The Drive with Josh Graham - Live from the NSMA Awards

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

It's brilliant. But before we get to some of the local schools that could be candidates to replace the Huskies, let's spell this out very clearly. The team that has been under.500 in basketball each of the last three years feels like it's in a league that isn't among its quality. They're too good for the American Athletic Conference. They need to go back to the Big East because they're getting beat at home by East Carolina.

Do I have that straight? Oh no, we need to go back and play with our old friends. Make sure we face Villanova. That's won two of the last four national titles. Need to go back and compete with teams even though our program has fallen off since Kevin Ollie held up the trophy in 2014. Now it's Dan Hurley's program and I want to give the guy a fair shot because he's only going into year two, but it's obvious that UConn is giving up cash and quitting on its football program with this move. The Big East, the TV deal that they're getting for essentially just a basketball conference is not nearly as lucrative as the American Conference's deal.

The AAC, this being pushed by former TV executive league commissioner Mike Oresko, just got a new TV deal which, according to reports, is going to be unaffected by this move with UConn. So they're likely going to be giving up annual television revenue in the category, in the department and ballpark of millions of dollars because they want to play basketball with their old friends. Now, they're going to make money playing in the Big East. There were reports by CBS Sports that says since the conference changed from what it used to be in 2013, the American branched off and then the Catholic 7 or 8 as it was called at the time.

They created their own league and kept the name. It's been lucrative for them, just not as lucrative as what many believe to be the best group of five football conference. Some would even argue better than the Pac-12 in football the last two years. The money is better in the American, but they're giving that up because they're essentially quitting on their football program here at a time where they've been struggling the last five years. Bob Diaco couldn't get it off the ground after Randy Edsel went to the Orange Bowl and then went off to Maryland where that didn't work.

Now he's back and he's in a comfortable spot and I was talking to some folks who cover the Huskies, building relationships there over the years since they've been playing games in this state. East Carolina is in the state of North Carolina, of course, and the sense I'm getting from this, UConn is completely content having average football. It's going to be independent probably, just like we're seeing with UMass, but I wouldn't be surprised if at five years they are at FCS and in ten years they're not playing football altogether. Look in that same league, what the American Athletic Conference has. Wichita State won a regional, a region to get into the Final Four way back in 2013.

They are paying a basketball coach, Greg Marshall, over $3.3 million per year. How does Wichita State do that? They don't have football. They don't have the fun of football program and keep 100 kids in the program.

Now, you could go back and dig 1960s photos of Bill Parcells playing football for Wichita State, but that's a very long time ago. Wichita State doesn't play football anymore, and so with some help from the Koch brothers and a lot of the fundraisers in Wichita State. Women's World Cup is still going on, Josh.

Hey, Des. It actually isn't going on. The game ended hours ago.

The World Cup tournament is still going on, Josh. The United States taking on Spain, and I'm here with soccer specialist Aaron Gabriel, and we're going to give you a little bit of a lowdown on what happened today. The United States beating the Spaniards two to one, and Aaron, what did you see in this contest? In the contest, Desmond, I saw two teams that fought really hard today.

They put it all out on the field and left it there. I'm going to surprise you. Spain put up a hell of a fight and actually scored the first goal on the United States this year.

Impressive man. Can you just tell us what's happening in the game? That's right. Spaniards actually scored a goal on the United States women. Megan Rapinoe, two penalty kicks, gives the United States a 2-1 win against Spain and a spot in the quarterfinals of the Women's World Cup. Back to you, Josh.

Rapinoe. Hi, guys. It's good to hear your voices. I'm here in the Marriott, and you guys are back.

What was that in turn, Aaron? That's fancy. You in the Marriott, man. That's nice. Yeah, we're in the Marriott. Yeah.

So, the U.S. women's national team, they're off to play in the quarterfinals on Friday against the hosting French national team. It's not Rapinoe? Preseason favorites. What was that? It's not Rapinoe? No, no, it's Rapinoe. Rapinoe.

You know, she's been just a mega soccer celebrity for the last five years. But maybe eventually we'll get that down. Who are the experts here, Josh? Yeah, Josh. I think we're going to go with Rapinoe.

But back to you. Wes Durham is going to join us in just a bit. The Drive, this broadcast is being sponsored today by the fine folks at Pie Guy's Pizza & More. They have a pizza named after us. It's called the Grand Slam.

So, we've been talking enough about the Grand Slam. We instead want to push a new secret menu item that's just for Sports Hub listeners. The Philly cheesesteak pizza. Do you know what's on it? You guessed it.

Philly steak with peppers and mushrooms and onions, ricotta cheese. It's not on the menu. So, I don't think you can actually order online at pieguys.com. But you can call them.

You can visit them right off of Lewisville-Clements Road in the Kinnaman Village Commons. Pie Guy's Pizza & More, a great sponsor of this broadcast from the Marriott. Gosh, Darren Vaught was messing me up earlier, telling us actually the correct pronunciation. That it is Marriott instead of Marriott. But I've made it this far. I'm sticking with Marriott.

That's what I'm going to do. Like, saying that this place is the Marriott is just like being the guy who says it's actually pronounced Dr. Soice. It's Dr. Seuss. I'm sorry.

Her name might actually be Cherie or Cherry Berry or Sherry Berry, but she's Cherry Berry to me. It's just the way it is. Facts be damned. 336-777-1600 if you want in on today's show. On Twitter at sportsubtriad. It's already been a very eventful weekend at the NSMA. The Hall of Fame ceremony tonight, the awards ceremony a little bit later on had a chance to catch probably the wildest baseball game I've ever been to yesterday. It was 7-0 at the 7th inning stretch. The Dash were trailing the Lynchburg Hillcats and the Dash were trying to stage a rally. It's 7-1.

There's runners in the corners. And the batter, whoever it was, at the plate got called strike three, contested the call. I think he said that is BS to the umpire. He gets thrown out, leading to an angry Justin Jersely, Dash manager, who comes down to third baseline and he gets thrown out. Game 7-1.

It's getaway day. Thrown out of the game and then what does he do? He throws out the umpire. He goes into his face and says, you know what?

