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May 27, 2020 6:06 pm

Where are all the fat basketball coaches?

The Drive with Josh Graham / Josh Graham

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May 27, 2020 6:06 pm

Mac McClung chooses Texas Tech over Wake Forest, citing a proven winner and better opportunities for his basketball career. Meanwhile, the Carolina Hurricanes face a 24-team playoff format and potential changes to the NHL season, including a possible start date in January 2021. The team's voice, John Forsland, discusses the challenges of the pandemic and the importance of getting the season back on track.

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Your attention, please. Back to the drive with Josh Graham on Sports Hub Triad. Wake Forest has been in the running for former Georgetown point guard Mac McClung. Who rather than posting he'd announce his final three, says he will be posting. His announcement where he's going to be transferring at some point later today.

In addition to Wake McClung, who scored 15 a game for the Hoyas last year. added these schools to his list. making up his top seven. In addition to Wake, Texas Tech, Auburn, Memphis.

Southern Cal, BYU, Arkansas. And of course you have. The demon deacons. I believe Wake Forest. is going to get McLung.

This might just be the optimist in me. Also having a chance to get to know Steve Forbes just a bit. over the last month or so. But I think they're in the running for this and Robert In real time. I think you need to find a way to hit me with the Sarah McLaughlin because ten seconds ago, Jeff Goodman announces that Texas Tech has just landed Mac McClunk.

I couldn't even get into two sentences of optimism. This is just like. The Olivier Saar day where I was going to make the point, hey. It actually might make a lot of sense for Saar to return to Wake rather than going to Kata-O-Wake. Goodman says that.

He's gonna be. A Kentucky wildcat.

So Chris Beards bringing in Mac McClung. The demon deacons. I really felt good about it. I thought they were gonna get McClung, Robert. Break the They got McClanged.

He's out of here. Ouch! But you know what? Maybe he's gonna stink it up. Maybe he's not gonna be that good.

I'm not going to root for a kid to perform. I'm not leading against him. I'm just saying maybe it's an unanswered prayer. Who knows, man? Maybe it's.

Gosh, I felt so good about Forbes chances too. Like just diving into the background He is the only coach out of the seven, as far as I know. who built a relationship with McClung before this year. McClung's from. Gate City, Virginia.

Gosh, this music bums me out every time I hear it. Do you know where Gate City, Virginia is, Robert? I do not. It's thirty minutes away from Johnson City. where Forbes has been the coach at East Tennessee State for five years.

He's the only coach who offered. out of the seven at least, who offered McClung out of high school. If you're looking for a comparable program in terms of proximity and academics to Georgetown, Wake Forest is the place. Georgetown 24th ranked school in America. Wake is 27th.

Oh, yeah, the ACC. It's better basketball competition. This really hurts. Gosh. This could have been the biggest transfer and wake basketball history.

It really could have been, Robert. But it's not. He's going to be a Texas Tech Red Raider. Good luck with that. At least it isn't.

the biggest hurt Wake Forest has had. What's been the biggest hurt? I feel like losing Chandi Brown was a bigger hurt. I feel like losing Saar was a bigger hurt. Yeah.

At least we had those two. Enjoy them while they were here, you know. Uh-huh. Gosh. The social media breadcrumbs.

I was showing you this over lunch. You were. You had me excited about this. Top seven. He announced his top seven With the caption, Burger King All-American.

The same day, Steve Forbes was on radio elsewhere. saying that he wants to recruit Burger King All-Americans that could kick McDonald's ass. I love the expression. But Don't you think those two are linked? Or maybe Matt McClung heard it.

And he's like, you know what? I'm going to cop this. Yeah, it's too good caption. I'm going to go play at Texas Tech. Chris Beard, he looks like he eats a ton of Burger King.

I can still be a Burger King All-American at Texas Tech. I've been looking for an excuse to bring this up. Why aren't there fat basketball coaches? There are fat football coaches. Why are no basketball coaches fat?

Like the only one out there is Bob Huggins. And he doesn't wear the suit. He just pulls, he has the pullover on. There are no fat basketball coaches. None of them.

They're all in shape. They all look great, except for Bob Huggins. For Huggy Bear. He's the only one.

Now, don't point out older people. Who just look a bit? uh misshaped at points. That's not what we're doing here. Aaron Gabriel, is anybody coming up at the top of your head?

George Carl comes to mind.

Okay. College basketball catchers.

Okay, that's fair. Are there more fat NBA coaches? Jeff Van Gund no, was it Mike Van Gundy? Isn't he pudgy? Stan Van Gundy.

Is that Stan? Stan, yeah, he's pudgy. He looks like the guy on the front of the pizza box. He looks like Ron Jeremy. No, he doesn't.

Yeah, he kind of looks like Ron Jeremy. 336777, 1600. Tell me the name of a fat basketball coach. Dave Doran's not fat. He's going to join us in 10 minutes.

NC State football coach. I'm still trying to recover from this news. on Twitter at Sportsov Dryad. You had Fred Van Vliet. He was on Twitter trying to get him to come play for Steve Forbes.

Remember Van Vliet? He was on those Wichita State teams. When Forge was an assistant for Greg Marshall.

Social media breadcrumbs be damned. Academics be damned. Built-in relationships be damned. I I thought Wake was gonna get this kid. And He's going to be a Texas Tech Red Raider.

Robert, are you still doing homework on college basketball coaches? Mike Bray is not skinny. Yeah, he is. He's got a little pudge. He's got like the Italian.

I see Bray all the time. And. That's not a pudgy man. What about Tubby Smith? I mean, he's not.

I mean, his name is Tubby. But he's not a fat person. What about Randy Bennett? He has like a fat face. I don't even know who Randy Bennett is.

You're talking about Tony Bennett? He's not fat. I know. Randy Bennett is the head coach at St. Mary's College of California.

Yeah, I don't know Randy Bennett. He's got a fat face. Good to know. Transitioning things back to NC State. Devin Leary I think it is going to be the quarterback for NC State this year.

We'll ask Dave Doran about it when he joins us in ten minutes. But Larry, he's younger. Yet, somehow, more experienced than Bailey Hockman, who he's going to be recruiting against, or competing against, excuse me. got recruiting on the mine. Gosh, it just hurts that Wake Forest didn't get Back the clung.

I I don't know if I'm gonna get past this. Anyway. I think we'll find a way. Leary, he has more wraps. He has a higher upside.

And I think he's the guy that NC State can't afford to lose out of the quarterbacks on the roster. He's a sophomore. Other quarterbacks outside of Raleigh, they're taking notice of some of the things he's done. I usually have this philosophy: listen to people in the industry. They can usually tell you who's great and who's I don't want to say a fraud, but maybe fraudulent.

