N.C.'s Forrest Gump (7-7-20)

We are jam-packed on a Tuesday drive. Kurt Busch gonna join us in 20 minutes. Matt Fortuna from The Athletic after that. Mac Brown a guest on today's show. But we start with the NFL. Pat Mahomes, of course, the best quarterback of the NFL. So we got his massive 10-year contract extension yesterday that he rightfully deserved. But it had me thinking, is there anybody else in the league in terms of talent, in terms of value, if we're being honest, that's in the right age bracket, that's worth the deal that he got also? I think there's just one player, Deshaun Watson in Houston. He is the only other quarterback, 25 or younger in the league, that's won a playoff game. And let's not forget at 24, same age as Mahomes, he went toe-to-toe with him in that playoff game in Kansas City.

They were up by three touchdowns in that game. Unfortunately for Deshaun Watson, he doesn't have Andy Reid as his coach. He doesn't have Tyree Kill to throw the ball to.

He doesn't have much of a defense. He doesn't have a great organization that Kansas City had, which made the difference in Kansas City, winning a Super Bowl, and Houston losing that game by double digits despite the fact they led again by three touchdowns. There aren't many guys, I feel like, that by themselves can carry a team that would otherwise be 4-12, 5-11 to a playoff win. There was no reason why Houston should have won that game against Buffalo in the first round, other than Houston has Deshaun Watson. There's no other way to justify how Houston won the division last year over Indianapolis. Great GM, well-run organization, Indy has a good defense, Indy has good pieces around their quarterback, good coach, better coach. Houston just has the transcendent quarterback.

So how do you put a price tag on that? Same way you put a price tag on Mahomes, what exactly would be too ridiculous of a number to give Watson versus Mahomes? And I was very close to putting Lamar Jackson in this category, but if I'm being honest, I can't put him there just yet.

His two worst games, you could argue, of his career were both playoff games. Losing to Tennessee, losing to, who was it, was it the Chargers in his first year? Robert is painfully nodding because he's a massive Baltimore Ravens fan. Also, I want to see if he can duplicate what he did last year now that defensive coordinators have had an entire offseason to watch what Harbaugh and this team did. So I can't put Lamar there yet, but maybe if he does what he did last year in 2020, we could talk and have this conversation again in 2021.

But with Watson, I could make the argument, the Texans need to lock him down more than Kansas City needed to lock down Mahomes. In the end, KC has Andy Reid, at least for now, who knows how much longer he's going to be there. They do have Tyreek Hill. They have a great GM.

They have a great owner. This team, you remember Pat Mahomes' first start? It was the final week of the regular season against the Denver Broncos in, I think, 2017, rookie year for Mahomes. And he was great, but the only reason he was playing was because Kansas City had already locked down the division and they weren't playing their starters. With Alex Smith, they were a really good team, really strong team. Now Mahomes took them to the next level, best quarterback in the league. But without Mahomes, the structure is strong enough, Kansas City still going to be all right. Can you say the same about the Houston Texans? Without Deshaun, how bad is this team? I might be generous giving them five wins. The Carolina Panthers probably could take out Houston, just like they did last year, by the way, with Kyle Allen.

Four and 12 football team, maybe five and 11. With him, they have a shot at making the playoffs. They can attract free agents, which they'd have no chance of doing if number four wasn't under center. So it's going to be interesting to see if Deshaun gets this big contract. All reports point to he probably would prefer signing two or three year deals versus signing what Mahomes did, which is the biggest contract in NFL history. But I'm also not convinced Deshaun wants to stay in Houston long term.

Just look at the headlines. A few years ago, amid the national anthem protests, players kneeling during the anthem, Bob McNair, who has since passed, the owner of the Texans, he had the infamous, you can't let the inmates run the prison comment. That probably doesn't play well to Watson, who's been very outspoken over the last few months since the passing of George Floyd. Remember, Houston is George Floyd's hometown. Deshaun was one of the loudest voices in Clemson removing the name of a big time Clemson donor, one of their names off a building on campus because of his background.

