The Carolina Panthers put out a graphic yesterday that surely upset a lot of people, asking fans to select who the greatest player in franchise history was with Luke Keakley, Julius Peppers, and Steve Smith as the only three players featured, which means they failed to include Cam Newton. To me, it's no debate. Cam is the greatest Panther ever because no other player had the influence that he did. When I have the LeBron James versus Michael Jordan conversation, I don't like doing who would win one-on-one, because that's a question you can't really answer. But you can monitor influence. How much your presence in that sport impacted others?
How big you were to the culture? These are all things you can chart, you can monitor, and that's why I think it's unrealistic for LeBron to become the greatest over Michael Jordan. And it's also why I think Cam is the greatest Carolina Panther. He played the most important position in professional sports.
That brings a different level of notoriety. I don't remember the GQ covers. That was Cam. I don't remember Kerry Collins appearing on game shows. That was Cam. I don't remember you fill in the blank the rest of the guys, a Jimmy Clawson or a Chris Winky, a Steve Burline.
I don't remember them getting their own Nickelodeon shows. That, again, was Cam. He was polarizing because he shaped culture. Dabbing wasn't a thing nationally until Cam started doing it in the NFL. The dancing in the end zone, his fashion.
That's why national talk show hosts led with the Panthers. He made Carolina Panthers football relevant in a way it's never been relevant before. He carried the franchise to its most successful season ever.
15-1, going to the Super Bowl, and neither Steve Smith nor Julius Peppers were on that team. He was an MVP. Only Luke Keakley can say that as a defensive player of the year, in this organization at least. His most talented wide receiver that year was Jericho Cotchery.
Or maybe it was rookie Devin Funches, or maybe it was Ted Ginn Jr. We thought it was Calvin Benjamin. Panther fans were punting the year when he tore his ACL in training camp. The stats, they certainly back up Cam being the greatest Panther ever.
All the passing records. Third in franchise history in rushing. The most rushing touchdowns in Panthers history. And unlike Peppers or Smith or Keakley, as much as I love those guys and I don't want to slander them, Cam can say he was the greatest in NFL history at something. He is the greatest red zone threat we've ever seen in a sport. We've never seen a quarterback with the same build as Cam, played the way that Cam was operated with inside the 20s. Jumping over the pile in the first game he played.
We've never seen anything like that before. So decades from now, when we think back on this last decade of Panthers football, which included some of Peppers, some of Smith, a lot of Keakley. The first name we're going to go back on is Cam, because he was the quarterback. He's the one that has all these records. He's the one that carried the most influence. He was the polarizing one. He's the greatest Panther.
You can tweet the show at sportsubtriad if you'd like. 336-777-1600. Who do you view to be the greatest Carolina Panther of all time? Michael in Clemens has an opinion on this. Michael, you're on sportsubtriad.
What do you think? Josh, Cam is no doubt the best Panther of all time. He led the Panthers to the Super Bowl. If it wasn't for him, they wouldn't have been there. And when Cam doesn't play well, they blame him.
But he has to get the credit for what he did for the franchise to take in them to their only Super Bowl appearance. He is the best, hands down. I agree with you.
Thanks for the call. Obviously I agree with you. To the people that dislike Cam, I'm specifically talking to Panther fans right now.
If not Cam, why? Like, I just spelled out this entire argument. Michael said, yeah, he was the best player on the best team the Panthers have had that didn't feature two guys who we expect to be in the Hall of Fame one day. I mean, you can go, hey, was he better at his position than Smitty and Peppers were? And I could realistically hear that argument, but how are you going to compare that to the impact a quarterback can have? It's kind of like trying to say that Jerry Rice is a better San Francisco 49er than Joe Montana was. Was Jerry Rice better at his position? Yeah, Joe Montana is the greatest Niner because his position carried more influence.
His position was directly translated to the overall success of that organization. Lot of headlines today. You got the brand new Duke's Mayo Bowl. I'm not a big Mayo fan. In fact, I hate Mayo, but I like the Duke's Mayo Bowl name. It's perfect for Southern cuisine. It kind of makes sense. I think it's a good bowl name if you can guess relatively where the bowl game is played because of it. Like Belk, okay, if you're from around this area, you understand where Belk is at.
Pretty good name. When I think of what makes the South special, I think of cuisine. I think of Southern cuisine and a lot of the best dishes you can have in Southern cuisine feature mayonnaise, whether it's the tomato sandwich that Luke Kuechly ate in the video that the Duke's Mayo Bowl published today. Dettled eggs, potato salad, pimento cheese, coleslaw. I'm not a fan of a lot of those things, but I understand those are major Southern dishes that I do not want to slander right now. Let's go to Kevin in Burlington, who wants in on the greatest Panthers and maybe even mayonnaise as well, because that's where we're at in the middle of July.
What do you have for me, Kevin? Oh, it's Duke's mayonnaise all day long, and yeah, I'm a mayonnaise fan. I used to eat mayonnaise sandwiches as a kid. Just mayonnaise.