I'm not gone, you're gone. And it's prolonged and I think it actually worked out well for the Dash because what happened the next inning? They score five and then they score two more to tie it. Wild minor league baseball weekend with a bunch of state award winners and the national sport winners in the town. You have Peter King throwing the first pitch. He bounced it. So we're going to have to ask Peter King the hard question about what happened there when he joins us here at the Marriott side of the NSMA awards festivities here in Winston-Salem.

So that's happening. Doc Emmerich, who's going to be inducted as well into the Hall of Fame, just spoke moments ago and the entire ballroom was packed with people who were just leaning on every single word he had to say, hanging on every single word. How revered that man is.

You're not going to find many men in this industry who is revered the way that Doc Emmerich is. Earlier today the David Glenn show was on the air. Darren Vaught was filling in. Bob Ryan sitting down at our set that we're currently at right now. And then the fire alarm goes off, leading to us having to get evacuated. By the time we get to the doors, they say, you know what, you're good. So the good news is we're all safe.

The even better news is the show was able to go on. And that's what we intend to do later on with West Durham, who's set to join us in a bit. We'll continue to talk about what's happening with UConn and the potential teams that could fill into the American Athletic Conference with their departure. I'm hearing a lot from Appalachian State fans who say, why not a football-only membership? Charlotte has that big TV market. And since you already have a North Carolina team in the conference, why not draw back on the history of Cornbread Maxwell and a Charlotte Final Four appearance and recent basketball success and bring in the 49ers who recently started a football program in the last five years.

Those are things we're talking about today. And again, your thoughts welcome on Twitter at Sports Hub Triad. One of the leading voices of the soon-to-launch ACC network is West Durham, and he's going to join us on site next on the drive. NSMA Awards Day festivities have been going on since about 9 a.m. this morning. Can I just say something here real quick?

West Durham's on site. It's been 40 years since the memory book that Jerry Lucas has ever been brought up publicly. And today, Tony Caridi, one of the great voices in all of college sports.

The voice of the Mountaineers. That's right. And Mike Emmerich brought it up within a two-hour span. And I just checked my Amazon. Apparently, it's gone top 10 today. Wow.

People are going to be thinking of decks and number 17. Well, let me let me. I'm sorry. How are you? Hi, Josh.

Good to see you. But what you just did right there speaks to the beauty of this event where you can have Paul Caridi walk by from the West Virginia Radio Network. And behind you, Steve Holman, who was on with our earlier show, David David Glenn. He was on Glenn's show statewide.

Yeah, that a boy. Let it go. Voice of the Hawks and legendary voice of the Hawks. And now we have you here and everybody's just together. And it seems like weekends like today remind you how small this industry can be. Industry is awesome. You know, I I've had a blessed career.

Hope to have a few more years of a blessed career. Grateful for the friendships. Two of my very best friends in this.

Well, let's see. One, two, three, four of my best friends in life will be in the building tonight. Stan Cotton, Wake Forest. Bill Roth, who I've known since nineteen eighty eight five, including Holman, who I've known since ninety five. Hey, pre-Slaughterdale, who loves you, baby? OK, that's right. Former number one and number five.

Former former number one pick of the Hawks, pre-Slaughterdale. But no, Bill Roth, Stan Cotton, Don Fisher, Matt LaPaire, four of my best friends in this business and four of my best friends, period. And they'll be in this building tonight. And that just shows you how close the industry really can be with your dad. Yep.

And what what he means to this state. What are your earliest memories of the National Sports Media Association, which previously was the NSA? I came to the first time my dad had won several times when I went with I was a rising senior in college. I was finishing my junior year at Elon, driving a Ford Escort that had a really bad engine. And I drove to Salisbury from Elon to come to the awards banquet.

My dad found me a ticket to come to the awards banquet at Catawba. And I joke with Don about this in April when we play golf together. Don and Paul Keels, the voice of Ohio State, joined Taylor, my brother and I.

We played three days of golf together in the Sandhills. And I told Don, I saw you walk across the stage at night with John Ward, the legendary voice of the Tennessee Vols. Al Michaels was the national sportscaster of the year that night and told me to be an accountant. He said, Your dad says you want to get in this business. Stay the hell out of it, kid.

Go be an accountant. Will Grimsley, the great Associated Press sports writer, was there. Jim McKay.

You got to be kidding me. Frank DeFord. And I met them all in 35 minutes. I was already in and I was really in it. Well, I saw Don Fisher. He was the great voice of Indiana. I saw John Ward, the legendary voice of Tennessee. I saw K. Wood Ledford.

I saw all these people in the auditorium at Catawba College at night. And I was in. I mean, I was so in, it was unbelievable.

My car broke down on the way home is the back end of the story. But, you know, when I won for the first time in 1999 in Georgia, I won with Tony Barnhart, who's one of my dear friends, as you guys know. Tony was the sports writer of the year. I was the sportscaster of the year. And it was amazing.

And I was fortunate to win 10 more times. And I don't know if I'll ever win again, but I love, I cherish being a part of the board. I'm excited about the future. I think that we have two great events at this. I think the Legacy Night is fantastic, Josh. But in all honesty, I think really today is the most important day the association has in the calendar year.

Because tonight is celebrating and today is about the future. And I believe that all of us, and I can say this at 53, all of us now who've been in the business and been fortunate to have a career, most of the guys here feel compelled to come back and help and contribute and answer questions and talk to people. It's not an easy industry. It's a hard industry. It's getting harder. You've got to be a lot more of other things to other people now. This industry is not just as simple as, hey, I want to get ready for the game.

And I want to do the game and I want to sound good and then hope the tape sounds good. You've got to be concerned with, are you writing the blog? How's your social media?

What's the preparation like? Is it being sold? What's the revenue? Think about it.

It's a lot of different things now. So I think a lot of us who've been fortunate in this industry, Tony Caridi, Bill Roth, me, Matt Lappe, Don Fisher, I'm thinking of other college guys that are here, pro guys. Eric Reid, the voice of the Miami Heat, who I've gotten to know just in the last two years. I think the world of him.

Steve Holman, who I've literally known since 95 when I went to Atlanta. That's all a big part of this today. And those people here tonight. I mean, we were at the Church of Mike Emrick in here for an hour. It did seem like it. Josh, did you see that room?

It was packed. I mean, we went to the Church of Mike Emrick because why he's the best in the world. He's the most gifted announcer the industry has. I'm not a hockey guy. Sure, I know Brendan Moore did a hell of a job, but I'm not a hockey guy.