So Deshaun, I'm sure he follows these things. Bill O'Brien, a lot of dysfunction underneath the ownership group. He's the GM and the head coach. I think Bill O'Brien's an OK coach. I really do. But that's too much to ask for almost anybody to be the GM and the coach, especially when he keeps doling away top draft picks.

Just doing that at will. And he traded away DeAndre Hopkins, who, like Watson, is a Clemson guy. Then you have the story that came from Michael Irvin, where Bill apparently had an issue with Hopkins having multiple kids with multiple women. I'm not sure if Deshaun is going to commit long term to Houston. I really don't. But would it surprise me if he doesn't?

I think all these things could be related. Deshaun's also better suited than Mahomes is to signing short term deals versus long term deals. Like this was Darren Gant yesterday talking about what he's interested in. Mahomes locking down a 10 year contract extension, which, as Adam Schefter's broken down earlier today, actually is a team friendly deal for where the sport is headed. If I'm Pat Mahomes, I would be almost willing to go Kirk Cousins and play it year to year. And yes, there's security in doing a 10 year deal now, we think, without knowing anything about the structure of the contract. But there's far more opportunity two years from now.

Once we're on the, you know, hopefully when we're on the other side of COVID-19, when we're back to normal, when people are going to games again, when we're gambling on sports more than ever and revenues go up and up. So he better have gotten something pretty sweet to tie himself in as long as he did. That was on yesterday's show. Robert Walsh is the producer of this show.

Call us 336-777-1600. Is there anybody worth the contract that Mahomes was given yesterday? You can also tweet us at Sports Hub Triad. Kurt Busch is going to join us in 10 minutes. Big news in college football today. Ruffin McNeil, former East Carolina head coach, has joined NC State staff after not too long ago announcing he was going to step away from the Oklahoma football program to take care of his 85 year old father, Ruffin McNeil, senior. And for those who may not know much about coach McNeil, I've gotten to know Ruff quite a bit. We overlapped a handful of years in Greenville. He's an East Carolina alum. He played for Pat Dye who recently passed away.

Ruff, the best way to explain it, I think, Robert, and let me know if you have a better analogy. He's the Forrest Gump of North Carolina football. He's been everywhere across this state. Coached at Lumberton High.

App State, he spent some time there. East Carolina as a head coach now at NC State. Also spent time in the ACC at Clemson and UVA under Bronco Mendenhall. And the coaches he's worked for are just legendary. He faced Mac Brown in the Tar Heels as the defensive coordinator for Mike Leach at Texas Tech. Got to know Dana Holgerson there. Worked with Jimmy Johnson. Worked with Chuck Pagano. Worked with Mark Richt. And he hired Lincoln Riley as the youngest offensive coordinator in college football 10 years ago when Lincoln was 36 or make it 26 years old. Everybody loves Ruff.

I think you see the outpouring on social media today if you're online. Kindest man ever. Funny guy.

Even when he beats your team you're still complimenting how friendly that football coach on the other side was. And much like Forrest, he's returning home to take care of his family. Which there's a lot of nobility in that. His dad's 85. I know how tight that family is. I know how much he loves being on the shores of eastern North Carolina. He has a boat called Time Out in Little Washington that he's invited me to come on multiple times. But much like Ed Harden's invited me to come on his boat, I never have the time apparently. Which is regrettable. But that's what I think of when I think of Ruff. I think of Forrest Gump.

Robert what do you got for me? You're a bigger East Carolina football fan than I am even though we both went to school there. You're more emotionally attached to what happens. Yeah. Yeah this is Ruff.

I would compare. This is Ruff? It's very Ruff. It is Ruff. I would compare Coach Ruff to your high school sweetheart that slipped through your fingers. Ruff was at ECU.

It was going great. You went to prom together. You beat a ranked Virginia Tech team.

You scored 70 points on UNC. And then you go to college. You move to the American and it's time for you to break up with your high school sweetheart.

But then your high school sweetheart glows up and she's beautiful. And now she's making out with Oklahoma at the bar. Making out with Lincoln Riley and Baker Mayfield. You see them leave with Virginia.

