Raise Hell, Praise Dolly

He's amused Cam Newton. He's been insulted by Charles Barkley. When some idiot in the press asked him, if you know what you know now, would you schedule this game?

He's interviewed Matthew McConaughey. I do say go Tarion. And he's taken on Big Blue Nation.

He's just completely taking the wind out of my face. It's time for The Drive with Josh Graham. You are on a Monday Drive WSJS News Talk Sports for The Triad where we have two significant college basketball headlines to start our week. In Durham, Jeremy Roach announced he has pulled his name from the NBA draft and will return to Duke for a fourth season. Meanwhile, in Winston-Salem, shocking news that Bobby Clinton has decided he will not be back at Wake Forest and will also be foregoing the scouting combine this week, which means he's been told something by a scout or an NBA exec that he feels he can bank on and good on him for that. With Jeremy Roach deciding to return to Durham, Duke will have four starters back and will likely be the preseason number one team in year two for a coach who took over for a legend at a Blue Blood.

What could possibly go wrong? In all seriousness, get ready for the comparisons between next year's Duke team and last year's Carolina team. They're coming. North Carolina last year, all the expectations and now all these expectations for John Shire in year two, they're coming. However, the Blue Devils, let's get ahead of this now. They're not going to meet the same fate as the Tar Heels just did because of a few different reasons.

Here's why. The most obvious difference between Duke this year and, or I guess next season and North Carolina this past year, Duke's loaded with NBA talent. Carolina was not. The reason all those players came back to Chapel Hill a year ago was because they had nowhere else to go. Caleb Love wasn't going to be a draft pick or at least not a first round draft pick.

Armando. Probably not going to be a draft pick. People are talking about Leaky Black right now as a G League player. That's all good and well, but it's a lot different than what we're looking at with Duke. North Carolina, who did they add in last year's recruiting class to bolster the roster?

Not a five star. They haven't had a five star player since Caleb Love in 2020. Duke, meanwhile, had Filipowski come back who may have been a first round pick. At worst, early second round. Mark Mitchell, who probably would not have been a first, but could be. Definitely going to be taken in the draft.

Tyrese Proctor, he's a draft pick. Plus, five star one and done players who are coming in in addition to that. North Carolina didn't have that. And here's how important that is for a national title contender. Every single national champ since the 40s has had a first round pick or the equivalent of that in 2023. A player that was taken in the first 30 picks of the draft. Because back in the day, there weren't 30 teams and there weren't obviously 30 picks in round one. So players taken with the first 30 picks of a draft, the national champion always had at least one of those guys dating back to the 40s. Carolina did not have that going into last season.

Duke has several guys who checked that box. Another difference is nothing about Duke going to an ACC championship and winning in Greensboro was flukey. The way that it was flukey that North Carolina went to the Final Four.

This is not to take anything away from North Carolina. You extinguish Coach K at Cameron. You extinguish Coach K in the Final Four.

No one will ever take that away for you from you and no one should. But you also lost it home to Pittsburgh in February. You were on the NCAA tournament bubble. Duke wasn't. At no point did we really feel like Duke was going to miss the NCAA tournament this past season. They were solid. And the guys coming back from a solid team, you would expect are going to be better in year two, Filipowski, Mitchell, Proctor, than guys that we already got to know multiple years in Caleb Love and RJ Davis' case. What loss did Duke have this past season that was equivalent to losing to Pittsburgh in February? I'll listen. By the way, Duke didn't lose a home game last year.

So I don't think you're going to find one that is remotely equivalent to that. That's a pretty big difference. So going into next year, the hype is going to be legitimate because we saw a large sample size of Duke being that team, or at least a larger one than we saw with North Carolina a year ago. And an underrated factor in this is NIL. How much better Duke handles NIL than North Carolina did. This was a problem for the Tar Heels.

