The Drive with Josh Graham - US Women's Soccer - 07/2/19

Attention, please. This is the Drive with Josh Graham podcast. Tune into The Drive 3 until 6 p.m. weekdays on the Sports Hub. I love it.

It's brilliant. The US women's national team already up one to nothing. Meaning they've scored in every one of their six matches in the first 12 minutes of the match. It's the semifinal they're facing England. Kristen Press, who gets the start over Megan Rapino, has the headed goal.

Ellen White just tied up the game for England.

So now it's one to one. This is all happening in real time. This is something we're following closely on the show because if the U.S. wins the World Cup, I have agreed, I did so under the influence, as I admitted earlier in the week. That I will dye my hair.

Is it purple or pink? What Megan Rapino is rocking. Maybe we could get to the bottom of that first. I said for a week. I will dye my hair whatever color.

Megan Rapino has in what was blonde hair. during the entire cup.

So That's what we're doing here. I'm still rooting on the United States. I'm fine paying off. I don't think it's even a bet. It's just more of a declaration and trying to participate in something bigger than me.

But is it pink or is it purple? According to our friend Google Images, it looks like it's purple.

Okay.

Now she's blonde, so it might be, you know, affecting. Sue Bird wrote a story in the Players' Tribune. She's dating Megan Rapido. and said that it's pink. She said it's pink.

I would think She's a better source than Google Images. She's probably seen it more up close than I could be wrong. I'd like to think that's a better source.

So that's happening. Also, I'm still trying to recover. After learning the information. On Coco Goff, that she was born in March of 2004. and is beating Venus Williams and straight sets at Wimbledon.

It was her Wendelin debut. She's fifteen years old. Do you even want to know? What the top song in this country was on the Billboard charts. Win Coco Goff was born.

It's gonna make you feel old, I'm gonna warn you. What 2004? 2004. Top song. On the billboard.

Charts. I'm guessing. I'm going to guess a Beyonce song because didn't she have an album out in 2004? Number one and number two are both by Usher. It's yeah.

Featuring Lil John and Ludacris. And burn. Both of those songs.

Songs About Jane came out in 2004. Heya by Outcast was in the top ten. Wow.

Somebody who was born this year is winning at Wimbledon.

So again, I asked the question. You can respond to it. 336-777-1600. Where were you? In 2004, The Charlotte Hornets.

They Are trying to figure out some answers. What's It all gonna look like this fall. When They start playing without Kimball Walker when they realize what life truly is without number 15 out on the floor. Scary Terry Roger is going to be running the point. We know that.

Miles Bridges is around. But after that. Then what? What's it gonna be for Charlotte? This might be the show's goodbye.

to the Charlotte Hornets. Even locally, Kimba Walker was what kept Charlotte relevant. Even here, nationally, they weren't relevant. Around here, the only reason people cared. About what was happening.

They had An all-NBA caliber player on the roster. who was the franchise's all-time leading scorer. He started in an all-star game that was played here in Charlotte. And we had no idea where he was going to be this summer. Those talking points.

Are the only talking points that drove Charlotte Hornets basketball this year?

Now that he's gone, What are you left with? There aren't many casual Hornets fans. There aren't many casual Carolina Hurricanes fans. We're going to talk to Mike Maniscalco in just a little bit from Fox Sports Carolinas. That's the challenge both those franchises deal with.

In Charlotte, no one gives a rip about the hurricanes. In Raleigh, no one gives a rip. About the hornets. And here in the triad, it's much of the same way. We follow who's good.

People cared about the hurricanes when they made it to the playoffs for the first time in 10 years.

Now that the Hornets don't have Kimball Walker, there's nothing about this team that's interesting. The worst thing you can be in sports is uninteresting. If you're god-awfully bad, that's one thing. If you're The best if you're Excellent. If you are a terrific team, of course, we're going to follow along with that.

Being uninteresting is the worst thing, and I can't find anything interesting about this Hornets team. At least when they were the Bobcats, they had players we knew Okay, you got Raymond Felton, you got Gerald Wallace, you got Mecca Okofour. Even the flops were interesting. Oh, we remember Adam Morrison in college? And Sean May?

Wa we we watch we watch these guys play. I mean, now all these kids are in college for one year. We barely even get to know them. And they jump into the NBA and when they don't work We don't even like them. We we didn't even like them at one point.

We didn't watch them play college ball. There's nothing about the Charlotte Hornet that resembles Interesting. They are the worst situation in the NBA. Everybody's dumping on the Knicks right now. I'd rather be the New York Knicks than the Charlotte Hornets.

At least they have short, intermediate contracts. And top 10 picks from the last three years. What I would do. What the Hornets would do to have Dennis Smith Jr. on their roster or to have R.J.

Barrett on their roster. We're stuck with Miles Bridges and PJ Washington. That's what we got.

So you can dump and make fun at the Knicks because they didn't get KD and they didn't get Kyrie Irving. They didn't get anybody in free agency. But don't act like the Hornet situation is better than theirs. The Hornet situation is the worst in the NBA right now. Yes, Dad.

Let me ask you your opinion on something that I saw a transaction earlier today, and I forgot this guy was even floating out there. Would you rather have Um Scary Terry Rogier for three years and fifty whatever million dollars that I'm signing him for, or would you have rather them go and get Isaiah Thomas for one year at 10 million, like whoever just picked him up this morning? Of course it's Isaiah Thomas. But what are we doing? Because it's what are we doing?

Well, They thought that they were going to get something back from the Celtics and that they were trying to sell us on a player that was starting Eastern Conference Finals games at this time last year. But it just it isn't consistent with What you need to do. In order to build teams in the NBA. See, here's a misconception that people have. When it comes to tanking, what what you're really doing.

When you tank. You're not just deliberately being bad. You are stripping your roster of long-term contracts. Long-term contracts. For guys who have expensive deals who are on one year expirings Or you're Keeping younger players around.

You're building the team around younger players. Charlotte's doing none of that. Charlotte has expensive contracts that are long. And they aren't really building around the younger players. They've done none of it.

Like the Suns, it's just poor management. Like they have good players. It's poor management. When the Sixers tanked, when the Sixers and the Hawks tanked. Tanked, they did it in a way.

Short contracts. And the younger players just weren't ready yet, so they were bad. But then those younger players progressively got better as you got good draft picks, and then the process leads to you getting Ben Simmons, who just got an extension today, Joelle Embiid. And you have assets that you could trade along, the Atlanta Hawks get Trey Young a number of top 10 picks, Cam Reddish this year. John Collins, a good team with younger players.

So That's the misnomer people have about tanking. It's it's not just Putting together players you think are bad. It's all about the length of contracts. And that's why the Hornets, now that Kimball Walker is gone, them signing Terry Rogier to a three-year deal worth that much money. It doesn't check out with what I think Charlotte should be doing.

We couldn't even tank right. I mean, like, if we were going to tank, this past season was the year to tank. Like, who is in the draft next year? That we would tank for. They couldn't tank because they were still trying to convince Kimball Walker to stay.

Right.

So it's just, I don't know, the whole thing is just, bug.

Well, it's the worst situation in the NBA. And they're uninteresting. And we don't talk about things that are uninteresting. When wake basketball is bad. We didn't do much wake basketball.

