youngest guy on this show. Do you even know who Bruce Lee is? Of course I know who Bruce Lee is. Who's Bruce Leigh? The famous martial artist star of all martial art movies back then.
Way in your time. Can you name one of his movie? Um and In one? I think Robert accidentally turned off your mic for a second. Enter the dragon or something dragon.
I'll give him points for that. Do you read Bruce Lee movies? Do you know? That you didn't look up before the show.
Now that's not completely fair. Just because I've looked up All of them right before the show started. I got it right, too. That's not, you'll give me points. That is a legitimate point.
There you go, Sawyer. Congratulations. Three, three, six. 777-1600 is the phone number. We're on Twitter at.
Sports Hub. Triad, I just don't know many people who are diving back deep into martial artists in the 60s and drawing inspiration. from that. But I do know this. In a football sense, he is a perfect fit for Matt Rule.
and the NFL where it's trending. Usually when you look at the teams in the Super Bowl, All the other teams that aren't there are going to try and take something From the teams that are playing. Take something from the 49ers. Take something from the Chiefs. The thing that both those teams do very well It's speed.
and getting your playmakers, regardless of how big they are. in space. Tyreek Hill, move him across into the backfield. Have him in the slot. Have him deep down the field.
Get him the ball in space. It doesn't matter if it's vertical or horizontally. Get the ball into their hands. That's what the Panthers have been doing with McCaffrey, and he might be the most effective guy in the league at doing that. San Francisco.
They run so much motion pre-snap and they run the ball. But I think With the Ravens and 49ers being the two dominant teams in the regular season this year, there's going to be. I don't want to call it a renaissance. for running the ball moving forward, but I think more teams are gonna tailor back. to some of the roots of football and trying to pounded on the ground again.
McCaffrey. He's the best running back we have going right now. He can catch it, he can run it. And he could do so. In a way, Marshall Falk is saying, Yeah, that guy's better than I am.
And many thought he was the most versatile back we've ever had. But again, it is Super Bowl week and The Super Bowl has spoiled this over the years. Hasn't it? Like Just think about in the last decade how many memorable games with memorable moments. We've seen.
Six of the last nine have been one possession games. I only count two duds in the last decade. The Panthers Super Bowl against the Broncos. Just you. Yikes.
And also Seattle, Denver, that blowout. Where It was over in the first quarter. It was over maybe after the first snap where it's a safety. I don't count last year as a dud. I just think it was different, it was memorable.
In many ways, it wasn't the greatest football. The Patriots mucked it up and made. The Rams, uncomfortable in a way they haven't been all year long, but we were all engaged in it till the very end of that game. The memorable moments. You got Cam Newton just for the Panthers Super Bowl, not diving on the ball.
Jericho Cotchery. He might as well be called Jericho Catchery because that was a catch, but it wasn't called one. And then two plays later, Von Miller is stripping Cam and. You got a Broncos defensive touchdown. I know the Super Bowl has spoiled us because of how out of whack our expectations are for the commercials and Super Bowl halftime.
Part of it's the social media era.
So many people are watching one thing, it's impossible for that thing to be very well received or. At least universally received, but it's also. Because They've been really damn good. over the last 15 years. The commercials were great to the point now where We're never going to have our expectations met because they're just way too high.
I remember you and I, Robert, were doing a radio show after Justin Timberlake's halftime show two years ago. And I was getting dunked on because Everyone thought it was terrible, and I thought it was awesome. I thought it was terrific. He was on six different stages and going all over the place. He did a print cover.
He was dancing, he was singing. He's one of the most talented people we have, but the reaction afterwards was. Um Yeah. I had higher expectations for it. But that's where we're at.
Adam Levine's taking off his shirt. Maroon Fives playing hits from 15 years ago. You got Travis Scott, you got big boy rolling in in a car. Even last year, I thought was pretty good.
Now, I don't know how Shakira. And Jennifer Lopez are gonna do. On Sunday. But Our expectations, they are Just so high for the half-time show and for commercials And it's because the Super Bowl has spoiled us. over the last decade, but quite frankly, even longer than that.
Coming up. A man who has been at the center of Super Bowl 54 that hasn't been discussed at all this week. This is the drive.
Okay. Yes, Josh Graham has opinions. That's right. And yes, he's got attitude. That's correct.
And that's exactly why you love him. You wish I loved you that much? You're on the drive with Josh Graham. Yeah. I love Super Bowl prop bets.
So I'm happy to bring Lee Sterling of ParamountSports.com on with us. And Lee, before we get to the fun props, I just want to look at this game first and foremost. Can you think of a time that the team with the better roster, and I think. Anybody agrees that the 49ers have a better roster than the Chiefs do, albeit the Chiefs have the better quarterback and coach. Do you remember a time that they were underdogs in the big game?
Because right now. I like the Niners. As a whole, more than Kansas City, but they're underdogs in this game. I do. And I think what's going to happen, I think you're going to see the line flip think you're going to see San Francisco probably end up as the one point favorite.
and the total just keeps climbing. How about this? I was talking to two different sports book directors, one in Vegas and one offshore. Both told me more than 96% of the money's coming on the overs.
So we could see a a total climb there to 55 or 56. Here's what's interesting about the game, and granted, San Francisco's roster is much better. you win games generally in the trenches. I just think that that Kansas City, if they can just Hold their own. I I think that they're going to find a way to win this game.
I think it's it's Andy Reid's game to win here. I think he just sat in himself in a room for a couple of days and Figured out a game plan. I think he's one of the best. Play callers that we've seen in the last couple decades in the NFL. How about this with two weeks to repair?
He's 19-3 career against the spread. He also has Steve Spagnola as his defensive coordinator. If you remember that name, he was the defensive coordinator for the Giants when they beat the New England Patriots when they were 18-0 going for the perfect season.
So I went with LSU, and a lot of people thought it was crazy. They thought Clemson was the play. They were even playing Clemson on the money line, but I just felt that Joe Burrow had not had a bad game all season. And I just think Patrick Mahomes is the same. I just think there's a few guys that just can put themselves in the moment.
They don't get nervous. And even if they have a couple bad series, like Joe Burrow did and Mahomes did in the first couple playoff games, they can persevere.
