September 25, 2025 • 44 mins
In hour 2 of the show, Kyle reacts to the biggest audio in sports in What Did You Say?!?!? Kyle then weighs in on the latest injury report that makes it look like the Panthers could be thin at the edge position on Sunday.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Kyle Bailey Show, powered by Victory Chevy Charlotte,
where every month is Truck Month.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Victory Chevy Charlotte Your Silverado Destination.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Hour two Live from the Chandler Volta Studios. The Carolina's
Personal Injury Lawyers go to Cvinjurylaw dot Com. I asked
before the break, what do the Panthers in the Indiana
Hoosiers have in common? And it's not super substantive, but
it is interesting how we as fans and media do
react to certain games and outcomes. Because this past weekend,
in a game that Illinois was favored, and I think
(00:46):
everybody I know expected Brett Bielima and the Ilini to
beat Indiana, a lot of us believing that kurtz Signetti
and company would be very much in rebuilding mode coming
off a surprising playoff appearance in twenty twenty four, and
then Kurt Signetti and Indiana beat them to the tune
of sixty three to ten. I know Tom Fernelli, who's
gotten two mentions on this show already today wrote a
(01:08):
piece about how they beat them so badly. It's almost
as if they undermined their own win. You beat a
team sixty three to ten. It forces people to direct
their attention to oh, wait a minute, was that other
team just so much worse than we thought they were
that this win isn't that impressive. It's kind of the
same thing with the Panthers this week that because they
just bludgeoned Atlanta thirty to nothing, instead of being like,
(01:29):
oh man, the Panthers really put a game together, everybody's like,
oh crap, maybe Atlanta just sucks and they're really really bad.
It's the same kind of effect where you be a
team so bad and it's so ugly you almost undermine
your own win well, and I think people have been
annoyed with Kurt Signetti and the fact that they've changed
their schedule. Tiaes He's like, oh, they don't play anybody,
and then they beat Illinois, who is a very good team.
It's like, maybe Illinois just ain't that good, right and
(01:52):
didn't watch that could change it as soon as this
weekend as Illinois plays usc and they're hosting them in
Champagne champagne right, Yes, Okay, I get it because.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
There was a champagne. Yes, I believe, well, I get it.
Confused because of the former pitt player Champagne or something
like that.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Wait, wait, you confused champ a college town with the
former Pittsburgh Wing.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Yes, because I always fought everything was Champagne until that
guy came around it was Champagne, and it completely screwed
up my brain.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Just because somebody's you know, and somebody's name is pronounced
a little differently doesn't okay?
Speaker 4 (02:24):
All right, but I just have to second guess myself
unless I'm literally talking about Champagne. I didn't know. We
all have weird hang ups. I get it, so yeah, Like,
for example, I fought Patrick Swayze and Kurt Russell were
the same person growing up. Oh really, yes, no way, yes.
People say you can't get white guys confused.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
I got Kurt Russell and Patrick Swayze, who says that
that's a ridiculous thing to say. I don't know, that's
a that's a really weird thing to say, though I didn't,
you know what, since we're on the well, never mind,
I'll come back to that a little bit later in
the show. Seven oh four or five, seven oh ninety
six ten. I did get a text from Johnny earlier
in the show, not that Johnny, a different one. He
asked me, KB, have you seen Zion Williamson's weight loss?
Maybe we should traded for him after all. I smoke
(03:02):
sent that to me this morning. Like a lot of people,
I was shocked to see a chiseled Zion Williamson who
now has cheekbones visible cheekbones. I didn't see the exact number.
It looks like he's lost twenty five thirty pounds, Like
he looks like he's dropped a solid twenty five to
thirty pounds. That's the best looking Zion Williamson we've seen period. Yeah,
(03:24):
lean muscle, Yeah, looks like he's in fantastic shape.
Speaker 4 (03:27):
Looks at least ten to fifteen pounds lighter than when
he was at Duke, And like you know, Duke, he
was I think relatively in shape, but he still had
some of that baby fat and that pudge to him.
That pudge is almost all all gone. So I don't
know how this is gonna, you know, change his plank style.
I don't think it will. But if his plank style
can go on top of him losing weight and he
(03:47):
stays healthy, I mean, just when it's like this scene
from Godfader part three, Just when I think they I'm out,
they pull me back in a hell.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
It's just an incredible body transformation. We've seen athletes do
stuff like this before. He's not the first one of
the only one to ever do it. Lebron James once
famously lost what like twenty five pounds in an offseason
came back looking noticeably different. But nobody ever looked at
Lebron as being overweight or slovenly or however you want to.
No one ever looked at him that way. They just
looked him being spelt beefy. Yeah, I mean, he was
(04:20):
just a monster of a man. He's six six two
sixty five, Like he was just a monster, but he
leaned out even more. But you looked at Zion and
people made a lot of fat jokes and candy bar
jokes and things like that. It's a really, really impressive
body transformation for Zion Williamson, it really is. It also
got me down this rabbit hole of some of the
great body transformations ever, not just in sports, but also
(04:40):
uh like actors and other celebrities. You know what my
favorite body transformation of all time is? I think what
Jonah Hill, which one all of them like fat Jonah
Hill to skinny Jonah Hill, back to fat Jonah Hill,
then kind of fat Jonah Hill. Well, if we're going
to talk about actors, I think Christian Bell has to
be at the top of the list for which role. Well,
going so back in two thousand and three, he did
(05:02):
a roll for The Machinist yep, where he was like
ninety pounds.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
Oh, he's like emaciated. Yeah yeah. And then you know,
the next movie after that was that Batman. Yeah Man
begins and he got absolutely jacked.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
That was in a year and a half, like going
from like ninety five pounds where you can see his
bones to look at Jack to the gills. And then
he was in Vice and he was really fat too.
I think honestly, I think he told someone during one
of his latest movies, like after Vice, He's like, I'm
getting a little too old for this. Yeah, ainting all
that way it was just a little too much for him.
So his days of gaining and losing weight are done.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
But had greatest body transformation. You know, you know what
my favorite one all time might be. If I gave
you bad ten guesses, I'm not sure that you would
remember it or that you would guess it. You know
the name Ethan Suppley.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
Name kind of rings a bell. Remember the Titans offensive lineman,
big fat dude together, Yeah he was.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
My name is Earl, right, Yeah, yes, he was Louis
Elastic and remember the Titans.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Oh see, he got type cast as the fat guy
in everything early.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
Two thousands movie he needed a fat guy. He was
your man.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
He was your guy, like great actor, really funny. Everybody
loved him. Jolly giant type of thing, well over five
hundred pounds. And then I guess after he made all
of his Hollywood money, we looked up like five years later,
and the dude is an absolute monster. I think by
the time he was forty, he was down to like
sixteen percent body fat, bench pressing five hundred pounds like
Ethan Suppley's body transformation is one of the greatest that
(06:31):
I've ever seen in my entire life.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
You would not expect that that was the fact.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
No, I Like, when I looked at his face, because
I'm pretty good with faces, Like, I knew who he was,
and I just couldn't believe that that was the same
Louie elastic fat dude from remember the Titans, who now
looks like a former NFL linebacker.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Absolutely insane, ikin get this filmography. He also it wasn't
just like two or three rules. He was in blow.