I had mustard sandwiches as a kid, so I can't really knock it. Let's do it like this. I think Julius Peppers, you can't argue, he's first ballot Hall of Famer. Steve Smith, I think you can make the argument for first ballot. Is Cam Newton even going to make the Hall of Fame? We know he's not a first ballot.
I don't even think he's going to make the Hall of Fame. So it's either Julius Peppers or Steve Smith, and I don't really see how you can go Cam Newton because, hey, Steve Smith was a great wide receiver with or without Cam Newton. I'm not so sure Cam Newton was a great quarterback without Steve Smith.
I think, oh, thanks for the call. I would respond to that with he had his MVP season without Steve Smith. Steve wasn't on the team when they went to the Super Bowl in 2015. And neither was Kelvin Benjamin, or he was on the team, but he was injured that year. Is Cam a first ballot Hall of Famer? Is he a Hall of Famer at all?
Probably not. But I don't think it's fair to close the book on Cam's career yet when I think there's still a lot of football left, just like there was for Randall Cunningham, who he's often compared to. He had that second stage with the Vikings, just like Michael Vick, who had that second stage with the Eagles. So I think it's too early to judge that on Cam. As for Luke Kuechly, that's really tough for me. Is Pat Willis a Hall of Famer? Is Luke Kuechly a Hall of Famer?
I don't know the answer to that. We also had another caller from here in Burlington call in to remind you or the other caller, I don't think you forgot, but Cam Newton is not the only quarterback to ever lead the Panthers to a Super Bowl. There's also a guy named Jake De Lombe.
I think that's obvious. Jake De Lombe, friend of the show. He led the Panthers to the Super Bowl, but I believe more directly responsible for that might have been Stephen Davis, Deshaun Foster. That was not a pass-heavy team. Jake De Lombe wasn't the starter at the start of that year.
It was, of course, Rodney Peete. But in talking about him, I wonder if we drop the ball not making it the Bojangles Bowl. That was discussed. I think that was the most popular pick for people in the South thinking, hey, maybe Bojangles can take that over.
In the alliteration. It just didn't happen. Yeah. We have the Dukes Mayo Bowl and I'm perfectly fine with it. I have this poll question up at Josh Graham Radio at Sports Sub Triad. Do you like mayonnaise? That simple.
60% of the voting audience says yes, they like mayo. I want to transition things to Rashad McCants because Rashad McCants reportedly delivered a letter to the North Carolina basketball office the day before they competed in the ACC tournament in Greensboro. And some thought that the letter was McCants apologizing for what he said six years ago.
Sports Illustrated was the first one to get to this. Sports Illustrated's Kiara Luck had McCants on earlier today talking about that letter he delivered. And I think it's okay if you're a Tar Heel fan to be skeptical about his sincerity.
I certainly am. I certainly was going into listening to this 40 minute conversation, and it didn't get a lot better when he got to this part as to why he delivered the letter. On anybody that misconstrued what an apology is compared to asking for forgiveness. And so there wasn't no, you know, I want you guys to apologize.
I'm sorry. No, it was this and I forgive you all for what y'all did. And I want you to forgive me for what I did. Now, do the fans need to know what they did to me? No. You know, do the fans know what I did to the program? Yeah, everybody know.
We don't know. But I'm willing to erase all that and not even go down that road and just say, man, look, I forgive you all. I hope you all forgive me, but I'm going to move forward. I'm going to clear my space in my heart, in my head, and I know that I need this energy moving forward in my life to be successful in business, to have different relationships with people, but beyond basketball.
And I wanted to clear that because I know that a lot of people have real strong ties with Carolina. He started in a place of semantics. Don't misconstrued the difference between apologizing and asking for forgiveness. Robert, what is the difference between those two?
I honestly don't know. See if you can find whatever difference there is. I think it's really just a conversation of semantics there. He wanted to say he's apologizing instead asking for forgiveness. And before he said he was sorry for what he did or he's asking for forgiveness for the things he did. He made sure to say that he forgave North Carolina for what they did.
As if North Carolina feels like they need to be forgiven. His reasoning for the letter, it just sounded questionable to me. It sounds like his business has been hurt because of the way he attacked Roy Williams and Tar Heel basketball six years ago saying that really had to know about the fake classes that he was essentially told to just show up and play. He said at the very end of that clip you just heard, oh I learned there's a lot of people that care a lot about Carolina.
And he wants to move forward with his business opportunities. When he was talking about 14, this was the closest he came to feeling regretful about going to outside the lines and blowing this entire thing up. And I needed to have everyone understand why I was upset, why I was mad, and why this wasn't a fit for what was going on. And like you say, I might have went about it the wrong way. But that's the only way I knew at the time that would get the attention, that would make sure the NCAA heard me, the UNC heard me, ESPN heard me, CNN heard me, everybody heard. And I did all those interviews, but it was one of those things where I didn't want to push the basketball program into turmoil, but I knew I needed to use them as an example. I listened to him for 40 minutes, it didn't sound like he has spoken with Roy Williams, and I take issue with somebody who genuinely cares about the basketball program at North Carolina going to outside the lines. Because as he just admitted, I think right there, oh if I didn't do it that way, the NCAA and CNN and all of these wouldn't have heard what I had to say.
