The Drive with Josh Graham - App State's New Year's 6 Path

This is The Drive with Josh Graham Podcast. Tune in to The Drive weekday afternoons 3 to 7 on Sports Hub Triad.

We often hear from Mountaineer fans saying that we don't talk enough. App State around here. So here you go. I'm willing to make two big statements about App after that 17 to 7 win at Louisiana last night. Number one. This is one of the 25 best teams in America right now. That's simple. They should be and I expect they will be in next week's AP Top 25 now that Eli Drinkwitz's group is 5-0.

Number two. Just based on what I've seen so far, Appalachian State is officially in the New Year 6 discussion now. For those who don't know, the best group of five team in the country gets to play as an automatic bid in one of the big New Year 6 bowl games on October the 31st or on January the 1st. They're gonna need to run the table. I know there are some optimistic app fans who think maybe you'll get a shot with there being South Carolina and North Carolina on the schedule having one loss just as long as you win the Sunbelt Conference Championship game.

I don't really see that. I think it's a really strong year for the group of five. There very well could be five G5 teams in the AP poll next week.

You got three teams out of the American. Memphis is undefeated. SMU undefeated. Cincinnati after knocking off UCF only has one loss.

That's to Ohio State in Columbus. So they cracked the top 25. None of those teams are the highest ranked G5 team.

Can you name it? It's Boise State that's ranked near the top 15 out of the Mountain West Conference. Another conference I think that's having a really good year with Air Force being strong. Boise already getting past them. Utah State which we've talked about before and so far down the list there are very good teams in the G5. So a fifth of the poll just as long as those teams win will be in the top 25 next week. So looking at what App State needs to do in order to be the best group of five they're gonna have to win out. Their biggest test is South Carolina. That game is November the 9th.

It's in Columbia. They've had some issues at quarterback. It's hard to really speculate who's gonna be the guy at that time.

A lot of people they were very excited about what they had at quarterback going into this year and it's all just kind of falling apart and it's been Ryan Holinski the last month or so who's been okay. I'm not gonna say it's gonna be easy for App State. I don't even know if they're gonna be favored. You're on the road against an SEC team.

You might be ranked at that point. If you win up until that point you certainly will be but I'm not at the point yet with App State under a first-year coach where I'll just go ahead and say yeah you should be winning SEC games on the road. You beat North Carolina. That's your first power five win you've had since the Michigan game when you were in FCS in 2007. Pump the brakes a little bit on you should win at South Carolina. You might be favored. I doubt it. It might be a pick them so it's winnable at worst for Appalachian State.

Then you look at the rest of the fun bell. Troy down lost their head coach to West Virginia. Georgia Southern down this year. Louisiana you're probably gonna get a rematch with them in the conference championship game but if that happens in all likelihood that game's gonna be played in Boone. So advantage Appalachian State. I like App's path more than any other team I just mentioned out of the group of five.

That's why I believe they are legitimately in the new year six discussion. Boise State very tough schedule. Not this weekend but next weekend. They play BYU. They still have Utah State on the schedule. Have to play a championship game in the Mountain West. Don't sleep on the Wyoming Cowboys who are having a nice year.

There are three very good American threats to this New York's New Year six discussion. SMU they've been great. The one coach you can look at at being a pure descendant of the Dabo Sweeney coaching tree is Chad Morris. And this Chad Morris is a coach I really liked who right now is at the University of Arkansas but the players that he recruited to go to SMU he was known as being a top recruiter when he was at Clemson. Those players are now being coached by Sonny Dykes and Sonny Dykes has taken that next step further that as the first time head coach Morris wasn't able to do but it's worth mentioning Morris from the recruiting perspective that's why SMU is as good as they are and they are ranked for the second week in a row.

It's the first time they've been ranked since Pony Express in the early 1980s. However SMU is going to have to face Memphis. They're facing each other in the regular season. SMU in the regular season finale has Cincinnati. So these teams are gonna play each other and I think App is gonna be looked at favorably if they're unbeaten over a one-loss SMU even if they win the AAC or a one-loss Memphis.

If they're unbeaten I don't think it happens. The only team I think might be favorable might get the nod with one loss over App State is Cincinnati and that's only because the one loss they had was at Ohio State and the Buckeyes are just rolling over people right now. It would be a fascinating discussion one loss Cincinnati out of a better conference in the American one loss coming to Ohio State getting shut out getting shellacked in Columbus or App State undefeated conference champ and road wins at North Carolina and South Carolina in this hypothetical. I do think this without getting too far down the road with App's schedule and just focusing on the present yesterday was App's most impressive win of the year.

It's not their most important North Carolina's that. It's a benchmark win that people were going to be talking about for decades considering the two schools haven't played since 1940. But from a football perspective from what I saw on the field transpire I was more impressed watching App last night on a Wednesday night in the Fun Belt nationally televised game versus the game I saw in person North Carolina App State a few weeks ago.

Namely because I know what they have offensively. Zach Thomas he had two touchdowns last night they clinched the game late winning 17-7 but the defense was a question mark. They made plays Demetrius Taylor have one of the best games I've ever seen a defensive lineman have against the Tar Heels.

He was great again last night but Ted Roof he's been criticized. You give up 40 plus to Charlotte at home. People were saying you're not Brian Brown you're not Scott Satterfield Eli Drinkwitz it's not as sharp as it was last year with six starters back on this defense. But when you look at the numbers Louisiana they're at home they're excited and they have the ninth ranked offense in the country and App State held them the 254 yards and if it wasn't for a couple suspect pass interference calls at the end of the first half Louisiana doesn't score that touchdown right before half.

