The Drive with Tim Donnelly LIVE – 09/11/25 | NC State at Wake Forest | Carolina Panthers

Got to try it. Sounds perfect. And how awesome is it that they’re so close to each other? Oh, it’s perfect. All right, give them a try. Chay Empanadas, House of Hops, Salt and Lime, and Sharkies. Just a hop, skip, and a jump from each other off Durale Road, Glenwood, and Grove Barton. Charlie did not die from an overdose. Charlie was poisoned. No other family should go through this. Just horrific. Go to safe.farm pharmacy. Use the free tool. Learn if the online pharmacy you’re using is safe. Struggling with high interest debt? You can pay it all off in days with Lone Pronto’s Rapid Equity Loan. Hey, it’s Dennis Cox. Get cash out now without touching your low rate first mortgage. No appraisals, no waiting, no BS. The rapid equity loan program at Lone Pronto is amazing. One Lone Pranto client just got $300,000 approved in under 24 hours. They paid off debt, renovated their kitchen, and cut their monthly expenses by $1,800. That’s a huge turnaround. Loan pronto. Instant approvals, low rates, no hard credit pull upfront. Listen, your home equity is yours. Use it. Get cash to consolidate your debt down to one easy low monthly payment. Call Loan pronto now for a free instant appraisal for your home and see how much cash you can get today. Loan pronto is A+ rated by the BBB and have nearly 2500 five-star Google reviews. Their service is off the charts. Call now to start the conversation. 919 381760. Loanprronto.com. 919 381760. Get debt relief now. Loanprronto.com. Equal housing lender. NLS166171 on approved credit. NLS consumerac.org. Life doesn’t wait and neither should you. A leave can help you deal with pain less throughout your day. Whether it’s a long day on your feet, a demanding workout, or everyday aches and pains, you need relief that can keep up when pain persists. Alie is here for you with longerlasting body pain relief compared to leading OTC branded pain relievers. With just one pill, a leave lasts up to 12 hours. Don’t let those aches hold you back from doing what’s important to you. Use as directed. This hour of the Triangle Sports Leader is powered by Richie Law Firm. Injury lawyers. Richie Law is on top of it. Go to richilaw.com. Get in the hole. That’s rich.com. Broadcasting live from the Lenovo studios, WCMC HD1 Holly Springs 999, the Fan, the Triangle Sports Leader. I’m WL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner. Stubborn patterns starting to break up a little bit. More clouds in the east, more sunshine trying to break out in the west. We’ll see highs generally in the low 80s this afternoon. Mostly cloudy tonight with low 60s. And tomorrow, we could start with some low cloud cover, but we should see more sunshine by tomorrow afternoon with highs again in the low 80s. Weather update brought to you by Nukem and Company, where your comfort is their business. Visit nukem & company.com. 3:00 check of your money. Dow Jones up 573 points to 46,64. Market update brought to you by Allan Tate. Ready to sell your home? Trust the number one real estate company in the Carolinas. Howard Hannah Allen Tate. Let them show you a real estate experience that is different from all others. This hour of the drive is brought to you by Bet365. When it comes to sports books, Bet 365 has it all. Download the app today and see why it’s never ordinary at Bet 365. He brings it down. gives to Smother sees part 10 yd line sprints in touchdown looking at Castle’s direction looking back over the middle back of the end zone for Anthony did he get a foot down touchdown deep drop deep throw left side touchdown Carolina Chris Culliver brings it in Young in the pocket steps up has room to run he’s got the 40 45 stumbling or 35 stumbling ball came out at the end Jacksonville recovered the fumble man it’s been a tough first half for Bryce Youngrive with Tim Donnelly on 999 the fan. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. What’s going on everybody? I’m Tim Donnelly. Dennis Cox producing the show. The 5-day football weekend starts today in a few different ways. So, let’s just start there. I I’m too excited. Let’s get to the big three at three. Number one, NC State at Wake Forest tonight. The opener. It doesn’t feel like the opener because there was a non-conference conference game last week. Yeah. The the opener of ACC play. Yeah. State at Wake. One of the the longest running historic rivalries in the conference. 118th meeting if I remember correctly. Anytime you’re over a century, it’s just a long time ago. Yeah, for real. Over a hundred meetings, it’s just long time. I I I have a question for state fans. Is it bad that people are starting to believe in state? Like like part of me wonders if you state fans don’t wish that I like, you know, because as I try to say and I try to tell this to everybody that accuses me of being a homer or hater of their favorite team. All all we do is we watch the games. We hopefully go back and and check on things that we thought we saw. We re-watch the tape. We look at the stats. We take our notes. We we come up with our opinions. Um I do feel like we’ve been we’ve been a lot more positive this week about NC State than we have been in in quite some time, right? There’s there’s a lot to like. Things that we had complained about or things that we had uh kind of marked as as things that needed to improve or change. they they seem to be improving or changing. Not to say that we didn’t point out little flaws, right? Run defense wasn’t great last week and secondary still need need some help. Like there there were things that could be done better. But for the most part, this has been a positive week, which is which is kind of funny because one of the things we also say about specifically a Dave Dorne led NC State team is they play their best when nobody believes in them, right? that when their backs against the wall, when it’s them against the world, when they have to show how gritty and determined they are, that’s when they play their best. The negativity wagon that Dave Dorne says the media rides, it’s been been emptying recently, jumping on like the the positivity trolley. I don’t know what the positivity version of the negativity wagon would be, but but if you thrive when everybody doubts you, how do you react when people start believing in you? Because I actually think people are starting to believe in NC State, which and and this will be a lesson for for really all football season at all levels. Uh, a lot of it has to do with CJ Bailey. When you have what feels like a dude at quarterback, everything else doesn’t hurt as much. Right. When you have a dude at quarterback or somebody who is perceived that way, there’s a lot of optimism around your program. CJ Baileyy’s played well through two games. Looks like he’s he’s building and and and adding to his game from last season. So, because of that, there’s just good vibes around state. I wonder how many state fans out there are like, “Yeah, just waiting on the other shoe to drop.” Well, don’t have to wait till Saturday. At least it’s you’re going to find out whether it drops or not this week tonight as State plays at Wake Forest. 7:30 opening kick on that one. That’s number one. Let’s hit number two. Number two, the Carolina Panthers had an angry practice. How about that, everybody? There was a mentality change at practice. They got smoked by Jacksonville in week one, and apparently on the practice field, they were a bit testy. Here’s Dave Canales, the head coach, on the mentality of the players at practice. When you play a game like that, it’s like all the guys are, it means something to them. You know, they were a little bit testy with each other. I don’t mind saying that. I like seeing that. It matters to them. They care. Um, and that’s the type of focus and energy that we need, the type of passion that it takes to continue to grow our schemes, to continue to play together. It it requires that type of accountability with each other. All right. In in a in a complete and total vacuum, uh, of course, right? Oh, guys showed up at practice and they were mad. Well, they just got embarrassed on on like the grandest of I guess it could have been a prime time game. That’s about it. But the NFL, no matter what team you’re playing, uh, no matter if you’re good or bad, there’s a lot of people watching. You just got embarrassed to start your season. It it would frustrate me if anybody would downplay that. Matter of fact, it kind of frustrates me that this is even news, right? This is this is water being wet. NFL team mad after being upset and embarrassed in game one, right? Oh, and and let me guess, they also were wearing cleats. like like it it should be just assumed. If if the culture is what your culture what you say your culture is in in Charlotte, then you have guys that care, you have guys that are ferocious competitors, and if you you lose a game in the manner in which you lost a game, that next practice is going to be extra competitive. Bad football is frustrating. When you play bad football, you should get angry and it should come out in practice. Matter of fact, it’s the best part about football. The best part about football is you have these these periods uh during the week on game day that you get to let that frustration out. If you’re going to put pads on in practice and you’re somebody that didn’t play well and for the last 72 hours you’ve just been watching the film of you not playing well and then you get to go out there and run a one-on-one, you should be a little bit more physical. You should be uh popping the pads a little bit more aggressive. It should very much Right. The saying I use all the time when evaluating prospects or really maybe even younger than prospects is is woe verse go, right? It’s much easier to take a player that you have to go whoa easy and turn them into something than it is to find a player that you have to go come on man go get it started, right? You want you want a player that’s you need to use wo more than go. Every practice after a loss, the coaches should be whoa whoa whoa easy whoa easy. If a coach has to get out there and say go, come on, let’s go and you lost the game in that manner especially, that’d be red flags all over the place. So, yes, I am I am I don’t even want to say happy. I am the bare minimum accepting of a team angry in practice after getting embarrassed in week one. That’s the bare minimum. Now, you know, obviously channel it as much as you can, right? You don’t you don’t want to just be like, you know, punching guys wearing helmets, but use it to do the whole iron sharpens iron thing and, you know, if you’re going harder in a one-on-one, that means the guy guarding you has to go harder in a one-on-one. That’s the way to channel it, right? Do do that as well. But, you know, a little little bit of little bit of uneasiness at practice. It’s what should happen. That’s number two. What’s at number three? Number three, Commanders at Packers. Tonight, we have Thursday Night Football uh between two of the the buzziest like like teams of the moment, particularly in the NFC. Lot of believers in the Commander Commanders and Packers. Uh and it actually relates back to what we were talking about with state. This is a lesson that can be learned and and right, you know, I talk about it often, right? We want to a a smart person learns from their own mistakes. A wise person learns from the mistakes of others. The same works in the opposite direction, right? A smart person takes note of what makes themselves successful. A wise person takes note of what makes others successful. What have the commanders and Packers done to become these betting favorites? to become these these teams of the moment that everybody wants to buy stock in. To become the the the teams that are getting a premier prime time matchup this early in the season, especially after the Packers already had one premier prime time matchup. You know what they did? Well, first of all, they found their quarterbacks. People believe in Jordan Love and they darn sure believe in Jaden Daniels. And once you get that in place, everybody becomes more interested in what you have going on. And then what did the Commanders do? They didn’t just talk about new culture. Dan Quinn showed up, new culture. They were a dysfunctional franchise for ever. Dan Quinn showed up, experienced head coach, came in with vibes, you know, turned over the roster quite a bit, kept the ones he wanted to keep. Boom. Much better team. What have the Packers done? Do you know what the Packers uh a statistic that’s going to be referenced tonight a billion times? What’s that? Youngest team in the league. They are super young. I I’m I’m fairly certain you and again you’ll hear it a bunch of times. Uh like average age, both snap weighted, so guys that are actually on the field and total roster, youngest team in the league. You realize how how much of a transition that is for the Packers from the Aaron Rogers, Devonte uh Adams that they they were an old bunch. David Baktiari, they had so many guys that had been there so long and then they transitioned without ever really being a a bad football team. Uh they transitioned into now one of the the most forwardthinking, most buzzy teams because they’re all young. You know what else that plays into? Again, learn from like the Adam Thelen trade for the Panthers, right? Things like that where it’s, you know what, they recognized their their window with the old guys was closing. They didn’t just move on from one, they moved on from them all. Much much better players than Adam Thelen. And they got younger and they took swings at at different positions and they hit on some of them. They missed on some of them, but they’ve come out on the other side. a team that has I mean I expect that the Packers to be good for a decade because they just have uh uh and obviously the Michael Parsons deal accelerates that uh but but they have young players that are going to grow. They don’t have first round picks the next two years, but you would expect so many of their guys to just individually get better that that their window is still opening. Even Jordan Love who’s who’s you know mid to late 20s but hasn’t played as much football as most guys his age because he sat behind Rogers. Packers like you said youngest team in the league. I think there four players aed 29 or older. Commanders far opposite. Oldest team in the league. 25 players aed 29 or over. So they they went all in like hey we got a young stud quarterback. Let’s get guys that we can win right now with taking advantage of that uh rookie contract. Yeah. smart on both sides. So, I guess my my my overall point for tonight’s game, right, being Buzzy and being two teams that everybody’s excited about is this. Once you get your quarterback in position, then there’s a million different ways to build the contender, but you need to have that quarterback in in in position. You can go super young, you can go super old, you can build a a mostly running offense, you can build a passing offense, you could have a pocket passer, you could have a running p uh running quarterback, you could you could spend on secondary, you could trade two first round picks and a good player for Micah Parsons. You can do a whole bunch of different things to be good, but you need to have that quarterback in place before any of that becomes even uh important because if you don’t have your quarterback, all that would just be wasted. the drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan that is the big three at three here on the drive and we are going to continue to press into a football Thursday NC State at Wake Forest tonight we look towards that game but first Dennis Cox has something he’d like to tell you right I do Dennis Cox here for my friends over at Law Tigers uh speaking of of age um and maintaining when you get older uh this is actually Law Tigers was as a motorcycle rider one thing to help prevent your bike from aging too quickly is actually properly taking care of your motorcycle. It’s no different than anything that you own. If you properly take care of it, it should last longer. And that’s no different when it comes to a motorcycle because the last thing you want to do when you’re out there on the road is have your motorcycle fail you. You’re already in a vulnerable position as a motorcycle rider as is. If you have if you’re faulty equipment, well, guess what? You really put yourself in a real real bad spot. But you could do everything right by taking care of your bike, riding properly, all the things that you need to do on the road. But accidents unfortunately can happen. This is where Law Tigers comes in. If you’re injured in a motorcycle accident, give Law Tigers a call at 1800 Law Tigers. Even before you contact the insurance companies, we all know insurance companies want to pay you the least amount possible. Law Tigers, they’re part of the motorcycle riding community. They’re there to fight for you. They know what your bike and gear are worth and what you’re going through after an accident. your case evaluation with Law Tigers. It’s always free and you don’t pay a dime until your case settles. So call 1800 Law Tigers, North Carolina’s motorcycle lawyers. Law Tigers is a network of independent law firms who are members of the American Association of Motorcycle Injury Lawyers. Law Tigers is not a law firm. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. We have just 60 seconds. So, don’t go anywhere until we talk State Wake tonight. Thursday night, ACC football and a little bit of audio from Dave Dorne coming up. What? New scratchoffs are out. That means new chances to become a North Carolina Education Lottery winners club member. Yeah, in the winners club, I’ll reinvent myself. I won’t go by just playing Todd. I’ll go by Todrick. I’ll get a gold jacket, play my saxophone again. I’ll stop and smell the flowers. Call my mom more. Wrap it up, Todd. It’s Todrick. This month’s scratchoffs pack over $78 million in total prizes. The winners club awaits. Must be at to play. Approximate overall odds winning range from 1 in and 3.76 to 4.98. Problem gambling helpline 877185543. Listen up football fans. You won’t want to miss this. Right now, new bet 365 customers bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets, win or lose. So you could turn that $300 into something bigger when you bet on money line, spread, totals, player props. $300 in bonus bets when new customers bet $5. I know where I’m going to bet from now on. Download the app today and see why it’s never ordinary at bet365. Gambling problem. Call 1877185543 or visit more than aame.nc.gov 21 plus only. Must be physically located in North Carolina. TNC supply inapp only. Bailey second and 10 rifles it right seam in stride. Grimes has it by touchdown. 48 yds. There’s a laser from CJ Bailey right on the mark. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan state Wake Forest ACC Thursday Night Football. Remember the good old days before the NFL tried to own Thursdays and ACC Thursday Night Football was the the biggest deal in town. This game would have been huge. Would have been huge. Uh still is huge. It’s just a lot of the casual football watching fans will be watching Commanders Packers. Um, first of all, Wake Forest brings an interesting uh challenge for the state defense. Okay. And it’s I’m not talking slow mesh. It’s a new era of Wake Forest. They’ve they’ve changed up their playbook, brought in uh a different style, more traditional style of offense. But I do like what Jake Dickard has done in the back field. Jake Tucker being the new head coach of Wake as far as if you know you’re you’re you’re likely to be overmatched, right? You had to turn over the roster. Maybe you didn’t uh you don’t have a chance to build up the organizational depth that you were hoping for. If you know you’re going to be overmatched, I think the the number one way you can try like the number one slingshot for David against Goliath, and not saying this is David verse Goliath, but just hear me out. If I know I’m going to have to be making up some talent gaps, I want speed. Speed, speed, right? Because uh in in football traditionally uh the the more talented team is is going to be uh basically given every advantage the longer drives go on. Eventually the better team will make the play. Eventually they will grind you into submission. Eventually they will uh like a metronome be able to to to to win the game or win the quarter, win the drive. But if you have a couple of guys that if they get a crease, they’re housing it. You only got to win one play, right? You you only need to win three or four plays throughout a game to make it uh make it a different challenge. So, if you look at Wake Forest, Deon Claybourne, Robbie Ashford in the back field. If this is going to be a game that Wake Forest is is super excited about when they wake up tomorrow, I think those guys are going to have to uh you know get those three or four plays. Robbie Ashford, their new quarterback, Deon Claybornne, obviously the returning running back. Uh and we have some audio from Dave Doran about playing against Robbie Ashford at the quarterback position. This is what the coach of uh NC State had to say. Yeah, he’s fast. I mean, he’s turned on the Western Carolina film. He’s got like a 60 yard touchdown run. Um, and he runs aggressive. He’s he’s not like some quarterbacks. I mean, he’s going to run like a running back when he goes north and south. He’s 220 pounds. And so, we’re going to have to tackle him like we tackle everybody in this game. He’s he’s a physical cat and they run him. It’s not a guy that they’re trying to protect. You can see that they’re not bashful about him carrying the football. That sounds like a lot of praise. That’s and by the way that was from Wolfpack Weekly which airs weekly right here on 999 the fan. Um that audio is from Wolfpack Weekly. And then the other thing you got to acknowledge is if you’re chasing aggressively Robbie Ashford and you know I’m going to have to have a gang tackle there. Multiple guys in pursuit because Robbie Ashford is big. He’s what do you say? A physical cat. He he’s he’s you got to tackle him like a running back. The moment you commit too many resources to him is when Claybourne uh will be going the opposite direction. It is an assignment football. It is a making tackles football game and sometimes by yourself in space against good runners. Mike Glennon who is my co-host for Pack Therapy the podcast which can be found everywhere podcasts can be found including the brand new ESPN or sorry 999 the fan app. So go check out the 999 the fan app. You can get a ton of NC State content including the pack therapy podcast co-hosted by me and Mike Lennon legendary NC State quarterback. Uh, but I always ask once a once a week I I ask Mike to finish out the if then statement. If blank happens, then either if NC State is an underdog, NC State will win and if NC State is the favorite, I say if blank happens, then NC State will win and cover, which at the time was a seven and a half point spread. And uh the answer was if they can, meaning State’s defense can hold Wake Forest to uh I think it was under three explosive runs, big runs. If they can do that, State will win and cover. And I tend to agree with that. The other thing about th this this state season thus far, and they’ve played two games, won them both down to the wire, ECU, UVA, and now they’re going in a short week on the road to Wake Forest. Um there’s a theme that has popped up in in different aspects of the games already. It’s building andor losing trust within a game. Okay. What a coach is comfortable doing in the fourth quarter as far as decision-m is often timed informed by how you’ve played the first three quarters. And this was a conversation that that we did have on the podcast. So I encourage you to check it out. and long form. But it it it started with me having like a flashback to my my playing career where I said I used to get so mad at myself when I messed up like four verts, which is a a deep passing play, right? Because if you if you make a bad decision, throw an interception, take a bad sack on four verts, the coach is less likely to call than in the future. And that’s a really fun play to run. So, as a quarterback, you mess up on a fun play, you get mad at yourself because you’re like, “Man, they’re not going to call it again.” And and then we stumbled into that exact situation against ECU. If you recall, there was a third down against ECU early in the fourth quarter, uh, where they did call a a version of four verts. It was kind of like a like a switch. Anyway, a ver a deep passing play. CJ Bailey took a sack, pushed them further out on the the field goal. Field goal missed. Move on. Right later on in the game, they have the opportunity to to have a third down. And what happens? They don’t call a deep passing play. They aren’t aggressive. They go quarterback draw. I think that is a direct result of trust not earned on a previous third down. Okay. And now go to to last week’s game, all right, where where they played against UVA and got the win. And and think about it like this. Week one against ECU, State did a a less than stellar job opening up lanes in the running game. They were not winning in the trenches. They were not giving Hollywood Smothers, you know, yards before contact. They were not moving the line of scrimmage a yard, two yards towards the defense at the the snap of the ball. But against UVA, they were opening up holes in the running game. The offensive line played much better. Hollywood Smothers was given chances to get in space. He converted those into big runs. Had 140 some odd rushing yards, 150 some odd total yards. Right? So the offensive line over the first three quarters was playing a more physical brand of football. So now in the fourth quarter, you have a fourth and short on your own 28 yd line and a four-point lead. Dave Doran and Kurt Roer have a decision to make. Head coach, offensive coordinator. What do they decide to do? Bully ball. They put in their their power running quarterback, Will Wilson, and they run straight at the defense for a first down on fourth and short. Another example of the first three quarters, you earn trust. In the fourth quarter, the coaches embrace that trust and give you a chance to make a big play. It works in both directions, right? The if you do well by something early on, they’re going to let you uh go out and win a game late. If you if you don’t take advantage or you don’t earn that trust early on, they’re going to be more conservative later on in the game. So, if this one is back and forth, if this one is close, state at Wake Forest, right? If if this is a game that like so many in this this rivalry have been, if it is within one score and you want NC State to be aggressive and to look for that killer instinct and to look for that knockout blow late in the game, what you need to have happen is to have the players earn that right earlier in the game because it appears as if, and it’s a very small sample size, and I’m only using two examples, but there are more. It appears as if the the state coaches very much kind of let the players decide. All right. If you want us to to go for it on fourth, show us that you’re going to be uh a powerful football team. All right. If you want to chuck it on third down and you want to take a chance at going to get that first down and swaying the momentum, make good decisions on third down earlier in the game. It’s about earning the trust. And then obviously the same thing happens over a season long, right? If you do great in weeks one through four, week six, they’re they’re more likely to trust you. You earn the trust of the coaching staff. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. Speaking of earning trust, hockey fans in the area, you probably trust that your favorite hockey team is going to put together a pretty good product, right? Because they’ve done it now for uh better part of a decade in a row. You’re probably pretty excited for the season about to start. Well, how about this? What if you got to go see him play in Vegas for free? The Sin City Skateaway is back. This entire week from noon to 6 once an hour, we’ve been giving you a key word here on 999 the fan. You have to listen to hear it. It’s the only way. If you listen in from noon to 6, once an hour, we give you a key word. You have to text it in by the start of the next hour. And uh if you do that, each hour you do, you get another entry into the Sin City Skateaway. Uh on Monday, September 22nd, we will choose one winner out of all of those entries. One winner, and they will receive, a pair of tickets to see Carolina play Vegas at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas on October 20th. roundtrip airfare for two, three night stay at Park MGM Resort and Casino and a $400 food credit to spend and and stuff your face while you’re there. That’s a lot. That is a lot. That is a lot. I feel like I say it every single like once an hour every time we give the keyword. But maybe I mean I’m I’m hoping that it translates through the spoken word and you hear it and go that’s an awesome prize. But I’ll tell you right now, when it is written in front of you, it you just look at it and go, that’s that’s bananas. Uh, so don’t miss your shot at the Ultimate Hockey Getaway brought to you by Park MGM Las Vegas, Atlantic Spas, and Billyards Hot Tub and Sauna Expo, Buffalo Brothers, and Nukeman Company. The keyword for this hour is drive. D R I V. The keyword for this hour is drive. Like the name of this show, like what you do at the T- box, like what you do in a car. Drive dr. Text that in to 9198605326 by 4:00 and you will gain this hour’s entry into the Sin City Skateaway. The keyword drive, the number to text it to, 919860-5326. You don’t have to say anything else. Just just that word and you will gain your entry. Keyword drive. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. Before we move on, Tim Donnelly here for Mayor Service Company. Was talking with uh their owner Brett not long ago and and I tell this story to anyone that’ll listen because it means that much to me for a company like Mayor Service Company. They want to be your go-to contact when you need uh help, some fixes, a little bit of maintenance, right? When you need work done on your heating system, cooling system, plumbing, or electrical system, uh they want to be your contact. And they’re not just asking for it, they’re earning it, right? I I walked around their their warehouse with their owner, uh and Brett was showing me all of the different ways they prepare their technicians to be ready for everything. It’s never happened to me with Mayor Service Company, but I’m sure it’s happened with a lot of us with with people coming to do work on your house where they they like cut the wall open or they finally get to to whatever they’re supposed to be working on and they just go, “Huh, that’s weird. Never seen that before.” Then they’re just standing around. I’m like, “Well, that’s not what I want to hear.” Mayor Service Company does everything within their power to not have that happen. They they train their technicians on every bit of technology on on uh everything from hot water heaters to HVAC, obviously plumbing and electric from decades ago all the way up through the most current technology. So there’s not that moment where you walk in and go, I don’t know what they were doing when they made this house. No. Mayor Service Company uh first of all doesn’t want you to hear that because that just sounds scary when it’s your house. But also uh they want the job done well and they want the job done right. And to do that, you have to be that knowledgeable about so many different things. So give them a call, 919-361993. Not just for when something breaks, but also, like I said, maintenance, right? It’s going to start getting a little bit cooler. If you want to get your heating system looked at before you start working it every single day, well, give them a call. 919-361993. That’s 919-361993. Or visit them online mayorservices.com. Mr. rservices.com. We have the deans list coming up next. There’s some doozies on there. Stick around. University of Maryland Global Campus offers more than 55 flexible online certificates that provide short-term credentials and realworld skills you can use immediately. With a range of affordable undergraduate and graduate certificates in high demand fields like business, AI, cyber security, data analytics, and healthcare, you can earn credentials quickly to help advance your career. Learn more at umgc.edu. That’s umgc.edu. Certified to operate in Virginia. Do Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms keep coming back? TFIA gelamab may help with rapid remission achieved at 12 weeks and lasting clinical remission at one year. Some even saw visible improvement of their intestinal lining at 12 weeks and 1 year. Traaya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn’s disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-l like symptoms, or if you need a vaccine. Healing is possible with TRIA. Approximately three out of 10 patients were an endoscopic remission at 1 year based on areas visualized on colonoscopy, which may not represent the deeper bowel layer or entire GI tract. Individual results may vary. Ask your doctor about TMIA today. Call 1 8005267736 to learn more or visit tfireradio.com. Hey, what do you say? John Forsland here from my friends at Buffalo Brothers. During hockey season, I’m bouncing from coast to coast like a puck on ice. But when I’m back in town, I always head to Buffalo Brothers for the best wings on the planet. And check this out. Now they have a new flavor, Chili Line. You can’t beat the great specials at all five Triangle locations like halfp price pizzas Monday through Friday 4:30 to 6. You can dine in or carry out. buffro.com. A man, now I want wings. Son, do you know what time it is? Uh, your father and I were waiting all night for you to come home. I’m sorry. So we could tell you that you’re eligible to become a member of Navy Federal Credit Union. Wait, what? Since your dad’s a veteran, our whole family can join and get exclusive savings, discounts, and award-winning service. Thank you. Now, go to your room and think about what we said. All veterans and their families are eligible. Join today. Navy Federal Credit Union. Our members are the mission. Navy Federal is insured by NCUA. Your heart, it’s the only one you have. Fortunately, you also have a choice. Expert cardiologists, talented surgeons, highly skilled specialists, all of whom chose Wake Med. Why? The main reason is the same reason patients choose Wake Med. Everything you need for the best possible care is right here. Learn more at wakemed.org. Wakeed Heart and Vascular Physicians. Your heart, your choice. Deep drop. Deep throw left side. Touchdown Carolina. Chris Culliver brings it in. Three plays 75 yds. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999. The fan. One more time. Keyword drive for the Sin City Skateaway for this hour. Text it to 919-8605326. May just win yourself a free trip to Vegas. see some hockey and whatever else you want to do in Vegas, that’s up to you. Uh right now, if it’s up to us, we’re going to do the deans list. And we have a late entry to the deans list. Just moments ago, Cory Smith, PAC Pride, tweeting out, NC State has landed four star center. We’re talking basketball here. Trevan Travon Carter Given as the first commit in their 2026 class. Now, during the admittedly loose and and incomplete research I was able to do during that commercial break, um rim protector 610, 611 depending where you look. Wingspan about 75. Athlete very thin. Needs to put on some weight but obviously has some time to do so. um the EYBL circuit, the Peach Jam, where you know so many of the uh best players go to play. Uh 2.3 blocks, 2.4 blocks per game. How about that? He’s an efficient finisher at the rim. According to 247 Sports, shoots 71% field goal, averages about six points, so it doesn’t take many field goals. Yeah. Um I’m gonna I’m gonna add rim protector. I always say lefty relievers, edge rushers, 3 and D, like you can’t have too many. I’m adding rim protector because so often I feel myself, particularly in the ACC, you get about halfway through the season and just start talking about how teams, you know, they they really need a rim protector. The the they don’t have a big man to defend other bigs and they’re getting bullied down low. So if he ends up being a legitimate shot blocker and then develops other part of his games over time, Will Wade knows what he’s doing. He’s also from California. Will Wade, he’s national uh national recruiter, I guess, going coast to coast. Guess if you know if they can make it happen. You know what else speaks nationally? money. Yeah. So, you know, if you got the right offer, California, Raleigh, just flight away if you can afford it. Hey, guess what? Hey, we’re going to be probably going out to Stanford and Cal, you know, on a regular basis. Maybe this is it. Well, they’re Well, here’s the thing. It’s actually probably best cuz they’re not going this year to California, which means they probably will next year. So, this is it. This is what the ACC envisioned. Well, you you this how they pitched the old guard. We have to include Cal and Stanford because then you’ll open up a whole new recruiting area. You can recruit Cali. Here it comes. There you go. So, he’s on the deans list. Uh, another Deans List member for today. Um, there’s there’s a few options where we don’t have a ton of time. I’m going to go Graham Barton, former Duke offensive lineman. Uh, Dan Graciano of ESPN put out a along with Jeremy Fowler and an article of this is what we’re hearing, right? They’re insiders, so it’s just what they heard after week one. Um, the under the, this is a direct quote from Graciano. The under the radar performance that had folks buzzing in the Buccaneers building, uh, with pride was the way Graham Barton played at left tackle. Now, he’s their center, but Tristan Wors got hurt or is dealing with a offseason surgery and is still not like available to play. Mhm. So, apparently they had they had a veteran swing tackle playing left tackle for most of the preseason. After 53man cuts, they said, “Wait, Barton played at Duke, right? And he was a left tackle.” They said, “Yeah.” Like, “All right, well, if just an emergency, let’s see how it looks.” They swung Barton out to left tackle and there were for a practice and they were like, “That looked that looked really good.” Yeah. So, they didn’t tell anybody. No one reported on it. Nobody knew. Week one, they jogged out the the lineup. Had Barton at left tackle, not center. Played really well. They won the game and now it looks like he’s going to be a left tackle until Works comes back and he slides back down to center. Yeah, that’s the thing at Dookie was the left tackle for a couple of seasons, but he started at center. And that was like, okay, like he’s really good player. He can play center. Okay, we’ll just slide him there when he got drafted cuz he was a what, 25th, 26th pick, something like that. And just yeah, the more you can do the better. But props on Grant Barton. Definitely perpetuating Duke’s smart guy stereotypes of like, “Yeah, I know what everybody does on the offensive line. Just slide me anywhere. I don’t need a full training camp. Give me a week and a half and we’ll be good to go.” And I can do it really well. And he did it. And he did it really well, which is what everyone’s buzzing about. Do you have a Dean’s list you’d like to throw out there? I actually don’t have a Deans list. All right, last one here. Uh, cuz we’re up against it. Nick Curts, former Wake Forest baseball player. Oh, yeah. uh hit a homer last night for the A’s against the Red Sox. Nice. Rookie 30 homer season. Props. That’s That’s one of those like 30 home runs is one of those numbers. Baseball has so many of them, right? Just thresholds that like once you you get over that threshold, it’s pretty awesome. Uh 30 for a rookie though. That’s like what they when when you’re a prospect in baseball and they want to say you you you can hit for power, they go like potential 30 home run season power, right? Potentially a 3030 guy. Potentially 30 home run power. Well, Nick Her said potentially take that actual proven 30 home run power. It helped that he hit like what 100 of them in that one game. What do you have four in one game? Yeah, he had four in his debut. That’s the thing. He didn’t come up to the majors until mid part of the season. So, shout out to Wake Forest Baseball, I guess. Yeah, making the Deans list. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999. The fan dismissed the Deans list. And get ready for a look ahead to one of the more intriguing social matchups of the uh the the weekend. Darien Mensah, highly paid quarterback at Duke, is going back to the team he played for last year this weekend. He’s going to play against Tain, his old team, which is fascinating. You know what else is fascinating? Miller Lending. I’m Tim Donnelly here for Miller Lending. Matter of fact, uh here’s the thing. We’ve been telling you, I’ve been telling you, Gordon Miller and Miller Lending has been telling you for years now. Don’t buy down rates cuz you’re terrified of that high mortgage rate. And and the reason we’ve been saying that is you can get a no closing cost loan, which no closing cost, right? The thousands of dollars you normally pay in closing cost. Uh you don’t pay that and don’t pay the additional thousands of dollars that you’d have to pay to buy down a rate. Instead, take that cash that you would have spent on all of that, right? because Gordon Miller Miller lending offer a no- closing cost loan and have that help you cover what you think is a a monthly payment that’s too high and understand that most mortgages don’t last I mean on average the the length of a mortgage in this country before it’s refinanced or you you buy a new house you sell it whatever you pay it off is four years. So instead, what you should do is just get a no closing cost loan. Keep that cash in your pocket for closing costs and fees. And instead of buying down the rate, and be prepared if rates drop to do it again. You just refinance again, no costs and fees, you’ll likely get a rate that you would have had to buy down to, like if you did in January and bought it down to six and a half. You could have just waited and maybe gotten six and a half now. Uh depending on your situation. My point is the no closing cost loan allows you to save those big fat checks for closing costs and the big fat check that you want to spend to buy down a rate. Give Miller Lending a call and they can explain it to you and and they can tell you about how they’ve been doing it for decades right here in the triangle, locally owned in Kerry. The number to call 919-4473377. That’s 919-4473377 or visit them online at millerlending.com. Once again, that is millerlanding.com. Uh Darien Mensah returns to Tain. Oh, I hold on here. I I I moved on too quickly. Miller Lending is an equal housing lender. NMLS number 2502146. It’s important that I say that. Now I can get to what I was so excited to talk about. Darien Mensah returning to Tain. What should he be doing today to make sure he’s ready for that on Saturday? Stick around. It is I, Juan Carlos Santiago del Santiago, the coolest man in the world. Yes, I am back in Raleigh. Do I go downtown with so many places to party? No, I go to the Shaki place. The good food, the fine drinks, the coldest of beers, and of course, the many, many beautiful people. I always hang at the Sharkies place, the coolest bar in the world because, well, it was built for me. Juan Carlos Santiago del Santiago, the coolest man in the world, the Sharkies place. 