And now you're back home on break and you're at your local watering hole and who is she at the bar with? NC State? Are you kidding me? You can do so much better than that Ruff. Just come back. I'm sorry I spurned you. I'm sorry we didn't want you. We need you. We miss you.

I love you. It's such a great visual. The picture you're painting. Ruff just making out with Oklahoma. Like if you don't know what Ruff looks like it's worth googling and just picturing that. Just Ruff making out with Baker Mayfield.

I didn't say all that. And Kyler Murray. This week Carolina Panther fans they've been asking should Matt Ruhl go after David Njoku? Well I'll tell you whether or not that's a good idea and we'll talk to Kurt Busch next on The Drive. No mercy. No pity.

No fear. You're on The Drive with Josh Graham. Longtime NASCAR driver Kurt Busch will be here in less than five minutes.

A lot to talk to him about. Before we do that former ACC standout and first round pick David Njoku once out of Cleveland. He's officially on the trading block. So naturally that's led to some rumors surfacing that the Panthers might have interest in the tight end given that Greg Olsen is now a Seahawk. Ian Thomas hasn't been proven yet in his third season out of Indiana.

And I get it. He's 23. Yes he's on a short deal that fits Matt Ruhl and Marty Hurney's MO this offseason. But no David Njoku is not a fit in Carolina and I'll tell you why. While he's young he hasn't been able to stay on the field long enough to get a good enough read that this is someone you should invest in.

Give a draft pick up or a valuable draft pick especially as you're rebuilding. He had a wrist injury and a concussion last year. Only had one start. When he did play in 17 and 18 okay numbers. 32 catches 4 touchdowns his rookie year 56 catches 4 touchdowns his second year in 2018. But I'm concerned that he's unhappy in Cleveland and that this has been going on for a while now.

If this was a recent story that this is a recent development. Hey I want out because they signed Austin Hooper. That's one thing. The fact that he's been unhappy for a year now and a tight end friendly offense with a pretty good quarterback.

A number one pick at quarterback. He's unhappy there. What makes you think he's going to be happy in Charlotte. I want to bet on it because Carolina isn't ready to win right now. And Carolina has just as many weapons as Cleveland does.

Heck you could argue even more. Cleveland has Odell and Jarvis Landry. You got in the backfield Chubb and we'll see if Kareem Hunt gets more time this year. A lot of guys to potentially distribute the ball to. Carolina has DJ Moore Curtis Samuel just picked up Robbie Anderson. The aforementioned Ian Thomas who Joe Brady says he's excited about expects him to take a step with Olson no longer there. And oh yeah that Christian McCaffrey guy. So what makes you think that guy is going to get enough balls in order to feel happy about a situation.

I don't think that's a risk worth taking especially when Carolina is in the infancy stages of a rebuilding project. The type of person you bring in is so important. You have to have somebody who's buying in to what the coach is selling.

Matt Ruhl he's a culture builder. It takes time. The first year he didn't win at Temple. The first year he didn't win at Baylor. But then it developed.

But it developed because he had his own guys in that building that understood exactly what he wants. I don't know if you're getting that with somebody who's trying to put up a great statistical season in order to get a lucrative second contract. Carolina doesn't seem like the right place to do that. PSA to everybody though. The Panthers aren't trading Curtis Samuel.

Can you please stop putting him in your mock trades. This goes out to Charlotte media. This goes out to Panther fans who simply view it as oh they brought in Robbie Anderson which means they're clearly not happy with Curtis.

Which couldn't be further from the truth. If you watched LSU last year. If you've watched the Saints over the last decade. It's not one or two guys who are getting a ton of balls. It's three or four guys.

And they spread it around really well. Curtis Samuel. He was used as a running back when he was at Ohio State in addition as a pass catcher.

We have reason to believe that Curtis is going to receive carries from the backfield to offset some of the touches from McCaffrey and to ensure that he doesn't get run down. I don't think he's going to have the same amount of usage next year. So I'm more willing to see what Ian Thomas looks like and not invest any capital whether that's a player that Cleveland wants to return or a draft pick for somebody you're not even sure is worth what Cleveland invested in taking him in the first round.

Because right now I want to bank on it. 32 catches, four touchdowns his first year. 56 and four touchdowns his second year.

