The Drive with Josh Graham - Live from Wyndham Championship - 08/1/19

Attention please. This is the Drive with Josh Graham Podcast. Tune into the Drive 3 until 6pm weekdays on the Sports Hub. I love it.

It's brilliant. Come on. Let's go.

You're on the Drive with Josh Graham. The Sports Hub at AM600 AM920. There are two areas in sports that I believe are in dire need of more personality.

NFL quarterback and football coach in general. As long as I have this radio show, I'm always going to be pro-fun and anti-self seriousness when it relates to sports. The faux sanctity of things.

The unwritten rules with air quotes are always things that are going to bother me. We are broadcasting live from the Wyndham Championship by the way and I think it's a perfect fit for this kind of radio show for us to be broadcasting inside Margaritaville where there are a bunch of drunk patrons running around who love golf. It's a good place for us to be right now. Aaron Gabriel on site and Desmond Johnson back in our studio.

Your thoughts welcome on Twitter. When a college football coach has personality, when a quarterback has it, it's rare. That's why I tend to appreciate Cam Newton. That's why I tend to appreciate Davo Sweeney. The thing that fascinates me the most about Davo is just how different he is than the rest of the college football coaches who have stood on similar stages as him as a championship winning coach. Nick Saban almost seems like he's upset that he won because of how behind he is in recruiting.

Urban Meyer doesn't seem very joyful when he's on stage. Davo is giving people, what's it called when you put your finger in your mouth and then you put it in somebody's ear? What's that called?

Oh, a wet willy. Thank you Aaron. That's what Davo Sweeney is doing. Davo is having so much fun. He's cracking jokes. He's the same guy at ACC kickoff. He's not buttoned up.

He's not starched. He's fun. It's sports after all. Yet there is still a large significant faction of people who don't view sports that way.

That instead want sports to be serious and ran like a Fortune 500 company. One of those people is not Baker Mayfield. Baker Mayfield, I enjoyed him in college. He was playing for Lincoln Riley who I got to know a little bit.

Let me just pick up that name I just dropped. Lincoln Riley has coached back to back Heisman Trophy winners but Kyler didn't have the same personality Baker did. Baker, he rubbed people the wrong way.

He had fun. He was brash and he's brought that to the NFL and he had a great rookie year. He's one of the signature reasons why people are excited about the Browns this year. If Baker wasn't as good as he was a year ago and they bring in Odell Beckham, there will be attention in Cleveland but the sentiment will be, oh that's where careers go to die. The source of optimism and hope in Cleveland is Baker Mayfield and the source of fun as he showed us yesterday when he was meeting with reporters and he didn't have a full on mustache but it's budding. On that upper lip something is a-growin' and Baker Mayfield was asked about it. You seem to be having fun on camera a couple times with the mustache.

Is there a story behind it? Maybe you'll find out. Maybe you won't.

I don't know. That's the elegance of having a mustache. You just don't know what's going to happen. That's the elegance of having a mustache.

You don't really know what's going to happen. Dez, did you hear more Matthew McConaughey in the Lincoln car commercials there or Forrest Gump? Hold on. A little bit of Matthew McConaughey. I was going to say the Days of Confused character but Matthew McConaughey basically plays Matthew McConaughey in every movie that he plays. That's the elegance of having a mustache. You just don't know what's going to happen. Yeah, that's Matthew McConaughey.

Alright, alright, alright. I didn't choose to ride in a Lincoln. The Lincoln chose me. If you have a good Matthew McConaughey impression 336-777-1600 is the phone number.

I want only Matthew McConaughey impressions. Another coach or another person that we love on this show as someone who represents fun and sports is Ed Orgeron. We love Ed. Last year he was our football Kawhi Leonard.

Kawhi gave us so much content throughout the spring and the summer so far. Ed Orgeron was that guy for us last year. After every game he's making sure to tell you go Tigers every single time.

Ed Orgeron does an interview and he finishes things up. It's always the go Tigers. Go Tigers. Just like that. And you don't want to cross him either or he'll let you know where he's coming for.

He'll let you know that he is going to stare right down the barrel of the pistol and come right down your throat. We're coming. And we're backing down. So those are some of the past clips of Ed Orgeron. I don't know where Eddie O is here.

Ed Orgeron. I don't know. But it appears he's at some sort of rotary club. He's speaking and just with that Cajun accent saying nonsense. And I'm glad you wanted to have that raffle of solid food so you wouldn't have got past number one. I've heard this clip so many times. I still have no clue. Let me hear it one more time.

I just want to make out syllables. And I'm glad you wanted to have that raffle of solid food so you wouldn't have got past number one. Aaron have you figured it out? Have you cracked the puzzle? I think I got a piece of it. Let's hear what you think it is Aaron. I'm sure glad y'all had that raffle.