8800 Dalio by the Shelly Station. Our state’s future begins with our students. That’s why the North Carolina Education Lottery has contributed over 12 billion dollars to education through scholarships, school construction, support staff, and preK programs. Lottery dollars move our state forward, helping students become the best versions of themselves. Visit moving mcstudentsforward.com and share how your student or school community has benefited for a chance to earn $2,000 for your story. Must be 18 to play. Problem gambling helpline 877-7185543. Is your heating and air system handling the hot weather? Okay. Call Newcomin Company to ensure your system is running at peak performance. As a comfort contract customer, you’ll get priority service and a 15% discount on all HVAC and plumbing service calls and repairs. Nukeman Company, your independent trained dealer, has proudly served our community for more than 70 years, delivering reliable comfort and peace of mind. Call 9198623000 or visit newman company.com. Newman Company. Your comfort is our business. Tired of hearing scary radio ads about the IRS? Tax Relief Advocates is different. TRA is here to tell you that if you owe money to the IRS, whether it’s 5,000 or 500,000, we have a solution. TRA can eliminate or reduce what you owe to the IRS with zero risk to you. We have over a,000 five-star reviews on Google and an A+ with a BBB. End your tax nightmare today by visiting t.com or call 800275-1728. That’s 8002751728. Hey folks, Dennis Cox from 999 the fan here for my friends over at Raleigh Weight Loss Center. In just over 5 weeks with Raleigh Weight Loss Center, I’m down over 30 lbs. That’s right, over 30 lbs lost thanks to Raleigh Weight Loss Center and their program. And here’s the thing I love about the Raleigh Weight Loss Center program. Their goal is not just for you to reach a target weight. It’s to reach the target weight, but also maintain that weight as well. You’re not doing any injections, no shots, no HGH or steroids. It’s just resetting and restarting your metabolism. That way, you lose the weight in a natural way, but most importantly, keep that weight off. Visit raleighweightlosscenter.com for your free consultation today. raleighweightlosscenter.com or give them a call 919-8977506 919-897-77506 is the number to call or visit raleighweightlosscenter.com 9198977506 get on that journey today results may vary so to throw here on first down all day endzone shot Anthony he’s got it touchdown what A strike 27 yds to double the lead. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. Darien Mensah quarterback for the Duke Blue Devils has perhaps the most emotional game of anyone in college football this weekend. Tain is a major part of Daren Mensah’s story. He was not a player that came into college with, you know, 30 scholarship offers and and, you know, got to sit up there at at the the folding table in his high school gymnasium and have 10 hats in front of him and reach down and pick one up on signing day. No, Tain was one of the very few teams that pursued him, that wanted him to be a quarterback and and committed to investing in him. And then the first year he didn’t play. Second year he uh with obviously a full year of development at Tulain and and their offense and their skill players and their coaches went out there, exploded onto the scene, one of the more efficient players in college football. And suddenly he’s at Duke making, if you believe CBS Sports and on three, uh, $4 million. And if you look at Duke’s schedule, third game of the year, they’re playing at Tlane. That is an unbelievable turn of events and something that I think he should be dealing with as much as possible now, right? Get your mind wrapped around it. Get your emotions in check. If there’s somebody on that sideline that you haven’t talked to in a while, rather than being surprised by them in pregame warm-ups when you’re out there with your headphones on and they run up to give you a hug, maybe give them a a text now, right? Get get that catchup out of the way. Do whatever you have to do to mentally be past that and on a business trip by the time you you’re you’re playing. Manny Diaz, head coach at Duke, actually has a little bit of uh little bit of a history with something similar, right? Last year at Duke, played Miami, which was a team that he had been the head coach of previously. U although maybe the memories aren’t as fond. Uh but here’s Manny Diaz on Men’s return to Tain. we’ve talked about it, you know, and we had a conversation even today, but but he um he’s just so calm, cool, you know, and and he doesn’t want it to be about him. He just wants to do his job. Um you know, once the game starts, they’re all nameless and faceless and and and they then after the game, he can go hug all of his old buddies. And so, um it’s important to watch the team for the team to watch his poise all week and the way he’s handled it. And they’ve been very impressed. It’s got to be tough. got to be. This is this is literally uh one of those moments where we meaning the outsiders watching have to remember that they’re human, right? So often we think of of athletes as uh maybe video gamers or or like fantasy football, right? They’re just they’re just numbers on a page. How many yards did you throw for? What was the final score? But he doesn’t like in in real life probably pretty darn certain he does not have the millions of dollars in his bank account that he has or the opportunity to play power four football or the opportunity to throw for 300 and some odd yards against the number 11 team in the country last week like he did without the guys on two lane sideline that he is going to be actively trying to beat this weekend. quarterbacks understand that their success is a product of their teammates and coaches hard work, right? That it’s it’s why uh hopefully if you have a quarterback that gets it in postgame interviews, right, they get the MVP award and they’re thanking their offensive line and they’re thanking the defense and they’re thanking the running backs because, you know, everybody else has to play well for you to look good. So Darien Mensah looked so good last year that Duke is reportedly giving him $4 million and the people he has to thank for that showcase are the ones he’s going to be trying to ruin their Saturday. There’s got to be some internal conflict there. So he seriously like I would do everything I possibly could to wrap my brain around that mental conundrum as early as you can if he hasn’t already done that like now right let him know hopefully he did it in the offseason. Love you guys. Love you boys. I’m rooting for you every game except for the time we play you. Um, I’m going to just so you know, I’m going to be ruthless that game and I’m going to do everything I can to beat you that game, but it’s still all love. Just so you know, like get that out of the way months ago, hopefully. Cuz do you know what else is an interesting dynamic in this game? What’s up? Today is when I start planning out some some some gambling decisions for the weekend. Okay. Games I like, games I don’t like. Tain’s favored. Are they really? Yeah. I did not see that. That’s exactly what that was my response. Really opened at two and a half point favorites. It’s down to one and a half. So, it’s close. Mhm. But there’s an interesting dynamic to we paid $4 million per year to take away your team’s best player and now you’re still favored against us. That that adds just a little level of I don’t know if it’s disrespect. I don’t I don’t know what it is, but it’s it’s definitely there. There’s something hanging over that. You know, it’s it’s I talk about ego. Quarterbacks have ego. Really, all athletes have some form of ego. Competitiveness, right? Like, I think I should win. There’s ego involved in that. Um, you don’t want a team to lose you and and not feel that loss a little bit, right? You wouldn’t say it publicly, but you know, if you’re a quarterback, you you leave a team and then that that program doesn’t skip a beat. You’re like, “Oh, wow. I guess I wasn’t as important as I thought, or I guess, you know, this this guy after me might be as good or better.” Whatever it is, there’s a lot of internal conflict in this one. And and Darien Mensah, to his credit, and I’ve said this from the very first time we talked with him, uh he does present professional. He he presents like a pro quarterback. If he can treat this, compartmentalize it, let the relationships be the relationships, go on a business trip back to his old stomping grounds, get a win, and move on. Upset, get an upset win and move on. I think that will be another feather in the cap of a guy that has really, like I said, presented as an NFL quarterback even though he’s playing college. Yeah, I it, you know, the interesting thing you bring up about, yeah, I want my former teams and stuff to do well, but maybe not that well, because I want to kind of shows how valuable I am. I’m not going to lie, as a former college coach, I look back at some of the stops when I was, you know, coaching and be like, “Yeah, I I I love the players, want them individually to do well, but I don’t want you to win that much.” Exactly. as a team. Like individual stats do that. Trust me, I’ve felt that too. It’s 100%. It’s and and you almost feel guilty for thinking it, but then you’re like, you know what? Forget it. Like, it’s it’s it’s it’s just one of those things. And you wouldn’t make it as far as you did as an athlete if you didn’t have that competitive switch. So, of course, you want to be the best. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999. The fan. Uh, we’re going to take a break, but first we have to get you hooked up on DraftKings Sportsbook. Tim Donnelly here for DraftKings Sportsbook. You know it. The NFL season is rolling, everybody. Every touchdown can bring you closer to a payout with DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL. From first touchdown score to anytime touchdown props or the thrill of live in-game betting, every snap is loaded with opportunity. There’s a game tonight. lot of lot of teams or two teams that a lot of people are very excited for. Washington at Green Bay. If you’re looking at that one, how about this? You just take the two shortest odds, right? The the two lowest odds to score a touchdown on one on each team, parlay them together, see what that would be like, right? So, you take Josh Jacobs from from Green Bay, you take Jaden Daniels from Washington, parlay them together. That’s plus 315, right? you if you minus 200 for Josh Jacobs by himself, you parlay it, get a little bit nicer payout, maybe that works out for you. If it’s something you’re interested in, Drive King Sportsbook is the place to go. Lines and odds are subject to change, and obviously that includes parlay odds. New customers, I have something else for you. Bet just $5 and get $200 in bonus bets instantly. Plus, score over $200 off NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code Tim D. That’s code Tim Timd to get $200 in bonus bets instantly when you place your first $5 bet, plus over $200 off NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. In partnership with DraftKings, the crown is yours. Gambling Problem? Call 877718543. Visit more than aame.nc.gov 21 plus North Carolina only. Eligibility restrictions apply. Bonus bets expire 7 days after issuance. See sportsbook.draftkings.com/promos. NFL Sunday ticket offer for new subscribers only and auto renews until cancelled. Digital games and commercial use excluded. Restrictions apply. Additional NFL Sunday Ticket terms at YouTube do YouTube.com/go Sunday/terms limited time offer. Football at 4. Up next, the Panthers. They’re frustrated. They’re mad. They should be. Stick around. It’s bow time. Fumble in the food on game day. Rookie move, but you know B can make your tailgate a winner breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Cuz the Carolina Legend has everything you’re craving. We’re talking crispy, juicy chicken loaded with real southern flavor. Fluffy, scratchade buttermilk biscuits and all the fixings to feed your whole crew faster than you could say touchdown. Be the MVP this season and let Bojangles do the cooking. Order your tailgate today. It’s bow time. Planning a tailgate? Then it’s bow time. Boge Angles has everything you need for the perfect tailgate, no matter how many fans you’re trying to feed. There’s the original tailgate, the super tailgate, and for a really big crowd, the jumbo tailgate special. And if you like your chicken off the bone, choose the Supreme’s tailgate special that includes 12 perfectly seasoned tenderloin fillets. So grab the tickets, get that Bojangles tailgate special, and go. It’s bow time. I’m attorney Brian Richie. Big truck accidents can cause life-changing injuries. And life-changing injuries deserve life-changing money. I know big truck wrecks and I know how to fight those big insurance companies. If you’ve been hurt by a big truck, contact us at richillaw.com. I’m on top of it. Broadcasting live from the Lenovo Studios. WCMC HD1 Holly Springs 999 the fan. The triangle sports leader. I’m Wal meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner. Starting to see some clearing out there, especially in our western counties. The farther east you go, the more clouds we’ll see for the rest of the day, but high temperatures will climb into the low 80s. 62 overnight tonight and mostly cloudy. Once again, we’ll see some clearing tomorrow with highs in the low 80s. Weather update brought to you by Nukem and Company, where your comfort is their business. Visit nukemand company.com. Four:00 check of your money. Dow Jones up 629 points to 46,119. This hour of the drive is brought to you by Bet 365. When it comes to sports books, Bet 365 has it all. Download the app today and see why it’s never ordinary at Bet365. Let’s move the chains. Time for football at 4. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan football at four Panthers practice following their loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars apparently got a little chippy players showed up. They weren’t in the mood for pleasantries with each other during drills. They were in the mood for aggression. Dave Canales was asked about the mentality of the players at practice. This is what he said. When you play a game like that, it’s like all the guys are, it means something to them. You know, they were a little bit testy with each other. I don’t mind saying that. I like seeing that. It matters to them. They care. Um, and that’s the type of focus and energy that we need, the type of passion that it takes to continue to grow our schemes, to continue to play together. It it requires that type of accountability with each other. There’s there’s something that that this is going to sound like I I’m not a I’m not some kind of an old football tryhard, okay? I don’t think you have to bear Bryant, but I do think you need to be very very clear when your team is playing poorly that anger makes sense when channeled correctly. Frustration makes sense when channeled correctly. The one calling card of Dave Canales personalitywise, culture-wise, is his unwavering optimism, his unwavering upbeat cheerfulness. Okay, we’re I’m not talking about like his, you know, play calling, right? That’s kind of tangible football stuff. But I’m talking about from his leadership style is is he is uh a positive dude, right? He loves playing football. He loves getting to go out and practice. He loves setting up the bags for drills. I feel great about playing football right now. He says that in the middle of the off season. He’s he’s that guy. But what I I would like to be exceptionally clear on is optimism can’t be misconstrued as ignoring. Right? When when somebody says like I want to be the same person uh in success and defeat and I want to be the same person uh you know whether things are going my way or not. I don’t want to have success change me. I don’t want to have failure change me. I get that. But you also have to react to what’s in front of you. Monotone is not I mean it is there monotone and consistent are not perfect synonyms although similar right? I want to be the same person in every situation, but that same person reacts to things they see. Right? If you play a bad football game and you show up the next day, great day to work. Oh, I’m so excited. That can be taken as like, “Oh, I guess I guess nothing nothing bad happened yesterday. Everything is great.” Is not true right now for the Carolina Panthers, right? Yes. In the scheme of things, are they all lucky? Yeah. I mean, they’re professional athletes. They get paid handsomely to play a children’s game and they get to jog out onto NFL fields and and play in front of thousands in person and millions on TV. Like, yes, in the scheme of things, they are lucky. But in the competitive realm of the NFL, it ain’t good. Right now, that they’re not playing good football. and they really haven’t outside of two or three games at the end of last year in a long time. So, frustration at a practice, as long as it’s not distracting, as long as it’s not I’m so mad that I’m uh you know, potentially hurting a teammate or I’m I’m not doing the drill correctly because I’m seeing red. As long as it’s within the the the constraints of getting better at practice, it is not only like desired, it is minimum. It is mandatory. You earn the right to joke around at practice. And you do that with great play. You earn the right to, you know, if music is playing, dance and laugh during stretching lines. You earn that. If if you just came off getting your tail kicked by the Jacksonville Jaguars, yeah, the next game, the next practice better be testy, to use the word that that Dave Canales used. As long as it doesn’t get to the point where it’s like blaming and pointing fingers where it divides a locker room, that’s the thing you don’t want to have. But if it’s like you said to, hey, pushing each other a little bit to elevate, then that’s fine. And and and that comes from from hopefully the culture you set because there is a fine line between blame and holding someone accountable very much. It is it is it is close, right? And if a veteran get, you know, hey, you missed this block and it caused us this. Let’s get out there and fix it. Sounds a little bit like blame, right? If if you were responsible for the call that didn’t see the blitz coming off the edge and Bryce Young got hit and Tedo McMillan had beaten his man on the deep ball and and if if Bryce would have been able to step into the throw, it would have been a game-changing touchdown, then I don’t think it is it is blaming if somebody at practice wants to call you out or in in in meetings in in in video, right? the the optimism can be big picture stuff, but I don’t want anybody on that practice field walking around with a smile on their face talking about how lucky are we. It’s like, actually, we’ll be lucky after you win. Dave Canales was uh was asked how he approaches practice after week one’s loss. This is what the head coach said. It’s an opportunity to go right after the things that showed up that we need to work on, you know. Um, and it our players teach us what to emphasize and you get what you emphasize and it’s like uh it’s it’s always something different, you know, whether it’s offense or defense or special teams, but when those things show up, it just gives us an opportunity to coach it really hard for the players to be accountable of it. And the reminders, the constant reminders of how critical and how vital the fundamentals of this game are. It’s coach speak. It’s co And by the way, that’s true after wins. Like I I I’m there are cliches about coaching that are are