The Kyle Bailey Show H1: Remembering Greg Biffle

In the opening hour of the show, Kyle and Smoke react to the tragic passing of Greg Biffle, including how he helped so many in need during Hurricane Helene last year, and the latest injury report for the Panthers comes out.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Kyle Bailey Show, powered by Victory
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Speaker 2 (00:30):
Good afternoon, Queen City Sports Radio ninety two seven wf
n z KB and Smoke back with you emanating live
from the Chandler Volta Studios. The Carolina's Personal Injury Lawyers.
One call, that's all go to CV Injurylaw dot com.
That's Cvinjurylaw dot com. Got a busy show. We'll chat
with a niece. Shroff, the voice of the Panthers, coming

(00:51):
up at five o'clock. We'll talk about everything having to
do with Carolina's disappointing loss to New Orleans, the massive
game against the Saints on Sunday, the NFL privately apologizing
for the Tetroo McMillan overturned call. We'll get to it
all with any Shroff coming up at five o'clock for
twenty five Corey Smith. Pac Pride is back for the
first time in a while. We give Carolina and Duke

(01:13):
a whole lot of attention on this show, and it's justified.
But I wanted to talk to Corey Smith today about well,
of course Will Wade's rant last night after a blowout win.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
Yeah, you might not have known it if.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
You listened to the postgame press conference last night and
only the postgame press conference, but you know, after a blowout,
blowout win like thirty six points over Texas Southern, Will
Wade kind of went scorchtarth on his team. We'll talk
more about that, but we'll talk about it with Corey.
We'll get his thoughts on Dave Dorin returning, the market
for CJ. Bailey, Hollywood smothers potentially not returning, and a

(01:46):
lot to get to With Corey Smith, we'll talk Panthers.
We'll talk hornet's hornets back tonight, by the way, after
another you know, lengthy couple of days off, three days
off to be exact, They've got Trey Young and the
Hawks tonight, and we could could see LaMelo and Trey
Young on the floor together at the same time. So
that's intriguing for a lot of reasons. A lot of
things to talk about here on this Thursday afternoon, but

(02:07):
I do want to start quickly with the really sad
news that came out of Irodale County earlier today, and
it is reports of the passing of NASCAR driver Former
NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his family in a plane
crash in Statesville earlier today. A State are ASSESSMA C
five point fifty, owned by his aviation company, crashed earlier

(02:31):
today in Iradeal County. You likely have heard about that
by now erupting into a large fire on the runway.
It was as Statesful Regional Airport. To be specific. Greg Biffle,
of course, is a licensed pilot who used his helicopter
and his skills to help people in remote areas of
western North Carolina just a year ago who were affected
by the severe flooding caused by Hurricane a Leen. The

(02:54):
airport had reported that there had been an aircraft incident
at around ten am local time this morning. The local
Sheriff's department confirmed that there were multiple fatalities. And there's
just a lot of information out there right now. It's
heartbreaking for all the obvious reasons. And you know, I
had reached out to Greg a little over a year ago,

(03:14):
in the midst of the Hurricane of Leen relief efforts.
I had gotten his number from a mutual friend, and
you know, wanted to reach out to Greg, not only
to highlight the incredible humanitarian work that he was doing,
but you know, just to give perspective on what was happening.
And understandably, Greg was a little bit busy, you know,
doing things more important than a radio appearance that day,
So we regretted that we couldn't get him on, but

(03:36):
we completely understood why he was unable to do it
at that time. And so I was, you know, I
was sick, heartbroken like so many other people when I
saw the news earlier today, and I realized that media
outlets who cover NASCAR right now are being very cautious
in how.

Speaker 3 (03:54):
They report this news.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
But a friend, multiple friends, I believe now of Greg
Biffel confirming that he and his family were aboard the flight,
multiple news outlets now confirming that that was in fact
the case. That Greg Biffle has gone and he became
one of the most respected and successful drivers in American
stock car racing. Made his way into NASCAR's national series
in the late nineties, ninety eight NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

(04:19):
Rookie of the Year, two thousand Truck Series Champion, two
thousand and one Busch Series now Exfinity Rookie of the
Year two thousand and two Busch Series champion, becoming one
of the few drivers to win titles in both truck
and bush Slash nationwide levels. You know, competed in NASCAR's
top level A Cup series of course from two to
twenty sixteen, nineteen career wins, thirteen polls, five hundred and

(04:41):
fifteen starts. I mean, the guy had a pretty incredible
automotive career, you know, motorsports career. He was known for consistency,
for grit, He was a fierce competitor, near championship, run
multiple strong seasons, named one of NASCAR's seventy five greatest
drivers of all time, and after he stepped back from
the sport full time in twenty sixteen, remained involved in motorsports,

(05:04):
would make occasional special appearances and you know, things like that.
But he had a wife and two children, again heartbreakingly
that were on board that flight with him, and our
thoughts and prayers go out to everybody, everybody who knew him,
who loved him, and is feeling the ramifications of that.

Speaker 3 (05:23):
Today.

Speaker 2 (05:24):
I'm having a hard time putting it into words because
you know, a guy who used his resources, you know,
the career that he had built, had amassed and I'm
sure you know, great wealth and put it to use
last year when his neighbors, fellow North Carolinians needed it
the most, and did so tirelessly, relentlessly to get to
people in the western North Carolina Mountains who were stranded,

(05:45):
who couldn't get out, who were starving, who needed medicine,
who just needed simple rescue, nothing simple about it. As
a matter of fact, died today and it's just it's
heartbreaking for our community. And you know, we all have
different worldviews, we all have different ways of seeing the world.
Some of us are people of faith, some of us aren't.

(06:06):
You know, my views my faith isn't necessarily yours, and
I'm very aware of that. But you know, for me,
I take comfort in the fact that, you know, it's
very possible that Greg Biffle and his entire family got
to walk arm in arms through the Pearly gates to
get today together. And that's about the best I can
hold on too, because that guy, those that family, those people,
nobody deserves that kind of fate, but especially not after
what he did to lift up and help the people

(06:29):
of North Carolina in the Mountains last year, and again,
I just I'll say it over and over again, our
thoughts and prayers and hearts go out to everybody who
knew and loved him because it's just heartbreaking news today.