We just did more North Carolina, Duke, and NC State. We have a lot of things that people care about. The Panthers and ACC basketball, the big four, those are the only sports where you have casual fans. Here. Aside from the hardcores.

Hornets don't have hardcores. The Hurricanes don't have hardcores. Panthers and ACC basketball. Does have that. But we have so many local ACC big four teams that when one's bad, We just do more talking about the other guys than the teams that's bad and uninteresting.

And the hornets They're uninteresting and don't have casual fans. Not a good combination. How close are the Carolina Hurricanes to being a Stanley Cup contender again? We'll ask TV reporter for the Kanes, Mike Manascalco, next.

Okay.

Bones.

Okay.

This is the Sports Hub at AM 600, AM 920.

Now back to the drive with Josh Graham. Mike Maniscalco, television reporter for the Carolina Hurricanes. is now joining us. He's back with a new contract. It's John Forslund, Trip Tracy, and Mike returning for another year on the Hurricanes.

And we've got another score from the U.S. women's team. They are now up 2-1 over England. Alex Morgan in the 30th minute with her goal. And if I'm not mistaken, intern Nick told me today is her 30th birthday.

So in the 30th minute, the 30-year-old scores the second goal for the United States women. Two to one US over England. Back to you, Josh. I didn't know we were interrupting guests with this now. You can follow Mike Manascalco on Twitter at Mike Manascalco.

I'm seeing this on my social media feed right now. You're right, it is Alex Morgan's 30th birthday. It was scored in the 30th minute to put the United States women up in this World Cup semifinal and to celebrate. Remember. In the English papers today, they were talking about the Americans being too arrogant.

The United States scored thirteen goals on Thailand. And they were still celebrating. up nine to nine and ten to nothing in some of those games. Alex Morgan. Celebrated the U.S.'s second goal.

by sipping some tea. I can't think of anything better than that from Alex Morgan. It seems fitting that she scores the goal on her thirtieth birthday. We'll continue to update you on that. Mike now joins us.

Sorry for the brief delay there, Mike. We had to get a U. S. Women's World Cup update there. But Mike, You I'm not sure if you even know this.

Before we get to the Kanes. There was a debate that has then gone statewide, has since gone statewide, that you started here on this show regarding my hair. You were talking about me. Being a ginger, and I never denied having red hair, but then Desmond disagreed with that assessment, which then got to Hayes Permar and Darren Vought, who were doing the David Glenn show on my vacation last week. And all I'm getting is text messages, text messages from people saying that.

I am a redhead, or I do not have red hair. I appreciate you starting all of this.

Well, what can I say? I'd love to be the flashpoint for any topic of that important of a uh local, community or statewide event. I'm glad that your hair The topic started by me is something people are talking about. Yes, and we're happy to know that you're going to continue being on the Carolina Hurricanes TV broadcast this year. You sign an extension along with John Forslund and Trip Tracy.

So we look forward to seeing a lot more of you with the Hurricanes coming up this fall. But tell me this: we heard from Tom Dundon. uh a few hours ago talking about Sebastian Ajo Matching the offer from the offer sheet from the Montreal Canadiens and extending him through 2023 or extending him five more years, I should say, until he's 27. Tom Dundon's quote was: This is not the way he wanted this to go.

So, what do you think the Kanes could have done better in handling this? Uh given him The five-year term that he wanted before it reached July 1st, Josh? I mean, that's really about it. And when everybody keeps asking what could have been done differently, this is how negotiations go. I mean, Can look around the league.

How come Brayden Points contract isn't done in Tampa Bay or Mitch Marners is done in Toronto? Can you give me a reason why? because they can't come to the agreement on money in terms.

So, with Sebastian Aho, they did not agree on money in terms. Don Juaddell said it yesterday when he was addressing the media, which was simply, You know, this was something that they didn't see coming, but now that it's done, he doesn't have to spend his whole summer negotiating a contract, and that's what they thought was going to happen. But you ask what could have been done different. The organization could have given Sebastian Aho the exact contract he wanted from the start, but that's not how negotiations go. Trust me, I know, I've been in them.

So, you don't always get what you want. And in this case, Aho's Camp had an opportunity legally through the collective bargaining agreement of the NHL. to go find a way to get the deal they wanted from someone else, and in this case, Montreal. In Montreal tried to put the Huge poison pill of $21 million of signing bonus in the first year, forgetting that Tom Dunzan is a billionaire and can write that check anytime he wants. Sebastianaho, and which, by the way, is not $21 million all up front.

It's $12 million, actually, $11 million, and then $9 million a little bit later on in this year.

So that's where that all came down from. But you asked me what Morka the games have done to make sure that nobody gave an offer sheet to their player. They could have given him the exact deal he wanted. That seems to be the only way this would have happened. But is this really, Mike, how negotiations go when you consider the fact?

you you mentioned the CBA, um uh what what the CBA allows for restricted free agents, but there there hasn't been uh an offer sheet offered for a restricted free agent in six years, I believe.

So when you hear that there was some type of a break off in communication in terms of negotiations around the draft and Aho's camp saying there wasn't going to be a counter offer. What do you make of how we ended up getting to this point today? Because Sebastianaho's agent found a way to get the deal he wanted for his player. That's as simple as I can put it, Josh.

Okay.

Mike Manaskalka's on Twitter at Mike Manaskalka.

Now the next question is trying to figure out. what Justin Williams is going to the uh to do. The Hurricanes captain still is taking time to figure out whether he wants to return for another season. It still sticks with me after the final game of the Eastern Conference Finals. Justin Williams is there.

He's in tears, not wanting to get out of his uniform with his two children there. And it just seemed like the entire season, you don't really appreciate how much of a grind it is until the very end when you're there and there's no more games left to be played. How much does your view of what the Kanes are and what they can be? hinge on Justin Williams' decision. No, I mean certainly he is One of the preeminent leaders in sport right now, and that was shown with how he got that team.

to rally together last year. But as far as is this team a playoff team without him, the pieces are here. And you know what happens? There's going to be a day when this organization wakes up and Justin Williams isn't going to be here. And then it's the lessons that he taught these players of how to go about their business, how to win, how to carry themselves those are what carry on.

And you hope that he can be around for the ride a little bit longer. But it's ultimately his decision. Don Waddell said today in the press conference that you alluded to that Tom Dundon was talking about and spoke with the media about Town Waddell was asked about Justin Williams' decision. And basically, what the general manager of the cane said is he is still on the fence about it, but he is thinking that he's leaning towards returning to the Carolina hurricane. But you can't make that decision final until Justin Williams says it's final.

He still has to be 100% in, and he's not 100% in. And you painted the beautiful dramatic picture there, Joshua. I'll give you full credit on that. I was getting misty myself thinking of Justin Williams there with. Children around him crying, please don't retire, daddy.

It's the end of the world. No, it wasn't, you went a little traumatic there. I mean, it was an emotional scene to be sure, but even William said, he's like, Yeah, no, I just didn't take my uniform off. To the other side of that, it's really his call. And you were there for this, so you know the answer.