So I actually like Kansas City in this game minus one. I'm glad you mentioned Spags because that Giants team, the way they beat Tom Brady, was getting in his face, getting pressure with Justin Tuck, getting pressure with Michael Strahan in 2007. And the two things I can't really account for in this game. Is there going to be enough pressure on Mahomes? And if there is pressure, will his feet, his mobility that Brady never really had, is that going to play a role?
And on top of that, how is San Francisco going to bottle up Tyreek Hill. Do they have enough speed in the secondary to make sure that guy doesn't beat them over the top? Those are the two areas I'd be worried. when it comes to betting San Francisco. Yeah, Richard Sherman is a player, a cornerback, that needs to play in the zone.
He just doesn't have the speed anymore.
So if he's matched up on Hill, Maine to Maine, it's over. Game set match. But. On the other side of the ball, If you're a Kansas City fan and and as good as Honey Badger is, he's only five nine. You're going to guard a guy that's 6'4, 6'5, and can run like the wind.
So there's a couple props. that I think you can take advantage of. Will there be a penalty of more than fifteen and a half yards. Practically, even money. I say yes.
I think you're going to see a couple where defensive backs just don't want to get beaten for a touchdown and they got no choice.
So I like the over there, over 15.5. Also, you mentioned SACS. Will there be a sack before there's a touchdown pass? I believe there will. I think there's some great pass rushers in this game, from Bosa to Frank Clark.
I mean, even the linebackers can get after the quarterback, so I think there will be a sack before there's a a touchdown pass. And both teams are top twelve in getting after the quarterback. The over-under on sacks for the game is four and a half. They figure, hey, you know, you know, One great quarterback, one good one. They like to run the ball, play the under there.
I like the over four and a half sacks. I think you're going to see probably five, six, seven sacks in this game. Are there props every year? Lee? We're being joined by Lee Sterling at ParamountSports.com that every year you enjoy playing.
You know, people who like doing the coin toss. There's people who like gambling on the halftime show, the commercials. What do you like looking at every year?
So I would never play the coin toss. I at least like to study something where I feel I can get the edge. One of them is the national anthem. You know, my daughter goes to North Carolina School of the Arts, and she's. studied them and hit five in a row.
So last year, I was waiting for her pick and she studied and she said, You know what? That everyone is going to pick the under and Gladys Knight. She's getting up there in years. But he goes, She says, I I've studied her. I I think she's going to Go over the total.
It was like 155 and it closed at 158. She sings it in 203. This year, you have a much younger singer in Demi Lovato. But it I know she's done four national anthems, and the last one was for the Connor McGregor fight a couple of years ago before she went into rehab, and she went over that number. But she feels that her voice isn't as strong.
She does a little more riffing now. And she feels that they've set the total probably somewhere between 155 and 157. I'm seeing now it's up to 201, 203 in most places.
So she feels it's going to go under on the national anthem. And we're hoping that she hits six in a row there. And then also, it wouldn't be Miami without, you know, something as far as what the women are going to wear in the halftime show. They have J-Lo and Shakira.
Well, they both show cleavage. I'm going to say yes. At minus 250.
Now, there is one, Jennifer Lopez.
Well, she showed butt cleavage. It's plus 500 for yes. No is minus 1,000. Trust me, I think that they've looked at the NFL and asked her to see what she's going to wear, and they're not going to allow butt cleavage. But I do think J-Lo and Shakira will show a little bit of cleavage.
Robert is so upset on the other side. He's thinking, I mean, Maroon 5, Adam Levine was allowed to take his shirt off. What do you mean, no butt cleavage? We need butt cleavage. Yeah, I mean, I think they should let it go, but this is the NFL.
They can't take any more chances. Any more props you'd like to add, or else do you just want to tell us about ParamountSports.com? It's a great place that you can access. Player props. I like, I like George Kittle over, 70 receiving yards.
A lot of times, when a running back has a big game in the conference championship game, Don't do much. I think San Francisco is going to rotate in a bunch of running backs. Raheem Mosert, I think, under 69.5. Rushing yards and uh Well we'll I I think how about we end it with A uh uh one that's just totally random here. Will the Super Bowl uh will the the crew mention that it's Groundhog Day?
I'll say no, uh at at at minus three hundred seventy five. I don't they have so many other subplots going with uh you know things like Andy Reid, you know, they've got him on the pump pi passing kick uh that he participated in when he was a little kid.
So uh I don't think they're going to mention Groundhog Dan this. I'll give odds for you. How about this? Will Colin Kaepernick be mentioned on the broadcast one time? No.
No. So I'm looking forward to it. Everyone's excited here, Miami, because no New England Patriots Are in the Super Bowl. And I was actually on Radio Row yesterday where there was almost that fight between the two MMA fighters and had Just taking a picture with one of them, and then literally four or five minutes later, I'm five yards away, and they're almost about to go at it.
So, if they're about to go at it, I think it's going to be one of the best. It's Lee Sterling from ParamountSports.com. This guy knows his stuff, and some of the ones that he just gave. A penalty of more than 15 yards. Take that.
It's pretty much an even money. Sacks before a sack before a touchdown. He says yes on that. A touchdown pass that is. Demi Lovato, under two minutes and one second.
We're seeing that total. You got the halftime show. Will they show cleavage or not with Shakira or J-Lo? That's something to maybe take a look at as well. And maybe the over on sacks at four and a half as well.
Lee, appreciate the time. What else can you tell us about ParamountSports.com? Check out the site, a lot of free things there where it says free pick signup. At ParamountSports.com. Just fill in your email address every Friday night.
We send out a free email since the start of the football season. We're 18 and 10 on those on the Freebies. And follow me on Twitter. You can see all the happenings going on on Radio Row at Paramount Sports. Enjoy the madness in Miami, Lee.
It's good to hear your voice. You too. Take care, John. That's Lee Sterling, ParamountSports.com. Follow him on Twitter.
Add. Paramount Sports. That's an actual thing that you can find. You could bet on cleavage for Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. And butt cleavage.
From Andy Reid. I've never heard of the expression butt cleavage before. Have you? You're not looking hard enough then. Where have you seen butt cleave it?
Do you really want to talk about this on the radio? I can. I mean, I can. You're going to talk about it. What do you want to talk about?