Yeah. Like, I could tell you in sports radio who the great ones are because I work in sports radio, I know how it works.

So I pay attention when other quarterbacks are reviewing what. Active quarterbacks do? What quarterbacks at other places? If somebody at some place is a great quarterback and then applauds. Let's say in this case, Devin Leary.

I'm going to take that seriously. That quarterback who did so on his social media was Taj Boyd. Taj Boyd, on his own social media account, he had videos up and he wanted to talk about. Devin Leary, and this is what he had to say. About The rising NC State sophomore, the things that stood out to him.

In the darkness of time, light does appear and that light was Devin Leary. I mean this kid was 6'2, 215 as a red shirt freshman from the state of Jersey, where he was the Gatorade Player of the Year two times, both junior and senior seasons. And he just has something to him that you can coach, just intangible, this grit. Tenacity. That's what I like about him.

Okay. NC State has a rich quarterback history that we know, especially as of late. And I think that this guy. to be next in line. When he refers to that NC State quarterback pedigree.

Uh You think about Ryan Finley most recently. You're talking about Russell Wilson, Mike Glennon, Philip Rivers.

So yeah, it is a deep. quarterback pedigree at that school. Doran also named him the first string quarterback heading into spring practice.

So it's his job to lose. And based on the five practices they were able to get in, I was told he exceeded expectations. That he looked like almost a different quarterback, had a big offseason.

So I think Leary's going to be the guy, but I'm still interested to talk to. Dave Doran about it. Who am I talking to? Eric here? Let's go to Eric and Burlington, who apparently has a fat basketball coach for me.

Other than Bob Huggins, who do you have? What's going on, Josh? Do you remember Coach Rick Majerus from Utah? Yeah, Rick Majerus. Is Rick Majerus still with us, Robert?

Can you check if Rick Majerus is still with us? I was thinking active coaches. R.I.P. Rick Majerus.

Okay, that's a really good one. Thanks so much. If if that's the list, I still think my point is a good one. If all you can throw at me is Huggy Bear. If that's the list and one of them's not even with us anymore.

Former coach at Utah. Then I think we're on to something here. I want to read the long Atlantic, or I guess it would be the athletic now. Think piece about how or why college basketball coaches aren't fat. I'm interested in that.

Is it because they're always on their feet, Robert? At practice, they're always getting people going. You got to shoot around. Yeah, I would assume so. That's what I was trying to.

I cannot find many fat coaches. It's very hard. That's right. Maybe B Dot has some people on his mind. BDOT's going to join us in 20 minutes.

In studio. Maybe this is something we can return to to try and Uh Salt away. are Or uh Our tears. to soften those Wake Forest not landing. Mac McClung.

from Georgetown. That's the breaking news. He is a Texas Tech Red Raider. The Red Raiders having a lot of success. In recruiting transfers.

It got them to a championship game where they, of course, lost to Virginia.

So a big get for Chris Beard and another tough break early on. For Steve Forbes, who apparently has been knocking on the doors on five-star players still available for the 2020 class. A four-star he's been talking to as well, according to reports I've seen out there. And Davian Williamson, who's from Winston-Salem. And was a player at East Tennessee State.

He's got Wake Forest in his top five.

So it seems like that's another player Wake can potentially build around moving forward. NC State head coach Dave Doran is going to join the show next.

Next on the drive. You're on the drive with Josh Grant. Let's get the show going on Sports Hub Triad. Beat on. She's with us here in studio.

And You and I, we've been doing a lot of corresponding over text, which I know is a really cool thing to bring up when you're on the radio. about this Ty Lawson. Instagram post or post that ended up being deleted by Ty. I didn't think it would balloon into what it became. Yes, you did.

I had no idea. You definitely did. The moment you asked me, I'm going to post, do you mind? You knew that there was a potential for this to balloon as it did. That's right.

B dot. He hit me with it. I said Man, I'm gonna post this. He's a go-right ahead. And I didn't think it would become This is where we're talking about it days later.

But I'm fascinated. how Tar Heel fans feel about this because Most of the ones I've talked to. Said I just hope tie's good. This doesn't make me think less of Ty at all. Because This isn't the tie that I know.

Yeah, it's not the tie I know. It's Duke, it's NC State, it's Carolina haters who are making this a big deal. It's not Carolina fans who give a rip about this. Am I right? With that assumption.

You're exactly right with that assumption. And I don't even really know why, but it isn't under the same umbrella as McCann's. We don't feel the same way. It's like well, I can tell you why. Because Rashad DeCantz was very specific.

Yeah, that's fair. And Rashad Vikants didn't delete his post. Rashad Vikant went on outside the lines and continued talking about it for years. Very valid. Plural.

Very valid. A lot different. Definitely. It was a, what are you doing, Ty? Like, what's going on?

What's the problem? It was more of a, what has happened with you and Roy? Because just like you put on your Twitter moments after you put the post from Ty, you also found documentation that just as early as three years ago, Ty Lawson was posting pictures in UNC garb and praising Roy, deciding what dance he was going to be. Hashtag Tar Heel Tuesdays, a bunch of pictures.

So that's what's strange to me. What could Ty Lawson have learned? to sour him on North Carolina in the last three years. It's talking about NBA GMs. NBAGM is Ty talking to about Roy.

More importantly, what NBA GM is talking to Roy about Ty Seven, eight years after his College career has ended. You would think the better resource to talk to about anything at that point would be. Let's talk to Mike D'Antoni. Hey, let's talk to Kevin McHale. Hey, let's spend time talking to whoever the hell the Denver Nuggets coach was eight or nine years ago because I can't remember.

Not really Williams. Um but in that same vein, like With tie. It could have very easily been a conversation that came up recently, like something that Roy said back then in 2009 that Roy, I mean, that Ty just hadn't got wind of. And then he gets wind of it now and he's upset about it, and then he lashes out. I don't know.

And honestly, I don't care. Ty Lawson is one of the top three greatest point guards in Tar Heel history, as far as I'm concerned. And, you know, you don't know what these guys are going to do with their relationship with Roy. And you don't, you know, but I'm glad you said top three, because if you said top two, I might want to fight. Or I might want, if you suggest he's number one.

I mean, you could argue that. You can't argue in any way that Ty Lawson is better than Phil Ford. That's all about to say, but you're about to go to a guy that you've never even seen dribble a basketball for real. And if you want to go that route, that's cool.

Well, I just mean that he's second in Tar Heel history and scoring before there was a shot clock. I get that, and I give props to Phil. He's like the holy grail when it comes to point guards at Carolina. But in that same vein, when I'm talking about the greatest, usually I'm talking about guys that I've seen. Or I was alive when they were playing.