And I don't mind sharing it again. He says if he's going to do this, and this was in the King Plocker cleanout. He has to be 100% in because of the grind and what it takes out of you. And he even said it, you can't be ninety percent or ninety five percent in, it's got to be the whole way.

So there's no rush to get this done. There's no rush. I'm sure that there are some teams, because he's an unrestricted free agent, who've given him a phone call. But if he plays, he only plays for the Carolina Hurricanes, I'd be shocked. If he plays and it's in a different uniform in the NHL next year.

But he's got to take the time to make the decision, and I think that that's a decision we probably won't get. Until we get a little bit later into July, probably somewhere around that third or fourth week of July, and we'll find out if Justin Williams will be returning to Captain the Carolina Hurricane. You caught me in being dramatic. I could have made it more dramatic. I could just say I'm not sure.

I wanted to give you points. Please do not think that I was trying to sell you up the river there, my friend. I was standing there a few feet away as the kids were looking up at their father saying, Papa, don't, please, please don't retire. The team needs you, Papa. Fantastic.

Don't be sad, Daddy. Yeah, I know. It was well done. Look at this. This is something that really hit me like a ton of bricks.

This headline yesterday in Wimbledon: Coco Goff is 15 years old, Mike, and beat Venus Williams in her Wimbledon debut. She was born. March of 2004. What was Mike Manascalco doing in 2004? I don't even remember what I was doing 24 minutes ago, let alone in 2004.

But I was in Richmond, Virginia. I was probably hosting a radio show. Probably, that's what I was doing. I was hosting a radio show. And I was uh getting ready to turn uh Oh, in two thousand four, March?

Uh no, right around now. Yeah, it's 29 years old. Getting ready. 28 is going to be 29.

So I'm old, man. How it goes. Mike, it's always good to hear your voice. Congratulations on the contract. We'll be chatting sometime soon.

Thank you so much, Josh. You are a Picasso with your words. You've moved me, and I appreciate it. Thank you. That's Mike Manascauaco.

On Twitter at Mike Manascalco. Could I have painted that image even more dramatically? Justin Williams in the locker room. Tightly grasping onto the jersey he might be wearing for the final time. an NHL competition.

His Checkered coloured beard With gray hairs signifying that the end is nigh. Just bawling, weeping. At the sight of his children in that moment approaching him, and he started reflecting Dez on the three Stanley Cups he's won prior, including the one before he got married and had those children, the two thousand six Stanley Cup that the Hurricanes won, and he scored the empty net goal. Oh, Justin Williams In in the most emotional state. of the Carolina Hurricanes Lockeroom.

I feel like I need to light a pipe and put on like a smoking jacket or something. The hurricanes will not be denied! Yeah. No. As long as long as their captain Justin Williams is there there to lead them with the Captain C on his shoulder.

I'm like ready to storm a castle. Should I do the read in this voice? Go for it. The drive is brought to you in part by our friends at Py Guy's Pizza! There is one called the Graham Slam that is close to my heart.

The Graham Slam? What is the Graham Slam? The Graham Slam does has buffalo chicken on top with also bacon and it's a buffalo chicken base. No wait, no wait. It is a Texas Pete base on this pizza.

And there furthermore, there is a special sports hub offer. For people who listen to this show, it's a secret, secret, very secret item here, Dennis. How delightful. It is delightful. It's a secret menu item that you can order called a little bit of Sandler there.

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Pizza, you can find them at that location also at pieguies dot com. Coming up! Where Kawhi Leonard needs to go. And also, my experience trying The Cheetos chicken sandwich. Keep it here on the drive.

What are we going to talk about? Talking about. This is the Sports Hub at AM600, AM 920.

Now back to the drive with Josh Graham. The Greensboro News and Records Brant Wilkerson New hanging out in the studio with us. The Bachelorette Minute. Is ahead. And I'm trying to figure out the best way to go about doing this.

This segment has grown in popularity. I've been getting a lot of tweets, some emails. You can Tweet us at SportsHub Triad. And if you care to chime in via phone call, 336-777-1600, the way to go about doing so. I'm just looking down at my phone.

And I have a ton of notes. From last night's episode. And it might have been the best episode we've had so far. People being sent home, interesting things happening. involving former sports stars here in the triad.

Brand, it was compelling stuff. Do you ever think about your life choices when you realize that you have several pages of bachelorette notes on your phone? All the time. Tyrannosaurus Flex tweets in. Speaking of the Bachelor, I went to a wedding with Luke P once.

Dude creeped me out the whole time. Not a fan. On that note. Let's get to the Bachelorette minute that has way too much imaging than it needs. And it's not.

Watch him now. Here he comes, he comes, he comes, he comes, he comes Showtime. Welcome to The Bachelorette Minute with Josh Gray.

Okay.

I think the best way to do this is just to read what I have on my phone and deliver it. That way. Just go through. Lime by line what I had here. Let's start with Jed because he had a one-on-one date.

This was my favorite. But apparently... Trending all over the internet. The last few weeks. Jed has a girlfriend.

This is this is Breaking news to the bachelor community. One of the favorites. This seems like. What happened in the NBA Finals? Where the favorite Just ruptures his Achilles.

And the Raptors are allowed to swoop in, in this case, being former weight quarterback Tyler C. You know what they taught me as a kid? My dad always said: if you're gonna cheat on your girlfriend, don't do it on national television. Great advice from was that Papa Father Father knew Fuck Papa knew. Wi with great advice there.

But Even though He has a girlfriend, allegedly. He's still so charming. In fact, I have it written on my phone. Has a girlfriend.

So charming.

Okay.

That explains how he can have two. I mean he's a country music singer from Nashville. This is somebody I still think is going to be around at the end. Even though it seems like a spoiler to suggest that he already has a girlfriend or has had a girlfriend this entire time. Tyler C.

Miley got a one-on-one date. He gave a quote, I'm gonna be honest. I failed a lot in my life. End quote. Yeah?

We know, said every Wake fan. 0 for 3 passing against Florida State with three interceptions. Not great, Bob. Not great. Then he's riding horses with Hannah.

Where were they, the Netherlands? Amsterdam? I believe so. They were in Amsterdam, and apparently you could just ride horses with no direction or no ability to ride the horses. They're going backwards and forwards.

It seems very dangerous. It's the equivalent of like bird scooters there. They're just horses, like, just chilling you can jump on. Yeah. And he's eating.

They're eating. Fish out of each other's hands? It was disgusting. Gross! Really!

Gotta say, Tyler's my guy at this point. I really like Tyler. I like how he stood up for Hannah last week when. When Luke was very upset with her for her decisions and sexual. Freedom, if you will.

Tyler C, I have this written down on my phone. Easily the frontrunner, pilot Pete. is the biggest threat. Pilot P Got a rose, and he's still hanging around. I don't think he's gotten a one-on-one date, but this man...

Just charming as can be. And floating along. As for some of the people that went home. Connor. It was nice to know you, even though we didn't really know this guy.

He's the example. Do you know who he is? He's the football team that waits until the fourth quarter to start throwing the ball. It was just way too late for Connor. Played it way too conservatively during all of these.

Cocktail parties. He's just hanging back. Letting people Fire at each other and knock themselves out of the game. Then he tried to go to Hannah when he didn't get a one-on-one date he coveted. And he's going home because Hannah says, I don't know anything about you, guy.