How do I know that? How often did Hubert Davis bring up agents in postgame press conferences and even before the year? Hubert, when he's doing pressers, he's not just talking to us in the media, even though we're in the room directly talking to him. He's talking to the fans. He's talking to the players in his locker room. He's talking to those agents. So when he brings up agents, that should sound off alarm bells. How many times did you hear John Shire bringing up agents? And the reason why he didn't was because forward thinking, one of his first moves as head coach was to hire a general manager named Rachel Baker, whose job specifically is to deal with the NIL stuff, which means players know exactly what their deals are. They know exactly what they're dealing with. And it's completely off of John Shire's plate. Rachel Baker deals with that. John Shire deals with the basketball. North Carolina doesn't have something like that. So I feel confident with players returning and probably getting better NIL deals, that's going to be less of a concern this next season.

Duke is not going to meet the same fate as North Carolina just did now that they got Roach back and they're likely going to be the number one team in the country with four starters returning. On Twitter at WSJS radio, if you want in on today's show, that's also where we're streaming video in addition to YouTube and Twitch. Will Dalton is the executive producer of this show and we're going to play skips or plays with Hayes Permar on this Monday, which we do that on Tuesdays. What's the theme that we're doing this week? So we've got a lot going on locally this sports week. Oh yeah.

I think we can all agree. So we're going to try and find a way to bring together the All-Star race at North Wilkesboro. Yeah, that's this week. It's race week.

It is. Canes Panthers. What else do we have going this? Tomorrow you've got the NBA draft lottery. The draft lottery. We'll know whether or not the Hornets get the number one and number two pick. Fingers crossed.

Yes. Fingers crossed. Twelve and a half percent chance that that could happen for Charlotte. So quite a bit going on. You hit on the Carolina Hurricanes. Our other guest today is Canes forward Jack Drury, who's going to be joining the show in about 20 minutes. Over the weekend, Florida Panthers advanced to meet Carolina in the Eastern Conference Finals and this matchup has already made the hockey world stupid.

Panthers, Canes already seeing. Think about the ratings. Oh, it's something I've heard over the last 48 hours. Think about the ratings.

It's the sports version of somebody saying dishonestly. Think about the kids. Think about the children. What are we going to tell them? Oh, this guy tweeted out something. Oh, you said something on the radio. What?

What am I going to tell my kids? I don't know why I just sounded like Stone Cold Steve Austin there. What?

I'm need a hamburger with a side of fries and that's the bottom line. That's pretty good. It's not like a family guy character.

You don't know who Stone Cold Steve Austin is. Okay. Yeah.

Just checking. Uh, nobody should care about ratings except TV executives. Nobody should care. Also parent your own kids. Please parents.

No, think about the children. Andrew Rakoff, former NHL goalie. He sent out a tweet that there's no doubt that Panthers, Canes, it's not a good thing for the salary cap. Oh, this is something we should be thinking about. And WD, your little stink face you just did that people could see on YouTube is the right reaction to have because that's not how any of this works. What is he envisioning? Oh, the ratings are going to be dad down to the salary caps.

Just wait a minute. We got a new TV deal that was signed just last year with Turner and ESPN. The ratings of this Stanley cup are not going to have, or the Eastern conference finals not going to have any bearing on those on that salary cap moving forward because that's already locked in the new TV deal. And while we're talking about it, if you think attendance might factor into this, because that's all shared what you get in, in the way of attendance, the Carolina hurricanes had the second best attendance in the national hockey league this year. So that falls flat too.

Here's a PSA to the rest of the hockey world that is not Andrew Rakoff or maybe it is included to Andrew Rakoff. Florida. Is it part of the South? Stop saying this isn't all South.

Oh boy. Southern Eastern conference finals. Florida is not in the South.

It's not. We get geographically Florida is more Southern like geographically than North Carolina is. We understand that, but when we're talking about the South, we are not talking about Florida. We just aren't. So please let's not do the dueling banjos bet.

Can we not think about it? Like it just two different places. There aren't rednecks really that are living in Florida, or at least not as many that live here. And we don't have nearly the Cuban population that South Florida has.

We're two totally different places. Also, if you've ever been to Raleigh in the last 20 years, it's not what you have envisioned of a Southern city. It's just not, we got tall buildings, we've got innovation.

We've got a lot of technology that comes out of Raleigh. It's can we not, we know it's coming. You got electricity over there.