said a bunch and taken as facts, but I think everybody in the the the building, everybody in team sports understands that it’s not actually how it works. And I I think this was referenced uh in the the um the Dallas Cowboys documentary that just came out uh the Gambler or whatever it was where Troy Aman said Jimmy Johnson is the only coach that was ever honest with him about how he treats players because Jimmy Johnson came in and said, “Yeah, I don’t treat you all the same.” Right. I I don’t. And the legendary story, I don’t know if this is from the documentary or some other podcast, is that Jimmy Johnson cut a linebacker that fell asleep in a meeting on the spot. Backup linebacker, team meeting, falls asleep, Jimmy Johnson in front of everybody. You’re done. Cut. You don’t get to be a part of the Dallas Cowboys dynasty. And somebody asked him, uh, you know, a week later or whatever, asked Jimmy Johnson, what if Troy Aman had fallen asleep in the meeting? And he said, I would have woken him up and said, Troy, you need some coffee? like he he openly says like, “No, I don’t treat my players the same.” And I think the same needs to be true week to week, right? Coaches say, “I’m the same coach every week. We do the same thing. It’s process driven. Every week I’m going to be the exact same guy. I’m going to be consistent every week. Practice is going to have the same amount of elite intensity.” Yeah, it’s nice to say after losses, it better be better. After you get your tail kicked, it better be even better. If you don’t have, you know, a dial that goes to 10 and it goes up to 15 after you’re embarrassed in a game, then then fix your dial. It’s It’s I’m glad to hear that it got testy, but I’m hoping they’re downplaying it. I’m hoping they’re downplaying. Bradick, the offensive coordinator. Uh this this one would be one that is a perfect example, right? the pre-nap operation, how long it took them to get in and out of the huddle, uh the the miscommunications on snaps, the miscommunications on protections, so much of what was frustrating from week one. That’s a perfect example. I don’t walk in with like, oh, it’s just an opportunity for us to coach you hard on pre- snap. Or actually, Dave Canalis said he thought the operation was pretty good outside of a couple of uh plays here and there. And and I’m going like, no, that is an opportunity for you to let players know that they’re professional athletes. You pay them a lot of money, and if they can’t get in and out of the huddle and communicate efficiently and get on the right page, that’s unacceptable. Bradick, the offensive coordinator, was asked how they’re addressing the pre- snap operation this week. The first thing we did this week is uh I challenge the guys with with three things. uh just talking about being urgent into and out of the huddle. Um getting to the line of scrimmage so we can start to digest information uh as soon as possible, getting looks in the run game, uh getting our points right and getting the communication echoed out up front. Uh the second piece is brevity of communication. So um coupling the just the tempo of getting in and out of the huddle, the tempo of getting the play called is is not adding fluff in our communication. So, um, that kind of couples with a trust, uh, that your teammates know what they’re doing. So, it’s all kind of tied in together. Um, but really urgency and and brevity, uh, were the two kind of themes of our, uh, pre- snap stuff to just make sure that we’re getting to the line, we’re clear in our communication, and then we’re trusting each other to do the right thing. The irony of the most wordy answer in the world to explain brevity of communication. Yeah, I know. 50 seconds to explain that. Oh, no wonder. Uh yeah, exactly. Uh I what I need them to do is to use less words to get the point across because uh brevity is the essence of effective communication and and they will learn that throughout the passing of time. It’s it’s maybe I’m again maybe I am old school. I like to I like to think I’m not like a a football tryhard from 1960, but maybe I am because in a lot of the ways that that they’re communicating about this loss from the coaching staff to the to to the media and and it seems to be the messages they’re passing along to the players. It should be like two sentences angry instead of three bullet points with a bunch of explanations given to each player. Hey, let him know he like just just stuff that’s on a football practice field. You say it once. If you don’t get it the first time, the next water break, you go ask the coach and you’re moving on to the next thing. Well, how did we address the operation? Well, I set up a three-point plan for him. First is, and then second is brevity. And third is, and I’m going like, no, it’s football. It’s it’s it’s um baseball players calling each other off on a pop fly, right? There’s rules. Shortstop can call off the third baseman. There’s no questions there, right? Oh, brevity of communication because you need to not No. How about this? What Bryce says goes. Or vice versa. What Corbett says goes. If you disagree, you’re riding with him. Shortstoff calls off the third base. 58’s the mic. No, it’s 54. End of discussion. And this is like a a compliment wrapped in a backhanded insult. Maybe this this coach st a little too intelligent. Some of the smartest people I know, not good football minds. Some of the the least intelligent people I know, savants out there on the football field, they’re doing too much thinking. Don’t say paralysis by analysis. Yes. They were slow out of the huddle to the line of scrimmage and announcing uh protections. Dude came with three bullet points talking to football players. Get get to the point. Ironically, which is your point to them. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999. The fan Dennis has something he’d like to tell you. I’ll just get straight to the point. Dennis Cox here for Loan Pronto, folks. Are you trapped in a high rate mortgage? Are you watching your hard-earned money vanish every every single month? Well, stop. Right now, at Loan Pronto, they are delivering the lowest mortgage rates in three years. Loan pronto’s rate reduction home loan program is a streamlined, lowcost way to slash your house payments by hundreds of dollars a month. Lock in a fixed rate as low as 4.99% APR and close in as little as 2 weeks. No appraisal needed in most cases. And here’s the kicker. You can skip your next two house payments entirely. Don’t wait. Rates this low won’t last. Call Lone Pronto now for your free no obligation quote. Imagine this. Lower payments, more money in your pocket and a fresh start with a better mortgage. Call 911 381760 or visit loanpronto.com to lock in your new low rate and skip those next two payments. Don’t let high rates hold you back. Call 9119 381760 or go to loanto.com right now. Equal housing lender NMLS1661781 subject to lender approval nmlsconumerac.org. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan gets to the ladder challenge and our next keyword in our Sin City Skateaway immediately after the break could be the key word that wins you a free trip to Vegas. Stick around. Finally. Finally. Finally. Yes. Finally, there’s an app for 999 the fans. Finally, listen to your favorite hosts, your teams, and live sports action. Touchdown Philadelphia. They’re destroying the Chiefs and every podcast episode at your fingertips anytime, anywhere. Available for Apple, iPhone, and Android phones. Download the 999 The Fan app today. Powered by Aspire Money Management. Bet 365 is paying out before the final whistle. Check out Bet 365’s unrivaled early payout offer. When you bet on a team to win and they take a 17-point lead, you get paid no matter the final score. Forget the final whistle and start counting that cash. Hold up. You get early payout on parlays, too. Download the app and see why it’s never ordinary at bet365. Gambling problem? Call 187718-5543 or visit more than theame.nc.gov. Must be physically located in North Carolina. TNC Supply. Hey, hey. What do you say? John Forsland here for my friends at Buffalo Brothers. I travel coast to coast covering hockey. And when I’m back home, I head to my home away from home, Buffalo Brothers, for the best wings on the planet. You can’t beat their specials at all five of their Triangle locations. Every Pro Football Game Day, you can get Miller Light Draft for 450 and Blue Moon Draft for 550. Pet Friendly Patio, too. buffbros.com. A man, now I want wings. where the party I is the biggest party of the year with Nelly featuring another episode live at Coastal Credit Union Park Saturday September 13th get tickets now at livenation.com part of the mattress warehouse House Sponsored Series. Coach Saving here. On the field or on your walls, coverage matters. That’s why I go with Bear Marquee interior paint and primer from The Home Depot. Exceptional hide, advanced stain blocking, and over a thousand colors to choose from. Bear Marquee delivers one coat coverage that stands up to real life. One coat coverage, no overtime. Bear Marquee, only at The Home Depot. How doers get more done vowed only when tinted to colors from the bear marquee interior one coat hide collection. Hi, I’m Michael from the Warren Treaty. You know the jingle. Now discover the facts about ompic a GLP1. Only Noval Nordis makes FDA approved OMIC. Learn about the real thing. Talk to your healthcare professional today. Call 1833 Ompic or visit ompic.com to view the medication guide and to learn more about Ompicaglletide injection 0.5 milligram, 1 milligram, and 2 milligrams. Now Jarvis, he’ll drop this one. Oh, off the catch and rebound. He scores. Seth Jarvis on the doorstep. Pounds it home. The driver Tim Donnelly 999 the fan hockey fans a week from today training camp on the ice real practice but you don’t have to wait that long to earn this hour’s entry into the Sin City Skateaway. We have the next keyword in our Sin City Skateaway competition. Uh so here’s how it works. Every hour, once an hour from noon to 6 here on 999 The Fan, we give you a keyword. It goes for this week Monday through Friday and next week Monday through Friday. Six opportunities per day, noon to 6, once an hour, where we will give out a keyword. You have to be listening to hear it. You hear the keyword, you text it in to the number I’m about to give you, and each time you do that, it is an entry into the Sin City Skateaway. Then one of those entries will be randomly chosen, and that person will win a pair of tickets to see Carolina play Vegas at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas on October 20th. They will win roundtrip airfare for two, and they will win a three night stay at Park MGM re resort, and casino with $400 in food credits. That is a bananas prize pack uh prize package and all you have to do to win it, you’ll be entered by just sending in one keyword, but the more you do it, the better your chances are. So don’t miss your shot. Don’t miss your multiple shots at the ultimate hockey getaway brought to you by Park MGM Las Vegas, Atlantic Spas and Billyards Hot Tub and Sauna Expo, Buffalo Brothers, and Nukeman Company. Uh, the key word for this hour, it’ll be good until 5. So, you have to text it in by 5:00, is casino. C A S I N O. Text that keyword casino to 919-860-5326. That is 919-860-5326. You do have to spell these words correctly. You don’t have to send in anything else. There’s no other saying. You don’t need to say hello. You know, all you have to do is send in the keyword, but you do have to spell it correctly, which is something I I I’ve messed up saying it at least once. Uh, so for today, the word is casino. The spelling is ci. Be careful, no typos. Text that in to 919860-5326 by 5:00 and you’ll have this hour’s entry into the Sin City Skateaway. Good luck to you. I wish you all could win. I wish I could win. But hey, I wish I could win. There’s nothing we can do about it. Nothing we can do about that. Nope. Uh, the drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. That’s the Sin City Skateaway. We will have one more keyword today in the 5:00 hour. So, continue continue listening to 999 the fan for that. Uh, at the moment though, it’s time for a little ladder change. Oh my god. And for the 20ft ladder with a spear on Jeff Hardy. For the love of God, Jeff Hardy may be broken. Smitt down in half. All right, Dennis, the ladder challenge rolls on. How did uh how’d it go for you last night? Uh it actually went well. Um I had uh I forget the pitcher’s name for the St. Louis Cardinals giving up at least one earned run and he did. He gave up like three. But anyway, nonetheless, uh, my minus $8.90 bet turned my money into $12.94. I had $111 to start, so I’m at $1294. All right. Um, my bet also won I had in the WNBA as my full castanza run continues where I try to think of what I would normally bet on and do the exact opposite. Uh, I had the Atlanta Dream to win straight up just on the money line over the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA for the only reason of I would never make that bet normally. And uh they won by 16. I only needed them to win. Turned my uh profits into or my my my total into $18.25. Um there was a minus 950. So not a huge payout. Um tonight I’m going back full Costanza. Okay. You know, I’m I’m a big believer in the Packers this year. Not a fan, but I just think they were my pick to win the NFC. Uh I think they’re a a rising contender uh in in the NFL. Um, so of course I’m taking the Commanders. Uh, and I was able to tease that total or sorry, tease that spread to Commanders plus 17 a half. I just need them to keep it within two touchdowns and a field goal. Uh, I’m getting the Commanders plus 17.5 minus 890 as I continue to pick against my better thoughts. Uh, and that will give me 18. Uh, they’ll turn my 1825 into $20.30 as I look to uh continue this slow build of ladder challenge money. Uh, Dennis, what do you have? I’m going to take Jordan Love tonight. Passing plus rushing yards at over 180. So, 180 plus, I should say. 180 plus rushing and passing yards today for Jordan Love. That’s a minus 700 bet. So, let’s uh turn my 1294 into 1478. I do like those bets, but there there’s it’s always the injury thing. That’s I mean, there’s always that. It’s always there. It’s always waiting, lurking. Anyone that plays fantasy football knows the injuries are always lurking. So, the Commanders plus 17 and a half, huh? Plus 17 and a half. Plus 17 and a half. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. That is the latter challenge. Before we jump to cons and cons, I I have I have failed to mention this and I’m going to continue mentioning this uh every day as often as I can cuz I believe in it that much. Uh please download our brand new app 99 the fan has an app for your phone uh for the first time in station history. It was unveiled uh or or released to the public what two days ago. It is it is brand spanking new. Uh and we want you to enjoy the fruits of that labor. Right. A lot of people did a lot of work around here behind the scenes to get it to um be as effective, as user friendly, uh to have as much content as easily accessible as possible. And uh and it’s out there and and I, you know, as somebody that that produces some of the content, but did not do the technical work behind the scenes, I’m pretty darn proud of what they were able to uh put together on our 999 the Fan app. So go to the Google Play Store if you’re on the Android side of things, the the App Store if you are on the iPhone side of things. If just that intimidates you a little bit, you can go to our social media bios and find the links. Uh so 999 the fan across all social media in the bio. The link you click it, it’ll show you the way to download the app. Um and then just enjoy, right? You can live stream. You can check out YouTube videos. There’s uh things to read, blogs to read, articles to read. There’s contests that are going to be uh fairly soon here. App exclusive. The only way you can win is by being registered on the app and and entering there. Uh we have some sweet things to give away. It is a really cool app, as cool as it can be for for also being very userfriendly. Uh so please download it and then while you’re there, as a favor, you know, five stars, please rate and review. five stars. Write something awesome about how much you like it in the App Store, in the Google Play Store. Now, we talked about all that great content. Let’s get to maybe that would be the the third con. Maybe it’s cons and cons and cons where we do confidence, concerns, and content. Let’s go cons and cons with it. But to play great defense, you need one thing above all else. That starts with a W. Confidence. Cons and cons. We take different teams, different entities, we put it into the cons and cons game. Uh, what are you most confident about? What are you most concerned about when it comes to for today we’re doing the Carolina Panthers after week one? What are you most confident about for the Panthers? And what are you most concerned about for the Panthers? That is the question. Now, as always, I got good news and bad news. Which do you want first? You always take the bad news. So, we’ll start with concerns. Dennis, why don’t you lead off this time? Uh, yes. Uh, concerns, yes, are my concerns. The the the the game here. Yeah. Is what are you most concerned about? So, you got you got to pick one out of it’s a multiple choice option where you’re down to like the double letters. You like option A, B, C. It’s like you’re walking up a stadium, then double A, double B, double C, cuz there’s 50 different options you could roll with. There are a lot. Uh, my biggest concern is all the mistakes that we saw this team make last year, we saw it again in week one. Nothing overall seemed better. So my concern is, are they actually better? Even though on paper theoretically they should be, how much better are they actually being coached? How much better are they? Because last time I checked, defense still gave up 200 plus rushing yards again, even though you had Derrick Brown back. You signed Turk Wharton and Bobby Brown and Pat Jones and you drafted Scorton and New Yellen and Rathon Ransom and Cam Jackson and you signed Christian Rose Bros. Boom. You signed Trayvon Merrick. Yet it looked exactly the same. That’s my concern. It is year one to year two of a coaching staff of of mostly stability, a lot of the same core is it’s kind of a bigger version of game one to game two where all right if you make a mistake people give you a free pass almost, right? All right, you’re learning, you’re figuring it out. The thing that concerns most fans and most analysts way more than anything else is when you start making the same mistake twice, right? That’s what terrified me about Bryce Young last year, right? He threw the interception. I believe it was to Jesse Bates and then later that was his first year. It was game one. It all bleeds. It’s all one very brutal, blurry just beat down. Uh but he interception Jesse Bates and then later in the game a very similar interception to Jesse Bates and I went oo that was like the uhoh moment because it’s like make a mistake one time cool learn from it don’t make it again make the mistake again almost immediately it’s like well now we got issues. So going from year 1 to year two of this coaching staff, it’s like, all right, you didn’t play your your starters enough your first season in preseason and you started really slow on offense in week one or in year one. Second year, well, you didn’t play your starters enough in preeason offensively, so you roll into week one and well, you started really slow again. It’s like you’re making the same mistakes. And that’s just a super obvious example. There’s a bunch of other nitty-gritty examples as well. Well, we talked about the pre- snap stuff. That was an issue last year. Yep. It’s like, well, it’s the same thing. Like, did you fix it? Really? Or even the funnier versions, Jonathan Mingo jumping out of bounds and not getting his feet down. Yep. And then Xavier Leette jumping out of bounds and not getting his feet down. Nobody looked around and said, “Hey, let’s make sure we don’t mingo this bad boy.” I know that was that was more years than than that wasn’t last year, was it? It’s all Oh, no. It’s last year. The other one blurry. It’s messed together. Yeah. Uh my concern is again out of many Bryce Young’s confidence. When Bryce Young’s confidence gets shaken, you don’t know how it will go, right? Because last year, the beginning of the year, I do think that was part of the the avalanche. That was part of the dominoes that started falling earlier. His confidence got rattled pretty good. And because of that, there were mental freezes. There were hesit there was like a good amount of examples of hesitancy from from him. And then the vice the opposite happened later in the season where he had a few things break his way and then the confidence got rolling and that built. So it’s almost like they’re at a fork in the roads right with Bryce. I think if if game two gets gets going in the reverse direction, start going downhill, I think that could get going with some speed. But the same is true reverse, right? If