Cupcakes. Why do you get cupcakes in your room and we have nothing? It's fitting we're talking about the Super Bowl halftime show because the listener yesterday, or one of the two, that won. I think her name is Jenny. I want to give thanks to Jenny.
I have it on a sheet of paper in front of me. Yeah, Jenny from Greensboro. Jenny from the block? Maybe? With the good hair.
It all ties together. Did a Shakira impression on the air yesterday and won tickets to basketball and also Old Dominion coming up. And she brought in. A bunch of cupcakes. And there are cookies in the middle of this circle of cupcakes.
It's a full platter of things. And then, also, like a football bowl. with a bunch of pretzels in it.
So that's pretty cool. Sawyer, he walks in immediately and just decides to dive straight in. Like right as we're about to go in for a segment and talk about Gambling with Lee Sterling. He has social media responsibilities. I mean, Robert is getting on the phone with Lee Lee Sterling.
Sawyer's just ditching him in the control room so he could dive face first into some cupcakes. How do you how do you speak for yourself? If someone brings cupcakes and they're in your studio. I have the right, being in the studio over, to come and take them because you're talking, and I don't know if you can. Just as long as you can do your job.
Look, but. Who knows? Ginny could have poisoned these cupcakes. I wanted to make sure that you don't go off the air and maybe have a reaction to it. I'll take one for the team and I'll try them out.
Here's the thing, I gotta know though. I think you only took one cupcake. You didn't bring one for Robert? Like, Robert's working. You didn't bring a cupcake for him?
Well, he was on the phone, and Robert, you know. How do you excuse that? He didn't ask for one. There he is. He is really trying to dig the.
Does he have to ask? Like, they bring in all these cupcakes and cookies. Oh, now you're looking straight at me. Like, you don't think to grab a cupcake for Robert? Let it be known, Josh just sucker punched his mic.
He's so mad at me right now. Hey, come on, don't except you guys get a g- get a get apart. Come on. Break it up. When he's free and he asks to get one, I will gladly walk next door and I'll grab my cupcakes.
Will you do me a favor and go grab those cupcakes? Appreciate it. I'm going to wait for him to grab a cupcake so I can know when to continue doing this radio show. Just because a listener brings in cupcakes and cookies. Doesn't mean you gotta stop doing your job.
I mean, holy bleat. What flavor do you want? Give me one of those good ones. Give me like a are those uh chocolate covered?
Okay, cool, that works. Don't slam the oh, he's he's gonna slam it. Cool, I got cupcakes. It's all one flavor. Oh, okay.
Cookies, cupcakes, they're all one flavor. Are the pretzels chocolate covered? Are they regular pretzels? I don't know for sure.
Now Sawyer is. Yeah, what did he get snagged on? I'm looking at the lobby right now. He's giving cupcakes to everyone in the office now. He's not even working.
Dude, is he even on the clock?
Okay, he should not get paid for this hour. I I honestly believe that. I don't think he should get paid a dime. Where did you go? You brought everyone else a cupcake besides me.
Oh, they have little NFL shields on the top. Oh. Do you we take a bite of this on Mike? Oh my god. Oh, don't eat the seal.
The seal is not edible. Oh my god. Great cupcake though. Uh So thanks from Ginny, whether you come from Greensboro or the block. You are listening to WSJS Winston-Salem, WCOG Greensboro, WPCM Burlington, and WMFR High Point.
All those signals together make up. Sports Up Triad. Yeah. God, I'm so mad at Sawyer Dillon. A nice listener comes in and brings in cupcakes.
It just ruins everything. Where Sawyer, he's stepping out of the room to grab cupcakes and cookies instead of being in while we're doing a radio show. And at the same time, In between segments, he's asking whether or not Bruce Springsteen is trash. Sawyer, how old are you? As a reminder here, 20.
Right. We were discussing... Kiss as well. which is playing right here and they're going to be at the Greensboro Coliseum in in no no time. You don't know much about kids, do you?
I know kiss. I mean, I know kiss well, but I don't know like in-depth kiss. I feel like I know the average amount for a person. I don't have nearly the time to get to the bottom of the Bruce Springsteen stuff, but I want to do that in just a little bit. Luke Tacock with us now.
Award-winning columnist from the Raleigh News and Observer, a top 25 voter when it comes to college basketball.
So I feel like I need to ask a question that is just. Above the brow that we're currently at at the moment. But Bruce Springsteen, trash or no? Yeah. I'm right there with you.
When it comes to the top 25 poll, how difficult of a task has it been putting that together week to week versus past years? You know, not it's not any different. There's been a lot more movement, but the process hasn't changed and the decisions haven't changed. Uh I think I mean, I always try to be a little bit ahead of the curve. It doesn't always work out that way.
So I had Baylor a week or two ahead at number one, a week or two ahead of everybody else. And I usually, if there's some, dissension or question about who the number one team is. I usually end up going with a different team than everyone else does. But that's just kind of the way I do my ballot. I look at a lot of analytics.
I look at some predictive analytics. I look at some resume based analytics. I kind of have my own method of taking previous ballots and factoring them into my head, and then I kind of work it out.
So it the process hasn't changed for me. The results haven't changed dramatically. There's certainly been more movement, and that's been true of the poll at large. But You know, it's something I enjoy because I think it it requires you to pay a lot of attention to what's going on, but No one can watch all 300-something Division One teams play every day.
So you do have to rely on the numbers a little bit. If you're just going based on the eight, ten, whatever games you see, you're not going to be doing things accurately.
So, anyway, that's my process. That's kind of how I do it.
So, it hasn't really. All the craziness hasn't really changed the way I do my ballot or made it take any longer. It's just had more changes in it. Luke is on Twitter at LukeTecock, read his stuff. NewsObserver.com or in the pages of The Observer.
What's your favorite detail? I was at Cameron the other night when Coach K went up to the students and had that little spat. What's your favorite detail about it? Because I have three examples, and you can feel free to fill in another if you want to. The fact that.
He didn't recognize the chant, even though it was the same chant he does for the students do when they have a top end recruit in place. How he also said he's never heard a chant from the crazies regarding a visiting coach, or the apology that apparently was a 30-minute meeting with Tinters in Shyzeskiville yesterday. My s uh uh all three of those things are great. Um My favorite part was that He had to be held back from his own students by an official. That was my favorite part.