Played it way too conservative. You just sat in a zone defense a little bit too long. The prevent prevents you from winning. That's right, Connor. Ha ha ha.

Mike, meanwhile, who was Brant's favorite, the one black guy on the show. Yeah. I was a big fan of Mike. I thought he was the most genuine dude out there. He was smarter, more mature than everybody else.

I thought the one thing that could hold him back is just the overall BS of this show.

However, He's going up an elevator, getting ready for a date. There's fancy art hanging around. This seems like right up the alley of Mike. But He gets up to the top of the elevator, and Hannah is in tears. She is bawling her eyes out.

That's never a good sign. Is it ever, under any circumstances, bachelorette or not? A good sign, it's going to end well for you if the girl you're going out on a date with or the person that you're talking to who is a woman is in tears at the start of the conversation. No. That does not end well!

No. Generally, well, Lauren, Lauren cries occasionally because she's just so happy to be dating me. Is that what it is? Yeah, yeah. Kobe White very proud of me.

Kobe White, what are your thoughts on that? Wow.

Well done.

So Moments later, they sit down and Hannah just cuts Mike's head off clean. That's what happens. Just says, hey, yo. Uh This isn't gonna happen. And I just wanted to let you know.

And my man handled it about as well as Tony Bennett did after losing to UNBC. Stepped to the microphone and just. Gave all the credit. To UNBC, and Mike in this case was just saying, I hope Hannah finds what she's looking for. Thank you for being honest with me.

He got clean punched in the face emotionally and handled it about as well as you can. That might be the guy who wins the Bachelor or becomes the Bachelor next season. Wait a minute, wait, wait, wait.

So she so hold on.

So she cut the black guy? The only black guy in the cast, but she didn't give a good legit reason why. She was just like, it's not going to work out and sent him on his way. Pretty much. She wanted to be honest with him, she said.

He got pulled over for dating while black. Yeah. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Then there's Luke.

Who? Folks on Twitter. are saying is a creep. One person said on Twitter that he's a creep. He just doesn't know.

He just doesn't know the right thing to say around the guys. Like, he's in a room with the other guys. Mike goes home.

So they take your bags away from where they're all staying.

So everybody else in the room knows Mike just went home. All the other guys are like, oh no, not Mike. The reaction from Luke P was He started laughing, clapping, and saying, One down. One more down. That means my odds are going up.

Hit. You may not have known this. He was actually in Toronto. He was one of the fans cheering when Kevin Durant. Suffered his Achilles injury.

Just say, hey, what? What? One more man down, that means our odds go up. That's what Luke P essentially did. I really couldn't believe it when he said that he.

He came out and was like, I used to drink too much and party and chase all the time. Oh, that was his Hail Mary. I couldn't believe that. I mean, I did not see that coming. It was down to him and Garrett, and Garrett was swaggering along, confident that he's not going to.

Uh that he's gonna get the rose not Not Luke. And uh they get one last meeting with Hannah and Garrett took the positive route. Said I love you. to Hannah. Luke P starts talking about him chasing alcohol and women, which led him to Jesus.

In the shower one day. Oh, that's right. A voice from Jesus came to him in the shower. Was he drinking shower beers? That was my thought, but I mean, he sounded just as believable as Jim Baker with the almond fuel.

She bought all In the producers, I have it written down. Producers can get you, damn it! That's what I have written down because They led you to believe that Luke P is going home, but no, Luke P survives, and we're down to hometown dates now. Luke P is your team. They're Duke this year.

They come out of the gate hot. They hit a little bit of bumpy road in the middle, but they keep on surviving. They keep on surviving. They can't hit their foul shots. They keep on just skating by by the skin of their teeth in the NCAA tournament.

But will they be stopped? We're down to hometown dates. Which means the last of the four gentlemen. We'll get to take Hannah home to introduce her. To their parents.

Real drama. Is there some sort of wild card thing or something where someone that's been kicked off can come back? I'm kind of rooting for the brother that I just found out was there like five minutes ago. You're rooting for the black guy that you didn't know? Yeah, I really am.

I'm hoping that he gets a chance to come back and redeem himself. It didn't sound like he did anything wrong. Being black, that was it. That was all he had. He was the best guy in the show.

Hannah. It would be great, like, if, you know, like, they're on a hometown date and his music starts playing. Yeah. He gets to run in and hit the other guy with a chair or something. Did the United States just stop a penalty kick?

I'm seeing video of this 84th minute. The US just stopped the PK. Crazy stuff happening. I'm so confused right now. The US soccer team.

And the Bachelorette. Welcome to July! Uh John Robstead, this is July. We sleep in August. You had him on this show?

Rastine? Yeah. No, Rastine hates me. I'm surprised he hasn't booked. He paid you for.

Well, he said I was wrong breaking a story once last year, and then it turns out Jon Ropstein was wrong. Oh, so that's where the hate is. Yeah. Contrary to reports from Josh Graham. Oh, yeah.

Well, we are in the bunch of mentions. Oh, do you have better sources than Ropsty?

Well, turned out I did in that case. What a great segment. There was Bachelorette in here, some women's world soccer, a little hatred towards Josh. What a transition. Black Man Got Held Down.

I mean,. Fantastic work. Do you have the clip of Roy Williams saying this is June? Last year or last month. Roy Williams.

Was talking about Cole Anthony being left off the Koozie Award. And Stole. John Rothstein's line. Saying This is June. David Gling is going to join us.

At five thirty, the drive is brought to you in part by our friends at Twin Peaks Restaurant, Haynes Mall Boulevard in Winston Salem. You can find them the perfect place to watch the World Cup. Maybe the women will be in the final if they can hold off England in the final five minutes here. Maybe, perhaps. Do we have that clip from Roy Williams?

This is June. Yes. You hear that? We we rest in August. We sleep in August.

This is June. Uh Des, are you interested in the hometown dates now next week? I don't know. Is the black eye going to be there? No.

Then probably not. Why did you just now wait till now to tell me there was a black guy on this panel?

Well, there were multiple black guys. They just all got knocked out very quickly, and then Mike was the one hanging around. True. Rooted for Mike. Good old Mike.

Black Mike. None of us brought up the fact he was black. We don't see colored desk. But saying you don't see color is racist. I'm just going to be woke here for a second, Josh.

You need to check your privilege. I'll check my privilege in a second. In the meantime, the five big stories at five are coming up. Come on! You're on the drive with Josh Graham, the Sports Hub, at AM 600, AM 920.

David Glenn gonna join us in just a short while. Our early afternoon host visits with us each and every week. Brant Wilkerson New from the Greensboro News and Record, hanging out in the studio with us. Lot of things happening. When you consider the Carolina hurricanes, are able to resign Sebastian Ajo, after the Montreal Canadiens, did something no other team has done.

For for The last six years, that is. Offer a contract to a restricted free agent. And the hurricanes obviously were going to match. for Sebastian Aho. They also re-signed Peter Morazic.

Who was the goaltender that most Is it over? Um is it over? Did they win, did they do? It's a wrap. United States Women's World Cup team will move on.

Pettiness and all. to the final round of the World Cup. Defeating The merry Ladies from England two to one. Is your final We're super excited here. I have no idea when the final is going to be played.