Yet I turn the Stanley Cup finals on every year and my wife goes, oh, here we go. Doc Emrick. I go, that's it.

We're going to sit here and learn. You didn't become an accountant. Well, actually, most days I wish I had.

Some days I'm glad I didn't. You're emceeing tonight. Yes. Eight items or less. We're in the express lane. Don't show up at 10.

We're only allowing eight. Ryan McGee wishes you the best of luck. Yeah, I bet he does. He's in Omaha. Have you seen his social media feed? He's having some fun. Yeah. Enjoy that Omaha, McGee. And you were talking about the ACC Network a little bit earlier on today.

The launch is coming up at the end of August. And I wonder, as someone who's doing play-by-play as one of the leading voices of the ACC Network and you're getting you and Mark Packer your own television show, radio, simulcasting. Say that slowly again so it still sinks in because I'm not really sure I believe any of that, but go ahead. What do you think your dad would say? Oh my gosh.

If you looked at the path that you've taken here. What do you want me to tell you what Billy said? I mean, it's a TV network. They're really going to do this?

They're going to let you guys do this? You're one of the faces of a TV network. Well, first of all, I think he'd be proud. Second of all, I think he'd be real happy that ESPN and the ACC are entrusting people that grew up in the league to do this, you know? I mean, Mark and I have been very fortunate. Mark has spent his entire career in this league and at the end of the day, what has happened, we were fortunate 16 months ago that Mike Masvinsky and Steve Cohen at Sirius XM thought it'd be a good idea if we did a show. It's crazy.

And we had never worked together. So, you know, at the end of the day, you know, we've had a lot of fun in the last 16 months as people know. Our morning show's been fun. We've tackled some serious topics. We've covered games. We've talked to coaches. We've become fans of other things, too. I mean, lacrosse and, you know, certainly women's basketball and things like that. I think my dad would be happy.

I think he would. My mom is thrilled, although she continues to call her cable operator on a regular basis. Thanks, Mom. You know, and look, Josh, we can laugh about it and have a few jokes, but the reality of it is I love the league. I've always loved the league.

I mean, I was born to love the league. And Mark and I are pretty serious about that. I mean, we want to do it the right way. We want to tell stories. We want to have good guests. We want to, you know, examine certain issues, look at teams and games and things like that.

But it's not just common ground football, basketball. It's going to be a lot of things. And I think we're excited about that. What do you think is going to distinguish the ACC network from some of the other networks that have, you know, been launched the last five or six years? Well, first of all, with anything like this, you're going to find out about people you didn't realize that were competing.

And whether they have a unique background or a unique story to tell, you're certainly going to hear that. But I think what you're really going to be surprised about is how seasons evolve, how much content there really is across the board in the league. Think about Dan Ratajkovic, when he was at Georgia Tech and I was still working there doing the games, we talked about the north-south nature of the league.

Okay? Only the Pac-12 really has a north-south deal about it geographically. And remember, when they expanded, they went to Utah and to Colorado, right? Well, when the ACC expanded, they went Louisville and Notre Dame, but first they went north and south. Miami, you know, Boston, ultimately Syracuse was added, things like that. As you start to kind of think about all that, the ACC has more top 25 television markets in its footprint than any other conference in the country.

That's a big difference. There's a lot of stories to tell as it relates to the cities. There's a lot of stories to tell as it relates to the history of the institutions.

Some of it is good. Some of it is maybe tough for people to live through, especially the part in the 1950s and 1960s. The Big Ten, everybody knows, was the first league to integrate, but the ACC, they didn't wait around. They got involved in it. The maturation of some of these schools and membership in the conference. Look, we talk about Syracuse and Louisville and some of the Notre Dame coming to this league when they did. Well, there's also something to be said about why Virginia didn't start in the league in year one and showed up year two.

Why South Carolina left, things like that. I think we have an understanding of that history, and I think that's one of the things. I had an interesting phone call a couple of weeks ago with John Dahl, who is the vice president of docs and films with ESPN, just about kind of where the history of the league was and where the league history could be chronicled with some of these features.

John grew up in the Charlotte area. He's a guy that has a real good feel for certain storylines, and obviously a couple of different documentaries are coming out here. Coach K went on opening night, and then next year the tournament documentary they're currently working on, the documentary they talked about last March. I'm excited to see that, but I tell you what, I like being on this team. I like all the people they brought in.

I'm excited to see the rest of the team as it comes together, too. Very well-rounded when you've got guys like E.J. Mangold. E.J. Mangold, Eric McClain, Herzlick, Eric Wood, you know, Roddy Jones, who obviously I did every football game he ever played in. How does that make you feel?

Old. Talk to Gene Deckerhoff about that, and he was talking about Jameis Winston, because he of course does the Bucks and Florida State. Yeah, he's done every game Jameis Winston has ever played in. And of course Derek Brooks, too. Yeah, so I mean, you know, that's a blessed career, and I count Gene among those guys, too. He's awesome.

That's a fun part of this, too. Wes, have a lot of fun. Thanks, man. Express Lane. Eight items or less tonight.

You people come in here and start lingering, you're going to be in trouble. Up next, Cam Newton touches on- $1500 to move your seat, and the cat wouldn't do it, right? That's right. He teaches us just how much comfort is worth to him.

Comfort plus. Keep it here on the drive. Ready whenever you are. You're on the drive with Josh Graham. Now, the Sports Hub at AM600 AM920. ... Desmond Johnson's back in our Kernersville studios. We're on location at the Marriott NSMA Awards Weekend. Joe Oveus, afternoon host in Raleigh, spending time with us. Lauren Brownlow from WRALSportsband.com. The reason I want to note how good of a job Desmond Johnson does is because he plays OutKast right as we were referencing a viral video from over the weekend.

Love this. Where all the NBA first round draft picks had no idea who OutKast were, or at least what they looked like. This was super upset. I mean, even they showed him Destiny's Child, too, and they were like, I think that's Beyoncé. Like, it took them a minute. They didn't even realize that was Beyoncé. No.

It was very upsetting. Well, the content's always fresh. You're not stuck listening to the oldies station anymore because it's the only station you can pick up in town. No, that's a good point. And I don't know.