Speaker 4 (06:38):
Yeah, way too young for everyone involved in this situation.
And as you said, even in this situation, even the
most skilled of pilots have tough situations like it was
very foggy. Yeah, And unfortunately for NASCAR, this is not
the first time this the family of NASCAR and the
fan base of NASCAR has had to deal with this.

(07:00):
You know, you think back to the crash back in
two thousand and four with the Hendrick holing the like
twenty Hendrick members were on that crash going to the
race at Martinsville. Who could forget Alan Quickie in nineteen
ninety three and then a couple of months later, Davey
Allison in his helicopter crash in nineteen ninety three, So
it's not a foreign concept to NASCAR, but it's just

(07:22):
I guess it's just a reminder once again of how
quickly things can change for tragic reasons in NASCAR, and
this is another one of them. Like you know, I
was hoping but in the near future. But in the
next five years. I was thinking, we're great. We're gonna
see Greg Biffle going to the Hall of Fame down
the street from here, and he's gonna have a great
speech talking about his history. You know, he never won

(07:43):
a cup, serious championship, but he was always a fret.
He was kind of like those late nineties Pacers teams there.
You know, you could get by them, but they're gonna
be a pain in the ass to get by them. Yeah,
that was a great way to describe Greg Biffel, the racer.
But now we won't ever get to see that. And
that stinks.

Speaker 3 (08:03):
That really does stink. It does, No, it really does.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
I mean hitting is you know, he had a text
here here saying feels like Kobe and his daughter. You
never walk out the door thinking today could be your day,
thoughts and prayers with the family. Yeah, that's what that's
well said. You never walk out the door thinking that
today can be the day. And I mean, listen, I
wasn't the biggest Greg. What I mean by this is
like I wasn't some Greg Biffle fan. I didn't have
Greg Biffle merch. We weren't a Greg Biffle family, right.

(08:28):
But you know, I'd never heard a bad word about
Greg Biffle from anybody. I'd never heard a single bad
word about Greg Biffle from anybody in my entire life.
And my opinion of him was cemented last year watching
him do what he did to again use his own resources,
his time.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
I mean, I.

Speaker 2 (08:44):
Can't I couldn't tell you how much time he spent
away from his own family last fall, piloting his own
aircraft to get to people who needed help. He owed
him nothing, but every single day, for hours and days
on end, weeks on end, he got in that aircraft
and he went back and forth to rescue people who

(09:05):
were trapped because of what happened with Hurricane a Lean.
I mean, I know that's so far distant in our
minds right now, because a the world that we live
in I'm talking about what it feels like a long
time ago that Hurricane of Leen happened. Doesn't feel that
way for the people who live there, know, but for
everybody else it feels like that's ancient history. Of course
it's not. But you know, for him to have done

(09:29):
I never forgot that. Every time I think of Hurricane
of Lean or every time I've thought of it, I
think of Greg Biffel, and that storm really impacted so
many people in areas where you don't expect a storm
like that to have an impact. We talk a lot
about western North Carolina, as we should, but my brother
lives on the Virginia West Virginia state line, and that

(09:50):
Appalachian region was just destroyed. I was just up there
for Thanksgiving, and I can't begin to tell you in
that area the massive number of trees that are still
down all over the region from that storm a year ago. Okay,
all over the region. I was visiting my brother. We're
out driving around and there are so I mean thousands

(10:12):
of trees, thousands upon thousands of trees that are down,
and those mountains still that you know, nobody's ever gonna
move them, ever going to touch them.

Speaker 3 (10:18):
You know they're just gonna lay there.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
But it's a constant reminder of what that storm did
to the region, to western North Carolina, to East Tennessee,
to southwestern Virginia, to the southern tip of West Virginia.
And so I just I drove there a month ago
and I was just thinking about what that storm did
to people, how it wrecked their lives and you know,
took all the things that they built over a lifetime,
and you know how much clean up and recovery that took.

Speaker 3 (10:40):
And what again a big part of.

Speaker 2 (10:41):
That that that he was and for him to go
out this way is you know, I'll keep using the
word heartbreaking.

Speaker 4 (10:49):
It really was. But again it's, you know, a man
of faith, that's what I am.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
I try to take some solace in the fact that
you know, he and his family are doing something that's
morbid as it might sound to certain people, doing something
that a lot of us won't get the chance to do.
And he got to walk arm in arm with his family,
you know, across the bridge today and so I'm just.

Speaker 3 (11:09):
Man, Yeah, it's tough.

Speaker 4 (11:11):
It also stings too because of the time of the year.
We're literally a week away from Christmas. Yeah, you know,
Hanuka has already begun, so it's just we're in a
holiday season and this is usually when you want to
be close, like you said, he was with his family.
But it just things that it happens right now, literally
a week away from Christmas.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yeah, man, Like just as and as a dad, you know,
you become a parent, moms and dads like you start
thinking more about you know, your own mortality and the
time you have with the people that you love and
how you spend it, and you know how it's so precious,
and you know how much we we fear things as parents,
like you know, losing a child or leaving our children
too early. And yeah, you know, just a heartbreaking situation

(11:51):
up there in Irodelle County today.

Speaker 4 (11:52):
And it also stinks too because after Greg retire or
left NASCAR, there's a cop about a three or four
year period where we didn't see him at a train
as much, but we slowly started to see him at
the track a little bit more. You know, he made
a spot start for Kyle Busch Motorsports and he won
a race at Texas, I believe, back in twenty nineteen
or twenty twenty one, and we started to see him
slowly come back into track and it almost became like

(12:14):
a thing where you see him show up to a
couple of races. Over the last couple of years, he
was racing at a lot of short tracks, you know,
racing with Kletus. I think he did a couple of
races with Carson Osavar and it's like, Yay's he's getting
more involved again. It's nice to see and now this happens. Yeah,
that's what kind of makes it stinct too.