It was impressive we know what the offense can do the defense we didn't really know so I was very impressed by what App State did last night. Your thoughts are welcome on Twitter at sports up triad it is the Giants and the Patriots tonight. Thursday night football Eli Manning's out of the picture we thought this could be the game that Patriots maybe get tripped up by one last time by Eli Manning the same way Eli Manning tripped up New England and two Super Bowls in the last dozen years. But no it's Danny Dimes team now so to help preview this game tonight Patriots Giants Danny Dimes takes it away. Hi I'm Daniel Jones I'm the starting quarterback for the New York Football Giants I know what you're thinking America man the Giants really do suck I hear you we don't suck we're just perfecting our perfection that's all the fuck we get to go into Foxboro tonight take on a team that we've owned the New England Patriots. Tom Brady it's okay to be scared of the men in blue we own a piece of real estate you're pretty boy head TV 12.

What's that? We're 17 point underdogs that's the most we've been underdogs all time in any game and this is the highest spread for any game in Thursday night football history? Well **** me then am I right? Wow seriously like do I have a full team can somebody call Odell and apologize like who are we playing the Avengers? We're still here! Tom Brady it's on like Donkey Kong tonight bring your hot wife and your perfect life and lean dad bod on the Gillette so they can see what the future of football is in the flesh. Giants gonna win this puppy 24 to 7 the future of football is Daniel Stephen Jones the third bang bang sprinkles are for winners Tommy P and I want all the sprinkles.

He was pretty hampt up there. It's the battle for all the sprinkles tonight Giants Patriots who boy I'm excited for this game now Daniel Jones got me into it. Many dimes baby in the house. How many more primetime games do the Giants have this year?

Probably all of them. The NFC East they get all these primetime games and the Giants aren't any good so just looking ahead they have a primetime game against the Cowboys one against the Eagles so they got two more the rest of the way here so I'm down to hear Danny Dimes previews for the big game and you can listen to it right here on sports up try it it's it's just incredible stuff from Daniel Jones and we pay a ridiculous amount for him to do that for us. Proudly broadcasting to an audience that clearly deserves something better. Boy you guys are not sucking me into the story at all I'm just telling you for your own benefit you're on the drive with Josh Graham on Sports Hub Triad. Tonight it's Thursday night football on ESPN NC State Syracuse and our next guest is a part of this college football team I like a lot Adam Amin with us now joined every Thursday night by Pat McAfee, Matt Hasselbeck and Molly McGrath and Adam you've spent a lot of time in the state of North Carolina in the last month or so I can't remember if I told you about sweet potatoes in Winston Salem but I know you ended up going there with the crew you visited Greenville America last week at East Carolina and now you're in Raleigh for NC State Syracuse so give me a sense as the food connoisseur you are how would you rank the North Carolina restaurants you visited? Man I would say sweet potatoes is hard to beat sweet potatoes was outstanding and that was a Dave Klassen recommendation we ended up last night in Raleigh at Capitol Club 16 which I was a huge fan of I thought that you know that there's kind of a lot of German flavor to it a little more German food but they had like kind of an Americanized menu too I just I had the $5 Wednesday special which is a burger because I just I always try to find a good burger it was a really really I would say as good of a made burger as well of a made burger as I think you can have just very simple very strong ingredients very well seasoned I was a big fan and I think we had a I think it was Moore's fried chicken in Greenville I can't remember I think that's what it was and I I was a huge fan. Moore's fried chicken is legit.

Moore's fried chicken is where it's at man. Yeah Moore's fried chicken was excellent so I'm a big fan Greenville treated the North Carolina the state in general is treated us very well less last month or so. Yeah and the guy who runs SupDogs apparently knows you're on right now he sent me a text saying that to thank you for the three or four shout outs he gave to SupDogs restaurant the best college bar in America at Greenville America last week. Absolutely absolutely I know I know we keep we keep track of those rankings and Brett was was kind enough to let our cameras in and just kind of show off a little bit of SupDogs and I know had they won in Greenville last week and they beat in Temple which you know they almost frankly you know they were in a game for a good chunk of time and it got a little interesting for other reasons late in the game last week but a shout out to Brett and SupDogs and everybody in Greenville they were great. You've worked with a lot of different broadcast teams but what I like it seems like you found this ditch where you guys all gel together you Matt and Pat McAfee and Molly as well in the sideline and it just seems like whether it's producers and camera work as well executive producers that you guys have tailored the broadcast to making it a lot more fun of course it's informative and it's it's something that we enjoy watching as football fans but just going through it yourself how much more fun are you having being in the booth with this group? It's hard not to have fun hard not to have a good time this group you know I think there's an end and again I'm all pull the curtain back a little bit I'll give you a little insight into into what I feel we're we're Thursday night we're gonna get our butts kicked by the NFL the NFL is still king in this country and understandably so tonight who do we got Patriots Giants I'm not stupid I know what is on with our counterparts over at Fox I'm well aware so at the very least let's try to enjoy on Thursday nights when we're not necessarily a marquee game for the weekend in terms of the score that not necessarily I'm not that's not an insult NC State or Syracuse but to the scope of the college football playoff let's say this is in Florida LSU this is in Iowa Penn State and it's not Texas Oklahoma which although all those games have some serious playoff level implications I understand we're not that game necessarily on Thursday nights this year so as as we try to appease the two fan bases that are watching and the conference fans that are watching by being informative about the teams that we're covering in the conference that we're covering and being a little bit global on college football I think that's you know it's part of our job I think more so it's our job to almost be counter programming and to at least cover the game in a way that allows these guys that are new to the game on a full-time basis in broadcasting to shine and to let let them get exposed to college football on a significant basis week to week to week and to bring their unique flavor and perspective to the broadcast each week and I think so far I hope that's what we've done I'm sure some people don't love it but nobody loves every college football crew universally so I think we're just gonna go out and have a good time be informative be entertaining have a good time with each other because we all have become really good friends this month or you know just working together and hopefully people enjoy that and if they don't that's okay and if they do stick around with us and we'll have a good time and hopefully we'll have a good game at the end.