I have no idea who they're going to play. But I know whoever we're playing, we better be ready. I mean, you do have a computer in front of you. And you can search these things before you give the update. The U.S.

will play either Um Netherlands or Sweden, that's coming up on Sunday.

So 11 a.m. match on Sunday. Does that mean I'm no longer going to be interrupted anymore? I could continue doing the radio show as it's supposed to be done. I mean, we have a guest in here.

For God's sake, can I continue doing the show? Hi. They did it for Ben Franklin. They did it for John Hancock! Yes.

Paul Revere owned your entire army! We dumped all of your tea in the harbor! We took over as the superpower of the world, brother! We took your sport! And now we're gonna take the wall cup!

USA, USA, USA, internet, USA, bricks of today, USA.

Okay.

So The Carolina Hurricane. Keynes, Peter Morazic. He's back. Sebastianaho's back. And We're waiting on Justin Williams.

If he comes back, this might be a contender. If he doesn't, I'm a little concerned about that.

Meanwhile, the Charlotte Hornets They no longer have Kimball Walker.

So Does that mean There's no other reason to follow this basketball team or be interested in what they're doing now.

Well, I mean, it's going to be interesting to see how hilariously bad they are if they do what they should do, commit to a full rebuild, and just drop every reasonable player on the roster. Like, this is the worst. Situation in the NBA. It really is. Like, who is the go-to scorer for the Hornets past?

Scary Terry Roger, who... Coincidentally, As we were talking about the Bachelorette, got dunked on by Hannah in an episode earlier this season. How does that work? It just happened. Is Hannah like 7'3?

Like, what? How does that work? I don't understand. She's got SEC. She has SEC speed.

She's got them hops. They're supposed to be SEC. Alabama. Alabama. Yeah.

Alabama Pride. Roll Tide. It was an episode with her and Jalen Brown, or him and Jalen Brown. What were they doing on The Bachelorette? It was a date between Jed and Hannah.

Or playing basketball. They played two on two with Celtics. I love the very realistic dates on the show where they go to uh Latvia and uh Estonia and play basketball with the Celtics. Estonia Estonia is more of like a second or third date. Yeah.

Drinking cheap beer in a dive bar and talking about all of your shortcomings and bringing up your exes. We'll save that for next week's Bachelorette Minute. But I'm serious. After scary Terry Rozier, who are they going to? I saw a serious Malik Monk.

I saw a serious assistant coach for the Hornets. Talking dead serious. Trying to sell me. On Dwayne Bacon being a scorer for this team. No jokes.

It would be very funny if He was kidding. Dwayne Bacon. Relying on him to be a scorer for this team. Come on. He couldn't even score for Florida State.

I have a dilemma.

So, as the programming director here at the Sports Hub, We started a deal with the Hornets last year to start broadcasting their games. Oh. And this year we're supposed to broadcast more games than we did the year before. I was planning on broadcasting up to 60 plus games of Hornets. Are we talking about this out loud now?

We are. Because I've been bothered by this since the weekend. Like, I really truly am trying to figure out. What to do? See, but you're a Hornets fan.

I know. That's my point. There is no such thing as. This is the problem the Hurricanes and the Hornets both face. There is no such thing as a casual Hornets or Hurricanes fan.

They don't really exist unless the team is good. Right? We'll watch good teams, but there's no such thing as a casual Hornets fan amid mediocrity. It's just not happening. The Hurricanes didn't make the playoffs for 10 years.

Guess what? No one cared about the Hurricanes for nine of them. Because They weren't making the playoffs. That's the way it works here. The only.

Casual sports fans that exist in this state. Who who root for teams in this state? The Carolina Panthers have casual sports fans. They've gotten to the point where that's the case. People are going to follow the Panthers no matter what, even if you're not a hardcore.

And. ACC basketball. North Carolina basketball fans. Duke fans, NC State fans, Wake Forest fans. That is it.

There aren't Casual fans. For anybody else in the state. You believe in like curses, voodoo, that kind of stuff? Who would the curse be for the Hornets? I feel like the Hornets that we're calling the Hornets are not the Hornets.

They're the Bobcats in Hornets' uniforms. And the real Hornet Soul is still in New Orleans, where if you go look at their roster, it has five Duke guys on it. Stop it. Zion Williamson from South Carolina is on it. It was the original Hornets that left here in the middle of the night in the first place.

And they're going to do much better than we're going to do.

Next season, and they have no business doing that when they had the number one overall pick in the draft. Stop it. It would behoove the Hornets to try to get a home exhibition game at the Coliseum against the Pelicans. The Pelicans? Oh, gosh, yeah.

You're listening to WSJS Winston-Salem, WCOG Greensboro, WPCM Burlington, WMFR High Play. Let's begin. Let's talk about it. Let's talk about it. You're on the drive with Josh Graham, the Sports Hub, at AM 600, AM 920.

This headline really bothered me from yesterday. Coco Goth. is a 15-year-old tennis player. who in her Wimbledon debut Beat Venus Williams. And that's not the part that bothers me.

That's a great story. I mean, my goodness. That is your idol. She said the reason she picked up a tennis racket growing up in Atlanta was because of Venus and Terena Williams. To beat her in your debut while also doing a science test that she said she got a B-plus on during qualifying.

It's a wonderful story, but the part that bothers me is that. She was born in March of 2004 when this song that you're currently hearing. was released. That's right. Yeah, by Usher, featuring Lil John and Ludacris.

was released in March of 2004. When the player that just won a match in Wimbledon was born. Brant, where were you in March of two thousand four? I was uh just about to wrap up my high school diploma at Northern Durham High School. I had frosted blonde tips.

I was driving a white Honda Civic and I worked at Chick-fil-A. You had the frosted tips? Oh, I had the frosted tips. I made a lot of really bad hair decisions for a while. Duz, you need to see this photo.

Yeah, how can I get to this action? All right, Brant. Find a way to get Dez a photo of you and the frosted tips. Maybe you just put it on social media and people can find it at Brandt. At Brandt, B-R-A-N-T-G-N-R.

Follow him on Twitter. You should if you're an ACC basketball fan. But also, it would be great just with no context. You just post a photo with you and frosted tips looking like Lance Bass or something. Yeah, it was like you had the Justin Timberlake thing going on from InSync.

Yeah, that was kind of basically the gist of it.

So you can find this photo. I got it braided one day in English class. It was just a whole lot happening. I'm here for this.

Okay.

I don't think we've ever given you more incentive to go to a Twitter page. At Brant GNR, at Sports Hub Triad. We will retweet this as soon as he gets it out for the people to see. But It's crazy to me. I still haven't accepted the fact.

That there are news headlines out there. Where people are doing things in the world of sports. who were born in the year 2004. Just recently accepted that people born in this millennium can do things. Zion.

For example. I'm just starting to get used to this. And This headline, it bothers me. It bothers me deeply. I haven't grasped it completely.

I'm looking at this Martian baseball player, the guy nicknamed The Martian. Who apparently can throw a ball 110 miles an hour out of center field at 16 years old that the Yankees just gave $5.5 million as a signing bonus? He won't be able to play and be a part of their system until next year. But he is A player that a lot of people were talking about today, born in 2003. 2003 to 2004.