Well, that's why you go to, there's a difference between favorite and the greatest. Yeah. Like. I made this analogy yesterday. I love Coldplay, but I'm not going to say they're better than the Beatles.

Right? I love the movie Anchorman, but I'm not going to say because I like it more than The Godfather that it's a greater movie or better than you fill in the blank, Casablanca, better than Citizen Kane, etc., etc. I think I've given enough examples there. Before we move on to Mac McClung. Who sabotaged your show?

He did sabotage my name. You know what? I'm mad at this guy now. I don't like Texas Tech over you sound like you sound like an ugly character in an Adam Sandler movie. The McClungs.

You know, I'm not sending to Texas Tech. We'll be just fine with Du Bois, Du Bois. I don't even know how to say his name. He didn't choose him over Wake Forest. Wake Forest didn't have a shot.

He chose him over. Josh made it seem like we're at lunch today. Oh, this was a done-deal.

Social media breadcrumbs, built-in relationship with Forbes, and then two sentences into the segment 30 minutes ago. I'm having to call a hot route. Hey. Hot route. Wouldn't it be nice if we had Sarah McLaughlin music?

Omaha. Drop the Sarah McLaughlin. Omaha. Omaha. Why aren't there fat coaches?

Why is Huggy Bear? 822. Spider 2, why banana? Oh, I had another fat coach. Why is Bob Huggins the only fat coach?

Jason Rabadou. No idea who that is. He coached at Providence. Coached. Like plural, or I mean, past tense, excuse me?

Yes, and then he died in Vietnam coaching a basketball team. Man. I'm just bringing you ask me who are the fat coaches, so I find some fat coaches. What about clearance big house gains? Big house gains.

Active. Yeah, he's passing. Active. So get Big House Gaines, get Rabadeau, or whatever that guy's name is. Get Ron Hunter.

Rick Majaris out of here. Ron Hunter. Wow. Rick Moranis. Ron Hunter.

Wow. Is he still fat or is he in the Ed Cooley category? See, Ed Cooley was fat, no longer fat. I don't even think you can say fat these days, Josh. No, you can still make fun of fat people.

I feel like it's a little bit more. Bartolo, pull up the home run call of Bartolo Colon in Major League Baseball. And we will, seriously, and then we can forever answer the question. Today Can you make fun of fat people? No, you just can't say fat people.

You can't, that's not, you can't do that. You're going to get in trouble. I'm telling you, they're going to be in your mentions. I'm not big sausage fans. Wait a minute.

Wait a minute. I'm not going to get in trouble by simply pointing out there aren't any fat coaches, except that there's Huggy Bear fans. Like, I'm just going to hear from the Bob Huggins fan club. That's it. That's the only coach I point to.

Alright. Like, Bartolo Colon hits a home run in Major League Baseball. Listen to the way it's described because Bartolo. The only explanation for the incred uh to the incredulous. I can't say that word, not even gonna try.

Incredulous, you got it. Duality, I think, is how that word ends. Whatever. How incredulous the broadcaster sounds. What year is this?

I'm more ignorant to baseball than even Robinson. This is 16.

Okay, thanks.

So, three or four years ago. Here's the home run call and It's Bartola Cologne hitting a home run. He had never hit one before, but he is. Really just belovable because of how roundly shaped he is. Cologne looking for his first hit of the year.

He drives one, deep left field, back goes uptime, back near the wall, it's out of here! Tolo has done it! The impossible has happened. The team vacates the dugout as Bartono takes the long trot, his first career home run. And there will be nobody in the dugout to greet him.

Cause he's fast! This is one of the great moments in the history of baseball. Yeah. Jackie Robinson breaks the color barrier. Hank Aaron breaks Babe Roose record.

He hits a home run with a bad thing. And a fat bitcher hit a home run. One of the greatest things that's ever happened in baseball history.

So you can make fun of fat men. I just don't think you can make fun of fat women. That's true. Very, very valid. 100% true.

Yeah. I don't think there are any D1 men's coaches.

So we can make fun. Of the fact there aren't any fat coaches. Yeah, why are you guys so skinny? Why are you leaving all that food on the table? Get your little ass up here and eat a biscuit.

Like, ooh. Co Coach K, why are you so skinny? That's a good question, man. You can't say the same about football coaches. Heck no, you can't.

Bob Stoops. He's the first dude that coached my body. Coach Dougs. There are a lot of fat coaches out there. He's not even a real person.

Whatever happened to Ralph Fregent? Oh, I loved Ralph Frijan. The fridge. Loved him at Maryland. Even had a fat nickname.

Well, what was this fat dick that you can do? The fridge. I don't think you could. What about that dude for the Browns that every time he'd go hood, his belly would come up? I don't know the guy's name from Hard Knox, but he was certainly a gem.

Are we just going to do this for the next few hours? Yes, I would love to talk about fat people. Y'all are ridiculous, man. I'm telling you. I don't know why it happens on Wednesday that the show just goes right on off the rails, but I'm not responsible.

I think it is. It's not me this time. I had nothing to do with this. You all go talking about fat coaches before I even got here because McClung hung you. Hot.

Hot route. Omaha. Let's audible. Get the Omaha drop. 336-777-1600 is the number.

Robert, get to some of those calls. Bob Wiley. That was his name. Bob Wiley. Do you know what is even more entertaining is the fact that you're getting a bunch of phone calls about these random conversations, but the show that you prepped for, McClone, you can't even do it.

The Audibles are super hidden. Ain't that radio? Yeah. Well, I can do the show.

Well, you can't. McClain's all in Texas where he's gone. Wake Forest. Don't do it. They might land one of the biggest transfers they ever had.

Let's do the shell that I might have been able to do. Like I'm telling you what, Matt McClung, if Wake Forest were to get him... Short list, greatest transfers ever. It's him and maybe Anthony Tucker in the late 80s. He'd be the primary building block, 6'2 point guard.

Multiple years left. Fifteen a game at Georgetown. It would be an immediate lift. For Wake Forrest and Steve Forbes. Let's go to Ryder in Greensboro.

Does he have a fat basketball coach for me? Ryder, what d'ye got? Bruce Carl is pretty big guy. I mean Bruce Pearl is fat. That's what I'm saying.

He he and he sweats a lot too. A big, sweaty guy. You know what I'm saying?

So what is that show? What are you talking about? Get Ryder out of here. Ryder, Bruce Pearl is not fat. He is.

How dare you, Robert? We had Bruce Pearl on the show too. Bruce Pearl is also fat. We had Bruce Pearl on the show two or three weeks ago, and you're calling him fat. I don't think that's a bad thing.

I think he would say he's a little chunky. All right. 3367771600. I want to get things back on the rails, but then again. Why?