He wanted to make it all public, and then he, conveniently, wrote a book in 2018. I'd be interested to see what the letter has to say, but if it sounded a lot like what I heard from McCants in this SI interview, I question the sincerity of it. The next guest was selected in the fifth round of the NFL Draft a few months ago by the Denver Broncos, its former Wake linebacker Justin Sternad, friend of the program, fan of sports radio, overall fan of sports as well. So this is the piece I'm interested in getting to know you the last few years, Justin. What is it like when you get the call, when you get drafted in the fifth round, and it's one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history on the other end, Broncos GM John Elway? Yeah, it was a pretty surreal moment, obviously, to be with my family and friends, my close friends and family.
It was one of the greatest days of my life and something I'll always remember, but to get that call, obviously growing up, that's more of my dad and everybody else. They're all crazy about John Elway, and obviously he's a legend of the game and an all-famer, and just to have that call from someone like that and just to have the opportunity to go play for an organization like the Denver Broncos, from what I've seen in the last couple months, it seems like they treat their players very well, and it's something I'm really looking forward to. Okay, so with everything being virtual this offseason, I start thinking about guys like you who get drafted who try to set themselves apart from other players on the roster. You're trying to prove that you belong in the league, and you're not able to do so with an OTAs.
Hopefully training camp, fingers crossed, is supposed to go on scot-free or go on without a glitch. So when you're a draft pick and you're going through these virtual meetings, how have you tried to impress coaches during this offseason? Yeah, so for four days during the week, we do Zoom meetings, which is five hours a day, so that's been going on for about two months now, and what I've done really is just, like with the team sends us an iPad with all the film breakdown of the previous season and all the calls and things like that, and our coaches go through it with us, but really just taking the time outside of those meetings to get a little studying in, and now today was the last day of our meeting, so what I'm going to do is go back over everything, start from ground zero and go through the base calls.
Like I'm going to OTAs basically, and I'm just going to be going through the base calls that we'd be running, because really you can get down to base stuff as you go into a season with the coordinators that I've had and what it seems like they just kind of combine base calls and make those into one call or make a game plan specific during the season. Pre-draft, this is what impressed the Broncos the most, wasn't it? Like when I think about guys who get picked in the middle rounds, they want players who are going to be mentally prepared, who mentally translate well. Was that something that the Broncos specifically liked about you? I mean, I did get a chance to meet with them at the combine, so I got to meet Coach Sancho, who's a big defensive line and a lot of the people in the organization, and I actually got up on the board with him and kind of threw up a couple defenses and he was able to talk to me about them, and not just what the linebacker does, but what the entire defense does, and that's something that I think I've been fortunate enough to learn through the coaches that I've had and the players I've played with, and it's something that obviously I'm going to need now, because I haven't played in a 3-4 defense since my entire time playing football, so it's a little bit different just the verbiage and getting lined up and things like that, and it's just a challenge that I'm looking forward to.
It is former Wake Forest linebacker Justin Sternad with this draft pick of the Denver Broncos. Have you had a chance to pick the brain of your fellow linebacker mate, Von Miller? So I haven't got to talk too much football with Von, but Von did reach out to me on draft day and just told me how he's excited to get to work with me, and I let him know a couple days after that.
I actually was on social media. I had some people sending me a post he had where he was saying he might switch back to his 40 days, and I text him, I go, are you really switching back to 40? Because if so, I got to tell all my family and friends that's not buying these jerseys because I picked that number, and he got back to me and he was like, no, I'm just messing with people.
In that spot, though, how much did you have to play it cool a bit? Because I know right when you were arriving at Wake Forest, you probably watched as Von Miller ruined the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. This is one of the best defensive players in the sport the last decade, and now he's your teammate. So when he calls you, he reaches out to you. Are you kind of gushing a bit, or are you trying to play it cool?
A little bit of both. Obviously, I always tell my friends, when you get to a point where you're actually in the NFL or whatever, even in college, it's still cool to meet those people. Say I'm at the combine this year and I was talking to Chase Young. Yeah, we are both college athletes, but obviously he's had a great college career and is a great player, so it's still cool to meet those type of people.
And it's the same thing that goes for Von. It's going to be awesome to be in meetings with him and be with somebody that I've literally been watching for a decade and a plus now and just know that he's probably going to be a first-out Hall of Famer and be able to learn from him and what he does on and off the field to be successful is going to be really cool. I've got two housekeeping notes for you, Justin, before I let you go, because I know you're busy. When are you hoping to get started and get settled in Colorado? I'm thinking mid-July is when I'll probably head out there.
Just be ready for training camp and if we have anything, maybe prior to a little OTA, like three-day OTA or something like that, just being ready to go out there and be ready. Yeah, make sure you visit 16th Street Mall. That's a lot of fun in downtown Denver. I gotta ask you this, though. So Wake Forest, they're going to compete in the first-ever Duke's Mayo Classic, which is Notre Dame facing Wake Forest. The bowl game that you played Texas A&M in, the Belk Bowl has been renamed.