And last year banged up and injured. And I just don't think he's going to be happy either. We'll talk more football in 10 minutes where I have the five biggest NFL storylines for the season this year related to the field. Not really talking about the Redskins name change albeit that's a great story or an interesting story.

Or even the coronavirus as well which is obviously a big story in every single walk of life today. Matt Fortuna going to join us from the athletic in a little over 20 minutes. The college football reporter to talk about NC State football and how much pressure is on Dave Doran right now. Justin Fuente facing some pressure as well at Virginia Tech.

The concept of a spring season a lot going on in college football and we'll get to him at in about 20 minutes or so. But we're now being joined by the driver of the number one Chevy that being Kurt Busch. And man speaking of a sport there's a lot to talk about in right now. Of course coronavirus has affected every sport and NASCAR was one of the quickest to get things back going. But then you also have everything with the Confederate flag you have ratings shooting up you had midweek races.

So I want to get to a lot of that. I just want to know yesterday Kurt and we appreciate the time and the triad. How difficult was yesterday when you see the president. He's essentially attacking the sport and a fellow driver somebody that does what you're doing and just doesn't seem to have all the facts what we now know what the FBI uncovered. Yeah it's pretty wild just kind of came out of left field and it's pretty surprising but in all honesty we know what's going on and we're having all these different challenges to overcome. And I think after I've done an incredible job of getting back to the track and producing good races you know we're all adjusting to this new norm with no practices and then going straight into the races midweek races like you talked about how you name it man.

We've had to overcome a lot of hurdles and we're having some fun right now. I think Bubba Wallace is a star though. We've had him on this show as he was coming up and becoming more popular still a really young driver. But as somebody who competes with him on the track give us a sense of who Bubba Wallace is and the support that we don't see behind the scenes because we saw obviously front and center everybody marching his number 43 to the front of the grid.

But behind the scenes the support of him that we don't see. You know he's a good dude and a couple of years ago he came out and spoke about some of his depression issues and before that you know it was like maybe a month before all that came public I saw him at Bristol and he was standing there all alone for the driver intros and I just went up to him and I put my arm around him I go, man you doing all right? He goes, nah man I'm struggling I'm stressing and I haven't quite found my rhythm and I'm not gonna be able to you know compete out here long term and man he just he just kind of opened up to me and I've always been there to support him I always want to see him do well and right now he's just got so much weight on his shoulders but he's handling it incredibly well. So there's another midweek race that we're expecting to see sometime soon of course you get the all-star race I forgot to get to as well that's gonna be going to Bristol Motor Speedway we're excited to watch that on FS1 but I'm interested in what you make of the the new norm I guess in 2020 and what you might be willing to pull from that and see be integrated moving forward like we're seeing businesses that didn't have takeout options before like in restaurants who are deciding hey we want to do that beyond the pandemic because it's an extra stream of revenue coming in businesses are adapting NASCAR we've heard the idea of midweek races but it just hasn't been instituted for the Cup Series now that you've actually had them do you hope that this model of midweek races continues beyond 2020 Kurt Busch? Oh absolutely I think that you know we've we've hit certain things right and then there's been things that still need to get polished up on but and if we could have like a Midwest tour where we run through Texas and Kansas City and Chicago Iowa Speedway you know we've never raced there before but the Xfinity guys have you know what why can't we just bang out like you know eight races in a three-week span with the way that we're able to get in and get out of these tracks so quickly now so I think that's going to be something to look at and also you know condensing the schedule a little bit so that the season isn't as long as it is right now.

Last thing for Kurt Busch is kind enough to spend some time with us here on Sports Hub Triad ahead of this week's race in Kentucky. Jimmy Johnson he said he was blown away when he tested positive for coronavirus with no symptoms because he was tested before and he said he had some of the antibodies we're still trying to figure out a lot of the science for what that might mean for positive tests moving forward but that obviously ended the streak and Jimmy being on the track. Give me a sense for or take me behind the scenes of how rigorous the health screenings have been at NASCAR.