Adam Amin's on Twitter at Adam Amin. Watch Adam tonight NC State Syracuse eight o'clock kick with his crew Pat McAfee and Matt Hasselbeck Molly McGrath as the wolf pack look to go four and two with the win tonight against a pretty good Syracuse team that had a lot of expectations going into the year but last week I don't think I've ever watched a game where in football where the lights went out a nationally TV game have you ever covered anything like that? I think that was probably the most odd odd scenario in terms of like the physical nature of the game like lights going out with four minutes left you know we've got a 17 point game East Carolina scores and all of a sudden it's a 10 point game which kind of covered the spread so that becomes the main story for the last couple of minutes 15 minute light lights out delay I guess for lack of a better term very odd night at Dowdy Ficklin Stadium last week but I'm glad we were able I feel like if there's any crew and we were just talking about the fun that we have if there's any crew capable of handling a 15 to 20 minute power outage without studio help and while we have to tap that a little bit I would put my money on this crew just about every single time. Yeah and you have McAfee talking about the fact that was it a rodent a possum got stuck in his radiator that's not yeah I think I think I think that's you know the common occurrence that happens you know when the possum just starts starts kind of looping around and trying to figure out what what food might be in that in that compartment all of a sudden you got a possum in the radiator and the truck doesn't work so I'm glad to see the Pat and his his crew from the Pat McAfee show was able to make it here safely to Raleigh North Carolina we'll see if they're gonna make it all the way out west next week we're out in a Stanford next week so we'll see if they make it all the way out there. So I enjoyed watching you guys last week and look forward to watching you tonight but I was driving home from Charlotte the Panthers beating the Jaguars for the third consecutive win and I turn on the radio and you're also doing the Atlanta Braves series for a night or so and it was a come from behind win for them but they lose last night and I wonder who feels worse today Braves fans who had their hope sucked out in the first 20 minutes of that game or Dodger fans who had all the hope build up and then Clayton Kershaw just couldn't get it done who feels worse today? I think there's two elements to this it's the baseball element of it and the kind of personal element like what it what hurts you more when your team loses would you rather see your team lose in blowout fashion and just kind of not be emotionally invested or be emotionally invested pretending and see you know see that see Joe Kelly give up a grand slam to Howie Kendrick the former Dodger of all players and have your hearts ripped out and for me I personally feel like that would be worse I think both elements kind of point to the Dodgers having a worse loss a you're 106 win team clear-cut I thought and seeing them in the regular season the best team top to bottom in Major League Baseball but the one thing I said about the Dodgers going into this series and into this playoffs that I was concerned with and no surprise was the bullpen either one of the best bullpens in me in the National League throughout the year but especially late in the season they were having back end of the bullpen issues you didn't know how you're gonna use Joe Kelly Kelly Jansen it feels like Dave Roberts had lost a lot of faith in over the course of the final month and a half of the season because of all of his struggles which we saw start last year too and I think when you're that invested when you have Clayton Kershaw coming in and relief and you and we know that every time he takes the ball in a postseason outing he's trying to get over this hump of this 4-plus ERA this near 4-5 ERA that he's had in his playoff career compared to something like a 2 ERA a little you know like a 2-5 ERA in the regular season where he's been so dominant one of the best pitchers in the game to have a loss in that fashion to a team that I think you were superb against I think you were so superior to I should say and and to see it happen the way it did at home in that scenario three home runs get you including the grand slam and the pen and to have it go on and by the way not bad pitches from Kershaw either those are actually not terrible pitches Anthony Rendon went down and got one around to shoe tops and hammered it out to get the scoring started on that final surge I think that's tougher you know I thought the Braves had a real shot to take the Dodgers down to the NLCS if they got there but I saw how the Cardinals had played in the second half of the year I did a couple their games late in the season I know what their medal is and I know their experience is something that they really leaned on so I'm not as I if I'm a Braves fan I'm not as disappointed I've got Acuna and all these and I've got a great core going forward I know Donaldson's a free agent the can is gone he's gonna retire but you've got a great core with Freeman Acuna and all these I think you got some young pitchers that are gonna be studs going forward there's a lot more promise there with a lower payroll compared to what the Dodgers have dealt with with that type of loss with that type of payroll with those types of expectations Darren Vaught from the David Glenn show he's gonna pop in studio in a bit and we'll get to more of this game last night with the Dodgers and figuring out a fair way to assess what Clayton Kershaw has been but we were trying to figure out see the Panthers there in London and Ron Rivera compared where he's at to Hogwarts that's where essentially they've been at Harrowfield Dez you texted your wife what did she say you would be sorted in in Harry Potter what house would you be sorted into Dez so she said I'd be either either in Ravencroft or Slytherin yeah I thought you'd be a Ravens cloth Adam and meme what would you be sorted into okay I am I gonna admit something to you right now oh no which I feel like you already know it's what yeah what's about to happen is that the one that you're most ashamed to admit or is there another one that you've admitted to somebody saying oh no I haven't seen this movie before uh you know what I probably among our ilk among the the 30s early late 20s early 30s generation I feel like the Harry Potter thing is probably the one not embarrassed by I'm just so I feel so out of the loop on so I I again I feel bad I do feel bad about this but not enough to the point where all of a sudden I'm gonna ship my my schedule and start reading Harry Potter book I almost feel like it's passed me by I almost feel like it's passed me by at this okay here's what we need to do in the next year I'm gonna I'll text you about this you we're gonna get you to watch Harry Potter and then we'll get a review like 15 years it's kind of like what they used to do in like elementary school with like the book it program with that side well like you