I don't know if I need to get things back on the rails because everybody around me Just wants us to continue down this track. That's where we are. Andrew from High Point has a theory on why basketball coaches are not fat. What's that theory, Andrew?

Well, if you look at basketball coaches are usually usually former basketball players. Basketball players obviously not fat due to the nature of their work. Football coaches, a lot of them are former linemen who were some of the bigger boys. It's a good theory. Thank you for the call, Andrew.

That is a good theory. Why are most coaches linemen? Let's do some digging into that.

Well, most coaches aren't linemen. Most of them end up being like quarterbacks. Quarterbacks mostly end up being. The coaches.

Okay. Now that would make sense. That would make sense. All right, let's go to Rick real quickly. We'll do one more.

We'll see if we can do one more. 336777-1600. Rick, give me a fat basketball coach. Sean Miller, have you looked at him lately? Sean Miller's not fat.

Rick! He's five foot nothing, two eighty. All right, well, 5-8-2-something. There you go. Rick, thanks for the call.

Who? The Arizona coach? Yeah. No way is he fat. I don't think these people know what fat means.

He does have some neck meat coming out of his collar there. Stocky. Yeah. Stocky. You know when the neck meat comes out your collar.

If you're not shaped like a light bulb, You're not considered fat. You got to have that roundness, that rotuntness where your stomach can't go. Steve Forbes. Steve Forbes said during the pandemic, he called himself fat. I don't think Steve Forbes is fat.

Yeah, he is. You see the way that shirt fit? That bottom button be open. Yeah, but I think he's proud of it though. I mean, you can be proud of your pud of your pudge, but just acknowledge there's pudge there.

Bob Huggins, he acknowledges it by just wearing the sweater. He says he's not gonna wear a suit. Like, he's just gonna wear the pullover. Accept it, bro. You are listening to WSJS Winston-Salem, WCOG Greensboro, WPCM Burlington, WMFR High Point, those signals making up Sports Up Triad.

Alright, so I've posed multiple questions on Twitter. One, I posed regrettably. Simply asking, Why aren't there any fat basketball coaches? You can respond to that at SportsHub Triad 336-777-1600. The other question that I asked.

What is the greatest sports movie? that has been released in the last 20 years.

So we're not looking at like The Sand Lot, a league of their own, Bull Durham. Gosh, a league of their own was great. Trying to think of some more Any given Sunday, we can't do that one. That was 99. 99 that happened.

Raging Bull, the list goes on and on. We're talking about the last 20 years. I have people hitting me with all different kinds of movies, some that are sports, some that aren't. Or maybe they are, Gladiator being an example. Is Gladiator a sports movie?

I don't think so because if you say it is, then you're opening up a can of worms that leads to a place I don't think we intended to go. Like, is the Hunger Games a sports movie? What do you say, Robert? You don't want to know what I got to say. I think it is.

I think it is a sports movie. It was a sport back then. Like, technically, that's what sport was for them.

So, I mean, I would say Gladiator, yes, Hunger Games, because it takes place in a fictional world. That would be a no. That's not a sport.

Okay. I gotta agree with Rob. You don't have to. Yeah, I do. In this situation, I have to.

All right, we got B Dot's Grammar School in 15 minutes. Robert, do we have a bell of some sort that I can do this? My top five. Sports movies released in the last 20 years. Number five.

Friday Night Lights. Booby Miles. Tim McGraw. Playing the drunk as well as you can. God, I really rooted for Boobie Miles.

I did too. I know a movie like that is great when it actually makes me go and go to Google. And try to like find the teams. I was in there looking for what is, I think it was Perry and all these teams and stuff, like, and just really engulfed in that whole Texas football thing. It makes me want to ask another controversial question, though.

Oh, my God. How come the team that the good squad faces at the end of movies is always an all-black team with an all-black coaching staff? Like, watch Hoosiers. Oh, this team's trouble. And the entire team's African-American.

When you look at this movie, Friday Night Lights, at the very end, Oh, it's Dallas Carter and The entire staff, African American, it's an all-black school. They're seen to be the bad guys, the dirty team, while small town Odessa wearing the all-white uniforms. Yep. They're the good guys. Because that's America's fear, buddy.

That's why the movie's number five on my list. Number four. The fighter. The what? The fighter Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, Mickey Ward.

Hmm. And I never saw it. I'm familiar, but I never see it. Amy Adams mastering. The fighter's girlfriend.

Oh my gosh. Had the accent and all. She's tending bar, and she's like. Essentially the person saying, you better get out of fighting. Or I'm gonna take I'm gonna take the girls.

To to my auntie's house.

Okay. That's what's gonna happen here. She she played the fighter's girlfriend about as well as anybody's ever played it in a movie. And Then you have the twist involving drugs in it that you didn't see coming. Just a really good movie.

Drugs. The fighter, number four on the list. Number three, Creed. Yep, that's on my list. Creed Exceeded expectations.

Agreed. I said that earlier, Josh. I was watching that movie just to talk trash about it. There was no way it was going to be good. Ryan Cougar, though, everything he touches is great.

Absolutely. Black Panther, Fruit Vale Station. Why I'm kind of excited about this new Space Jam. He's going to be a producer on it. Absolutely.

So, Creed, it exceeds expectations. Stallone was really good in it, and they didn't. Go over the top with Stallone. Also, they picked the perfect moment to bring the rocky music into it. They brought it.

right as he started to get it going in the fight at the end. Just a perfect touch. Creed, number three sports movie of the last 20 years. Number two. Million dollar baby.

Hmm. Hillary swank. Oscar worthy performance. Morgan Freeman. Training her up.

Oh my gosh, this movie. I it's it's my favorite Clint Eastwood movie. That he's made. What is it about? What sport?

It's a boxing movie. Never seen it. Never heard. I don't see it. A woman boxing.

This used to always be on Showtime when I was waiting for the late movies to come on. Yeah. And I would be like, oh my God, Million Dollar Baby, come on. Break your neck already. Jesus.

I've never heard of this Million Dollar Baby. You need to check it out. Circa 2004. Number one. The number one.

Sports movie of the last twenty years. Money ball. Mm. Haven't seen it, but I heard it was good. This was one when the baseball movie about the A's.

Yeah. Yeah. Brad Pitt. I love Bennett Miller's movies. I loved Capote.

I loved. Foxcatcher, which I think qualifies as another sports movie as well. Jonah Hill, really good in this. The ending with the song that his daughter wrote. Oh my gosh, that movie, it hits home.

It still sticks with me. There's so many lines from this movie I remember.

So, those are my five greatest. Sports movies of the last 20 years. Number five, Friday Night Lights, number four, the fighter, number three, Creed, number two, Million Dollar Baby, number one, Moneyball. What do you have at number one? I'm shocked that Ali was not in your list at all.