Like, I was struggling with math, basic math. Back. In 2004 as a teenager. That was me! Yeah, what were you doing in two thousand four?

Buying 50 Cent and Tim McGraw C D's? 336777-1600. What were you doing in 2004? Too bad they didn't make it. What were you doing at 15 years old or what you were doing in 2004?

It's a double question. You take your pick. 336-777-1600. Dez just got the photo from Brent Wilkerson New. Is it on Twitter?

No, I didn't tweet it. I just definitely put it on Twitter. I DM'd it. Yeah, he just DM'd it to me. I was going to suggest just message it to me if you don't want to go through that kind of stress.

Can we put it on our Twitter page at SportsHub Triad? I would ask him. Sure, if you want to. Just no context. Just put the photo up, because again Traffic.

Hashtag content. Driving people to our Twitter page. Go for it. All right. No context, Dez.

Just put it on Twitter because I want to see it too. You're going to get yourself blocked by several people, probably, but. Please. I put a photo up there of me shirtless posing on Flex Friday a few weeks ago. That became a topic of conversation in several group chats that I'm a part of.

No context. Give us that photo on our Twitter page at Sports Hub triad. I don't want any context. People know what's up. Go out of your way to find that photo.

2004, though. I'm trying to think: what other sports could a 15-year-old make news in the way? That Coco Goff did. This week. Like other than the Olympics This, it really is only tennis.

Like, not to say there isn't phenoms, like the Martian that the Yankees just gave a contract to. This demean gas kid. Not to say there isn't a phenom such as Uh like Freddy Ado in soccer. Or Cristiano Rinaldo, when he was younger. Like these are phenom players But Not knocking off the top players in the sport.

Yeah, did you catch that Freddie Adu story last week? It was pretty interesting. What happened with Freddie Adu?

Well, he's still just kind of chilling, trying to make it happen in soccer. He's. Been around the world, been in several places, and now he's just kind of training people. He was playing. In uh Jeez, it it used to be nasle, it's something else now, oh, maybe it's still nassel.

He played in MLS for it's one of the lower level American soccer leagues, but he was just talking about, you know, how he's just does it for love now. Basically, he's training kids in clubs and not really playing, but still trying to make it work. He's been here and there and He was kind of the first guy that I really remember being that phenom, the savior kind of guy. I'm just now seeing these photos of you, man. Yes.

They're unreal. Like, they're everything I ever wanted. The curls the time warp. The curls. Oh, it literally drops you right back into 2004.

Oh my gosh. What was your favorite Timberlake song? Ah man, I think I was a big Senorita or Crimea River guy. Yeah, he looked like a Crimea River kind of fella right there. I was a sensitive thug.

Yeah. He was a sensitive thug. Uh the US women's national team They won two to one. A lot of people were dumping on Megan Rapino right now. I just got this message.

Megan Rapino finally in the position she belongs.

So much courage, so much bravery. Oh, apparently our good friend Ben Swain on Twitter says that Rapino just said that she thinks she will be ready for the final.

Okay, so she is dealing with an injury. She's dealing with an injury, not well, maybe it's a curse, the the Trump curse. Oh, the Trump curse, because she said she wouldn't go to the White House months ago. But that's what happened. Here's the thing.

It's it's a fascinating thing. Where We're going to hate an athlete because of her political views. It's not the action. Anybody who says it's the action is full of it. You're not mad.

It is a straw man to say that. People are legitimately mad that you aren't singing and have your hand over your heart. We would not notice. If she didn't. And she didn't have these political views.

It's about the political views more than anything else. That's what it is here. This isn't Colin Kaepernick. Colin Kaepernick. knelt and that was a lot of people We were mad legitimately at the action.

That's why the message was so easy to hijack. This year, there isn't any of that. It's I am masking my disdain with her political opinion. By saying that I'm upset, she doesn't have her hand over her heart, and she's singing during the song. Ridiculous.

How many people in the stands have their hand over their heart and sing during the song? It's the same thing every time. Tim Thomas wouldn't go to the White House when President Obama was there, and he was singing his praises for it. Right.

A lot of people crushed Tim Thomas for doing something. Everybody is going to feel however their person feels on any given day. Robert Kraft. Tom Brady, these people who say they love Trump. or our friends with Trump, Tiger Woods, golf with Trump.

I could care less. I I am very apolitical. I don't care that those guys like Trump or what their political opinions are. I say that to say as well, I don't give a rip what Megan Rapino. Wants to do with the World Cup or a Wild a White House invitation.

That does not matter to me.

So the idea That she somehow Less patriotic. Because she doesn't have her hand over her heart and isn't singing the song? While representing the country and scoring. Four consecutive goals for the United States in knockout games? I think it's absurd.

And A lot of the criticism. It's pretty crazy too. It it's Nobody would notice. Nobody would notice if she wasn't one of the best players. Nobody would notice if she didn't have those opinions three months ago.

But since she does have those opinions. And she isn't singing the song and doesn't have her hand over her heart. It allows an outlet. for people to needle in. and criticizer.

Let's go to James and Clemens. James, you're on the sports hub. What do you got on Megan Rapino, James? Hey, buddy, how are you? Doing good.

Hope you are. I am. I was just going to complain because there was two of my neighbors that were sitting during the game, and they didn't stand up. I'm sure of it.

So we should be upset about them too. The majority of people do not stand up when they're sitting at home. watching a sporting event. They don't stand up, they don't put their hand over their hearts. but they want to criticize, and that's the only thing that bothers me.

All right. Thanks so much, James, for the call. What is the proper decorum when you're at a restaurant and they're watching the game? Do you stand for the anthem and put your hand over your heart if you're not at the event? I was struggling with this while grabbing some brews in the flow club for the dash.

The anthem starts playing, and I immediately put my hand over my heart, but then there's other people just sitting there eating. I deal with this when I do play. I play for high school football, and they do the anthem. Uh you can look out and see the crowd.

Some people Don't stand at all. They just sit there. And you look around the booth, and a lot of people, some half the booth is standing, the other half is still prepping.

So it's like, what is the proper etiquette for? For this, like, am I supposed to stand and put my hand over my heart, or is it my choice to do whatever I want? Here's what I encourage you to do: the next time you're at a sport, the next time you go to a sporting event. Keep an eye. Keep track of how many people.

Most people stand. How many people have their hand over their heart and are singing the song? Because I doubt you'd get to 50%. I doubt 50% of people are doing that. There are some who are creeping to look at their phone, there are some scratching their side.

There are some who are just looking up at the sky saying, All right, when's this going to be over? Then you'll find the 1%. who use every national anthem as an opportunity to reflect on this country. And then you you think about the concourse where everyone is just shoving hot dogs into their mouth and trying to get that last beer before they go out to the seating bowl. That's right.

Bathroom. A lot of people. You can hear the national anthem out there. A lot of people. But everybody's race to the concourse to grab foods and food and drink.

Where where are the people yelling at their lack of patriotism. For not standing and singing putting your hand over a heart you're a wealthy athlete who is blessed. Is Megan Rapino wealthy? That's the whole thing is they are expected that because of being an American, they are blessed to be wealthy and should give thanks to the song. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times.

women professional athletes who also are Lesbian or gay in this country. They've just had it too good for too long. Brandt. Thanks for being here, buddy. It's been fun.