just read a book and you bring in the certificate they give you a personal pan pizza I can be easily swayed if this is gonna be like a movie it type of thing where you watch the movie you give the report and then somebody sends you a free pizza I'm okay with that if that's where all the folks at pie guys pizza send you a gram slam they named a pizza after this show it's a buffalo chicken base and we'll get you to watch Harry Potter and review it you could break your own booklet Adam have a great have a great call tonight thanks for doing this buddy you got it guys that's Adam Amin on Twitter at Adam Amin not a noted Harry Potter fan at all did I just put him in a bad spot maybe yeah that's okay speaking of bad spots up next share in a bed with Darren Vaught huh this is the sports hub you're on the drive he really appreciates you listening and thanks you from the bottom of his twisted little home congratulations you've won over a complete imbecile to drive with Josh Graham on sports hub triad this is definitely right up there in bot alley since we're sharing with Darren I gotta admit can you name the band Aaron tonic this is tonic next time we do karaoke which I hope is sometime soon this is gonna be the song all right so you've never done this one never have done this song before because you never do the same song twice that's right never do the same song twice I admitted when we were in Charlotte that I am a regular karaoke person because you know you know once a week but then I said no I go once a month and you said yeah that's very regular that's regular most people do not go to karaoke once per month so now I can see it on that yeah that's a pretty that sounds pretty regular like karaoke seems like a once every couple of months type of it's a very very very occasional thing yeah I think for most people I just think it's a fun thing to do you don't have to be any good I just don't have shame so like 12 times a year you do karaoke in public yes 12 times a year that sounds pretty regular and which means that I might I maybe have never done karaoke 12 times in my life oh I know I haven't yeah so next time we're all together we're gonna make that happen yeah no I'm I'm I'm all for it all right let's get to something with Sharon with Darren we'll get to cutting Kershaw's performance in just a bit so there was there was a booking era error here at sports up triad when we were going to Charlotte we had five people for two rooms but we thought it would all be straight because we had two beds and then a pullout couch which feasibly if you're doing the math could help six people you and DG were together with an intern and we had Aaron and myself go des was holding down the fort here in Kernersville so we thought we were 100% straight here but maybe straight wasn't the right word to use because turns out it was one king bed and one pullout couch so if you're doing the map that's four beds five people and since DG and will the intern had their own room it was then us us being Aaron myself and Darren try to figure out all right are we gonna get a cot and someone's gonna lay on the floor or who's gonna share a bed together and we just said you know what Aaron this is your first experience here at ACC operation basketball me and Darren we've this isn't our first rodeo let's just split the king bed and that's what happened Wow bro some Sharon here it's not a big deal I don't even know it's not a big deal des is very amused by this so it might be a bigger deal than we think well it's funny because I saw them both yesterday like a neither one of them mentioned this at all like not one I guess that's true they did share the bed maybe it'd be a bigger deal it wasn't a big deal to me I have no issue with this in fact I remember one time I shared a bet see Sharon here we go with a complete stranger in South Carolina it was a situation where I thought there was this girl I had been talking to online and she said hey you could stay at my place that's great so she lived in a dorm didn't tell me this and then she learned that night there was a policy where guys couldn't stay over so it's the day before South Carolina's home opener and I'm getting kicked out of this dorm room like around one o'clock in the morning which case I don't have a room and it's a noon kickoff time so I'm looking for like six hours a place to lay my head down for six hours and I go in hotel to hotel and they're all booked it's the home opener for South Carolina they're opening the season so I'm just roaming around and eventually I found this place and it's it oh my god it's a $370 for the night like it is like a villa type that I'm about to pay just to lay in a bed for about six hours I'm in college so I don't know how I'm gonna pay for this here but then I heard the glorious words I was wearing a hat for the radio station I was working for at the time which was conveniently called pirate radio and I'm walking into this hotel and I hear hi pirate oh and it's this guy who played back when Gerard was at East Carolina and started talking to me and telling me stories and then he's like yeah well they're about to go bed I'm like you wouldn't happen to have a spare part of your floor I could sleep oh yeah man come on up and I go up and he's yeah man you can actually have the bed so I get the bed and then the guy sleeps on the other side of the bed and I go to sleep I wake up nobody's in the room it's completely empty this guy never even exists that you dream it baby did you kill him take his room for the situation disposing of the body to where not even you remember you just blocked it out Sharon your werewolf like stint there Sharon that night on Twitter at sports up triad three three six seven seven seven one six hundred I'm contemplating like how much I wanted to divulge in the the you you made the statement that you shared a bed with a complete stranger I'm not I don't know how prepared I am to share further on that a lot Darren bought somebody who shares bed complete strangers that being saying I was totally comfortable with it all right hey now I'm a twin I so I grew up like sharing a bedroom with a guy my age that looks a lot like me so a twin bed so I shared a bed yeah so well it was a full I shared a bed with another person growing up on like up to an embarrassingly advanced age even before we got separate bedrooms and all that like I was 12 13 something like that there isn't a good segue to getting to Clayton Kershaw but we will try to do this I'm trying to figure out the most fair way to assess Clayton Kershaw in October because last night I didn't feel like it was completely fair what he was receiving I didn't in my opinion Darren I didn't feel like putting Kershaw in that spot was the right move especially bringing him back out for the eighth after he did what was necessary to get you through a spot at the end of the seventh you've got great arms in that pin one of the best in the National League League I understand righty on righty matchups and how that works but I think to a degree that can get overblown a little bit you've got to protect Kershaw in that spot Dave Roberts