It was Mike Eads. the ref the referee holding him, trying to push him back on the bench. Kay was way out on the court. Um That was my favorite part. I thought the 30-minute apology with the kids in the tent.
was fascinating because The Duke Chronicle posted that he was out there with them at about 4.30. Which is Depending on how long my phone conversation was, 15 to 20 minutes after I had called Duke to let them know I'd be writing critically about Kay.
So, what do you think? If you want to speculate, what do you think that meeting was? Because Kay apologized to the presser. Like, how do you think that goes? He just walks, just stumbles into Shyseskyville and summons everybody.
Everybody, I got something to say real quick. Hey. You guys are great. I love you. You're great.
No, I suspect. He was I you know, i if if if me calling played a role, maybe this is planned anyway. He was told, listen, your apology last night was fine, but there's still going to be some blowback. The students are unhappy. Fans are unhappy.
It might be good if you went out and met with the students directly. I actually I think it was, you know, my commentary posted at that point, and one of our papers had already gone to press. I I think that was a good move on his part, assuming it was genuine and it was more of an apology than he offered after the game. The reality is, You know, even if he didn't hear the sit with us chant, okay, so fine. It gets loud in Cameron.
It's in a it's a tense game. You know, you were there, I wasn't, I'm watching on TV. The atmosphere seems pretty good for a Tuesday night game or Wednesday night game, whatever it was, Tuesday night. Against Pitt. He doesn't hear it clearly.
He doesn't understand it. And he thinks they're saying something to Jeff Capel and he loses it.
So, my question is: even if he didn't recognize the chance. What did he think they were saying, and why did he assume the worst of his own students? I think that says more than anything about this whole thing, and it's a point I wish I'd made in the paper this morning. It wasn't just that they were chanting Jeff Capel's name. And he got wind of that in a very loud building.
It was that he assumed the worst. That his students were Denigrating Jeff Capel, when in fact, They were honoring him.
So, what does it say about this coach that he's irate, he's furious, he's apoplectic, he's red-faced? I mean, it's just this. Pure unharnessed rage directed at the The students who support his team and are as much a part of that Duke basketball program, quite frankly, as he is. And he assumes the worst What does that say? I mean, it isn't the first time it's happened this year either.
I mean, is this cumulative where he's saying, hey, they don't clap at the right time, they don't do this? You've seen it, Josh. I mean, and this is one of the things I wrote about. Kay coaches the crazies the same way he coaches his team. I mean, in the mid-2000s, you know, in the mid-90s, he was the one who basically, him and Terry Sanford, were the ones who told him to cut out the really crazy stuff, which has led us to this from the creative Cameron crazies to what we have now, this sort of pre-packaged.
Scheduled, ritualized, rote crazies who do the same thing at the same point every time in the same game. You know, we you would sit there, you know exactly what's coming based on the clock. And here comes the mascot to ride on the surfboard on top of the band 'cause it's the whatever T V time out. And hey, crazy towel guy. You know, the whole procedure now is completely scheduled and structured.
There's no spontaneity to it whatsoever. And K was part of that. He said, you got to cut this out. We can't have this. It's gone too far.
And then in the mid two thousands, he was the one who had to go and say, hey, we're taking seats away from you guys if you don't start showing up because things had gotten so stale.
Now part of that was it wasn't a great era for Duke basketball. they've gotten a little spoiled, I think, with the national titles. They go a couple of years without winning one. But he was very much Hey. You know, we're going to take, you know, he was on them.
And then 2012 comes around, and they've won a title, and the building's good again. And then we had this whole Club Cameron thing. Hey, you know, come out the club camera and it's great. You know, and he was thrilled with the students again. The atmosphere was better.
So, this is something that goes back decades. He coaches the students the same way he tries to coach his team or tries to coach the students. And whatever we've seen him tell the students to cut things out before, there's no question about it. You know, I'm trying, I I there's been several Romeo Lankford last year is one that sticks out. He's at the free throw line.
They say overrated. I mean, something as benign as overrated, and he's telling them to shut up.
Something stupid that he gets worked up about. And that's fine. I mean, it's not stupid to me, not stupid to him. Um but Uh The the rage. And the the just the almost this almost unhinged out of control.
you know, had to be restrained. And then just standing there screaming at him. And he was wrong the whole time. He was wrong. If you are going to light into someone like that.
And I say this as a sports columnist. You really need to be right. Yeah. The whole thing is the whole you know, that I think it's I think it's important that he went out there yesterday and talked directly to the students. I think that he's there's probably some fences that need mending and that'll help.
I think his suggestions for what tiers they should use were Beyond hilarious. I hope he was trying to be funny. I hope he was being sarcastic. Oh, yeah. Kay's cheers were perfect.
I mean, it's straight out of mic'd up, straight out of the mic'd up segments you have on NBA or straight out of NFL Monday night games when it's not Sam Darnold saying that he's seeing ghosts. It's something like, hey, let's go. Let's play some defense. Hey, let's be aggressive. Let's get after it.
In fact, I think Robert actually has it pulled up. Let's hear that very quickly. Crazy is to chant like high school cheerleaders? Like, aggressive. Be, be.
Something like this, Luke. Right, defense. Yeah, let's go. Come on, Duke. Yeah.
Come on, you like what's up. Two. three. Come on, Duke. It's preposterous.
Luke, you're the best, man. I'll see you sometime soon. Thanks for doing this. All right, Josh, talk to you. That's Luke Decock.
Go on Twitter at LukeTheCock, NewsObserver. Yeah. Yeah, I mean it's not the first time Kay has gone after the students in recent years. It just isn't. And...
I'm not the guy who's going to litigate what fans do, but it is a funny thing. When Kay said after the game, I've never heard chance involving the visiting coach. And you got Seth Greenberg saying, oh yeah, when I was thrown out, they weren't saying the nicest things. Yeah. They weren't saying the kindest things when I was thrown out at Virginia Tech.
And I'm sure they weren't that great to. You know. Take your pick. Gary Williams, Roy Williams. I'm sure I'm sure they heard a couple things from the crazies before.
