The Drive with Tim Donnelly is LIVE – 09/24/25 | Carolina Hurricanes | Carolina Panthers
Weather update brought to you by Nukem and Company, where your comfort is their business. Visit nukem and company.com. 3:00 check of your money. Dow Jones down 143 points to 46,149. 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 Bet 365. With an absolute wipeout at the Tampa Blue line shot from the score on the power play deflected and Logan Stankhovven with the net front fires, intercepted near sideline. Mike Jackson, he’s got the 40 midfield outside the numbers 35. Breaks a tack with the 30. stops on a drive going. And now finally he goes out of bounds at the 30 yd line. The drive with Tim Donnelly on 999 the fan. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. I’m Tim Donnelly. Dennis Cox producing the show. It is a hockey night in Carolina. Let’s go. So we’ll just get ahead of it. We’re going to bail a little early today. Now, we’re not actually bailing, but we are going to turn over the airwaves at 5:30 to the pregame show. So, uh, so you can be ready for that. So, you can be ready for the game. Do you know what else can help get you? You’re just pointing your point at me. I want to say for people that might be thinking, “Hey, it’s Wednesday. Normally have Wolfpack Weekly at 7:00. Tomorrow, Wolfpack weekly. Dave Dorne 7 o’clock. You’re on the fan.” There you go. Just got to wait. Yes. Patience. Patience. No patience for the big three at three though. that goes right now. [Music] Canes verse Florida Panthers. Goodness gracious. If this were a different time of the calendar, oh gosh, this one would be electric, but instead it’s it’s still exciting. Maybe not as over the top. Uh, it’s preeason. the the I mean obvious headliner is during the the NHL preseason you don’t get the entire NHL roster every game you you kind of shuffle through them today AO centering Eers and Jarvis let’s go let’s go mix in a little Gasper and who will complete the power play one unit and you have I mean the the the headliners that’s the premiere right there when it comes to to forwards And obviously Gossip Spirit quarterbacking the uh the power play unit. That is a a really cool opportunity to see what all the hype’s about. Six goals tonight, Tim. Six each for the three guys on the top line at least and a couple for Gossip Spear. They’re going to win 35 to 10. One for Spech. Let’s go. This is a uh this is an absolutely ridiculous game. Um no, it’s Well, it might be, right? It’s preseason. You never know what’s going to happen. Uh, but one thing we do know is, uh, Nikolai Eers, who was the crown jewel of the free agency class, will make his Lenovo Center debut. Rod Brenndeore talked about just that fact earlier today. I think that’s a good way to put it, you know, like, okay, have one under my belt and then we have stuff to work off of. Right now, we can say, okay, I can kind of get a feel for, you know, what his game is. He can kind of we can get some video on, okay, here’s stuff. Where do you need to be? All that stuff. I mean, that’s exactly what the preseason is. And if you throw three guys out there, meaning Aaho, Jarvis, and Eers, that are such high hockey IQ players, it is like that they’re they’re, you know, if you use the analogy that your brain is a computer, they’re just going to be rolling through code, adding things, customizing things. Okay, that’s where he likes to be. Okay, that’s where he likes. Okay, that’s not where he likes to. And every time they’re they’re on the ice, particularly in a unpredictable environment, right? Like playing against another team, uh they are just going to grow leaps and bounds. They are going to grow leaps and bounds. And this is the stuff that they’re, you know, quick recall is going to be a couple weeks from now when the regular season gets started, right? When when they’re instinctively looking for a teammate, they’re going to they’re going to go, “All right, last time we were in this position, this is what he did. Let’s see if he does it again.” Put the puck there. Oh, look. There he is. I’m really looking forward to it. Uh, and then the the other thing that’s always interesting about the preseason, and this goes for for any professional sport with a preseason, is there are guys trying to elevate, right? There are guys trying to make the big league roster. There are guys trying to um maybe audition to be a trade chip, right, if there’s not a spot for them on the big league roster or just raise their status within the franchise, within the uh the eyes of the scouts in the front office. Uh, and one of those players for the Carolina Hurricanes is Bradley Nadau. Um, he had a very successful AHL season last year. He’s a former first round pick and uh, he played in the first preseason game. He’s back in the roster for the second preseason game. Here’s Brymore on giving that guy a whole bunch of chances. You know, he’s one of the guys that we’re looking for, I think, to take that next step and just give him every chance to do that. Um, you know, I think uh, the other night was good learning. We had some good learning moments, right? You know, sometimes you try a little too hard and that’s not the answer. So, um, but that’s that’s why you have these games. Nadau strikes me as the kind of guy that if you said you’re playing every minute of every preseason game, he would be like, “Okay, I mean, I’ll be tired, don’t get me wrong, but I’m out there. Find me for a shot. I’ll let it rip.” uh which which I think is is what you should be doing at the stage this stage of his career where he’s trying to break through and he’s trying to be a guy uh where you know you hope it doesn’t happen but if there’s a a streak of injuries or something he wants to make sure he’s proven enough to be a guy you can depend on in those situations. Um, it is a really interesting spot the Canes are in with so many guys locked up to long-term and so many proven veterans that they’re not looking really for for too many risers. But that doesn’t mean you can’t rise. That’s Bradley Nadau. Now, let’s get to number two in the big three at three. Everybody pick up their uh latest edition of US Weekly. Yeah, I never thought I’d be doing the the tabloid run. I don’t even know if US Weekly is technically a tabloid. Seems like it. Um here on this show, but Bill Bellichic is on the cover of US Weekly with his girlfriend Jordan Hudson uh with a the big headline, who is the real Jordan Hudson? Brett McMury of On Three Sports tweeted it out, just the cover. And I have the quote here or the the tweet here. Bill Bichc becomes first coach ever featured on the cover of US Weekly. And then Mc Murphy adds the week after losing to UCF. Now, let’s put some context on it. Dan Wetszel of ESPN did add, “To be clear, Bellich did not pose for this cover shoot. It was from an NFL event at February’s Super Bowl. And neither he nor Hudson participated in what Wetzel called the fairly ridiculous article. Okay, which is better than originally anticipated when when hearing the Mc Murphy tweet of like, oh, they they are cool with US Weekly doing the feature. But I do think this is why Bill Bellichic for so many years refused to acknowledge or partake in the riff raff at all because it it truly is give that world an inch. They take a mile, right? You do a couple interviews, you have her on the sideline for pregame, you you you do a few of these things where where she’s involved and that inch is all a periodical like us weekly needs to put you on the cover when your team is coming off a loss and now you have distractions and now you have questions and now the whole thing becomes the whole thing. It’s much easier to just nip that in the bud early and not participate in any of it than it is to be where you are now having to go, “Well, actually, we didn’t participate. That’s from a shoot before.” They got the picture from uh most people aren’t going to hear that. They’re just going to see the picture and they’re going to go, “Goodness gracious, that’s what you’re doing on your by-week.” Which isn’t really what he’s doing on his by-week. Just seems like it with the timing. US Weekly knows how to rabble rouse rouse some rabbles. Uh that’s number two. Let’s get to number three. The NFL, it’s really the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Uh the pro football hall of fame has put out their list of 125 nominees for this upcoming class which will be limited to 50 then limited to 15. Then they will be voted on uh by the entire committee uh around let’s see let me make sure I get this around the Super Bowl. Uh kind of a big event that people tend to care about. I have and I think I’ve gotten the the full list here. Let me go ahead and bring it up. Let me find it. It is in here somewhere. I went and found all of the the local ties. Uh all of the people that played college in the area. All of the people that played for the Carolina Panthers. Now I just have to find it. It’s okay. I can give you it. Look at you. Proud of you. We’ll start with the Panthers. Okay. Jake Delhomme. Yeah. Musen Muhammad. Steve Smith senior as a returning finalist. So he was one of those 15 last year. Greg Olsen as a firsttime eligible Hall of Fame nominee. Wesley Walls as another uh tight end in the mix. He’s been on the list for a while. Ryan Khalil, the center. Thomas Davis, linebacker, as a firsttime eligible Hall of Fame nominee. Luke Keequley as not only a returning finalist, but one of the returning top seven vote getters, which puts him automatically through into the final 15. Uh Charles Peanut Tilman on the list. And uh John Casey the kicker also on the list which I have to be honest little heavy on kickers. Little heavy on kickers but the other seven punterkickers. Uh which one or two makes sense there but I’m a big John Casey fan. I don’t know if you throw him in the Hall of Fame. Uh NC State uh based on my quick perusal has two. Philip Rivers first time eligible. Tory Holt returning finalist. Yeah. Uh UNC has one. Jeff Saturday kind of maybe a better Hall of Fame case than you’d think based on the numbers. Uh and ECU has one as well. Chris Johnson, the running back. Nice. Uh on the list. Um I have the uh let me up let me go ahead and give you the details. Class of 2025 nominees Willie Anderson, Tory Holt, Luke Keequley, and Adam Vinitary, one of those kickers, automatically advanced to the final 15 of the class of 2026. So, they have to over the next few months here limit it to the other 11. Figure out who else is joining them in the finalists. Then they’ll eventually vote on it. How quickly, and we’ll do this throughout the show, but how quickly do we want to reveal who we think makes it. Should I just give the five that I think should be in right now? Go for it. All right. Uh Drew Brees is first time eligible. He’s got to be in. Uh Larry Fitzgerald is first time eligible. He’s got to be in. And then I’m going with three of the uh returning finalists. I’m I’m putting Keequley in. The longevity argument kept him from being a first ballot hall of famer. I think that’s fair. I don’t think you got to make him wait anymore. Uh if you if you think he should continue waiting, go there’s a podcast that just came out with Peanut Tman, actually, ironically, one of the nominees, and he talked about playing with Luke Keequley versus playing with Brian Erlacer. I mean, it sounds like Keeley’s on another level above Brian Erlacer. Brian Erlacer was a first ballot hall of famer. So there you go. Uh Adam Vinitary I think gets in. I think if regardless of specialist not specialist, if you’re the the best and most clutch at what you do, you should get in. It’s why I was in favor of Hester getting in a few years ago. Uh and then Tory Holt. I think that wait has been too long already. I’m putting him in. Uh if we want to get even crazier, I’ve got next year’s class. I’ll save that. Yeah, you can save that one. I’ve got a year from now. But honestly, those five guys you mentioned, I I would not disagree with that at all. You’re I think you’re correct about Luke Keeley should get in and 100% right on Tory Holt. Definitely needs to be in I I will say when you look at the ones that aren’t getting in, you feel dumb. Until you look at the ones that are getting in and go, well, I don’t know who to take out. There’s Jason Whitten, Frank Gore, two of the statistical best players in the history of the game. Reggie Wayne, Steve Smith senior, Hines Ward, Kevin Williams, the defensive tackle. Shane Leckler might be the best punter since Ray Guy. Uh, Rivers, Eli Manning, there’s so many so many. That’s a good debate for the next like 6 months. The Drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. If you want a good debate for the next 6 months, look at something trivial, something fun, something airy and light like a Hall of Fame debate. If you want a more serious debate, uh, you have to look no further than the Can’s message boards and social media places about a few guys who they are reportedly in contact with about potentially joining their team. We’ll have a a intro conversation to one of the more complicated issues in in sports right now coming up next. Sandine hammers one deflected in front. Another try by Ovetkin and another save by Anderson. [Music] fan. So, I don’t even know how much background to go into this. There there were this is a a debate that is raging in Kane’s fandom uh because of some reports that have now gotten loud enough I think we need to address it. Um the Canes have been reported to have been in communication with a couple of guys uh specifically uh Carter Hart and Michael Mloud um that were amongst the five members of Canada’s 2018 World Junior team who were recently acquitted of sexual assault uh but who are not yet allowed to sign or play in the NHL due to league uh decisions and and suspensions and whatever you want to call it over the last handful of appears um their futures huge topic of conversation across the league. Okay. Uh as part of their reinstatement process, which has been decided on, they are eligible to sign with an NHL club starting October. Oh, I it’s like 11th, I think it is. I think 11th or 15th, something along those lines, but middle of next month. My notes here say 1, which means I deleted the second second number. Uh middle of October, we’ll call it. Uh and then they are eligible to play December 1st. So, there’s a little bit of time, right? It’s only September 24th. A little bit of time there. Uh, that’s all as part of their reinstatement process. And just to get the some of the legal jargon out of the way, a judge in London, Ontario, in a ruling handed down in late July, acquitted the five members of charges stemming from an incident there, meaning in Ontario, 7 years earlier. That’s where it stands right now. Um, the reason why I haven’t addressed it or we haven’t talked about it much despite the fact that I I see it and I hear it and when I post about the canes, you you see the responses. Um, is because we’re not there yet, right? We’re not there yet. And and I’m big on don’t cross bridges until you get there, especially on complicated decisions, right? So, I’m I’m Listen, I know I have personal feelings on the subject. I know many of you have personal feelings on the subject. I know many of you have have tracked the court case and and listened and read the transcripts and everything else and I’m with it and I’ve done a lot of that as well. But don’t cross the bridge until you need to. The Canes by multiple reports, national reporters have had conversations with or uh reached out to or talked to representation of Carter Hart, Michael Mloud, who are happen to be of positions of need for the Carolina Hurricanes, right? Uh with with Mloud being a right-handed center who can uh kill penalties and Carter Hart being a goalie. Now, what do we know? Just to to explain to you why I’m saying don’t cross the bridge until you get there. Don’t make big glaring statements until you you have to. Is in really complicated situations. Gathering information is really important. You don’t want to come out and say anything definitively in any direction until you have all the information. So don’t come out and say the the canes are this, the canes are that based on your your ethics and morals until you know what they’re going to do. What do we know about Eric Tolski? at least in in purely hockey uh situations. It seems like the guy’s in on every conversation. If there’s a trade that might