did not and then he didn't protect Kelly either in extra innings and you saw the grand slam I thought last night was more on Roberts than it was I don't know that I agree with that because Kershaw at this point in his in his career we've reached a point where the playoff numbers are inexcusable right we have a large enough body of work at first it was like okay stuff happens but now I mean he's pitched in like 12 or 13 postseason games and his ERA is over double what it is throughout his career in regular season play he's a generational talent this is this is something that's super inside baseball and nerdy but but stay with me I saw and I saw a number and his slider for Clayton Kershaw is arguably his best pitch I saw a number that indicated that in postseason play his slider the swing and miss rate for it is 10% less in his postseason outings than it is in regular season outings which is a gargantuan number for something like that percentage points in that man and while we're talking about stats from Clayton Kershaw last night the one that Jeff Passan gave from Elias Sports is insane too that Kershaw's never allowed back-to-back home runs or home runs on back-to-back pitches in the regular season his entire career it's 31 years old this is the second time he's done it in postseason the first one being in 2017 against Patel Marche and Jeff Mathis with the Diamondback so to my point he's a generational talent I mean I don't think it it can even be argued that he is maybe the best pitcher of this generation this era of Major League Baseball but he's obviously and clearly a different dude in the postseason and there's no talking around it now there's just absolutely no talking around it now so when he goes out and he pitches well for an inning and gets you out of a tough spot I think it's good on Dave Roberts to send him back out there because that wasn't gonna be enough right it until the Dodgers breakthrough and win a World Series with Clayton Kershaw that's always gonna be the narrative with him so the least you can do is give him the chance and he looked good to that point can we agree that game five in the World Series probably the biggest start he's had he was tremendous in that game five he had of the World Series again sure the Astros and here's the thing like do you know what it almost mirrors for me like this is a spot that's different than what he's used to and I understand what Alex Cora did a lot of people in sports they try to follow what the leaders done Sean McVay you see a lot of these staggered sets with wide receivers close to the line and everyone's trying to find that next Sean McVay and we're seeing that to a degree with Dabo Sweeney in college football and now I think to a degree the way that managers look at their rotation and how they use their starters in October the way Cora was aggressive I think is influencing some people and they're doing things differently well and a lot of that influence quickly in Major League Baseball runs up to the executive level too with owners and managers having more influence on on lineups I think you've got to protect Kershaw that's not a role he's very familiar with as you know it's a lot different starting than pitching in relief you got the out you needed and then the postseason struggles do you know what it reminded me a lot last night just throwing him there in that spot when you didn't have to it reminded me of 2004 ALCS game seven when inexplicably Terry from Frank and I just threw Pedro Martinez into the game and it just didn't work out and you got all the who's your daddy chance yeah yes that I have so I have a question for both of you because both you know I kind of watched baseball from afar is it fair to compare Kershaw to James Harden in the NBA great regular season generational talent gets in the postseason always fall short I'm seeing a lot of these I've seen Dan Marino I've seen I mean cowherd was talking about Kirk Cousins seeing I mean I don't like doing the cross sport comparison but what you're saying is so what Kershaw has done I just think with the position it's different and requires more context and nuance the role that Kershaw plays would not mirror the role that Dan Marino would play or James Harden or even Kirk Cousins would play when you consider the positions in those sports and how many people are involved in the entire operation of what those sports are so I'm not a big fan of the comparison but that's just me Darren I only got a couple of seconds here what do you got I think it's I think of Kershaw in the context of he is a different dude in the playoffs and I don't know that I characterize the other two that way so I don't know I mean I understand it but I I wouldn't put my stamp on it don't forget to attend the Dixie Classic Fair until the 13th Dez is gonna be there I think the final day of the fair so if you want to see Dez go to 13th if you want to go before then oh more power to you DC fair.com it's the Winston Salem Fairgrounds the 137th year of the Dixie Classic Fair use the hashtag how do you fare you are listening to WSJS Winston Salem WCOG Greensboro WPC in Burlington WMFR High Point those signals making up Sports Hub Triad we're back on the air it's the drive you suck and yet you keep returning sports talk offensive and people can get the drive with Josh Graham on Sports Hub Triad if you need any more evidence that the New England Patriots are gonna drill the Giants tonight Tom Brady arrived at the stadium six minutes ago kickoff is at 820 he's walking in at 409 in the afternoon you don't think he's determined to beat the Giants who have taken two Super Bowl trophies away from him think again that's gonna be a blowout Darrin Vaught's in here we're sharing with Darrin now on the line from demon deacon digest calm it is Wake Forest beat writer Les Johns we're getting set to play the movie game let's go ahead and hit this imaging that I think it's just way over the top for what this segment really needs man before we get set to play the game I've just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story it's time for some kind of movie game all right all right all right with Josh Graham and Darrin Vaught show me the money it's a good point that you bring up Les we should be talking Wake Forest football one of these times maybe next time we have you on we'll do that Les what what are you thinking about this movie game here because I know you're a big movie guy I'm excited I'm an AMC a-list member I mean my wife the close to three movies a week so yeah I'm excited all right we have to get your thoughts on Joker when you ultimately see it you told me before you had it Des give me the theme for this week we got three movies and if it's close of fourth golden movie what's the theme thanks Josh welcome to the movie game today's theme since it's uh doing it with this voice it's the Major League Baseball postseason uh-huh we are doing best baseball movies so the best sports movies because all the best sports movies are baseball movies yeah also you're kind of telling your hand if you say best right I mean can't these just be in a category of