What do you have lights on? Whoa, whoa. Hide your sister. We know it's coming. Just don't, please stop. And I'm taking bets right now on who the first person to do the mispronunciation of one of these two teams is going to be. You know, with the Florida Panthers playing the Carolina Hurricanes and a network that's pretending to care about hockey and ESPN, which is carrying the Eastern conference finals, somebody's going to slip up and call one of these two teams, the Carolina Panthers. Who's it going to be? My money's on Stephen A. Curtisville. My money's on him.

Even though he loves to tell us how much he loves North Carolina because he knows places like Kernersville. Right? My money's on him. First take. Can't wait to watch the Carolina Panthers tonight. Somebody, somebody is going to slip.

We're taking, we're placing bets. Stephen A is the three to one favorite right now. It's never a dull moment when Hayes Permar joins the show from Sports Channel 8. Last week, the day we had Permar on Permar dropped a bombshell that he helped lead a group in purchasing a historic landmark theater in Raleigh and shared some of his plans with that. When I think of people that know the state of North Carolina incredibly well and understand all the happenings in all corners of the state, Permar's the guy that I think of because whether it be the triad or up in the mountains or near the coast or where he lives in the triangle, he's got people in low places. He's got connections.

He knows exactly how to use those connections properly and he's a great guy I admire for those reasons. Hayes joining us now. And the reason why I spelled that all out that way is because it's a big week here in the state of North Carolina for a ton of different reasons, which we'll get to in skips or plays with Hayes, but we got to start with this ACC air quote bombshell that Brett McMurphy dropped a few hours ago where the air quote magnificent seven would love to know who came up with that name of Clemson, Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

They've apparently sent lawyers to Greensboro to examine the grant of rights to see how unbreakable it is. And it's completely a coincidence that this drops the day that ACC meetings are happening in Amelia Island. And over the weekend, right after we saw comments from an FSU president again complaining that they aren't making enough in their TV deal.

All of this is just a mere coincidence that this drops. Does this concern you at all, Hayes, or do you think this is FSU leaking stuff to try to create a stink in order to get the revenue model they prefer? I've got a little bit of concern, Josh Graham.

Thanks for having me, as always. I've got concern that we can't come up with a better nickname than Magnificent Seven. How lame is this? Come on, man.

We can't do something like tobacco related or basketball related. If I had been doing my homework, I would have come up with something better before I came on the show. Magnificent Seven? This is terrible. This is a terrible nickname. We could have done better. Seven deadly sins related? I don't know.

I give you to the end of the show, which I realize isn't very long at this point, to come up with something better than Magnificent Seven. That's what I'm most disappointed in. I don't know what to make of it.

Yes, you're right by your intro and your sarcasm, you can tell. A lot of posturing and influence, peddling going on as far as who's telling what media member when. I don't know if there's any more concern than there already was. We know what the issues for the ACC are. This seems to be one of the creative solutions to try and solve them by getting away from the everybody gets the same slice of the pie. No, no greater concern that I had before, which is semi concerned for the future of the ACC.

But this doesn't really change anything for me. I'd say maybe the Southern Seven you could go for. But as I've taken issue with with this Florida Panthers Carolina Hurricane series, stop lumping Florida in with North Carolina as air, quote, the south. That is frustrating to me. I don't know what's more frustrating to you the way that this series is being billed, that Florida is being considered as air, quote, the south, or that, you know, you're getting the natural pushback of think about the ratings.

Oh, how about the salary cap? That one now Tallahassee might there's parts of Florida that are basically Alabama. You know what I mean? So like some parts can claim south, but then there's like the whole like, you know, South Florida that it's like eight different countries where the Florida Panthers are. Yes, but it's everything from, you know, Europe to South America.

It's everything down there. So no, I don't know. It'll be interesting how it all plays out.

I it's it's so awesome. I've never raised I've never gotten much rise out of me for what goes on in Amelia Island. Like, I'm not this isn't a knock on Brett McMurphy or anything. But like, if whoever's going to get paid to go down to Amelia Island, you better come up with some stories or like, or like, why are we sending you there? There's no sporting events happening, right? You better come up with something big out of the ACC meeting.