We wouldn't have got past number one. Wow. Sure glad. Okay.

This is big news here. Sure glad you've had that raffle. Otherwise. We wouldn't have got past number one. Okay.

Let's hear it again. I'm glad you wanted to have that raffle of solid food so you wouldn't have got past number one. Okay what's the sophelusia part though?

Solid of the future would have got past number one? The sophelusia. Just isolate that one part as sophelusia whatever that is. The raffle of solid food should have... SOPHELUSIA WHAT? The raffle of solid food should have never got past... Ann Orgeron is incomprehensible. The problem with this whole thing is that... Incomprehendable I mean.

Sorry. The problem with this whole thing is that he is completely a hundred and ten percent sober when he's saying all of these things. The raffle of solid food should have never got past number one.

That's what it sounds like for normal people when it's two thirty. You just got wrapped up at bulls tavern or joy mongers and you're just like... Hey guys. Guys. I'm super luscious.

I'm glad you wanted to have that raffle of solid food so you wouldn't have got past number one. It's incredible. It's an incredible piece of sound. That man is the face of one of the premier programs in college football. He is asked to speak for a living. Yes he's a football coach but he has to do donor functions. He has to do briefings for his coaches and players.

He has to speak to the media a couple times a week. This man. I'm glad you wanted to have that raffle of solid food so you wouldn't have got past number one. Un-bleeping-believable man. No idea. I swear that man has walked up to me at a bar at like one fifty. Want to know if we've done last call already.

I'm glad you wanted to have that raffle of solid food so you wouldn't have got past number one. Goal. Goal. Goal.

Tigers. Goal. Goal.

I love that man. I can't wait for football season to get here. Oh wait. It's here. Hall of Fame game is tonight. And we're excited. Speaking of the NFL.

Let's go back to it. Bill Belichick is not somebody we generally go to for fun conversation. However it's gotten to the point where he is so non-giving. He is so short that it's entertaining. It is a source of entertainment to hear Bill Belichick. How many coaches have crossed into that threshold? I think it's only two people.

I think it's Belichick and Popovich. They can be short and be content. They can be short and all of us enjoy it. However what makes this different, I actually think he's trying to be funny. Now here's what you need to know. You're going to hear there's a phone going off. Bill Belichick starts to smile after he's said an answer to a question with two numbers that when put together can create funny commentary. Did he intend to make the joke there which led to conversation about a fine?

Or was he just simply talking about the phone going off? You be the judge. Both guys are on 6-9.

Final question? Do you guys have a fine system? Don't listen to Jimmy Fong or something like that. I love Belichick for that reason. Just because I do believe he's calculated enough. We're talking about the Patriots coach. He's calculated enough to make a 69 joke while also blaming the reporter for having his phone go off. That's typical Belichick. That's typical Patriots. I'm on to you Belichick.

I'm on to you. Let's go to Aaron in Greensboro who apparently speaks Cajun. Does he actually speak Cajun or is he just trying to figure out what Ed Orgeron is saying here? Aaron, you're on the sports hub what? Yeah, hey, Aaron. Luckily for you, engineering hit it part right, but I'll finish it off if you guys fully speak Cajun.

If some of you falls... Oh, some of you falls! Let's hear it one more time together, Aaron. Now that we have the context. Let's hear it.

I'm glad you only had that round for a solid push. You never got past number one. Oh! He's figured it out. Aaron has solved the puzzle. Aaron in Greensboro speaks fluent Cajun.

He speaks fluent Ed Orgeron. Congratulations, Aaron. Thank you.

You did a service for the triad today. No problem. No problem.

That's awesome, Ed. A gold tiger. All right.

Gold tigers. Thank you. Coney in Winston-Salem, give me your best Matthew McConaughey. Coney, go right ahead. Hey, sometimes you just gotta grab left by the horns, but if you can't find the horns, you're just out there grasping at thin air like, where the heck are the horns?

You know what I'm saying? Oh, God. That's incredible. Thank you, Coney.

Get him out of here. I mean, he had a couple of words there that were just perfect when he said bulls. It's really good. All right.

There's nothing better. Kind of like when we go to Dock Rivers, when people at the very end of doing an impression say who it is they're doing. There was a friend of mine who thought he was a good impressionist in Greenville, America, when I lived in the eastern part of the state. He would do the impression and just say the name of the person he was impersonating. It'd be Morgan Freeman. And just that bad.

I don't have a Morgan Freeman, but that was my impression of the guy who has a poor impression of Morgan Freeman, which is a damn good impression. You just don't even know it. But Cody, good work there.

Both really good calls. All right. We're at the Wyndham Championship. There's a lot of things happening. Aaron Gabriel, who's here on site helping set things up.