Like, I'm very, very shocked that Ali was not. All those 5B that you have here, and for it not to be on your list, I mean. Will Smith did an amazing job. That movie might as well be titled Will Smith Fishing for an Oscar. No, God.

No way. He became Ali. He wasn't Will Smith. Right. It just wasn't a great.

Movie. It was a good performance, not a great movie. There's a difference.

Okay, that's fair. But. one of my favorite movies that has the best sound track. is semi-pro. What?

Love Me Sexy? Fame music, please. Best Josh is so bad that he wasn't involved in this. He's like, how the hell did you get music on? Film off Pro, man.

Does this get put in great movies? Sports movies? I watched this like two weeks ago now that they added this to Netflix. It is a fantastic movie. It is amazing.

The dude fought a freaking bear for the fans. Also, this song is just a banger. It is! This is a smooth one. None of your top five had a song that was even close to this, Josh.

I mean Moneyball's score was really good. We'll make it and we'll hope you're sexy. I will hope you're sexy. Uh water. All right, get out of there for Josh Fusses at me for playing music that I didn't ask.

That's what happens when you talk to the producer of the show behind the person whose name's on the show's back. Uh-huh. I've got another one for you. Uh, it's pretty on brand for me. The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke.

Yes, that was that was in strong consideration. Really good ending to that movie. Good depiction of what the wrestling game's like. Yeah, for sure. I I remember watching it uh in the movie theater with my mother and then having to see them do illicit activities in the bathroom with Scandalous women.

That was a fun movie to watch with my mom. Does Talladega Knights rank? Oh, man. We don't have any more music. Josh, look, we don't have any more music.

Dodgeball is a better. Sports comedy than Talladega Nights. Just a better movie. Why do you try to do this? He tries to say stuff to egg everybody up.

Well, no, I'm just saying it is. He always poo-poos Ricky Bobby. I'm not poo-pooing Ricky Bobby. Ricky Bobby's a jinx. I like Talladega Knights.

I'm just saying that Dodgeball's better. No, no, Ricky Bobby is a classic. Talladega Knights is. Is leaps and bounds better than Dodge Barbara. I quote Ricky Bobby almost every day.

Bro, easily. Because if you ain't first, you're last. Before we let Before we get to B Dot's grammar school, we need to get to B Dot's message to Ty Lawson, who had the Instagram post earlier in the week. He's the unofficial mascot for Tar Heel basketball, not Lawson, clearly. But uh B dot, let's get to that.

What's your message to Ty? Um, Ty Lawson. Ty, my guy who I've never met. I would like to say to you here on the Josh Graham show the exact same thing that I said to you in your DMs when I saw you post this on Instagram. To yet I still have no response.

Nevertheless, hey. We love you, Ty, okay? You're still top three point guards in Carolina history. That will never, ever fail. But when it's things like this, bro, could you please just keep that in y'all's little chat?

You know that chat y'all got where all the players can't nobody be in unless you was a player and there's only one person that can approve who could be in the chat? That chat. Keep those conversations in that because we didn't know about this and we didn't need to know about this and clearly it was all. Real bad choice of timing and just erring judgment at the time because you've gone and deleted it and now all is forgiven. Can't wait to see your late night with Roy Ty.

We'd always love you. You're always a tar heel. Look at you. That was super respectful. Not that I didn't think you had that in you, but that was just very uh Very tight.

Well, thank you very much, Rob. I'm a professional. That was tight, Lawson. All right. How many players have you been talking to about this?

Oh. Just give me a number. Maybe six. Six former tar heels. Mm-hmm.

Anybody have an interesting reaction without saying the name of the player? No, everybody had the same reaction. They were confused, had no clue what it was about. Wes Miller was the same way on the air yesterday. Like they had no clue, bro.

Like they were just... Let's play that real quick. This is Wes Miller yesterday responding to the Ty Lawson post. It's kind of one of those things that we talked about it early with just all these different media outlets now, right? All the social media.

Number one, I'm not judgmental yet. I mean, I'm not going to be instantly judgmental. Right. You know, I haven't. I haven't been in contact with Ty recently.

I have no idea if he's going through something. Was that a rational? I mean, there's just. people put things on their social media accounts. All the time, and then regret that, right?

And to my knowledge, he's taken it down since then. He has.

So I think sometimes we try to teach our players this. Be careful what you put up there. But because now it's for the world to see, right? You don't realize how quickly things can spread.

So, my initial reaction is: I hope Ty's okay. I hope he's not going through something. I hope he's okay. And then my second reaction is, I don't really in my heart believe that's how Ty feels. I never got that sense while he was in school there.

I only played with him for a year. He loved North Carolina. He had a great relationship with Coach Williams. what they did together. is incredible.

I think he left there on great terms. I think it's probably a little bit blown out of proportion. And I think for me to have too strong of opinion or comment on it, I don't really know. I saw what everybody else saw, but it doesn't it didn't sit right with me and it didn't feel accurate to me.

So I hope Ty's okay. And I think it's a good lesson of why you just don't post things. You know, you you should you should be more thought out, but that's how social media can be dangerous. It probably, I probably should have taken Wes Miller's advice when it comes to the social media stuff. Because all I'm getting in my mentions.

are pictures of Rick Majerus. That's it. That's my missions right now. In response to. My question: Why aren't there fat college basketball coaches?

Leave Rick Majerus alone. No, that Homer Simpson disappearing into the trees is the funny one. Yeah. Lance with a Steve Forbes reaction on here. A key.

He said it, not me. Anyway, it's a very short list. We'll just put it that way. It is a very short list of Chubbies.

Well, there is only one tubby. W Smoo. Chubbies. Oh, Charvis. There's no coach named Shelby in D one basketball that I know of.

Correct me if I'm wrong on that one. All right, let's get to. B Dots Grammar School. It's next on the drive. It's the drive with Josh Graham on Sports Hub Triad.

Former Georgetown Point Guard. Mac McClung announced where he's going to be transferring. Earlier today. Spoiler, it's not Wake Forest. The Deeks.

We're in his top seven. The rumor going into the day was he was hot on Texas Tech. And it turns out the Red Raiders and Crispiard Land. The kid who scored 15 points a game for the Hoyas a year ago. Here are the three reasons why I believe McClung.

Chose Texas Tech over a place like Wake Forest. For one, I think he wants to join a proven winner. That's the reason why I couldn't really knock what Olivier Tsar did or what Chandi Brown did. Both those guys, they love Wake Forest. But They have one year of eligibility left to peace.

They haven't been to the NCAA tournament. If you change head coaches, that usually means you're rebuilding.