baseball movies that is less gets it less gets it yes Les is already good at this game he wants to win the now he said he said AMC gold member or whatever and I just figured we're done I'm sure all right Des what's the first movie all right gentlemen your first movie for today's money movie game is 2011's Moneyball gosh I loved this movie so much yeah I'm trying to think who was better in the movie was it Pitt or Jonah Hill Oh Pitt no doubt about it oh okay controversy fight about it less less give me the case for Jonah really fast decide Des will decide but give me the case for Jonah and Moneyball I mean it's just so unlike his normal character it's just it's just interesting to see him play something other than what normally does that I enjoyed it for that guy you along Darren Brad Pitt's case I don't feel like I need to make a case for Brad Pitt I mean he's Billy Bean he's the he's the central character in the whole thing well that was the the weirdest coin toss to go first ever in the history of the movie game I'm gonna give that to Les for his uh his uh perfect answer congratulations last perfect come on Les you will be able to go first your movie is 2011's Moneyball I'm gonna go 81% positive Darren Vaught I also since very very positive reviews mainly across the board here I wrote down 91 just making sure you had it written down before you said it there Darren did have it written down 89% I'm going going to 89 89 all right the Rotten Tomatoes score for 2011's Moneyball was 94 wow how many baseball movies well it I've seen instances where people play this game and somebody's really into Pauly Shore and thinks that this movie's into the 80s and then one of those movies was a five or something so you can rally from 13 down I got a good feeling 89% I thought being in the 90s was a bit much I don't think any of these baseball movies are gonna be higher than 94 I don't think it can be I don't know there's maybe one in particular that I would guess a higher score on but anyways I'm very sneaky not gonna give my earrings away the second movie for today's movie game is 1989's Major League I was interested to know what 1989 baseball movie you were going to do right there's three options there what was the natural 88 it was Bull Durham 89 Major League 89 and the natural came out right around that time it might have been 88 okay but I mean I associate the three as well what is what is your favorite baseball movie less I mean not it's such a tough call it really is I probably go Bull Durham if I had to pick one as would I yeah I'm a big fan of Moneyball I mean I guess maybe it's bias it's still a really good movie oh it's I don't think that's you know let me make sure I have my score written down here trying to figure out for Major League all right I can see Major League being much more mixed I'm gonna go am I going first again which I'm not so sure as an advantage as much as actually no Darren is currently leaving and he will go first for round two okay all right so our major league I have an 82 all right Josh fifty nine percent and less 72 I don't think this one was well received I don't okay so the score for 1989's Major League was eighty three Wow that gentleman really okay critically critically Major League that good yes really yeah I mean really it is as complete a baseball movie as there is what's not the one it's a little cock it's a little campier which is why I think you know Moneyball is something that's it's higher rated but no major from the score to Bobby Euchre being the the the usher from scene to scene it's beautiful yeah well done movie all right fine I'll accept that let's get a scoreboard update before we go into the final movie currently in the lead is mr. Darren vault behind him and second is less and in third bringing up the rear our very own Josh how far back is less less is 20 points behind well that's pretty far behind we are getting crushed which means we have to go all out for this last one try to figure out where Darren might be going I'm making sure Darren's writing them down before he says him so I'm just making sure I'm looking at it Darren I know you're playing by the rules all right the transparency your third movie gentlemen for the movie game is 1993's the sand lot Wow I'm trying to think hmm were you rubbed the wrong way that the year that was portrayed in the future the kids broadcasting as if he's Vin Scully when Vin Scully was actually still broadcast it's the greatest flaw of this film is that they they unintentionally killed off Vin Scully yeah what are we doing like they killed him you killed that's always doing Dodger games for what decades after that yeah just stopped yeah years ago yeah last year's last year right yeah yeah yeah yeah all right so literally decades after after this film was made huh so since this is round three I'm gonna let the person in third place currently go first and that would be none other than our very own Josh Graham are very I'm going all out I'm gonna predict that there's gonna be some swerve here I'm going 48% all right let's go 68 and that brings us to Darren 78 yeah all right I could make up some ground if this is bad if this is bad I can make up some ground des what's the score for the Sandlot the score for 1993 the Sandlot is 61 less John did he do enough though to make up the ground currently Aaron's still in the lead but less has closed the gap and is only 10 points behind Aaron which kicks off our bonus round let's get it by one point you cut this thing going which means there's hope at least for you not for me but there's hope for less we can root for a true underdog story give me the fourth movie the fourth movie in our golden movie around is 2013 42 oh that that's the exact reaction I was hoping you have the Roy Williams what was it Roy Roy did to max dancing that's that's my reaction that's Roy Williams reaction to I'm trying to remember the critical reaction to that movie was now I mean it was like there's some good stuff there but then there's some stuff they're just like yeah I think as time has passed it's gotten worse so it's an interesting it's an interesting guess all right so yet again to throw a little pity towards whoever's in third place I'm gonna let the third place contestant go and that would be none other than our mr. Josh yeah I'm not gonna win this yeah you pulled me in with you uh let's just put it this way the title of the movie it's way too high of a number for Rotten Tomatoes I'm gonna give it a seven a seven this is the worst movie I've ever seen I hated this movie so much I left the theater enraged like I wanted to fight somebody which is counterintuitive do I think the message of 42 it really I hated this movie so much so you didn't dig Black Panther in a Dodgers uniform huh just didn't care for it yeah I didn't like it at the time what it was I didn't like Ernie Davis movie either seven from Josh less I thought it was higher acclaim from a critical perspective I'm gonna go 71 I got a feeling there's gonna be some drama Darren show me what's on your paper mr. this is gonna be interesting I split it down the middle and went with 50 what's