He's salty. Want to explore that? Maybe we'll get into wedding songs. You ever perform weddings, Aaron? I have.

Okay. That's an interesting place to be. The Wyndham Championship. There is one local player who is a recognizable name that has a lot riding on this week, and I'll tell you who that is next on the drive. This is Countdown.

Command, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. I would like to introduce to you at this time the Sports Hub at AM 600 AM 920. Now back to the drive with Josh Graham. We're live at the Wyndham Championship. Sechfield Country Club, specifically inside Margaritaville, hanging out on site. Our good friend from WXII, sports director over there, Brian Formica, visiting with us. And the player I want to talk most about with this tournament, obviously a lot of eyes are going to be on Jordan Spieth being here for the first time since 2013, but it's Webb Simpson.

Local kid. Loves this course. Finished second last year, and he's playing great golf right now. Shot a 600 today. What do you make of Webb Simpson and how important it is considering where he is in the FedEx standings? Well, the main thing with Webb, I mean, as you say, he's coming off of a great round last week. Memphis finished second, and then he came into today having a lot of confidence.

We spoke to him yesterday, we spoke to him today, and he said, I'm playing well right now. And his main strategy for today is what he told us, is to start, he didn't need to take the lead off the top. He wanted to put up a good round in his first round and actually have something to build upon. And that's exactly what he did today. That was his strategy, and he achieved that strategy. Starting out on the second hole, though, he started out with a bogey. That is not how you want to start in this tournament, especially with the momentum.

That can completely jar somebody. He didn't. He followed it up with birdie, birdie, eagle. That's a statement right there for Webb. And of course, not only is he the favorite to win this at 12-1 odds before this thing even started, but he's one of the fan favorites. I mean, he has ties to every single city in this entire state. He grew up in Raleigh, lives in Charlotte, went to Wake Forest, and he vacationed this summer in Wilmington.

I mean, the guy is through and through North Carolina, so everybody here wanted to see him do well, and he did just that to start it out. Who can claim Webb Simpson? On Twitter, at SportsHubTriad.

By the way, you can follow Brian Formica on Twitter, at Brian Formica. But another thing to consider is, with Webb being 13th in the FedExCup standings at the moment, still within reach of the Wyndham Rewards Top 10, but I think more importantly in the mind of Webb, maybe potentially being a part of the Ryder Cup team, when you look at the President's Cup list right now, you currently see Webb is 10th. So the Top 8 qualify, you get to play with Tiger Woods, and he's apparently been in conversations with Tiger. What do you think is the top motivator right now for Webb Simpson, aside from the fact you want to play well at a course that you love? I think the main thing is, when he texted Tiger and said, hey, what do I need to do, and Tiger texted him back and said two words, play better. And so the goal coming back would be simply play better.

And how do you do that? Well, you have to have a great showing at the Wyndham first, and first things first, you handle what is right in front of you. That's what all of us have always been told in anything in life, handle the first day, and then you can look on to bigger and better things, but handle the day in front of you. That's what he did today, six under par, and as the leaderboard changes, he's looking at himself at least in that Top 10. Play better. A funny text to get when you finish second at the World Golf event last weekend, the WGF, and then you have a Top 20 finish in the U.S., open as well recently.

Play better. What a statement from Tiger, right? Tiger Woods, what an icon, and just texting back, play better. It's quintessential Tiger. Tiger always gets to the point, whenever you talk to Tiger, he is straight to the point, he's honest, sometimes he's brutally honest. And a text like that, play better. Well, yeah, that's to the point right there. It's kind of like the dad you're trying to impress. Hey, I got a 93 on my test today. Why wasn't it 100?

Yeah, and why isn't your room clean and why isn't the garbage outside, right? Exactly. Joe Weil is going to join us in a little while. We'll carry Dash baseball later tonight, Thursday night. A fun thing that we do with Joe, we throw movie lines at him, and we're still taking those on Twitter at sportsubtriad, and he just seamlessly finagles the movie line into his play-by-play.

And it's a way for our audience and this show to infiltrate the Dash's broadcast. Des, play an example of something that Joe did last week. 1-1. Popped up down the right field line, long run for the right fielder, Corsino, and he watches it bang off the wall. Corsino picks it up, tosses it towards second base, Perez slides in, and he's in there safely as a shortstop Fitzgerald could not corral the one-hop throw. Carlos Perez has hit the ball hard twice today. Two doubles and two at-bats, and that's a bingo.

I love Quentin Tarantino, so that's a bingo is about as good as it gets. So do I get to throw one in? If you want to.

I would love to. If there's a movie line that you would love to hear on the Dash broadcast, think about it while you're thinking. Let's hear another one of Joe's calls on the broadcast. And the Dash offense threw a 20-game span earlier this half, scored 59 runs.