happen in the Western Conference, like in, you know, two months before the trade deadline, he’s called about it. He’s he’s he’s asked for details. He’s been in the mix. If there’s a trade that might happen at the draft, he’s at least heard about it, maybe facilitated it. There are players that nobody else knows are available and he’s already called. He’s already had the conversation. Heck, he might have just traded for him. It seems to be part of his MMO to gather as much information as possible. Whether he ends up making the trade or not, whether he ends up signing the guy or not, he’s in on every conversation. So, this might just be a situation where, again, literally, his rule is you call and you talk, you hear, you gather information. Maybe it’s it’s a pure information gathering mission where he’s talking to representation, you know, maybe feigning interest to see who else is interested just to know, okay, there look at that. So and so is interested in a goalie. Maybe if we get a guy, we can turn around and send him Porto Kochov. Who knows? Who knows? So, the fact is, don’t get angry if you have a moral objection to these guys being signed. And I’m not saying you should or you shouldn’t, but don’t get angry if you do until they’re signed. Right? Don’t yell and scream about all these bad things or or all these good things or don’t get deep in the trenches defending why they should until they do or they don’t. Right now, it’s just a door at the end of the hallway and you haven’t walked down there yet. So, don’t open it. You can’t reach. You might not even go down that hall. There’s Yeah, exactly. You might and and you there might be no reason to, right? Like that they could sign with someone else for boatloads of money and it’s like, oh, we never even had to make the decision or here like this is the the analogy and I forget where I heard it, but I like using it. Um boats on the way are not in war. Okay. So, if there is a a battle happening in the like the furthest part, I don’t know, Australia. I’m just picking. This isn’t real politics. It’s fake board game. And and and we meaning the United States sends like battleships and battleships to Australia. It’s going to take some time for them to get there, right? And by the way, once they get there, they might turn around and come back. They might not fire a single single bullet. So what protests like don’t no war no war it’s like they’re just on the way. There’s a big difference between on the way. That could be a message sent. That could be information gathering. That could be a favor. That could be 700 other things until you get there and engage. Do not think everything’s happening. You’re going to you you you could just spend a lot of time, you know, fake hustle, right? Just moving and shaking and doing things that don’t actually matter. So, I say all of that to say this. There are certain hockey fits about some of the some of the the skills of the two players we mentioned. Okay, there are I’m not saying it’s worth it. I’m not saying is the, you know, the the the the move one that they should make, but they’re there. If it happens, which it can’t until the middle of October, if it happens, then those conversations need to be had, right? Then we can discuss uh and we probably will if it does happen. Uh how a fan should react or will react or how you feel like is the right way to react. We can do that, but I’m not going to have all those conversations and then it turns out it it’s it’s pointless. I’m not going to have all those conversations. And turns out they don’t end up canes and maybe the canes were never entertaining it seriously. Right? It’s it’s like there is a very big difference between something being explored and something being done. And I I don’t have and I’ll say this like morally I don’t have a problem with gathering information. I know maybe some of you would think even that’s crazy, but I I would want to talk to people. I would want to know, and I would want to know, like I said, it might not have nothing to do with these players. They might be finding out who your competition is in the right-handed center market. Oh, look at this. So and so, so and so, and so and so have already made contract offers to Michael Mloud. Well, now we know if if a a right-handed center that can kill penalties comes available on the trade market, who we’re going to have to outbid. All of that becomes part of running a team. I’m not saying that is the case. I’m just saying that’s an example of of something that could be happening here, in which case everybody got really mad for no reason. You feign interest, you learn some info, you bail, which happens in trade offers all the time. Oh, what’s the price on so- and so? Are you making an offer? Uh, maybe if you let us know the price. All right. Well, here’s what we’re hearing. Here’s the price. Never mind. I’m out. I was never going to make an offer. I just wanted to know the price. Want to know what a player like that is going for. And notice I didn’t get into during the this whatever 8minute conversation that we’ve had. Didn’t get into um the details of the case or because I first of all, I don’t think you can have that in like eight minutes when you’re also trying to talk hockey. I think that’s a a more in-depth conversation and it should be. Um, but I didn’t do it because um that is again something you do when it becomes real. If it’s not real, I as somebody that talks professionally on air about the Carolina Hurricanes um won’t bring it into the Canes jargon Kane’s world at least in as I cover it. So just relax, wait, see what happens. Don’t get mad about something that might happen or maybe you think could happen until it does. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. By the way, during that last uh commercial break, Paul Ihander, host of Next Up and our our program director here, popped in and gave me a piece of information that put a uh late addition to the deans list. So, uh that’s coming up here in a couple of minutes. But first, Tim Donnelly here for Miller Lending. Gordon Miller and Miller Lending have been doing no closing cost loans for a very long time. Gordon’s been doing them since 1987, which means at this point practically perfected it. And it means if you have a rate that starts with a seven, you should call because they’ve perfected it, right? Refinance, get your rate lowered. You know, you didn’t get to choose your timing when you locked in that first rate, right? It was a a uh move that needed to happen, a upsize, downsize, a job change, something that led to your mortgage being a little bit higher than you wanted in the interest rate, right? Something that starts with a seven. Well, you can might be able to lower that and uh take no money out of your pocket, right? No closing costs, no fees, no search charges, no third party anythings, right? They’re not they’re not reaching their hands out for extra. They’re simply lowering your monthly payment. And if you think that’s something that’s uh appeasing to you, something that’s a little appetizing to you, I’m going to give you the phone number to call. 919-4473377. That’s 919-447-3377. You can also visit them online at millerlending.com. Once again, that is millerlanding.com. Miller Lending is an equal housing lender and I’m list number 2502146. I said it, there was a late addition to the deans list. I’ll lead off the deans list with the late edition coming up next. 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. A give to Castle. Nope. Miss it a throw. Going for Marquet. He’s got it. Touchdown. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. [Music] It’s a Wednesday by the way and it’s almost time for the Deans list, but I want to make sure everybody knows this next piece of information. Where would you put like if if I guess Taylor Swift would be the biggest kind of pop star out right now? Oh yeah, for sure. Is Ed Sheeran number two? He’s up there. I I’m I’m not up on my like we don’t have TRL anymore, so I don’t I don’t know how to like Can I go somewhere where they just rank like who has the hottest video right now and and do that in front of a bunch of screaming uh fans that are like lining the street outside? That’s all I ask. Shout out to TRL from like 2002. Uh either way, uh Ed Sharon, big big star, uh just announced a North American tour and we want you to go download our brand new 999 the fan app or visit 999thefan.com and enter for your chance to win a pair of tickets to see Ed Sheeran at Bank of America Stadium on October 17th, 2026. So you get a nice little on-ramp to to plan your uh your trip. plenty of time to figure out that that is not October like coming up October. That is October like a year from coming up October. Uh which long time but again big big tour got to make plans. Uh so you can uh enter to win on our 999 the fan our brand new app. uh download it Google Play Store uh for an Android app store for for uh iPhone or you can also go to any of our you um social media profiles into the bios and click links and it’s and it’s all there. Um or you can also go to 999thefan.com and enter for your chance to win a pair of tickets to see Ed Sheeran at Bank of America Stadium on October 17th, 2026. So there’s a tab or in the middle of the screen where you open up the app or you go on 999thefan.com, it just says win stuff. You’ll see contest. So, just click on that thumbnail and then you’ll see where you can enter in all that stuff right there. Beautiful. It’s that simple. Now, the deans list, the late addition to the deans list is John Anderchek and the Campbell Camels men’s basketball team. All right, let’s go. They uh just about an hour ago revealed their non-conference schedule. Okay, the Camels are officially not playing around. All right. Uh, they are going to Wisconsin, going to West Virginia, going to Wake Forest, going to Penn State, going to Gonzaga, going to Minnesota. Good lord. Yeah. Uh, they’re ain’t messing around. Not at all. going to even like a Weieber State uh which they’re they’re they’re playing in Utah is like Weber State’s not a joke of a mid- major program. Um their GM is Dame Lillard. Uh their home schedule not as daunting but not like a complete pushover. Ball State uh Western Michigan couple of you might be familiar with Virginia Lynchberg uh not as familiar there. Barber Scotia. Not as familiar with that. But then uh a couple days before Christmas, they’re hosting Green Bay, which is coached by Doug Gotautle, who was also a radio host. So, hey, little interesting there. But goodness gracious, that is. And if you look at like recent history, Campbell Campbell’s non-conference schedules, not like this. So, the reason they make the Deans list is twofold. one. I like that level of I like trying to play up. I like hunting for the trophy win, right? If you win any of those first games that I I referenced, that’s that can be program changing. Second, get paid, right? Go play against high level competition and and accept those checks and then flip that next year into players, right? NIL payments uh revenue share and then go play big opponents again and and have higher price talent. That’s just it’s just good business to me. Do it again. Do it again. Do it again until you have the cash and the funds to consider yourself somebody else’s trophy fish. That’s that’s big big ambitions from John Andek who by the way came from Florida. So there you go. They they they had a solid He’s used to playing that schedule. They had a solid run. Yeah. Uh more Dean’s list. I’m putting NC State football after the loss to Duke this week. So, uh we talked about it earlier. The NFL put out there 125 nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame or the Pro Football Hall of Fame did, not the NFL. 128. I don’t know why I thought it was 125. 128 nominees. Uh Tory Holt, Philip Rivers, they have a good chance of making the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I don’t know if they’re top 10, top if they’ll be picked, top 20, but they’re in the upper echelon of chances, both of them. I think Troy Hull gets him. Uh Troy Anderson, NC State wide receiver, was named to the Pro Football Focus National Team of the Week after going for 166 yards and two touchdowns in the loss to Duke. Uh and then Dennis, you’ll appreciate this one. Sunday, Pton Wilson recovers a fumble for the Steelers down to the goal line in a win over Drake May and the Patriots. So that’s right, they do. college rivalries die hard, right? So, there’s just a lot of like kind of accessories, right? Would you rather have won the game on Saturday? Absolutely. But some of the side news was just like a lot of prostate stuff going on. So, I threw them in the deans list on a on a midweek. Well, Wednesday. Do you have some Deans list? I actually have two of them here. Let’s hear them. Uh we’ll go to North Carolina defensive back Will Hardy. We always talk about, you know, watch lists and things along those lines. Well, he has been named a semi finalist for the 2025 William V. Campbell Trophy, which is a trophy that recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar athlete in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance, and exemplary leadership. So, Will Hardy, UNCC, named a semi-finalist for the Campbell Trophy, but also have a second for the deans list here, Tim. Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait. Uh, I didn’t know what what was it, the William C. Campbell Award. The William V William V. Campbell award. I didn’t know what that was, so I just Googled it to try to find out what it was while you were talking. Uh, William Hardy is on the list, the watch list, as is Anthony Carter Jr. from North Carolina State. Okay. And it looks like Bruno Oh, no. Sorry. That that’s a previous year. Oh, no, wait. No, no, no, no. Looks like Bruno Fina maybe from Duke. Bruno Fina from Duke. Does that make Anyway, so a couple local guys. Handful at least. There you Yeah, I I I just saw the Will Hardy one. So, that’s fair. I just didn’t want to like miss out on it. Also, I’m going to throw out North Carolina ENT track and field. Women’s track and field specifically. North Carolina ENT alum Kayla White helped team USA secure the world title in the 4×100 at the Worlds. That’s pretty cool. Yeah, it’s awesome. Do you see the uh the apparently Darius Sllayton, the wide receiver for the Giants, is dating one of the women from the team USA who won she won a world championship. She whatever her event was and I apologize for not knowing her name, but uh it’s I believe Anna or Abby because he wore a shirt on Sunday during warm-ups celebrating her world championship gold medal and she won it on Saturday. Yeah, she’s uh Anna Hall. She’s a hept aathlete. There you go. Uh, and appar like there was some leaks and one of them posted it of she at like on Sunday was like, “How did you have that shirt made already? I won on Saturday and you played on Sunday.” And uh, his response was, “I decided two and a half weeks ago that you were going to win.” So, I went and got the uh got the t-shirt and then it worked. Nice. So, you know, supporting your your uh significant other in the sports world. Pretty darn cool there. And anytime the US wins world championships, I get excited. Um, one more here. I have a list. It’s a group. They all have something in common. Uh, Duke quarterback Darien Mensah, ECU quarterback Caitton Hower, NC State running back Hollywood Smothers, NC State linebacker Shawn Brown, Duke edge rusher Vincent Anthony Jr., and Wake and kick returner Chris Barnes. Any guesses? They all play football in the ACC in the state of North Carolina. No. Oh, Kane Hower plays for ECU. Oh, yeah. Well, they all play college football in the state of North Carolina. That’s fact. FBS football. That’s what I meant to say. Not what I was looking for. Um, so after a third of a college football season, I I’ I’ve established like stats are real, right? There’s always the jokes after like week one, somebody has three touchdowns and it’s like he’s on pace for 36 touchdowns in the regular season. Uh but after a third of a season, four games for most of them, like stats are real. Uh those guys that I mentioned play for FBS schools in the state of North Carolina. There you go, Dennis. Uh they are in the top five in a kind of meaningful stat category. I just went to the NCAA stat leaders sorted by each major stat. And if anyone was in the top five from a school in the state of North Carolina, I