It's no longer the Belk Bowl, it's going to be the Duke's Mayo Bowl in Charlotte. I gotta know, is Justin Sternad a fan of Mayonnaise? I'm actually not. I'm going to be honest with you. Neither am I, brother.
Neither am I, brother. But let me ask. You're in Florida, I think, right now. You spent years in North Carolina.
You're going to be out West. What's the type of Southern cuisine you're going to miss the most from Winston-Salem? I'm going to have to say a nice putter's meal with the boys after a game or on a weekend.
A nice little putter's cheat meal, get the buffalo fries. That's something I'm going to miss big time. That's well said, man. That's very well played for a former Demon Deacon. It's crazy to say you're a former Demon Deacon, but we're excited to watch you. Number 40 for the Denver Broncos, fifth round draft pick Justin Sternad. Best of luck for the rest of the offseason.
We hope to catch up sometime before the season starts. Thanks for doing this, Justin. Thank you, Josh. I appreciate it. Go Deacs. You got it. Go Deacs. He's on Twitter, at JS Garbs, the former Deac linebacker Justin Sternad.
Kind enough to be here. The Mayo Bowl isn't the only renaming in the news today. The Winston-Salem downtown stadium that was once BB&T ballpark is officially today.
Drum roll, Robert. Truist stadium. Truist stadium is now the home of the Winston-Salem dash. I think some people get confused nationally when I try to explain to them why I enjoy college football more than the pros. Maybe it's because I grew up in a state where college sports is king. I grew up in North Carolina. That might also be the explanation for why I enjoy minor league baseball more than major league baseball.
Or maybe this is the best way to communicate it, Robert. I am a fan of convenience. I'm not a fan, generally, of making a ton of effort to go somewhere just to relax. So if I have these two options, go to the beach or stay where you're at, staycation and go to the pool, I'm generally gonna choose the second option. Now, I usually go to the beach once or twice a year. We got like a condo in Myrtle Beach.
I plan to go in the next couple of weeks. But I prefer the pool to the beach because you don't have to deal with sand so it's cleaner. There's fewer people. It's less of a hassle. It's cheaper.
It's more convenient to go to a pool than to go all the way to the beach. Same deal for minor league baseball. I love minor league ball because it's not really about the results, albeit you'd love to see the home team win. Going to Grainger Stadium in eastern North Carolina, going to Zebulun to watch the Mudcats, the Durham Bulls in Durham, and certainly here in the triad with the Grasshoppers and the Dash. And I'm sure it's the same way with the Charlotte Knights, but I haven't been to a game in their stadium yet.
Don't want to forget anybody, the Tourists in Asheville, the Kannapolis Intimidators, how could we forget about them even though they had the name change as well. I just think going in and out, it's a lot easier, it's a lot cheaper for minor league baseball. So I think it's a more enjoyable experience. Where hey, it doesn't have to be very expensive to go to a ballgame, it doesn't have to be stressful with the result and being emotionally invested with who wins and who loses. It's just enjoying baseball and maybe a hot dog too. So I miss minor league ball. I miss minor league baseball just as much as I miss major league baseball being in the news, probably more. Because I go to minor league games, I don't really go to major league games. One of these times, one of these days I hope, there's going to be minor league baseball. I doubt it's going to be in 2020, so we're probably going to have to wait until next year to go inside now Sun-Truist, or excuse me, Truist Stadium. I knew I was going to get it wrong. You got Sun-Trust merging with BB&T and now they're Truist, so bound for some confusion to happen there. But it's Truist Stadium, the new home of the Winston-Salem Dash. I'll list off the top five quarterbacks that if I could have a league-wide redraft, I'd be taking to build a round.
That's next on the drive. Jack Brown met with the media for the first time since he and the football staff returned to campus. The basketball staff also recently returned to campus as well. Players have been coming through in cycles over the last few weeks since July, or June the 8th, I believe is when football players started coming in. And as far as we know, no positive tests.
However, we were told today that we would not be informed when players tested positive of COVID via the HIPAA laws that exist. So, we don't know if there are any positive tests, but Max says that things have been going well and they've been tested already a couple of times, tested a few times, and things are going well with Tar Heel football's summer program thus far. The Tar Heels, as we've discussed on this show, have done very well on the recruiting trail.
Really good class coming in this year. Next season, thanks to the help of some three- and four-star commitments from the Triad, a couple from Glenn here in Kernersville, another from Clemons committing, I think 10 of the 16 players who have committed to this class that right now is ranked fifth in the country are from Western North Carolina. Mac Brown's been getting it done, and I think a significant reason why that is just overall growth in the state of North Carolina. Charlotte and Raleigh are two of the fastest growing cities in America.
Anytime those lists come out, Charlotte and Raleigh are sure to be there. So, I think when you have more people come through, there's a trickle-down effect to Winston-Salem, to Greensboro, High Point in the Triad, other pockets of the state too, and I think there's just more talent available. Most of the kids that Mac's recruited are from this state. So, if the class is this good, I think it's because, one, Mac's doing a good job, but two, and maybe more importantly, there's just more talent to pick between that's close to campus.