So I don't know. Again, this, this just doesn't change anything. We already knew the big 10 and the SEC are currently playing a different ballgame in college athletics and the other three group of five conferences need to figure out some creative solutions. And that's the boat the ACC is in. And we'll see how well they weather the storm back to Canes Panthers, which we still don't know what time or what day the series is going to begin, which is a joke in its own right. But who we're placing odds right now. Permar, I have Steven A. Smith as a three to one favorite as the first national media pundit on ESPN to call either Florida or the Canes, the Carolina Panthers, the Carolina Panthers.

Ooh, that's good. Well, what's coming first? Will they, will they referring to, so I guess in that one you could be referring to either team as what I'm saying, like who, who is going to be incorrect. It could be for either team. What analyst or talking head is going to say, are Carolina Panthers when either referring to Florida or the Carolina hurricanes? I think it's more likely, you know, like local news, news person who's throwing it to sports, big, big game for the Carolina Panthers denied in the Eastern conference finals.

I think it's more likely local person. And then also do we count it if the, if the Panthers just get referred to as the hurricanes, cause Miami's down there. Like, does that, does that fall into the same way? Like if we could go that way too, we got the Miami hurricanes in play. You know what I mean? Carolina Panthers and, and Miami slash Florida hurricanes is all kind of in play. And, and with what, with the beauty we saw out of the Tennessee Titans schedule release video last week, I'm on this like, let's welcome the mislabeling of teams and just play it back to our internet video delight, because that was one of the greatest things I've ever seen.

And once it, at least once a day since then I have, I've replayed that video. I'm just going to take the entire first take show as perhaps being favorites. And it sounds like your dog agrees with that. Like he's saying, what about Chris Russo? What about Molly Karam? Both of them could potentially do it too. It's not just Stephen A. Yeah. The dogs are, the dogs are barking. Now they've, they've seen a friend here at the dog park that they recognize. They're not very good at saying good to see you.

So everything sounds like I want to eat you. The dogs are barking, which also might mean that the Florida Panthers is a huge underdog. The underdog might be barking against the canes, might be concerned about that. Let's get to, the funny, the funny part is going to be to see the national media pivot to somehow embracing Florida the way they have, you know, like they're all mad that they don't have any of the Canadian teams. They don't have New York. They ain't got Boston. They ain't got Philly, no Chicago. And to now like to settle just because they're in such a groove of dismissing the canes, they're going to, they're going to move to, to pulling for Florida now.

It's going to happen. Now let's get the skips or plays with Hayes. Hayes Permar is somewhat of a Renaissance man, an expert in the finer things, but he hangs his hat on music.

Loves this God, and he's the friend of Satan. Feels like 06, getting busy with the sticks, been watching Big Mike and Lil Trinket trip. I just need a Zion and someone he can dunk on today. Hayes will decide if this music is smash or trash blows or blows. It's time for skips or plays with Hayes. And WD says in honor of the many things that we're keeping an eye on this week in North Carolina.

Wait, wait, wait. The many things we're keeping an eye on. Was that a reference to Bryce young? That was actually the M I N I things that were, is that last week? That's pretty many things that we're keeping an eye on.

That's exactly right. I don't think Bryce young is going to be something that's pulled here because there are a lot of things to get to. So in honor of these events, WD's pulled songs to at least give the event some love for a moment. What's the first thing that you have for Hayes?

To commemorate North Wilkesboro, the NASCAR all star race being over there. We're going to start off with a Doc Watson song. What Doc Watson song do you have pulled? I'm going to go a little shady grove. Shady grove, my little love. Shady grove, I say. Shady grove, my little love. I'm about to go away.

She's as red as a blooming room. I thought for sure it was going to be Black Mountain Rag, but Shady grove is pretty good. I would have taken a little Tennessee stud myself, but no, this is a play. You're never going to hear me not play Doc Watson on WSJS in North Carolina. What kind of idiot do you think I am?

But obviously I'm a Doc Watson fan and that song is a play. Hayes, no chance I'm going to that race this weekend. Like that just sounds like a biblical crowd that's going to show up in the logistics. It's just giving me anxiety, imagining what it's going to be like to get in and out of that racetrack. There are people probably who are there camping at Merlefest who are still camping there from that week to today. Get your spot halfway in between and just ride the whole thing out.