was like, boom, put them in. Uh Mensah third in passing yards. Hower fourth in passing yards. So 50% of the top four play right here in the state of North Carolina. Uh Smothers is fourth in rushing carries, fifth in rushing yards. Brown is fifth in total tackles. Anthony is fifth in sacks and Barnes is fifth in average kick return yards. So all all up there in the stat. And I thought with you know a third of the season spent that uh it’d be a good time to just acknowledge that they’re they’re keeping it up. It’s not just one big game. [Music] And that’s it for the Deans list here on the drive with Tim Donnelly on 999 the fan. We’re going to do a little like enemy research here coming up in a second. Chris Mason, Sports Enterprise reporter at Mass Live, will be joining the show on the Hester Automotive Group hotline to talk uh the obvious the Panthers Patriots game coming up this weekend. Maybe some insight into the Bill Bichc reaction from up there and more. But first, Dennis Cox has something he’d like to tell you. I do. Dennis Cox here for my friends over at Raleigh Weight Loss Center. I actually had a follow-up appointment yesterday with Raleigh Weight Loss Center and I’m down nearly 40 pounds, 37 pounds to be exact. And the the program at Raleigh Weight Loss Center, by the way, I’ve been on the program for almost in two months here. So about 8 weeks I’ve been with the program at Raleigh Weight Loss Center. And the the wonderful thing about the program is part of my meeting and consultation that I had yesterday or I guess my follow-up appointment I should say is that not only are they saying, “Hey, you’re almost at the target goal weight, but once you hit that goal weight, here’s how you’re going to maintain it. Here’s how you’re going to do it for the first week, the second week, the first month, the second month after you hit that target weight.” So, it’s not just getting you to the to the end line. The endline is actually longterm. It’s not just about the target goal weight. It’s about not only getting you there, but keeping you there. And that’s what the program at Raleigh Weight Loss Center is all about. Again, I’ve lost 37 lbs. Have about another 10 to go. Almost there. It’s going to take a lot more discipline and and dedication, but I know I can get there thanks to the program at Raleigh Weight Loss Center and what they laid out ahead of me with the journey. And they’re doing it in a healthy way as well. There’s no injections or shots, so you don’t have to worry about any side effects or things along those lines. It’s just your body resetting and doing its natural thing and also helping again maintain that target weight. Give them a call 919-897-7506 or visit raleighweightlosscenter.com. Again, the number to call 919-897-7506 or visit raleighweightloscenter.com and set up a free consultation. Obviously, let them know that you heard it from me, Dennis Herro999, the fan. But 919-897-7506. If you’re if you’re serious about wanting to lose weight like I needed to do, give them a call or visit them online, ryaleweightloscenter.com. Results may vary. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. 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There is a uh a strange confluence I don’t know if that’s appropriate word uh of of kind of the triangle sports world that we live in and the New England sports world going on right now. So we thought uh why not check in with Chris Mason, Sports Enterprise reporter at Mass Live on the Hester Automotive Group hotline and see it from kind of that angle, from their angle up there in New England. Uh, Chris, thank you very much for for joining us. Um, have you have you grabbed your copy of the latest US Weekly? I couldn’t miss it. It was all over my feed this morning. So, uh, yeah, I did. Uh, I had to read the article there. And it’s a crazy time. Um, all right. Crazy time. How is New England reacting to the crazy time? Right. We’re in we’re in the eye of the storm with Bill Bichc at UNC and the struggles on the field and the the the tabloid nature off of it. Uh from obviously an area that has a tremendous relationship with Bill Bich. Uh how are they and you and the media up there reacting to to Bill Bill Bichc’s roller coaster? So, I think there was a lot of interest really early on to the point where uh Mass Lab, my company, sent me down for the season opener and for training camp for a day before that down to North Carolina just because there’s so much interest in, you know, is Belich going to be able to turn the Tar Hills around and then even watch some of the practices. Some of that stuff seemed really familiar, but then everything off the field with him has turned so foreign to everything that he was when he was in New England. The ultimate no distractions, no days off, all business guy. He’s on the cover of US Weekly today. It’s crazy. So, I think generally fans have been like interested from afar, but I think some of that’s starting to wne a little bit with the lack of reduction with the Tar Hills where obviously they have the two blowouts against the two real opponents on the schedule thus far. So, I think interest is starting to wne a little up here, but then, you know, when he pops up on US Weekly, that’s going to be at everyone’s feet again. Everyone’s going to be talking about it. Do you get the feeling that that Patriots fans are rooting for him or are they enjoying some of the struggles? I think generally rooting for him, but there’s definitely a divide just because things have gotten so frosty between him and Patriots owner Robert Craft up here. That has not been a good breakup and Bill hasn’t exactly covered himself in glory and some of the things that he’s done since he left where, you know, it wasn’t that long ago that he said he’s not welcome in Fox Row after barring the Patriots scouts. And you think back and it’s like, wait a second, he was at Tom Brady’s um Patriots Hall of Fame induction last year after he had been fired. So, like that’s a giant hole in the timeline and it it’s a piece that doesn’t make a lot of sense. So, I think he started alienated himself a little more and barring the Patriots scouts definitely did rub a lot of people around here the long way the wrong way where it was like just what what’s going on, you know? Um, so I think that’s kind of where things are at now. Chris Mason, Sports Enterprise reporter at Mass Live, joining us on the Hester Automotive Group hotline here on 999 The Fan. Uh, so Bellich went from New England to Chapel Hill. Uh, let’s talk about somebody that went from Chapel Hill to New England. Uh, how is the the team, the Patriots, seeing Drake May’s development? Uh, you know, turning the ball over, but also making some wow plays. It’s somebody that we’re very familiar with from his time in college. Yeah, I think the Patriots and fans around here are very encouraged by Drake in the progress that he’s showing where it’s like you said, even there are the turnover issues that are still there, but there’s a lot of good stuff going on. it it just seems like he’s a raw product right now and there needs to be more. But after the last uh first round quarterback the Patriots had that was M. Jones who’s the quintessential kind of a you you’d hoped he’d be a you know a high floor even if he was a low ceiling guy with Drake. It feels like the ceiling is a lot higher and you’re seeing more and more flashes of it now. He has to cut down some of the hero ball stuff that’s leading to turnovers. I don’t know if that’s still pleading over from maybe his last year at North Carolina, right? Where with that offense there aren’t a ton of other pieces. he has to do a lot himself. So, I think he’s still trying to work some of those bad habits out of his system, but there’s a ton of encouraging stuff that he’s showing on film. Is the supporting cast better, like relative obviously, uh, but but better than maybe that last year at Carolina? Like, who are the guys that he is leaning on so he doesn’t have to play her ball? Uh, I mean, Hunter Henry is a big one where he’s one of the most reliable tight ends in the league. Um, and he does have a lot of pieces that are like getting closer. the roster was as bad as any of the NFL last year. So, they bring in a Stephon Diggs who is coming off the ACL, but he’s been encouraging thus far. I think that the further you get into the season, the more his snap count’s going to go up, and he’s somebody that Drake didn’t have at all last year. You draft a receiver like Kyle Williams in the third round and hope that he’s someone that can keep playing his way up the depth chart where he’s already on the game day roster and every time Drake targets him, he’s catching balls. He’s just not on the field that much yet. So, I do think they’ve added some pieces. Now, there’s still no marquee number one receiver. like there’s no one really close to that right now and I don’t think that’s going to be diggs either. I think he’s like ceiling’s probably a good number two right now, but that’s still better than a lot of the stuff that he’s been dealing with. Chris Mason, Sports Enterprise reporter at Mass Live. Uh so the the Patriots are obviously they’re playing Carolina this weekend. Um lost to the Steelers on Sunday, sitting at 1 and2. Uh maybe outside of of what we’ve already discussed, Drake and his and his weapons, what are the biggest fixes or or you know, what’s held them below 500 through the very early part of the season? It’s the turnovers and that’s not just Drake. That’s across the offense where Raandre Stevenson fumbles twice last week. Antonio Gibson fumbled. They turned the ball over five times, which you’re you’re not going to win football games in the NFL if you turn the ball over five times. It’s absurd. It’s it’s almost hard to believe that there could be five turnovers in one game the way that the game is played now. But on the flip side of that, they still had a chance to win the game in the fourth quarter, which speaks to a lot of the productive things that they were doing where the defense really, they gave up two touchdown drives early and then really locked it down until the very last drive of the game where they had like six drives in a row where nothing was happening. And offensively, they’re moving the ball. Two of those uh turnovers were at the Pittsburgh 2D line, too. So, you turn the ball over twice in the low red zone like that. three other turnovers and they still had a chance to win that game, which also I think some speaks to where the Steelers were at where watching Aaron Rogers in that game, he he doesn’t want to get hit anymore. He doesn’t want to stay in the pocket. I don’t know how great that’s going to be for them long term, but um that’s kind of where they are right now where they’re they’re a young team. They’re they’re still raw. They’re putting good things on the tape, but ultimately last week they shot themselves in the foot too many times and couldn’t uh couldn’t finish because of it. Mike Vrabel’s kind of an old school coach. If if I’m running the Panthers defense, you brought up the the fumbles. Randre Stevenson fumbled a couple times. Uh should I be putting at the top of the scattering report Trayvon Henderson? Is it finally that time where the the second round pick is is going to be featured because he’s flashed but hasn’t really been given the volume? I think he will see more of a workload this week, especially I I don’t think I don’t know if Stevenson’s going to be like totally benched out of uniform, but I don’t know how you don’t limit his workload after putting the ball on the ground twice last week. What kind of message does that send? Have you just trot him back out there? The issue with Henderson though has been pass protection early on where they don’t trust him as a pass blocker right now. And there were times last week where Stevenson fumbled twice, should be glued to the bench, but because they got into obvious passing situations down in the fourth quarter, they had Stevenson back on the field as a pass blocker just because they trust him in blitz pickup and Henderson is still working through some of that stuff the NFL level. So, I think that’s the only thing that’s really holding uh Trevion back at this point is he needs to earn their trust uh in the Blitz pickup and as a pass blocker. Last question for you, Chris, and we appreciate you taking the time to jump on the show. Uh if I’m Bryce Young, am I am I going to be throwing against Christian Gonzalez this weekend, the uh the stud corner who’s been out with the injury? What’s the latest on on Gonzo? Yeah, all all signs are pointing to him returning this week where I think he wanted to play last week and ultimately Mike Frael held him out and said, “Hey, you know, soft tissue injury, you’ve been out this long, take one more week, make sure it’s all the way back.” So, I do expect Christian Gonzalez to come back and that should be a huge lift for the Patriots defense because at this point, he’s probably the best player on the team. So, they’ve been without him the first three weeks. I would expect him back against Carolina. All right, Chris, we appreciate you taking the time uh like I just said, and uh hopefully we can do this again soon. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for having me on. Once again, Chris Mason uh from Mass Live. Uh you can check out his work obviously, Mass Live, but uh you can also head to his uh social media accounts. Uh by Chris Mason on Twitter is uh is where you find him there. By Chris Mason. Um, speaking of the Carolina Panthers in the game coming up this weekend, uh, some congratulations are in order to a member of the Carolina Panthers. Dave Canales talking to the media just moments ago. Hunter Renfro and his wife have welcomed another baby girl this week. I believe that brings Hunter Refro up to three children. Yeah, it should be three. Three. Lucky number three. Uh, which Jatavian Sanders is out. You might need a undersized wide receiver to throw his weight around a little bit, get a little extra dad strength, right before you send him in there to maybe block some linebackers. There it is. Huh. Now, congratulations to uh to Hunter and obviously to everybody in the Refro family. I remember when Refro resigned with the team, that was a big factor that weighed in into his decision because he was getting some looks for some other teams. He’s like, “My wife’s about to have another kid here soon. That’s I don’t want to be I don’t want to be on the West Coast while she and the rest of the family are back here.” I I get it. I get it. Home base for him is in South Carolina somewhere. Myrtle Beach area, I believe. Uh or at least that’s where he went to high school. And I think he still calls somewhere in South Carolina home, which makes it so like if you have a baby born midweek, you can drive, you can be there for most of it. You can drive back. There’s no crazy travel or anything like that. So, uh again, congratulations to the uh the Renfro. There you go. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999. The fan. We’re going to stay on the Panthers with a little football at four. 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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. 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. [Applause] Broadcasting live from the Lenovo Studios, WCMC HD1 Holly Springs, 999 The Fan, the Triangle Sports Leader. [Music] I’m WL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner. Wow, it feels like summer out there. Hot and humid. A high of 93 and a small chance of a thunderstorm. 70 overnight tonight and hot again tomorrow with highs in the low 90s. But a cold front approaches that’s going to bring us a good chance for showers and storms late tomorrow with a level one risk for severe storms. Rain and storms continue into the weekend. Weather update brought to you by Nukem and Company where your comfort is their business. Visit nukem and company.com. 4:00 check of your money. Dow Jones down 159 points to 46,133. 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. Let’s move the chains. Time for football at 4. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999. the fan. It is time for football at four and we’re going to talk Panthers. Uh but there’s Kane’s game tonight. It’s preseason hockey, but it’s still hockey, everybody. Uh and you can hear it right here on 999 the fan. Matter of fact, they’re going to get a jump start on uh the pregame, a little bit of an earlier start time. Uh so at 5:30, we’ll we’ll bow out and and let the uh the pregame show get started. Uh so you can listen here on 999 the Fan. You can also listen on our brand new app, 999 the Fan. the app, Google Play Store, App Store, depending on what type of phone you have. Uh, download it and then you can take the game in your pocket. You can go walk the dog and listen to the game. You can go uh do some yard work and listen to the game. Sounds like based on the weather report we just heard it’s pretty hot outside. You can go do something, get a sweat in, get a workout, listen to the Canes game. Uh, that’s all happening tonight. Uh, which does mean we’ve we’ve moved Wolfpack weekly with Dave Doran talking NC State football uh from 7 o’clock today to 7 o’clock tomorrow. Uh we will make sure you you get your fix. Um but it’s it’s just going to be a day later. But if you want some NC State content in the meantime, Pack Therapy, the podcast available everywhere podcast can be found, including YouTube and our new app 99 the fan. Uh Mike Lennon and I recorded an episode earlier today. It either either is up now or should be up soon. Uh so go ahead and check it out. Talking about state football and then Wolfpack weekly tomorrow at 7. Now we can jump into football at four with a very simple question through three games for the Carolina Panthers. Where’s the running game? Where’s That’s your bread and butter, isn’t it? That’s That’s what you build the offense around, isn’t it? That’s the bill of goods we were sold. So where is it? You got one of the highest paid offensive lines in the sport. Granted, they’re kind of banged up right now. a little little injured, but the guys that you replaced him with are pretty proven as far as backup offensive lineman. Uh you paid Tuba Hubard, you you brought in Rico D. You drafted Trevor ETN, you have a play caller who is dedicated to the run and talks about being a physical offense. Uh so where is it? And just so you know, I’m not asking this just off some like I’m going to incite some response or I’m asking this with oh, I’m just going to get you going crazy. No, I’m asking this because there’s facts. They are 21st in rushing attempts, 25th in rushing yards, 24th in yards per attempt, 21st in estimated points added by their rushing offense in total. They have just two rushing touchdowns this year through three games. One of them is by Bryce Young on a scramble. I don’t know if the rushing offense should get to claim that one. Shouldn’t. Their longest rush is 22 yards. Bryce Young again, the longest rush by a running back is 14 yards. It’s hard to eat like that. Like listen, running running averages like yards per attempt and all those things are often heavily skewed by the big plays, right? It’s really hard to average like five yards per carry without one big one, right? You got to go get the 60er just to average out some of the hit in the back fields. Uh you’re not going to be able to do that if your longest rush is 14 yards. 14. And I could have kept going. I could have kept scrolling on the stats page, but I thought you would get the picture based on the numbers I just gave you. They are top half of the league in almost nothing rushing offense related. Now, I will throw the asterisk of they’ve spent a lot of time behind. Okay? And in those cases, you’re trying to throw your way back into the game. you’re trying to to sling the rock and you’re you’re you’re trying to find a way into the the back into the game, but also you won 30 to nothing. So, in at least onethird of your games, you led darn near the entire game. Uh so, it’s not completely uh you know, the reason why you’re behind in some of this. Do you know what’s the worst part about this conversation? What’s up? I like answers, right? We we we decided we were going to ask where’s the running game? Where’d it go? What do you do to fix it? And I’m somebody I like, you know, I the the the way I say it is I don’t want I don’t like just being a problems guy. I like being an answers guy. I don’t really have an easy one here. There’s it’s not oh, you know, Rico Dowel is so much more efficient than your starter. You got to play the guy. It’s it’s not that. It’s not, oh, the offensive line’s playing bad. They’re actually, if you watch some of the film, they’re moving some bodies. It’s it’s one of those things where every play and I watched a bunch of film today on it. Every play it’s it’s one thing, right? It’s why football is the ultimate team sport. You need 11 guys all doing their job well enough to have success. And in the running game for the Panthers, it’s kind of, oh, look, all the players did their assignment correctly, but the defensive coordinator got the better of Dave Canales on scheme, right? sent a run blitz at the right time, had a stunt at the right time, whatever it is. All right, he had the play call, right? But there was a there was an MA. There was a missed assignment and uh you know, a guard went the wrong way or whatever and missed their block. All right, it was a good play call. Everybody knew their assignment, but somebody just got individually beat, meaning they they knew who to block, they tried to block them, and they shed the block and made the tackle. It was it’s it’s a lot of that. It’s a lot of that. Or maybe it’s something like everybody’s set up right. You deliver your running back to the second level, which a lot of times is like that’s the goal, right? If your running back has a some space and one second level defender to beat, that is a successful run play. And then you just need your your running back to be a dude, right? You need to make a miss. You need to shake off the tackle. You need to use the spin move. You need to use the stiff arm. You need to do something. And you know, the defensive player makes a good play and gets Chew on the ground or gets Dowel on the ground and that turns what, you know, one missed tackle would have been a 20-yard gain into a 5-yard gain. Still a good play, still a positive, but it’s not going to to change your your, you know, outlook on your running game. So that like the reason why I didn’t like this uh this answer is I don’t think there’s a way to have this conversation without sounding like like Bear Bryant or something without sounding like uh like a Disney Channel original movie coach where the speech just has to be I need 11 guys working together as one. We’re better as a fist than we are as five outstretched fingers. But I think for the running game, that’s it. And and and it and then you get the the ripple effect, right? When Bryce is trusted to throw it and somebody like Tedoro McMillan is open, they have to connect. They have to complete it, right? McMillan has some drops, Bryce has some bad reads, whatever, like they have to complete it. So now the defense won’t stack the box. They can they can move back a little bit and there’s more room in in the running game. And that pertains to everybody in the in the passing game, right? It’s all connected in football. One of our YouTube commenters said, this one comes from Michael said, “Well, we ran well last game, we always had a short field, so the stats don’t pop.” I was like, “Well, the longest run in that game for the Carolina Panthers was eight yards. Rico D and Juah Hubard each had eight yard runs. That that’s it.” They they ran well in that it made sense in game flow. In game flow, yes. to keep running it and whether you were having success or not, just the like every 40 second play clock off the game clock was fantastic. Um I I hear that, but like part of me disagrees that they ran it well. They they ran it well in game flow, like in game script, it makes sense, but very rarely was I watching this game going, “Okay, perfect. They’re they’re dominating up front and they’re going to go uh you know, cruise down the field and score.” Matter of fact, they scored on the opening drive, which the biggest plays were pass plays. Yeah, they only ran the ball one time. All right. And then the offense didn’t score again until the fourth quarter, right? So, that’s a big gap where the running game, if it was working well, would have been like just the motor, the steamroller that that cranked away and scored a bunch of points. The 30 is, I think, distracting some people because you get a pick six, you get some short fields. 30 can happen almost by accident. And that’s not the right way to think about it, but a little bit, right? Little little by accident. You can score a bunch. It’s it’s not as as exciting as you’d think. But even if you look at early in games against Jacksonville and Arizona before the score even got out of hand, the run game wasn’t there and those games either. So it’s this is a trend thing. So again, we haven’t really seen the the the big burst plays or consistent, hey, you follow an eight yard run with a sevenyard run. We haven’t seen those consecutive big chunks plays from in the run game so far. Like you said, Chuba Hover’s longest run this year is 14. And and I knew like to be clear, I we I’m saying I like I have some secret information. We all watch the same games. We knew that about Chuba, right? The if there is a knock on Chuba, it’s he’s he’s really solid between the tackles. He’s really good at getting getting what’s there. He’s a pretty good decent at least pass catcher. He doesn’t have home run speed and and in the open field he rarely turns the 12 yard run into the 40 yard run. Like that’s that’s the thing that he doesn’t have that the elite running backs in in the NFL do. Um but you’re right, you you don’t have at least not often this year the five yard run followed up by the seven yard run followed up by the five yard run and the nine yard run. Like you don’t even have what he did very well last year which were like quarters that it felt like he took over. By the way, looking at the the Falcons Panthers game, um the Falcons rushed 23 times for 131 yards. The Panthers rushed 30 times for 110 yards. The Falcons were behind that entire game and they still put together at least an efficient run offense. Uh which is why when I brought up those stats to tell the story at the beginning, they weren’t all pure volume stats. It wasn’t just yards. It was yards per rush. It wasn’t just uh you know rushing touchdowns. It was estimated points added by the rushing offense. Right? You try to get the things that are not just volume but rate statistics to show like all right, yeah, maybe you didn’t run it as often because you were behind in two games, but when you did run it, it was good. Instead, what we’re seeing is they’re below average in efficiency and below average in volume, which indicates it’s not just they they haven’t had the opportunity to run very often by game flow. Now, again, coming back to not just being a problems guy, being a solutions guy, and looking for a way to try to fix it. It’s it’s I think it really does come down to you need to all put it together. They’re all capable, right? They’re all capable. I I you know, Cade Mays I don’t think is a huge drop off from Austin Corbett. Uh like there’s there’s enough there. I like I still like Trouba Hubard as a talent. I like Rico Dael as a talent. I thought he looked a hint better than uh than Chuba did this past week on the opportunities he was given, but either one of them are, you know, they’re thousand yard rushers last year. You need everybody to ready for this. Bellich check fans do their job and you’ll be all right, but as long as there keeps being that one weak link on each play, you’re not going to get where you want to go in the run game. And do you know what else is bad about that? again with the the nature of it all being connected puts a lot more pressure on Bryce Young. And right now the last thing the Carolina Panthers should want to do is put more pressure on Bryce Young. I’m not saying you should be able to win every game by 30 with him throwing for 120 yards. But I also do not want to ask him to have to keep picking up third downs and longs because first down you ran for two yards. First down you ran for negative one. Like I don’t want to keep asking him to to have to pick up the slack for what was supposed to be a strength of the offense. And if you are asking him to pick up the slack, please tell him to also throw it to Tedo McMillan uh or Jaylen Coker once he comes back hopefully uh as soon as that IR stint is up. By the way, speaking of the Panthers and IR stints and all those kinds of things, we actually have a updated injury report today. So Pat Jones the hamstring injury did not practice again. Xavier Legat did not practice again with a hamstring injury. Tenro McMillan didn’t practice today with a calf injury. I didn’t hear what Dave Canales had to say about that today because we were already on air at that point. Jatavian Sanders dealing with that ankle injury, did not practice today either. So, we knew about uh Javian Sanders. Turk Wharton didn’t practice again because of his hamstring injury. We expect him to be out this coming week. DJ Wanom also on the injury report did not practice today due to a hip injury. And some guys got limited work like Rico D, JC Horn, Taylor Motton, just rest. We are. And Hunter Refro had a kid. He probably wasn’t a practice today. He was not. All right. So So who was catching passes? Leette didn’t play. Sanders didn’t play. Tedro McMillan didn’t play. Hunter Reenfro didn’t play. That would be a lot of David Moore. David Moore. Bryson Tumine. Play some Jimmy Horn Junior. Jimmy Horn Jr. Dan Chesena just signed back to the practice squad. Let’s go. De Leavon Campbell. Let’s let’s hope they’re being on the cautious side, which by this point in the season, if you if you’re if you play a lot of snaps, you’re nursing something, it would make sense if they’re just being a little cautious. I’m fine with that. But let’s hope it’s it’s definitely just that because no offense to Jan Dan China, who was just signed back to the practice squad. If I see him getting some targets on Sunday, I’m going to assume that means something something not great is happening on offense for the Carolina Panthers. And we’ve seen the the Panthers be very cautious when it comes to soft tissue injuries, which I get, which yeah, absolutely. You know, I’m 100% okay with that. Remember what I say, hammies go quiet, they don’t go away. Just ask Mike Evans. Uh they they pop back up over and over and over again. Um the drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. That is football at four. Ladder challenge blind ranking. Hit it and quit it. Some really fun stuff coming up next. Don’t go anywhere. 