So, I asked Mac about that, and I asked him about Mayonnaise too, and this is how that sounded. It's been well documented how well you guys have been doing recruiting in the state of North Carolina since you've returned, particularly in Western Carolina, but even in the east as well. How much has the growth of the city, Charlotte and Raleigh specifically, always appearing on the top 10 fastest growing cities in America, impacted, you think, the talent level that's in this state? Josh, it's really impacted the talent level in the state because the more people you have, the more opportunities you have to look at recruits. High school football coaches are doing a tremendous job in this state. We continue to want to elevate high school football in the state of North Carolina, but I think the biggest difference right now, and when we were here before and now, is the number of prospects. There were good players, a lot of good players in this state before, but now, boy, there's prospects all over the place, and you can't take them all.
And there's a lot of good players that will play against us that we can't take. But I'm really excited for the high school coaches in this state and the young student athletes in this state that are playing football because there's some really good players and it's bringing a lot of attention to our state. And our guys are killing it in recruiting. I like what they're doing. They've got a familiarity with the state. There's such an upside right now with our program and so much momentum. It's been a cool place to be for a year or so. So I really like what we're doing, and I like the kids we're recruiting, too.
They want to be here, and they're excited about being here, and they're making strong decisions, and they're good students. So I'm really excited about the future. And secondly, I'm not sure if you saw this morning, but the Belk Bowl has been replaced as the Duke's Mayo Bowl now. You're a Southern guy, Mac. I got to know. Are you a Mayo fan? It's sad that I keep fighting my weight all the time.
I'm a food fan, so yes, just about everything that's out there I like to eat. That's well said from Mac Brown. I've never felt more seen by a college football coach than Mac Brown saying, I'm just a big food fan or a big fan of food.
Gosh, how do I get those things backwards at times? Robert, we got C.J. Johnson who's going to join us in 10 minutes. He's the president of Winston-Salem-Baseball. They announced a new name for their downtown ballpark. It's no longer BB&T ballpark. It is now Truist Stadium. So we'll talk to him about that and the state of minor league baseball.
And in addition to that, I feel like this is a good opportunity. As a segue before we get to C.J., for you to ask me some baseball questions because normally on Thursdays, we have our sharing with Darren baseball segment, but we did Darren yesterday. So I want to make sure people get their baseball fixed during a time where we normally expect baseball. Tony Clark putting out a statement in the last few hours saying they've extended a 70-game schedule in response to the 60-game proposal that the owners had yesterday. There still is no agreement yet.
We hope there will be one by Friday or Saturday. Baseball insiders are optimistic that that's going to be the case, but there's no way it's going to be more than 60 games is the ultimate feeling. But rather than talk about the bummer of where Major League Baseball is at at the moment, how about Robert, you just ask me some questions as we try to get you further ingrained in baseball. Robert doesn't know diddly squat about baseball. When Robert hears strikeout, he thinks all about his failed past relationships. When Robert hears breaking ball, he winces.
Gas? Get the point? While everyone else is swinging for the fences, Robert is simply trying to get on base. This is Baseball for Dummies.
All right, I want to start off hot, Josh. In trying to learn about baseball, I'm learning about their successes and also their failures. And I know why Pete Rose is not in the Hall of Fame for the Major League.
I want to know your opinion. Should he be in the Hall of Fame? Do you know why he's not in the Hall of Fame? For betting on and against his team, correct? Yeah, he always bet on his team. You can choose whether or not you want to believe that, but at first he said he didn't bet on baseball and then he said he only bet on his team. That's never been contradicted, so if we're just assuming that's true, well, is the crime enough that he should be out of the sport completely? Probably not, but the Major League Baseball has given him ample opportunity to try and prove that he is sorry, that he realizes his mistake, and he's just never done it. In fact, he never even admitted he bet on sports or his team or against it until he put out a book in 2003 or 2004. And he just so happened to have that book come out the day of a Hall of Fame ceremony and sign copies right across the street from the Hall of Fame ceremony.
So he doesn't really seem very regretful or sorry. Faye Vincent, you can go back and read some of the things that he said at the time. I'm more upset that South Carolina native Shoeless Joe Jackson isn't in the Hall of Fame than I am Pete Rose. In fact, if the Pete Rose scandal didn't happen in the time that it did, 1989, I think Shoeless Joe, he's in in the 80s. Like Field of Dreams really made that push, but then you were in a spot where it's a gambling issue on his part in the 1919 World Series that apparently they threw, or reportedly they threw. He got banned from the sport, so you can't say that guy gets in right as you're banning Pete Rose for betting on baseball in more of a modern sense. Shoeless Joe should be in because even though he was one of the guys who accepted money, he hit over 300 in that World Series.
Okay. Doesn't he hold some kind of record, though? Like, is there a way you could separate him from his managerial mess up to just as a player? Nobody's had more hits in the history of baseball than Pete Rose. The Baseball Hall of Fame is a clown show because they view themselves as more than a museum. They are a museum, ultimately, but they are trying to hold moral ground, not letting in the all-time leading home run leader in Barry Bonds because of steroids.