It seems like Coach K y yelled at Luke. Individually, he was very upset about that. Almost unhinged. Again, he's uh he's really good at uh News Observer This is all about a generational gap. I think what Kay is talking about, and also Sawyer not being into Bruce Springsteen.
Like, that's just generational stuff here. I don't think Bruce Springsteen's, like. Good. Like uh maybe As an instrumentalist, if that's a word, sure. Born to run.
Are you kidding me? How many hits can we go through? I mean, don't look them up. Say them. If you're going to defend him, don't look it up.
Okay. That sticks out. I mean, no one is def. I'm not on either one. Glory days, not glory roads.
Okay. I have to think about it. It's okay. We'll fix it. I'm on fire.
Yeah, we'll edit it out and pose. I mean, there are songs, but I'm not on either one of your side. I think Bruce Springs. Dancing in the Dark's one of my favorite songs. Would you like to discuss it?
Or would you like to keep talking about the song? I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure. I don't think that anyone is saying he's the best guitarist or the best vocalist. I think he's like the quintessential American songwriter.
So, when like the generation gap doesn't get it, Sawyer's not in the working class. Those songs were for the working class. Like, his song Factories. It's about people whose dads went to work in factories. I think it's just.
It's generational. Maybe. I just think his voice just like it is just not good. Just like people well, there's people who don't get like today's music, such as say like the Billie Eilish. Yeah.
So Billie Eilish, when people hear her, I mean, I'll be honest, the first time I heard it, I didn't know what it was, but then I learned she was 16 or 17 years old when that stuff was being recorded, and I thought she just sounded a lot older. I I thought that. Just like when I heard Leon Bridges, I assumed this guy was in his 50s or 60s. Turns out he's in his late 20s.
So you can hear influences from. Older music in today's music. And Eilish is somebody who went on a run at the Grammys on Sunday. That we haven't seen in such a long time from someone her age.
Someone from a debut album. I think the last time someone swept the Grammys, it might have been Christopher Cross way back when.
So There's a lot of pressure on her now, and she's interesting. Where the way she dresses, she doesn't want any of it to be sexualized whatsoever. She's essentially just wearing like. It might as well be like a potato sack she's wearing out there because she doesn't want. to be sexualized anyway.
Whatever. It wants it all to be about the music. And it's just a fascinating figure from somebody who just turned 18 last month. But generationally speaking, the people who might be big into Bruce Springsteen will think that that stuff's garbage because it just sounds different. For sure.
And she recently did an interview and she was talking about it's not so much being sexualized as it as it is wearing whatever she wants to wear. Like those clothes that are baggy or more covering are more for men and she thinks she should be able to wear that if she wants to. 100%. But that's different from what came before. Correct.
Chip Patterson a little bit later on. You're going to want to hear In its entirety, what Marshall Falk had to say about Christian McCaffrey will play that for you next on the drive. The Super Bowl. Really, the week leading up to it. It's become very crowded, very commercialized, and in the process, it's become a lot less interesting.
I think, but it might have more to do with the teams that are playing in the Super Bowl. Versus Just the actual week itself being less interesting as it becomes more corporate. I'm not saying I have little interest in watching the Chiefs play the 49ers. I think that's going to be a great Super Bowl. It might be the best matchup between two teams that we've seen in the last five years, dating back to Atlanta facing the Patriots, but probably even further than that, the Patriots facing the Seattle Seahawks.
But even with New England in the Super Bowl, they're likely going to play a style that isn't that fun to watch on television.
Meanwhile, these two teams, San Francisco and Kansas City, are both. Pretty exciting. Hay octane offensive. Type. Organizations.
However, I do think this week would be a lot more interesting if New England was playing in it. I'm going to go ahead and say it. This week would be better. If the Patriots were in the Super Bowl. Face it.
There are two things we undoubtedly like in American culture. Villains and stars. The Patriots, they might be the greatest villain in sports history. considering how long they lasted, They might not be done yet. There's a chance that dynasty might not be finished.
I'm not going to call it over yet. until Tom Brady decides to play elsewhere. And there's no question, speaking of that Tom Brady guy, he's the most recognizable figure in all of the NFL. As great as Bahomes is, as great as some of these 49ers are, There aren't many players in the top 20, in the top 25 of recognizable sports figures. Across the country.
Across the world. that play in this sport. Granted, you have 22 on a field at one time. You're wearing helmets. It makes things a little bit difficult.
Brady. Might be the only NFL player I say is a top 10 recognizable sports athlete in America. That earns you something. My mom knows who Tom Brady is. My mom knows who Bill Belichick is.
I don't think she could name another NFL coach or maybe another NFL player.
Now she probably knows Luke Kikoly, but I guess that doesn't count anymore since he's retired. There are no polarizing players. And Super Bowl 54. We've had at least one. at least one polarizing player in every Super Bowl the last decade.
You've had the Patriots the last few years, so you've had Brady, you've had Belichick. Cam Newton is one of the more polarizing players you're going to find across the league. Obviously, some of that has to do with race, but also his outfits, his style of play. The way that he plays, how flamboyant he is, the way he's confident, the way he's celebrated. He was one of the more polarizing players we've seen in the league.
So when he played the Broncos. That was a polarizing deal when the Legion of Boom went up against Peyton Manning. That's something that stood out. Two weeks before that. Aaron Andrews is getting yelled at.
On T V.
So In this Super Bowl, understanding that same guy that yelled at Aaron Andrews is also playing for the San Francisco forty Niners and getting drug tested twice in the last two weeks and getting blood tested earlier today and Richard Sherman, everybody likes Mahomes. Everybody likes Andy Reid and his Hawaiian t-shirts and his. entire being that reminds us of Walruses. Chip Patterson's going to join us in a little less. than ten minutes from CBS Sports.
Dot com. There isn't anybody on the 49ers. that moves the dial one way or the other. Not one player. Like if you ask A casual sports fan, or actually, let's just say not a sports fan.
Somebody who might be watching the Super Bowl, but for the commercials, for the halftime show, might know who the two teams are. Do you think there's any chance they can aim a 49er? Probably no chance at all.
However, Just for a moment, Robert. Let's try to imagine. what this Super Bowl would look like. If it was Mahomes. And the Chiefs.