Somebody asked me this for my Twitter mailbag last week. They asked about, like, forcing music on your kids and, like, what's the approach to this? And I think it's an interesting question because I remember as a kid, I listened to what my parents played. You know, I listened to what my mom played in the car.

Same thing's in my house. Yeah, so I don't know how you expose kids. They got to listen to Boosie Boys. They got to listen to Talking Heads.

Okay, see, there you go. Now they can kind of curate what they want for themselves, though, too. The only thing they will get mad about is if I put a reggae record on. Really?

Oh yeah, if I put reggae on, they're like, no. So all the first round draft picks knew what Good Burger was and could recognize it. That I didn't get either. I'm like, alright, don't know what any of it is?

Cool, but why do you know that? Of all of the things. Nickelodeon? Easy Bake Oven?

Nope. That I get. I get the Easy Bake Oven.

I feel for Kobe White. He's at least saying, that's an oven. I'm like, yeah, it is. One of the guys is like, a microwave? I was like, oh honey, no.

Not a microwave, not exactly. Cam Newton. He was flying coach because he couldn't quite figure out his travel plans. So, does he make his own travel plans? I'm assuming so. How does he not have a person to do that?

He does have like seven or eight. Every time I'm around Cam Newton. Yeah. Which, during the offseason, not so much.

Not a football season a lot. You weren't on that plane, were you? I wasn't on that plane, but usually there's seven or eight people that surround Cam Newton. He has guys. Right, he has people. He is there for fashion. That's why he's there. He's not there for the World Cup, he's in France, he's flying back.

Sure. So, first, maybe second, probably third travel plan falls apart, he's flying coach. He's not in an aisle seat. Now, I know I'm strange when I say... I mean, I'm staying there if I'm Cam and I'm saying, give me another day and I'm gonna fly first class.

I have a lot of money, right? Waiting another day, he might have things to do in Charlotte. That's true, okay. But, I have a strange opinion that I like window seats versus aisle seats.

It seems like Cam... No. Was sitting in the window. He needs the leg room with the aisle. You're a psychopath. I like window, what's wrong with window? If I'm going to sleep... Yeah, yeah, I sleep on the window. I get in first, I'm at the window. I don't want people passing me in the aisle and like touching me.

Right. I feel cramped. You do not have to get out of your seat by any means and you can lean on the window. Yeah, that's how I am. I can get as far away from the person sitting next to me as possible. That's how I am.

You're smaller than me. But I already acknowledge... Well, that's the thing, Cam's not though, so I get why he wants the aisle. I already acknowledge that it's a strange take that most people probably would prefer the leg room in the aisle versus the window.

I'm with you on that. So that's fun. You probably put mayo on your peanut butter and jelly sandwiches too. No, that's just a peanut butter, banana, and mayonnaise sandwich. That's just, that's a whole different... With bologna.

Ew, no, you don't. I'd give up the two seats, or I'd give up the seats for a couple of reasons here. One, it's the right thing to do. If that guy's, if he's huge... Why is it the right thing to do?

Six, five, 245 pounds. So pay for first class. Get the better seat. There were no first class seats, I think, on this plane he was on. Well... Really? It did look like it.

He was in coach. Interesting. Was this in France? This is in France.

How was there an international flight without first class? It looked like it was... I looked at the video like real quick. I can't say it's occupied a lot of my time today.

I just saw the video once. It's occupied all of my time. It's occupied all of my... That's fine. All of my mind. But I got a couple of questions.

The first one is, and like why it's okay. If the dude doesn't need the $1500, it tells me that the guy has money. Rich.

He's rich. If it were me, and I was offered $1500 for Cam Newton... I'd take it.

I'd take it. Yeah. It seemed like the right thing to do, though. Why is it the right thing to do? No, I don't care about that.

Cam is a massive human being. Look, man, I've been in situations where, because of the way I cheaped out on Expedia and the flight spit out seat numbers for my whole family, I've had situations where people were like, no, I'm not changing seats with you so you can sit with your kid. I have my aisle seat.

Thanks. Yeah, people are very... Airplanes? Airplanes are... So if you're not going to give up a seat for a family... I've turned down those people. I have turned down those people. To let them sit with the family?

Yeah, I have done that. So why are you saying it's the right thing to do to let a multi-millionaire quarterback have a little leg room that he didn't bother to book in advance? Sounds to me like you're just jocksniffing Josh. No.

Here's this big football player. Oh, by all means. This is a no from me. Yeah, no, man.

You're not letting a parent sit with a kid, but you would move for Cam? This is upsetting. I'm out. I actually have turned down people. I have turned down. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to front.

I'm just saying. Why are you giving up for Cam? I would feel more awful. Why?

Why? For him, because he can't control his size. Yeah, but he could have controlled his seat.

Yeah. Well, it sounds like he couldn't because it was like the second or third option. Too bad. I think he could afford to sit somewhere else.

Too bad. Well, that's what I'm confused by. It's like, wait. There has to be first class in this plane.

There's no way there's not first class. Why didn't he book it? Who screwed up?

What's going on? My other favorite part, too, is that we're all like, oh my goodness, Cam Newton, how could you not recognize him? To this guy, you don't know who this guy is. Oh, no. Totally. He might be French. Yeah. To him, he's like, all right, here's a dude with a fancy hat.

I don't care. I don't know how big Cam Newton is in France. Also, the 1,500 felt somewhat arbitrary to me. I was like, wait, is he carrying around 1,500? Is he offering to Venmo this guy? Probably. Yeah. He would. He would. Yeah.

But that's like an oddly specific, yeah, in like some weird, funky wallet. He calculated it before he walked out because he immediately didn't try to negotiate. He left. That's what I'm saying. Like, why did he not keep bidding? That's probably why.

He probably was just offering him all the cash. I feel like Peter King might have inside information on this, so we'll ask him about it in one hour. Yeah, sure. When he joins us. Hall of Fame inductee from ABC Sports.

Yes. Please make that your first question to Peter. I'll make sure to get there. I'll make sure to get there with Peter. I'll also ask Peter why he keeps talking about Russell Wilson, like, the wrong way.

What's the wrong way? Wisconsin great? Yeah, he keeps talking about how Tom O'Brien didn't want him around and all this good stuff. Oh, my God. He keeps perpetuating that story, even though at an NSMA several years ago that we participated and he asked us what happened, we told him, and he still doesn't go with the story. Huh.