I I enjoyed doing some yelling, my little horse. I'm going to hit the road down to Ocean Isle now and have a relaxing couple of days. We'll find out what our early afternoon host, David Glenn, was doing in two thousand four.

Next. This is the sports hub At AM 600, AM 920.

Now back to the drive with Josh Graham. Ah! I think the other team got manipulated into believing some things that might not have been true and you know, but the fact that you're asking this question about whether twenty million dollars is a lot of money for me or for the hurricanes. Maybe that looks to why we're in the situation, but you know, it's not. It's not a concern.

It's not. Beautiful. I'm very fortunate to be in the position I am that this Sounds terrible, but writing that check is no big deal. That was Tom Dundon, Carolina Hurricane's owner, earlier today when asked on a teleconference. Just how concerned he is with the 20 million dollar or so signing bonus that has to be awarded to Sebastian Aho matching.

the offer the Canadien sent his way in an offer sheet. Yesterday. It's quite a flex just saying, yeah, it's not that big of a deal to sign that check. It just isn't. $20 million that they have to award him.

In once this year, and then another time next year to combine for $21 million or so. We're being joined by our early afternoon host, David Glenn, now. who is a season ticket holder for the Carolina Hurricanes. That last song that we just heard too was a song by Maroon Five that was released in two thousand four. We've heard a lot of songs from two thousand four today because Coco Goff A 15-year-old Beat!

Venus Williams and Wimbledon yesterday had had us thinking, it's crazy. Athletes are in the news that were born in the year 2004.

So, DG, I want to start things off by asking: where were you? At this time in 2004.

Well, let's see. I was in sports radio. At that point, I own my own company. In terms of the ACC Sports Journal and ACC Sports.com, I was still a practicing attorney. My show is not yet statewide in terms of sports radio.

But we were on that trip.

So it was one of the crazier, busier parts of my life because not only did I have all that stuff going on professionally. I, at that point, was the father of two young children, both of them now well into their teens.

So there was a lot going on in two thousand and four, and I can tell you that I've simplified quite a bit since then, and I'm glad I did. What's your pros cons analysis of the offer sheet the Hurricanes matched in order to retain Sebastian Aho? The number one pro is that the Carolina hurricanes Called the Bois. of the Montreal Canadiens and sent a message to the National Hockey League That just because they're a lower budget team and just because they're a small market team. And just because They are in a non-traditional hockey market, and just because the Montreal Canadians can seriously turn a profit.

Of more than $100 million, even in years where they missed the playoffs. Whereas the Keynes lose millions of dollars typically when they miss the playoffs. Even with all that going on, They're not going to let the big budget, big market Montreal Canadiennes. financially bully. the Carolina hurricane.

And I love the audio you played from Tom Dundon, the Kane's owner, on the way back in. Man, you can hear a feisty, competitive part. of Tom Dunon's personality. He doesn't enjoy how it sounds when he says, yeah, cutting its twenty million dollar check, to be candid, it's really no big deal. He knows that that can sound elitist or arrogant or condescending.

But in this context, it's actually relevant. I'm glad that he spoke as boldly as he did. And I'm glad that he matched the Canadians' offer sheet for Sebastian Aho, because had he not, the hurricanes would have become the laughing stock of the National Hockey League. It would have been the first player stolen away by Oper in 12 years. And it would have been a message to players and agents and everybody else in the hockey world.

that the Keynes just can't play with the big boys. And obviously, this sends an entirely different message coming off One of their better seasons in a long or their best season in a long time. And that's the biggest positive takeaway. There are some negatives. I mean, Sebastianaho, You'd rather have him under contract throughout his 20s.

Now he's going to be a free agent as he's turning 27 years old. Who knows if they have fractured their relationship with Ajo as one of the rising stars in hockey at this earlier stage of his career? That stuff's kind of behind the curtain, and we don't know all those details.

So it's not a perfect scenario for the Kanes. But they absolutely dodged the biggest bullet. And they sent a message to everybody, including their own fans, That they're not going to be pushed around financially just because they have a smaller economic model. I'm glad you bring it up. the relationship between Aho and the Kanes behind the scenes because There is a perception in the league, and I'm not talking about the Canes being a smaller market franchise, them not being able to compete in the big boys, that being dismissed today, the way they were able to call the bluff, in your words, of the Montreal Canadiens.

I'm talking more about Dunin in the hockey world, where people have alleged that this guy is a penny pincher, where he's somebody who will part ways with the legendary voice of the Hurricanes for financial reasons and Chuck Caton, and he will not give the big contract to Elias Lindholm or Noah Hanathan before trading them away. And he will be somebody who is a tough negotiator at points, even here with Sebastianaho. Negotiations, according to Don Waddell, broke off around the draft when they lowballed him in an offer that was an eight-year term that was just a little bit more than $7 million a year when he got here a little over $8 million. The offer apparently was so low that Ajo's representation said that they weren't going to counter-offer. And then that.

Allowed for the Canadians to come in with an offer sheet. In fact, we have some sound from Tom Dundon, more sound from him. on the notion Or at least responding to the rumor that Aho's agent or that Ajo was pursuing another team that he wanted to leave the Carolina Hurricanes. I have not heard Sebastian Ajo say that, and if he said it, that would be different, but he didn't. And so the fact that The fact that an agent said it Um means there's no credibility to it, number one.

And number two, I know what I think of this person and this player, and there's nothing that Could make me Or the organization not appreciate and respect everything he does for us.

Now that's Ajo's representation, and you're saying that that guy has no credibility. Granted, you have him on contract for five years, so if he is a valuable asset five years from now, that means he's done some good things for you. But There also is the thing here where If he's a UFA at 27 years old and he is a great player, it's going to be hard to afford him. And will he want to stick around when. Tom Dundon, the owner, is saying things publicly such as that.

Yeah, I think bottom line number one, when it comes to Tom Dundon's general approach, and he is a hard negotiator, and he knows he's in a small market, and he's not going to spend to the cap ceiling or just throw money around the way George Steinbrenner did with the Yankees years ago in baseball. There's no doubt that that's his general approach. Let's just remember that it has worked well more often than it has worked poorly. In other words, how did they get Peter Morazic to re sign at roughly three million dollars a year after his outstanding season as the goaltender.

Well, an emotional Keynes fan might have said, give Peter whatever he wants. And there are other goalies out there getting 10 million a year, or 7 million a year, or 5 million a year. You get too many of those emotional fan contracts, guess what? you're bad for different reasons because you're handcuffing yourself on other moves that are coming down the pike.

So Tom Dundon took a more conservative approach with AHO a year ago. Ajo, to his credit, had a career year, and guess what? His price went up.

So taking the deliberate approach worked with Peter Morazic. They got him for three million, while these other goalies are getting what, much more than that. The deliberate low ball, if you want to call it that, approach paid off. In several cases, it complicated things in the AHO case. And then when it comes to five years down the road, Let's remember this, a lot can change.