Have you been tested and I assume it's negative. Yeah I feel like NASCAR has done an incredible job to work with the state the city the counties and as far as our egress into the track and the distancing at track you know all the race teams have gone into a huge shift change with like a morning shift you know an afternoon even like a you know after hours type of group that's helping prepare the cars so everybody's done a good job I've been tested I'm negative and again it's still a matter of just being safe just creating a bubble that that you live in each and every day to respect the process and to respect the other competitors and the crew members and trying to keep everybody safe together. Best of luck this week man and I'm looking at the standings you're doing an excellent job of late and we hope it continues. Kurt Busch thanks for spending time in the Triad today.

Thank you I appreciate it guys. Got it follow him on Twitter at Kurt Busch longtime NASCAR driver of every kind for him to drop by with us for a little bit. Okay I'll list off the five most compelling storylines for the 2020 NFL season next on the drive back to the drive with Josh Graham on Sports Hub Triad. Aside from coronavirus and social justice and I'll even throw in there the Redskins potentially changing their team name I'm focusing on the biggest storylines of the 2020 NFL season because there are so many of them and because of the former three things I just mentioned I don't think they're getting a lot of attention. I want to get to the football and there are five headlines that I think fascinate me most. I don't think the Panthers are among those five unfortunately. This year it's about rebuilding I do find it interesting that Joe Brady is the offensive coordinator I want to see how these college coaches rule Brady snow how they translate this year without having much of an offseason at all except from what they had virtually. So there are some storylines of interest with Carolina I just don't think it's going to be a really good team so looking broadly at the NFL here's where I'm at right now in terms of the five biggest headlines starting with number five Baker Mayfield and the Browns no excuses anymore for Baker. I like Baker he impressed he exceeded expectations in his first year last year with Freddie kitchens as a coach it was clear that there had to be a change they weren't going to part ways from Baker in his second year so it had to be kitchens they're bringing in somebody that by all accounts is an adult who is competent and Kevin Stefanski you have great weapons around you talent on all three levels of the defense the Browns they have to win this year Baker he has to deliver that's the fifth biggest headline to me. Number four can Lamar do it again he was the best player in the sport last year can he duplicate the type of success he had in 2019 can the Ravens deliver on being the best team in the NFL again I think they have the best roster combination of offensive defense Robert I'll give you an opportunity to step in here since you're a massive Ravens fan here what interests you most about Lamar this year obviously you have to deliver in the postseason that's a given but just in terms of this roster and all eyes being on Baltimore when they could have slipped in under the radar at around this time a year ago yeah and I agree with you that this is this is the biggest year for Lamar but I don't think it's necessarily all predicated on the progression of Lamar he has a lot of newer pieces around him they're gonna that are gonna have to take the next step on offense whether that's one rookie or two rookies playing both the guard positions whether that's Myles Boykin or Devin DuVernay taking a big step forward at wide receiver he's got a lot of not incompetent pieces but they're gonna have to raise their competency level if Baltimore is gonna I would think surprise everyone and be the best team in the league two years in a row I don't know if that would surprise people at this point now it's becoming they expect it from Lamar and the Ravens and that's different maintaining sometimes is a lot more difficult than exceeding expectations number three Dak Prescott's contract this is my feeling yesterday's news with Mahomes pretty much sealed that this is gonna happen after the season right because what do you think Dak's agent is thinking right now all right Mahomes just got 10 years he's getting the moon and the stars we maybe deserve Mars maybe Mercury he should settle for Pluto oh no no not Pluto that's not a planet Robert they're not gonna settle for Pluto it's still an astrological body just like Pluto that's right that's how the negotiations gonna go you damn it you're not gonna give us just Pluto because we know that's not a real planet I don't think this is gonna happen by next Wednesday they have eight days to figure this out I think this is gonna be pushed to next year and it's gonna be decided on the field can Dak get Dallas back to the playoffs and can he win again in the playoffs one and two playoff record to this point if he does that I think it's best for both parties to agree to a contract extension for right now especially with the Mahomes extension Dallas and any