Facing the 49ers. But it wasn't Garoppolo at quarterback, but Colin Kaeperdick. Can you imagine what this week would be like? No. If it was Kaepernick and the 49ers going up against the likable Andy Reid and Mahomes?
That would be the most interesting Super Bowl week we've ever had. You don't think the league would sabotage the 49ers?
somehow with the refs before that could happen. I'm just saying. If it happened. Yeah. Like, if you just.
Take Jimmy Garoppolo's good-looking self, his handsome self, and replace him. With Colin Kaepernick What do you think happens? What do you think this entire week is? 3367 Tebitatt 1600 on Twitter at Sports Hub Try It. Whatever it is, I bet it's a lot more interesting.
Like what's the most interesting thing that's been said on Radio Row or at Media Day this week? What is it? I can't even think of anything because I haven't heard anything interesting other than Marshall Falk saying that Christian McCaffrey is a better version of him. It's the most interesting thing I've heard. It has nothing to do with the two teams playing in the Super Bowl.
I will say to your polarizing aspect, the thing I didn't really recognize now living in a house of people who don't watch sports, my dad, not a sports fan, his friends, not sports fans.
Something that they do when there is not a recognizable thing, the team becomes the most polarizing thing. They relate the 49ers now to the 49ers when they were kids. Like, oh, I remember when Joe Montana, and he's talking about the old 49ers as if that has anything to do with this Super Bowl. Are you annoyed by that? No, because my dad's never into sports and it's kinda cool that he takes a liking to it.
I don't buy the idea of Patriots fatigue. I don't. Like, have you ever heard of Darth Vader? Fatigue? Have you ever heard?
Of LeBron James fatigue? Yes. I got tired of LeBron James when he was winning. Tell the television ratings. Because they went up every single year.
LeBron played in the finals seven or eight consecutive years. Like All these guys. People we would consider stars or villains. Like, I haven't heard of Kevin Hart fatigue. I haven't heard.
Of Denzel Washington fatigue. They're all over the place. You know what? If you're a star, if you're a star, we're going to embrace that. That's what we do in this country.
If you're a villain, it's kind of the same way. Like, there's a reason why Darth Vader is the most signature, popular Star Wars character out there. There's a reason why that is.
So, I'm not a New England Patriots fan by any means, but the Patriots, when they're involved in the Super Bowl, it brings out. People. Who are interested to see them lose? Floyd Mayweather would break a bunch of pay-per-view records because. People would pay to watch that guy get his ass knocked out.
That's what they were interested in. The Drive is broadcast live in the law offices of Timothy D.
Wellbourne Studios. Learn about all the ways that Tim Welbourne can help you online at TimWelbourne.com. You'll know. When you need us. A quick look to tomorrow.
I'll give you my official pick. That you can iron in, that you can pin. For the 49ers and the Chiefs. We'll go through some prop bets as well. Lee Sterling of ParamountSports.com was with us on today's show.
Great on the best of podcasts that you can find on SoundCloud, iTunes, Apple Podcasts. Just search the drive with Josh Graham. It's pretty simple to do. Chip Patterson in just a few minutes. Let's go to Chris in Greensboro, who wants in.
Chris. Even if you don't like the New England Patriots. Do you acknowledge this week would be a lot more interesting if the Pats were in this game? Oh, I completely agree, Josh. I'm not a big Patriots fan, but he's exciting.
Tom Brady is exciting. People want to see the best player of all time play the game. The only thing is last year last game last year's game was kind of slow and boring. If it's a better game, then we definitely want to see him. Yeah, and here's the thing, Chris.
Thank you for the phone call. While last year it was slower, I think it was so much. Of a slow defensive game, it became memorable as a result. Every single one of the New England Super Bowls, with the exception of, say, the Philadelphia one in Jacksonville that they won 24-21, where McNabb threw up on that final drive. were memorable, like had very memorable finishes.
The Patriots beating the Panthers on a game-winning kick with John Casey kicking it out of bounds on that previous kickoff. The drive down the field for Brady's first Super Bowl. Adam Vinantari, another game winner against the Rams. The Patriots losing to the Giants in close games. You have the Tyree catch, you got the Mario Manningham catch.
Then you go to The Seattle Super Bowl. Malcolm Butler picking it off on the goal line. Coming back from 28-3 against Atlanta. Tom Brady throwing for 500 yards, being outdueled by Nick Foles. And Philadelphia winning that Super Bowl.
And last year, it was the exact opposite. But the Patriots shut down one of the more prolific offenses we've ever seen in modern-day football. Holding Sean McVay and the Ramps to three points. The Super Bowl has spoiled us. Six of the last nine years, we've had one possession games.
And even the ones that were duds, the Panthers Super Bowl and that blowout. In the meadowlands between New York or excuse me, Denver and Seattle. You had Cam Newton not jumping on the football, Jericho Kacheri, did he catch it? Did he not? That review didn't go Carolina's way.
It led to Von Miller pinning his ears back and stripping Cam Newton.
So They're memorable games, and they've exceeded expectations more times. than not. The talent in college basketball. It seems to be down this year. I don't even think it seems to be down.
It is down this year. Star Power is down. Is it an anomaly? Or is this a concerning trend? Chip Patterson from CBS Sports.com will join to discuss next.
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Back to the drive with Josh Graham on Sports Hub Triad. Right now. Tip Patterson from CBS Sports.com now with us. Covers college football, college basketball, and plenty more. And I know it's Super Bowl week, but around here we could talk college basketball 12 months out of the year.
I was at Cameron earlier in the week when Coach K started yelling at the crazies, and that became a bigger story than I think it was supposed to be. And this weekend, there's a chance Cole Anthony could return for the Tar Heels in time to face Boston College inside the Smith Center. Louisville, NC State, is where we will be inside PNC Arena. But. When I look at This year's college basketball crop of talent, Chip, especially in comparison to what we enjoyed last year with Zion, Kobe White, and others in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
It does seem like the talent level was down, not just in the ACC, but across college basketball. Do you believe a season like this is an anomaly, or with more players going overseas and considering other venues than college basketball to play, and also the one and done days being numbered, do you think that this is a bad trend for the sport? No, I don't ask much from my college basketball. I don't necessarily need my college basketball. to be the finest version of the game of basketball.