he goes out and plays well, that can get going with some speed. So, I’m I’m a little worried about his confidence. Uh because I mean to be successful in the NFL, you need to cut it loose. You need to step into throws. You need to play with instinct. And if your confidence gets shaken, you know, there’s no place for a timid starting quarterback in the NFL. Now, let’s get to the fun part. If that’s the concern, what is your confidence? My cons my confidence after week one? Yes. It feels like they do have a true number one receiver in the making in Toro McMillan. He’s going to have his bumps in the road. There’s going to be inconsistencies his rookie year, but from what we saw week one, he has everything physically that you need for him to be a true number one receiver for this team going forward. My confidence, Tedo McMillan. That’s fair. Um, same thing. Why? And also like wide receivers don’t start slow like they used to. I I look at it, it was the the Mike Evans year, whatever the Mike Evans, I think it was Kelvin Benjamin, was Odell Beckham in that class. Like that draft class seemed to burst onto the scene. And it’s very much like a uh pre that draft class and post that draft class with with receivers where before that they were almost looked at as well you know you give them two three years by year three they should be if you you know a super talented uh wide receiver should be productive. Then that draft class happened and it immediately became you know what no we’re not waiting. They can be good right now. Uh, and there’s a bunch of reasons for it, right? I I think all the seven leagues you play growing up. I think the um passing nature of of college offenses, uh, the rule changes that have made it more favorable to the offense. Like, there’s a lot of reasons for it, but it is now like an NFL assumption that if you draft one of the top guys at wide receiver that their rookie year, they can step in and change your offense. That 2014 draft class, you had Sammy Watkins, Mike Evans, Odell Beckham Jr., Devonte Adams was in that class as well. Uh Maris Lee, Kelvin Benjamin like you mentioned. Uh there was a good amount good amount of guys. Alan Robinson was also in that class as well. So I mean guys that could you know have pretty solid careers as well. So so I look at that draft class is when it changed. So Tedo McMillan came in as a a rookie and game one number one option, right? That would have been unheard of in 2007. It would have been, well, you know, we’re going to have him out there 50% of the snaps and we got to make sure he blocks. And now it’s no, if if we get one-on-one on Tedo McMillan week one, game one, drive one, we’re giving him a chance. And he made good on those chances. Uh 68 yards for Tedo McMillan in his his debut, which is the third best in a debut by a rookie in Panther history. But you add in, right, at least analytically I add in uh he had a 30-yard defensive pass interference that he actually caught the ball. He did. So he doesn’t get the the receiving yards for it even though he should, right? And if they would have called it a catch on the field, I think they would have declined the penalty and he would have gotten those yards, but they called it incomplete on the field incorrectly. So they would have had to decline and challenge to get the and that just it’s why do it? And uh speaking of which actually Buddha Baker media availability Buddha Baker the safety for the Arizona Cardinals actually earlier today said quote a receiver who can do it all when describing Ted Ron McMill. He had a 16-yd catch down the left sideline called back because Corbett was 5 yards downfield. Yeah and and that had quite literally no impact on the passing play. So that’s a 16 yard catch earned just not given credit for. So you get get those two. So, he’s looking at like a 120 yard day if if just catches that he actually made counted as catches. Um, and even the touchdown, like I want to point this out about the the what do you even call it? The non-caught, it’s not a drop. Uh, the diving catch where he had the one hand and it was the the defensive player kind of racked his left hand back down the the middle on a post. That is a tough catch. And like the way I think about it is the the the replacement player, right? The way baseball thinks of war wins above replacement player. If you just took the most average receiver in the league and put them on that route, I think they might catch that ball 20% of the time. I think the way he attacked the ball, even though he only got one hand on it, I know people don’t like that, but when you’re not him, right? He can make those catches pretty pretty comfortably. I think he catches that ball like 60% of the time. It’s bad luck that you end up with the 40% uh on a play where you really needed a spark, but like his tracking of the ball on deep balls makes it look like, oh my gosh, how did you not catch that when most guys would make that look like that’s an impossible catch? I’m very confident in Tedo McMillan being a number one right out the gate, which is quite nice for the uh the Carolina Panthers, which by the way, now he’s going to get more attention and they’re going to start, you know, ro rotating safeties that way and everything else. So, his job’s only going to get tougher from here. That is cons. Uh, also happening, I don’t know why I said also happening tonight. We weren’t talking about something that’s going to happen tonight. Uh happening tonight, State Wake Forest College football ACC opener. It’s at Wake Forest. So State’s on the road. And I’m going to I’m going to relate back a conversation about State’s offense to the one we were just having with Tedo McMillan. Last year, State’s offense, es particularly at this point in the season, this early on in the season, um felt like they were trying to make a Tedoa McMillan happen. They were trying to have that guy that you could draw up as the number one option and even when he was covered, he was still open and if he ever had a one-on-one, you automatically went there. Your decision was out of your hands if you’re a quarterback. and they were forcing the ball to Casey Conception, who by the way got paid, right? The on three reported a million dollars a year to go play for for Texas A&M and he’s had a good start to his his career with the Aggies. Wish him the best. But this year, I think one of the developments of CJ Bailey, the quarterback for NC State, that so many people are excited about is he he doesn’t have those pre-nap kind of urges. I have to get the ball to Casey. I have to find a way to get Casey Conpio on the ball. I have to He’s so good. We have to take advantage of it. Um that that first first uh first year for CJ Bailey felt that way. This year there’s been very little forcing of the ball to anybody. I think Justin Jolie might be one of the best passcatching tight ends in the country. He’s getting the ball when the defense says, “Hey, against this coverage, you throw it to this route.” If Justin Jolie’s running the route, he’s getting the ball. This past week, um there was really nobody that that was featured in the past game. Week one, Wesley Grimes had moments where he was featured. Teddy Hoffman, the the freshman, had had moments when he was featured. Week two, it’s like everybody had between three and six catches and between 20 and 40 yards. Like there was just a lot of guys right there in the mix, which, you know, could complicate things a little bit if you get to a point where you need a dude to go win on a third down or something like that. But overall, I think it’s just healthy decisionmaking by CJ Bailey. And it’s a quarterback that is is learning how to um use the entirety of his progression. Right. All right. If you got to get to the fourth wide receiver on the route, get to the fourth wide receiver on the route. And you never pass up completions. You never pass up completions. A lot of times I call it hunting for completions, right? It’s it’s like I’ve never hunted, so this might be a really bad analogy. Um, but if if you’re out hunting and let’s say there’s no no limit, right? you can get as many of whatever the the species that you’re hunting is. You don’t pass up the easy ones, right? You’re you know, you’re you’re you’re taking whatever you can get. That’s how I think of completions. If if the number one wide receivers’s running a hitch and he’s open, pop the ball to him, get the get the the completion, move on to the next. Even if you know second in the the progression is a deep post, right? Even if you know if I get to my third progression that might be Jolie down the seam. No, you never pass on on the easy one, right? And and CJ Bailey is taking what the defense is giving him this year much better than last year. It’s the first read for a reason, right? Exactly. Yeah. If it’s there, that’s that’s the thing. Don’t you don’t go broke taking a profit. But it is so tempting, right? It’s it’s uh let’s make a deal, right? I’ll give you $200 now or whatever’s behind this door and it might be a new car, right? because you’re going like I could take the hitch now or I could see what’s happening on the backside and it might be a 50 yard touchdown till you turn around and it’s Jolie double team 40 yards downfield and you’re getting hit from your blind side and it’s like I should have I should have taken the hitch. Just keep doing it. You can always get the home run on the next play. There’s always the next play or you can just nickel and dime your way down the field and score touchdowns that way. Counts the same. Uh, I think he’s doing a good job of that this year and he needs to continue uh through ACC play which starts tonight against Wake Forest. Should be a fun one. Should be really fun. I’m looking forward to it. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. We have a feedback frenzy coming up. But first, here’s Dennis Cox. Hey Dennis Cox here from my friends over at Law Tigers. Speaking about uh, you know, don’t go broke taking a profit. I never felt like I ever go broke taking a profit when anytime I get a chance to get on my motorcycle and ride. I mean, even if it’s just the the six-minute ride I have to work, it’s still a fun thing to do. And that’s something that I always get to enjoy. But something I have to make sure before I go on the road is check the weather. Make sure everything’s actually going to be okay. Not just for your, you know, commute to where you’re going, but make sure you can get back safely as well. Also, if you can, if there’s a threat of bad weather, if you can, if take a cover with you, make sure you can park your bike in a place where you can get to cover quickly. Always make sure that you have an escape when you’re out there on the road. And if that bad weather hits, know a spot where you can quickly get into cover and be safe. Whether it’s under an overpass, into a parking garage, whatever it may be. Make sure you get to safety as quickly as you can. But if you are injured in a motorcycle accident, this is actually where Law Tigers can step in and help you. Actually, where Law Tigers does step in and help you. Give them a call if you’re injured in a motorcycle accident. 1 800 Law Tigers. The number again. 1 800 Law Tigers is the number to call if you’re injured in a motorcycle accident because let’s be honest, insurance companies, we if you contact them, they’re they want to give you the least amount possible. That’s why you give a contact to Law Tigers first because Law Tigers are part of the motorcycle riding community. Your case evaluation with them is free and you don’t pay a dime until your case settles. And also be before you even go out on the road next time, make sure you visit lawtiggers.com. They actually have a free rider benefit kit out there for you. That way you can know all the benefits that you have as a motorcycle rider in case you are injured in a motorcycle accident. But call 1800 Law Tigers, North Carolina’s motorcycle lawyers. Law Tigers is a network of independent law firms who are members of the American Association of Motorcycle Injury Lawyers. Law Tigers is not a law firm. The Drive with Tim Donnelly 999 The Fan. Feedback Frenzy. We hear your comments coming up next. We’ve got NFL tonight on 999 the Fan presented by Wake Med. Showtime. Prime Time. Your prime time matchup is an NFC battle. Washington and Green Bay. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Pregame starts at 7:30. Y know what time it is. Kickoff at 8:15. Hey, together baby. We just do this one play at a time on the Triangle’s home for the NFL. 999 the fan. We came here for one thing, to win. Billy Carrington and Kip Moore live in concert. I got a little bit. Saturday, September 13th, Red Hat Amphitheater Raleigh, Billy Currington, Kip Moore, and Marlon Punaki. Tickets on sale now at lienation.com. Don’t miss Billy and Kip live. Actual price will depend on product and subscription plan featured products or compounded drug products which the FDA does not approve or verify for safety, effectiveness, or quality. Prescription products require an online consultation with a healthcare provider who will determine if appropriate. See website for details, restrictions, and important safety information. Want a boost in and out of the bedroom? Hims has you covered. Introducing a new twoin-one approach to level up your game to Dalifil for better bedroom performance and zinc for testosterone support. Turn things all the way up and find affordable treatment options at up to 95% less than brand names. At hymns.com/joy. That’s hymns.com/joy. At Howard Hannah Allentate Real Estate, you’ll find the same family-owned real estate company you’ve trusted since 1957. But now they’re bigger, better, brighter. They have more agents and more resources, which means more exposure to sell your home. Their proven expertise and innovative tools will help you find the right home around the corner or across the globe. And they invest in our local communities. Their promise to you is a home ownership experience that is different from all others. Visit howardhannahate.com to get started. Are you trapped in a high rate mortgage watching your hard-earned money vanish every month? Stop. Right now at Loanto, they are delivering the lowest mortgage rates in three years. Hey, it’s Dennis Cox. Loan Pronto’s rate reduction home loan program is a streamlined lowcost way to slash your house payments by hundreds of dollars a month. Lock in a fixed rate as low as 4.99% APR and close in as little as 2 weeks. No appraisal needed in most cases. And here’s the kicker. You can skip your next two house payments entirely. Don’t wait. Rates this low won’t last. Call Lone Pronto now for your free no obligation quote. Loan Pronto is amazing. Imagine lower payments, more money in your pocket, and a fresh start with a better mortgage. Call 9119 381760 or visit lonpronto.com to lock in your new low rate and skip those next two payments. Don’t let the high rates hold you back. Call 911 381760 or go to lonpronto.com right now. Equal housing lender NMLS1661781. Subject to lender approval, nmlsconuacccess.org. Bryce eyes downfield, throws. The ball is tipped and intercepted by Jacksonville. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. Before we get to a feedback frenzy and hear some of your reactions to conversations we’ve had over the last week or so, I have some feedback for you. I want you to win a trip to Las Vegas. I want you to win the Sin City Skateaway. That’s right. I’m talking to you. You’re you’re doing such a good job being a listener of the show that I want to send you to Las Vegas. But the only way to do that is if you text in casino. At least the only way to get the entry for this hour into the Sin City Skateaway is to text in casino. Ci is the uh the the the key word. The number to text it to is 919-860-5326. Uh while you’re in Vegas, you you’ll have you have room that we’ll take care of you. The the air airfare we’ll take care of. There’ll be tickets to see some great hockey, Carolina Vegas that we’ll take care of. There’ll be food vouchers. All you have to do is text in keywords. Uh once an hour, noon to 6, every weekday, this week, next week here on 999 the fan. This hour’s keyword casino 919860-5326. You have until 5:00 to text that in. We’ll give you a new new keyword in the next hour uh in the five o’clock hour, but 13 more minutes to text in casino. Now, let’s get to the real part of the feedback frenzy. All right, let’s actually go to our YouTube live chat. So, our YouTube live chat, people actually chiming in when we did cons and cons regarding to the Carolina Panthers. Chris uh Chris Chris shout out to Chris Lee. Shout out to Chris. I know we did Panthers playbook dropped earlier today, but uh we had cons and cons regarded the Carolina Panthers and this actually comes from Scott. He said his concern is reacting to last week’s takeaway from the game planning in regards to this week like how how well can they adapt in terms of like his concern like how well can the coaching staff so his concern is how quickly they do make changes. Yes. not overreacting to last week and and making too many changes, I think is what he’s saying. So, I guess how well they react to things, but also he said his confidence is T-Mac has hands and will only get better. Yes. I I I I wonder I wonder if we pulled, you know, if we went full family feud, 100 Panthers fans surveyed, their biggest uh confidence in the Carolina Panthers is I wonder if it would be like 94% says Tedo and McMillan after week one. Like it just seems like that’s such a glaring bright spot for a team that was really in a dark place in week one. Um, as far as adjustments go, being I want to be clear here, being a coach in the NFL is hard, okay? And and obviously we we critique and and that’s part of being a fan, right? What would we do in that situation? What did they do wrong? It’s part of being a fan. But it is very difficult. And I actually think one of the hardest parts of being a a coach would be, did we have a bad game or were we bad at it, right? Like, did we have a bad game running the football or are we bad at at blocking up the run? Because if you’re bad at it, you got to make big changes, right? Maybe personnel changes, scheme changes, you need to change a lot. If you just had a bad game, you don’t need to make any changes. You just need to have a better game. And after week one, there’s a lot of things that that they did poorly in week one. and deciphering which one was just ah he had a bad game and which one was no I think he might be bad at that the way we asked him to do it that’s tough so the adjustment game what changes do you make what changes do you not that’s that’s going to be highle chess for the coaching staff this week all right this one also comes from Mitchell in our YouTube chat uh we heard Brad is the offensive coordinator talk about how they can we gave a three-point presentation essentially to to the media earlier today about how they can make things quicker pre- snap app, including using uh brevity of communication. He even said the word brevity twice. Brevity of communication. And Mitchell says, “I’m wondering if they should make brevity codes for play calls that the coach can say to Bryce and all he has to do is reference a little mini call sheet on his wrist.” I see sarcasm. I was like, you know what? I was hookline and sinker there. I respect it. I was like, no, that’s exactly I was I was going to explain play call. I was going to explain like two-minute drill play calls right there, but hey, he was he was he was being sarcastic. Um, I do think the the communication that was taking longer wasn’t the play call, though. I want to be clear on that. I think it was identifying things in the protection and deciding how you would execute a a protection, right? So, well, I think part of it was the operation of actually getting the play in, getting out of the huddle and to the line. That’s that was part of it. I agree with, but I I can’t imagine there’s a way to make that conversation more brief, right? Unless they’re asking questions like, “What do you guys think the formation should be?” Like, that’s not a brevity of communication. That’s just you need to do things faster. When you’re talking brevity of communication, it has to be, okay, we’re in a fiveman protection. Which five is the offensive line going to be responsible for? and which if they come unblocked is the quarterback’s responsibility. You have to communicate all of that pre- snap. So, or you know, all right, we have a six-man protection. Which five are the line going to be responsible for? And where’s the back going or or the tight end staying in? Like that. That’s all that all needs to be decided. if they’re having a hard time literally having just the offensive coordinator say, you know, right Rob 60 check uh Oklahoma X under and then Bryce saying to the offensive line that exact same thing. If that’s what’s taking the 40 secondond play clock, then we got we got to find like the the Raleigh Pop Warner coaches to go to go out there and show them how you could have the the quarterback actually run all the way to the sideline, get the play, and run all the way back to the huddle and still do it