The 2-0, DiDolo takes it up and in, count it 3-0. But this team has always had the offense and the players to turn around. And listen, boring is like a rocking chair.

It gives you something to do, but it doesn't necessarily get you anywhere. Well done. I didn't know Van Wilder could be worked into a baseball broadcast. No Tara Reid references later on tonight, I don't think. How many of these do you have, Dez? We have four from last week.

Give me another. Infield playing in the pitch, caught on a miss, counting nothing and 1. Blackman fooled on that breaking ball, giving a look out to the mound as if to say, I have fallen for you like a blind roofer.

See if he doesn't fall for it this time. 0-1. It's just so much polish. And seamlessly. Just seamlessly. Just throws it in and I bet if you're listening, you're like, did he just, was that just? You have no idea. You have no idea if you aren't listening to this show, but listen for the Dash game.

And if you do listen to this show and listen to the Dash game, there's nothing more fulfilling than when you're in your car. It's a complete inside joke on radio. Thank you sir, may I have another Desmond Johnson? 1-2 pitch. Swing and a miss, strike three. One gone here in the bottom of the fifth inning. Cavenerio continues to dominate the Salem Red Sox. Coming into this start, he had three wins and three outings. He's already posted four in the third shutout frames against Salem. And listen, for the Red Sox, truth hurts. Maybe not as much as jumping on a bicycle with a seat missing, but it hurts.

And the truth is, Cavenerio is a strong pitcher. How do you guys decide that's the Naked Gun quote you're going with? Like, out of all of them, yeah, let's go with The Truth Hurts.

The bicycle one. We'll do that. What kind of movies are you into, Formica? You know, I am a movie buff, but my favorite of all time has to be Tombstone.

I mean, Tombstone, I can watch that, I can recite the whole thing. But, if we can throw, possibly, an I'm Your Huckleberry into the Dash broadcast, I think that would probably be on my checklist in life. Have we done that yet? Have we done I'm Your Huckleberry yet, Desmond Johnson? I want to say it's come up early on in the season, but I don't think he did it.

No, I don't think he did either. It's been in our vault. We get so many people that send these in, we're going to make it happen this week for Brian Formica. I appreciate that. I'll be your huckleberry.

That's it. I'll be your huckleberry. I'm your huckleberry. I'm your huckleberry from Tombstone. We'll buy.

We'll see if we can get that in. That's a good one. What other movies do you like? Movie buff. Have you watched any of the Lion King or the Disney remakes or Quentin Tarantino? I have not watched any of the remakes yet. It's like making another Josh Graham.

How do you replace a classic? A live action Josh Graham? No, I love the original.

And if people want to go make some money and introduce a new generation, that's fine. But at the same time, why wouldn't you just rewatch the original? A cartoon Josh Graham would be worth watching, I think. Would that be the remake, though? Probably, since I'd like to think I'm real life action. Well, in that case, we love the live action, too.

But, I mean, I don't think he can work a circle of life, you know, the opening. That's my alarm clock in the morning. No, it's not.

Yes, it is. Every morning. My whole family just jumps up.

Like, terrified. Because I have my volume at full blast. It is a delightful way to wake up. What kind of alarm do you use, Des? I just use the regular clock alarm that's on my Android phone, so it's just like a regular dinging noise that goes off. See, yours is dinging. I get people who say I'm a crazy person because mine is, like, very abrasive.

Like, a really loud abrasive. You wake up every morning on DEFCON 9? Every morning. Do you look around to see what terror is happening outside your window?

No. I've had it conditioned very early on in my life, Brian, that when I hear an alarm, get out of bed immediately. And also, I take showers very quickly.

So I go in the shower, I shower with music on, no more than two songs, and you're out. Wow. That's right.

It's efficiency. Get out of bed immediately. See, I'm throwing nuggets out there.

Listen here. If you want to have a more efficient morning and start your day right, get out of bed as soon as possible. The longer you're in bed, the less productive you're going to be that day. Do you make the bed once you wake up?

No. Every morning I make the bed. See, I'm so inconsistent. I know we digress, but that way, no matter what happens in the day, how little productive I am, right? This is top-notch stuff.

But no matter how little production I have in the day, I've at least done something. Before I let you go, what is another storyline, aside from Webb Simpson, that you're most interested in following? I think it is Matt Wolf, to be honest. There's something about this young man that has impressed all the veterans on the PGA Tour. I mean, they're all amazed at the nerves of steel of this young man that he already has. And he's rising up the leaderboard. He's not having a bad day by any means. He just buried the ninth hole.

You know, he's coming through. And this is a guy, this is the next wave of great golfers, and he's part of that next wave. And it'll be interesting to see how he does here on a short course.