the score of the movie the score of 2013 42 is 80 your prize you got 30 seconds to tell us what you got going on at demon deacon digest calm getting ready for Louisville and Wake Forest 730 kickoff get the demon deacon digest to catch up on all the news about Wake Forest football five and those deeks number 17 in the country come check out what's going on yes he's on twitter at less underscore John's this was a lot of fun less thanks for playing thanks for having me on you guys have a great day all right we got less come back what a game we got more Sharon to do coming up where all the stars aligned this week for Dave Claus and Eli drink wits and Scott Satterfield this is the dry providing you with a kind of sports programming that makes some people laugh but most people just wits ooh you're on the drive with Josh Graham we've got undefeated teams all around in the state of North Carolina Wake Forest was on a bye last week and in the last week and a half they've climbed into the pole for the first time since 2008 the deeks are five and all getting set for Louisville on Saturday Appalachian State played on a Wednesday night last night and Eli drink wits his team five and oh in the season as well app states probably gonna be in the top 25 at the start of next week when the poll comes out the Carolina Hurricanes opened their season a week ago tonight and they are four and oh with three overtime wins and a convincing win in Florida a few nights ago they will next be in action at home tomorrow night against the New York Islanders we're now being joined by the longtime play-by-play voice of the Carolina Hurricanes John Forslund back on with us John it's been a while how have you been I'm great Josh thanks for having me how are you things are going great looking at the scores of these first four games and I'm looking at the roster this year the moves that were made in the offseason and when the dust finally settled with the final transaction I think being Justin Falk being traded to the defending champion Blues in exchange for Edmondson and some other parts is it fair to say this is an improved hockey team on paper on paper it is there's no question and I think the team is improved I think they have a lot of different weapons a different look they've been able to somehow maintain the strength of their defense even when you lose a guy like Justin Falk and that's not easy to do so I think they have I think the only question would be are the two goalies combined going to be as good as the combination last year Peter Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney Matt Mrazek is back as the incumbent and right James Reimer was brought in from Florida and he's been full value in the two games that he's played so it looks like even that is at least through the four games as advertised so yes I agree with you I think the team has improved on paper and then the whole thing was you know how would Rod Brind'Amour bring the group together quickly because their training camp was just okay it wasn't as great as the training camp was last year last year they forged a culture they played really hard they could see that how well they were skating kind of speed they were going to have and they hit the ground running they went you know without a regulation loss in their first five games but this year you know the training camp was kind of a mixed bag he was resting guys they had a longer season all of that stuff kind of came into play and now they're 4-0 so all's good here it hasn't been this good in a long while the coolest thing before the start of the opening game against Montreal they introduced the team they introduced the coaching staff and Rod Brind'Amour just gets this very long ovation that it didn't look like he fully expected when he received it at PNC arena now that we've seen a full year of him behind the bench as the head coach and a successful season and we've had some time to reflect on it what do you think is Rod Brind'Amour's best trait as a head coach well he has a lot of great traits you know and I think anybody that has the potential to be an excellent head coach in any professional sport has to you know have a hybrid of traits that are going to bring you to the same destination and I think that's what he has if I had to pick one I would say relatability I think he has the ability to relate to his players his players can relate to him they understand what kind of player he was and it's pretty obvious you know I think he should be in the Hall of Fame someday I think most of these guys understand what kind of commitment he had away from the game in terms of his conditioning and what kind of dedication he had to have as long a career in his greater career as he had and obviously he was a championship caliber athlete so all that's understood but on Rod's side of things he's relatable he was relatable to every player when he was a captain when he was a captain he didn't hold himself in high regard he could he could easily understand what fourth-line players were going through support guys minor league call-ups guys who were rookies the backup goalie you know he understood all of those jobs and and that's easier said than done I'm not disrespecting or discounting what great athletes do in in all sports but a lot of them are so good they don't understand the journey of some players they don't understand the fact that some guys have to work maybe four times as hard to get even close to being on the same playing field as that elite athlete sometimes when you're an elite athlete it comes so easy it's just a given and it's so much as God given that they don't even understand how they got there in the first place rod had God-given talent but he also had a diligence and a work ethic that was second to none and he applied that to his to his craft and I think he's carried that over to the coaching office so that's what I see I think he is relatable to and the other thing I want to add to this too he's relatable to today's athletes and I think today's as athletes are far different than they were many years ago and I mean that in a very positive sense you know they are the younger generation they are reflection of society they're a younger generation that ask questions that want information that don't just go through a wall because you tell them you have to go through the wall he has kids of the same age so he knows how to get through to them and some coaches in today's world don't get that they don't they don't understand it they're they're lost in the old-school philosophy and my way or the highway and and that kind of thing it's not going to work with athletes moving forward it's the voice of the Carolina Hurricanes John Forslund with us here it's the Islanders canes tomorrow night PNC arena 730 puck drop I think there's there's an opening John for this team to get even better on paper if Justin Williams should decide to play at any point how open is that door how have the Hurricanes community that communicated that to Justin well I think it's open but I think they need to forget about it and I think they have and I think the market needs to