He bounced a first pitch yesterday. We'll ask him about that. Oh, no. Yes. That's unfortunate.

Cam Newton, here's the other part of it that I don't think is being discussed enough. Okay. If you're the first person who criticizes ever what outfit you're wearing in postgame press conferences. Yeah. Ten hour flight wearing that jacket with those pants and that hat. If that's what he's comfortable in. I guess. That doesn't seem comfortable at all.

I mean, for you, because you won't get that drip. He seemed way more comfortable in the pajama outfit that we posted. I'm the guy that asked Cam about the drip. Yes, we remember. Yes. Did you see the pajama pic he posted on Instagram? No. That looked way more comfortable. He should have flown in that, but whatever. Yeah.

Yeah. He wants to look good. I'm not going to ruin the caption for you.

I'm going to ruin it for myself. There used to be a time where travel was a glamorous thing. People would wear suits on a plane and that's how they would go.

Going to the airport was a big, glamorous deal. I think Cam's just trying to bring that back. I don't think you appreciate what Cam's trying to do here.

I read it in GQ once. There are definitely times where I'm in the airport, not an airplane, where I'm like, was I, did I miss a memo? Like why? I'm just trying to be comfortable. So if you had the money, you would turn down Cam, right? Like we're assuming this kind of money. I don't really care because again, we've talked about this.

Like I don't need the leg room. So I'd probably just say, okay, then you got a story. What if Cam countered and said to this guy, how about I give you my hat? Would that be more leverage apparently is worth apparently in the two thousands, really interesting.

According to one of Cam's YouTube channel. Oh yeah. If he'd thrown in the hat also for sure money, money you can spend Cam Newton's hat. Yeah. Well, honestly, one of a kind, I mean, I'd still probably sell it for money, but I'd ask him, I'd ask him if he had more money. I'd ask him if he had in his carry on his romper, the rom him or a romp him.

If he had the romp him, it'd be like, you throw in the romper. Yeah. Yeah.

Maybe you can have the seat. Did that ever take off or the, Oh yeah. Donald duck loaf. Ooh. Yeah. I would definitely have the Donald duck loafers in there too. That was my suit and my millennium Falcon cuff links.

He probably has at least one tail, like one of those raccoon tails, Fox tails, whatever we're doing, if we're doing the list of Cam Newton, outfit items that stick out the most when he said, brimless hat time and time again, rather than, uh, said he was inspired by Andre 3000 to pull the section. Sure. I like it. It's great. Also, he had the robe that he wore with the headband last year that looked like he came straight from the shower. Yes, that was good. I would have asked if he had his Brian fellows look handy that I would have definitely taken to sell or maybe just keep, cause that one brought me so much joy. The Brian fellows look I think was my favorite cam look.

The barbershop quartet look. Ooh yes. I really, I've been lobbying publicly for him to wear a monocle. Oh. Um, it hasn't happened yet. I don't know. Like it feels like it's inevitable, right? Roy Hibbert could lend him his if he cares. Why not? Just wear a monocle.

Like just keep going, embrace it, lean into it. I'm trying to think of other Cam Newton outfit staples. He did, uh, he did look like the dude from, uh, he had the top hat and like the really round glasses. No, but he had, he had the look from the guy from Raiders of the Lost Ark that his face melted. Oh yeah. He had that outfit. Okay. Yeah.

That outfit too. Another reference that is a little before me. You've never seen Raiders of the Lost Ark? I was going to say you're a film buff. You've seen that movie. I know you've seen that movie.

I have seen the movie. Come on now. Just, just messing with you guys. It's good to have you here. You know, we never get to, uh, we cross paths from time to time. You guys are in Raleigh. We're here in the triad. Yeah.

ACC media need to come together. I was told there was an initiation process of some sorts when I first got here. I don't know who was in charge of that. What's that? I don't know. Unfamiliar.

I never had to go through one. It's a different kind of initiation that I can't talk about on the air. Interesting.

All right. So we're going to get to that. It's like Fight Club. Also we have a segment called Let's Get Crazy where we take crazy takes and we suspend journal istic integrity for 15 minutes.

I don't know what journal integrity is about. Right. Like if you're familiar with what a gym has called the no judgment zone. Oh, judgment free zone. Sure.

It's the radio version of the judgment free zone as we just let takes fly over the place. All right. Enjoy the ceremony tonight. Appreciate you guys being here. Thanks for having us. That's Lauren Brownlow.

That's Joe Ovius. Bye Josh. We get crazy. Bye. I love talking and conversing with you. You're on the drive with Josh Graham, the sports hub at AM 600 AM 920. We're sharing with Darren on a Monday. Whoa, Darren Vaught from the David Glenn show hanging out with us now. See, we're not going to be sharing later on in the week because I'm going to be on vacation the rest of this week, much like David Glenn. So later on in the week, you could expect Hayes Permore and friends noon to three tomorrow.

You can expect David Jackson, the former voice of Appalachian state in that chair. Who else am I missing? Scott Hamilton's going to have a couple of days with us, Thursday and Friday, our old friend.

All right. Scott Hamilton. Has he ever done anything around here?

That person love you, Scott. So he's going to be on these on from noon to three. As for what we have following that tomorrow, it'll be Stan cotton hanging out with Larry Sorenson and company tomorrow should be a lot of fun on tomorrow's show Wednesday. It'll be Darren Vaught Thursday.

Dave Gorin, the executive director of the national sports media association post awards weekend. We'll be hosting. I'm going to let you in on a secret again with the whispering whispering goes great on the radio. It works great.

It never goes wrong. All right. Thursday, when Dave's hosting, he's going to have some pretty good guests. And then Friday, it'll be Desmond Johnson. Does you ready? Oh, Oh, I'm ready. All right. So Desmond Johnson's going to be hosting on Friday. That's what we got the rest of the week, but we've got, let's get crazy to do for those who are unfamiliar. It's hot takes.

So if you're coming in with soft stuff, bring it some bear somewhere else 50. We're not judging the takes down. We're not going to judge people who have an opinion that we might disagree with. It's a judgment free zone for radio, a safe spaces. Joe OVS eloquently put it moments ago. We'd suspend journalistic integrity and responsibility for a 15 minute stretch just to get crazy. Cue the prince, crazy, crazy, crazy, okay, good because hot takes don't curse. And if you have a take, we've deemed, yes, don't curse. If you have a take that we've deemed to be hot, you will be rewarded by one of the best gifts our show has to offer.