major franchise I'm talking about the Lakers the Yankees the Red Sox it's best to have flexibility divvying out that type of cash which Dak is going to expect some semblance of doesn't make a lot of sense so that's the third biggest storyline of the year number two Tom Brady and Gronk reunited in Tampa who boy Gronk I think he still has something left I really do he wasn't really playing a ton that last year with New England when they won the Super Bowl it was like load management in the NFL but he's rested up he's not particularly old he's gonna be motivated so I think it's gonna work out for Gronk this year beyond that I don't know Tom Brady I expect him to be a playoff team you're in the same division as one of the NFC favorites in the Saints so that's obviously a massive storyline Tom deciding to leave New England not New England parting ways with Tom deciding to leave bill and that successful organization to go elsewhere you better figure out a way to win if you're gonna choose to leave and initiate the breakup number one Cam Newton in New England this is easy you got the most hated team in the league losing the best quarterback in the history of the game and now the coach gets an opportunity to prove why when Tom Brady went down in 08 they still went 11 and five with Matt Castle why before Brady even showed up in the NFL scene he was an excellent defensive coordinator for Parcells on the giant Super Bowl teams the Patriots as a DC in 96 Belichick is gonna be more motivated than ever with that you're adding the most polarizing player in the NFL going to a place as Beaumont Jones told us there's only been one black quarterback start in 60 years Jacoby Brissett starting one game a few years ago that's mind-boggling now the guy with the suits is coming in I think hands gonna have a bounce-back year I think the Patriots are gonna win the AFC East they're my favorite right now because football we tend to over complicate it sometimes the Patriots they added a former MVP they did it on the cheap and cam is a better offensive line better coordinator a better head coach than he's ever had and his entire time playing in the National Football League so those are the five biggest storylines of the year do you think Dak Prescott not signing his contract before this year helps or hurts your bet that the Cowboys will go ten and six or will not go ten and six because he's playing for something now you know man is this gonna be the case all year long that we're just gonna continue updating my general feeling on the Cowboys because if they win fewer than ten games I don't have to do a cowboy speedo photo shoot calendar spread oh my gosh I can't wait with the cowboy hat now let me be clear this is something we didn't iron out in the contract in the details when you say cowboy hat is it a hat with the Cowboys logo on it or is it a cowboy hat I would assume it's a hat with the Cowboys logo but on a cowboy hat I mean but I honestly I think it would look better with the cowboy hat we don't worry we can there's 12 pictures we can mix it up we can do half with a regular cowboy hat half with the cat Dallas how boy hat either way I hate that this is I've already done a bet similar to this where I had to pose shirtless a few years ago I forget for what yeah about a year ago I had to do this I think if it wasn't the u.s. women's soccer team won the World Cup I think oh that's right I had pink hair like Megan Rapinoe yeah I can't remember what it was I lost another bet and I had to take photos of me shirtless this is a lot different don't say it like that had to take photos of you shirtless like that sounds that sounds bad well it is bad I think that was well put who's under more pressure to win this year Dave Doran or Justin Wintack we'll discuss with the athletics Matt Fortuna next on the drive no mercy no pity no fear you're on the drive with Josh Graham before we get to Mack Brown head coach of the Tar Heels who will join us at 5 30 Robert is very emotional right now in a way he generally isn't about stories that we talk about each and every day on this show he is a rabid Baltimore Ravens fan who also loves the Toronto Raptors yes I know that doesn't make much sense and went to East Carolina I went to ECU too and we were in school at around the same time and knew each other but Robert was a hardcore fan that tailgated at games you went pretty hard at tailgates didn't you actually entail my my junior and senior year I couldn't cover them and then before that I was basically covering tailgates where I was only allowed to drink three beers which was the rule of my employer so I just brought platinum tall boys classy I didn't I was in the media all four years I was in school like that's I knew what I wanted to do so I never really got the fan experience you got ingratiated with it and so Ruffin McNeil joining NC State is to Robert what like Anakin Skywalker becoming a part of the deaf star becoming Darth Vader and joining Senator Palpatine probably is that's how Robert is viewing it because Ruffin is such a beloved figure ECU football has played out in the last decade much like a Shakespearean tragedy where it just starts out with so much promise you hire the youngest offensive