I will say, and you have the right idea, Josh Graham. It is going to be a logistical headache and so for people who don't want to deal with it, you should not go. If you were going, you should be prepared for it being a logistical headache and that means A, you should either go really, really early.

Don't complain. Or B, suck it up and have a plan for the time that you're on the road sitting there waiting an hour or two to get in. Like bring an activity for your kids. Bring an extra charge speaker. Plan to have beverages that you're legally consuming in whatever manner that could be while you're in a parked car in traffic. But like don't claim that you didn't know this was going to be hard. Plan for it and enjoy yourself and make everyone around you enjoy yourself because it's a cool event. Don't be like, oh my gosh, I can't believe this thing that everyone was saying might have some weights and some stalls, have some weights and some stalls. That's my PSA.

Thank you for the time. Next song, the NBA draft lotteries tomorrow. We'll see if the Hornets get Victor or not. So to commemorate that, we're going to go number one spot by Ludacris. Excellent. Anybody else think of Tom Cruise and Tropic Thunder anytime this song plays? Or is that just me?

I still go back to Austin Powers. Oh yeah. Yeah. Of course. Yeah. Of course.

Always. This is the play. I'll let this go. Ludacris, I think I've said this on this show. I didn't appreciate Ludacris enough in his time. I never hated on Ludacris, but did not appreciate him enough in his time.

And I've come to like him even more in my later years. It's a play. Um, but we should have played, I don't know. I'm trying to think of what the theme would have been for the NBA draft lottery. We've Oh, we should have played the Eagles.

It's going to be a heartache tonight because the pants, the look, look, I did it. Come on. Yeah. You think it's rigged. You're saying there's no chance they're going to the spurs or not. Like they throw us on the mellow ball bone here or whatever. But when a LeBron James, when a Tim Duncan, when a Victor, whatever you say his last name, when they come through, you know, Charlotte ain't getting the hookup. So no, this should have been a heartbreak song. Cause that's what's happening for the Hornets. When the draft water's announced.

Hey, sperm are all that losing for nothing. Last, last song to honor Cain's Panthers. This song's a banger in my opinion. Oh boy. Fireball by Pitbull. Oh no. I didn't even know this song by name. I had to wait for it to start playing before I actually got it. Did you know Pitbull was in Cary this weekend?

What's he doing here? Did you also know that Cary North Carolina is bigger by population than any city in South Carolina? Wow. Nobody in no city in South Carolina has as many people as Cary, North Carolina. Same with West Virginia. Same with Mississippi.

Same with North Dakota, Cary, North Carolina, a bigger city than you thought it was. And Pitbull international man showed up to prove it this weekend. Uh, let's make it a three for three. This is a play.

Hey sperm are think of this. He showed up last week and not this week. Cause you know, he would have shown up wearing a Florida Panthers Jersey being like Dolly or if I were, if he was performing North Carolina, he'd say just for this week, I'm not going to say Dolly. I'll say Dale. Yeah. Race hail, phrase Dale. Unreal. Let's get, get Pitbull to North Wilkesboro.

That's a culture. Oh my gosh. We can all win with, could you imagine, Hey, if he was starting your engines guy, but before he did so, Dale, no, forget, start your engines guy. I want a stage set up in the traffic line.

So like, what are we going to do with all these people waiting to get in? Like, Oh, Pitbull show right there on the side of the road. Pitbull in your car. Raise hail, praise Dale. There's there's our podcast title today. Right there.

Raise hail, praise Dale. All right. We'll see you later. Good stuff.

Okay. Hey sperm are joining us from sports channel eight. I can see him wearing like the NASCAR jumpsuit. He's out there. Do we have the fireball ready to go? Raise, raise hail, praise Dolly. Fireball.

Check this out. The perfect blend of sports and pop culture happens this evening at six with the rich Eisen show. Now back to the drive with Josh Graham, Carolina hurricanes forward Jack Drury will be our guests 15 minutes from now. But before we check in with him, let's talk some football. Carolina Panthers completed rookie mini camp over the weekend and all eyes were on Bryce young. Be that as it may. It's about time we spend some time on second round pick Jonathan Mingo because he's a throwback wide receiver.