Martin McGuire, Sammy Sosa, and Roger Clemens, and they're doing the same thing with Pete Rose when it comes to betting, but I think Pete Rose is different, again, because they've given him opportunities and he's just squandered it. Okay. That was very informational. Now, something a little more fun. What's the best stadium food? I know as an Orioles fan, there's probably like crabby fries or something up there.
Crabby fries are interesting. You can get those last time I was at Camden Yards, $7.50. That's not bad.
Don't obey on it. Beer costs $8. Dodger dogs are really good, but slightly overrated on the West Coast. At the Orioles ballpark, I'm a fan of the SK dogs.
All about it. SK hot dogs, Boob Pals BBQ in Wright Field, also really good. So I'm a hot dog guy. When I go to sports, I get a hot dog. So if we're talking stadium food, it starts with that. Awesome. And I feel like baseball is a very superstitious sport.
Maybe I get that for major league. Maybe I'm just making up my head. Very superstitious.
Okay. So maybe you could tell me some of the little-stitions, maybe not the superstitions, but some of the smaller ones. Well, we talk about unwritten rules in baseball, like don't bunt if a guy has a perfect game.
Don't talk to a guy who's throwing a perfect game. Those are the ones that stick out to me the most in terms of superstitions. I think that some of the superstitions are a little ridiculous when it comes to baseball. Like guys who never wear stirrups or never would mess with different kinds of socks. And you're talking about underwear, Bull Durham.
Hey, I'm only winning when I have this underwear on, et cetera, et cetera. I thought I remember there being a superstition about eating chicken in baseball. Don't know that.
But I must be mistaken. And finally, I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about Bill James. People pushed against Bill James for decades. He was all about stats and analytics before that was a thing.
And then Billy Bean adopted it with the Oakland A's and that's what the movie Moneyball was about. So he's a general manager, not a player. Bill James was not.
Okay. Bill James was just a statistician. I think he might have been a teacher. But then he came up with this idea that some popularized, but baseball just flatly rejected until Billy Bean made it popular. He was offered a contract to become the GM of the Red Sox.
He turned it down. Theo Epstein did the same thing that Billy Bean did, essentially with just more resources. And they won the World Series in 2004 and he won the World Series with the Cubs in 2016. So everybody's now going analytics-based. Bill James was really the person who started that in American sports.
Cool deal. I feel way more informed about baseball every time we do this. And I think we're going to continue being informed because the Winston-Salem Dash president, C.J. Johnson, he's going to join us to talk about the Dash's newly named ballpark and the state of minor league baseball next on The Drive. What are you talking about?
What's he talking about? I'm talking about the one and only Josh Graham on Sports Hub Triad. The president and general manager of the Winston-Salem Dash, C.J. Johnson, is kind enough to spend some time here. On the day that they make a pretty big announcement earlier this morning, we knew something was probably going to happen when we saw that BB&T merged with SunTrust, which then turned their name to Truist, and with BB&T Ballpark being the name of the Dash's ballpark for the last decade or so. They have a new name now and it is Truist Stadium. C.J. Johnson made that announcement earlier today.
He's now here on Sports Hub Triad. Here's what I want to know, C.J. Truist Stadium, Truist Ballpark, Truist Field, how many did you guys go through?
How many did you consider before arriving at Truist Stadium? Well, thanks for having me on, Josh. I listen often and enjoy your show.
Thank you. With the amount of names, I would encourage you and your listeners to Google names for facilities. It's not a real long list. We wanted to differentiate ourselves with Atlanta being Truist Park. It was very similar, obviously, to Ballpark and Charlotte with Truist Field. We wanted something unique to Winston-Salem, unique to us. We did go through some different names, like the Polo Grounds is a more unique one, Truist Grounds. Truist Diamond seemed a little bit too similar to a jewelry store name, so we tossed that one aside. Ultimately, we settled on Truist Stadium and have a great new logo, a great new brand. Yeah, why don't any stadiums have grounds anymore? That seems to be a thing overseas, like in soccer. But yeah, someone needs to bring back grounds somewhere, someplace.
Somebody does. We decided that somebody would not be us. Yeah, CJ Johnson with us here. Looking at minor league baseball, one of the bigger things being discussed is how some of the minor leaguers are going to get paid. I think the way that players have been approaching this across major league baseball has been really neat to see.
David Price saying that he was going to give a significant amount to players in the Dodgers system, even though he was just traded from the Red Sox to the Dodgers. We see a commitment from players saying they're going to give a million dollars to be dispersed across minor leaguers, because at one time all these players were once playing in a place like Winston-Salem, playing in minor league baseball. So is it your expectation that all the minor leaguers you're responsible for are going to be paid at least through August? Yes, all of our players are Chicago White Sox employees, so those decisions come from the Chicago White Sox.
I know that they've made commitments, at least I believe it's through the end of July at this point, from the White Sox. It has been great to see those major league players step up like you mentioned as well. You know, baseball is unique as far as the developmental system that even superstars, even the Bryce Harpers of the world that were phenoms and recognized early as phenoms still play in the minors coming up. So it's unique in that regard that all of these guys have experienced it, even if they had significant signing bonuses.