Speaker 2 (12:33):
Yeah, I'm with you at a lot of Texters writing
in that his birthday was coming up in five days,
five days short of I believe his fifty six birthday.

Speaker 3 (12:40):
Yeah, that part of it hurts too.

Speaker 2 (12:42):
And then a lot of folks pointing out, you know,
some of the tragic ways that you know, we've lost
big you know, big personalities, legendary individuals in the world
of sports in a similar manner. And I don't know
if that's a memory lane that I necessarily want to
walk down, but I think you mentioned Alan Kawicki in
nineteen ninety three. I believe you mentioned Davey Allison as
well in the same year. Obviously, Kobe Bryant's being mentioned

(13:04):
on the text line quite a bit today. Thurman Munson
of the New York Yankees back in nineteen seventy nine, ROBERTA. Clemente,
you know, it is a name that I know we
bring up quite a bit, who won the US Open,
and Rocky Marciano back in nineteen sixty nine, And that's
without getting into you know, instances like the Marshall University
football team, the Oklahoma State football team in two thousand

(13:24):
and one. There have been far, far, far too many
of these, far too many.

Speaker 4 (13:29):
Who won the US Open in ninety nine in Pinehurst, Oh,
Paine Stewart, Yeah, Payne Stewart. Yeah, another one again, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (13:35):
Paine Stewart, nineteen ninety nine, private jet South Dakota. Yeah,
cabin de pressurized, loss of consciousness. The plane flew for
hours before crashing. You know, that was one of those
stories that you kind of can never forget because you
found out after the fact that that plane just kept
flying for hours before it finally crashed. And we lost

(13:56):
Payne Stewart back in nineteen ninety nine. So, yeah, there
have been far too mon any of these. And again,
life is life. It's valuable. All of us are valuable.
I truly believe that. But Greg Biffle went above and
beyond for his neighbors and his fellow North Carolinians last year,
and he met a fate today that obviously was undeserving
and his cruel twist of fate. But will continue to

(14:17):
remember him and talk about him for a very very
long time to come seven O four five seven ninety
six ten, hit us up on the FanDuel text line
with your thoughts. A lot of you are a few
people saying, Hey, KB, I just jumped in. What's going on.
Greg Biffle, a longtime NASCAR driver, champion in multiple series,
humanitarian hero of the Hurricane Eleen relief effort a year ago,

(14:39):
passed away with his entire family on board today up
in Iredell County at the States for Regional Airport, And
it's being confirmed, has been confirmed by friends I believe
by family as well. Cletus McFarland, who was a friend
of his, who I believe he was on his way
to see Cleatis in fact posting about that earlier today
that Greg and his family were on their way to
see him and his FAMI family acknowledging that Greg was

(15:01):
in fact on the plane. And I think we all
got that sinking feeling after the initial reports that the
plane had been licensed to him, but no one was
confirming whether or not he was on the plane. And
after a certain amount of time you start to realize, well,
if he wasn't on the plane, we probably would have
known that by now, so you know, it became I
think fairly obvious to most people, relatively early on. And

(15:24):
then the news came out confirming that Greg Bifflin his
family are gone, So our thoughts and prayers go out
to him seven oh four or five, seven oh ninety
six to ten. It is a difficult transition to make
anytime we talk about something as tragic as this, but
we will make it. Throughout the course of the show.
We will talk a lot about the Carolina Panthers and
the Bucks on Sunday, the Hornets and the Hawks. Tonight,

(15:44):
a report outs and I don't even know that I
want to call it a report, but it's being written
about and discussed that maybe Brandon Miller is no longer
untouchable in a particular in a possible trade with the
Charlotte Hornets. Michael Scotto, who just a couple of days
ago was the guy on TV saying that the Hornets
are starting to view Conka Nipple as the face of

(16:05):
the franchise. Mike Scotto, it's being treated again as a report.
I don't think it's fair to call it that, because
I believe all Michael Scotto did was pass along what
he says are conversations with other people in the league
who believe that, potentially their conversations with the Hornets implied
that Brandon might not be untouchable. That's not a report,

(16:27):
but it's worth talking about. So we'll get to all that.
A lot of college football will take your phone calls,
in your text as well. Sports Radio ninety two to
seven WFNZ Sports Radio ninety two seven wfn ZKB and

(16:51):
smoke with you here on a Thursday, inching toward the
Christmas holiday, and not that you need it necessarily right now,
but just a reminder next week. Really, the next two
weeks programming here at wfn Z will be a little
bit all over the place, but we have all made
it to the end of the year, and I don't
take much time off. Smoke does it either. I think
it's fair to say we're both of the workaholic variety.

(17:12):
We enjoy our jobs. We like being here. But the
next two weeks will be out, in and out. I'll
be out a bunch. I'll be here next Monday because
I will not miss a panther Monday here on the show.
It's you know, it's become religion of sorts, but I
will not miss a panther Monday, so I am in
through Monday and then out the rest of the week.
I've got the smoke, I got the fifteen hour drive

(17:32):
to the Great White North. I checked the everybody here
is going to be sweating on Christmas Day. I just
checked earlier my father in law's place. It's going to
be twenty three degrees and snowing on Christmas Day next week.
So I'm headed to the Great White North. I'm going
to be back and forth because I also will not
miss the Seahawks game. So I'm going to be in
and out Monday next week, then out the rest of
the week, and then the week of New Year and

(17:54):
New Year's Eve. I'll work Monday Tuesday again, not missing
the panther Monday, and then out the rest of the
week for that. And then we hit January, and well
we started a new we flipped the calendar over and
we start downhill once again. So should be fun. We
get a mix of the young guns. Willie P's gonna
fill in a lot of mixing and matching here on
the station, but good stuff coming up over the holiday season.