He was an American History X. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
He was also in a Boy Meets World and he
was super fat in American History X too.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Yeah. You know who his dad was in Meets World?
No Vader, really big Van Vader. Yeah. They did an
episode where he was going back and forth between wrestling
event and brom.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
No way, Yeah, that's crazy, Okay, all right, oh ooh.
Aggie Pride says there's a debate in the black community
about who was the better singer, Fat Luther Vandross or
Skenny Luther Vandross. Many think Fatly Listen, I'm as a
as a non card carrying member of the black community,
I would like to weigh in on this because I
do love me some Luther Vandross. I mean, you want
(07:28):
to talk about baby making music. Fat Luther Vandross is untouchable,
absolutely untouchable. Skenny Luther Vandross might sound the same, but
it don't hit the same When you know it's Skenny
Luther Vandross be melting that out. Do you think if
Ruben was skinny, he would have won American Idol. I
haven't thought about that guy in a long time. What's
a guy's name that won it? Clay Hilton or no, Clay.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Clay.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
No, Ruben won it. He wanted over Clay Aigen. Oh
but I thought you said he would have won it. No,
if he was skinny. Do you think he's steward of won?
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Umm, that's a good quest question. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
I can't answer that. I have no idea. Somebody just
said that Ethan Suppley was big and Varsity Blues too.
You're thinking of a different guy, man, alright, Yeah, you're
thinking of a different guy. He passed away a couple
of years ago. Yeah, but I mean the Ethan Suppley.
One of the greatest greatest body transformations of all time.
Edward Norton, what was it the Pianist?
Speaker 4 (08:21):
No, that was.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Brody, Adrian Brodie was an agent. Okay, that's right. But
didn't Edward Norton have one too? Like an insane body transformation?
Speaker 4 (08:30):
He was in that Hulk movie. But like, yeah, I
don't remember him doing a.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Massive Yeah, yeah, okay, all right, seven oh four five,
seven ninety six ten hit us up on the FanDuel
text line, greatest body transformations ever. And you know what
are great ones too? All the former offensive linemen that
now look like like underwear models. Gross Jordan Gross, former
former Brown's left tackle Joe Thomas another one. I mean
quit football, lost like eighty five pounds in the next
(08:56):
six months. I mean, these are awesome. I love to
see former offensive lineman gets skinny. It's one of my
favorite things ever. All right, let's go to smoke with
the best audio in sports.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
What did you say? You what? What did you say?
Wait a minute, send me right? What I mean by that.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Is all right?
Speaker 4 (09:15):
What you got? All right? For transparency sake, and I
wanted to be fair to the listeners. I did find
the audio where Zach Robinson dared dared to go after
to find folks of Charlotte, North Carolina after he put
up that performance on Sunday. Here's the full quote of
what Zach Robinson had to say when he called out
the Queen City.
Speaker 5 (09:38):
Wow, obviously, you know, incredibly humbling, you know, day out there.
I don't think any of us have ever really been
a part of something like that. But again, it was
just it was just a really off day, you know,
I thought the energy you know, at practice all last
week was great. I thought the energy in pregame warm
ups was good. I mean, guys were pumped up. That
(09:58):
is a sleepy place, as you guys know to play,
but didn't feel any way pregame and just when the
ball was snapped obviously the first snap of the game,
you know, we're thrown off, Kyle, and it was just
kind of like from there, it just you know, it.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Just didn't go our way.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
So yeah, they better play that in the locker room
the next time they face Atlanta. Now it's going to
be in Atlanta. But I mean he just said it
so matter of factly, like you know, that's a really
sleepy place to play.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
He said it like he was at chuckle Thackery.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
I No, he said it like he was a like
he's coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Buffalo Bills.
As if you're not a coach in Atlanta, come on, man,
Like I was in the building for a major college
football game in Week one. Place gets kind of loud,
but we also know what the inside of that buildings
looked like down the stretch the last several years. Get
out of here with that garbage, Like I'm sorry, I
(10:46):
got no beef with Falcons fan.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Well, I guess I kind of do. But like that,
that place is not formidable. Nobody's scared of going into Atlanta.
The only place that you're scared to go to Atlanta
area when it comes to football at Sanford Stadium, that's
the only place where it's like, yeah, it's loud.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Well, we all know that's a very sleepy placed. Listen,
we all know what it's been like around here for years.
People have checked. I get it, but like, bro, you're
an Atlanta coach, stop it with that stuff.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
What else you got? And last time I checked, Carolina
does not playing chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. There you go, all right,
Moving things on to actually close to chestnut Hill, New
England and Foxborough as Drake May will be taking on
to Carolina Panthers, a team who he grew up rooting for.
He was asked about going up against is the team
he rooted for as a kid for the first time
in the regular season, Yeah, I think it's a.
Speaker 6 (11:29):
Different playing up here. You're going back to Charlote bet
would have been different. But you know, going against the
team that I grew up watching, you know, grew up
heering for and a lot of great memories in that
stadium back in Making America. So yeah, it's a little different,
but at the same time, it's still you know, this
is another week a week in the NFL, and you
know the same players that I grew up, you know,
playing for beside the longest snapper Sue there.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
So a shout out JJ got him a little uh,
a little plug right there. Yeah, this doesn't mean anything
to Drake, and I don't mean that as in it
won't be a little bit cool for him for the
first time to stand opposite the team that he rooted.
But you'll get over that stuff really quickly. It's only
gonna matter what it happens here. Yes, and given the
way that the AFC and NFC schedule things out, it's
(12:11):
gonna be on. It's gonna be a while, right probably
what four years, yea, four years before that happens.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
It depends because now you have an extra AFC game,
that's right. Still, it's once every four years, yea, every
eight years that you play here.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
And hopefully the first time that somebody in process blue,
black and White puts him on the ground, he'll be
completely over any enabument of playing against the team that
he grew up for and here's hoping that he hates
the colors of the Panthers by the time that game
is over on Sunday in New England.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
And speaking of those beautiful black and blue colors, the
defensive ends are kind of beat up right now as
multiple guys including Pat Jones and DJ Won him along
with Turk Wharton, are injured and it's looking like the
rookies are gonna have to have a bigger go. But
earlier today e j Evera was asked about one of
those rookies, Nick Scoorton, and how he has grown throughout
(12:58):
a short time period.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
It's always advantage when you have those guys that have
the ability to rush inside and outside, and you know
with Pat Jones has that ability, Nick Gorton, you know
Turk obviously as a bigger body, and so when you
have guys that have that versatility, there's definitely makes our
lives easier because we can deploy them in different ways,
we can get different alignments and different lineups out there
(13:22):
on the field, and so it's certainly helpful. But at
the end of the day, you know, we always go
into the game plan. Hey, these are the guys that
we think are best rushers. These are how we think
they match up against a certain ovansive alignment, and we
just always try to move them around to see who
could get the best matchups.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
On I was I didn't know that was in the
game plan. Of course they didn't tell me ahead of time.