I think that the reason why a lot of people are drawn to college basketball I mean, think about the The the nation at large doesn't even really dial in, but because really what the nation at large is tuning in for is just competition. It's the same reason why we watch the Olympics. You know, it's the same reason why we sign up for all kinds of of different uh viewing of athletics. Like I I just I really think that the reasons that you're watching the game is you you like the game of basketball and you understand the unique circumstances that are bringing these eighteen to twenty two year olds together to to compete against each other under immense pressure. And so yes, Some years you're going to be lucky, and you're going to get once-in-a-generation type talents.
And some eras are going to be lucky in that they have a collection. The people that talk about the heyday of the big East and and you think about the NBA talent that was on all those different Georgetown, Syracuse, Villanova rosters. You know, I I I think that there can be eras where it it gets really special. I mean, there have been eras in the ACC, there have been eras in across the state of North Carolina where it gets a little bit different, at least in terms of the level of play. But college basketball in general, I think sort of survives on the competition and the stage Sort of playing the game under pressure.
Most Final Four games are bad, Josh. You know this. That's awful. Yeah, most Final Four games are not good. And yet we still tune in and yet we'll still remember as long as they've got a great finish.
So I don't draw any big broad strokes about the changes that are happening, both in terms of one and done or the changes that could be happening within the amateurism model or anything else like that, because the reason why I sign up for college basketball is just to see the competition. And I also think you watch college basketball, and I watch college basketball a lot differently than I think most of the country does. I think maybe this all just goes back to March Madness is the big moneymaker for the NCAA, and the way the sport is tailored isn't to have the best team win at the end, or else you'd have a tournament that isn't having to require a team win six in a row and play. In a football stadium, its final two games, unlike any other stage they've played the entire year. But that makes them the most money, and it also features the brackets, which is where 90% maybe the country follows college basketball or starts following it.
We got to remember here in the triad and in North Carolina. Our market's different than maybe any other place you're going to find in the country, which follows college basketball 12 months out of the year.
So it's an excellent point that you bring up. But with the ACC.
Some are saying this is the third, maybe the fourth best basketball conference this year. And it's hard to really argue with that when you consider beyond the top three. Nobody really has great wins. How many teams in the ACC do you comfortably say, Chip Patterson, are going to be NCAA tournament teams? Comfortably, I can only say three.
I can only say Duke, Louisville, and Florida State comfortably. I think that can Conservatively, I could be extended to four or five. Though who number four and who number five might be, I don't know. Like, I guess Virginia picking up its first top fifty win of the season, that certainly puts them in a position where heading into that game. I thought that Virginia was probably going to be if they had lost to Florida State, they were headed towards a path of not making the NCAA tournament.
You know, like the 1984 NC State Wolfpack. Win the national championship in 83. You're in the NIT in 1984. I thought that Virginia was on a path like that, but the win against Florida State goes a long way to start improving their resume. I can't trust Virginia Tech.
I really like Pitt, honestly. Like, if we're just talking about where you would want to saddle up some of your stock, but I'm not. Yeah, I'm not totally confident that Pitt's going to be able to get the wins that it needs to be able to finish in that fourth or fifth spot. But if you're going to extend it to six, I think that that's a little bit too aggressive because you're right, the ACC is down. But, you know, to your first question, I was looking at the conference rankings, Ken Pomeroy's conference rankings, and like the SEC is down.
The SEC is having a bad season, but the Big East is still really good according to the predictive metrics. The Big Twelve and the Big Ten, I believe, are the three top leagues, and they are existing on a tier that is way above the ACC and the SEC. It's almost a regional thing, right? Like we share the same footprint, and you can just tell that whatever was going on with this particular cycle, this recruiting cycle or this combination of recruiting cycles, the ACC and the FEC are both experiencing a down year at the same time. It's Chip Patterson.
He's on Twitter at chip underscore Patterson from CBS Sports.com. I'm going to use a rule. Williams type question here for you. Is this the least gifted you've seen the ACC? In your lifetime?
Least gifts. I don't you know, like, I'm not I'm not trying to cop out of that answer. I just don't think that I look at I I just don't think I look at it through that lens. You know, like I get I definitely get the joke, but I the thing that I will definitely agree is this doesn't have uh this doesn't have the surefire NBA players. And it doesn't mean that you're not going to have somebody like a Quinn Cook, you know, like be able to go out and show later in their career that they are going to be that valuable addition into an NBA franchise over time.
But I I certainly understand that we don't have the kind of NBA draft lottery type power that you might have in other years. But I mean, you can't, like, I can't go least gifted when I can very quickly start filling out. Like, I think Vernon Carey is one of the best players in the ACC, and I think that Jordan Lara is one of the best talents in the ACC. I think you can start filling out your first-team all-ACC ballot and feel like that's a pretty impressive group that would rank right up there with the best.
Now, the depth of it might be where Least Gifted definitely comes into play, where your second and third team all ACC, you know, they're not going to be having those surefire NBA names like last year and some other years. But Least Gifted I've ever seen. I don't know, man. I've I f I feel like I go back and I watch some uh some old tape from the eighties and it's it feels like it's been dressed up to be a little bit prettier than it was at the time. Chip, if I remember correctly, you are a hardcore Charlotte Hornets, maybe even back to the Charlotte Bobcats days, Charlotte basketball fan, right?
Do I have that right? Correct. So this week How have you processed, as an NBA fan, the news of the Kobe Bryant passing now that we're a few days removed, and I don't think there's anything more unsettling than seeing somebody who was so associated with being. A someone who's beefed with Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, a guy that big, you're just not used to seeing someone cry and openly weep, especially on television, and somebody who's known to be as fun as he is. That's the moment where.
Secondarily to the news breaking on Sunday, it just hit me. Man, this is massive. And it's weird to say, past tense, Kobe Bryant was. How have you processed it? I had already closed the book on Kobe Bryant as a player in my mind.
He had a farewell tour. We had a lot of tributes to him. It's weird because when players retire and we have enough time to say goodbye to them as a player, it is a song and dance that is eerily similar to as if they have died. But thank goodness for that. Not to hold you up completely, but thank goodness in hindsight we had that farewell tour.