(18:16):
Few texts to get to before we move on, because
if you just tuned in, we are talking about the
tragic and untimely passing of one of the NASCAR, one
of NASCAR's greatest competitors, and one of the greatest humanitarians.
I think it's fair to say in North Carolina history,
Greg Biffle passing away earlier today in a plane crash
at States Full Regional Airport, the same airport where he

(18:37):
was flying in and out NonStop for weeks and months
on end this time a year ago, helping those in
western North Carolina is part of the Hurricane of Lean
relief effort. And you know, Greg was all in the
headlines and for obvious reasons, not that that's what he wanted,
but you know, stories written and all sorts of great
things said about Greg Biffle, as they should have been

(18:58):
for what he did to help his news last year,
and unfortunately he and his family met a tragic and
brutal and untimely death via plane crash earlier today at
States for Regional Airport. And some really really good texts
coming in on this seven h four numbers saying sad
in tragic news about Greg Biffel and his precious wife
and children. I heard only great things about him his

(19:19):
whole career met him at Charlotte Motor Speedway at an
autograph signing booth at the five hundred race. He was
so nice and accommodating, wanting to know about every fan
that passed through and thanking everyone with a hug and
or a handshake. To do what he did for the
hurricane victims in North Carolina put him in the category
I call Earth angels. Now he and his loved ones
watch over us all. It's really, really well, said Hokey

(19:42):
Pokey on the text line, saying, the most ironic part
is that he flew in and out of Statesville Airport
with his helicopter hundreds of times during the hurricane relief.
I was fortunate to work with him during Helene, and
I can't tell you how passionate and kind he was
throughout all of it. Unbelievable Christian man who would talk
about his faith from time to time. And yeah, for
many of us, we don't all share the same beliefs,

(20:04):
we don't all share the same world views. But you know,
I'm a Christian man. I like to believe that right
now or hours ago, rather that you know, he and
his family got to do something that so few of
us ever get to do, and we don't like to
talk about it in those terms because we we we
have this earthly presence and we miss people when they're gone.
But the Biffles walk together through the Pearlygate's arm in
arm today and that gives me some heart that they're

(20:25):
going to be okay and that we can remember them
that way. On top of what he did to help
so many people, so great stuff coming in.

Speaker 3 (20:33):
I do want to get onto.

Speaker 2 (20:34):
Other things, not that they're more important, but I don't
know that I can continue talking about this for a
long period of time without, you know, getting really emotional,
because it's a very emotional topic. So feel free to
send us a text with your thoughts. I'll try to
work those in seven oh four, five, seven oh ninety
six ten.

Speaker 3 (20:48):
Hit us up with your thoughts.

Speaker 2 (20:49):
I did want to pivot with something that I think
is a little bit more you know, you know, the
optimistic variety, positive variety, if you will. It's always good
to hear from Luke Keith, Panthers legend soon to be
Hall of Famer, and he joined ESPN and Pat McAfee
to talk about the Panthers Big seven and seven in
the playoff hunt and the steady rebuild under the watch

(21:10):
of Dan Morgan and Dave Canalis.

Speaker 5 (21:12):
I think they've been very, very particular in how they've
built the team. Right, So Bryce's rookie year, he got
sacked like fifty three fifty three times, So, all right,
what are we going to do. We gotta address the
offensive line. We bring in Damian Lewis and Robert Hunting
free agency. We have Austin Corbett, and then we have
two guys we drafted at both tackles.

Speaker 3 (21:32):
So in one.

Speaker 5 (21:33):
Offseason they fixed the offensive line.

Speaker 3 (21:36):
Last year we did.

Speaker 5 (21:37):
We played really well up front, We've had some injuries,
and then last year the issue was we're not very
good on defense.

Speaker 3 (21:43):
We struggle up front. We don't have a ton of depths.

Speaker 5 (21:45):
So what do they do? You know, Derek Brown comes
back obviously from injury. They bring in Tershaun Wharton, They
bringing Bobby Brown. They draft some guys in the printer
Nick Gordon and Princely Human Niellen who's an Ole Miss guy.
So we have a combination of free agency and then
draft picks. And I think the one guy that's helped
us at time has been Trayvon Merrik. We brought him

(22:06):
over from the Raiders. He's able to do a little
bit of everything. He can line up as a safety,
he can line up at the nickel position, he can
line up at will linebacker. He gives us a ton
of versatility on the defensive side of the ball. So
I think Dan and Dave have done a really good
job of saying, hey, we need to control up front.
So first offseason we go draft offensive line, bring offensive

(22:27):
lineman in a free agency.

Speaker 3 (22:28):
Year two we take care of the defense.

Speaker 5 (22:30):
And then year three, I think is where they are
really expecting to kind of take off.

Speaker 2 (22:35):
So to me, when I heard that the first time,
it was kind of like a reset smoke for my brain,
because you know, we're coming off a loss to the
Saints on Sunday, blew an opportunity to take a stranglehold
on the division, you know, to get in that driver's seat,
the catbird seat, and put Tampa at a disadvantage. And
so as a result, you know, everybody's like, well, you know,
there's three to go, but you got to beat the

(22:56):
Bucks twice, and this team's got issues, and we got
people that don't believe they're gonna win a game the
rest of the way or that they're gonna fall short
maybe in their push for the playoffs. But there's Luke
saying again, hey, look what Dan did. They had to
fix the offensive line, so they did that. They needed
to fix the defensive line and the defense, but upfront specifically,
they did that. And now going into Dan Morgan's third
off season, Dave Canalis's third off season, they expect to really,

(23:19):
as Luke put it, take off in year three under
these two. So I'm looking forward to twenty twenty six.
I am excited about that. You know, you know, I
don't want to fast forward time, but I do believe
that overall they're building towards something that should continue to
get better and better. And I also juxtaposed that thinking
about Luke as he's more talking about the big picture stuff.

(23:42):
But it also got me thinking about what Rick Stroud
said yesterday about Dave Canalis the play caller and smoke.
If you grabbed that for me, I'd appreciate it. You
might have missed it yesterday, but Rick Stroud, who's covered
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for three decades, joined me yesterday
and he didn't crush Dave Canalo the man, or even
overall as a football coach. But he did have some

(24:04):
pointed comments about Dave Canalis to play caller. In case
you missed it, check it out.

Speaker 6 (24:10):
I would say this about Dave. His strength is not
playing calling. Okay, now he may not agree with that assessment,
but it's true. And you know, and if you ask
people in this building, and players in particular, they will
tell you that. Now having said all that, I know
he fad fancies himself as an offensive call play caller.

