A Real Fibber (11-7-23)

This is The Drive with Josh Graham Podcast. We're at Sensations guys! Tune into The Drive weekday afternoons 3 to 7 on WSJS.

You are on a Monday Drive. It is WSJS, News Talk Sports for the Triad. And given the state of football in this state, where some teams are bad, and nobody is really great, thank goodness college basketball is here across the nation. 184 games are going to be played in Division 1 today. WD will be at Duke Dartmouth, a game you can listen to on WSJS.

And I'll be at Wake Forest Elon at the Joel. But let's put a pin in hoops for a second because yesterday was the Carolina Panthers worst nightmare. The only thing that could have made it worse is if Bryce Young got hurt in the game.

Then again, Brian Burns, who's the best player on the team, he did go down late and he is in the concussion protocol on a short week as Carolina gets set for the Bears Thursday night. Yesterday was worse than anything we could have imagined because it was a real setback for Bryce Young. The first setback that he's had.

He's been ramping up in recent weeks. Every week he did something that he did not do the week before, started to really show some good signs, but success isn't linear. In life and football, there are always bad days along the way. It's never always just a positive trajectory, a positive arc.

There are setbacks that happen along the way. And yesterday was certainly bad. Three interceptions, two of them pick sixes. The margin you lose by is two touchdowns. And this was after two consecutive games without turning over the football. This was likely the worst game of Bryce Young's life.

That's not overstatement. Bryce Young never threw three picks in the NFL, of course. Never threw three picks in a game in college. And he only did so one time in his high school career. And it happened to be his final high school game at modern day in Southern California. He was going up against DJ Uwe Ungerlei. It was the regional championship or state championship.

It was a championship type setting. And Bryce Young had three interceptions in that game, but one of them was on a Hail Mary at the end. None of them were taken back for picks. And Bryce Young had five touchdown passes in the game as well.

So you can give him a pass for some of the picks. Bryce did not have five touchdown passes yesterday. So when this question was asked to Bryce after the game, the response is a bit understandable. Bryce, have you ever had a day like that? It doesn't matter.

You could hear him processing, to use the buzzword. Oh, yeah. Well, there was that time I threw three picks in college or in high school, but I had five touchdown passes in that game, too. So it doesn't matter. Doesn't matter that that was the worst game I've ever had in my life. And that type of game should not have happened against the Colts.

That's the piece that's most frustrating. Going into yesterday, the Colts had the worst scoring defense in the NFL. Four of the five other opponents that Bryce played prior to yesterday were ranked in the top 16.

So this was a real opportunity. Bryce is at home. You're facing a team that's allowed 37 or more in all three games of their three game losing streak. They're reeling.

They're injured. 25th against the pass. You got help, maybe not from the offensive line, but you got contributions from Miles Sanders for a change and Hayden Hurst for a change. The special teams gave you the ball at the plus 41 after a muff punt. Raheem Blackshear had a big return. The defense only allowed 13 points.

The only touchdown they allowed was after a controversial Xavier Woods personal foul that probably should not have been a personal foul. Bryce got all the help you could expect and just had the worst game that he's ever had. The worst game of his life. And as that was happening, CJ Stroud had a historic outing. That's the part that's probably most upsetting, most painful, that Bryce is supposed to have this big game against the Colts for all the reasons we just outlined.

He doesn't. Has the worst game of his life. And meanwhile, CJ Stroud breaks an NFL rookie record for passing yards, 470 against the Buccaneers.

Five touchdowns, no picks. He's ahead of Bryce Young right now. Doesn't mean he'll always be. Doesn't mean that Bryce on a given day can't be better. Bryce was better than CJ Stroud when they shared a field a week ago. But the fact that Bryce played terribly and Stroud was that good just played further into yesterday snowballing into the Panthers worst possible nightmare.

Still too soon to make those judgments about Bryce versus CJ or anything like that. But man, yesterday, that was tough. On XWSJS radio, that's where we're streaming video.

In addition to YouTube and Twitch, Will Dalton, the executive producer of this show. Am I right to assume there's going to be a Sarah McLachlan at some point today, W.D.? Just just buckle up. Just buckle up.