Agents can change, attitudes can change. We don't know if the Rod Brindamore era as a head coach is going to lead to a string of making the playoffs every single year, or maybe the culture here is one that NHL players continue to like. We already know that they and their families in large numbers like it, like living here so much that they often settle here when they're done playing hockey.

So there's some negatives. It's a smaller market. You have a tough negotiator. They hadn't made the playoffs in a while, but there's an upside. What does that picture look like five years from now?

Is Rod Brindamore on his way to legendary coach status? Is it six straight years of the playoffs for the Keynes by then? Does Ajo stay healthy or does he get hurt? Does he truly become a 30 to 40 goal year guy? Or is it something less than that?

There's risk involved for Aho taking a shorter term, just as there's risk involved for the Keynes taking a shorter term. I wouldn't worry too much about Tom Dundon insulting an agent. I think agents are on alert. that if you try to use the Montreal Canadiens as a pawn, If you sold a bill of goods to the Canadians the way Sebastian Aho's agent apparently did, hey, if you structure this deal for Aho in a certain way, that Tom Dundin guy is going to cave because he's not rich enough and he's not willing to spend enough. That is what the Canes believe Aho's agent sold to the general manager of the Montreal Canadians, and clearly he believed them.

Well, Tom Dundon sent a different message, and I think that message is infinitely more important than any personal relationship with an agent. Can it be complicated five years from now? Yes. But the rest of that picture, which we don't know yet, is even going to be way more important than whether Tom Dundan and Aho's agent, if he's still his agent by then, like each other or dislike each other or something in between. David Glenn with us here from the David Glenn Show.

I think when you look at teams that are supported well in this state in terms of having more than just hardcore fan bases, you got the Carolina Panthers that there are a ton of casual fans for. The ACC, big four college basketball teams, they're there. The Hurricanes and the Hornets are the two franchises that Haven't really developed that because they haven't had significant or consistent success where. People in Charlotte, year-round, would care a lot what's happening with the hurricanes, and vice versa. People in Raleigh caring a lot about the Charlotte Hornets and what's happening with the team.

Flipping things to basketball. Is there a situation you can think of off the top of your head that's worse than the NBA? Worse in the NBA than what the Hornets are looking at? Because. I I can't think of anything worse in sports than being Uninteresting.

Being Lacking any type of compelling storylines going into the year. At least while the Hornets were bad last year, not making the playoffs, you had Kimball Walker, you had an all-NBA player.

Now what do you got? It's close to the worst situation in the NBA. I agree with you. seeing Kemba walk away under these terms as arguably the greatest player in franchise history. is truly embarrassing.

And that is not too strong a word. you knew the risks of going this far toward the end of Kempa's contract. If you knew this was going to be the end result, you would have gotten a lot more than Terry Rozier. If you had traded him at the deadline this past season or even in the offseason before that, Good franchises simply don't allow this to happen. With a franchise-type player like Kemble Walker.

Remember, even when they lost Alonzo Morning and Larry Johnson back in the early 1990s. They saw it coming, and what did they get in return? Among others, Glenn Rice and Anthony Mason, two of the other best players in franchise history.

So you saw that one had to leave, that's bad. But you didn't compound the problem by failing to get another big-time player or two or high draft picks in return. The only reason I don't say the Hornets are the worst. is that I follow the Washington Wizards. They have John Wall on a max contract with an Achilles problem.

They have, you know, Bradley Beal and hardly any other talent to go with it. That's more than the hornets. They have what but but they also have an owner Who, rather than being respected the way Michael Jordan is respected by many as the greatest basketball player of all time. The Wizards are a joke of a roster, a joke of an owner, dysfunction, junction in the front office without any apparent plan. The Hornets have some of those things.

But the Hornets do have an owner. who is respected in different ways, maybe not as a team builder given his lack of success over nine years. as the majority owner. He is not viewed in the same completely distasteful way as the entire front office and hierarchy of the Washington Wizards organization.

So I guess that's one way of saying there's somebody else who looks even worse out there, but the Hornets are certainly on the short list that you don't want to be on. The Wizards are owned by Ted Leonsis, who's also the owner of the Washington Capitals. But. The thing that just bothers me the most: you mentioned how much respect that Michael Jordan carries, his name, the reverence with MJ. And.

I get Charlotte is a smaller NBA franchise, but there's another team that's was in worse. financial straits from a cap standpoint than the Hornets were that have Has an owner, or at least somebody who runs basketball operations. That's an NBA legend, that found a way to get out of the hole this week. And that's the Miami Heat. Pat Riley continues to get meetings, and he's had success as an executive.

But. I mean, how can Michael Jordan not even get in the room with these guys? Yet, Miami. They can land Jimmy Butler. They can move off of Hazan Whiteside's contract and get decent players in there while one of their franchise's best players are walking out the door and Dwayne Wade.

It bothers me that you have Michael Jordan and he carries so much weight in the sport, and we can't even get in the room to get some players that can improve the team. It is disappointing, and I think it's on Michael Jordan that he has not turned the power of his name. Into more of a drawing card for the Hornets.

Now we all know a few things. Charlotte is never going to be able to say, hey, we're a top five market. Come to LA or New York and you get all of these extra bonuses beyond your salary. We know that Charlotte, while a big and growing city, just doesn't have that to offer and won't anytime soon.

So that's a negative. But you're Michael Jordan. And whereas the smaller market, San Antonio Spurs, took some smart draft picks and then some success on the court. and used creative ways. They weren't always the biggest spender in free agency, but man, did they recruit not only these players, but they recruited their wives.

They recruited their families. They showed them the neighborhoods where they would live. They showed them the practice facility. They buttered them up with the nutritionists and the chefs. and the traveling staff that was going to follow you around the country and make life beautiful for your family.

It starts with money. We all know that. But in the modern day NBA, a lot of the bigger free agents are getting virtually the same numbers offered by ten different franchises.

So once you get to that point, you have the cap space to offer money, These guys are making life decisions. Can I win there? Do I like the head coach there? Is there a functional front office ownership relationship there? Do they have enough talent that if I join them, we have a chance of competing for titles?

Michael Jordan has not used his own name as a drawing card enough and has not figured out enough of those other secondary pieces. And meanwhile, you're talking about Tom Dundon having a reputation with the Hurricanes for being that tough negotiator and staying with the smaller payrolls. And some of that is fair criticism. Michael Jordan has a reputation and a well earned one. for being a cheap guy when it comes to such things.

The the Charlotte Hornets are one of, I believe, only two NBA franchises. that have never spent to the luxury tax. And that's not all on Michael Jordan. He's only been the majority owner for almost a decade. But it's certainly on them lately for these last nine years.

If you don't have the market size working for you and you don't have the recent. Title contention working for you, you better find something else to work for you. And it's on Michael Jordan as the leader of that franchise that he hasn't come up. with more creative angles to make the Hornets more relevant more often when the Panthers have figured that out long ago and even the Hurricanes are starting to figure it out as well. DG, good stuff as always.

We'll chat with you next week. Always fun, Josh. Take care, bud. You got it. That's David Glenn, our early afternoon host.

That's what you got in tickets at the house. There's a couple of TGI Friday shows that may be making a triumphant return back. The television. Oof. We'll give the rundown.

Take it to the house. Thanks.