(24:33):
When he got here, he hadn't done it since Carson
High School in California. Now, you know, just because you're
in the NFL, and this is what I would do.
All that kicked great, but they didn't run. They were
last in the league in rushing, I believe when when
Dave was here, and you know, they didn't have a
lot of answers at the line of scrimmage right for
the quarterback to get out of plays. I don't know

(24:54):
if that's changed. I suspect it hadn't changed a whole lot,
But those those things will get I always thought that
he would be a better head coach than a play
call you know, because a lot of the job of
the head coach is to set the tone. I think
he's done that, Carolina.

Speaker 3 (25:09):
All right, there you go.

Speaker 2 (25:10):
As soon as that cut was finishing up, Big Kat
Dan said, yeah, bleep that guy.

Speaker 3 (25:14):
But here's the thing.

Speaker 2 (25:15):
What he actually said, though, was that he doesn't think
Dave's a good play caller, but that Dave's a decent
head coach, a good head coach because the coach has
to set the tone and you know, cultivate the culture.
I'm kind of adding some words in right there, but
that Dave has done that. So I mean, yeah, he
had some not so nice things to say about Dave
the play caller, but you know, some nice things to
say about Dave the coach. Now, that does stand in

(25:35):
direct contradiction to what Jake Neloone told us that Luke
said about Dave Canais's play calling weeks and weeks ago, right,
you know, Luke was very complimentary of Dave Canalis's play calling.
And there's probably a you know, a better time and
place for the conversation about moving forward whether or not
Dave will continue to call plays. But I think overall
it's hard to argue with seven and seven Dan making

(25:58):
the roster better, and that corresponding with you know, better football,
more wins, and the idea that you know this is
going in the right direction. So I don't know, smoke
you hear Luke saying what he said to Luke Keigley,
or rather Patton McAfee right there.

Speaker 3 (26:12):
What'd you think what stood out to you?

Speaker 4 (26:14):
I just think this is, you know, looking at looking
at the team.

Speaker 3 (26:21):
They've been a lot of they made a lot of
good decisions.

Speaker 4 (26:23):
But it just shows you how Barren Wasteland was when
Dan Morgan and Dave Canalis assumed their roles in twenty
twenty three. And while there's been a lot of fixes,
it's not consistent enough still. Yeah, and it's not all
the way fixed in certain areas. And the prime example
of that is at linebacker. I think Trevin Wallace has

(26:44):
had moments this year where he's looked really good. I
just don't know if he's going to be that number
one guy that you want him to be. Uh, And
that's all he's going to sting because you had a
potential chance to get a guy that was number one
guy in Peyton Wilson, and I understand due to health
concerns why he didn't take him, but man, it's thinking
more and more because he's become a stud instantly in Pittsburgh.
And Trevin is a guy that has his moments but

(27:06):
also is not the best. And rose Boom like, if
he was like your third linebacker, you'd be fine, but
he's not. He's your number one or number two at times. Yeah,
and both guys have been abysmal in coverage, they especially
Rose bo Oh.

Speaker 2 (27:22):
Absolutely. Now, but here's the thing. We both expect Dan
to address linebacker this offseason.

Speaker 4 (27:28):
And luckily this offseason you've got some linebackers in free agency.

Speaker 3 (27:33):
Yeah, and you've.

Speaker 4 (27:34):
Got a lot of linebackers in the drafts, specifically in
the day two range right to where you can at
least get one of them. So they're going Dan is
going to address that.

Speaker 3 (27:44):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (27:45):
People keep also talking about Dan going back to addressing
the pass rush, and I'd sit here today wondering, how,
like is it a first round priority, because I'm not
sure it's a first I mean, I'm sure there are
people who think it should be. But when you take
back to back first team all SEC edge rushers, guys

(28:05):
that you like a lot, do you then turn around
and use a first round draft pick on Ed I
don't know. We've got lots of time to think about that,
but I'm not sure that's the top priority for them.

Speaker 4 (28:15):
What do you think? Uh, it could be if the
right guy's there. That's the thing. I don't know if
the right guys because I haven't really taken debt. This
is actually a good thing about Carolina being in hunt.
I haven't really taken that much of a deep dive
into the draft this year, right, you know, Wow, that
feels so great?

Speaker 3 (28:32):
Doesn't feel good? Oh my god?

Speaker 2 (28:34):
You get to save all this draft content for actual
draft season as opposed to starting a two and a
half months early tear cal It's nice to have not
had to think about this. Like, we've brought up the
kid from Texas Tech. What is it Bailey, David Bailey,
which is my uncle. Yeah, but we're gonna draft my uncle,
you know, to come you know, get to get after
the quarterback off the edge. But we really haven't had

(28:55):
to talk about that, which is nice.

Speaker 4 (28:57):
But yeah, I like, I don't know if David Bailey's
going to be in their range where they're drafting, And
the two guys that I'm thinking would be great picks,
I don't know if they're gonna be there. It's gonna
be Reuben Bain but he's a top five pick, top five,
top ten pick. And David Bailey but I think he
could be a top ten pick too. So those are
your two edge guys, and after that it feels like
there's a fall off. I don't think this draft class,

(29:18):
just guessing off of what it was, is not as
deep in edge rushers as it.

Speaker 3 (29:22):
Was last year. Uh so, yeah, not great.

Speaker 4 (29:27):
I think that this is the year where you really
spend big on free agency for an edge rusher.

Speaker 3 (29:34):
Oh and no, guess what say you spend big on one? Yeah?

Speaker 4 (29:37):
Okay, and luckily there is a guy in free agency
that you could spend big on.

Speaker 3 (29:41):
Are you?

Speaker 2 (29:41):
Are we going back to Hendrickson, Yes, Trey Hendrickson, this
could be the year you bite on that.

Speaker 3 (29:47):
Really that okay? Yes, especially if you win the South,
Especially if you want to say.