I thought about that on my drive. Oh, yeah. I was comedically wrong about the Panthers on Friday. So that'll be worth sticking around for. We have Wake Forest basketball tickets to give away for tonight.

Later this hour. But enough about Carolina and more about basketball. College basketball season has arrived. And from a local lens, here are three areas of interest for tonight's action.

Number one being in Chapel Hill. It's Elliott Cadeau. First off, is he going to start? Did not start the exhibition. That was a bit puzzling.

A lot of people were puzzled about that. Will it be Elliott Cadeau or will it be Paxton Wojcik tonight? That's worth watching as the Tar Heels face the mighty Highlanders of Radford.

And when Elliott does play. He could be the best player on this team. That's not a shot at Armando Bacott. Preseason All-American or R.J. Davis, who we happen to like a lot.

Not a shot at those guys whatsoever. It's more a compliment to Elliott Cadeau and how good Carolina can be if all the pieces, all the pieces click together. For Wake Forest and Elon, you should keep an eye on Steve Forbes newest transfer Jim. That's Hunter Salas, the transfer from Gonzaga.

He had 28 in the exhibition against Alabama. And there's a chance he could be the next all ACC transfer. ACC Player of the Year contender that Forbes brings in a guy that just goes off upon arriving in Winston-Salem. It happened with Alondis Williams two seasons ago when he won the ACC Player of the Year. It happened with Ty Appleby, who was all ACC as well. Could Hunter Salas be that? I wouldn't count him out. Is it best for Wake Forest if you have a guy who compiles stats like that?

Well, that's a completely different conversation. Excited to see Salas. Excited to see Cam Hildreth, who had 38 against the Tide in that exhibition in Winston a couple of weeks back.

The last area of interest to keep an eye on is in Durham. Jared McCain versus Caleb Foster. John Shire has said publicly leading up to the season, we've got six starters. Well, no, coach, you have five.

You aren't allowed to have five out there. And in the exhibition last Tuesday, Jared McCain was the one to start. But Caleb Foster played more minutes than Jared did. Duke has four returning starters and then you have those two players. So seeing how they how both of those guys play, which five star freshman is off to a better start is an interesting thing for Duke, because you kind of know what the returning quantities or the returning commodities are going to bring to you.

But what do the added pieces look like? Namely, those two. What do they add to this Duke team? That's an important deal. Again, you can listen to Duke. Dartmouth tonight on SJS. We'll be going across the street to Winston-Salem at the Joel for Elon and Wake Forest.

It's a big, big night for college hoops. Stan Cotton, voice of the Deacs, will be joining us in about a half hour, by the way. I was getting frustrated, I'm not going to lie.

I thought even if we won the championship. Sorry. Oh, my God. I am very sorry. That was embarrassing.

Should have pulled the mic away. Boogity, boogity, boogity. Let's talk some racing. We'll get back to football in a bit, but this might be the best thing you hear all week. I heard this Saturday morning and couldn't wait to share this with you. It was NASCAR's championship weekend in Phoenix.

And there's sound we have here that is just outstanding. That burp did not belong to Ryan Blaney, who won the Cup Series championship yesterday. No, that burp belonged to the now twice crowned trucks champion Friday night. Ben Rhodes came from behind to win the trucks title, and he had to come from behind to do so. Here he was talking about his epic rally in a press conference where clearly he was inebriated while doing. I thought, OK, you know, like you got a lot of work to do, Mama Jim.

You don't have to like come on up in here. And here's the thing. The track I thought had less grip this year than past. We were three tenths slower in qualifying. The whole field was OK.

Them are numbers, real numbers, three tenths slower in qualifying, something like that. And then in the race, I'm just sliding all over the place. I'm like, either we suck or everybody sliding. I think everybody's sliding. I don't think we suck.

I don't think you suck either. Them are numbers. No, no, no, no. They weren't just numbers to be a day.

They were real numbers. That's got some base to it. Excellent work by Ben Rhodes. He described some of the celebration he enjoyed prior to getting to this press conference where he was talking about a couple of champagne bottles and things before he ended up there.

I'll say. Apparently sitting in the chair right next to him is one of those Bud Light tall boys. He's having himself a great time, but he needed to win with a car that was up ended a little bit. Tires rubbing. And there was a point where he thought they might need to do some maintenance on the car.