under the play clock. Yeah, I think this the the thing that I know frustrated fans, but just seeing the the Panthers break the huddle with 8 n seconds on the clock, it’s like, well, you’re not giving yourself time to to do all the adjustments pre- snap. I think that again that’s the operation thing that’s low in that case. Going back to what uh Idzik said, you need brevity of communication and brevity of decision making. Yeah. Because if if the play call is taking that long to get in, you have a coordinator sitting there going or a head coach Canalis going, “Well, it could be this play or it could be this play.” All right, here we go. Bryce, uh I think we’re going to Let’s test them deep on second down, Bryce. We’re going to go with uh And then it’s like, “All right, we’re 15 seconds into the play clock already.” Got to be decisive, you know, when the previous play is going on. Have ideas in your head, pick one and go. All right. We had a conversation yesterday about the Carolina Hurricanes. Just what what makes you excited about this upcoming season? Because we got their training camp schedule yesterday. One week from today, they’re actually going to be on the ice at Invisalign with their first training camp practice. And this one comes from Jesse. Jesse wants to know, there are three questions. The only questions that Jesse needs answered from the Canes team by the next trade deadline are this. Can they answer these three things? Are the Hurricanes defense is is the defense for the Canes going to be okay with the lack of right-handed defenseman? Can Coin be a top six forward on an NHL team with Stanley Cup aspirations? And number three, is coach off ready yet? All these questions answered by the trade deadline. Fantastic questions. Great questions. I am still very curious as who’s going to be playing off-handed uh back there on the uh the blue line. I will say this, 13 minutes ago, Carolina Hurricanes tweeted out a picture. Go on. Keandre Miller has arrived. Let’s go. He’s in his practice gear. He’s skating on the ice. It is a picture. It is a stat like it’s not a GIF. It’s not a video. I’ll put it this way. Looks fast. Yep. He’s not moving. It’s a picture. Look at that edge. It’s a picture, but he looks fast. Um, I I agree with all all of those questions. And and oh, which like if if I were to rank them actually, you know what? I would change the second question a little bit. Is Koke and Yammy ready to be a a center in the top two lines? I forget how you word it. Top six forward. Top six forward. Sure. Um, I would just change it to do they have two players on the roster ready to be centers in the top six forwards, right? Because if Stankovven or something plays center and looks great and can do that at a second line level, stall obviously the third line or the stall line. We don’t number him around here. Uh, and then I I like Koki as a fourth line center, right? That’s that’s another option there. So I agree with the handedness question of the blue line. I agree with the coekov question and I agree with the spirit of the question about cook although I would just expand it to more open tryyous. Who wants to try center and see if any of them are ready to uh push Kokini down to a fourthline center? Or who knows, maybe it all clicked for Kokini and this off seasonason he had an epiphany. Did some VR training and now he’s going to go out there and be a top end second line center. Maybe the drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. That is a feedback frenzy. Again, thank you to everybody that jumps on our YouTube and comments on different conversations, which by the way, you can find a bunch of those YouTube conversations on the 999 the fan app, which is brand new out this week. Uh, but when you comment on those videos, you never know, you might just hear one of your comments right here during a feedback frenzy live on air. Uh, in the meantime, we do have to jump to our starting five. But first, Dennis has something he’d like to tell you. That’s right. Dennis Cox here for my good friends over at Raleigh Weight Loss Center. you know, my my whole life in in sports, I was always taught about, you know, winning and being able to have more than your opponent, right? Well, uh, as someone who’s been trying to lose weight for a while, but the the struggle is actually losing. It’s really weird and actually being less than what you were. That’s exactly what Raleigh weight loss is there to do. They’re actually to help you lose, which is strange to say as a sports fan, as someone who’s been involved with sports my whole life, that losing actually is winning in this regard. I actually uh stepped on the scale again this morning and I’m I’m down over 30 lbs. Actually, the the weight that I looked at this morning was the lightest I’ve been in about 10 years thanks to Raleigh Weight Loss Center and the program that they have built over at Raleigh Weight Loss Center and their whole goal is not to just reach a target weight. It’s about maintaining that target weight as well. So many of these diets that you see nowadays where you lose a bunch of weight real quickly and then you end up gaining it back and then you lose a bunch of weight and you gain it back. that yo-yo stuff that that’s not what Raleigh Weight Loss Center is all about. They’re about helping you lose your weight, lose the body fat, but then also maintaining that weight as well. No shots or injections, so none of the side effects. We’re not juicing up with steroids or HGH, so no none of those kinds of things. It’s just about restarting and resetting your metabolism. That way, your body can do the natural thing and you can lose the weight that you’ve been trying to get rid of for so long. I understand how frustrating it can be. I dealt with it for years, but thanks to Raleigh Weight Loss Center, I’ve lost not only over 30 pounds, but my clothes are fitting a lot better. I’m sleeping better at night. So many things have gotten better because of it. And you can also see if the program fits you as well. And I I I guarantee if you have a sit down chat with them, their free consultation, you’ll probably find some light in it as well. Visit raleighweightlosscenter.com or give them a call 919-897-7506. Again, it’s a free consultation with Raleigh Weight Loss Center. 919-897-7506 or visit raleighweightlosscenter.com. Again, give them a call. 919-897-7506. Raleighweightlosscenter.com. Results may vary. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. We have the starting five coming up next. And in the five o’clock hour, the last Sin City Skateaway keyword of the day. Don’t miss it. Stick around. Hey, it’s Adam Gold. And as the Carolina Hurricanes shoot for their eighth consecutive playoff appearance, that’s right, eight in a row. That’s not the goal. I should remind you, the goal is being, as Rod Brymore likes to say, the last team standing. What do they need? Who will get them there? You know where you can find the answers on every episode of the Kane’s Corner podcast, live on YouTube, after games, and wherever you get your podcast. Rate, subscribe, like, share, tell your friends. Hello, I’m Jen and I work in the service department with Nukeman Company in the Triangle. I’ve worked at Newman Company for over a decade and can tell you firsthand our comfort contract is hands down the best way to stay worry-f free and comfortable in your home. In fact, the program works so well, we have over 4,000 customers who use it. Folks love it because when you sign up for the comfort contract, you get the best service Nukem offers. We prioritize contract members with same day service, priority scheduling, and emergency after hours calls, so there’s no waiting when your system needs help. On top of that, Newman Company is a proud independent train dealer. We back exceptional train products with our expert service, and we treat your home like it’s our own. It’s hard to stop a train and it’s hard to beat Nukem Company service. Call 9119-8623000 or visit nukeman company.com to learn more about our comfort contract. Nukeman Company, your comfort is our business. Keeping your engines healthy means protecting them in season and out. Experts trust Stable to do that, and third party testing confirms it. Stable is the industry leader in preventing fuel related issues. No matter if you use it in your car, boat or outdoor power equipment in season or out at every fillup or when you store, start with stable. Hey girl, haven’t seen you downtown lately. Nope. Sticking to our go-to places. You mean like Sharkies? Well, we love our Sharkies. Best wings and gumbo on the planet. But we never miss the $5 sangrias on Wednesdays at the new Salt and Lime and Mexican pints on Thursdays for $3. You know, my boy loves the House of Hops. No better selection of craft beer in the state. Loves their specials, their food trucks, and you know, I love my wine. They have a wonderful selection. And have I told you about our new takeout spot, Chay Empanadas? It’s right next to Sharkies. They have 20 different types of authentic Argentinian empanadas and they are incredible. Especially the breakfast ones. You’ve got to try it. Sounds perfect. And how awesome is it that they’re so close to each other? Oh, it’s perfect. All right. Give them a try. Chay Impanadas, House of Hops, Salt and Lime, and Sharkies. Just a hop, skip, and a jump from each other off Durale Road, Glennwood, and Grove Barton. This hour of the triangle sports leader is powered by Richie Law Firm. Injury lawyers. Richie Law is on top of it. That one back. That one going. Go to richilaw.com. That’s richaw.com. Broadcasting live from the Lenovo Studios. WCMC HD1 Holly Springs 999 the fan. The triangle sports leader. with the weather. Good afternoon everyone. I’m WR meteorologist Mike Mazize. We saw the sun come out this afternoon. Temperatures warmed a bit. Mostly clear, a tad cooler tonight, 60 below. Tomorrow it’s partly cloudy. It’s milder. Our high at 82. Saturday is partly cloudy. 80 84 Sunday. Weather update brought to you by Nukem and Company where your comfort is their business. Visit nukem & company.com. 5:00 check of your money. Dow Jones up 617 points today to 46,108. It’s 5:00. Time to serve up the biggest sports stories of the day. Here comes your starting five. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. It is time for the starting five. But before we dive into the starting five, I’m going to give you most of this hour. So there’s no excuses to text in the keyword for our Sin City Skateaway. The way this works, and you’re going to want to pay attention, is I’m going to give you a keyword and you have to text it in to 919-860-5326. If you do that, you will gain this hour’s entry into our Sin City Skateaway. You can do that, by the way, once an hour between noon and 6. So, this is the last one uh uh for today, but tomorrow and all of next week, Monday through Friday. Uh you can get one keyword entered every hour from noon to 6. Um and each time you do, that’s another entry into the Sin City Skateaway. You may be saying, “What am I entering for?” Well, because the prize is awesome. Uh, one winner will be chosen to receive a pair of tickets to see Carolina, we’re talking hockey here, Carolina play Vegas at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas on October 20th. Uh, the prize includes a roundtrip airfare for two and a three night stay at the Park MGM Resort and Casino with $400 in food credit. This ultimate hockey getaway opportunity is brought to you by Park MGM Las Vegas, Atlantic Spas and Billiards, Hot Tub and Sauna Expo, Buffalo Brothers and Nukem and Company. Am I forgetting something? Oh yeah, the key word. Kind of important, right? We got you hanging on pins and needles. The key word for this hour, play. P L A Y play. Uh, text in play before six o’clock to 919-860-5326, one per hour. So, you can do it right now and you’re good. Uh, text in play to 919-860-5326. That is the keyword. If you do that before 6:00, you gain this hour’s entry into the Sin City Skateaway. and then tune back in tomorrow, noon to 6. We’ll do the same thing, give you a keyword once an hour uh for you to enter the Sin City Skateaway. Now, let’s jump into the starting five. Starting with number five. Count them. One, two, three, four, five. And so the throw here on first down all day. End zone shot. Anthony, he’s got it. Touchdown. What a strike. 27 yds to double the lead. Darien Mensah is going back back to Tain. Uh Dar Mensah transferred from Duke. He’s the quarterback of uh from T Lane to Duke where he’s the starting quarterback making big NIL dollars. Uh fourth last time I checked in FBS in passing yardage through two games. Thrown for well over 300 yards in each game. one victory over Elon, one loss against Illinois. Had uh caught the turnover bug a little bit against Illinois. Needs to uh stop that uh against Tain. Here’s the more interesting part though, you know, and I I said this earlier. This game that reminds you that that college athletes are are humans. Everybody deals with certain situations differently. Everybody deals with um maybe friendships with players on other teams differently. Darien Mensah undoubtedly has really good friends on Tain and it’s going to be his job on Saturday to make their Saturday awful and he probably owes some of the success and NIL dollars that he has to their hard work and he’s still going to have to go out there and try to make their Saturday awful. Now, here’s what I mean with the human element thing. Um, it’s pretty well known that uh the best players of an NBA generation were pretty pretty good friends, right? We’re talking Chris Paul, uh, LeBron, Carmemelllo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, that group, right? They also played against each other in a lot of big moments. But if the rumors are to be believed, you know, if they got into a city a day early, they might go grab dinner with the the other, right? they they might hang out at their house, whatever it is, right? Because they’re they’re good friends. That’s one way to deal with things like that, right? And they were still able to be cutthroat on the field the ne or on the court the next day or the next night or the previous night, whatever it was. Um it’s also been referenced in a bunch a bunch of podcasts by Baker Mayfield, quarterback of Tampa Bay, that one of his best friends, like in each other’s weddings, is Mark Andrews, the tight end for the Baltimore Ravens. They played at Oklahoma together. Off seasons get together, families vacation together. Like they’re best friends. And Baker tells multiple podcasts during the season. Mark Andrews won’t even talk to him. Like, leave you on red text messages. Like, even if I’m texting you on a by-w week, even if it’s a Wednesday and neither of us play till Saturday, Mark Andrews goes cold turkey. doesn’t talk to his best friend because he plays for a different NFL team. Whatever works for you, you have to figure it out. But Darien Mensah, it’s as if everyone on the other team, or maybe not everyone, there’s probably double-digit players on the other team that are like his Mark Andrews, right? Guys that he grew up with, right? Left home for the first time and they stayed in the dorms together. They’re all on to Lane. He’s got to play against them. That’s tough on a human level. You see it where like, you know, high school teammates play against each other in college and it’s kind of weird. They’re humans. That’s number five. Let’s hit number four. One, two, three, four. All together. Empty back field for Daniels. Three receivers right two to the left. Takes the shotgun snap. Throws over the middle. Caught. Touchdown. Zack Z. Washington at Green Bay Thursday Night Football tonight. You listen to that on The Fan right here on 999 The Fan. Uh do you know what I’m I’m officially auditioning Jaden Daniels for. We have to see if he has that unexplainable X Factor thing. I talk about it with um Derek Jeter is a good example for me. I’ve se I saw Derek Jeter play a few times, right? And I’m not a Yankee fan. Matter of fact, I’m a Mets fan. So, like Subway Series kind of don’t like those guys, but it did feel like every time I watch Derek Jeter, he did something clutch, right? And and I know he didn’t do it every game, but it does feel like every time you watch him, he does something really cool, right? And maybe it’s just cuz in the prime time games or whatever. Um I’ve talked about this with Sydney Crosby a bit where it’s like, I don’t know. I I I still want the teams that I root for to beat these guys, but it’s cool to see him do something cool, right? Like I I wouldn’t hate it if every time I saw Sydney Crosby play, my team won by two goals, Carolina wins by two goals, but Sydney Crosby does something cool, scores a goal or a couple, right? As long as my team win by two. Jaden Daniels, there’s a lot of moments from his rookie year, right? the Hail Mary, everybody’s going to think of uh some of the highlight runs, everybody’s going to think of, but it it just seemed like every time a lot of eyeballs were on him, he did something cool. That’s not to say he did it every game. Nobody does, right? It’s impossible to to to be clutch and come up with every play in every game, but certain guys, it just seems like they did. I want to see if if he can do that. and a Thursday night game with the entire NFL world watching. Even the college world maybe having two screens, right? You got the state weight game on one side. You got you got Packers Commanders on the other side. If he does something like highlight worthy that’s going to be on the the NFL commercials for red zone in a couple weeks, I might go, “All right, he’s got that that freaky clutch thing that only the the unexplainably good have.” Also, I’m a big big believer in the Packers this year and I think they’re going to be good. Uh Jordan Love needs to uh continue to progress. That’s number four. Let’s get to number three. We have our We have our first strange injury of the NFL season. Brock Per is going to miss some time. Yeah. Might miss a long time potentially. It’s Yeah, they they gave the old range of what is it? Two to five weeks. Yeah. something weird like that guy could be back in a week. Could be back in I don’t know, December. Yeah, that’s how very 49ers of them. Wasn’t uh Shanahan the one that said like, “Is Jimmy going to play on Sunday?” And he was like, “I don’t know if any of us will be alive on Sunday.” Oh, it’s Mike McDaniel, I think. No, Mike McDaniel said he’s one day closer to our imminent death. That’s same coaching tree. Yeah, there. So, yeah, there’s that. see the similarities. But yeah, it’s Yeah, the the range it’s like, wait, what am I waiting for my cable to get installed? Like between 8:00 p.m. and tax day. I I’m always surprised when somebody finishes the game and then like on Tuesday we learn they’re limited at practice and then by Wednesday they’re out almost a month. What happened? It is our our uh our trainers in college used to call them up. Sounds like something bad. Uh, sounds like it. They used to say if you have anything that that’s hurt after a game, go see the trainers immediately after the game. Cuz if you show up on Monday and oh, my ankle hurts, they’re going to call it a UPI, unidentified party injury, and they’re going to assume you didn’t get it in the game, you got it sometime between the end of the game and the first practice the next week. Uh, it just it’s weird when you pop up after that. I’m not saying he did that, but it’s it always surprises me. Um, elsewhere in the NFL, uh, just kind of wrapping up some some news that may pertain to you. Maybe you’re into something fantasy oriented or gambling oriented. Um, for the first time this this year, Quinchan Judkins, the high second round pick, running back of the Browns, um, he practiced today, full participant in practice. He’s still on an exempt list that you get when players sign their their contracts very late. He still is potentially facing um uh punishment for the off-field things that delayed his entry into the NFL. But uh but he did practice today, so maybe Dylan Samson, who had eight catches as a rookie fourth round running back in week one, uh has some competition coming to that that uh that backfield. And then also, speaking of potential punishment from the NFL, Dennis, I think you’ll like this next bit of news. Uh, okay. The NFL has announced they won’t discipline Lamar for shoving the Bills fan. That kind of popped both Lamar’s teammate and Lamar on the head while they were celebrating a touchdown. Yeah. So, they’re not going to punish him. That’s fine. I think it’s smart. I think it’s good. I also think you do need to let Lamar know. Not next time. It’s okay this time. Not next time. Uh, anything else in the NFL that I’m missing? any news that broke from the beginning of the show. I think not that I see. I think we are good to go. With that being said, let’s get to number two. Bryce eyes downfield throws. The ball is tipped and intercepted by Jacksonville. All right everybody, the Panthers practice today. We also heard from uh Ever the defensive coordinator, meaning media availabilities. So, there is a um actually I I’ll quote Lamar on this one. Uh Lamar Jackson said