So when we looked out there on Sunday from the
press box and we saw Nick Gorton lined up in
the interior of the defensive line, and then we saw
it again, and then we saw it again, it was like,
oh okay, Like we heard some things about them possibly
doing this, but you know, with the drop in weight
(13:58):
right from down to whatever was two eighty down to
two fifty two I think was what we found out
in training camp, somewhere into two fifty, somewhere in the
two fifty range. Like, obviously it's doable, but I didn't
know if they'd use it or do it very often.
But it appears that they're very comfortable with that.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
Now.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
If both DJ Wantum and Pat Jones can't play on Sunday,
I wonder how much of that we see, right If
you have, you know, yeah, because then you're gonna have
to ask a lot more of uh right, Nick Schurts,
and so you can't get as creative. It means you're
probably gonna be playing a little bit more DJ Johnson
if you're using him inside yea, right, yeah, which you
(14:32):
might do anyway, you know, you're going maybe a little
bit deeper into the original defensive tackle rotation that you brought,
like a Jayden Crummedy might get some more looks out
there on Sunday potentially, But I just wonder again, after
seeing how effective it was deploying skorts in and the
interior on Sunday, do they go back to more of
that this week? But if Wantum can't play, are they
(14:54):
forced to play scorts and more on the edge.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
Well, and that's also been a factor that's helped somebody interior,
you guys when they move a little bit more outside,
because I don't know if you've seen throughout the first
three weeks, I think when it comes to interior, DL
win pass rush win right, Ashan Robbinson's like top seven,
top eight. I saw that. I know he was top ten. Yeah,
so he's definitely it's helped him too. He's been getting
after the passer a little bit, but it's just one
(15:18):
of those situations. How does that mess things up? And
how does that also impact Princely Uman Meellen, because I
feel like we're now going to have to see him
in more three down sets this Sunday.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Yeah, and is he ready for that? We don't know
about that. I mean, sometimes you just got to throw
guys out there and find out. But yeah, I'll be
very curious to see how they deploy those guys Sunday,
given they're down another body potentially. We don't know that
DJ want him is out yet, but he didn't practice
again today and it doesn't look good.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
What else you got? All right? And we end on
the offensive side of the ball, Bryce Young. One of
the complaints that has had Bryce over his career is
the fact that he doesn't really slide when he runs
and gets outside the pocket, which was a problem when
he fumbled it a couple of weeks ago, and yesterday
during his pre conference, David Newton asked him about it,
but he asked him about it in the most David
(16:04):
Newton way possible. Dodgers the lading party that very shady,
very shady. You still look a little sluggish on that
and you've been appreciated. That was a nice word I used.
Speaker 5 (16:24):
Sluggish, Yeah, trying to do whatever it takes to me.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Slipping side. Ever, it takes me doing whatever it teats.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
What do you think Bryce really wanted to say? I mean,
I think what he really wants to say is what
the hell do you want me to do with that?
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Yeah, yeah, boy, I'll tell you what. David Newton versus
Bryce Young has become an interesting dynamic Newton versus everyone. Well,
yeah that too. But again, I kind of I feel
the same way that I have. I appreciate Bryce trying
to get the landing gear down a little bit better
on Sunday, it was still clunky.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
That's got to get better there.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
In my mind, there's never been an excuse for an
NFL quarterback who played at the Division IE level, played
baseball or not, who hasn't learned to slide, Like how
was that not a part of the curriculum at some
level of football that you aren't drilling it well enough
or often enough that these quarterbacks can comfortably slide. I mean, listen,
you've got a whole bunch of retired, washed up has
(17:28):
been forty something dudes out there playing flag football, Men's league, softball.
They can all slide. How can the franchise quarterback not
know how to slide?
Speaker 4 (17:37):
Yet? I don't understand it. I really don't. Well, we
had these problems with Cam Newton and luckily he eventually
got to work. Yeah, he figured it out. He's figured
it out, and you know, just it makes me think
of that was one of the conversations with RG three.
That was one of his major downfalls, is he just
never learned how to slide. How does it?
Speaker 3 (17:54):
But that's what I'm saying, How does it not for
all the passing academies, the quarterback camps, everything else, you know,
all the specialized quarterback coaching, the emphasis on the position.
You know, it's the most important position on the field.
You gotta protect them. We got rules protecting them. How
do all these guys not have the slide down pat
by the time they get to the NFL? I don't
get it. That's what did you say? The best audio
(18:14):
in the world of sports? When we return we got
Willie p will Polachiic voice of Charlotte FC. Some of
the air was let out of the balloon last weekend
they finally lost again. Not the worst thing in the
world because they'd won the previous nine matches prior to that.
But we'll talk to Willie p next Sports Radio ninety
two to seven WFNZ.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
He's tossing the gates with a hat of the rageous seats.
I can't behave you can try to get down. Oh
will you failed this scene. The world can't be say
the streets is cool with the world just off for
the week. So they after the week in a lamb
of the lamps. I amn't I beat Damn fro show,
My run the Show, Sports Radio ninety two to.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Seven wfn Z KB and smoke with you hanging out
having a good time.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
On a Thursday. Uncle d G.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Darren Gant is coming up in thirty three minutes. We
haven't had him back in a while, and he is
the unofficial historian of the Carolina Panthers. I guess since
he works there now, it's kind of official too. But
nobody's laid eyes on, written about, talked about the Carolina
Panthers for as long as Darren Gant has, except maybe
Scott Fowler that I can think of. I don't know
that many people. M Steve Reid's been around a long time,
(19:17):
but I mean, Darren Gant's pretty much seen it all.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
So he's back at five o'clock. From Jack Trudeau to
Bryce Young. Yes, I even got a Jack Trudeau who
played like one half against the Rams and first game
in Clemson in the nineteen ninety five that he was awful.
I watched that game.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
A Yeah, Darren's at every practice, he sees every injury report.
He knows everything going on. We'll try to get a
true look at how healthy or not healthy this team
really is right now on its way to New England Sunday.
Which speaking of, before we bring in Willie pe you've
seen the injury report.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
Who's on it. Yes, did not participate. Exhale did not
participate with a hamstring, Pat Jones hamstring, did not participate,
j T. Sanders ankle, DJ Wantum hips. So both the
airdressers are still into DNP category and limited. It's a
little interesting. Cuba appeared with a calf injury. He was limited.