Yes. The hip hop air horn. It doesn't have to be in the world of sports. It might be outside of it.

Such as where I'm headed. Cool Ranch Doritos are better than the original Josh was waiting on his horse. I don't know that that's that hot of a table. Everybody, everybody says the original when it comes to food products are always the best. Not in the Doritos case, Cool Ranch better than original. And you know what? I'll go a step further.

Cap'n Crunch Cool Berries, Crunch Berries, excuse me, better than the original Cap'n Crunch. I think 90 plus percent of people would agree with you on both of those. I just think me and you are similar. We look similar.

Sure. And we have similar ways of life. We've been mistaken for each other here in Winston-Salem, by the way. And there's a third party, John Kurtz, who works on the K-State radio network, apparently looks just like us too.

So there's three of us that look exactly identical, it seems like here. It's just like the, what's the movie with Lindsay Lohan? Parent Trap.

Parent Trap. I had a conversation. Plus one! We also took a picture. I am a twin myself, actually, not Josh, not John, I'm a twin myself. And so I had a conversation about twin movies the other day.

So I feel like we do have very aligned interests. Dez, would you agree with that though? Crunch Berries are better than the original Cap'n Crunch and Cool Ranch Doritos are better than the original. I do not agree with the whole Dorito thing. Well, I just reject your hypothesis.

Thanks, Gwen and Darin. Yeah, I don't think that that's actually accurate. Now the Crunch Berry thing, maybe... That's real. Nobody likes Cap'n Crunch.

I mean, you eat it. If there's Cap'n Crunch there. So any grocery store you go to, Cap'n Crunch, Crunch Berries, and Peanut Butter Crunch are going to be aligned in the aisle.

What are you going with? What is a Crunch Berry? All those items are equally gross. No, no, it's like Crunch Berries, it's fruity. You know what? I think that's a lot better than anything Peanut Butter, Butter and Cereal.

In fact, that might require a different sound altogether. That's your hot take because Peanut Butter Crunch is incredible. No, no, no.

Peanut Butter Crunch has nothing on Crunch Berries. Wow, bro. We found it. Wait, was that Kobe White? Yes. Wow, bro. Yeah. I love it. God, I love Kobe. I love nothing more than wandering around, just spoiling movies from 50 years ago, and getting Kobe White's reaction to it. Wow, bro. Yeah. I mean, it's crazy to think. It's so love, bro. It's kind of your niche, like ruining movie endings for people and Jeopardy weeks and stuff of that nature. Hey, hey, Kobe.

In Forrest Gump, Jenny dies. Wow, bro. All right. Let's go to the phones. Matt in Greensboro. Matt, let's get crazy.

What's up, guys? It's Cam Newton in the news. We've got a Cam Newton take.

Love it. He will win his second MVP this season. It will garner him the richest contract in NFL history and over $40 million this season.

And in that contract, there will be a stipulation that he's allowed private use of the NFL to win. He's going to win. He's going to win. He's going to win. He's going to win. Matt with applicable hot takes for the Panthers. Wow.

I'm going to give him a second one because, Aaron, I want you to read what I had down on my notepad right here for my hot take for today. NFL Cam Newton will win his second MVP award this year. It's Kobe. Wow. Kobe White.

What do you make? They have the same exact take. Wow, bro. Darren. Let's get crazy. Darren.

What do you got? We're going to get crazy. We're going to get crazy. Go for it. Josh, you and I both appreciate movies. We have similar interests.

That's already been established. Yes. I went to the theater and saw Toy Story 4 yesterday. Oh, no.

Toy Story is the greatest movie franchise of all time. It's the GOAT. That did it.

It's still the deal. Oh, no. Wait a minute. Wait, Dez. Dez. Dez. The rules.

The rules, Dez. Star Wars be damned. Lord of the Rings get out of here. Harry Potter go away.

It's okay. Hold on, man. Dez.

Dez. No. Hold on.

Godfather. Uh-uh. There are rules, Dez. Three, three, six. No. Sorry, Ed Reed.

It's okay. Three, three, six. Seven, seven, seven.

1-600 on Twitter at Sports Hub Triad. We can't question what you're saying there even though we really badly want to. What can you tell us about Toy Story 4 without spoiling it for Kobe Wayne? As they do with every new Toy Story movie, they find ways to introduce new compelling characters but still allow you to be nostalgic about it. Is it the fork? The fork is what drew you? He's a spork.

His name is Forky and it's a phenomenal story line. And spork is making you think really that this is the best thing all time. I'm not questioning it.

It's the greatest. I'm asking the question. I'm just asking the question. I'm not saying you're wrong.

I'm asking the question in an angry, confrontational tone. Dez, what do you got? Well, I had the Cam Newton second year on BBT thing. I don't care what you don't have. I care what else you have.

I mean, Matt and Greensboro just stole all of my thunder but I'm going to go- Turn Aaron. Let's go to you then if you got something. Hold on, man. Hold on, man. I got something. He's pulling one out. Yeah, I had to pull one out here. Going to tonight's NBA Awards, which by the way are three months too late.

I don't even want to get started on that. We're showing who's going to win all the regular season stuff. The regular season ended in March. Trae Young will win the Rookie of the Year tonight over the fan favorite, Luka Doncic. Wait a minute, he's not an overwhelming favorite? I mean, pretty much everyone has assumed that Doncic is going to win this. The betting on the most even. I haven't heard anyone say Trae Young is going to win this award over Doncic. I know, but you're talking about favorites in Vegas like betting.

Luka Doncic is just right there with Trae Young. I don't pay attention to Vegas. You're just talking about what you heard on television? I'm not a betting man.

I haven't heard anybody say this, so I'm going to say it's our day. I'm not a betting man, Josh. I'm a family man. I'm not able to look at the Vegas lines and live that kind of lifestyle.

I know, but you just said that nobody thinks this is going to happen. You guys have had some pretty lukewarm stuff here today. I brought Toy Story to the table. I brought Cam Newton Fire. I brought Cam Newton Fire. Matt from Greensboro, thanks a lot, buddy.