Speaker 2 (29:54):
If you think year three is the is the year
if organizationally over there they're thinking, you know, year three
is the year they're supposed pop, then yeah, you're probably right.
That's the year that you make that kind of move,
even if it's not for him specifically, this is the
year you make that kind of.

Speaker 4 (30:05):
Move and I just think Trey Hendrickson, you know, this
year wasn't the best year for him, but it kind
of just felt like it was never going to go
well based on how that season ended. And I just
want to say, Kyle, what number does Trey Hendrickson where.

Speaker 3 (30:21):
I actually don't know?

Speaker 4 (30:23):
Ninety one? Oh yeah, okay, over the age of thirty. Yes,
if some people are gonna question how much longer he has.
He's Caucasian and next year's the thirty year anniversary of
the nineteen ninety six Carolina Panthers team. So you're thinking
Kevin Green here exactly. Okay, I don't think he has
the personality of Kevin Green. He's not going to show
up on the wrestling show, sure and trying to wrestle

(30:44):
Rick Flair, but Kevin Green, welcome back to Charlotte, North Carolina.

Speaker 2 (30:48):
Okay, so you're all in on Trey Hendrickson this offseason anyway,
we kind of got down the draft rabbit hole there.
I'm not sorry, but I'm a little bit sorry because
they are still in playoff contention.

Speaker 3 (30:56):
But that's an interesting thought.

Speaker 2 (30:57):
Point is there's still work to be done on this roster,
and that's the point the argument Rather, I think Luke
was very clearly making with Pat McAfee there a minute ago.
I did get a text from our buddy, and he
is our buddy, the bagel guy. He says, we love Luke,
but let's be honest. He works for the Panthers and
won't exactly trash the coach. Yeah, but context matters. Luke wasn't,
you know, boasting about it on the air. Jake Delone

(31:19):
told the story that it was during a break. I
believe that Luke took his headset off and remarked off
the air to Jake that he was really impressed with
Dave's play calling. So this was not Luke in front
of a hot microphone saying what the company man supposed
to say.

Speaker 3 (31:33):
This was Jake, you.

Speaker 2 (31:34):
Know, letting us behind the curtain a little bit to
the broadcast booth, talking about what Jake, or rather Luke
was saying off the air. And you know, I don't
know how Luke felt about that getting out. You know,
I'm sure he and I'm sure he's fine with it,
but you know, it's not the same as him getting
up at a press conference and reading off of note
cards and saying what he thinks that he's supposed to say, so,
I hear you, but I don't think it matters what

(31:55):
you're pointing out right there because it was a very
different context than the way you're painting it.

Speaker 4 (31:58):
Plus, Who's booth Cam's videos show us how he feels sometimes.
I remember when it cut to the booth. I think
it was during the Buffalo game. Yeah, it's just like
you could tell he's like, get me out of here,
I can't watch this crappy.

Speaker 3 (32:14):
Yeah, he's a very interesting analyst to listen to him.

Speaker 2 (32:17):
By the way, his partner will talk to Anee Schroth
coming up at five o'clock, so make sure to stick
around for that. But right now we go to smoke
on the headlines.

Speaker 3 (32:25):
Who is smoked? Where is smoke? Where there's smoke, there's fire.
Let's go what you got? All right? Two news and
notes here for you guys to beware of.

Speaker 4 (32:35):
First, we'll go to Carolina with the Panthers and their
injury reports. According to Joe Person, Ikey Ikwanu and Turk
Wharton did not participate in practice again, Ikey with his knee,
Turk with his hamstring that he hurt during walk throughs
last week. But good news Damian Lewis and Taylor Moten,
along with Trevin Wallace, were limited.

Speaker 3 (32:57):
Damien was sick yesterday so he.

Speaker 4 (33:00):
Probably got what we had and he didn't participate, but
he's back in practice. And the best news Tenor McMillan,
who did not participate yesterday and practice was a full
go today.

Speaker 2 (33:09):
Full send, let's go. He's got to have a big
day on Sunday. He definitely he needs to have a
really really big day of tell you with their secondary
being very fin at this moment. Also, do you want
to give an interesting update on the situation in Ohio.
According to Front Office Sports, now fired Ohio head coach
Brian Smith was having an affair with an undergraduate student

(33:31):
at the university. According to documents attained by Front Office.

Speaker 3 (33:35):
Sports, lord have mercy. So kind of what we thought
it was, but it's been confirmed. Yep.

Speaker 2 (33:43):
What a Roman harper se there two things. Undefeated ruined
many a career started, many a war led to many
a downfall of prominent men. What a terrible, terrible decision.
All right, we'll come back, we'll chat a bit more.
Some questions coming in on the Hornets that I want
to get to. We got some good thoughts on that
on the fan Duel text line and some great folks

(34:05):
to talk to ahead a Niche Shroff, Corey Smith, pac
Pride coming up, Stick Around Sports Radio ninety two to
seven WFNZ.

Speaker 3 (34:31):
Sports Radio nine.

Speaker 2 (34:32):
Seven wfn Z KB and Smoke Talking Panthers talking about
the tragic and untimely passing of Greg Biffel and his
family earlier today. Our thoughts and prayers and deepest sympathies
and condolences go out to those who loved and knew him.
Just a tragic story and the tragic end for a
beautiful family and a man who spends so much time
a year ago, really more than we probably know, helping

(34:53):
out his neighbors in western North Carolina, commandeering and piloting
his own aircraft to rescue and perform airdrop to get resources, food,
medicine into people in the mountains last year following the
devastation of Hurricane Aleen. Just every ounce of love and
prayer we have in us is going out to Greg
Biffles's family today. So if you have thoughts, send them
to us. On the FanDuel text line seven oh four

(35:15):
five seven ninety six ten. A couple of texts I
want to get to real quick because I probably shouldn't,
but I'm going to seven oh four number says we
need to do like the Colts did with Anthony Richardson,
just like Greg Olsen said, sometimes you got to know
when to move on. Bryce is better than Richardson, but
he's not the long term answer, and it's painfully obvious
each week, Sir, I have to ask you how you

(35:36):
think that the situations of Bryce Young and Anthony Richardson
are really comparable, Like if it's simply you want to
move on and they have, and so you think they're
the exact same. I guess that's your prerogative, and you're right,
But I don't understand believing that the situations of Anthony
Richardson in Indianapolis and Bryce Young are remotely the same.