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 scratchmade 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. Bojangles 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. When you crave the best in college football action, you’ll find it on 999 the fan. And a surprise onside kick for Syracuse. Perfectly executed and they steal a possession back. Jaden no bunted it forward and the Q’s have the football at midfield. Death Valley is silent. Feel the passion of college football all season long. College Football on the Fan is powered by Wake Med and Preserve Services. Find what you love. Love what you find. A total wine and more. There’s so much waiting for you. All kinds of beers and thousands of wine. Guides in the know. Prices so low it just might blow your mind. You’re going to find what you love and love what you find. With curbside pickup and delivery available, you’ll always find what you love. Only at Total Wine and more. Speak responsibly B21. Hello, I’m John Hester for John Hester Chevrolet in Fugquway Arena. You know, people are asking us, “How are you selling so many cars all of a sudden?” Well, did you know that the belt line has opened up the Outer Loop? We’re only 28 minutes from Nightdale. We’re only 19 minutes from Clayton and 15 minutes from Apex. We’re now the most convenient Chevrolet dealership to reach in the Triangle. It’s just one more reason to get off your Keester and come to Hester. Now at John Hester Chevrolet, get up to 11,000 off a new 2025 Chevy Silverado RST or 2.9 for 72 months. See dealer for details. Together, let’s drive. It’s Pro Savings Days at Lowe’s. Get up to 35% off select major appliances and save an additional $1,000 when you buy four select LG major appliances. Plus, get a free DeWalt 20 volt max 5 amp hour battery when you buy a select DeWalt 20 volt max tool. Get the job done for less at Lowe’s. We help you save. Valid through 926. Selection varies by location while supplies last. See associate or lowe’s.com for more details and qualifying items. Could this vintage store be any cuter? Right. And the best part, they accept Discover. Except Discover in a little place like this? I don’t think so, Jennifer. Oh, yeah. Discover’s accepted where I like to shop. Come on, baby. Get with the times, right? So, we shouldn’t get the parachute pants. These are making a comeback. I think Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. Based on the February 2025 Neielson report, Ricky Collins, the backup quarterback. He’ll throw to the front. Pylon trying to squeeze his back shoulder to Ro Simmons. He’s got it for the touchdown. The drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. [Music] So there is uh there’s quite a bit going on in the sports world right now. We’re in the good we’re in the good part, one of the good parts, right? Uh hockeyy’s getting ready to start up. College basketball really isn’t that far away. We’re we’re kind of right in the sweet spot. though because of that there are some scheduling things, some quirks. Uh we have a Canes game tonight here on 999 the fan as they uh host the preseason home opener for the Canes. They host uh the Florida Panthers. Uh that means that Wolfpack weekly for state fans out there, state football fans will be moved to tomorrow at 7:00. But I encourage you, there’s a lot of overlap in state fans and Canes fans. Tune in anyway and catch the Canes game. Uh, and if you are away from your radio, you can always check out the 999 the fan app uh for both listening options. Uh, so there you go. That’s going on right right then. That’s going on later tonight for the moment going on right here. The ladder challenge. Oh my god. And for the 20oot ladder with a spear of Jeff Hardy. For the love of God, Jeff Hardy may be broken smack dab in half. I had to restart after getting a uh a bad bet on the Miami Dolphins, which I deserved. Um, but I did get back on the the right track. Nefisa Collier, 15 or more points for the uh Lyns versus the Mercury in the WNBA. Uh, I had a whole bunch of research for it. She scored 24. She had 10 made field goals. So, super easy open and shut win for me. brings my uh brand new and hopefully growing total to $1153. Dennis, where are you at? So, I am up to $2961. I had the starting pitcher for the Chicago White Socks yesterday giving up at least three hits against the New York Yankees. Well, he gave up five. So, he more than did his part. All right, you are in the lead, so you get to go first for today’s pick. All right. So, I’m actually gonna go right back to the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Socks. So, give me tonight earned runs allow for Frasier Ellard. Frasier Ellard. I’m sorry. Actually, I No, actually, I can’t make this bet. I actually I just realized I can’t I cannot make this bet. Um, so are you morally against it? No, no, no. It’s I just I physically can’t do it. Oh, so actually give me um I have no idea what that means, but I’m going to let you rock. Uh Fraser Ellard is I guess a callup player. So anyway, uh actually give me Max Freed of the New York Yankees to throw four or more strikeouts tonight against the Chicago White Socks. So Max Freed, that is four or more strikeouts against the Chicago White Socks. So that is a minus80. So, my $2961 will turn into $32.97. So, I’m also going to do a strikeout prop for tonight before we get to football for the rest of the week. Um, and because I’m no longer castanzaing, I’m no longer going against my better judgment, I got to do some research. So, here we go. Paul Skins, five or more strikeouts versus the Reds today. Paul Skins for the the Pirates. Uh, it’s minus 650. He has at least five strikeouts in 27 of his 31 starts this year. The Reds average uh just about 8.75 strikeouts per game, which is top 10 in the league, meaning top 10 most strikeouts for a team in the league. So, I think Skins gets, you know, 78 at least, and I only need five, which will bring my dollars up to $13.30. That’s what I’m looking for as I now just try to keep getting some dubs and hope Dennis falters by the end of the month. So, there you go. Ladder challenge complete. We get to play a different kind of game now here on the drive with Tim Donnelly. I get to It’s one of my favorite parts. Dennis sets up a blind ranking and I get to do it. [Music] [Applause] All right. So, the way this blind ranking is going to work, so I’m going to give Tim five names. And the and the blind ranking today is actually going to be potential NFL Hall of Famers. So, the Pro Football Hall of Fame released the list of 128 names of people that potentially could be elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame going into canon. So, I’m going to give Tim five players, one at a time. Tim does not know the five players that he is going to receive during this time. And he has to blindly rank them one through five. And we I just so everybody knows my criteria, right? I get to kind of decide what I’m going off of. Uh, it’s how much they deserve to be in this year’s this year’s Hall of Fame class. Okay, this year’s is what I’m going for. Not eventual hall of famer. It’s like this year. All right, so let’s go ahead and start with Mike Ol. I love Mike. I mean, who doesn’t? I The neck roll alone is Hall of Fame worthy. Absolutely. He’s actually, by the way, everybody, if you’re out out there, uh, if you ever sparkle, which is a site where you can go to and there’s trivia lists and you can play against your friends and stuff. It’s it’s, you know, like name all of the running backs in the ‘9s that had at least 1,000 yards in a season and you just list as many as you can so you can do the most. Uh, if you don’t if you’re not a sports nerd like I am, there’s TV and movie and geography and a whole bunch of other stuff on there. Mike Alstad is one you often forget for like Total Touchdowns or something like that. The guy had entire games where it was like five carries, four yards, three touchdowns. Uh, not a Hall of Famer, though. I’m going to throw him number five. Mike Alto. Number five. Uh, he he is a nominee though. All right. That like I don’t want to be mean to Mike Alstat. It’s like the the Oscars, right? I’m just happy to be nominated. has a pretty good career to be a nominee for the Hall of Fame for Mike Alstat based on, you know, his role in the offense and everything else on those Tampa teams. So, Mike Alstat, he is a uh he’s number five. All right, let’s go. Defensive back Rodney Harrison. I also don’t think he is a Hall of Famer. I think he like especially early on some of the Chargers stuff he did was was like super solid. Uh, I think he got on some really good defenses and and is a personality as you see in the media now and he was a hard-hitting safety, so he maybe got a few more eyeballs on him with the the the Patriots. Uh, I I don’t to me to be a Hall of Famer, you have to be like obviously the best at your position for like three years at least, something like that, right? Or uh statistically top 10 at your position. Like there’s got to be a calling card. And I when I think of safeties from his era, I mean, it’s Ed Reed and Troy Palm. like that’s that is what it is. It’s Brian Dawkins. It’s John Lynch. It’s there’s a lot of names that come up. Maybe even a Bob Sanders or something like that for a period of time. Um a lot of names before I get to Rodney Harrison. So I’m putting him number four. Okay. So first name I gave you Mike Allott. You put him at five. Next name I gave you uh Rodney Harrison. You put him at four. So the slots you have available are just one, two, and three. The next one is Greg Olsen. Greg Olsen again, lovely dude, great guy. He’s a firsttime eligible Hall of Famer this year. Um, I am a big fan of Greg Olsson. I want this to be very clear. I I listen to his podcast, Youth, Inc., uh, which is all about uh, youth sports and how to parent in youth sports and and how to deal with different scenarios and he brings on other athletes and he uh, other news makers in that world. Um, so so I’m a big fan. I I think he’s quite frankly better than Tom Brady at the uh the broadcasting thing. It should be the number one booth for Fox, but that’s neither here nor there. Um I don’t think he’s got a chance in being a first ballot hall of famer. So, I’m going to go ahead and make him three. I’m just going right up the list. Give me Greg right up the list. Greg Olsson. And granted, I don’t know what’s coming up next, but I do like the way it’s working thus far, which is the kiss of death. Like as soon as I say that, I’m going to get, you know, I don’t know, some weird kicker or something. But, uh, but no, Greg Olsen is going number three. All right. Next one is Hines Ward. All right. See, here’s the tough part with Hines Ward. Mhm. Hines Ward is, what did they say? 128 nominees. Yep. He’s undoubtedly in the top 30, right? I don’t know if he’s top 10. Probably not. I don’t know if he’s top 15, but he’s undoubtedly in the top 30. So, do I play the odds and say you’re going to give me one of the roughly hundred names that he is above, but then I risk getting an absolute stud and having not having them number one cuz there’s a couple no doubters that are still out there. Um, I like Hines. I do you know what I I don’t think it’s mentioned enough for Hines’s Hall of Fame case. Uh because it’s kind of like being the best I don’t know running quarterback or something. It’s not something that you think of. He might be the greatest blocking wide receiver of all time. We just like I don’t know if they keep pancake stats for like mid90s wide receivers. Uh but he’d have a bunch of them. Really, really good blocker. I’m putting him number two. I’m going with my gut. I’m saying there’s a big name on there and I’m just rolling right up the list. Hines number two. Yeah. Wow. This is the most boring blind ranking ever. I don’t know if it’s boring, but it’s it’s I I got to I got to trade two I have to stay true to the competition and just make the best decision. Okay, so I give you Mike Ol, you put him at five. I give you Rodney Harrison, you put him at four. I give you Greg Olsing, you put him at three. I give you Hines, you put him at two. Which leaves number one the only available slot. And that number one person goes to Priest Holmes. Ah, that’s not awful. I don’t think Priest Holmes is all right. Here’s Priest Holmes. It’s It’s not great. I’d rather have Hines word above Priest Holmes, but that’s it’s not the end of the world. Um Priest Holmes is a real precedent argument, right? Um I don’t think he’s like there’s right now it’s a crowded, right? when you have Larry Fitzgerald and Philip Rivers and Drew Brees and Adam Venitaryi and all these other guys uh and and even guy Terrell Suggs and and on and on Kevin Williams on the defensive side on and on down the list. Um he’s he’s got a long wait if he if he gets in at all. But Priest Holmes, surprisingly, if you go throw his stats next to like a uh a Terrell Davis, a Gail Gail Sers, some of these guys, running backs that got in despite short careers, he had a window, man. He had like a three to five, seven years something like that where Priest Holmes was bananas. um kind of right at the tail end of the Ravens run and then his first I don’t know three to six years with the the Chiefs. He was really good and and if you don’t believe me, just talk to anybody that was playing fantasy football at that point in time. He was all over the place. Uh I don’t think it’s the right spot for him at number one, but it’s definitely better than some of the other guys he could have given me at number one. So I’m not I’m not not very upset at the list. I’m just a little upset at the list. where what what would you correct? See, well, you did the ranking a little bit differently than I would have because you based off like who would be Hall of Fame worthy this coming year. I would have just based it on like who I thought was just the better player, which in that case, I probably would have gone Hines Ward one. Is that objective or is that your Steelers fan talking a little bit? No, I think that’s pretty objective. I probably would have gone with Hines one just because of longevity and so on cuz you got to think about Priest Holmes dealt with all the injuries that he had as well. I probably would have gone maybe Rodney Harrison 2. You have Rodney Harrison as a better player than than Olsen. That would been that would have been a tough one for me. But either Rodney Harrison 2 or Greg Olsen 2. That would have been two three for me. Then I probably would have gone Holmes and then All also just played in a different era. Priest Holmes had a three-year run. Oh, he was awesome. Where he either led the league in rushing yards or rushing touchdowns every year. Oh, yeah. He was special. 1555 yards, 1615 yards, 1420 yards, eight touchdowns, 21 touchdowns, 27 touchdowns, mixing in almost over 600 yards receiving in each of those seasons. That is as good of a three-year run as you’re going to catch from darn near anybody at the running back position. His peak was as good as it gets, but it was like such a short window, though. It was. He was an offensive player of the year. Mhm. He finished fourth and fifth in MVP voting. Now I’m just advocating for him because I got boxed into putting him number one. So I’m going to become a guy that’s now like Priest Holmes is a Hall of Famer just to retroactively make my list better. I’m not mad at that. I’m not mad at the list. The Drive Tim Donnelly 999 the fan. That is a little blind ranking. We have a few more minutes here. Uh so let’s go ahead and hit it and quit it, shall we? [Music] I’ll lead us off. Okay. Russell Wilson spoke to the media today. I’m springing this one on you, Dennis. Uh Russell Wilson was just benched by the the New York Giants. They’re going with their first round rookie, Jackson Dart. I’ve partial part of his he obviously spoke a lot and and Russ is a is a bit of a chatterbox at times. So that you can go watch the whole media availability after practice. For me personally, this comes from Russ. For me personally, I’m not done. I know I can help this football team if that comes up. He also talked about, you know, the only things he can control are his attitude and his gratitude and he had all the, you know, typical Russ Wilson stuff that you would think of. Um, let’s ride. Let’s ride. Go Hawks. Um, barring an injury to Jackson Dart, does Russell Wilson start another NFL football game? I don’t see it. It’s wild. It is that I mean, I’m not saying it’s wild like I don’t agree with you. I agree with you. Unless Jackson Dart gets hurt, I don’t see uh the Giants turning back to Russ. And I don’t see another team bringing him in as a starter, like a triedand- trueue here, the keys starter. And I don’t think he goes anywhere unless he has that. That’s just kind of gut instinct to me. But I mean, he was as dependable as it comes for like a decade plus where it was just Russ is going to be out there. They’re going to be doing something. He’s going to be making money and he’s going to be throwing moonballs. Uh and and then feels like the falloff was swift. Right. Feels like he was he was there. He he was feuding with Seattle and then all of a sudden all of the magic was gone. Yeah. Then he goes to Denver and just never regained it. It was weird. He had an office on a different floor and that was a big issue. He wore a retro of his own jersey walking into the stadium and it just like little things like that just rubbed everyone the wrong way and and now he’s what two teams after that and it’s it’s just going to be over. Yeah, the end comes quick. It does for some, which by the way, like Russ Wilson, not not being able to end on his own terms. If you are somebody out there that gets to end your career as an athlete on your own terms, thank the the the stars above or whoever you thank because it is un unbelievably crazy how many all-time greats get told by the game, “Nah, you’re done.” rather than them saying, “I’m ready to walk away.” And if your all-time great, like like actually you’re a Steelers fan. If your favorite all-time great, somebody like Ben Rothllessberger, is allowed by the team to like age a little, you know, not not what he once was, but still go out on his own terms. That is a loyalty that doesn’t exist in