A lot of these guys are used to the long bomb, get it done, blast it as far as you can, and then clean up. Sedgefield is not like that. It's the old classic course. It is all about putting. And this shows who will be the next wave, because of course, if you can't putt, you're not going to have that great of a career. That's why Jordan Spieth is intriguing, and that's why he's won so much early on in his career is because of his putting. And because of his nerves of steel, Matt Wolf is compared to have nerves of steel.

Brant Snedeker, he has impressed him, so we'll see how he can do. Brian, it's good to catch up with you, Matt. It's been such a long time. It's so good to see you.

It has been such a long time, and it's so good to see you. On Twitter, at Brian Formica, watch at WXII a little bit later on this afternoon and tonight as well. Wake Forest opened up practice today, and I'll tell you who I expect to be the No. 1 QB for Game 1 next on the drive. We're live from the Wyndham Championship.

We'll be broadcasting today and tomorrow, Round 1, Round 2 of action at Sedgefield Country Club. Joe Weil, the voice of the Winston-Salem Dash, joining us, continued to send us movie lines that we could throw at him for him to finagle into his play-by-play a little bit later on tonight. Seven o'clock first pitch for the Winston-Salem Dash, but a headline just came in that's a pretty big deal. Bud Foster, the legendary defensive coordinator at Virginia Tech, just announced that this year will be his final season as the Hokies D.C.

He arrived the same year as Frank Beamer and installed the lunch pail and the defense that's just been legendary for all of these decades. So after Virginia Tech had a losing season for the first time since the George H.W. Bush administration, Virginia Tech looks to bounce back, not just for the sake of Justin Fuente and his job status, but also to try and send Bud Foster out on top. Before we return back to golf, let's go to Joe Weil, voice of the Dash that you can follow on Twitter at Joe underscore Weil. Joe, how you doing, man? I'm doing good, John.

What's going on, man? I'm looking at the Major League Baseball standings, and it's going to be quite a battle for the pennant in the American League when you got the Yankees, of course, who stayed pat mostly yesterday, but they were great as many of their heavy hitters were on the designated or the injured list out for quite a bit. Now they're back, and you can only imagine that the Yankees are better for it. The Astros, meanwhile, they add quite a bit, including Zach Greinke yesterday. So in your mind, when you look at the Astros and the Yankees in the American League, who do you like more as a favorite to win the pennant? I'm going to say this to hopefully jinx them, but I'm going to go Houston Astros. I brought the ex-pennant and then still am obviously along with, of course, being in line with the Red Sox now. But no, I think what the Astros did was really impressive, and again, they're trying to make sure that they go all in on this run to the World Series, and they hope they can get back there for the second time in three years.

But I love the deal. I mean, their three now is just so impressive. Derek Cole, Dustin Berlant, and then to also have a guy like Zach Greinke. Zach Greinke, before he started, is obviously a luxury, and the Astros, they've become a master, I think, at these late editions at the end of the season. I think the move they made for Justin Berlant there a couple of years ago is one of the best late-season editions in baseball history, because he single-handedly swung the ALTS against the Yankees two years ago. So I think it was a great move for the Astros. Again, trying to jinx them. I'm going to say that they did a better job at the deadline, and they are the favorites right now. But hopefully the Yankee basketball team can come alive in October.

All right. Joe Weil, voice of the Dash, with us here. Dash Baseball, Ucolissa 2, 7 o'clock, right here on the Triad Sports Hub. Going to the movie lines, we had Brian Formica, WXII Sports Director, give us a couple of lines to throw at you when we get to that. But let's see what you did last week. Let's revisit some of those calls.

Des, go right ahead. One-two pitch. Swing and a miss, strike three. One gone here in the bottom of the fifth inning. Cavenerio continues to dominate the Salem Red Sox. Coming into this start, he had three wins and three outings. He's already posted four in the third shutout frames against Salem. And listen, for the Red Sox, truth hurts. Maybe not as much as jumping on a bicycle with a seat missing, but it hurts.

And the truth is, Cavenerio is a strong pitcher. How proud of yourself are you there, Joe? Well, you finished it off smoothly. It's always good to get that last one out of the line. It's a good feeling.

I think I stuck the landing there. We're talking to Joe Weil here. Send us your lines at Sports Hub Triad.

Getting a couple of good ones right now. Let's get to the next line from Joe. One-one. Popped up down the right field line. Long run for the right fielder, Corcino, and he watches it bang off the wall. Corcino picks it up, tosses it towards second base. Perez slides in, and he's in there safely as a shortstop Fitzgerald could not corral the one-hop throw. Carlos Perez has hit the ball hard twice today. Two doubles and two at-bats, and that's a bingo. Joe. You are a Quentin Tarantino fan, yes?

Absolutely, absolutely. For the people who lived a couple of days ago, Josh comes to the game, I hear middle-mighty. That's a bingo. We're going to be off guard for a second, and then I realize who it was.