Speaker 3 (35:57):
At this point, I just don't get it.

Speaker 2 (36:00):
Two to sixteen from scrimmage, a touchdown, no interceptions, a
ninety seven passer rating on Sunday, which, by the way,
for those of you who are unaware, just google is
a ninety seven quarterback rating a good rating, and it
will give you your answer. That's an above average day.
That's a good like a really good day ninety seven average.
It might not be the one forty seven he put
up against the Rams, which was a career high, but

(36:22):
a ninety seven quarterback rating is good. You will take
that every single week from your starting quarterback. So, I mean,
I just don't get the comparing Bryce to the Anthony
Richardson situation up in Indianapolis. Like they the whole league
had concerns about that guy's ability to stay healthy. I mean,
he hasn't been able to hasn't grasped the NFL playbook

(36:44):
up in Indianapolis, hasn't reportedly been the best teammate, took
himself out of a game last year inexplicably. So I
would respectfully ask you to elaborate as to why you
think those two situations are comparable. But moving on, Bagel
Guy followed up to ask me, are you convinced that
Dave Canalis is a good play caller. I'm not convinced
of anything yet. I'm not convinced. I need to see

(37:06):
the way they finish this season first, Like I want
to see if things stay the same, you know, if
Dave can get a little bit more creative, if you know,
this offense can find a way to play better to
put more points on the board over the next couple
of weeks. So to answer your question, it might be
a cop out to you or riding the fence, but
I want to see more like I want to see
how they finished the season. Teams are judged on how

(37:28):
well they play in November and December. How well do
you finish the year? Can you make the playoffs? Can
you get us to week eighteen, you know, with a
game to go against Tampa and the division on the line.
Ideally you wrap it up the next two weeks. I
doubt that happens now, but it could. But you know,
get to week eighteen and give yourselves a chance to
get in play solid offensive football for the next couple

(37:49):
of weeks. And you know, by the way, also let
Bryce sling the damn rock this weekend. I'm not saying
abandon the run. I'm not saying go full Monday night football.
But you're going to be facing a couple of RN
rookie corners out there on Sunday in Tampa Bay. If
you can't take advantage at home of a couple of
rookie corners in this game, within your passing game, I'm
gonna have a lot of questions as to you know,

(38:11):
this offense and why they can't be better. And Bryce
will of course be a part of that smoke. But
you got a couple of rookie corners out there. It
looks like for Tampa this weekend, you better damn sure
to take advantage of that.

Speaker 4 (38:20):
Yeah, especially with Tedor or McMillan. You know, you want
to get him more involved. After the last two games,
he's only had what three catches. Now, one of those
catches was the game winning touchdown against Rams, but you
thought he was going to get more active against the Saints.
We'll say, don't sleep on Benjamin Morrison because he's one
of the guys they had and I remember when they
picked him. I'm like, dang it, he was he was

(38:42):
going to be a first round pick. Yeah, if he
didn't get hurt last year at Notre Dame. So I
just I think they should take advantage of it. But
also I wouldn't be mad if they maybe get Cuba
a little bit more involved in the run game, because
let's face it, Cube is healthy right now. Rico I
think is you know, not one hundred percent, clearly not
one hundred percent, And he's getting more nicked up as

(39:03):
the season goes along, and it just feels like he's
now being the one and a more patient runner. Get
Chube out there and get it. If he needs to
get more carries than Rico, so be it. You got
a division online, you have to win any way possible.
I don't care how ugly it looks. I don't care
how pretty it looks. I don't care how many stats
a guy has, as long as your team has more
points on the scoreboard than those Buccaneers you know this weekend.

Speaker 3 (39:28):
Yeah, you did the job done.

Speaker 4 (39:30):
It could be five to three, it could be seven
to five, it could be fifty five, forty five.

Speaker 3 (39:35):
I don't care. Get the job done any way possible.

Speaker 2 (39:38):
Listen, Caroline has already beaten the Buccaneers once this week.
Here's hoping they can do it again on Sunday. We
watched it two nights ago. Tar Heels beat Etsu. I'm
hoping that's some foreshadowing for what happens on Sunday.

Speaker 3 (39:48):
What true tech me? So Carolina beat.

Speaker 2 (39:51):
The Buccaneers are already this week, So let's do it
again on Sunday. Real quick at text are also sent
in did I really hear smoke say that you guys
had a player in in a walk through.

Speaker 3 (40:01):
Yeah, turk Warton. We talked about this yesterday.

Speaker 2 (40:03):
Apparently during last week's walk through, tripped on a teammate's foot.
I'm guessing stumbled, tried to catch himself, tweaked the hamstring,
didn't play on Sunday and was not at practice today.
And I don't think that'll go down as one of
the most notable bizarre and freak injuries in sports history.
But around here, you know it's got to rank, you know,
somewhat up there, Like it's not going to go down

(40:24):
with Gus Farott headbutting the wall all time. You know,
it's not going to go down as uh, trying to
think what else we got Sammy Sosa sneezing too hard
back in two thousand and four.

Speaker 3 (40:35):
I was going to go with Bill Gramatica. I like
that one. Yeah, Yeah, Bill Grammatica is a good one.
Let's see. Ooh.

Speaker 2 (40:42):
Remember Clint Barnes back in two thousand and five. Remember
what he did ever He slipped on the stairs carrying
deer meat. He just harvested a deer and he was
carrying deer meat up the stairs and he slipped and
fell and broke his collar bone and missed opening day.

Speaker 4 (40:57):
I felt like twenty five. I felt like twenty five.
These could be Mets players, you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 (41:02):
Yeah, not as bad as Plexico Buris accidentally shooting himself
in a nightclub.

Speaker 3 (41:07):
That's not that bad. That was eight year when he
could have used him in the playoffs. That was. That
was They could have easily gone back to back.