Thanks a lot. Why are you attacking our listeners? It's bitter.

It's bitter. I was all excited about it, I was like, oh, no one's going to say this about Cam today. First call. Intern Aaron, rescue us, please.

Let's do it. NBA news. NBA news. Or former NBA news. Stephon Marbury has been hired as the coach of the Beijing Royal Fighters in Chinese basketball. He's going to do so good at that job, he'll be the New York Knicks head coach next year.

336-777-1600 is the phone number. Things have gotten out of control with this Let's Get Crazy segment, as it often does. It's what we enjoy about it. Peter King is going to join us next hour.

Look forward to catching up with Peter King. We're sponsored, being here, by Pie Guys Pizza and More. Kenim and Village Commons right off of Louisville-Clements Road. Our appearance at the NSMA awards weekend brought to you by our friends out in Clements and Pie Guys. Order the Gram Slam pizza or the brand new secret menu item for sports hub listeners, the Philly Cheesesteak pizza. Since I'm not going to be here later in the week as well to do our throwback Thursday baseball segment, I don't know what it would be on Monday. Wednesday, it's way back Wednesday, Friday, Flashback Friday, you could do something every day. Is it Memories Monday? Not Memories.

You get to put the apostrophe in there for the O. It's Memories Monday. Memories!

I have no idea what you're talking about. Memories Monday? Memories. Memories Monday. Memories. Memories Monday, throwback Colorado Rockies because I lived in Colorado for a little while and Peter King is a noted Colorado Rockies fan, saw him yesterday at the dash game wearing a Colorado Rockies hat.

So, throwback Rockies, bring them here. Memories Monday on Twitter at sports hub triad. We're sharing with Darren Vaught as well and that's all coming your way next on the drive.

This is the Sports Hub at AM600 AM920. Now back to the drive with Josh Graham. Broadcasting live from the Marriott downtown Winston-Salem, it's the NSMA awards weekend and there are a ton of noteworthy broadcasters and sports writers who have been walking around this hotel all throughout the afternoon ahead of the Hall of Fame awards night tonight and we're now being joined by one of the Hall of Famers that are going to be recognized, that being Peter King, who we of course know from NBC Sports. Welcome to the triad. How are you doing, Peter?

Thanks very much, Josh. Great to be here. This event has grown. I first came to this event in Salisbury in 2010 and it is monumentally different. All applause, all credit goes to Dave Gorin.

He has done a great job with this organization. Dave Gorin's going to be hosting this show while I'm out on vacation a little bit later on in the week, but he's got everything squared away for tonight and we're looking forward to the event at the Joel Coliseum in just a little bit, but I've understood you've got the full Winston-Salem experience. You said you've been to Salisbury recently in recent years, but you've got Krispy Kreme Donuts and you also went to a Winston-Salem Dash baseball game. We went to the Dash yesterday and we went to the brewery, ah darn it, why don't I remember. Foothills? No, we didn't go to Foothills.

We had Foothills at the ballgame and then we went to a brewery not far from downtown, I forget which one, but anyway, Know Something. Know Something. Oh, Know Something, yeah.

No, no, no, not Know Something, but N-O then something, I forget, know whatever, no worries, it wasn't, but anyway, that was fun and then we went to Fratelli's for dinner on Sunday night and I had my customary Krispy Kremes for breakfast this morning, so life is good. You don't become a Hall of Fame sports writer without asking the hard questions, so I expect you can answer the hard questions too, Peter. I got to know what happened on that first pitch yesterday.

Ah, it was a grim scene. I mean, I warmed up, they let me warm up, I went out in the cage on the first base side and I warmed up and everything was going good, but in the cage, unfortunately, there's no mound and so I went out on the mound and I threw a 48 foot fastball and I got to the catcher, the poor guy from the dash and I said, hey, sorry for bouncing it and he goes, I'm used to it. Peter King with us here from NBC Sports in SMA Hall of Famer. So let's get to the NFL. Gerald McCoy was the big signing last month for Carolina and they're trying to unseat New Orleans, which signs Jared Cook in the off season and even though they lose Mark Ingram, they have Latavius Murray in the backfield there too and Drew Brees, that guy's still pretty decent last night, Jack. When you look at what the Panthers did defensively, and of course it's a big assumption, but the health of Cam Newton seems to be pretty good right now, do you view the Carolina Panthers as a contender?

Well they're definitely a contender. I think the biggest, the biggest two issues, have they done enough on defense and are they good enough defensively to play a competitive knockdown drag out game with the Saints? And clearly Brees is, I don't see him in decline at any point and I do not know what Cam Newton is right now. I mean, I think from everything we've heard, he's going to be fine and he's going to be back to being the efficient, you know, explosive quarterback he was, but that's one of those things that you have to see first. So I like the signing of Gerald McCoy, but I'm not sure Gerald McCoy in 2019 is as impactful as he was in 2015. So those are some of the questions I have and also I think, I think the one other thing about the Panthers is, are they going to have enough pass rush? Are they going to be able to bother the quarterbacks in this division enough? But I think they have improved and Cam Newton seems to have gotten better and we'll see in a month or so at training camp. When it comes to the pass rush, obviously the Panthers agree with what you just said because that's why you draft with Brian Burns.

That's why you bring in a guy like Bruce Ervin and Gerald McCoy as well. But I'm fascinated in what you think about what we've seen the last 12 to 13 months from this new owner and David Tepper, who seems to want to move headquarters and that's going to happen to South Carolina. And on top of that, doesn't mind being outspoken. He's the richest owner in the NFL among ones, obviously he's the newest owner. What do you find interesting about the ownership situation and how it seems to be in stark contrast to what preceded David Tepper? Well, I think the smartest thing he did is to basically step back and say, I don't know enough about where we are and what we're doing right now to make any decisions on my head coach. I thought it would have been ridiculous to fire Ron Rivera.

That isn't to say Ron Rivera is Paul Brown. I think Ron Rivera is a very good NFL head coach, but obviously they've got to be more consistent than they have been in the very recent past. I think David Tepper has come in as you would come into any new business that you might know something about and he's obviously got a little bit of a background in it. You might know something about it, but you don't know everything and you need to come in and take the full temperature, which is why I think he was smart to say, okay, listen, we're basically this year going to stay the course and we're going to do what Ron Rivera and Marty Hurney think is smart.