They have an active crowd, Mike. You've got to be on your toes at all times, Joe. Next Joe Weil movie line. Infield playing in the pitch, caught on a miss, counting nothing and one. Blackman fooled on that breaking ball, giving a look out to the mound as if to say, I have phoned for you like a blind roofer. See if he doesn't fall for it this time.

A-one. See, that's when you're at your best. It's just when you work it in and people don't quite know what's happening, whether or not you're just being cheesy or working in a movie line.

It helps that you are a genuinely cheesy person, so people might think you just came up with that. I can make it flow, but it was so funny because Brian Brooks is one of my good buddies, former Boyz II Dad. I told him about what we do, and he was listening to the ninth inning, one of the lines in the play.

He's like, I did a double-take and then realized what I was doing, but you actually kind of made sense when you said it. It was nice that Brian was good again. The last one from last week from Joe Weil. Infield playing in the pitch, caught on a miss, counting nothing and one. Blackman fooled on that breaking ball, giving a look out to the mound as if to say, I have fallen for you like a blind roofer. Let's see if he doesn't fall for it this time. 0-1.

I think that's the one we just heard. Do we have one other one, or did we play every single one that we have? The Dash offense threw a 20-game span earlier this half, scored 59 runs. The 2-0, Natalow takes it up and in, count it 3-0, but this team has always had the offense and the players to turn around. And listen, boring is like a rocking chair.

It gives you something to do, but it doesn't necessarily get you anywhere. That was my favorite one of the bunch. I didn't know how you were going to do that, but you certainly worked out a way, and I'm impressed by you. Okay, how about this? Are you ready for what Brian Formica has for you?

I'm very curious to see where Brian went with this one. He wants you to channel some Tombstone. I'm your huckleberry. I'm your huckleberry. Okay, so you got that one written down.

How about we go to the audience? Brant says from Almost Famous, I didn't invent the Rainy Man. I just owned the best umbrella. Have you ever seen Almost Famous? I know about it.

Trust me, I have like a list of like, I do 50 movies and I need to set it on my list. So there you go. From Almost Famous, I didn't invent the Rainy Man.

I just owned the best umbrella. And we actually played a Baker Mayfield line earlier this hour that I think would serve well as a pseudo-movie line. Can we hear what Baker Mayfield had to say when talking about his mustache? That's the elegance of having a mustache. You just don't know what's going to happen. That's the elegance of having a mustache. You just don't know what's going to happen, Joe. I love it. Alright, so channel your inner Baker Mayfield and work those in.

That's the elegance of owning a mustache. You never quite know what you're going to get. And I'm your huckleberry.

Then you have Almost Famous. I didn't invent the Rainy Man. I just owned the best umbrella. Just three this week. I think you can handle that. I got it. Alright, have a good call tonight, Joe.

Alright, thanks guys. I appreciate it. Alright, that's Joe Weil. Joe underscore Weil on Twitter and we'll revisit that next week.

As Joe gives me a heads up at times when he thinks some of them are going to be challenging. I just got another one in here from the Chronicles of Riddick. It's been a long time since I smelled beautiful. Gosh, whatever happened to Vin Diesel? It almost seems like there can't be more than one Vin Diesel in Hollywood. They realized that The Rock was just a better version of Vin Diesel and he took all of the roles.

So that's my belief of what's happened in Hollywood. The drive is brought to you in part by our friends at Twin Peaks Restaurant. Pay them a visit.

Haynes Mall Boulevard in Winston-Salem. It is your local sports lodge. 29 degree draft beer pairs very well with some of their signature craft food.

They have a ton of different options. I prefer the naked buffalo wings, but many other different things you could try at Twin Peaks. As preseason games start tonight, I can't think of a better place to watch football than the Triad Sports Lodge. Twin Peaks. Also, while we're talking about tasty food, Pie Guys Pizza & More paid them a visit in Clemens.

Off of Lewisville-Clemens Road, it is in the Kinnaman Village Commons. Try the Graham Slam Pizza. On top of that, the Moravian Sugar Cane Pies. Those apparently are doing very well.

They've only been sold for the last month or so. One of the best desserts I've had was at Pie Guys Pizza & More. You can order online at pieguys.com. That's, again, Pie Guys Pizza & More located in Clemens. We're at the Wyndham Championship. First round play here at the Wyndham. We'll also be here tomorrow for round two of action. However, and wherever you are listening, we certainly appreciate you spending time with us. Thanks to the folks who have gotten us on the air, whether it be Aaron Gabriel here on site, also Desmond Johnson back in our studio. On top of that, the folks here at the Wyndham Championship have been terrific. Sedgefield Country Club.