coordinator in all of college football who just so happened to be Lincoln Riley and by decades end he's coaching back to back to back Heisman candidates to that one and Jalen hurts who was in the top four of Heisman voting he was in Greenville just five or six years ago as the offensive coordinator not head coach and you're beating the brakes off Larry fedora and the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill by over three touchdowns hanging 55 and 70 points on North Carolina in Greenville Ruffin was the one doing all this and then it all comes crashing down a year later because ECU surprisingly fired him it's surprising from a national standpoint because hey eight wins it's always a good year at places like East Carolina you can't tell me differently but in Greenville it was split 50% of the people thought he should stay 50% of the people thought yeah we need to we need to move on to a new coach Robert was on the side of wanting to keep Ruffin and he does not like the fact that he is now an NC State wolf pack assistant coach for Dave Doran special assistant to Dave Doran so do you have anything to best quantify the way that you're feeling right now because I have something that might make you feel better or probably worse this is definitely gonna make me feel worse you're parked back to throw pressure coming for steps up let's it go game is over East Carolina Pirates over in-state North Carolina and a group of people when they face adversity plant their feet take a brace hit them right in the jaw and say bring it on won't some get some that is us never forget who you are what you are Robert it's not fair never forget what you are and who you are you're a pirate I'm equally as emotional about our friend John Forslund no longer being employed right now with the Carolina hurricane like I'm serious man I I think this could be the greatest mistake Tom Dundon's made as the owner of the canes right now genuinely it's not gonna hurt his bottom line because I don't think anybody's choosing to watch or not choosing to watch hurricanes hockey based on who's broadcasting the games and I think that kind of reigns true with other sports as well but Dundon he strikes me as somebody who looks at the spreadsheets and figures out okay how much is this gonna cost me how much value is there in this how much drop-off would there be if somebody else was in this spot but I don't think those spreadsheets can really measure accurately popularity and it can't measure how much of a reputation hit Dundon would take moving off of Forslund because it just isn't justifiable I get the argument Oh Forslund so good he does NBC sports games which means there are a few hurricanes dates a year that he's not gonna have Forslund call in those games for Fox Sports Carolina's so why am I gonna pay a broadcaster more because he's so great when he's not even gonna do all the games to that I say you have one of the greatest broadcasters you should you should feel good about the fact that he's so good that he's going on NBC Sports and he seemed to be one of the best I'd venture to say the very best albeit I admit I'm pretty biased in that much like Roberts biased against NC State and biased all things roughly McNeil related he's the second most beloved figure in hurricanes history behind Rod Brind'Amore it's kind of like Vince Scully like when you think great Dodgers you go okay there's Jackie Robinson and then there's Vince Scully John Forslund's that kind of popular because he's been here since the beginning since the Greensboro days and before that was with the Hartford Whalers I mean you could justify letting Chuck Caton go because you had Forslund but now there's no Caton and if you get rid of Forslund too it's opening yourself up for criticism if you're Dundon there's still time to get it right it's been a week that he hasn't had a contract there's time to get it right if they don't it could be the worst mistake they make as I'm saying all this I'm worried about what Roberts doing because he's been working very pensively just the last few minutes on a laptop if you're gonna hurt me oh no I'm gonna hurt you oh no I need some off now Jordan walking in he's hey what do you say Jordan Stahl and the canes lead for the first time tonight interrupted by Yannick Hansen for a second now Ryan Skinner what a goal signed for Skinner read by Godranson he'll take it to the outside Ryan Krasch they score the over escape taken out nicely by Herhoff Skinner now you see him now you don't Jeff Skinner gives Carolina a 3-2 lead he dangles he holds passes what a time oh mercy what a stop by Cam Lord how's that feel you're right this does not help yeah it sucks it's really sad why do we do this doesn't make anything better why do we do this it doesn't make anything better like you could put the happiest thing in that in fact Robert I don't know if we have the time to put something together but you can literally splice that with the happiest possible thing and it's still gonna make you feel miserable it just is the reason we don't have time to put that together is because I'm pretty sure we're keeping the head coach of North Carolina football Mac Brown waiting the head coach of the heels will join the show next.