No tedor Or did participate on unlimited capacity. I'm expecting
(20:05):
both to participate in the game on Sunday. And in
good news, Turk has gone from did not participate to
limited with Ami. If I were to guess I would
think Turk's still not playing this weekend. They're getting him
ready for next week against Miami. But it's still good
to see Turk finally get off the DNP chart.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
So what was the status that would give me XL
one more time? I was trying to do something, did
not participate?
Speaker 4 (20:28):
Did not? Do you think he plays Sunday? I'm I'm
leaning towards no right now.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
I think I am too leaning toward no right now, which,
by the way, we have to bring in and bring
back some or bring in I should say some Joe
person audio from earlier in the day here on WFNZ
that sounds like it, you know, backs up my theory
on a moment from week one in Jacksonville that had
us all wondering who was upset with who. We'll talk
about that in just a minute, but again seven oh
(20:55):
four five, seven ninety six to ten hit us up
on the FanDuel text line. Smoke and I were talking
about the great body transformations all time among athletes and
celebrities a little while ago, and you might think, KB,
that's that's weird. Why would you be talking about that, Well,
because Zion Williamson has apparently dropped. I don't know how
many pals like twenty five thirty pounds, the leanest version
of Zion Williamson that we have ever seen. The guy's
(21:16):
got cheekbones, real cheekbones.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Now.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
And we got to talking about athletes and celebrities who
had made insane body transformations. The name Edward Norton came up,
and then I got a text from Willie P who says,
I've got a great Edward Norton story for you when
I come on the air. So I don't know this story,
Let's wear this one. Let's bring on Willie P. Will
Polachiic voice of Charlotte FC WFNZ host reporter, He's back
for a Thursday conversation.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
What is this Edward Norton story you have? First things? First, KB,
you had me feeling like I had some scar tissue
with your talk about Indiana over the weekend because I,
like many, was thwarting Illinois's preseason hype. And let's just
say I came the closest I ever had to sleeping
(22:00):
on the couch because of how ticked off my wife
was at me for allegedly invalidating Indiana's victory. So that
was not good. But the Edward Norton story is when
I was working in Atlanta, he was doing the movie
I think it was called Motherless Brooklyn. It was a
movie that he had taken like very very personally. It
was an adapted screenplay, so he was like, it was
(22:23):
one of those like meta, big serious artist type movies.
It was absolutely awful, plummeted at the box. He was
doing a promo tour for it, and I know it
was awful because I got to see it, but it
plummeted at the box ifice. But he was doing a
tour for it, and I was working in Atlanta in
radio on the afternoon show with Mike Bell, and he
comes through the studio and he's got an entourage of
(22:45):
like five people. And on the copy points you get
these all the time when these actors come in. On
the copypoints, it says, in very big, bold read letters,
please do not call him ed Norton. His name is
Edward Norton. And I'm like, okay, fine, whatever he likes
to be called, it wore Norton whatever. So we're in
the interview live on the air. The pr person grabs
(23:06):
my earphones while we're on in front of a live
Mike and whispers in my ear please call him Edward
not Ed and my co host Mike Bell because he
doesn't remember anything that happened five minutes ago, called him
Ed Norton in the middle of the interview, and I'm
sitting there and I'm just like, for crying out loud, Mike, why,
(23:26):
how did how did Ednie? Boy? Respond? He was fine, Okay,
It's like he's like ed Norton, I mean Edward Norton,
Like it was like one of those things. I'm just
sitting I'm just like I had my head in my hands.
I'm thinking, like, man, guys, that's awesome. That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
I ran into Mike Bell at Army Navy last year.
He said, I think he sent his regards to you
via me. By the way, that's a funny guy. I'm
not the least bit surprised by that.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
Man is one of my favorite people in radio. Yes,
he's hilarious.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
He is.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
He's a good dude. He's a really good dude.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Hey, before you and I talked about FC we just
rattled off the injury report for the Panthers there a
minute ago. What do you make of the fact that
Xavior League get did not participate again today. It's a
hamstring injury, and I'm very careful, as I'm sure you are,
to not question athlete injuries because if a guy says
he's injured, he's injured. But you know, this has led
to a lot of speculation in the last couple of days,
(24:13):
and especially now that you know what's going on here,
there are rumors online that they could be shopping him,
which I'm not sure I agree with.
Speaker 4 (24:19):
But what do you make of this? Well, I very
much was like everybody that kind of raised an eyebrow
when we saw the injury first pop up. And again,
you know, hamstring injuries happen, and you know it can
be very innocuous, and the one thing we know about
hamstring injuries is that they linger. And I think a
lot of people when they saw xavierly get not play
(24:41):
because of the hamstring injury that popped up middle of
the week last week, we thought, maybe this gives them
the birth to not play him and call it like
a mental health day for him or whatever. But now,
at least for me, that makes me stand the reason
that it actually is a legitimate injury. I don't think
shopping him makes a whole lot of sense. They spent
assets to go up and get him. They're still very
very high on him, and it does seem like, at
(25:03):
least in my view from the people who I talk
to in the building on and off the record, that
they are still very very high on himuntil much to
the point where they almost feel like they have to
justify taking him after the kind of downturn it's taken
over the course of the middle part of last year
and then looping into the early part of this year.
I still think they believe in him, but I do
(25:23):
find it rather curious, Kyle, just because of the fact that, again,
this is a player who had a very unceremonious start
to his sophomore NFL campaign. Okay, how do you feel
about New England on Sunday? By the way, I I mean,
the thing about it is, I want to have respect
for what New England puts on the field. But the
problem I think of it also is if the Panthers
(25:45):
were at full strengthen this game, I would see them
as a team that probably could win this football game
out right very easily. The injuries to the defensive line
maybe have me pushing the pushing the pause button on
those things. Particularly if they lose both DJ on him
and Pat Jones, that means obviously a lot more time
for a DJ Johnson, more time obviously for Nick Gorton.
The Scurton part, I don't think is a bad thing.
(26:07):
I think s Gorton acquitted himself admirably and I really
love what they were doing with that NASCAR package that
had wantam A, Sean, Nick and Princely in pastors situations.
I think they can be a very big weapon when
the Panthers get themselves back fully healthy. But at the
same point in time, if they are able to get
pressure on Drake May, this could be a game that
very much tilts in the panthers favor. I think it's
(26:28):
like fourteen sacks this season that Drake May has suffered
this year. Their actual wide receivers don't scare me. Obviously.