So, if I was a college player, I would want to play in the NCAAs. At Kentucky, you're going to do that. At Gonzaga, Or, excuse me, at Michigan, you're going to do that as well. Gonzaga was also in the running for Chandi. McClung Key has two years remaining.

So it's a slightly different circumstance, but Texas Tech, they were the national runner-up. to Virginia in 2019. Really good ball team. Chris Beard, one of the best coaches, maybe one of the more underappreciated coaches in all of college basketball. He wants to play for a winner.

He's going to do that. And Lubbock. Georgetown. They've had one winning season. In the last five years.

That sounds familiar? It's kind of what he would be stepping into. at Wake Forest.

So I understand. wanting to go To Lubbock, go to Texas Tech, go to the NCAA tournament, go to a proven winner, then going to Wake Forest. Secondly, Wake has an underclassman point guard who's already on the roster. Jacoby Neath, he came on strong towards the end of the year. I think it was four of the final six games he scored into double figures.

He was awesome in the Duke game at the Joel that Wake ended up winning. That's something that every single prospect looks at. I heard Doug Gottlieb on a podca a podcast not too long ago. talking about recruiting, saying that the number one thing that a kid does when he looks at a school, he goes to the recruiting class or he goes to the roster and sees if they have an underclassman player at the position that he plays.

Now I know the one and dones change things a little bit. But Matt McClung isn't the type of guy, I think, who's going to go to school for one year and then enter his name into the NBA draft.

So He's trying to go somewhere. He's gonna get on the floor immediately. It's the best situation for his basketball career. Right now, I think Neath would compete with McClung. McClung would start.

But it would be a competition. And who knows if Neath steps in and does really well. If He's for sure going to be the point guard at the start of the 2021-2022 season. I really like Jacoby Neef a lot.

So I think that factored in. Marcus Watson, the Chicago point guard who committed the Danny Manning. He said he's out. He got out of his letter of intent, But Wake had another point guard in the class, Quadri Adams, who's going to be. On this roster, too.

So it might have been as simple as McClung looking at. A rising sophomore point guard who had a lot of playing time last year, who he's going to compete against as a junior next year. And Quadri Adams, who's eligible to play this year, who might be vying for floor time as well as a sophomore. That's not uncommon. You just look at the class and say, okay, well, they have point guards already there.

I'm just going to go somewhere else where it might be easier for me to step onto the floor. And lastly, Texas Tech They've done a better job than I think anybody else in the country. at winning with transfers. The reason why They were in that championship game. was the way Beard recruited Grad transfers, guys who could come in from another place.

who's already had a coach put their hands on them. And Step into another program, step into Lubbock, and be able to integrate them into what he wants to do. It's a skill that doesn't get enough credit. I believe The 2018 Texas Tech team to be the most talented team he's had. They were awesome.

They could shoot. They had draft picks, first-round draft picks. And they made it to the Elite Eight, I believe. I know they went to the Sweet 16. I think they went to the Elite Eight.

But they didn't get further than that. The next year they lose players. but they add with the grad transfers. It's changed college basketball a little bit. Where now Coach K is bringing in a kid from Columbia.

In Patrick Tape and Roy Williams last year, we saw how he experimented with the grad transfers as well. It didn't really work out well with. Christian Keeling coming in or Justin Pierce, but I think that's direct influenced by what Beard did with his evaluation, bringing in guys from other schools who can immediately help him to play. It's not going to be immediate in McClung's case, but this is a guy. Who feels comfortable?

This coach. He's gonna put me in the best position.

So that's why I believe Mac McClung chose Texas Tech. over Wake Forest. Why He might have thought. Lubbock would be a better place for him to be Than Winston Salem. You can tweet the show at SportsUpTry at 3367.

It's if it's 7-1-600, it is the phone number. John Forsland. Is The TV play-by-play voice of the Carolina Hurricanes. He's also one of the leading voices of the NHL on NBC as well. I don't know if he's going to be in one of the hub cities, but I imagine he would be.

With the NHL's return, the regular season is over. We learned that yesterday. The Carolina Hurricanes are going to be facing the New York Rangers. In a best of five series. While the top four teams in each conference They compete to figure out the top seating in a round robin facing each other.

Twice. It's an interesting format. I think it's going to be a fun format. But the Hurricanes were one of the two teams to vote against it. John will join us to discuss why that might be.

in about ten minutes, but it might be as simple as The hurricanes haven't played the Rangers well this year. They've lost all four games they played against them in the regular season. The Rangers wouldn't be in the postseason. If the season ended in the normal format, the Hurricanes would be as one of the wildcard teams.

So. I think it would be a fun idea. For the playoffs, getting things fired up. If the hurricanes make another run. We Have promos for each series we're gonna watch.

Now, I don't have any wrestling background. Robert Does He's a former wrestling referee here in the Triad.

So, Robert, I asked him to put together a promo that he says nobody else has heard because he's not proud of it. The reason Robert's not proud of it One, it might not be any good, even though Robert doesn't like anything he does, and I think Robert is incredibly funny. But number two, he doesn't know a damn thing about hockey.

So This is based on research that he's done. Information that he's been given. We'll see how this goes. This is. Our version of a hype video.

The audio you're about to hear, Hurricanes Rangers. Let's get after it.

So it looks like we're gonna have playoff hockey after all. Isn't that fantastic?

Well, you know, someone who's not so happy about playoff hockey coming back, it's the New York Rangers. Because they know what's on the other side waiting for them. They know they wouldn't have made the playoffs anyway. They know they shouldn't even be here. They shouldn't be in the presence of someone like Sebastian Ajo, someone like Jacob Slavin, someone like Dougie Hamilton that's gonna be back now.

And even though the Rangers won all four regular season meetings against Carolina, all the chips weren't down. The chips are down now, my friend, and they've got the dip to back it up. Have you seen our coach? His nickname's DeBod. Maybe because he's got a slamming one.

The dude is built like a brick house. And you want to come in here and try to talk like you're going to unseat the Carolina Hurricanes? No way in hell. Because the last time you won the Stanley Cup was in 1994. Nobody remembers that because they were too busy watching the OJ Chase on TV.

So it doesn't matter where they play, whether it's Carolina, whether it's New York, whether it's Montana, Mount Rushwore, the moon, it doesn't matter. You bring all your pretty boys, you bring Henry Lundquist. Because if there's one thing I hate more than people that are intolerant of other people's culture, it's a Swede.

So it doesn't matter how, who, what, when, or why the Hurricanes win, it was your destiny because you were always going to play second fiddle to the Islanders. See you TBD, Rangers. I want to know, Robert, your first reaction when you googled Henrik Lundquista's name. That's just I would just love to smack the crap out of him. He just has a very slappable face.

He has.