sports very often. So, you know, thank the team for those types of things happening. Let’s quit that. Let’s hit this. Let’s do that hockey. Uh Tim, there are some people that are mad in Kane’s fandom. So, the Canes revealed their new u helmet sponsors for some games this season for home games this year. It’s First Citizens Bank. Yep. Helmet sponsor. So, there’s their logo, their decal is going to be on the side of the the helmets. So, this is again for home games. their home helmet. Well, branding partner is going to be First Citizens Bank. We’ve seen Newore, we’ve seen Lenovo, we’ve seen a couple different things there. And I guess this really has upset some some Canes fans, Tim, because of the simple fact that the first Citizens Bank logo has blue in it. And obviously that clashes with the colors of the Carolina Hurricanes because re, you know, red and black. All right. It has upset some people, too. This is first of all an acknowledgement that you are heard. Yes, I hear I hear you Kane’s fans that are really mad about this. I I hear you. Now, here’s the part you’re not going to like. I disagree with you wholeheartedly. Um, First Citizens Bank is supporting the Carolina Hurricanes. They are believing in they think that those helmets are going to be in highlights and are going to be in pictures and they’re going to be in big moments for the Carolina Hurricanes. So, they’re investing their cash in putting their logo on it and that’s going to help the Carolina Hurricanes. If their logo was green, blue, orange, purple, I say put it on the helmet. As sort of someone in our YouTube live chat, Brandon just said, “The blue does look awful, though.” Guess what? It’s so tiny and small. When you’re watching a game, you ain’t going to see it. This is one where I have to like remove my own thought process because I care so little about uniforms. Uh, even like if I see one and I’m like, “Ah, I don’t like it.” It go It comes and I go, “I don’t like that.” And then it’s gone. It’s in one ear, out the other, and I get back to watching the game. It’s It’s I guess I’m weird that way because most people seem to have like flaming hot opinions about uniforms and stuff, and I just don’t. But I can’t imagine being mad that the team and a and a business have worked out a way to get a decent amount of cash for something as trivial as a sticker on a helmet. Like I would I want my team looking like a NASCAR uh car from from Tallaladega Nights. like I I want I want as many logos on there as possible because it becomes white noise to me and then they just get cash to spend on players or fan experience or to offset other costs. I I don’t get it. I don’t get it. I don’t get it. Well, here’s the thing as well is that with hockey related revenue going up, that’s what increases the salary cap and so on and so forth. This this is part of that. The actually Yes. And the Canes have I I don’t have this actual fact in front of me. It feels like they have more long-term contracts than anyone else in the league. Yeah. Which means the more cap goes up, they are the ones benefiting from it darn near the most. So, in the next like two years, you want the league to find all of the revenue so the cap goes up before the Jarvis contract, the the Eer contract, before any of those contracts come due again because they’re just going to look better. So, how about that? put more ridiculous logos, take more money, raise the cap more, and the Kane’s benefit. And you know what? If you buy Kane’s apparel, that logo is not on it. It’s literally a helmet sticker. I just I’m I’m confused by it. So, I hear you. You are heard. If that’s all you needed, if you just need to vent, you just need to get some things off your chest, you are heard. And you’re disagreed with. How’s that taste? Little hit and quitted here. How about Bill Bellichic on US Weekly? Bill Bellichic and his girlfriend are on US Weekly. Dennis, I’ve I’ve just there’s a lot of different ways we could talk about this and we have talked about it in a few different ways. Here’s the question I’m I’m posing to you. Will the the general public at large ever get tired of it? Yes. Oh, that’s a difficult one. Like, I’m sure US Weekly knows if they put that picture on the cover, they’re they are they’re moving merch, right? They’re moving magazines. People are picking it up and they’re buying it. So, that’s why they’re doing it. I mean, clearly there’s an audience for it because I had a lot of people show me this past weekend or on Sunday or people send me, “Oh, did you see Jordan Hudson on the sideline before the game?” And then you sitting in the stands at a visiting opponent. So many pictures. So many pictures, but people talking about it and all that kind of stuff. So guess what? Yeah, there is an appetite for it. Even though people might get sick of it, but there is an appetite for it for sure. My question is, will it jump the shark? Will at any point in time it get to the point where like Sports Center leads with it and people turn the channel rather than go, “Oh, what’ they do this time?” I think that we’re probably at that point where if you led Sports Center off, unless there was something crazy wild that happened, but I mean when the team isn’t successful and they don’t look good in their losses, people are going to glob onto this stuff. Yeah. Well, to me, it’s it becomes a bigger story if it’s either end of the spectrum. If they’re middle of the road, if they finish with six wins and they’re all by like, you know, 10 and none by, you know, no losses by more than 10, that’s when I think it’ll get bored. If they’re really bad or really good, things will change and they’ll get crazier. All right, that’s hit it and quit it here on the drive with Tim Donnelly on 999 the fan. Before we move on, we have our weekly conversation with uh NC State former quarterback and longtime NFL quarterback Mike Lennon. Before we get there, Tim Donnelly for Bailey’s Fine Jewelry, specifically the Fox and Bailey watch shop located inside Bailey’s Fine Jewelry. I was thinking about this the other day. I need to make sure I because I’m such a a watch fiend, right? I’m a big fan of watches. I wear watches. I’m a I like knowing about watches. Uh I need to make sure that I don’t just highlight the watches that I like, right? Because I have such strong opinions on what I would wear. But part of what I love about a watch is what I would wear is not what you would wear maybe, right? We all have different opinions. We all have different personalities and we can show that on our wrist. Uh it’s kind of like a little flare, right? You wear this. If you’re like me, you wear like the same 10 shirts in rotation. So you need something to make feel a little special, right? It’s a business day. Throw on a little dressier watch. All right. It’s a fun day. Throw on a watch like the one I’m wearing today. It’s red. It’s a G-Shock. Uh so there’s there’s a bunch of different options there. Um, I’m usually not a fan of like the rectangle dials, right? The the different shapes, but then you might be. So, how about this? Pre-owned and vintage Cardier. They have a nice little selection there. I don’t know why I said little. They have a really nice selection in the Fox and Bailey watch shop located inside Bailey’s Fine Jewelry at the Village District location. Um, some of the super duper dressy watches that that’s not my cup of tea. Why? Because I don’t wear suits that often, right? I my most of my friends are married now. I don’t know when the next wedding I’m going to is. But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a glass original uh watch company watch that some of you might wear every day if if that’s your your your cup of tea. So basically what I’m saying is go check it out for yourself. I’ll sit here and highlight Omegas and the pre-owned vintage Rolexes and the Hamiltons and the G-Shocks and the Timex and and so many of these watches till I’m blue in the face, but you have to go find what fits your personality and your style. And I can darn near guarantee it, they have it at Bailey’s Fine Jewelry and the Fox and Bailey watch shop. So go, it’s in the the Village District location in Raleigh. Check it out for yourself. And when you’re there, let them know you heard about it right here from me, Tim, on 999 the fan. As promised, Mike Glennon stopped by the studio earlier today. We recorded a conversation for you and it’s coming up next. Get crazy Canes fans. It’s hockey night in Carolina. Game over. Sebastian Aaho wins it in overtime. Storm Watch with Adam Gold at 5:30. Pock drop at 6. Here come the hats. A natural hattick for Marty Nes on your exclusive home for the Carolina Hurricanes. 999 the fan. Here I am. It’s the final shot at the championship 4 NASCAR playoffs weekend at Martinsville Speedway October 23rd through the 26th. Get your tickets now at Martinsville Speededway.com. Ticketmaster, the official ticketing partner of NASCAR. This is Gordon Miller for Miller Lending and Carry. Over the years, I’m often asked why we made the choice to become one of the only mortgage companies in the state to provide loans without closing costs as a primary source of funding. And my response is always the same. How did closing costs ever become a thing? Who was that first person who asked for a lower rate, heard it would cost $15,000 to save 50 bucks a month, smiled, and said, “That would be great.” Recently, we’re noticing a trend of large national lenders quoting low rates, but with a high APR. This is the definition of what happened when that first person asked for a lower rate, but ignored how much it would cost. Quotes today are a two-part process. It’s not just the rate, but what are the closing costs? At Miller Lending, we simply don’t believe you’ll keep your loan long enough to realize additional savings. So before you throw away thousands of dollars in needless fees, pick up the phone and call Miller Lending today. 919-447-3377 or simply apply online at millerlanding.com. Miller Lending is an equal housing lender and MLS number 2502146. Hey folks, Dennis Cox here from my good friends over at Raleigh Weight Loss Center. Folks, if you have struggled with your weight, you definitely need to listen to this. Through the program at Raleigh Weight Loss Center, I have lost over 35 pounds and I’m approaching almost 40 pounds lost thanks to Raleigh Weight Loss Center. And that’s just the start. The goal with Raleigh Weight Loss Center is not just to reach a target weight. It’s to help you maintain that target weight once you get there. So many of these fat diets, it’s up and down, up and down, up and down. 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So check out Pack Therapy everywhere podcasts can be found uh for our guest Mike Glennon uh his insight into NC State football and mine as well. We co-est the pot. uh he is a NC State legend, longtime NFL quarterback, and we bring him after we record Pack Therapy onto this show to uh get insight into the uh the mind of an NFL quarterback and then also some some state insight as well when it comes to uh when it comes to Bryce Young. Really kind of interesting, weird week this past week. So, I thought about how to phrase this question. I’m just going to read it exactly as I have it in my notes. How much does a 30 to0 win help an NFL quarterback with the caveat with his confidence and with his, you know, turning his play around with the caveat that he threw for basically 120 yards? It still helps because you know you I’m not saying it doesn’t help, but it’s like is it the the aha moment that you kind of are looking for? It’s not the aha moment. You know, you know, deep down inside I didn’t do I didn’t win this game. the the defense is is the one that and in some ways the Falcons right aided in that a lot. Falcons may have lost it. With that being said, the uh the the temperature of the building is a lot warmer. You know, people are in much better moods when you come in on Monday and Tuesday after a win. So, it’s kind of like at least at least the criticism isn’t on me this week. Like he’s, you know, it’s what you sign up for in the NFL. You’re going to get criticized after losses. and Bryce has definitely faced his fair share of criticism. So, it’s almost like a breather like, you know, I I I can take a week of of probably not facing a bunch of backlash and uh let the good vibes kind of roll. So, um that that’s definitely a good thing, but at the same time, deep down inside, he knows uh I wasn’t the reason why we won this game. Um there there was other reasons involved. What what are the challenges that come with that level of of scrutiny as you’re talking about? You know, every and Bryce Young maybe even more so than most quarterbacks because he’s the number one overall pick and they made the trade for him and all these other things. you know, the scrutiny is there and yet you’re watching the Falcons like kind of metaphorically dig their own grave and your role in that game is just not to take the shovel out of their hands, but you also are aware like, hey, if I throw for 120 yards, like that’s not going to silence any of these critics. Like, how how disciplined do you have to be to just recognize as long as I don’t turn the ball over in some grotesque way, we win? or you start 0 and2, you’re perfectly fine handing the ball off and playing not to lose. Okay. Um you just want to get a win. And for that reason, it’s like the absolute worst thing I can do here is give this game back to the Falcons. So, um you know, it it’s fine for him. Like again, not too high, not too low. He’s probably feeling lukewarm about the win. They got the win, but at the end of the day, he knows he didn’t do it, but he also didn’t mess it up. And that’s um you know that’s important as well because if you mess a game like that up then all knives are out and uh then then the chatter just gets even worse. So we’re talking with Mike Glennon, former NC State quarterback, longtime NFL quarterback. Uh we’ve also and it’s ironic because on Pack Therapy, we talk about NC State’s passcatching core as like it could, you know, everyone’s equal. Whoever’s open’s getting the ball. Uh meanwhile with with the Panthers, there’s Tedo McMillan, and then there’s, you know, Hunter Refro, David Moore, like some some guys that wouldn’t be getting a lot of targets on a lot of offenses across the NFL. Um 24 attempts, eight of them to Tedo, McMillan, a third, by the way, couple drops. Uh luckily it didn’t come back to bite him. Three catches, couple highlights. Is is a third of the targets appropriate there? Is it too much, too little? percentage-wise, numbers wise, like how’s his role? I think that’s about the right percentage for right now. When when do they get Joe and Cooker back? Uh, well, he he’s on IR, so he can’t play the first four games. Okay. And then it becomes when healthy, they speculation on when I I don’t think it was a serious injury. I would assume close to four games, but you you know, until they say it, you don’t want to report it. Either way, I think they’re doing a good job getting Tero and McMillan involved. he’s making some, you know, highlight worthy plays, which we saw him do at Arizona. So, it it feels appropriate. Again, that’s to me that’s on the play caller. It’s not on Bryce Young to to force him the ball. They got to find ways to get him the ball. But, you know, as a rookie, you don’t want you need other guys to step up as well. You can’t rely on the rookie to become everything about your offense. Um, so I I think they’ll continue to find ways to get him the ball and then I think getting Jaylen Cooker back will will allow them to kind of balance that out and get other people involved more. Um, question about the Panthers defense. They brought in uh Travon Merik from from the Raiders uh this off seasonason as a safety. They’ve been playing him at that, you know, does play some like traditional safety play on down distance, but they’ve been bringing him up playing linebacker. He is a physical guy. His strengths are are run defense. They drafted Lean Ransom, another safety out of Ohio State, uh, who is physical guy. His run defense great is what Pro Football Focus keeps keeps hyping up there. Um, like when you’re watching a team and their strengths like that on on the scouting report, is it almost like the most effective way to play them as linebackers and almost judge them as linebackers? Because uh, against the Falcons, Merrick especially, very