WD. Do you know why I'm a politically off voter and is the word on the street. Pay close attention to wide receivers like to study them all throughout the year because he's a throwback wide receiver that we don't really see much of his type anymore. I think he's bound to be a fan favorite down here.

I really do. Here's what makes him different. He's a physical bruising target, which when you look at wide receivers nowadays, WD, it seems like they're cut in the mold of one of these three things. You're either the speedster type. Oh, you're the X or the Y that just gets deep downfield and beats people over the top that way with your blazing speed. You're shorter in half speed that you just want to find open space like a Tyreek Hill or like a Kadarius Toney.

People working out of the backfield working, you know, just trying to get yards after catch guy or you're in the slot. You're Adam Thielen. You're the Wes Welker type. You're undersized, maybe overlooked, maybe not the quickest. Those are the guys that you generally see the molds cut out of in the NFL or, Oh, I forgot one or the red zone guy.

You're tall. Hey, we're going to throw lobs to you on third down. We're in the red zone. You're a great target that we throw out that way. Those are the four wide receiver molds that we see that are incredibly popular. What you don't see so much girthy, big six to two 25 receivers that are physical forces.

That's what Jonathan Domingo is. He's a physical bruising target. It'd be like, it's like in college basketball today. Coach is telling me it's impossible nowadays in high school to find a true back to the basket big who has polished post moves down low because even look at Victor Webin Yama is going to be taken tomorrow. Every big now is being told they have to handle the basketball and act like a guard, even though you're over seven feet tall. Nobody wants to be a true back to the basket big. Jonathan Mingo cuts against the mold and he's the type of guy almost like a running back who just gets better as the game goes on.

Who's really hard to tackle out on the perimeter. Another thing that stands out is his love of football. It oozes out of him.

You might roll your eyes when I say that. It sounds like a cliche, but that's something that Scott Fitterer was drawn to when we chatted with him. Listen to the way this actually stood out. Steve Smith was working out with him and Smitty said that he told David Tepper the day that they drafted him in round two. Hey, this is the guy you need to go after. If Smitty likes him, odds are I like him too, but he's working out with him in drills. And this is Jonathan Mingo talking about what that meant to him. I've been looking at Steve Smith since I was a kid. I love the attitude he brought to the game. If it's one receiving the lead, you know, he didn't want to miss it.

It was Steve Smith. He didn't play. He plays like a running back after the catch. You can see it. You can see his toughness and meanness.

You can just look at him and see he's all about business. He don't play. So blessing is the talking up, chop it up ball with him. You know, he gave me ends and now just try and help me become a better football player. You hear that?

Talking about being physical and bullying people over. That's what he wants to play like. He wants to play like Smitty did.

But here's the thing you might not think of. Jonathan Mingo was born in 2001, which means he was four when Steve Smith had the triple crown season in 2005. That means he would have been when Steve Smith finished his career, like 12, 13, maybe 14 years old. What does he remember watching Steve Smith?

Right? It sounds crazy to say because it doesn't seem that long ago, but in order for him to know that style about Steve Smith and know that this is someone to be revered, he has to love football and love the history of it. That's what makes him a bit of a throwback. Most players that I talk to, they love the guys who, you know, all the last five years of what they're watching.

And if it happened before that, well, those guys are old. Why do I really care? Jonathan Mingo's not that guy. Just listen to the type of entertainment, what he does to spend time away from the football field. So I like to watch Martin, Martin, my favorite show. So I like, I like to watch the old TV show.

I watched Martin, Steve Harvey show. I watched a lot of old school stuff and watch movies like that too. Maybe play a couple of video games, ride a horse or go fishing. So they do little stuff to get my mind off of football.