The tight end hunter Henry is big. Austin Hooper has
had success in places that have not been necessarily New England,
and they know they play a lot of twelve personnel
with what they run with, so from that perspective, that's
something that they do well. The Panthers have not showed
(26:50):
an adeptness to doing well. I think it all just
also comes down to what Bryce can do against this defense,
because while last week a lot of the Fantasy bros
and Bryce Hayes will tell you well Panthers only had
two hundred and twenty one yards a total offense. I
think he managed the game well. But I think this
is a game that I feel like, if the Panthers
is going to win, you have to see a good
performance out of Bryce and the offense as a whole.
(27:10):
So I look for that to be maybe something that
also swings the pendulum more so in the Panthers favor.
Playing away from home is never easy, but I think
this is one that I think is definitely gettable from
Carolina's perspective.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
All Right, Will Polaca hanging out with us here for
a Thursday conversation. We all know last week that the
nine match win streak ended and New York City FC
top Charlotte FC two to nothing. You never want to lose.
It's never a good thing that you lose. It was
always probably going to come to an end at some point.
How do you characterize this one? Is this one of
those losses where you're just like, hey, you know, the
(27:43):
odds are it was going to happen. It needed to happen. Like,
how do you feel about it coming out of a
two zero loss.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
It's a Murphy's law type game. To me, Kyle, Everything
that could have gone wrong went wrong. It was a
twelve o'clock game, which is never easy, and I know
that both teams have to adjust to it, but it
did feel very much like a slip time kicked. There
were less than ten thousand people in the stands and
Yankee Stadium, with all respect to you know, the hallowed
halls that are there, or at least the even the
building that was across the street, probably a little bit
(28:10):
more how than the one that's there currently. It's not
a soccer field. It's not a soccer pitch. It's actually
just at the MLS and FIFA qualifications for the dimensions
of what a soccer pitch could be, there's like minimum
and maximum, and it's like right at the minimum. It is,
for example, seventeen yards narrower than the Charlotte dev C
(28:30):
home pitch, and I think it's somewhere in the neighborhood.
Are twenty two feet shorter length wise than Charlotte of
f C's pitch and one of Charlotte of C's ways
that they do. A lot of their build up is
with long direct passing. There I think fourth or fifth
in the league in accurate long balls played, and that
really limited a lot of that type of play. From
charlottop C's perspective, the field of the middle of the
(28:51):
field was very, very clogged up. They surrendered a penalty
early that I thought was dubious at best, he soft
at the very kindest, and it changed the way that
New York tactically played the game. And I even asked
this a Dean Smith earlier today. I said, would it
be fair to say that we never really even saw
your game plan because of that penalty in the early
ten minutes of the games? He said, yes, that's very fair.
So I think we don't even know how Charlott's he
(29:12):
was going to attack that game, because there was a
call made by the referee early in the game that
changed the complexion of it. The second penalty definitely was
a legitimate penalty and took Charlotte to see out of
the opportunity to really win that game out right. But
at the same point in time, there was always going
to be a game at some point down the stretch
here where you know they you know, the fifty balls
don't go your way. You know, the ball luck doesn't
(29:34):
go your way, and things that you were getting to
have happened during the streak don't happen. I think it's
a great place for a mental reset. And you got
two very winnable games right off the bat here going
into the stretch run, and then a game on the
final day of the season against a team that's at
the top of the table, which will provide a very
nice tune up for the playoffs. It sets up very
nicely for Charlotte and hopefully they get these two here,
(29:56):
maybe the one in the final day of the season
and finished top four. Hope the advantage in the opening round.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
So last thing then as we come down the stretch,
three matches left to go here, Now what in terms
of tightening up, tweaking things, you know, with the playoffs
in mind, they've clinched a playoff spot. Of course, we
talk about this in other sports as the playoffs near. Obviously,
staying healthy is a big part of it. But in
terms of tweaks changes anything that you would think or
expect that Dean Smith would do, as we near the postseason.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
What are you watching for. I'm wondering if in these
two games we see maybe some laboratory work done behind
Dean Smith. You know, I wouldn't be shocked if maybe
there's a change at winger in one of these two
games to give Leel Abata, you know, one last chance
maybe win that right wing spot out right from Carown Vargas.
Carowen's kind of had the run of it here very
(30:44):
much lately, but I think Leelle might have a claim
to it at some point here in these maybe next
two or three games. I also think too, you know,
trying to shure up the midfield. They've not had pet
bl from the start. In the last couple of contests,
he picked up a bit of tendonitis in the knee.
Don't know whether or not he's going to go this weekend.
Dean Smith called at fifty to fifty at best. They're
also trying to wait on the injury to Harry Toffelow
(31:07):
to get injured. So getting healthy is probably one of
the biggest chiefs concerns and getting back to what they
did well during the streak. And I asked Dean Smith,
what's the biggest thing that you guys have done in
these nine games that you weren't doing in the May
and June swoon. And it's being dominant in both boxes,
being able to be the aggressor on offense, and being
able to, you know, make sure that chances are not
(31:27):
allowed in your defensive third is the big, big thing
that keeps teams winning in this league, keeps teams winning
in soccer overall. If they can get back to that,
they'll be a very tough out come the postseason.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
Willie, We appreciate you, buddy, have a great weekend and
I'll talk to you very soon.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
Pleasures mind as always, k B. Thank you.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
Will Polotchick hanging out with us here on a Thursday,
seven oh four five seven ninety six ten. Hit us
up on the fan duel text line. We'll get you
that injury report coming up here. On the other side.
Darren Gantz coming up in twenty one minutes. He's all
over everything, every day, all the time, and he's got
great historical perspectives. So we'll talk to DG at five o'clock.
Bubba Wallace, you'll hear from him at five twenty five.
(32:05):
Ahead of this weekend's race at Kansas he's got the
one win on the year at the Brickyard up in
Indianapolis earlier this year, but about a dozen top tens,
handful of top fives, and he's raced well at Kansas.
So Bubba Wallace coming up in five twenty five. Right now,
we go to smoke on the headlines.
Speaker 4 (32:24):
All right, Kyle. We talked about the Panthers injuryport earlier
and just in case you missed that and are now
tuning in, did not participate in practice. Xavier League get
Pat Jones, J T Sanders, and dj one um All
did not participate. Limited participants Chewba Hubbard and tedor R McMillan,
both with a calf and in good news, Turk Wharton
with a hamstring was limited, but I would guess that's
(32:47):
likely going to be for next week's game, is what
they're ramping him up for. On the other side, the
big injury to look at for the Patriots is star
cornerback Christian Gonzales. He's made good progress, according to Jordan Schultz,
in his hamstring recovery, and it is likely to make
his season debut on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
All right, there you go, We'll come back. We'll tell
you who balled out a lot more to get to
Sports Radio ninety two seven w f n Z.
Speaker 4 (33:16):
The City, Get on your.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Feet, Hello, good protection turs for the year Zone.
Speaker 4 (33:29):
Can you go to the buck? He's gotta go coming
on the sign sign the can't back to rush running
into the area. It'll pass towards.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Oprates from poon cutting out.