physical and you felt his presence. I think they miss some of that when they’re, you know, asking him to play center field safety and and that’s not maybe his strength. Yeah. I think sometimes those guys, you just want them down in the box and it’s like they more are linebackers than they are safeties. That’s what Jamal Adams was. You know, when Exactly. So he was with the when he was with the Jets he was a safety but he spent more time near the line of scrimmage than you know almost the numbers of like you know interceptions and sacks were were near equal and all that sort of stuff and that’s what his that’s what made him scary and that’s the same thing with with Derwin James. Now Derwin James is a guy that actually can cover but he’s a guy that they want blitzing the quarterback is almost like a pass rusher. So, you know, whatever he’s labeled as, it it just is going to dictate kind of the style of your defense because if you bring a safety down and turn him into a linebacker, that means you’re, you know, you’re going to be playing single high coverage. You’re not going to sit back and cover two. So, that becomes just who you are as a defense and kind of who your identity is is we’re going to be a team that plays with the safety down in the box. We’re going to stop the run, which is then going to make us a little more susceptible to the pass. One sack on the season for the Panthers. you know, any idea to increase that pass rush? Good idea. Um, looking at the uh the upcoming game for the Panthers, they’re they’re at New England. Uh, obviously this past this past week was a lot about like if Michael Penn is going to throw you pick sixes, you you say thank you, you take him into the end zone, you move on. Um, Drake May, I don’t know how much you’ve watched of him, but but you know, similar young quarterback, little bit more playing time, but then than than Penn, but not a ton. Uh, what do you think of kind of him being a quarterback? Are they going to have to go beat him or are they going to sit back and and wait for him to to He has been turned the ball over. That offense has been turned the ball over. Yeah. I mean, I I think with the Panthers offense, you can’t kind of go out and say we’re going to win um completely with with one side, like not not let him beat us. Like, we’re going to have to make plays as a defense because we got to help our offense out. So, um, you know, this isn’t a situation where, you know, it’s the Chiefs who have a real good defense and it’s like, you know, Patrick Mahomes is going to make his plays as well. We’re going to have to as a Panthers defense create turnovers and if the proof’s in the pudding, you know, they’re 0 and2 the first weeks, defense plays great the second, you know, third week and they get a win. So, I think they’re going to have to find a way to to get some turnovers um out of Drake May to win the game. We’re talking with Mike Glennon, former NC State quarterback, longtime NFL quarterback here in studio. Uh let’s go to your Wolfpack. Um CJ Bailey, it was it was a 20 to7 lead for NC State. They end up losing by a dozen to Duke. Four turnovers for the young quarterback. Uh was it was it that bad, right? A four turnover game for a quarterback is always going to feel awful, but they’re not all built the same. Yeah, it was not that bad. CJ Bailey did a lot of good things in that game. Um first interception really was a great play by by the corner. Um he played with vision on the quarterback. It it’s he wasn’t part of the read. You’re not supposed to really look at the corner on this play. You’re more re reading at the linebacker level. And CJ Bailey had the right read. The corner just fell off on his guy and made a good play. So I don’t put that one on on CJ. The second one, the the really catastrophe of it is you can’t make a bad play worse. You think you’re running a a no snap play to try to draw them sides. defensive end timed it perfectly. I don’t think he was all sides and he kind of panics and and throws a costly interception. Learning moment. Um again, easy for me to say right now when you’re out there on the field, things are flying around. Hit the panic button a little bit and just kind of threw it into to no man’s land and got an interception. Overall, I’m not concerned about CJ Bailey at all. He’s a great player. Hollywood Smothers is doing his thing as well. So, the offense isn’t isn’t a concern other than, hey, for us to win, we can’t turn the ball over because the with the way the defense is playing right now, um there’s just not a whole whole lot of room for error. For for those that that don’t know, just cuz I know the play has been scrutinized. Can you go through the mechanics of a no play? We’re going to try to draw draw them off sides like how much of that is regimented and and routine and how much of it is you need everybody on the field to kind of be be a football. I think there’s almost like two versions of it. There’s one where you’re we’re going to try to draw them off sides and it’s it’s called like no snap no play and at the end we’re we’re going to burn a timeout. That which sounds like this is what it was. Yeah. And then there’s the other one where it’s like, hey, we’re going to try to draw them off sides. Um, and if they jump, we got the play built in. And I think at the end of the day, you always kind of want to play built in just for the case that they do um jump off sides, you get the free play, the the Aaron Rogers special where everyone runs, you know, go balls and you just chuck it deep. So, without knowing exactly what it was, um, I I think it’s a learning lesson for for everyone involved. CJ Bailey to uh not panic and just throw the ball, make a bad play worse. And then on the coaching staff, we got to at least have a play built in. That way if the ball is snapped, um we got something to go to. And and just so you you know why they have both cuz we had both in in college as well. Uh the no play, no snap, no anything. Coaches wouldn’t give you a play almost so you had absolutely no excuse for the offense to jump and fall start. Uh cuz like what were you going to do? Like if you jump off sides, we have a play call. Like where were you going? what were you going to do? But then I think the coaching point to that is then don’t we’re not even going to snap it. Like you you make sure the defense almost the off size guy engages with right has contact where they have to blow the whistle. Um and maybe that’s what it was and ultimately this just falls on the center for for snapping the ball. So um without knowing the uh the the coaching point of it um I I don’t really know who to point the finger at. And now we ask you this on the pod, but I but I also end our our conversations here on the show with it. It we call it an if then statement. If blank happens, then state will not only beat Virginia Tech, but they’ll cover the 10 and a half point spread. This Virginia Tech team isn’t what they, you know, what we’re used to for the past, you know, two decades or so. Just fired their coach. Not a lot of good going on there. So really, I think it just comes down to the defense. They can’t give up too many points. So, if NC State holds them to under 25 points, um, then NC State wins the game. Once again, that is Mike Glennon giving our if then statement for the week. We’ll see if it proves correct. He’s three for three on the if then statement coming true. Uh, that doesn’t necessarily mean it was always good for State, right? Because the if part didn’t happen this past weekend, then State didn’t didn’t win. So, we’ll see if that one comes true this week. Uh, before we move on, Tim Donnelly for 999 The Fan and I want you to download our 999 The Fan app. It’s brand new and it’s awesome. And if you don’t believe me, check it out for yourself. Uh, go to 999 TheFan, search for it, Google Play Store, App Store. Please give us five stars while you’re there. By the way, uh, you can also visit 999thean.com if either one. If you want to enter for a chance to win a pair of tickets to see Ed Sheeran, that’s Ed Sheeran pop superstar at Bank of America Stadium uh in Charlotte on October 17th, 2026. So, a long on-ramp there for you to uh get ready and planned. Uh 999 the fan app or visit 999thefan.com to enter to win the Ed Sheeran tickets. Uh before we get to the starting five and we are inching closer to a Canes game tonight, here’s Dennis Cox. That’s right, Dennis Cox here for my friends over at Low Pronto. Folks, are you trapped on a high rate mortgage? Maybe watching your hard-earned money vanish away every single month. Well, stop. Right now, 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 could skip your next two house payments entirely. Don’t wait, folks. Rates this low won’t last. Call Lone Pronto now for your free no obligation quote. 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[Music] Hey, it’s Paulander from 999 the fan for Clayton Holmes. Fall in North Carolina, as we know, means crisp nights, football Saturdays, and big savings. With the red tag sales event going on now at Clayton and Oakwood Homes, it’s the best time of the year to buy your dream home. And right now, prices are slashed. You can save thousands on select instock homes. These are moveinready homes with huge markdowns, but only while supplies last. Like a strong defense on the field, Clayton built homes are made to keep you covered. Designed with energy efficiency in mind, you will stay cozy this fall, comfortable year round, and save money on bills. Check out Clayton and Oakwood Homes to see fully furnished models, explore your options, and lock in savings. And don’t wait, these homes are priced to move, and when they’re gone, they’re gone. The red tag sale going on now at Clayton and Oakwood Homes locations and online at the redtagsale.com. Terms and conditions for the red tag sales event at the redtagale.com. available only at participating Clayton Homes family of Brands retailers through 1231. Amount of savings may be limited. Ask for details. May not be available within certain financing. Lender restrictions apply. 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. [Music] I’m W meteorologist Cat Campbell. It stays warm and humid this evening. Overnight, partly cloudy skies return with lows dipping near 70. We’ll be back near 90 on Thursday with scattered storms returning late in the day. Scattered storms return on Friday with a good chance for rain into the weekend. Weather update brought to you by Nukem and Company where your comfort is their business. Visit nukemic company.com. 5:00 check of your money. Dow Jones down 171 points to 46,121. Market update brought to you by Howard Hannah Allentate. Whether you’re buying or selling, you want the best real estate agent. Howard Hannah Allentate is the Carolina’s number one real estate company for a reason. Call a Howard Hannah Allentate agent today. 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 Bet 365. [Music] 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. So, let’s jump into number five. Count them. One, two, three, four, five. Let’s do that. Hockey Kane’s in action tonight hosting the Florida Panthers kind of in a preseason game. Uh, we will see the top line for the Carolina Hurricanes, which means Aaho centering Eers and Jarvis, uh, which is, I think, the main attraction for the evening. That’s what everybody wants to see. Uh Rod Bindore, as he said earlier today, thinks it’s a good way for uh Eers to kind of get a home game out of the way before the regular season starts. I think that’s a good way to put it, you know, like, okay, have one under my belt and then we have stuff to work off of. Right now, we can see, okay, I can kind of get a feel for, you know, what his game is. He can kind of we can get some video on, okay, here’s stuff where you need to be, all that stuff. Those three aren’t the only big names playing. Shane Gostaspir uh Andre Fetchnikov also playing. Yes. Barry Kok and Emmy expected to play. Eric Robinson an NHL regular expected to play. Um so there’s there’s quite a few there. I do want to say that the preseason for me is always I mean it’s great to see a Jarvis Healers. It’s exciting but hopefully we see a whole bunch of those guys on the ice together, right? Hopefully they’re scoring a whole bunch of goals and and we you know we won’t really remember tonight for those three hopefully. Uh meanwhile, like think of Bradley Nadau. Bradley Nadau last year played in some preseason games and that was like the most of our evaluation of him at the NHL level until at the very end he got in a couple games at the end of the season once the the postseason was kind of set uh as a as one of the best highest priced most valuable prospects in the organization. So I think it means a lot for him. I think it means a lot for uh you know Felix Unersorum, Dominic Badinka, some of these other prospects like we we’re going to get to see them and we’re going to remember it for them in a lot of ways. Here’s Rod Bindmore on giving lots of chances to a player like Bradley Nadau. You know, he’s one of the guys that we’re looking for, I think, to take that next step and just give him every chance to do that. Um you know, I think uh the other night was good good learning. We had some good learning moments, right? You know, sometimes you try a little too hard and that’s not the answer. So, um, but that’s that’s why you have these games. Should turn my microphone on. That’s why we have those games. Preseason’s fun for a lot of reasons. That’s number five. Let’s get to number four. One, two, three, four. All together. By the way, before we get to number four, we will talk more hockey with Adam Gold, who’s going to join the show later in the uh the starting five. He’s from the Lenovo Center, which is the home opener, all that stuff. Uh the NFL announced, and it’s not the NFL, the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I keep calling it the NFL, although let’s be real, it’s not like there’s many, I don’t know, like Japanese professional football players getting into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Got some Canadians are dropping their A Maybe. Is there are are there I doubt I doubt there’s maybe they’re it’s called the Pro Football Hall of Fame cuz it’s pre-NFL. You got some AFL guys and stuff. True. Uh either way, the Pro Football Hall of Fame put out their list of 128 nominees for this year’s class. It’ll eventually be whittleled down to 50, then whittleled down to, I think, 25, then 15, and then that vote on the 15 becoming the class will happen around the Super Bowl. Um local ties, there’s a whole bunch of them. I’ll read them to you very quickly here before we move on. Um, Panthers, Jake Delhomme, Mushin Muhammad, Steve Smith senior is a returning finalist after making the top 15 a season ago. Greg Olsen is a firsttime eligible uh, Hall of Fame uh, nominee. Wesley Walls, Ryan Khalil, Thomas Davis, another first timer, Luke Keequley, another returning finalist, Charles Tilman, Peanut, uh, and John Casey, the kicker, all in the mix for the Pro Football Hall of Fame as one of the 128 nominees. Uh, NC State alum, Philip Rivers, firsttime nominee, first time eligible. Uh, Tory Holt, returning finalist. UNCC Jeff Saturday, a return, not finalist, but a returning nominee. Dennis, are you talking to me? Okay. All right. Saw saw the the the lips move and didn’t know if he was talking to me. Uh, and then ECU also has Chris Johnson in the mix, the running back. Probably didn’t didn’t have enough of a peak, but his 2000 yard season. Pretty darn banana. Uh, we’ll see how that develops as it goes along. That’s number four. Let’s hit number three. [Applause] What? Bill Bichc and his girlfriend Jordan Hudson are on the cover of US Weekly. I’ll tell you this, uh, it’s hilarious. It’s ridiculous. If you could have got minus I mean plus 5700 million odds uh on Bill Bich, the things that have happened over the last two years with Bill Bich are unfathomable to me and many. Um, he’s on the cover of US Weekly. He didn’t participate in it. there’s the, you know, you didn’t participate in the article. Uh, the photo shoot was not like for us weekly. It was an NFL event back during around the Super Bowl, but goodness gracious, it’s hilarious. Uh, I did ask earlier today when the public at large might be tired of the Bill Bichc Jordan Hudson drama. Apparently, everybody is not there, but I’ll tell you this, I’m getting there. I’m getting