A beautiful face. That's why I would love to slap. He might be the most handsome athlete we have in all of sports. I don't want to have that discussion right now. I don't want to have this discussion right now because a fight might happen.

I mean Don't even pull up pictures of Cliff Kingsbury in front of me. Whoop! Larry Fedora and his six-pack. He's smoking. I mean, as far as dads go, if you're really into the dad thing, then I could see Fedora about my time.

Yeah. Henrik Lundquist, though. I think Aaron's just learning who Henrik Lundquist is right now. He looks like great value Doctor Strange. Mm-hmm.

That's what he looks like. He looks like Steve Nash's pretty brother who couldn't play basketball. This is a segment we're going to call now the very end here. We'll sit and wait while you Google Henrik Lundquist. While you think about how did you describe it?

Great value, Doctor Strange. Great value, Doctor Strange. Henrik Lundquist. That's the best slam of them all. out of all those slams.

All right. Why were the Carolina Hurricanes so upset? We're so vehemently against this proposal to return the 24-team. Format. The voice of the Keynes John Forslan will join to explain next.

Josh Graham loves to talk sports. He also loves writing sports poetry, but he can't think of a rhyme for pocketbook. Ah. I get it. You're on the drive with Josh Graham.

The message from leadership inside the Carolina Hurricanes Organization. After yesterday's news that the regular season is officially over, And if the postseason were to happen next month, it would be the 2014 format, is essentially this. Whoever it is, whoever they tell us to play, we're going to play them. The Hurricanes, they were one of the two teams to vote against this format. Tom Dundon, we heard from him saying that that was a topic he didn't really care to explore much.

Rod Brindemore was on the station earlier today, and he's a guy who's going to get his team prepared to play whoever is going to line up against them.

Well, it seems like when things start up, it's going to be the New York Rangers, and it's going to be in this 24-team format I just described.

Well, we're now being joined by the play-by-play voice of the Carolina Hurricanes, John Forslan, our good friend, who doubles as the North Carolina co-sportscaster of the year from this past year. I'm interested in what you make of the Hurricanes' opposition to this format. What do you think bothers Tom Dundon the most about it? I really don't know, Josh. Great to be with you and hear your voice again.

I'm perplexed by it. I mean, I'm sure they have the reasons. I think anybody around the league could look at a system and certainly to get to this point and and and throw a tart at it and say, geez, that doesn't suit us very well. Tampa Bay Lightning were the other team that did that. My point is this, it just didn't get here yesterday.

They got here over weeks and Long hours and real, real good work done by the Players Association with active players involved. It's kind of forged with the league. The best case scenario. Be quite honest, the only way to do this correctly is to resume the regular season at where it stopped. finish it.

and involve all the teams. And then have a round of sixteen and have your playoffs. And get on with it as you normally would. But a as we've gone through the process, it became more and more unrealistic that that would work. And then another scenario was, well, draw a line, and whatever the playoffs and the playoff teams were on the pause date of March the 12th, there's your deal.

And that wasn't really fair to teams who are in and around the cut line and both conferences. And do they have the right to play in? Is that a scenario you might want to get to?

So they got to this point, which if the league pulls this off, I, for one, don't care. But I'm not Tom Dundon. I don't own the hurricanes. I'm not the general manager, obviously. I'm not the head coach, and I'm not one of the players.

But I just think based on what's happened in the world. What's happened in this country? If we can somehow get back and Boost the morale, recapture some of the revenue for both not only owners but the players. and to move into a safe environment to get it done properly and then forge into the next season, which is the most important thing, how to do that correctly, how to do that under normal circumstances. To me, that's what we should be focused on.

And whether it's, you know, three out of five against the Rangers, it's not right. And they were out and the Kanes were in. I don't have a lot of time for it. That's to be as frank as possible. And I just think we should look at life differently than wondering about the ins and outs of a 24-game tournament.

And I think when you're sitting in a chair like Gary Bettman's sitting in, it's part politician. And any politician will tell you that you're never going to make everybody happy. If you can get 28 out of 30 in any type of proportion, I think you'd take it any time.

So it's something that is best for the league in the way that you're describing. But for the Hurricanes... I mean, obviously, it's been a rough couple of months for everybody, but to spin it positively, Dougie Hamilton, that we thought was going to be out for the remainder of the year with his leg, it seems like he might be able to play again.

So I feel a lot differently about Carolina's chances with him in the lineup than I did with the understanding he wasn't going to be able to play. How much of a difference do you think he makes in Carolina's chances if we're allowed to play? He'll he'll make a big difference. Arguably their most valuable player all season. in the front end of the year, October, November, December, Really involved in the North Trophy as the league's best defenseman conversation.

had a little bit of a tail off in January, but not significant. High end player, great player, big plus. Sammy Vatnan, who they acquired from the New Jersey Devils at the trading deadline. has yet to play a game as a Carolina hurricane because he was injured at the time of the trade. and was working his way back and then this happened.

Now he's at full health. Right-handed shooting, power play defenseman, another guy that will bolster what is already a very good back end. They probably won't have Brett Pesci went through shoulder surgery. They probably won't have him back. But there's a chance, the deeper this goes into the summer, early fall, there's always that chance.

By and large, I like their chances because they're a together group It won't take much. They're well coached. won't take much for that to get back to where it needs to be. and they're younger. And they're quick.

And I think younger teams in this lab experiment that they're going to do with 24 teams and no fans and two locales. I think younger teams will have an advantage.

So, yeah, I think the four games against the Rangers went the way of the Rangers. That's the way it is. But I don't think any of it matters when they convene to play again. And the Kanes are fifty to one long shots to do this. And my kids have all my speed, Josh.

So if I were a betting guy, That's not a bad bet 'cause I think they have a chance To go deep with this situation. I really do. John Forsland's with us here, the voice of the Carolina Hurricanes. Follow him on Twitter at John Forsland. Hopefully, we'll be hearing your voice at one of the hub locations, wherever it might be.

It's just a lot of people are confusing yesterday what the announcement was. There's some saying that it was an official announcement that hockey's going to be back. No, it was just. Here, if they do return, this is what the format is going to be. What's the biggest question John Forsland has right now about the restart, where we might be headed?

Timing, I just think, you know, it is again with an eye on the next season.

So, you know, I heard a scenario this morning. That's the twenty twenty one season. might not start until january first. And that would be hopefully Full on with fans. Hopefully, we're in a better place health wise, treatments, vaccine, so on.

But who knows? That's all a gray area. but it could start with the Winter Classic and go from there. The NBA might start the twenty twenty one season on Christmas Day. That's a scenario that's been talked about.

But the longer this goes, you know, where you just can't seem to get to it. And I'll tell you why it's different for hockey than, say, basketball, is the amount of skating players have to do to be ready to get to a training camp environment.