Speaker 4 (33:52):
It's time for who balled Out?
Speaker 3 (33:53):
Powered by High Performance real Estate Advisors and the biggest
dad gumballer of them all, Thomas L.
Speaker 4 (33:58):
Rodd.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
Go to high Performance real Estate dot Com and they'll
see you at the closing table.
Speaker 4 (34:01):
Smoke would you bring for the people? I've got to
first off Kyle Rowley for hitting both home run homer's
number fifty nine and sixty on the year. Not bad
for a catcher h sixty home runs when the previous
record was forty five. And I got to go with
our very own Josh Fitty Marlowe because this man had
the gaw and actually did it and pulled it off.
The gall the gall, unmitigated golf, the unmitigated gall to
(34:23):
do what to take three days off, one for the
day before his birthday, two for the day of his birthday,
and three the day after his birthday.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
He has been getting ragged on in the halls of
wfn Z for this this week, I would love for
the Charlotte Cognizante to weigh in on this. Is it
lame for a man to take his own birthday off,
much less the days before and after his birthday. I
couldn't tell you the last time that I used PTO
for my birthday in the middle of the week. I
(34:53):
don't know that I've ever used PTO for my birthday.
I think back when I was probably in my certainly
late teen's early twenties. You know, I might have ducked
out of a part time job. But I don't think
I've ever used a single day of PTO because it
was my birthday on a Wednesday, my own graduation part
already at high school to go do PA announcing and listen.
(35:14):
Josh is still a young man all things considered, but
it's his twenty ninth birthday. Like I taking three days
off for your birthday, I've never taken.
Speaker 4 (35:24):
One, not one. Maybe that makes me think in fifth
grade I should have called it in sick on the
day of my birthday when I had diarrhea.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
Okay, yeah, but how do people feel it? Look, the
text line's already telling me how they feel about that.
Oh God, Like then somebody just said, the best day
at work is your birthday. Everybody wishes you happy birthday.
Sometimes you get cake Like I have never in my
life used a day of PTO for my birthday, not ever, ever, Ever,
I got two as well. Dodgers right now blasting the
(35:52):
Arizona Diamondbacks eight to nothing, but also notably in this game,
in the fourth inning, four total home run in the
fourth inning, truly unbelievable. Freeman hit one, Otani hit one,
who else hit one of the fourth and okay, and
I'm missing somebody out, but four home runs in the
fourth inning. Also Sean Alexander, who the former NFL MVP
(36:15):
running back, announced earlier today that he and his wife
are expecting their fourteenth child. Fourteenth child, I mean, people
give make jokes about me having back to back to
back three kids in three years. Honest question, do you
know all of your kids' names? Like, and I'm talking
of course you can figure it. I mean you can
(36:36):
figure it out. I'm not saying that you can't ever
distinguish between them, but like, how often does Sean Alexander
get his own kids' names wrong with fourteen. That woman
his wife, who I'm sure is just a saint and
an angel. Someone did the math earlier today. She's been
pregnant for ten and a half years of her life. Now,
I lived with a woman who was pregnant for basically
(36:56):
three and a half straight years and fellas I'm gonna
be careful here, but it's not exactly the easiest thing
in the world living with a woman that was pregnant
for three and a half years, much less ten and
a half years of her life with pregnancy hormones and
back aches and nausea and heartburn and just general attitude.
(37:18):
Ten and a half years of living with a pregnant woman,
can you imagine?
Speaker 4 (37:23):
You can't imagine, I can't.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
I mean, just the idea of living with a pregnant
woman for ten and a half actively pregnant is insane.
Never mind how hard that was on her. She's a hero,
be she's a literal superhero for being pregnant for ten
and a half years of her life.
Speaker 4 (37:37):
That's unbelievable. I was going to say, eight years from now,
I got an idea of what the house is going
to be like good not town boy, good night, Elizabeth,
good night, Daddy, good night, son, good night.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
Does he have a list that he carries around like
a call sheet of a football coach, to keep everybody's
names in life?
Speaker 4 (37:52):
It's the day of Walton's bro.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
I mean I saw something yesterday that you know, I've
got three kids right now, and I've told my wife, Hey,
look at all these studies that people with four kids
are the happiest couples. Like, look, there's science that backs
it up. People with four children scientifically are the happiest couples.
We may just go ahead and get to four, right,
Roman Harper's got four, you know, j. J. Jansen's got four. Like,
(38:16):
we need a fourth kid to be the happiest possible
versions of ourselves.
Speaker 4 (38:20):
And like I said, if you ever do get a
fourth child, you know what you need to name it?
What's that done? Because the third child's brook? Yeah, Brook
and done. That's not bad. That's not bad. We'll think
about that, but probably not where you drank your first beer.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
I found Jesus, that's right, seven four five, seven ninety
six ten.
Speaker 4 (38:42):
Hit us up on the fan.
Speaker 3 (38:42):
Duel text line Caleb Williams nail text says respectfully, there's
no way you can love them all the same if
you have fourteen.
Speaker 4 (38:49):
Yes you can. Yes, that doesn't mean you won't have
a favorite or three.
Speaker 3 (38:53):
But again, fourteen kids, like God, bless you man, Like
you're leaving a legacy.
Speaker 4 (38:56):
There's no doubt about that.
Speaker 3 (38:58):
And you gotta be really wealthy to have fourteen kids,
unless you're counting on all of them getting athletic scholarships.
Because I mean this, the tuition bill makes me want
to vomit when I think about that. Oh God, fourteen
kids trying to pay their way through college. Falts and
prayers to Philip Rivers, he fault, he had it all covered.
But ten that did He just saw Syle Alexander saying fourteen.
He probably dag dum that I thought I had it.
(39:19):
That's crazy, all right? Seven oh four five seven ninety
six ten hit us up on the fan duel text line,
do you have the Joe person audio that we were
talking about from earlier today? Joe Person, I don't know
how this came up, and I want to play it
because I kind of want to find out. I wasn't
listening live.
Speaker 4 (39:33):
Shame on me.
Speaker 3 (39:34):
But Joe Person joined Wes and Walker earlier today they
were talking Panthers, and I guess somehow the week one
against the Jacksonville Jaguars came up and there was that
I believe it was into the first half.
Speaker 4 (39:47):
Was it third quarter? I thought it was into the
first half. It was actually late early in the fourth quarter.
Was it really? Because that was the fourth and one
that he threw out the back of the end zone,
I thought that was you're faking late first half. That's
when he couldn't get two feet inbounds. It didn't drag
his feet right. I could have sworn it was early
in the game.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
But either way, it came up to play against Jacksonville
fourth and one, they got stuffed on the run twice
and Bryce Young is floating to his left and ends
up throwing the ball out of the back of the
end zone for a turnover on downs, and as he
came off the field, he slammed his helmet, and there
was speculation after the game or when it happened, but
(40:23):
also after the game that Bryce might have been upset
with Dave Canalis potentially for the play call. That's not
really how I saw it in the moment. And then
the more I watched it a second time, a third time,
a fourth time. It seemed to me that Bryce might
have been frustrated with Xavier league Get. That's apparently what
Joe Person saw too.