postgame there’s a fourth and three late in that Sunday Night Football classic between the Ravens and the Bills and the Ravens punted punted it away. Dennis, you’re looking confused. Did I say something wrong? Did I misspeak? No, I just I I misread something and I was like, “Wait a second.” Okay. Sorry. You had the look of like when I when I say the wrong name or something. Okay. Um, so anyway, after the game there was there was a fourth and three. The Ravens didn’t go for it. They punted it. It was ended up being a big play. Uh, Lamar after the game said like, I was, you know, I would have fought harder to go for it, but I was cramping. Something like that. And he was asked about it again yesterday, and he went like, man, that’s really become a thing, hasn’t it? Y’all keep talking about that. Basically, all he was saying was like, “Yeah, I was drinking pickle juice on the sideline and I so I had other things to do.” Um it there’s something that’s become a big deal with the Panthers and it is Dave Canales the head coach said I was pushing for the young guys to play on defense and I’m paraphrasing but the term pushing was used. He was pushing for the younger guys and and obviously he was talking about mostly the rookies right Nick Scorton and Princeley Oman uh and Lean Ransom. So, two front seven guys and a safety that did not play very much in week one. He said, “Yeah, I was pushing for those guys to get more opportunities.” And as soon as he said that, it was like, “Well, I know this is going to be a thing.” This is one of the stories of the week for the Panthers because the head coach, at least the head coaches I’ve experienced, they don’t push for things. They don’t suggest. They don’t, you know, nudge. They demand. They say this guy will play. these the young the young guys will play and then the assistant coaches have to make good on that that demand. Um so as the media availabilities happen over the week they’re going to continue to be asked about it and we have that audio. Uh Dave Canales was asked if he had a conversation about playing those young players. Here’s that audio. Was honestly just addressing a question. You know our staff knows we all know here we are developmentally minded. That’s our philosophy. Whether that goes with our staff raising and teaching our staff or whether that’s with all of our players, you get 46 guys on game day. Three of them are special teamers. You got 43. These guys all have to play at some point, you know, and so I was really just kind of talking about that like these are the guys. They’re all going to have to play at some point, you know, and just continuing to pour into them because the opportunities here we go. We have an opportunity now. Turk Wharton all of a sudden is not here. Now Jaden Crumby has to play a bigger role, you know, and that’s that’s kind of what I was alluding to, you know, and just giving a little bit of reference and background. Three three observations. I’m I’m I’m going to handle this like Bradick. I’m going to give you three bullet points. One, Jaden Crumby, not Cam Jackson. So veteran gets hurt. You’re not going to the the younger guy, you’re going to the slightly younger veteran. Yeah, the the secondyear guy. Uh Cam Jackson will address though two observation is can now now it’s something that like you know uh you might not hear a faucet dripping and then once you hear it now it’s the only thing I hear. Mhm. Can this coaching staff call anything the simplest form of what they’re trying to do? A de a developmentally minded team. I ju just they have to have like a high like a like a $10,000 vocabulary word for every I’m not saying developmentally just just say yeah we want to we want to develop our young guys. I don’t know they they got a name for everything. There’s brevity man brevity of communication rather than like hey we just need to talk faster. We need to communicate quicker. Third I do feel like Dave Canal is trying to walk back something but it’s like oh was I too honest there? Did I speak my mind? Right. He’s like, “Yeah, I said I was pushing for the young guys to play.” Now they’re asking him about it. He’s like, “Well, darn. Did I actually let my inner voice Did you guys heard that? I didn’t think that. I said that out loud.” All right. Well, uh, what I meant was you got to play everybody cuz you don’t have that many. No, if you want the young guys to play, say you want the young guys to play and then make the young guys play. Ever. the defensive coordinator in his media availability said he’s on board with the playing of young guys. Well, I don’t want to get too much into talking about who we’re going to be playing. Uh I think that’s, you know, part of our competitive advantage, but uh the one thing I will reiterate is that, you know, we are on on board in terms of like, hey, the mandate is to uh develop everybody on our roster. That’s part of coaching in this league and uh that’s part of developing uh the pro type of program that we want. And so, uh that’s what we’re going to do. Um and uh we’re always excited about the challenge to uh improve our roster and that really comes down to development and uh on the uh in the classroom, on the practice field, obviously on the game field as well. And so uh that’s what we’re always striving towards. If you don’t want to tell us, don’t tell us. If you don’t want to play the young guys, don’t play the young guys until your boss says you have to play the young guys. But don’t don’t hide behind it’s our competitive advantage. You really you really think Arizona’s over there. I don’t know how we’re going to prepare without knowing whether it’s going to be DJ Johnson or Princeley Uman Miellen coming in with the second unit when when Patrick Jones needs a breather. That’s your big That’s your big surprise. Our top secret Nick Scorton might be backing up DJ Wanom. Oh, we can’t let you know that because it’s it’s too proprietary and secretive. You’ll hear the gasps coming from the offensive lineman the first time we dog out Nick Scorton. What? We aren’t prepared for this. I was preparing as if Thomas Inkum would be here and now it’s Prince Leman. Don’t hide behind. Just if you don’t want to tell us, don’t tell us. If you don’t know, say like, “Hey, we’re still working on it. We want to get the young guys.” I ju give us some credit that we’re we’re we’re not going to believe anything you say. Give us some credit that we have some common sense on this side of of the conversation. I’m not going to tell you who we’re going to play. Like if it were if it Derrick Brown were banged up and Derrick Brown might play, might not play, and you ask like, “Hey, is he going to be ready?” And you go, “You know what? I’m going to I’m going to keep that one to myself for a competitive advantage, I’m buying.” Cuz that’s a player that everybody circles on the scouting report. If tonight, if Micah Parsons wasn’t going to play for the Packers and they kept that secret, that makes sense. But not like, hey, right now we don’t want to give back the advantage over Arizona that they don’t know whether it’s going to be DJ Johnson or Princeley Uman on the second third down of drives. Like let’s let’s relax. Let’s get to number one. Second and 11 at the Virginia 12. Snap left, hashes, blitzes on. He’s free. Bailey eludes it. Runs to the right. Has Green. No one there at the 10. And he scampers in. Bailey touchdown. packs on top. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan tonight. NC State at Wake Forest ACC opener. A bit of history today, everybody. Is the first ACC game with availability reports. So, we know who’s questionable, who’s doubtful, who’s out. NC State decided to go with the we’re not we don’t have anyone questionable. We don’t have anyone doubtful. We don’t have anyone other than out. and they just gave a list of of few players that are out. Not surprised. Wake Forest gave more more news. I I would put it this way. Nothing surprising. None of the the stars are in question. Uh which I think sets up for a really exciting game. If we look at the first two games for state and we we obey by my common theme, which is the best indicator of future results is past results. I think you can expect the offense to be effective tonight, right? Because the offense has been effective through two weeks. They’ve shown good things. Uh CJ Bailey has looked good at quarterback. The defense would be the point of of, you know, importance if they are able to bottle up and not give Wake Forest explosive plays in the run game. And if they’re able to have their secondary play a level of football above what they’ve shown through two weeks as they learn from their experience, then I think State should be able to win and I think they’re favored by a touchdown, maybe a touchdown.5 and and likely cover. But that’s the if. Looking at Wake Forest, they they may not be anybody’s pick to win the ACC, but they have a couple of dudes in the backfield with some wheels. De Man Claybourne, one of the fastest players in the country. Uh Robbie Ashford, one of the fastest quarterbacks in the country. Dave Doran, head coach of NC State, talked about facing Robbie Ashford, the quarterback. Yeah, he’s fast. I mean, just turn on the Western Carolina film. He’s got like a 60 yard touchdown run. Um and he runs aggressive. He’s he’s not like some quarterbacks. I mean, he’s going to run like a running back when he goes north and south. He’s 220 lbs. And so, we’re going to have to tackle him like we tackle everybody in this game. He’s he’s a physical cat. and they run him. It’s not a guy that they’re trying to protect. You can see that they’re not bashful about him carrying the football. That last part is is important, right? And and the reason why I I I bring it up is because it’s one thing to have a quarterback that is a good runner. Okay? It is another thing to have a quarterback that is a good runner and have a head coach and offensive coordinator that knows they need to use it right there. There’s one thing to have the threat of the run, it’s another to to face it a whole bunch. They don’t protect Robbie Ashford in the run game. This is not a situation where they’re afraid of him taking hits. He is 6’2, 220 lbs, big dude. and and you know once he tucks the ball and and runs he runs like a running back lowers shoulder does that kind of stuff. So for state you need to be prepared. It’s not a like a if you’re up against a quarterback that can run but the coaches understand maybe they’re a little bit skinnier, maybe they are so in invaluable to the pass game that they they need to be protected. You can almost limit that with assignment football, right? Hey, as long as we have great contain as long as we man our gaps on defense, he won’t run and and we can contain him that way. Robbie Ashford, it’s like even if you’re in good position, Wake Forest called the play for him to run. So, he is going to run or it’s a Reed keep where if you you stick with Jamon Claybourne, the running back who you should stick with, uh Ashford has the option to keep it and and and kind of, you know, get out there by himself. So, there’s there’s a few different ways that they can beat you in the run game. State has to to find a way to curtail it. And if they do that, I think they’ll be all right because I do expect State’s offense to be able to have some success. And we probably haven’t said this name enough, so I’m just going to say it real quick and give a couple sentences. Uh, Hollywood Smothers is a really good running back. This could be low-key one of the best running back matchups in the country. Neither of these guys are getting enough buzz nationally. Dean Claybourne at Wake Forest or Hollywood Smothers at NC State. I think both of these guys will wear an NFL uniform. Claybourne maybe more as a special teams returner guy. Uh but and and Hollywood Smothers maybe puts on a little bit more weight if he wants to be an everyone kind of guy, but he he can definitely uh do some things explosively out of the backfield that the NFL is going to like. Uh low-key one of the best running back matchups in the country. Low-key. Our little secrets here in the state of North Carolina. the drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. Speaking of our little secret, one of the uh you know state of North Carolina gems, Tim Donnelly here for the Fox and Bailey watch shop located inside Bailey’s Fine Jewelry at the Village District location in Raleigh. Um it’s it’s one of the the hidden gems because they have the largest collection of pre-owned and vintage Rolex in the state. How about that one? uh because they have the largest Omega boutique of its kind in the country. The shop within a shop. Uh and when you’re talking Omega, when you’re talking an official boutique, being an official retailer, you get the classics. The Moon Watch, the Speed Master, Moonwatch Professional, uh you’re talking about the Seam Master straight off the wrist of your most famous movie spy. You’re talking about the Constellation, the Railmaster, you’re talking about the Globe Master, you’re talking about the the the I mean, so many of them, the Devil, if you’re looking to dress it up a little bit. Um the the the Fox and Bailey watch shop and Bailey’s Fine Jewelry as a whole is I mean, it can be our little secret, but I’m telling everybody because they’re that darn good. Uh, and so you know, make sure you stop out and check out what they have in their pre-owned and vintage and estate time piece selection because it’s constantly changing. You never know what’s going to walk through that door. Maybe your Grail watch, the one you’ve always dreamed of. Uh, follow them on Instagram. You can check out some of the inventory there at Fox and Bailey watch. And stop out. Just make sure they know when you talk to them that you heard about it from me, Tim, on 999 the fan. It’s a Fox and Bailey watch shop inside Bailey’s Fine Jewelry in Raleigh. Now, we need some numbers game contestants, don’t we? Uh, call right now 919-860-5326 if you want to play the numbers game. The prize going to the winner today will be Lumers tickets as they come to Coastal Credit Union Music Park on September 16th. Again, the number to call 919-860-5326 to play the numbers game and potentially win some Lumers tickets. Numbers game next. We’ve got NFL tonight on 999 The Fan presented by Wake Med. Showtime. Prime Time. Your prime time matchup is an NFC battle. Washington and Green Bay. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Pregame starts at 7:30. Y know what time it is, huh? Check off at 8:15. Hey, together baby. We just do this one play at a time on the Triangle’s home for the NFL. 999 the fan. We came in for one thing, to win. Listen up football fans. You won’t want to miss this. Right now, new bet 365 customers bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets, win or lose. So you could turn that $300 into something bigger when you bet on money line, spread, totals, player props. $300 in bonus bets when new customers bet $5. I know where I’m going to bet from now on. Download the app today and see why it’s never ordinary at Bet365. Gambling problem? Call 1877185543 or visit more thaname.nc.go21. 21 plus only must be physically located in North Carolina. TNC Supply inapp only. The Hot Tub and Sauna Expo is here in Raleigh September 12th through 21. Atlantic spas and billiards. Come for this unique sales event with hot tubs and saunas from six different brands. We are remodeling and you will save thousands with factory rebates, new instock spas, demos, and floor models. The hot tub and sauna expo is at our showroom 8721 Glenwood Avenue near CarMax, one mile from RDU. Save with factory discounts from Hotring, Caldera, Free Flow, Saratoga, and Endless Pools. September 12th through 21, Atlantic Spas and Billyards, Glennwood Avenue, Raleigh. Football season is here in Carolina Ale House is the place to be. With a massive beer selection, wall-to-wall TVs, and our awardwinning wings, you’ll never miss a play. Add in our lineup of homemade favorites, and you’ve got the best seat in the house. Bring your friends, bring your appetite, and help us create that game day atmosphere all season long at Carolina Ale House. Wings, beer, sports, repeat. Hell yeah. Struggling with high interest debt? You can pay it all off in days with Lone Pronto’s Rapid Equity Loan. Hey, it’s Dennis Cox. Get cash out now without touching your low rate first mortgage. No appraisals, no waiting, no BS. The rapid equity loan program at Lone Pronto is amazing. One Lone Pronto client just got $300,000 approved in under 24 hours. They paid off debt, renovated the kitchen, and cut their monthly expenses by $1,800. That’s a huge turnaround. Loan Pronto, instant approvals, low rates, no hard credit pool upfront. Listen, your home equity is yours. Use it. Get cash to consolidate your debt down to one easy, low monthly payment. Call Lone Pronto now for a free instant appraisal for your home and see how much cash you can get today. Loan Pronto is A+ rated by the BBB and have nearly 2500 five-star Google reviews. Their service is off the charts. Call now to start the conversation. 919 381760. Loanprronto.com. 919 381760. Get debt relief now. Lonrronto.com. Equalousing letter NLS166171 on approved credit. NLSconsumerac.org. The drive within Donnelly 999 the fan. It is time to play the numbers game. As always, we have two contestants for today. We have Andrew in Durham and Joey in Durham. And they will be battling it out for Lumers tickets. Lumers tickets. We’ll ask them both a the exact same question. Dennis will be our judge. He will decide which answer is his favorite and that person will get to go first. Andrew and Durham, are you there? Yeah. All right. And Andrew, the question for today is inspired by the Lumers. I don’t I don’t really know what a Lumer necessarily is or has to do with music. So that’s part of being the beauty of naming a band. If you were starting a band, what would you name it? Um, uh, Broken Road. Broken Road. Are you a cover band of what is it? Rascal Flats. Uh, either way. All right. Broken Road. Any follow-up questions that you need, Dennis? All right, we’ll go to Joey in Durham. Joey in Durham, same question to you. uh in honor of Lumers kind of being a a unusual uh band name. If you were starting up a band and you got to name the band, what would you name it? Um the the Hot Rockets. The Hot Rockets. All right, Dennis, the options for you are from Andrew, the Broken Road, or from Jerry uh sorry, Joey, uh Hot Rockets. The Broken Road or Hot Rockets. They’re different bands. They’re different bands. Very different bands. Uh, the Broken Road definitely sounds like a country band for sure. I don’t What would the bluesy band? It could be a bluesy band. It could be. Yeah. Yeah. Hot Rockets has to be like like uh pop punk. Yeah, a pop punk 182. The Hot Rockets. Hot Rockets at the Ritz tonight. Let’s go. Good Charlotte and the Hot Rockets. Yeah, let’s go see Broken Road at Lincoln Theater tonight. Uh, that’s a that’s really tough actually. Um, this is such a weird question, Tim. I don’t know why you came up with this one, but All right, that’s cuz I have to ask a question every day. You do. Uh, I should plan more. A lot of times like I’m coming up with it on the spot. Oh, you know what? Hot rockets. Why not? All right. Hot rockets. Hot rockets. Why not? To be clear, I would have gone with hot rockets as well. But Andrew and Durham, nothing wrong with Broken Road. You’ll have your chance. Just have to sit on hold for a minute or two. Uh, Joey, are you ready to pick a category? I’m ready. All right. The categories are uh NFL players that played for teams that don’t exist anymore, and that includes teams that have uh changed location, uh NFL players with midepptember birthdays, NBA players that have been seen courtside at WNBA games, or NHL hurricanes throughout history. Let’s go with NBA players. All right, these are all NBA players that have been seen courtside at WNBA games. I will give you the team and the player. Give me the jersey number as quickly as you can. 30 seconds on the clock. One pass if you need it. Do you have any questions before we get started? Nope. All right, your time will start when you hear the horn. Tyresese Hallebertton, Indiana Pacers. Zero. Correct. Bam out of bio Miami Heat. 13. Correct. Demar Rosen, Sacramento Kings. 10. Correct. Jaylen Suggs, Orlando Magic. Five. Incorrect. Sergy Baka, Milwaukee Bucks. Nine. Incorrect. Jaylen Suggs, Orlando Magic. 