And we're specifically inside Margaritaville. So you are listening to WSJS Winston-Salem, WCOG Greensboro, WPCM Burlington, WMFR High Point. Those signals all together make up the Triads Sports Hop. Dude, you gotta hear this. Go ahead.

I think I want to hear this. You're on the drive with Josh Graham, the sports hub at AM600, AM920. Joe Person from The Athletic now joins us.

Carolina Panthers beat reporter. We're broadcasting live from Sedgefield Country Club. Wyndham Championship round one play underway. And Joe, to paint you a picture of what I'm looking at right now, I am inside Margaritaville. There is a tiki hut that is to my right.

There is a band that is playing to my left. There are things called loaded land sharks being handed to people left and right. And people are talking golf and a lot of people also talking football at the golf course today knowing that the NFL preseason starts right now. What does your situation look like in Spartanburg?

Well, first of all, thanks a whole heck of a lot for not inviting me. I could have made an in-person appearance down there in Margaritaville. I am staring at some drive time traffic or soon to be drive time traffic in Charlotte. The Panthers wrapped up fairly early today.

They have their stand fest tomorrow at Bank of America Stadium. I, as well as everyone, took the opportunity to get back home and get a couple nights to sleep at my own ball. So let's start with a couple of the headlines from the last 24 hours. First with Trey Boston. He returns to Charlotte. Is this a big deal in your mind?

Well, yes and no. I mean, this is a guy in Trey Boston who makes a lot of plays on the ball. He does take a lot of chances at the back end of the secondary.

He's known to be, and Ron Rivera even said this, occasionally a little bit too much gambling for Ron Rivera's case. But they really had one hole on that defense, at least on paper. And it was free-stasing. We heard all off-season about how this is why they drafted Rashawn Golden.

And then guess what? A week into camp they decided Rashawn Golden was not the answer, nor was anyone else on the roster. And they went out and got Trey Boston. But, you know, the fact that Trey Boston was available in August, you know, tells you that there's some red flags with him. He was intimating today, Trey Boston was, that a lot of those he feels, you know, kind of reading the tea leaves, that relate to kind of some of his strong stances on social justice issues. And he was very interested and interesting in talking about the kind of the change, the sea change that's going on in the Panthers organization since he last played here when Jerry Richardson was still running the show. What do you make of the reaction, or lack thereof, to Eric Reid saying that once again he would be protesting during the anthem? Yeah, I mean, I think everyone just expects that. You know, he feels strongly about that. It's going to continue to be a polarizing type of display.

There's going to be a lot of people who support it, an equal number of people. And Trey Boston was asked today if he would join that protest. And he said, you know, I need to think about it. He said, I want to talk to Eric Reid about it.

I want to kind of get the gauge of the ownership here and their stance. But yeah, it is pretty remarkable how the Panthers have gone from being one of the most conservative organizations in the league to being one that almost embraces, you know, athletes who have a voice and who take stances on these various social issues. What was, speaking on that note, you had a chance to talk to David Tepper yesterday. He had public comments.

What was your biggest takeaway about what he had to say? Probably just facility-related. I mean, there have been times where we've talked to Tepper in the last year where he had mentioned wanting to maybe put a roof on the stadium and bring in a Final Four.

And you leave the conversation. You weren't sure how much of that. You know, was he just bouncing ideas, throwing ideas at the wall? Well, he made it very clear yesterday that that is his vision. And he said, I don't quite get why places like Indianapolis are hosting Final Fours and Charlotte is not.

And so, I mean, it's not going to happen overnight. This team still hasn't even closed yet on the real estate deal in Rock Hill for its new headquarters. But, I mean, he made it pretty clear that sometime in the next ten years the Carolina Panthers are probably going to have a new downtown stadium with a retractable roof. And they're going to be going after every big sporting event outside of football. And for people who might be thinking, wow, is that too soon to get a new stadium, the Panthers Bank of America Stadium right now is the tenth oldest stadium in the National Football League. And that includes the L.A. Coliseum and the Oakland Coliseum, both of which will be vacated by the Rams and the Raiders after this next season.

So ten years down the line, of course, more and more teams are probably going to move into new stadiums before now and then. Looking at some of the headlines here, we're being joined by Joe Person from The Athletic. I see from Adam Schefter just a few minutes ago, Fick Vangio, the new Broncos coach, apparently has spent much of the Hall of Fame game today in the hospital because of a kidney stone. And then you got Ian Rappaport dropping this bomb that was then confirmed by the Jets that Ryan Khalil has come out of retirement and is going to play in New York. As someone who covered essentially Ryan Khalil's entire career with the Panthers, how surprised are you that he came out to play? Yeah, I'm a little surprised because this is a guy you remember, Josh, his last two years was battling some pretty serious neck injuries and missed a lot of time. And last year he put in a ton of work and time in order to stay healthy and play. And he's got all of these kind of post-career, non-football opportunities that he'd already seen.