I think that is a good thing for this organization. I think a 6-10 season and all bets are off. Then I think David Tepper says, I'm going to blow it up and I'm going to go do whatever, try to get Dabo. I have no idea what he'd do. Go get the folks at Clemson, Ryle.

I don't have any idea. I could have said go get Saban, I don't know, but my whole point is I think he is the kind of person who essentially knows what he doesn't know and is willing to say, let's take the temperature of this place and let's let the people who have accomplished some very good things here. You don't go 15-1 in this league, you don't get to the Super Bowl by guessing. You get there by being really good. I think they made the right decision, I think he made the right decision, and going forward I think he's going to be prepared to act on what he sees. And SMA Hall of Famer Peter King of NBC Sports with us here from the Marriott downtown Winston-Salem. One of my favorite things I saw over the weekend, Cam Newton is on a commercial airplane and he on video asked a guy in an aisle seat to take his seat for $1,500. Hey, I'll give you $1,500 if I can sit in this aisle seat. It's a 10 hour flight though. You've flown your fair share, Peter King. I wonder, is $1,500 enough to give up the aisle seat for a 10 hour flight?

Can I ask, I need to know the answer to this question. All right, what's that? Is he in first class on this flight and he's just in a window seat in first class or... I thought it was first class, but it doesn't look like it's first class.

It's three wide. Wow. Well, I mean, look, if I were Cam Newton and look, I don't know everything about his finances, but I would do whatever, I'd pay $15,000 if I had Cam Newton's money to not sit either in a middle or window seat for a 10 hour flight. And I'm incredulous that if he's not flying first, I mean, first must not have been available or something or some other flight must not have been available.

But I saw that, I thought it was cute and I thought the guy, the guy handled himself pretty well. I mean, I guess he wasn't bombastic, but he just said, no, I don't want to do it. What message are you looking to convey tonight at the Joel Coliseum for your Hall of Fame speech? You know, essentially, Josh, that I am here for a couple of reasons. Number one, I think everybody in this room tonight can say, hey, it takes a village. Others who was hugely responsible, my mom, my dad, my brother, you know, editors, professors in college.

So I'm going to talk a little bit about the village that got me here, but I'm also going to talk a little bit about how you better have something inside you that a love of this business. This better not be a 48 hour a week job because some weeks you are going to work 48 hours and some weeks you're going to work 68. And if it really, really bothers you, the 68 hour a week, you need to go do something else.

And in my experience, in my life, I still think I'm 62 years old. I still think I got the greatest job in the world. I love working. I love doing what I do. And I have to tell you that I've run into a lot of people in this job who are exactly like me who don't say, well, how much time do I get off in this job? They say, what are the stories I can do? That's what gets them excited.

And it still gets me excited too. And that's where I think, that's what I think you have to have deep down inside you. I'm sure Doris Burke has it. I'm sure Doc Emrick has it. Does Doc Emrick ever complain during the course of the hockey season when he does a game and gets back to his hotel at 11.45 p.m. and he's got to get up at 4.45 for a flight to get to the next game?

No, because that is the business that he chose and he loves it. And I feel exactly the same way. I'm working until, right in my Monday column until about 4.45 every Sunday night for, I don't know, I would say 22 straight weeks from Labor Day till, you know, the end of the football season. And at some points at 3.15 when I simply cannot stay awake and I'm working at my standing desk in New York City and I say, what am I doing?

I'll tell you, when I go to bed I feel really good about what I've just done. So that's the whole thing about the message I want to get across. We all have people who've helped us get us here. But at the end of the day we better have a deep and abiding passion for what we do or else we cannot stay here.

And the people in this room tonight wouldn't be here unless they had the deep and abiding passion for what they do. When you're talking about the source of that passion and the village that helped bring you to where you're at, you're thinking about Connecticut or where you were brought up? I read you were a three-sport athlete.

Yeah, well, I stunk at everything. But you know, I really am referring, I think, mostly to my mother and my father because my father was a newspaper junkie. And we used to get up every Saturday and Sunday, he was an iron worker, and we used to get up early on Saturday and Sunday morning and go buy the newspapers in town where we lived in Connecticut. And my mom, who was a stickler for reading, she was a big, big reader, and she basically, in fifth grade I started a little neighborhood newspaper, and she was a secretary and she typed it up for me on a little mimeograph machine. So you know, without that, without my dad really starting to get me interested in newspapers and my mom basically coming home from work and me saying, hey, mom, can you type this little community newspaper up, which I was doing in fifth grade, I mean, what do kids who don't have that kind of love in their lives do?

And they end up doing something, but they may not end up doing the thing that they were passionate about when they were in third, fourth, fifth, sixth grade. So I'm really lucky. I had a great, great family.

We didn't have a lot of money, but we had a lot of love in the family and we had a lot of people in the family who made it possible for me to be sitting here tonight. Well, Peter, it's a pleasure to meet you. Congratulations. Thank you, Josh, I appreciate it.

I've enjoyed your work for a long time. Thank you. Best of luck tonight. Thanks to Joel.

Thanks very much. That's Peter King, NSMA Hall of Famer from NBC Sports. Always good to catch up with the Hall of Famers and national sports writers and sportscasters of the year here at the NSMA Awards weekend. We're at the downtown Marriott, Winston-Salem, and this broadcast being sponsored by our friends at Pie Guy's Pizza and More, located in Clemens, great sponsor of this show. They're the reason that we're here and they have the Gram Slam Pizza.

I mean, if you haven't tried this thing yet, what are you doing first off? But you got Buffalo Chicken and Bacon on top and a Texas Pete base and a brand new secret menu item just for sports hub listeners. It's the Philly Cheese Steak Pizza. So drop by and tell them hello, tell them we sent you. Again, thanks to Peter King for dropping by and also a reminder that I'm not going to be in the rest of the week, tomorrow you will have Stan Cotton on site who will be hosting the show with Larry Sorenson. On Wednesday it'll be Darren Vaught filling in, Thursday Dave Gorin, the executive director of the NSMA, and Friday Desmond Johnson will be in this chair. So I got to get off to the Joel Coliseum, get off to the Joel for the awards weekend and the capping event, the Hall of Fame ceremony. We're going to make our way to the Joel. Desmond Johnson will close us out on a Monday drive.