forget about it people that are fans of the team media certainly the players and I know the coaches are by it so if he decides at some point he'd like to take a crack at it okay great but the only way to improve the only way to get to where they want to go is to press on it as if he was never part of the team and that's harsh but I think that's what they have to do because Justin Williams last season as you know in a singular year I've never seen a captain perform like this in terms of what he brought to the table is 23 goals how many impactful goals he scored for the team but in terms of how he carried himself and at this time last year was able to raise a bar and say you know as an organization we have to get back to here and this is how we're going to do it and then when they started scuffling around especially in December in a month where they won only four games he called his plate he called his teammates out and he just told them that the way they were playing was unacceptable they were fooling themselves and sometimes those harsh words you know when you have a leader like like he is you know they're gonna ring true and then guys are gonna respond and they did and then they had this tremendous second half and you know the bunch of jerks and the rest is history but I really believe you know this situation is so different the only way to move forward and be be positive about this is to act like you know he's not around it's it's almost like I what I early in my career I was around a great coach when I worked in the American Hockey League his name was Jimmy Roberts he played for legendary Scotty Bowman with the old Montreal Canadians in the 70s and all those legendary teams and they had a philosophy about injured players they didn't want an injured player near the team and that's really tough it's tough on that guy that wants to be part of the group again but the thought was if that player is seen by the players who are actually trying to play they're always going to think a the guys coming back at some point and B I wish we had them and so I think this is what they have to do with Williams it's almost like he's not part of it he was a part of it that's in the past if he does decide to come back that's a different animal they're gonna have to look at contractually and then where he fits the group at what point that is but as of right now I have no reason to believe he's coming back much like Justin Williams had to be critical of his team's performance when he was the captain of the team I've got to be critical of the team's performance right now too because I'm here to tell you he started the storm surge last year and they were great and I'm seeing two storm surges so far and it's just not to the same level yet John they need to build up they need to improve the winds are fine but the storm surge John they need to get better here who ultimately decided to bring the surge back I think they all did I think Jordan Martinook and Jordan stall and you know these are the guys that are you know part of the leadership group Jacob Slavin maybe but knowing Jacob I mean I don't I don't know if his personality played a lot into this I think Martinook might be the driving force they had to bring it back there's absolutely no way you could not do it don't do it if you don't do it not only you chisel the fans out of entertainment but you also bring out the fact that Williams is not around again and if the team starts to go south and people are going to say well they're not doing the surge so you have to bring it back because it's so identifiable with this this franchise now it's a lot of fun and so why not why not do it but I agree with you subpar so far they're gonna have to work on this and become a little bit more imaginative moving forward two cracks at it tomorrow night against the Islanders Saturday against the Blue Jackets they'll have another opportunity as well we hope we see two surges the next couple of days it's John Forslund with us here every time we have you on John we talk a little baseball too what's your opinion on the Braves getting shellacked in the first inning in Clayton Kershaw his October struggles continuing so the only thing I saw last night because I'm you know I'm 24-7 hockey now so I was watching Montreal Buffalo a little bit of New Jersey and Philadelphia and then I wanted to see the LA Kings who the Kings get next Tuesday so I wanted to see their game so that's all I did and I saw the score obviously of the Braves game the day before and where that was or yesterday I'm sorry yesterday where that was going and you know I can't really speak to it other than to be astonished by it and then I did happen to flip over to see the back-to-back home runs by the Nats against Kershaw and again it's it's it's something special to baseball baseball is a unique sport and there's there's really nothing like it hockey is to a degree but the playoffs are more of a war of attrition they're more of an ongoing saga for two months bullies get involved the injuries get involved baseball has this randomness to it that you just can't explain that bats can go quiet for a week and you're done you can have a you know an off night and you're done you can have a sudden death in that situation last night and for the Dodgers they're finished and I don't know as far as Kershaw is concerned he's got he's got a lot of ghosts a lot of demons in the postseason that's too bad because he's a low-fame caliber pitcher but part of his legacy is going to be what's happened to him in the postseason who's feeling worse today Atlanta Braves fans who had their hopes sapped the way and one inning or Dodger fans who had all the hope of being the favored team and having your star pitcher give up the two home runs and then the Grand Slam and the tenth a reliever coming in and giving that up who feels worse today I think the Dodgers I think the Dodgers based on losing the World Series last year and and then having the kind of regular season that they had and then you know Clayton Kershaw's the reincarnation to a degree of Sandy Koufax right so I mean he's that he's been that good and again unfortunately in the postseason you know it's a it's a real dicey situation for him so I think I think it's the Dodgers I think it's the Dodgers who were counting on this we're looking beyond this series we're looking now at the you know what would be the Cardinals and you know it's and this was supposed to be it this was supposed to be you know their real opportunity and but how about the Tampa Bay Rays that's an amazing that's an amazing story when you look at how they're managed and what their their payroll is and the fact that they're pushing you know fifth game tonight that's amazing yeah and you got our glass no on the mound tonight going up against Garrett yeah we'll see what happens 707 first pitch in Houston Johnny it's good to hear your voice and to be talking some pucks again I'm sure we'll be doing it sometime soon have a great call tomorrow and Saturday we'll chat soon okay Josh thanks for having me good luck to you yeah that's John Forslund on Twitter at John Forslund