Otherwise, he maybe would never have gotten that appreciation considering how villainous of a figure he was. But so I you know, I'd I'd kind of I I closed the book on that and I put that book on my own sort of mental and emotional shelf. And then I was I was really freaking out. Uh I I think that I was just starting to to to really appreciate him as a as as a member of the as a member of society, like as a as a father, as as somebody who used to play the game and can speak on it. And to hear him speaking about the game was stuff that I loved and to have him at a point where I was probably I found him as likable in my own personal taste and opinion as I as ever before.
You know th not you know, I I was really, really deeply saddened to to see all of this new life, this second chapter that he had created cut short. Chip. It's been an emotional week for everybody. We'll continue to read your stuff at CBSSports.com as things start to heat up in the conference race. It's always right after the Super Bowl.
Things take a step around here, but even broader than that, we start looking at bracketology, and Joe Lennardy becomes a household name in the month of February.
So appreciate you spending time with us. We'll talk sometime soon. All right, sounds good. Y'all be well. You got it.
That's Chip Patterson. He's on Twitter at chip underscore. Patterson. Gotta remind people that sometimes. Around here, college basketball, it's so big.
It is The Tar Heels and Duke and NC State. Those are the pro teams in this state for I think every corner of it, other than Charlotte. Charlotte. might as well be its own state. That's the way I explain it to people.
Where Outside of the city of Charlotte. Other than folks like Chip Patterson. The Hornets, eh, they don't really. move the needle one way or the other. They just don't.
And I think the one thing we all root for in Charlotte and across the state of North Carolina is the Carolina Panthers.
So. When you're trying to explain the North Carolina sports scene to somebody, it's a lot different, I think, than anywhere else you're going to find. Like As somebody who works in sports radio, When you're considering places to do what I do here. You gotta start asking yourself: hey, am I familiar with what I'm gonna have to talk about? What my audience cares about.
See, this is a misunderstanding people have about radio. I don't talk about the things that I'm interested in. I talk about the things I think you're interested in. Kind of like It's called playing the hits in radio. If it's a music station, the most popular sentiment Of criticism people have for a radio station.
You play the songs. Too much. The same songs too much.
Well there's a reason why they do it, because that's what people want to hear. Right? Sports works the same way. And I knew what I was taking up when I decided to work in the triad. It's going to require you to cover the ACC very closely in basketball and football.
It's going to require you to cover the Carolina Panthers. And sometimes, if the Hornets are good, the Hornets. The Carolina Hurricanes, we covered that playoff run. NASCAR, you name it. That's what you take up.
But I don't think there is another place across the country. Where college sports matters as much as it does here And the triad, and heck, I'd even extend that to the triangle in Raleigh. I don't think there's another place across the country where you have Four. Power five schools. Power Conference basketball programs, within an hour and a half of each other.
That's what we have. That's what we've had. And that is unique. Other places, heck, I've interviewed for jobs in big time pro sports markets. And I can tell you that Man, it's all about pro sports teams.
College sports would not crack. the radio somewhere else. in a big city. College sports, you got to remind yourself. And sometimes the rules.
And the tournaments are tailored to this. It's a niche market. across the country. A niche market. Not here though.
And we just got some breaking news into our studio that's a really big deal right now. Yeah. According to Josh Klein Who covers the Carolina Panthers? and does so for the riot report, The Carolina Panthers are parting ways. with Greg Olson.
That is according To Josh Klein. I'm waiting to see if that is going to be confirmed.
Somewhere else. I haven't seen it yet.
Now I have. Ian Rappaport says that the Panthers and tight end Greg Olson have agreed to part ways, which means Greg Olson's likely going to retire. and pursue a career in television. And now the Carolina Panthers have put out the statement, too.
So this is all happening in real time right now. I'm looking to see if there are any quotes in this story. This is from Greg Olson. A direct quote here. Today I had the opportunity to sit down with General Manager Marty Hearney.
And had a great conversation regarding my future with the organization. The team and I are both on the same page. And that it's best we go in different directions for now. On the field, I will always cherish the nine seasons we shared together, the wins, the losses, standing at midfield, holding the Hallis trophy as NFC champs. The reality of going to the Super Bowl was beyond words.
As we as was the disappointment of falling short. Off the field is where my family felt the warmest embrace. In twenty twelve, upon the news breaking regarding the challenges our son would face, the entire Carolina community wrapped their arms around us in support. My wife Kara and I will forever be grateful for the love. And prayers shared with us since that time, regardless of what path we choose.
I will always be. a Carolina Panther. In this moment. I think about A photo that was posted by former defensive end Charles Johnson. Right after the news that Luke Keekly was going to retire, surprisingly.
It had six people on that stage. Five of the six. people on the stage who represented the captains, from the Panthers Super Bowl team four years ago. are now no longer Carolina Panthers. Those players.
Ryan Khalil, Charles Johnson. Luke Keekly Thomas Davis. Gregg Olson, and the one player who is remaining from the captains of that team. Is Cam Newton? Oh yeah, Ryan Khalil as well, so I guess seven captains.
Sorry about that. Cam Newton's all that's left. And if he doesn't return. I don't think we've seen anything like this in modern-day NFL football. I don't think we've seen.
A team Deteriorate. Their leadership. Deteriorate. As quickly as Carolina's had.
Something that seems so promising with the quarterback entering his prime. and a linebacker who is a year younger than him. Or, at least, in terms of NFL experience, it was drafted a year later in Keekly's case. It's just been so quick. Different coach too, and Ron Rivera, different ownership.
So much has changed for this organization in just a four-year span. David Tepper said this: quote: Consistency is the word that comes to mind when I think about Greg, a leader, a great teammate, unbelievable family man, a true professional. Greg brought passion and intense detailed work ethic to the stadium every day. As the Jersey guy on the team, it was good to get to know Greg over the past two years. He will be remembered as one of the best Panthers to ever play here.
Greg and Kara's work in the community continues to be positively impacting so many families in our city and the Carolinas. Just massive news. Greg Olson's one of my favorite dudes I've dealt with. Um He answered every tough question. He was always there.
He was always polite. And just a tremendous player as well.