But his crew said, no, no, you're OK. You're OK. Might have told him a little bit of a white lie, which Ben Rhodes described afterwards. I was like, are you sure the tires not rubbing? Are you sure the tires not rubbing? Yeah. And I said, no, you're not.

Did he say he was lying to me? It was rubbing. I knew it. I loosened my belt up and I went I was like looking over the dash. I was looking over everything. I thought it was good. I saw it was caved up.

I didn't see was caved in. Dang it. That's rich. I knew it. I knew him.

We've done this three times now. I knew he was telling a fib a big fibber. Hey, by the way, everybody, dinosaurs aren't real. Whoa. A big fibber. Is this like birds?

There's so many topics in this one clip. Birds aren't real. Yeah. Dinosaurs aren't real. Whoa.

Wow. There really is a lot to talk about. Hard to talk about the fibbing of his front end being caved in a little bit. A big fibber.

When he drops a pretty big wodge bomb right there at the end. Hey, by the way, everybody, dinosaurs aren't real. Big time breaking news. He might need the hip hop air horn to absolve himself of a take like that.

Hey, by the way, everybody, dinosaurs aren't real. But the guy who fibbed was his crew chief, who he had some nice words for at the end of his comments. Oh, yeah. He's got a beautiful mind. Isn't that a movie?

Beautiful mind. Is it a movie? Is that with John Travolta? Oh, sorry. I never watched it. I'm thinking of the one with John Travolta where he like can make things move with his hands. Phenomenon. That has nothing to do with right now.

I must have forgot about that part. Phenomenon. Phenomenon. Yeah, he needed this sound. Well, I watched I watched Wimby over the weekend block five shots and he dropped 38 on Friday. And all I could think was.

When Binyama is. Phenomenon. That's.

Come on, WD had to know what direction we were headed in right there. What Travolta movie could he possibly be talking about? Don't ask me. Do you know what A Beautiful Mind is? You don't even know the movie.

I've heard of it. Is Tom Hanks in that? See, we're literally on the same level. He went Travolta. I went Tom Hanks.

Well, we're both bad. A Beautiful Mind is one of the best performances that Russell Crowe had. And I think it was the movie he did right after Gladiator. Jennifer Connelly, who you might know from the most recent Top Gun movie, Somebody I Adore. She's in this movie as well. Ed Harris, speaking of Top Gun, he's in this movie, too. That's yeah.

Russell Crowe and. Might be something we add to the list. A Beautiful Mind.

Possibly. Christmas time's getting close. Got to pick out Christmas like movies, but can you play for me again? How he described the Travolta movie that he was thinking of? Oh, yeah, he's got a beautiful mind. Isn't that a movie? Beautiful Mind is a movie set with John Travolta. Oh, sorry. I never watched it. I'm thinking of the one with John Travolta where he like can make things move with his hands. Wait a minute. I need to hear the end of that. Oh, it's phenomenal.

Because that has nothing to do with right now. I'm pretty sure I know what movie he's talking about now. What's he talking about? I think he's talking about the 1996 John Travolta movie titled. Phenomenon. Phenomenon.

I think that's what it is. Can he move stuff? What else? What else would it be? Let me get into the plot of this movie on his birthday.

Mechanic George Malley, because all your mechanics, I'm sure, look like John Travolta. Sees a flash of light and proceeds to exhibit extraordinary mental abilities. He becomes a genius, even showing ability to move objects with his mind. George wishes to help people, but the government wants to take him in for observation soon. Phenomenon. George finds out from Dr. Brunder, who's played by Robert Duvall, that he has a massive brain tumor with this new knowledge.

George decides to spend his time with girlfriend Lace, played by Kyra Sedgwick. That is the 96 John Travolta movie titled Phenomenon. Thank you, Ben Rhodes. Yes, thank you very much.

Congratulations. I was talking about this with Carla Gebhardt does television and Charlotte did the preseason game sidelines for the Panthers. And she was telling me, if you thought that press conference was good, you need to listen to the one he had last time he won. What? There's a this is a sequel.

There's an original to this. This this is like, I guess, apparently what we just heard in the last 10 minutes is like Phenomenon two. Phenomenon. We have to look that up. Tremendous stuff. Shout out to Ryan Blaney. Shout out to Ben Rhodes. This is The Drive with Josh Graham. Should we talk to Stan Cotton?