Ed Harden wrote this in a column not too long ago, probably about five, 10 years ago, that in the history of North Carolina, two pastimes have always been around and always been popular, riding horses and fishing. So John and the Mingo checking those two boxes and having that Southern twang and knowing his NFL history and knowing he watches 90s TV shows like Martin. I like this guy already. Oh, that's what makes him different. And then his style of play is as unique as his interests are for people his age and the Bryce Young, Jonathan Mingo connection. It's going to be special first and second round picks in the same draft class, which is something Frank Reich said really matters. It is a nice benefit, you know, that you get that quarterback receiver one, two. You know, I think even back to my own playing days, you know, it came in with Andre Reed and, you know, in the same draft class. And, you know, to this day, we're 60 years old and we're still, you know, it was just and I wasn't the starting court. I wasn't the star quarterback, but it's a quarterback receiver.

You're in the same draft class. You have some special. So I would hope and think that those guys will. That'll be a unique connection point for them for a long time. I see the wheels turning and W.D.

's head. Oh, no. Do I get the number nine Bryce Young jersey? Do I get the number 15 Jonathan Mingo? I mean, listen, he likes Martin. He likes Steve Harvey show, which shows I like and he plays video games. So what he says old school video games. What do you think he means by that?

Well, I mean, you said he's born in 01. Yeah. My guess is probably PlayStation three type stuff, which I like to play. I don't know, man.

He seems like an Xbox guy. Really? You know what? We're gonna find out next time we have Jonathan Mingo on. Yep. We're going to find out. We're going to figure out what types of video games he's playing.

All right. We'll see if we can make that happen when we get the rookies on the show and we pick their brains. We will file that one away. Let's check in with the NBA and NHL starting with the NBA.

W.D., we've been on it. Saying, all right, after that Sixers loss, they're toast. They're probably going to get blown out in game seven.

And that's exactly what happened. Send me that cash out, family. Choke at home. You're not going to Boston's not going to lose him back to back home games. Boston Tatum's not going to have back to back bad games. And Tatum did not yesterday go.

He didn't miss. And then, you know, the Lakers, they took care of their business. They have the Nuggets tomorrow as the Western Conference finals starts.

That's all very cool. We have a game seven tonight in hockey, Seattle at Dallas, year two for Seattle. With a right to play the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference finals, which means a team in their sixth season could play a team in their second season for a Western Conference for a trip to the Stanley Cup final.

Pretty impressive. Vegas went to the championship in their first season in twenty eighteen every year, I think, or four of the six years they've gotten to the Western Conference finals. So we have that game seven later on tonight.

And that's one of the more noteworthy things that we have. No NBA tonight. Haven't had. So today is an official off day for the NBA before things get fired up with the Western Conference finals tomorrow. Still waiting on the Eastern Conference finals to announce when game one is going to be. Don't know that even though Florida clinched on Friday and Carolina clinched last Thursday.

This is cool, though. Ahead of the Eastern Conference finals, Carolina Hurricanes forward Jack Drury, he's going to join this very radio show and we hope you stick around for it next on the drive. With the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference finals, we welcome a player to the show whose name I always felt sounded like the lead in an action movie. Maybe it's because I've watched a couple of Mission Impossible movies this weekend. W.D., have you seen any of those? I have.

I don't know which ones, though. OK, good to know. Anyway, Canes forward Jack Drury is the guy we're talking about. He joins the show now. And Jack, when the Eastern Conference finals begin, you will have had a full week off since the New Jersey series. Other than preparing for the Florida Panthers, how have you spent your time? Enjoyed the sun a little bit from Chicago, so I'm not used to this nice weather this early in the spring.

So just been enjoying the sun and, you know, practicing and getting ready. Yeah. So not inside watching Mission Impossible movies, it sounds like. I like those movies.

I'd watch a couple at night, but not in the last week. All right. Fair enough. See, I'm from Raleigh. I grew up in Youngsville, not too far from Wakefield and Wake Forest. There are a lot of green areas you can get out and walk and spend some time. What are you doing when you get outside your your your own walls outside of your home? We like to we got a couple of walking trails that a couple of guys like to check out and then sometimes just sit by the pool, read a little hang out. Is there a day that goes by you don't see any of your teammates? Um, I think I always see at least one, probably. But I think, you know, we got an off day this weekend.