They played in locker rooms with guys that were definitely living paycheck to paycheck and a small paycheck at that. So I think the organizations and the major league players all realized that without a baseball season those guys need some assistance. I think it was maybe around a year ago, maybe even further than that, that you were concerned about a New York Times report and Major League Baseball looking at potentially shortening the amount of affiliations that a lot of teams have. And I mean the Carolina League is exactly what these teams want because of the proximity and the ballparks are just fantastic that you find, especially in the state of North Carolina, and Truis Stadium is no exception to that. So when you look at some of the proposals you're seeing now and some affiliations not as lucky as the Dash are, what is your ultimate big concern for minor league baseball as a whole moving forward?
It's tough with the contraction that will come into play in 2021. It's really settled on it's going to be 120 teams. So basically four levels of baseball. We're currently at 162 obviously and all in a state of limbo right now as far as playing in 2020.
But for 2021 their goal was to get to 120 teams. I've been in minor league baseball for two decades and clearly a lifelong baseball fan. So it's tough to know about some of those communities that have had baseball for a long time that that's going to go away.
Chattanooga I believe is one that was on the list that's had minor league baseball for over 110 years. It's tough. You hope that this is still going to be a way to grow the game.
I think that's everybody's goal. And so it seems hard to grow it by eliminating. But I think they're looking at it as a quality, as much of a quantity with a number of teams.
So it'll be interesting to see how it plays out. You're correct that we're very fortunate being in the Carolina League in a great ballpark and a great market. So we haven't been mentioned in that list but still tough for me to see people in my industry that I know that are potentially on that list and communities that have known and loved baseball for a long time as well. C.J. Johnson president and general manager of the Winston-Salem Dash with us here.
I love this promotion that I saw earlier in the week for free starting on June the 27th. You can reserve the right to go to Truist Stadium and have a catch at 10 a.m. at 11 a.m. You just have to contact the Dash by calling them or emailing Ayala Acosta via her email and in the afternoon as well at 5 and 6 o'clock so around this time you could be out there for an hour 12 pairs will be out in the field at one time. You and a friend can go out and throw and have a catch.
I want to know where this idea came from. If you saw it from somewhere else or I'd like the picture you watched Field of Dreams just got emotional and thought hey we need to do something. Well actually I heard your interview with Larry Sorensen the other day and you guys were talking about favorite baseball movies and my favorite baseball movie is Field of Dreams.
So that iconic scene at the end of that movie did factor into the idea process a little bit. It was actually modeling baseball they talked about different ideas teams were sharing that they were looking at doing and in the unique times that we're in and so we jumped on it and said that's perfect. Right now we're at a limitation from a state standpoint of only 25 guests within sports facilities. So we said all right that gives us 12 pairs at a time and let's put some time slots and see if people are interested. So it all came together and I think we'll probably have some friends out there. We've already had a lot of reservations some that are just you know buddies that want to get out there and play catch but some father sons father daughters that want to get out there and play catch as well.
So it should be a really good mix. What other things have you considered to make use of Truist Stadium because I saw I think it was a Twins minor league affiliate putting their ballpark on Airbnb for anyone who wants to rent it out for fifteen hundred dollars. Yeah we modeling baseball is known for being creative.
So there's 162 teams I mentioned they're all kind of in that that idea generating process right now. How do we use our facilities when we don't have baseball and we do a lot in normal seasons outside of our baseball schedule. But so far we've done a character cruise through where we had Disney and Star Wars characters local mascots that families can drive through and visit. We've got a couple that we're close to announcing that we're working on some fine tuning of details but a lot of it at least in the short term will involve more of events where people drive through or very limited capacity to fit within that that 25 guest parameters.
But but hopefully from a hopefully for everybody in the area in the numbers continue to improve and then from a state level we are able to feel more comfortable of opening up venues at a larger level. The dash has stayed busy this offseason at WS Dash baseball follow more of the updates that CJ was just talking about a moment ago in addition to truest stadium being announced today and also the promotion we just talked about you got a new logo. I haven't been able to get to the team store and grab a new hat need to do that sometime love the new logo and heck yesterday was national mascot day so we saw bolt running around on the social media feed but we need to get to the most important thing. Speaking of things being renamed in Charlotte it's the Belk Bowl and it's been that for a while but today it was renamed the Dukes Mayo Bowl and it's been a really controversial divisive topic on social media all day today. Do you like mayonnaise CJ Johnson? I've got to be honest I do I do not like mayonnaise. I'm more of a French's mustard guy. I'm not sure if they approach them for for naming rights, but I am more of a mustard guy. I tell you what I'm curious is there's a lot of memorable photos where when teams clench the orange bowl they take photo with oranges and Rose Bowl they have roses, you know, will we see players taking photos with with jars of Dukes mayonnaise when they clench.
That's a great question. But you've just clinched the ultimate split today where Mac Brown says he loves mayonnaise. We asked him about that. Justin Sternad not a fan. I'm not a fan. You're not a fan. But Robert and Adam Gold are fans of mayonnaise. So it's just an even split.