I reckon so. When this music plays, that only means one thing. The voice of the Deeks is joining us. We're not going live to Joel Coliseum just yet because the men's game that our next guest is going to be calling doesn't tip off till eight o'clock tonight.

But joining us from the Radio Ranch in Davie County is the voice of the Deacons, Stan Cotton. Stan, what basketball season is this for you? 28. 28. 28 and it's the Dinger's 34th. 34th. So he's even been at it longer than I have it. 28 together. That's not bad.

Not bad. Man, he must have started calling games right around the time Muggsy Bogues was playing for the Deeks. He was with when Ben Sutton took over the rides with ISP Sports way back in the day. He was with Matt McDonald for those six years prior to me coming here in 96, 97, Tim Duncan's senior year. So it's been a while. You are the connective tissue to the Duncan era. So I want to thank you for joining us tonight. We're going to be talking about your last or his last season was your first calling Wake Forest basketball games.

Speaking of which, while I'm thinking about it, WD is not doing anything right now. So let's put him to work. Wake Forest, Elon tonight. Three, three, six, seven, seven, seven, one six hundred rewarded with tickets.

If you want to go to the Joel and watch the fighting West Durham's, the fighting Darren Vaught's mighty Elon face Wake Forest. Getting to the hoop, though, Wake Forest just might be the greatest mystery in the ACC stand. Some of them are projected in the finish as high as fifth or six.

Some of them ninth, 10th or 11. What's your biggest question mark. You're looking forward to having answered starting tonight. You know, probably just overall health of this team, you know if this team can stay healthy.

And that's, that's a big if they've already got. Well, took us out for the year right Monsanto supposed to be back sometime around December. I'm hoping that that Kevin Miller, excuse me boopy if you call if you call him Kevin, I've been told he won't answer you so yeah call him boopy Miller. I'm not sure he's going to go tonight or not he did not play in this, the scrimmage against Alabama I think he had an ankle. I hope we see him tonight, sank of the same thing, hope we see him tonight but you know I'm talking to coach Forbes he said look if we can get all the pieces back and healthy. We're going to be pretty good.

And if we get Elton read then I think Steve's words where we could be a problem. So, you know whether or not you know reads not hurt obviously waiting on the NCAA so if that comes down and if people stay healthy. I think this is a top third in the league type of a type of a team I think picking them somewhere in the middle right now is probably fair. But just based on what weight was able to do against Alabama and that scrimmage Alabama's good team well was a really good team last year. You know, I think they're going to have a really good team this year but you know wait, wait play toe to toe with the tide so I was encouraged on halftime or down what double digits kind of like oh, but showed a lot of grit in the second half did a lot of good things so I think they've got enough good parts coming back, and they've got enough good additions to be relative certainly in this league, quietly, just picking wake forest in the middle with uncertainty is a huge testament to what Steve has done, where the respect and the talent levels been elevated enough that that's kind of the assumption of where you're going to be going into a season, it will be interesting to see what happens with read this seems like a program that, you know, called a bad break with Bobby Clinton, and, you know, let's hope that they get a good break with something that happens with read that could probably put them over the top, what do you know about the Elon Phoenix. Well, you know, I know they've got a veteran coach and you know they had a rough go of it a year ago and they're really really young so you know on paper it might look like. Another tough season but you know I was just kind of scanning my notes earlier before we hooked up and. And even in my intro which always right out, you know, I said that's why you're rolling out and play you just you just don't know, you know, maybe this team gels quicker than last year's team did for the Phoenix maybe there's a new face or two that that really congeals this group I don't know we'll see but paper it looks maybe like it could be another long year but again you just don't know and I was also surprised that, you know, wake hadn't played the lawn since 2010.

Seems like it was four or five years ago but again as you get as old as I am those years start to compress and things seem that way but we'll see I think it's a good opener for wake and I'm anxious to see you know when they finally do toss it out tonight how the dekes to stand count and voice of the dekes with us here. How did you spend your Saturday without any football. Well I had both daughters in the granddaughter in a wife back from the coast with the dog show.