So for me, the best thing that happens next is The start date for phase two, which is when can the players actually go to their facilities? They don't all have to come to their markets. They can train in team facilities where they live, if say they live in Minnesota. Canada, you know, the Boston area, that's okay too, as long as they can skate. Because that's the hard part about this.

Players need weeks of skating before they get to a training camp.

So I look at this June. As any type of You would have in a conventional year where players skate, many of them in their markets. still at some of them at home, but they're skating every day. they have to so that when they get to training camp, which hopefully is around July one, They go hard for two weeks, they break camp, they go to the Hub City, they play a couple of exhibition games, and they start a three out of five series and they take it from there. But unlike Basketball.

Which obviously need precision and conditioning and all of that. But I think those athletes. can keep their conditioning at a high level, convene, get in rhythm and play a game. But a hockey player just can't start from scratch. They have to have a baseline of skating for weeks to avoid groin injuries and other things that could happen.

So you have to amp it up. You have to ratchet up that dimension of your athleticism to be in a position to get to a training camp environment.

So as soon as we get solid dates, out of this, that's okay. I'm not as concerned about logistics. Borders, quarantines, that's an issue. But I think that they haven't thought of all this and talked about this and negotiated this with the union by now. It would be naive.

So, I think they have. I think it's a moving target. That's been the problem. It's been a moving target for the commissioner to kind of. pin where and pin what date.

Um because things change. You know, for instance, maybe uh three weeks ago. people would have forecasted even our state would be further along than it is. But the governor is being cautious, he's doing what he thinks is right, and he's laying out a plan that is going along slowly. And I think as they look at different areas of the country, they see a variety of ways the states are going about this.

And then when you get to the provinces in Canada, That's totally different too.

So it's it's hard. Being Gary Bentman's feet through all of this. He's been through three lockouts. He's forged a new world with a salary cap in the NHL. He's brought in a wealth of expansion.

But this is the the obviously the the The pinnacle of challenges he's had in his career. It stands out to me when we had John Swofford on, the ACC commissioner, and I asked him what. March the 12th, where that ranked on days that he had to face as the leader of this league. And he's been the commissioner since 1997. And without hesitation, without even thinking about it, he said number one, and it's not close.

And that speaks to the challenges that. Commissioners and directors of athletics and teams are facing in professional sports with the coronavirus. But John Forsland is with us, the voice of the Carolina Hurricanes, one of the foremost authorities on all things hockey. But I love talking. Baseball with John and pretty much anything else.

It seems baseball. This is going to be a massive week for them. On Monday, reportedly, there was the financial proposal from the owners to the players' union. We still haven't seen details of that yet. If baseball hypothetically can figure out The logistics of how to get a season done, much like we're seeing with the KBO overseas.

And for whatever reason. It's the money that they can't dole out. It's a labor dispute rather than a coronavirus dispute, and they're unable to play this year. Would the damage For the sport be in line with 94 in the first strike, or would it be even beyond that? I think it's beyond that.

you know i think uh it'd be hard for pe people to relate to it It already is. It's hard to fathom how this could happen. It's hard to even imagine that we can't be in a position to. play a professional sport for the good. Of the country, which I really think it would be a huge morale boost.

I've said this over and over again. Health economy and and uh morale. are really close. right now.

Okay, at first it's a health and overrunning hospitals. Then we see how suppressed the economy has become throughout the country because of the lockdowns. But then we get to morale. And you get to issues that are popping up all over the place: violence, domestic violence, suicides, alcoholism, all these things. And and I think We're professional sports, and when we get to the fall, college sports, where they find their place is just boosting up our morale.

And to have a dispute like this no matter who's right and wrong, and I don't really know because I'm so immersed in my sport I don't know the intricacies of what they're trying to do here. But as an outsider, to me, I smell a rat because it looked like they had agreed to prorated salaries and then there's this fifty-fifty thing, which really isn't a free market, that's a salary cap. And now we're getting into these another diversion, it seems, which is bothering the players. That's too bad. And so the bottom line is if they can't come to resolution, I don't know where they go.

They they must have franchises that are in dire straits. And that must be why they would even get to this point. Uh only the owners of that league know. But when they get to that place, if it is as you described and there is no Major League Baseball, never mind the destruction they've done to Minor League Baseball and their system, that's going to be hard to come back from because it was so emotional in the early 90s. You know, baseball.

They took away the World Series. People couldn't believe it. Um but they eventually come back. And thank goodness we had the run We did in the late 90s as a baseball fan, though, the home run surge in Mark McGuire and Sammy Soza brought it back. They brought it back.

And uh and bonds and all that stuff. But if if we can't get to it, I would say, you're right. I would say it's going to be really difficult to see where they go next because I know as a survivor of three workstoppages in hockey, which isn't really where it's one of the four majors, I guess, but you always have to say, I guess. 'Cause there are people who tell you that there are three majors in football, basketball and baseball, and then you get to hockey, and then maybe a step below to the soccer leagues and so on. But I I still put hockey in there as a four.

Uh but still, when we had our our labor situations in this league and when we canceled the season in 04, 05, Still plenty of people who said, never again, man, never again, because it's a labor situation that people cannot relate to. This is different. There has to be a way for them to play. There has to be a way for them to play because people and The country Needs it. I I hope they find a way to do it.

It's very well communicated there. Shouldn't surprise anybody. Co-North Carolina Sportscaster of the Year, no big deal. John Forsland. Back-to-back years are going to be unable to attend the ceremony because there's not going to be a ceremony to go to this year.

2021, right? Yeah, I hope so. I mean, I I'll be there no matter what, but uh yeah, it's it's just too bad, isn't it? I mean, it it just I who who would have thought that we'd ever be in a place like this? But I've been saying all along, Josh, there's a blue sky on the other side of this.

We'll get to it at some point, which is how we do it. And hopefully, yesterday's news for the National Hockey League is a little glimmer of hope. And I am optimistic that they will figure out a way to do this. We'll get it on television somehow. It'll be there to consume.

And I think people will. I mean, I think it's unbelievable the ratings that we've seen for NASCAR and its return and the four legends of sport get together in the pouring rain and play six hours of golf, and some play it really bad, and seven million people watch.

So That's pretty good. You're the absolute best, Johnny. It's good to hear your voice. I hope you and the family are well, and that I'll get to see you sometime soon, not just hear your voice. I look forward to that.

Keep up the good work or the great work, I should say. You got it. That's John Forsland. He's on Twitter at John Forsland. Shoot him a follow.

He's the voice of the Carolina Hurricanes, all-around good guy as well.
Whisper: parakeet / 2025-07-04 15:00:36 / 2025-07-04 15:02:29 / 2

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