It's a divisive topic but such as America at point. CJ Johnson appreciate you spending the time. Like I said I'm going to be out there. I miss being out at the ballpark. We miss having the games on the radio on Thursday nights and we hope we hope things get back to normal sometime soon. But great flexibility by you guys.
It seems like this season. Thanks for the time. I appreciate it. Josh got it. That is CJ Johnson the president of Winston Salem Dash baseball general manager as well. I'm serious Robert sweet lids really really cool new logo that I was looking forward to seeing. I love minor league baseball caps. Ryan McGee got me onto that. He has I think hundreds of minor league caps. And I need to step up my game there.
I really do. I will ask you though if you rent it out kind of like the twins put on Airbnb or minor league team in the twin system put on put up a their ballpark on Airbnb for fifteen hundred dollars. What would you do if you had the newest truest stadium for the day. Like if you paid fifteen hundred dollars the stadium is yours for twenty four hours.
I would show a movie marathon and charge people to come in and that would be from like eleven a.m. to maybe like five or five thirty p.m. And then I would rent out the whole baseball park to like a wrestling company and then they could have a wrestling show and then they pay me and I'll end up getting paid way over fifteen hundred dollars. There are rules rules schmoles I pay I paid to rent this building out sir twins said for example you can have ten buddies with you. So eleven people.
Oh so now they're going to try to quantify how many people I can get here. I paid you good money fifteen hundred dollars. I'm a regular person not somebody who owns a stinking baseball stadium. If I pay you fifteen hundred dollars I'll bring an elephant and let him poop on the third yard line. I do not care on the third line. I do not care if I pay you money. It is mine.
And if I give it back to you that's good. Eleven people fifteen hundred dollars. You're going to be talking about. Too much around a hundred and twenty five a hundred and thirty apiece are all the bathrooms unlocked or do they just give us all you can't poop here. You got to go somewhere else.
I don't know the answer to your question. Okay are the concessions open. If I'm paying fifteen hundred dollars someone needs to be there for the hot dogs.
Well no one's going to be there because you'd have to pay. How am I getting beer. Are the bars open at this this place. I don't know the answer to your question.
Josh. I'm just saying this is what they have like this. This is what they said on the Airbnb post. Would this be helpful. Okay. Want to hit with your friends in our batting cage. Be our guest. Want to play catch on the field at eleven thirty p.m. Be our guest.
Want to take batting practice while having a couple cold ones with the boys. Be our guest. Is this sponsored by Beauty and the Beast. Like are they about to break into be our guest.
I don't know that song. Be our guest. Be our guest. Put our service to the test. Tie your napkin around your neck Shelly and we provide the rest.
Let's calm down. Yeah. I want you to get the music to that and give us just just the first part of this song because Robert I'm surprised you know every word to this song but I want instrumental.
I want sound in the background. That's really good. I'm going to read the rest of this if you don't mind now. Want to take your siblings in ping pong and video games in the clubhouse. Be our guest. Want to enjoy breakfast at home plate. Be our guest. So it seems like they're opening up the clubhouse. You got the field.
You also have the scoreboard so you can connect things to the scoreboard and play video games. You're just not going to have hired staff working concessions or anything of that sort. You and it probably is BYOB bring your own beer in. Be our guest. Be our guest. Put our service to the test. Tie your napkin around your neck Shelly and we provide the rest.
We only live to serve. Try the gray stuff. It's delicious. Don't believe me? Ask the dishes. They can sing. They can dance.
Why of course we are in France and the dinner here is never second best. Great work. It's my favorite Disney movie. Beauty and the Beast is your favorite Disney movie. I love it dude. I can't get enough. I actually the Emma Watson version actually blew me away. I usually don't like the Disney laugh.
I haven't seen that one. Very good. I love Emma Watson. They redo all the songs.
They throw some new songs in with some twists. It's great. And Emma Watson like you said. What a beauty.
What a talent. Also stars in Perks of Being a Wallflower. Is that with where she has short hair? I don't think she has short hair in that. I'm thinking of a different movie then. Same length that she had in Harry Potter.
I've had a crush on her probably since I was a little kid watching Sorcerer's Stone. There you go. Getting Sorcerer's Stone. Robert Walsh.
Way back when. We have a really big show tomorrow. Tomorrow marks the 14th anniversary of game 7. Stanley Cup finals. The Hurricanes winning North Carolina's first and only major professional sports championship.
And the guy who scored the empty net goal to solidify that win. Justin Williams. He's going to be our guest.
I know. I just break into it again with the whole orchestra. At around 3.30 tomorrow. That's going to be exciting. And John Forslund is going to be with us as well tomorrow. We have a top 10 list so we hope you'll be our guest on a Friday drive. Justin Sternab is with us today.
If you missed that, find that on the Best of podcast by searching The Drive with Josh Graham wherever you get your podcast. Okay. Robert, what do you got and take it to the house today? Don't know where to go, Wee? Follow me. Next on The Drive.