So this was the center of my universe. It was quite literally over the weekend it was great. I just, you know, chasing the granddaughter everywhere and the dog and all that good stuff watching a little football yesterday and eating a lot, it was good.

It was all good. Sorry about your cowboys but hey, at least the vols have an outside shot maybe winning the East might need some help from Ole Miss this weekend against the dogs but don't write them off cowboys man I you know they only could Dallas be short of a touchdown by four inches. Miss a two point conversion by, you know, big toe out of bounds, and then get to the six first and goal with 27 seconds left and end up having to throw a Hail Mary from like a 40 or something but it's what it goes in the NFL right, no doubt, really quickly football the wolf pack visiting Winston Salem on Saturday is the state game the annual football game you most look forward to, in a lot of ways Yeah, you know, they just really had some really fun games to be a part of. I was looking at some football notes earlier today to you know, Dave Doran's five and five against white so it's just, it's kind of a toss up game every year regardless of how good wake is or how good the pack is but you know the game here you know fans always travel really really well. They'll have a lot of folks in the stadium on Saturday they've won a couple games in a row and yeah it's kind of that game that like worked a whole lot really is. I'm trying to think, the last time NC State one here though obviously of the epic punch out and 17 or 18 and then 4542 Wake Forest doesn't generally lose this game at home doesn't really happen that often. So, you know, generate some offense, Josh. Of course man got to get some touchdowns, you know, this is, this is the type of analysis we get from cotton the last time that NC State came in and beat Wake Forest, you have to go back to 2015, which was Dave Claus in second year. That was 3517 Wolfpack, but the last three won by Wake, and a couple of those classic games that you certainly remember, Stan Cotton.

I think for the sake of this basketball team let's hope tonight is not one of those like epic ones you have to remember type of games but if it is. Okay, that's why you roll them out. Thanks for spending the time. You bet. Remember now, endeavor to persevere. You got it.

Got that right. Yeah, that was for will that that is you know just look just to keep them on his toes after taking phone calls comprehension listening. Listen to. Listen, he's watching blue chips tonight so right. I don't know how he's going to Duke somehow nine o'clock I'm going to watch blue chips will make it happen. Got a lot to do. He does.

Thank you, Stan. You bet. This isn't just going to be a Carolina Panthers win Sunday. No, this is going to be a game price young reminds the football world why he was taken number one overall, it's a first and 10 and young. What does Bryce young going off look like somewhere between 275 and 300 yards likely multiple touchdown passes.

Sunday is going to be the price young coming out party, Carolina is going to beat the Indianapolis Colts 27 to 20. I tried to keep a straight face I did. That sounded like an SNL clip.

It was I could not be more wrong if I tried. Hey, Josh, let's play a game. Let's pretend like you were doing a bit where you got the game wrong as badly and comedically bad as possible. What would you say, oh, the guy who threw to pick sixes in the game three picks all together and had the worst game of his life was going to go for 300 yards and multiple touchdown passes and the Panthers were going to win. Yeah. It's coming out party. That's what that was.

Yes. Somebody points out right young did throw three touchdowns in the game. He did. Let's get to Carolina Panthers locker room sound though, Austin Corbett hard not to say it's Bryce Young's fault, but the Panthers lost this game when multiple guys in the locker room said the thing that was most frustrating about the game was giving up 14 points. This is my conversation with Austin. I just give credit to the defense. They played well limited their explosives really give us opportunities to get back in the game that we ran the ball pretty well and we actually got downhill.

You know, it's just tough when you give them 14 points right so it's a tough battle to fill the climate. What do you tell Bryce. First things first is 30 Wednesday game week like we're playing Thursday so just telling them like nothing that it's out of it's out of our mind now. For him to be a young guy, never having a quick turnaround like this, sharp told Mike, it's done, it's over.

We're already on to Chicago, and that's the only mindset we can have. So Bryce young really struggled, the other quarterback in this game was Gardner mentioned. I mentioned last week that it was a homecoming of sorts for Gardner, who spent a couple of years in Greenville America, playing for the ECU pirates. And I covered him when he was in college he got benched. And then, rather than starting his coaching career as a GA at Alabama. Beach called him and said hey would you like to play at Washington State, it is a fantastic story.