there. And because I’m getting there and I’m allowed to do this, let’s cut number three short and jump straight to number two. Uh the Panthers had a practice today. Some interesting uh injury reports coming out of that. Dennis, can you give us the uh the breakdown on who did who didn’t practice? So, no Xavier Lee Get once again uh which I know a lot of people are concerned about with this hamstring injury that lingered on last week. So, no uh no XL today at practice. Also, no Tedarell McMillan dealing with a calf injury, did not practice today as well. Pat Jones II, who did not play last week with a hamstring injury, did not practice again today. Also, Turk Wharton, who’s dealing with a hamstring injury. Feel like we’re saying that word a lot, hamstring. Uh Turk Wharton deal with a hamstring injury that he suffered in game one against the Jacksonville Jaguars, is uh we we knew that he was going to be out cuz he said roughly around two to four weeks. So, he didn’t practice again today either. DJ Wanom popped up with a hip injury, didn’t practice today. So, those are some of the notable names. Also, Hunter Refro did not practice today. Uh, he and his wife just had another kid. There’s a lot there. There’s a lot there. Rico Dael uh as well as um JC Horn and one other can’t remember off the top of my head. Just kind of had a limited practice today, more or less just added rest for some of those guys. The rest I’m fine with. Uh we have an update here. Nick Carboni from WCNC. Uh, okay. That those are like true tried and true veteran veterans. Uh, Nick Carboni from WCNC up there in uh in Charlotte uh has a picture of Tedro McMillan speaking to the media and says Tedro Milan McMillan expects to play Sunday, which is good to hear. I’d still like him to be, you know, all the way out there 100% practicing, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers. Um it seems like the the the target share for Tedro McMillan just keeps going up and up. Uh it’s it’s almost like a last man standing in the pass catching court. Jaylen Coker’s already down. Adam Thelen forced the trade, requested the trade. I don’t know. Gave out vibes that he wanted the trade. He’s gone. Um now you have uh Xavier Lee Get out with the injury. Javon Sanders out with the injury. There’s just a lot of a lot of targets that seem to be funneling towards Tedoro McMillan, which I don’t hate him getting the work, but I wish it was by choice, not by default. Well, let’s not forget as well that he had a little bit of a lower body injury. I remember correctly. It was either a c it may have been a calf injury that he dealt with in the preeason. So, there was a little bit of time during training camp where he dealt with a little bit of a lower body injury during that time as well. So, it could be something that’s just lingering a little bit and just, hey, you know what? We definitely you’re you’re you are our number one guy. If we if we just got to give you a little bit of a rest on a Wednesday to make sure that you’re good to go on Sunday and weeks going forward, then I’m okay with that. Just get in the film room with Bryce. Make sure you’re on the same page. Exactly. You can you can you can sit with a calf. Stand there on the jugs machine passes. Uh he and Leette walked out together. So, hey, hey, there’s that. At least they’re buddies. I’m curious to see how long this is going to linger fully get for a guy that’s built on like his body and his and his prototype of or not prototype, but I guess his makeup as a receiver is his physical gifts in terms of his explosiveness and speed. I’m curious how the confidence is going to be in the hamstring when he actually does come back. I would be cautious for that reason. He’s he’s not I mean, let’s not act like he was being super productive anyway. M uh he’s not worth it if he can’t burst by people, if he can’t take the top off a defense. So, make sure he’s all the way there. Um and I think they will. I think they’re they’re usually pretty cautious with that kind of stuff. Also, on the other side for the New England Patriots, uh we as we talked to our friend Chris Mason from Mass News Live, looks like Christian Gonzalez is going to play this coming week as well. Also, if McMillan’s going to go out there and play this Sunday, he’s going to be matched up with Christian Gonzalez, one of the best corners in the entire league. That’s going to be a heck of a matchup for that young man. And let me make sure I get this right. One of the things I really liked, and I was high on Christian Gonzalez during my NFL draft nerd stuff during his draft class. Um, one of the things I really liked about him, he is 61, long arms. There’s not many guys that are even like, he might not be eye to eye, but are even looking like nose to eye with with Tedo McMillan. A lot of them are catching chin eye level uh or collar bone. Um he is a bigger wide receiver which makes that a very interesting matchup. It can’t maybe you can’t just lean on throw it up as much as you would for someone else. All right, that’s number two. Let’s get to number one. The one joining us on the Hester Automotive Group hotline all the way from the Lenovo Center. uh we passed when he was leaving this studio after hosting his show and and I was coming into the studio and I said I’ll talk to you in a little bit. Adam Gold joins us from the the Lenovo Center ahead of the uh the Canes hosting the Florida Panthers tonight in their second preseason game. Adam, thank you very much for uh for joining us and uh pleasure. There you go. And and we have just a fantastic connection here which is which is great. Oh yeah. Um how excited are you to see the top line? That’s what everybody wants to see. It’s Aaho centering Jarvis and Eelers. How excited are you? The Sebastian Aaho trio. Uh I hope that they will uh play sweet music for everybody. Look, it’s going to be fun. These guys have practiced now for what, four days, 5 days, something like that. And uh yeah, it’s about about time to see him go against somebody not like in the same locker room. So I think it’s going to be a blast. Eers is a a slick playing, puck moving guy. Creative offensively, he can bury shots. Uh, and my sense is that Sebastian Aaho’s come back with a little bit extra, I don’t know, confidence and determination, if if that’s even possible for somebody as competitive as he is. Uh, I think he’s he’s ready to go beyond where they went last year. Well, I’d love to hear that because I I I think we need angry Aaho uh a little bit more often. I I I love I don’t think he’s going to fight tonight, though. Yeah, I’m fine with that. Also, and that save that for the regular season. Um, don’t get confused by the jerseys. It’s not a lot of those same guys from the Florida Panther. Oh, no, no, no, no. These the Florida Panthers are these are not the Florida Panthers. They’re just people wearing their jerseys. There might be, you know, 18 people from the stands uh wearing Florida Panthers jerseys. I’m not sure there’s anybody here other than the goalie Denil Terasoff who’s going to be in Florida’s opening night lineup. Um along those lines though, like with the expectation that that there will be overreactions in either direction to that top line. Uh, is there anything specifically you’re looking from them that that you want to check off the the, you know, make sure it’s happening list or is this truly just, hey, they’re going to get out there and skate next to each other and and regard as long as they’re healthy at the end, we’re going to consider it a success. I mean, I’d like to say uh that there are specific things I want to see, but honestly, I want to see in place 16 17 minutes. I want to see, you know, maybe the beginnings of some chemistry, but I’m not going to draw any conclusions, good or bad. I mean, they can score six goals tonight, and I it wouldn’t wouldn’t change. Oh, if they score six goals, I’m throwing a parade tomorrow. I don’t I don’t know about you. It’ll be over. It’ll be over. What’s interesting, and I’m going to talk about this with Trip Tracy during the broadcast uh coming up here in a little bit. Uh Greg Rashinsky from ESPN is a friend of the program and all of that. Uh actually who last year picked Carolina to miss the playoffs, picked Carolina to go to the Stanley Cup finals. And the re one of the reasons he did was Nick Aers who thinks could be the the guy who finds those goals that Carolina has been missing in uh you know when they get knocked out of the postseason. I mean, it’s generally been that the, you know, power play has gone cold or dry or they just haven’t been able to find those goals. He thinks Nick Healers could be that guy. And I mean, I think that’s why the Hurricanes signed him to the six-year deal cuz they believe he can also be that guy. I think there’s a few things else that they need, but uh Eers is a great place from which to start. You touched on what I want to talk about next, right? I I don’t think anything happens by chance with the Canes. they are uh very calculated and I like that about them. But uh but I don’t think it’s a surprise that you know in addition to those three players playing the top line, there’s also Ghostspear and and Svetch because that looks like a power play one unit to me. Um th that chemistry, how important is it that they hit the ground running once the regular season starts which makes a night like tonight even more important? Yeah, I don’t, you know, the the power play unit, it’s going to take time. And I don’t think personally I think if you asked Rod Bindmore, would you like what we saw on Monday, six power plays or no power plays? I think he would vote for no power plays. I think at this point you’d probably just rather get your five on five game uh going because it also gives more guys a chance to play more. I mean, you know, if you look at the ice time, there were some guys that didn’t play a ton because literally there were, I don’t know, 12 power plays almost uh in the game, and that’s no good. That’s no good for any game. You can’t get into a flow. Um I I think, you know, you bring up Andre Fetchnikov. For my money, there are very few players who the start of the season means more to agree than Andre. I I think go back you know a couple of years you you’re looking for Marty Nes to get off to a good start. Andre is that guy this year. He’s got to have an Andre Fetchnikov type year. And I say that not knowing full well what an Andre Fetchnikov type year is. Like I don’t we don’t know what the best is cuz I don’t believe anybody thinks that we’ve ever seen it. I completely I completely agree and I you know the way I always describe it is like every other game he makes a play that just has me screaming do that all the time and I would love I would love to see him do that all the time from the from the very beginning of the year. Um but Andre is like my college uh my college social life like it should have been so much better and every once in a while there was a night you’ll never forget uh which is the same with Andre Fetchnika. I’ll take your word for it. There you go. Uh let’s go ahead and and look at maybe away from the NHL stalwarts to some of the other names. Rod Bindore having Bradley Nadau in the lineup again. He he used the term looking for Bradley to take the next step. What is the next step for him as an elite prospect? I look at it uh and you’re a golfer. I look at it as a mulligan. I think that uh there was some good from NDO on Monday. I mean, we have we got to look at the slapshot, uh the one-timer, which uh you know, was swallowed up by the goalie and he had a couple of other good shooting opportunities in the third period. Uh but I contend just to go back to last year, we’re always looking for the next Jackson Blake who comes here and blows everybody’s mind and makes people think, how can we keep this guy? And I’m not saying there’s any room at the end for Nidau, but Blake did I think Blake made the team based on stuff that had nothing to do with offense. And Nidau’s got to be better in the defensive end of the ice. He’s never going to be a locked down defensive player, but you can’t give the puck away twice as he did in the first period. Uh, and I think those are the things that Rod wants to see better. The offense we know is going to be there. He’s a goalcorer. He is an offensive creator. And that’s great. We we want to see those things, but it’s the other things from Nidau that have to be better than they were on Monday night. We’re also going to get a second look at Charles Alexis LGO, and I think he’s going to play more than the 15 1/2 minutes he played on Monday. Last question for you, and this this is more about the the last game than this one, but with Yes. Barry Coke and Emmy playing tonight, uh the the the centers are always going to be a thing. Um, what did you think of of Logan Stanovven’s kind of debut as a a potential Kane second line center, which came in their their first preseason game? I thought he was good. I thought he was very good in the first period, not so much in the second. Uh, and then I thought he was good in the third. Uh, I think he won five out of his seven faceoffs in the third period, including a couple late that gave Carolina some opportunities. Um, I think he’s comfortable operating in the middle of the ice. I didn’t see anything that was noticeably bad defensively around in front of the net, which is going to be probably the biggest challenge for him is that his assignments in the uh in the other end of the rink are going to be a little bit more difficult for him because he’s got I mean these centers can be big and he’s going to have to do a little bit of work in front. Um with uh with that said, I I I think they you know he’ll I think he’ll be fine. Um, I don’t know how good he will be at that position. I I really don’t. Nobody does. Uh, Rod hopes that it will work out. Uh, I think they’re probably going to start the season with him. But you brought up Coke and Emmy and I’ll be very quick here. Uh, I think this preseason is enormous for him to reestablish who he can be because I don’t rule out that Koki has that spot when the season begins. So, I think tonight and however many times he plays, he’s got to make statements. So, I actually look for 82 uh to be a very noticeable player tonight and however many times he plays in the preseason. It’s also nice to know with Stanovven that if it doesn’t work out, you can move him back to the wing where he’s pretty darn good. Uh absolutely no harm in that. Adam, we appreciate you for jumping on and and we’ll continue to listen as you uh get everybody ready for the second preseason game for the Canes. Pleasure. Once again, that is Adam Gold from the Lenovo Center. You could hear just general Lenovo Center action in the background. Uh, which I always appreciate. The energy in in an arena before a game, even preseason, is is unmatched. And I do like to hear that about Yes. Berry Coke and Y. Uh, Adam just he just made uh my watching experience a little different because now I’m I’m looking for the statement from Coke and Emmy rather than just knocking Rust off. Now I’m looking for the statement. So, appreciate that from uh from Adam and and all of the insight as well. Uh, and then yes, I will just be watching the top line for fun highlights because that’s what I want to see. Uh, the drive with Tim Donnelly 999 the fan coming to a close a little early today to make way for some Canes hockey. You can listen on the app 999 the fan the app download it. You can listen to the game there. Uh, and you can listen to our show tomorrow which starts back up at 3 uh there as well. Uh, until tomorrow everybody download the app, subscribe to the YouTube. I think that’s everything. We’ll see you tomorrow. Have a great night. Enjoy the game. Morning, Zoe. Got donuts. Jeff Bridges, why are you still living above our garage? Well, I dig the mattress and I want to be in a
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: Carolina Hurricanes, Bill Belichick, NFL Hall of Fame
315 – Carolina Hurricanes
330 – Dean’s List
345 – Chris Mason, Mass News Live discusses New England Patriots QB Drake Maye
400 – Football at 4: Carolina Panthers run game
415 – Ladder Challenge
420 – Blind Ranking
430 – Hit it & Quit it
445 – Mike Glennon on Bryce Young, NC State football
500 – Starting Five: Carolina Hurricanes, NFL HOF, UNC football, Carolina Panthers, Adam Gold
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