He's part of a studio, a production studio out in L.A. So, you know, it's hard though. Some of these guys, I mean, Ryan Khalil is still, I mean, 34 in football years is still getting up there.

But I mean, you get away from the game a little bit and just the camaraderie, you miss, you know, being a part of a team. And I think that's what, oh, by the way, eight and a half million dollar offer from the Jets. Yeah. Did it surprise me?

It sure did. But when you kind of sit back and you see a little bit of the bigger picture, you can see. And frankly, some of these guys hold on too long. I hope that's not the case with Ryan Khalil. I hope he gets out of the game healthy and, you know, has one last hurrah and it's a good experience. But look at Julius Peppers last year. He kind of talked himself into one more year. The Panthers talked him into one more year. And he had a very un-Julius Peppers-like ending to his career, as he once did. And you just hope that's not the case with Ryan Khalil. The initial shock, aside from the fact he spent his entire career with the Panthers, is the position he plays. Am I wrong to think that it's a different deal, that it's more rare for somebody playing his position, as grueling as it might be, the offensive line or defensive line, to come back to football versus, say, a skill position player or a quarterback? Or a kicker. Yeah.

No, definitely. I think that's a great point. Obviously, the Jets had a need. He's going to be great with Sam Darnold. And just in terms of helping him with protections and identifying defensive lines. I mean, I bet the Jets were interested. I'm not quite as convinced or sure about why Ryan Khalil is. But, I mean, he had moved on. He had sold his house here in Charlotte and moved his family back to California.

I mean, he was moving on with life. So definitely that was the shocker for me through the first week of training camp. Aside from Cam Newton, the name I keep hearing more than any other at Panthers training camp is Curtis Samuel from the last week.

Peter King was with us earlier and he said, that's a guy who sticks out to me. James Bradbury was with us yesterday and said, this guy, he's playing at a different level. Is this about where Norv Turner expected Curtis Samuel to be filling in for Devin Funches? Or has he exceeded expectations? Yeah, I mean, look, he's the second round draft. So, I mean, they had high expectations for Curtis. I want to see him doing it through the course of a 16 game regular season. He has not shown the ability to say no.

One of them was just a part of me. It wasn't. You know, he kind of took it off the ball a little bit. But, yeah, I mean, this was the reason they drafted him high. He had speed.

He had a high up start. You know, Cam Newton was saying it. Like, look, he's got two young targets now in D.J.

Moore and Tony Stanley. And if they can stay healthy, you know, he feels like they're ready to kind of take that next step in their career. Read joepersonstufftheathletic.com. Follow him on Twitter at josephperson. Before we let you go, Cam Newton, I know, spoke with the media today.

First time in training, Cam. Anything to take away from that? He's a lot more kind of clean and subdued. And some of that is by design. You know, I think there's a lot more quality now in terms of injury. And I think, oh, by the way, he's still coming back to that shoulder injury. It's still a work in progress. It's the move he used. And so, you know, it's not like he's a, he's not 100 percent yet.

The goal obviously is week one when the Rams come to town. But it was interesting. He was not real jiffy, Cam. He wasn't tardy, Cam. He was kind of furious, Cam. And, you know, it doesn't mean he's not going to go out at fan fest and, you know, have some fun with the fans.

But I think you see a lot more of the kind of serious approach if Cam enters this booth. Joe, in one month when I see you next, I'll bring you a loaded land shark since I forgot to invite you to the Greensboro Wyndham Championship today. But thanks for the visit in the meantime.

Pour one out for me, buddy. You got it. That's Joe Persin on Twitter at Joseph Persin.

Carolina Panthers, reporter for The Athletic. A little bit of Bob Marley being played here at Margaritaville. Is that coming through at all to you, Dez? Can you hear this band? Yeah. Actually, I was going to ask you on a break what in the world's going on there because it sounds like a party broke out behind you. Oh, it is a party.

A lot of fun's happening. And the coolest thing that you can't see, it's a show behind a radio show. Aaron Gabriel is a music performer in his own right. And I just see him looking at this band with judging eyes. Is he judging them?

Is it that apparent? Yeah. He's looking at this band the way I would if I saw another radio show doing a show.

Like me at ACC Kickoff. Just floating around next to someone's show, listening to a question. Oh, I could have asked that question. Lurking? Oh, you're going to ask a talk-about question? Same way that Aaron's thinking, Bob Marley?

I love Bob Marley. I can see his face, though, too. All the way from him I can see his face. You don't have to be so judgmental, Aaron. That's all I got to say to you. It's very distracting. Not the band, you, during the interview. Just looking at you with your arms crossed and judging eyes. Up next, why college football will look different than anything we've seen this year. This is The Drive.