Speaker 1 (40:41):
Yeah, I don't know how much believe Bryce Young has
in them. We saw that play in Jacksonville where when
the game was still in the balance and Bryce was
trying to throw the ball to a very open Xavier
Lagett in the flat and Xavier never turned around, and
he was the first read should have known to turn
his head around, didn't, And and you know, we all
(41:04):
were wondering, like, oh, why was Bryce so kicked off
when he got to the sideline and throw his helmet.
He wasn't mad at Canalis or the play call. He
I think he was very frustrated Xavier Leget. And so
that's not good, you know, if you if you got
a quarterback, that's that's losing faith in yet. And again, listen,
Bryce Young is a team guy, like he is not
(41:25):
going to be like turn my back on Xavier leg
At every every Sunday. But that you know, you're starting
to see some warning signs.
Speaker 3 (41:36):
All right, So that now we know, I think I
kind of know how that came up then, but Joe
just went right to it like he doesn't think Bryce
has faith in Xavier League yet, and he saw it
similarly to how I did in Week one that it
looked to me like Bryce was maybe upset with it
with Excel for not breaking off the route. And I
think at the time we talked about the Cleveland game
and you know, Bryce directing traffic with Cocher in the
(41:57):
back of the end zone, maybe tried to do the
same with Excel, who didn't really respond the way that
he should have, and Bryce got upset.
Speaker 4 (42:03):
I don't know, smoke.
Speaker 3 (42:04):
There's been a lot of stuff online the last twenty
four to thirty six hours about this, and I try
not to get caught up in internet rumors because a
lot of it's just we all know fake, But there's
been a lot of you know, hey, we thought he
was going to play last week and then suddenly the
hamstring wasn't good enough. And now here we are a
week later and the hamstring still looking like it might
keep him out against the Patriots. Like is there anything
(42:25):
to this? Is he truly just injured and not able
to play? Are they holding him out? Could they even
potentially be shopping him ahead of the deadline. Like, I
don't think so, but I am starting to at least
entertain the idea.
Speaker 4 (42:37):
I'm in the same exact boat as you. I was
kind of throwing it out there, basically throwing it away,
not exactly poo pooing it, But I said, you know,
it doesn't really make sense to do this when you
still have Jalen Cocher out. But the fact that it
looks like it's going to happen for a second straight week,
either heard that hamstring is very is a very nagging
injury right now, which is very possible because hamies are
not easy to overcome, especially when you have to run
(43:00):
for a living, run routes on all that stuff, make
hard cuts and everything. But you're starting to look like,
all right, I'm giving this aside. I like, I'm keeping
my eye on this. Yes, if this is still a
thing by the time we get to next week where
he's not even if he's not a did not participate
and he's not even limited, it's all right, I'm really
looking at this next week if this is still a problem,
(43:21):
because turk Wrton's coming back look like next week as
of right now, unless he faces a setback and stuff
like that. If we start seeing Pat Jones and DJ
Wantam come back from their injuries before Xavier Leaet, it'd
be one of those like, Okay, they might actually be
doing this on purpose.
Speaker 3 (43:37):
And again, I don't want to be the guy like
if I said this to Canalis and Dan Morgan and
they just kind of wave me off and said, no,
he's just hurt.
Speaker 4 (43:43):
I'm like, Okay, that's fine, I get it.
Speaker 3 (43:45):
But the fact that we're now going into potentially a
second straight week with a hamstring injury that seemed to
kind of pop up out of no where, I don't know,
like you said, I think you just said it best.
I'm keeping an eye on this, but it's not looking
or tracking like he's going to play Sunday against New England.
And the worst part about that is is that almost
no one thinks that's the worst thing in the world
(44:07):
at this moment. Like it's kind of crazy that no
one seems to be at all distraught about the fact
that the perceived number two option on this team, you know,
last year's first rounder, just isn't playing again this week.
No one really seems all that distraught by it.
Speaker 4 (44:20):
And We've gone from not even knowing who Bryce and
Tremaine was before training camp to be everyone being like, yep,
oh fine, we got Bryon train now. Yeah, and then
everyone goes from not wanting to see David Moore de yeah,
David More. You know what I'd like to see it
put David Moore out there. Yeah. The tunes changed a
little bit. All right, we'll come back.
Speaker 3 (44:37):
We'll talk about this with Darren Gant Panthers dot Com,
Uncle dg Neck Sports Radio ninety two to seven wfn
Z
This is the Kyle Bailey Show, powered by Victory Chevy Charlotte,
where every month is Truck Month.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Victory Chevy Charlotte Your Silverado Destination.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Hour two Live from the Chandler Volta Studios. The Carolina's
Personal Injury Lawyers go to Cvinjurylaw dot Com. I asked
before the break, what do the Panthers in the Indiana
Hoosiers have in common? And it's not super substantive, but
it is interesting how we as fans and media do
react to certain games and outcomes. Because this past weekend,
in a game that Illinois was favored, and I think
(00:46):
everybody I know expected Brett Bielima and the Ilini to
beat Indiana, a lot of us believing that kurtz Signetti
and company would be very much in rebuilding mode coming
off a surprising playoff appearance in twenty twenty four, and
then Kurt Signetti and Indiana beat them to the tune
of sixty three to ten. I know Tom Fernelli, who's
gotten two mentions on this show already today wrote a
(01:08):
piece about how they beat them so badly. It's almost
as if they undermined their own win. You beat a
team sixty three to ten. It forces people to direct
their attention to oh, wait a minute, was that other
team just so much worse than we thought they were
that this win isn't that impressive. It's kind of the
same thing with the Panthers this week that because they
just bludgeoned Atlanta thirty to nothing, instead of being like,
(01:29):
oh man, the Panthers really put a game together, everybody's like,
oh crap, maybe Atlanta just sucks and they're really really bad.
It's the same kind of effect where you be a
team so bad and it's so ugly you almost undermine
your own win well, and I think people have been
annoyed with Kurt Signetti and the fact that they've changed
their schedule. Tiaes He's like, oh, they don't play anybody,
and then they beat Illinois, who is a very good team.
It's like, maybe Illinois just ain't that good, right and
(01:52):
didn't watch that could change it as soon as this
weekend as Illinois plays usc and they're hosting them in
Champagne champagne right, Yes, Okay, I get it because.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
There was a champagne. Yes, I believe, well, I get it.