So guys with families can just hang out with their kids for a day, which I think is nice for them. Jack Drury is with us here on WSJS on the outside for us watching in the media and among Cains fans. It's pretty clear that Rod Brindamore is a special coach, but you're in that room and you've dealt with plenty of coaches in your hockey life.

What makes him most special to you? I think he's just developed an incredible culture here. Uh, you know, it starts with him at the top and it runs through the entire organization. Uh, assistant coaches or video coach, equipment managers, everyone. You got everyone on the same page and then that seeps into the team and the players. So everyone knows what's expected with him. And, uh, that's the biggest thing you could ask for in a coach. You don't know anything different other than this culture and this success, though, right?

Because Jordan Stahl, he was part of most of that nine year drought. You don't know anything like that, right? Yeah. Um, you know, I played, uh, in the minor league Carolina's minor league team last year and we got to go on a long playoff round.

And then, you know, since I've been drafted here that he's been in the playoffs every year, uh, just been fun to watch and fun to be a part of it this year. See, you mentioned your background. Looking at it, you played college hockey, I believe at Harvard, as did your parents. Is it true that both of your parents are in the Harvard Athletics Hall of Fame? Yes, that is true.

That is true. What sports? My dad in ice hockey and my mother in lacrosse. No pressure, right?

Yeah, no, not at all. Who's the better athlete between the two of your parents? Everyone says my mother and they include me in that. So, uh, I think the consensus is that my mother is, uh, I got some time to try to, uh, work faster. Yeah, yeah. To have some success in the next couple of weeks.

Maybe that'll change. How did you approach Mother's Day yesterday? Uh, got a nice face time, uh, with my family when they were doing dinner for my mom and, uh, sent her a little gift to get dropped off at the house.

So, nice. How do you get a gift from mom when you're not able to be there? We talking flowers? What are we doing?

Uh, I got delivered, uh, she, she likes doing yoga, so I got her some, uh, yoga stuff delivered to the house. Excellent. Jack Drury, Carolina Hurricanes forward, and a very good son we learned as well. Uh, getting back to some of your teammates, 25 days after having surgery on his broken hand, Tebo Terravainen skated in a full contact practice jersey this morning. I guess, just how crazy do you have to be to play in this sport, Jack?

Because most people listening probably hear that and say, that sounds wild. Yeah, I mean, uh, you know, you gotta be tough, certainly, and getting, uh, Turbo back is, it's awesome just seeing him in the locker room. He's, he's such a great guy to have around and then incredibly talented.

So, uh, it's really nice having him back and, uh, yeah, looking forward to it. At any level, what's the most pain Jack Drury's ever played through? Ooh, uh, last year, uh, in the playoffs, in the AHL, I took a skate to the mouse and, uh, let it open my lip. Yeah, I got like 17 or 18 stitches and that was, that was, that was pretty painful. Oh, so how long did it keep you out? Oh, I got stitched up in the room and finished the game.

Yeah. How was that FaceTime with mom after that game? She was not, she was not thrilled, but our doctor did a great job, so it turned out okay. You didn't lose any teeth though. Was that the first question for mom? How are the teeth? Yes. Teeth, the teeth stayed okay.

I was wearing a mouse guard, so she was happy about that. Excellent. Jack Drury with us here. Has it hit you yet that you're four wins away from playing for a Stanley cup? No, I think, you know, you just try to stay present. Uh, right now the focus is just game one.

I think, uh, Eastern Conference Finals is an incredible opportunity and, uh, we know we got a good opponent we're playing, but, uh, we got a lot of faith in our team and I think right now it's just getting prepared for game one. Going back to your upbringing, you mentioned Chicago. I know you spent some time in New York. When did you first dream of being in the position you're currently in?

Is this the dream? 100%, I think as long as I can remember. Uh, you know, the Stanley Cup playoffs is the pinnacle of hockey and, uh, you know, my, you know, my dad, when I was as young as I can remember, when he would get to playoff season, he'd always say this is the best time of year and the purest form of the game that you can get.

So, you know, as long as I can remember, certainly as a very young kid. Jack Drury, look forward to meeting you face to face later this week. Best of luck against the Florida Panthers and thanks for making the time for us. Appreciate it. Thanks for having me.