He led the league in passing drafted in the late rounds played for the Jaguars bounced around a little bit was on the Eagles last year. Now is starting for the Colts because Anthony Richardson's out for the year. I'm standing outside the Panthers locker room. We're waiting here for about 510 minutes after Frank Reich's press conference. And suddenly, behind my right shoulder I heard someone say, what's up, dude. And I turn around, and it's Gardner freaking Minshew. And I said hey man, good to see you Congrats on the win.

He said, without batting an eye. Have you gone to sup dogs lately. That is a place that is one barstools college bar of the year. The best college bar in America, two three times they have one on Franklin Street and Chapel Hill as well. That is the spot in Greenville that people know fantastic people shout out to sup dogs, when I'm in town I go to sup dogs for sure.

I'm in Chapel Hill I try to go to that sup dogs as well. I have not gone recently so I said no Gardner I have not been in Carter has a way with line sometimes. He put it just like this before walking away, he goes, place you can grab a hot dog is aside. What's better than that.

And he just kept on walking. Gardner Minshew. I don't know Gardner, I don't know what's better than a place where you can get a hot dog is aside. That's what's out to him. Getting to the defense. Amid Bryce Young playing poorly. What's been lost is how good the defense has played the last few weeks. Obviously the defense held the Houston Texans and checked 13 points, giving Carolina a chance a week ago.

And yesterday. A Colts team that had scored a lot of points during their three game losing streak was held to 13 points. When you remove those two defensive touchdowns.

And really, when you go even deeper into it than that. The only touchdown the Colts had was a direct result of a third and long that was gifted a conversion was gifted to Indy on a bad call on the Xavier Woods personal foul. It was a classic one of those.

It looks bad so let me just throw a flag type of play. But then you look at the replay and he hit the receiver in the chest with his shoulder. What else do you want him to do.

Frank Reich said the day that some of the conversation around it was that he launched at him those types of things but Dante Jackson. Wanted to talk about the Xavier Woods hit after the game and here's what Dante told me his reaction watching it field level was. I mean, it was very surprising. I mean, I don't know what else you want want him to do in that situation. I think he came in, he made a good play, a safe tackle because at the end of the day, we as football players know it could have been worse.

If he, you know, if it really was malicious, it could have been worse. But I think that you know, he came up made a football play. I mean the refs thought otherwise. We couldn't catch Xavier players usually dip out pretty quickly after losses. We don't get to catch a lot of people after losses or at least not as many that we do after wins, which is also a reason why I give credit to Miles Sanders. Miles Sanders stood at his locker longer than anybody else and answered every question and did it with class. That's a dude who understands, even though I'm not playing well, even though he had a decent game yesterday, him and Hayden Hurst, that I'm getting paid to answer these questions. It's the least I can do and he is pretty harsh on himself at times, but I did appreciate that from Miles. So while we criticize him, I will give him points on that. Icky Aquano had to answer some difficult questions as the offensive line struggled again. But he lit up when at the end of our conversation, I brought up the fact that Dave Doran, his college coach, became the all-time winningest coach at NC State the night before.

And here's what Icky had to say. I'm glad I was a part of a couple of those, you know, but, you know, obviously he's been there longer than me, doing it longer than I have. So, you know, big shout out to him.

That's a huge deal. I wonder how Dave Doran would react to hearing that. He'd probably say something like, 79 Icky, my guy, turn on the red light, big dog, big dog. I've I don't know this to be true. But I can confirm, like, I don't know this for a fact, but I just know it's true that Dave Doran calls Icky Aquano big dog.

I don't, I can't confirm it, but I just know that to be true. And lastly, Frank Reich was asked what the team's identity was through eight games and Frank didn't want to get too much into it. Listen, I'm not going to sit up here and give a seminar. That's a fair question, Mike, but I'm not going to sit up here and give a seminar on how we define what our identity is.

Obviously, we're struggling to find our identity. There's no question about that, but it does start with running the football. We and I thought, you know, we showed flashes of that tonight, but then we got to be able to we got to be when you can run the ball. You need to be able to get some play action shots down the field and get some chunk plays. We're not getting that right now.

Hold a minute. He wants the root of their offense to be running the football. You just traded up to take a quarterback number one overall and the guy you chose to pick up to be your lead back, Miles Sanders.