Speaker 2 (41:13):
Trying to think, oh, oh, oh oh, why does it
seem like it's all baseball guys? Joel Joels Zumaya remember
that one two thousand and six, the guitar Hero injury.
Remember that, Oh my god, played for the Tigers.

Speaker 3 (41:25):
I was thinking. I was thinking assessmentist with the boar incident.
Oh yeah, that's good too.

Speaker 2 (41:29):
Yeah, but Zumaya was playing guitar Hero back in two
thousand and six, injured his wrist playing guitar Hero too hard.
I could see that, yeah, and was placed on the
injured list. The question is what song was he playing?
That's the real I would like to know that myself.
Another baseball one, Kevin Pillar twenty fifteen with the Blue Jays,
hit in the face during warm ups by a teammate's

(41:52):
throw fractured his face I think his orbital bone, and
he ended up missing a bunch of time.

Speaker 4 (41:58):
I'll say, uh two by the same guy. And we
just saw him recently, Zane Gonzales. Ye, Aaron Carolina before
that Bill's game, he got hurt and then literally I
remember it was during the preseason game. They were showing
him warming up and then they go to the play
and then they go back to him, and then Steve
and it was Taylor Zarza are both like, uh uh oh, yeah,

(42:20):
did he do it again again?

Speaker 3 (42:23):
Oh my god, he he got hurt again.

Speaker 4 (42:25):
He did it again, And I remember the reaction and
it was the same as ours, like, oh god, oh no,
oh no.

Speaker 3 (42:32):
So I think Zay is up.

Speaker 4 (42:33):
There with the most weirdest injury and I don't notice
this is not an injury, but the fact that Jake
had his pants ripped on national TV and they gamed
it decided whether or not they would make the playoffs
or not, has to be up there.

Speaker 3 (42:48):
That's a good one. That's a good one.

Speaker 2 (42:50):
Speaking of the Bucks this weekend, Jason Pierre Paul fireworks.

Speaker 4 (42:54):
He's backed it, by the way, I know, like one
of the all time. Bizarre.

Speaker 2 (42:58):
I can't believe he got hurt that way and is
on the injured list because of that injuries. Blowing up
and blowing off one of his fingers with fireworks.

Speaker 3 (43:05):
Was it one finger? Was it multiple fingers? He goes multiple?

Speaker 2 (43:09):
Jose Canseeco blew off one of his fingers with a gun.
Was cleaning his pistol at the kitchen table. Didn't think
to check that it was empty.

Speaker 3 (43:16):
Of course Jose would do that, of course, very very Yeah.

Speaker 2 (43:20):
Was cleaning a pistol, didn't clear it and went off
and he blew off one of his fingers. All right,
so it's all baseball, guys, this is terrible NBA went
Brandon Roy twenty ten, I get said that name.

Speaker 3 (43:33):
Well, that's true, but.

Speaker 2 (43:34):
He slipped at home while carrying dishes, reaggravated the knee
and missed a whole bunch of time. Tennis Rafael Nadal
twenty fourteen was tried to sit down I think awkwardly
in a chair. Was that during the Australian Open or
was it before? Either way, he missed the Australian Open.
Nadal did because he sat down awkwardly in a chair.

Speaker 3 (43:53):
Didn't Dustin Johnson have to back out of the Masters
fell down the stairs at Augusta.

Speaker 4 (43:58):
And people were wondering, Yeah, okay, how was that really
the case? Yeah, because people thought something else happened.

Speaker 6 (44:03):
Uh.

Speaker 3 (44:05):
James book Knight, Uh, we don't never know. When he
punched the TV. Yeah, we'll go with that one.

Speaker 2 (44:13):
Yeah, that would I'm trying to think was that because
we knew that? But was that accurate? Was that reported
at the time? No, okay, I didn't think a risk injury. Yeah,
they called it a hand injury or a wrist injury.
But it turns out he had punched a TV and
screwed his hand.

Speaker 3 (44:28):
Up and miss summer league because of it. Yep, he
sure did. Uh.

Speaker 4 (44:32):
And you know Lee, the Hornets are still investigating James
book Knight's rest right before to start a twenty three season.

Speaker 3 (44:40):
Still investigating. Yeah, with the guns and the Doritos.

Speaker 4 (44:43):
Still trying to figure out what happened.

Speaker 3 (44:45):
Him falling asleep. We felt that guy was gonna be
a stud too.

Speaker 2 (44:49):
Somebody said, what about the baseball player who fell off
his car while washing it? I think you're believing. I
think you're thinking of now Hall of Famer Jeff Kent,
who claimed that he got hurt washing his truck and
fell off of it, but they believed pretty strongly that
he got hurt in a motorcycle accident.

Speaker 4 (45:05):
Who was the Mets player that was throwing firecrackers outside
of his car and got hurt.

Speaker 3 (45:10):
I don't remember that. I think a Mets played. Baseball
players are dumb.

Speaker 2 (45:13):
Man, hey, so they can be that, there's no question
about that. I will say baseball players and kickers are
the most fun athletes to party with, but it's because
they're the craziest people on the planet. Sure, there's no
doubt about that. All right, a few more of these
coming in. Oh the Great and Powerful. Sharon Thorsland of
WBT and the Panthers Radio Network is chiming in. Says,
you can't forget the Jacksonville Jaguars hurt or Chris Hansen

(45:35):
who cut his leg while chopping wood in the locker room.
Former head coach Jack del Rio had a log and
an accent there to remind his team to keep chopping wood.
Hanson also chopped his leg. Sharon, that's phenomenal. That's really
really good.

Speaker 4 (45:50):
And you gotta remember that's pretty crazy, considering Hanson shared
a locker room with John Henderson, who would get slapped
by a trader before every game.

Speaker 2 (45:58):
Oh so good, all right, we got to hit a break.
I got really carried away. But the most bizarre injuries
in sports history after Turk. Wharton was out last week
and did not practice today after tripping on a teammate's
foot and walked through last week tweaking his hamstring, and
it's not looking good for him to play this week either.
Our two Next Sports Radio ninety two seven WFNZ