11. Incorrect. Sergy Bakam, Milwaukee Bucks. Pass. Jaylen Suggs, Orlando Magic. Zero. Incorrect. Sergy Baka, Milwaukee Bucks. You’re close. We We Jaylen Suggs four. You went five confidently. Oneoff. Uh, Ibaka. Not as close with the Bucks. He wore number 25, but you said nine, which he has worn previously in his career for Toronto, the Clippers, and OKC. Did wear seven with Orlando. Uh, but still three is a solid number. Leader in the clubhouse. Stay on the line. We’ll see if it holds up. That brings us to the lead singer of Broken Road, Andrew in Durham. Andrew, are you there? Yes. All right. The categories remaining for you to choose from are uh NFL players that played for teams that don’t exist anymore, including teams that relocated. NFL midepptember birthdays or NHL Hurricanes throughout history. I’ll go with NHL hurricanes. All right, this one’s been sitting there for a while. Not sure why people have been uh avoiding the the canes, but you’ve chosen your category and you are ready to roll. We’ll give you the team and the player. I will say that the team in this category even though we know it just to keep it fair timing wise with the other category. Uh you’ll have 30 seconds on the clock. One pass if you need it. You need at least four for the win. Any questions before we get started? No. All right. Your time will start when you hear the horn. When you hear the horn. Shane Gosspear, Carolina Hurricanes. Four. Correct. Jackson Blake, Carolina Hurricanes. 53. Correct. Anthony Stewart, Carolina Hurricanes. 18. Incorrect. Tim Conboy, Carolina Hurricanes. 10. Incorrect. Anthony Stewart, Carolina Hurricanes. 16. Incorrect. Tim Conboy, Carolina Hurricanes. 22. Incorrect. Anthony Stewart, Carolina Hurricanes. Uh, Yanni Quinan, Carolina Hurricanes. Well, you got close. It was a good effort. And actually, you know, Anthony Stewart, we were looking for number 13. Your first guess was 18. I think the shapes of the numbers matter. That’s my next theory. Like three kind of an incomplete eight. Uh and comboy we were looking for 38. For Quokanin we were looking for 59. Um unfortunately two not enough for the win but uh solid showing and hopefully had some fun. Yeah. Thank you. You’re very welcome. Uh gosh this beer by the way we would have accepted four or 41 for those of you playing at home. Uh either would have been correct. Solid showing. means the lead singer of the Hot Rockets, Joey and Durham, you are the winner. Congratulations. Thank you. Appreciate it. You get to see the Lumers as they come to Coastal Credit Union Music Park on September 16th. Just stay on hold and Dennis will grab the info he needs to make sure you get your prize. Awesome. Thank you guys. You’re very welcome. Ah, by the way, shout out to Victoria Vodenecker who produces the Adam Gold show before this one every day on 999 the Fan. Uh, she texted me saying her band name would be the Vivacious Vixen because she likes V’s. Victoria Vodenecker. Lot of V’s involved there. Vivacious Vixons. Yeah, that that that’s what it be. Vodacious Vixens. I don’t know what mine would be. I’ve never been musical enough to even entertain the thought of starting a band. I got to think about this. Mine would be like Offkey or something like that because guess what? We want to be right up front with you when you come watch us play. It’s Out of Tune is the name of our band. Uh, I’m talking about me. Uh, the driver of Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. Before we move on, Tim Donnelly here for Mayor Service Company. What’s the opposite of a band that I would be the lead singer of? Whatever that is. Mayor Service Company is that, right? Not off key. Completely in tune. They know what they’re doing. They handle it right. It’s like having perfect pitch when they walk in and see your heating system, your cooling system, your plumbing, your electrical. if something is off, if something isn’t isn’t acting the way it should, working the way it should, or even just not being as efficient as it should, uh, they come in and it’s it’s like watching a maestro work, right? They get they get their tools, the truck, they get their their expertise, they put it all together and a symphony of fixed services in your house, right? The fixed HVAC, of plumbing running smoothly, of your electrical being dependable. Uh Mayor Service Company is locally owned. They service the entire triangle, entire Wake County, and 50 miles in any direction from there. Um they’re they’re they’re part of our community and because of that, they want to take care of you, right? So if you need some maintenance done, I I keep reminding everybody that as the months get colder here, it is a great time to uh it is a great time to get maintenance done on your heating system before you start running it every day and before you need it. Uh so so get that looked at or obviously if there’s an emergency situation, something breaks, especially if it’s at a bad time, Mayor Service Company, 247 service all across the triangle. Give them a call. The number to bookmark 919-361993. That’s 919-361993. Or visit them online, their website mayorservices.com. That’s mortervices.com. We’re going to take a break. When we come back, a Thursday edition of making our picks because there’s some football that we care about tonight. So, we’re going to pick the the props and everything else going into tonight’s game. Stick around. Finally. Finally. Finally. Yes. Finally, there’s an app for 999 the fan. Finally. Listen to your favorite hosts, your teams, and live sports action. Touchdown Philadelphia. They’re destroying the Chiefs. and every podcast episode at your fingertips anytime, anywhere. Available for Apple iPhone and Android phones. Download the 999 The Fan app today. Powered by Aspire money management. Hot summer days mean time on the water. Let Soundstation and Security make your time even better with our custom boat options. At SoundStation and Security, our Raleigh Marine experts can help you for everything with your boat. From the perfect audio system to lights to video, we do it all custom and we do it all from scratch. You’re unique. Your boat should be, too. Make sure everyone knows where the best party is this summer on the lake with Sound Station and Security. With two locations, downtown Smithfield and on Glamwood Avenue in Raleigh. Online at myhotsound.com. At Dogwood State Bank, we believe in the strength of community and the power of local partnerships. That’s why we’re proud to support NC State football. Just as the Wolfpack brings dedication and teamwork to the field, we bring that same commitment to helping individuals and businesses achieve their goals. Dogwood State Bank. Proud to serve our community. Proud to support the pack. Member FDIC. The Lumers. The Automatic World Tour. September 16th at Coastal Credit Union Music Park, Raleigh. with special guest Chance Pena. Tickets on sale now at lienation.com. The Lumers. Pick up their new album, Automatic out now. Hey folks, Dennis Cox from 999 The Fan here from my friends over at Raleigh Weight Loss Center. In just over five weeks with Raleigh Weight Loss Center, I’m down over 30 pounds. That’s right, over 30 pounds lost thanks to Raleigh Weight Loss Center and their program. And here’s the thing I love about the Raleigh Weight Loss Center program. Their goal is not just for you to reach a target weight. It’s to reach the target weight, but also maintain that weight as well. You’re not doing any injections, no shots, no HGH or steroids. It’s just resetting and restarting your metabolism. That way, you lose the weight in a natural way, but most importantly, keep that weight off. Visit raleighweightloscenter.com for your free consultation today. Raleighweightloscenter.com or give them a call. 919-8977506 919-897-7506 is the number to call or visit raleighweightlosscenter.com. 919-897-7506. Get on that journey today. Results may vary. The driver of Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. All right, I got I got a few things I got to talk about with you people. What do you mean you people? With you listeners before we get to making some picks uh and rounding out the show. Um first of all, the key word for this hour is play. P L A Y for the Sin City Skateaway. and you have just 14 more minutes to text it in uh to get the the final possible entry, this hour’s entry into our Sin City Skateaway. So, text play to 919-860-5326 by 6:00 to get the final possible entry for today and it might win you a trip to Vegas where you can watch some hockey, Carolina Vegas. You can get some food vouchers, some airfare, some some night stay at the park, MGM Las Vegas. There’s a lot of reasons why you want to text in play to 919-860-5326. Secondly, I have to address some of y’all with the band names. Okay, go on. Toenails in the carpet. All right, there you go. Is what somebody sent me in on on on Twitter. Hey, 10 Toes Down, baby. Let’s go. What kind of music, Dennis, does Tenails in the Carpet play? I feel like they’re an indie band. Like they’re going to play at Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill. All right. All right. Toenails in the carpet. And And they’re confident. Best fake name is mine. It says best fake name is mine, but couldn’t get through. It’s toenails in the carpet. Toenails in the carpet. Any other submissions? Uh on Twitter, we also have uh always wanted one called Look at Me, a band called Look at Me. I’m going to go see Look at me tonight. Those are the two that came to me on Twitter. Might be playing at Kings. I’m just laming like all these like local like small venue band spots. So, what are you saying? Toenails in the carpet can’t play stadiums. No. No. I said look at me can’t feel fill an arena. Cat’s Cradle is a pretty fun place to go watch a concert. It’s all I’m saying. They don’t they don’t they don’t even they they’re too big time now. Are they? Yeah. If they if the venue doesn’t fit 18,000, they’re not even entering. Okay. So, they’re at Lenovo. Yeah. They’re at Lenovo. They’re doing festivals, headlining. That’s That’s toenails in the carpet. toenails and the carpet. I’ve known them since they were a garage band, but yeah, they’ve exploded recently. Their their stuff’s not as good as it used to be. They’ve they’ve gone to pop. They’ve gone uh The Tribe with Tim Donnelly 999 the Fan. There are a couple of uh uh football games tonight right here on 999 The Fan. You can catch uh the Thursday night football game. It’s it’s Green Bay hosting Washington, Jordan Love, Jaden Daniels, the whole shebang. Yeah. And then you’re pointing at the the other studio. Vicks 101.5 has NC State at Wake Forest tonight as well. So with that being said, I thought we’d make some picks here to round out the show. We’d usually do this on Friday, but guess what? There’s usually the football games over the weekend, so with some on on Thursday. Let’s jump into it. All right. So, let’s go ahead and uh let’s do some fun props. We’re going to make up some fun props oursel here tonight. So, you’ve you’ve deemed this season it might be the year of the the quarterback rushing touchdown. Correct. And I have stats to back it up. There are legit stats to back it up. So, in this game, higher, the same, or lower rushing touchdowns by quarterbacks versus everyone else. Quarterback’s going to have more rushing touchdowns than everyone else, the same or equal number of rushing touchdowns than everyone else, or less rushing touchdowns than everyone else. I’m going to go like everyone else combined. Like, so running backs and receivers, receivers like a tight end on an inound. I’ll take less in the game just because I think Jordan Love is is Oh, I meant for State for that game. Yeah, for state I thought you were doing all four games. No, I thought you were doing all four teams. My apologies. State Wake Forest specifically. My apologies. Uh I’ll say the same. Okay, I’ll say the same. Um I think Smothers I think Smothers, Claybourne, Ashford, and Bailey all get one. Okay, so for rushing touchdowns there and then obviously passing touchdowns, I think there’ll be a couple more for state. Okay, more points scored tonight, NC State, Wake Forest, Green Bay, or Washington. Who scores the most points tonight? Individual team or game? Individual team. Interesting. Green Bay seemed to have a pretty good defense in week one, if I recall. They did. Washington seemed to have a pretty good defense if I recall. They did. Give me State. Okay. Give me Give me State to score the most. Um the passing touchdowns be the difference in that one. I I think the the rushing offenses are similar, especially if Hollywood’s mothers can get going and and Claybourne. But uh but no, I think the passing offense for State is the difference. All right. Between the quarterbacks, CJ Bailey, Robbie Ashford, Jaden Daniels, and Jordan Love. Most total yards tonight. So, rushing, passing, receiving most total yards tonight among those four QBs. So, all four. All four. I’m going to go Bailey. I’ll go Bailey. Okay. I’m I guess I didn’t know this coming in. I guess I’m high on state tonight. Um I I don’t I think he’ll have probably third most rushing yards above only Love. Uh but again, I think that passing offense gets going against Wake. All right. Between the two games, between State and NC uh NC State and Wake and the NFL game tonight, Green Bay and Washington, most total points scored, you said State will score the most points tonight, but combined total points scored. I’ll I’ll go with the uh the NFL game. I I’ll go Green Bay and and Washington. I don’t know. It just seems like like they’re both going to be prime time ready, right? You got Cliff Kingsbury on one side, you got Matt Laflur on the other. They’re dusting off some special play calls. They’ll be there’ll be some uh schemed up plays, especially in the red zone for for those two teams. Who accounts for the most touchdowns tonight? Passing, receiving, throwing, rushing, throwing, passing, same thing. But who accounts for the most touchdowns tonight? Which player among both games? I think I’m I mean I’m kind of take committed here. Yeah. Uh I think it’s probably going to be CJ Bailey because I already have him running for one and I have that passing offense being the difference. So, you know, four for him, maybe three passing, one rushing, two and two, something like that. Um, and and yeah, so so CJ Bailey would be the one to account for the most. Um, but also week two in the NFL, I think, is um kind of quiet the superstar season. Mhm. Like if you have a superstar that did very little in week one, I think coaches come out particularly with the first 15 scripted plays and make sure they get going just so you know, especially they may have said, “No, I’m good. You know, team first. I’m good all week.” But, you know, like if we get into the second quarter and they’re still quiet and they were quiet all week one, then they’re not going to be a thing. So, I like if you’re just looking for for touchdown scores, maybe a Terry McLaren, right? something like that. Somebody that thinks highly of themselves, held out for more money, didn’t do much in in the the the first week, something like that. And uh you know, if there’s maybe a star that hasn’t scored in in the college world, also you’re now going into week three, so maybe they get schemed up a little bit more. Um you know, there’s there’s a few different options there. All right, let’s go with just the the spread tonight. Green Bay three and a half point favorites. Who are you taking tonight? Well, I bet on Washington, but that’s just because I’m I’m fading myself in gambling. Uh I think I think Green Bay wins the game. Okay. Um I like their youth. I like their energy. I I think they looked very strong. And expect I haven’t mentioned this guy yet. I expect the difference to be a play made by Micah Parsons. Um he seems rejuvenated. I think he gets at least one sack, maybe a crucial sack, and and that ends up being the difference. All right, let’s also go to the other game tonight. NC State at Wake Forest this evening. State seven and a half point favorites on the road in Wake. I’m taking I’m taking State, but I’m I’m I think it’s a good number. Yeah, I think winning by about a score is kind of how I see this game going. Uh not even how it seems that’s like what I would feel comfortable. If this were three and a half, I’m smashing state. If it were 14, I’m running the other way. So, it’s a good number. Um I don’t think I’ll bet straight up on the spread myself. I may may dabble in some props. Uh haven’t haven’t placed any yet, but uh but no, I think State 7 and a half. I’ll take State. Yeah. What about you real quickly? Who who wins each game? Uh give me Green Bay. They win this one 2420. Give me NC State to win this one 3117. One of the beauties of sports is making predictions. And that’s where DraftKings Sportsbook comes in. Tim Donnelly here for DraftKings Sportsbook. Your season, your shot. The NFL season is rolling. Every touchdown can bring you closer to a payday with DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL. Looking at tonight’s game, another name we probably haven’t mentioned enough. Seventhround rookie Bill Kroski Merritt. Get him plus 245 to be an anytime touchdown scorer. Plus 2,000 to find the end zone twice if you’re really high on Bill. Bill uh if you if you really like Krosky Merritt or you can go plus 1300 first touchdown score if you think Washington’s going to open it up right from the beginning. Uh, lines and odds are subject to change, but there’s a bunch of different ways to bet props, to bet touchdowns on uh, DraftKings Sportsbook. New customers got more for you. Bet just $5, get $200 in bonus bets instantly. Plus, score over $200 off NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV. Uh, don’t forget in partnership with DraftKings, the crown is yours. Just use promo code TIMD at signup to get the offer. Promo code TimD with no spaces. That is T I M D with no spaces. Gambling problem. Call 8777185-543 or visit more than aame.nc.gov. 21 plus North Carolina only. Eligibility restrictions apply. Bonus bets expire 7 days after issuance. See sports.draftkings.com/promos. NFL Sunday ticket offer for new subscribers only and auto renews until canceled. Digital games and commercial use excluded. Restrictions apply. Additional NFL Sunday Ticket terms at youtube.com/go Sunday/terms. limited time offer. That’s about going to do it for us here on the drive, but we do have Overdrive coming up next. And we’re going to start with a conversation with Ed Strickland, Deep River Sporting Clay’s president and owner and shooting school president and owner uh about their upcoming Clays 4K event. It is a uh partnership with the Kaya Cancer Fund. So, a whole bunch of details on how you can get involved and participate if you’d like to. Uh that’s coming up to start Overdrive. Enjoy the games tonight. We’ll be back tomorrow to round out the week. Send you off into the weekend the correct way. Until then, have a great night, everybody. Move your sports day forward. Normally, you want to take back all the bad things you say about a team, but I want to pull back all the good things I said about the Panthers leading into Sunday’s ugly fail in Jacksonville. Nothing got fixed in the offseason or in training camp. Defense can’t stop the run. Offense remains erratic. Check those return policies, kids. Keep the tags on those uniforms you bought less than 30 days ago. Get set up. Join next up with Paul IHander. Mornings at 9 on 999 the fan, the Triangle sports leader. Is your whole home operating at peak performance? With Newman Company, your independent train dealer proudly serving our community for over 70 years. As a comfort contract customer, you’ll get priority service and a 15% discount on all HVAC and plumbing service calls and repairs, including repairs and replacements for faucets, toilets, piping, garbage disposals, water heaters, drain cleaning, and more. Call 919-8623000 or visit newman company.com. Newman Company, your comfort is our business. This is the story of the one. as a custodial supervisor at a high

The Drive with Tim Donnelly is LIVE from 3pm to 6pm ET from Raleigh, NC on 99.9 The Fan

300 – Big 3 at 3:00: NC State at Wake Forest, Carolina Panthers, Washington Commanders at Green Bay Packers
315 – NC State football at Wake Forest football
330 – Dean’s List
345 – Duke Football as Darien Mensah returns to Tulane Football
400 – Football at 4: Carolina Panthers
415 – Ladder Challenge
420 – Carolina Panthers Cons & Cons
430 – NC State football
445 – Feedback Frenzy
500 – Starting Five: Duke at Tulane, Washington at Green Bay, NFL, Carolina Panthers, NC State at Wake Forest
530 – Numbers Game
545 – NC State at Wake Forest

Find us anywhere!

The Fan App for iPhones: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/99-9-the-fan/id6749218703
The Fan App for Androids: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bal.thefan&pcampaignid=web_share&pli=1
Website: https://www.999thefan.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/999thefan
X (Formerly Twitter): https://x.com/999TheFan
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@999thefan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/999thefan/
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/99.9TheFan

#NHL #ProHockey #CarolinaHurricanes #CauseChaos #Carolina #Hurricanes #NCSports #NorthCarolina #ProSportsNews #ProSports #SportsNews #College #CollegeSports #Raleigh #Durham #ChapelHill #Charlotte #RaleighNC #DurhamNC #ChapelHillNC #CharlotteNC #UNC #NCState #Duke #CarolinaPanthers #Panthers #KeepPounding #CollegeFootball #Football #CollegeBasketball #Basketball #BryceYoung #DanMorgan #DaveCanales #NCAA #NCAASports #NCAABasketball #NCAAFootball #ACC #ACCSports #ACCBasketball #ACCFootball #NCAANews #ACCNews #Bowl #Bowlgame #SuperBowl #Championship #StanleyCup #Playoffs #Trade #trasnfer #NIL #Sportsbetting #Sportsgambling #SportsWagering #NFL #NFLNews

Leave a Reply