It's more of a pass catching versatile back. Why? That I struggle to make sense of that from Frank, right? But he's not going to.

How did he put it again? I'm not going to give it. I'm not going to sit up here and give a seminar. No, no TED Talk today. No TED Talk. Frank, right?

No. We got a short week. I don't got time for TED Talks. Let's go to Dave and Clemens, who's attending our TED Talk that we call the drive. Dave, go right ahead. What's up, JJ? I'm a little down in the dumps.

You can stop the tape. I'm sorry. At least college basketball is here. That's that's good, right?

Yeah, I'd give anything for my Panthers to win some some games to to hire the right coach. Dave, you do sound really bummed out. Like, are you like lying down on a couch? Like, are you describe the scene right now? Are you like super down and out right now? Well, I'm pulled over in the neighborhood. You got a stop sign in front of me and decided to call in and voice my frustrations and my disappointment. I've canceled the trip December 3rd to see Tampa Bay.

I wanted some warm weather. But, Josh, I'm not going to support these Panthers. I'm not going to support. I'm not going to put any money behind it.

Not going to waste any more time with it. It's as simple as that. We drafted the wrong guy. I see more upside with CJ Stroud, see more upside with Will Lovett. Our coach has been an utter embarrassment. I think you could agree with that. Josh, do you see any chance that if he doesn't win another game this year, maybe wins one, the culture doesn't change? Could they get rid of them after one year? If they lose the rest of their games, I'd say that that's something that could happen.

I'm not going to sit up here and give a seminar. Yeah, he might have to give a seminar if he loses the rest of his games. But, Dave, it's they got the Chicago Bears this week.

Quick chance to bounce back. Can we get that Tampa trip back on the schedule if Carolina were to take care of Chicago this week? No, Josh, we were just two and a half point underdogs at home to a backup quarterback Colts coming off being underdogs at home versus Texans. I don't see any situation.

There's no road game we would be favored in. Do you know the line? Do you know the line off the top of your head right now?

I haven't looked. OK. Do you want to guess what the line is? I have it in front of me, what the Bears and Panthers opened up at.

No, we're probably getting a fill goal. Pretty good. Three and a half.

Three and a half. Yeah, yeah. There's no situation, you know, where the Panthers would be favored in any road game. Going against the backup quarterback, going against the third string quarterback.

I mean, that's just. You know, when I look at the spin on that, how Vegas has us pegged, I mean, we're going into a backup quarterback situation. We've gotten backups the last two weeks.

I've got only one more question for you while I have you here, Dave. What was more upsetting to you yesterday, the way Bryce played or the way that C.J. played? If you can only pick one. C.J., because you see greatness, you see. Everything we wanted with the number one pick, you see a leader, you see a big six four pocket quarterback, you see a game winning drive with C.J., you see it all. And that's Bryce had a game winning drive last week. That's not a game winning drive. That was C.J. had a game winning drive. That's how you win a ball game. Bryce's, everything has just been kind of piecemeal together. It's been scratch and claw to get five or 10 yards. Somebody's not in the right spot.

I mean, everything seems so much smoother with C.J. Well, this is the last thing I got to say to you. I just hope things get better for you. Big dog. Big dog. Appreciate it, Dave.

There he goes. There was a game winning drive last week. No, it wasn't. Not in Dave's book.

You know how some people say that Kevin Durant hasn't won a title in their book because he went to the Warriors and did so. So in Dave's book, which is different than our book, that was not a game winning drive for Bryce last week. I've never heard him like that.

It's kind of I mean, there's just no zip and there's no energy there. Dave's just sitting there. I'm just picturing him in the neighborhood, pulled over, stop sign in front of him in the neighborhood. I'm trying to think of what neighborhood he's like in. I'm like imagining Rinaldo. Not only that, it gets dark right now.

That's the other thing. I think Dave's just super bummed out because of daylight savings and it's just pitch black outside this window. I've been super happy for the first four years that I did this show, four and a half years. We'd never had a window where I could look out the window.

This is the first day I wish I didn't even have it here because it's just gloomy outside. It's super depressing. So I can understand. That's probably part of it, Dave. Yeah. Big dog. Big dog. Hope. Hope we're able to help you get through this a little bit.