Confused because of the former pitt player Champagne or something
like that.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Wait, wait, you confused champ a college town with the
former Pittsburgh Wing.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Yes, because I always fought everything was Champagne until that
guy came around it was Champagne, and it completely screwed
up my brain.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Just because somebody's you know, and somebody's name is pronounced
a little differently doesn't okay?
Speaker 4 (02:24):
All right, but I just have to second guess myself
unless I'm literally talking about Champagne. I didn't know. We
all have weird hang ups. I get it, so yeah, Like,
for example, I fought Patrick Swayze and Kurt Russell were
the same person growing up. Oh really, yes, no way, yes.
People say you can't get white guys confused.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
I got Kurt Russell and Patrick Swayze, who says that
that's a ridiculous thing to say. I don't know, that's
a that's a really weird thing to say, though I didn't,
you know what, since we're on the well, never mind,
I'll come back to that a little bit later in
the show. Seven oh four or five, seven oh ninety
six ten. I did get a text from Johnny earlier
in the show, not that Johnny, a different one. He
asked me, KB, have you seen Zion Williamson's weight loss?
Maybe we should traded for him after all. I smoke
(03:02):
sent that to me this morning. Like a lot of people,
I was shocked to see a chiseled Zion Williamson who
now has cheekbones visible cheekbones. I didn't see the exact number.
It looks like he's lost twenty five thirty pounds, Like
he looks like he's dropped a solid twenty five to
thirty pounds. That's the best looking Zion Williamson we've seen period. Yeah,
(03:24):
lean muscle, Yeah, looks like he's in fantastic shape.
Speaker 4 (03:27):
Looks at least ten to fifteen pounds lighter than when
he was at Duke, And like you know, Duke, he
was I think relatively in shape, but he still had
some of that baby fat and that pudge to him.
That pudge is almost all all gone. So I don't
know how this is gonna, you know, change his plank style.
I don't think it will. But if his plank style
can go on top of him losing weight and he
(03:47):
stays healthy, I mean, just when it's like this scene
from Godfader part three, Just when I think they I'm out,
they pull me back in a hell.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
It's just an incredible body transformation. We've seen athletes do
stuff like this before. He's not the first one of
the only one to ever do it. Lebron James once
famously lost what like twenty five pounds in an offseason
came back looking noticeably different. But nobody ever looked at
Lebron as being overweight or slovenly or however you want to.
No one ever looked at him that way. They just
looked him being spelt beefy. Yeah, I mean, he was
(04:20):
just a monster of a man. He's six six two
sixty five, Like he was just a monster, but he
leaned out even more. But you looked at Zion and
people made a lot of fat jokes and candy bar
jokes and things like that. It's a really, really impressive
body transformation for Zion Williamson, it really is. It also
got me down this rabbit hole of some of the
great body transformations ever, not just in sports, but also
(04:40):
uh like actors and other celebrities. You know what my
favorite body transformation of all time is? I think what
Jonah Hill, which one all of them like fat Jonah
Hill to skinny Jonah Hill, back to fat Jonah Hill,
then kind of fat Jonah Hill. Well, if we're going
to talk about actors, I think Christian Bell has to
be at the top of the list for which role. Well,
going so back in two thousand and three, he did
(05:02):
a roll for The Machinist yep, where he was like
ninety pounds.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
Oh, he's like emaciated. Yeah yeah. And then you know,
the next movie after that was that Batman. Yeah Man
begins and he got absolutely jacked.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
That was in a year and a half, like going
from like ninety five pounds where you can see his
bones to look at Jack to the gills. And then
he was in Vice and he was really fat too.
I think honestly, I think he told someone during one
of his latest movies, like after Vice, He's like, I'm
getting a little too old for this. Yeah, ainting all
that way it was just a little too much for him.
So his days of gaining and losing weight are done.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
But had greatest body transformation. You know, you know what
my favorite one all time might be. If I gave
you bad ten guesses, I'm not sure that you would
remember it or that you would guess it. You know
the name Ethan Suppley.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
Name kind of rings a bell. Remember the Titans offensive lineman,
big fat dude together, Yeah he was.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
My name is Earl, right, Yeah, yes, he was Louis
Elastic and remember the Titans.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Oh see, he got type cast as the fat guy
in everything early.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
Two thousands movie he needed a fat guy. He was
your man.
Speaker 3 (06:07):
He was your guy, like great actor, really funny. Everybody
loved him. Jolly giant type of thing, well over five
hundred pounds. And then I guess after he made all
of his Hollywood money, we looked up like five years later,
and the dude is an absolute monster. I think by
the time he was forty, he was down to like
sixteen percent body fat, bench pressing five hundred pounds like
Ethan Suppley's body transformation is one of the greatest that
(06:31):
I've ever seen in my entire life.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
You would not expect that that was the fact.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
No, I Like, when I looked at his face, because
I'm pretty good with faces, Like, I knew who he was,
and I just couldn't believe that that was the same
Louie elastic fat dude from remember the Titans, who now
looks like a former NFL linebacker.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Absolutely insane, ikin get this filmography. He also it wasn't
just like two or three rules. He was in blow.
He was an American History X. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
He was also in a Boy Meets World and he
was super fat in American History X too.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
Yeah. You know who his dad was in Meets World?
No Vader, really big Van Vader. Yeah. They did an
episode where he was going back and forth between wrestling
event and brom.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
No way, Yeah, that's crazy, Okay, all right, oh ooh.
Aggie Pride says there's a debate in the black community
about who was the better singer, Fat Luther Vandross or
Skenny Luther Vandross. Many think Fatly Listen, I'm as a
as a non card carrying member of the black community,
I would like to weigh in on this because I
do love me some Luther Vandross. I mean, you want
(07:28):
to talk about baby making music. Fat Luther Vandross is untouchable,
absolutely untouchable. Skenny Luther Vandross might sound the same, but
it don't hit the same When you know it's Skenny
Luther Vandross be melting that out. Do you think if
Ruben was skinny, he would have won American Idol. I
haven't thought about that guy in a long time. What's
a guy's name that won it? Clay Hilton or no, Clay.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Clay.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
No, Ruben won it. He wanted over Clay Aigen. Oh
but I thought you said he would have won it. No,
if he was skinny. Do you think he's steward of won?
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Umm, that's a good quest question. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
I can't answer that. I have no idea. Somebody just
said that Ethan Suppley was big and Varsity Blues too.
You're thinking of a different guy, man, alright, Yeah, you're
thinking of a different guy. He passed away a couple
of years ago. Yeah, but I mean the Ethan Suppley.
One of the greatest greatest body transformations of all time.
Edward Norton, what was it the Pianist?
Speaker 4 (08:21):
No, that was.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Brody, Adrian Brodie was an agent. Okay, that's right. But
didn't Edward Norton have one too? Like an insane body transformation?
Speaker 4 (08:30):
He was in that Hulk movie. But like, yeah, I
don't remember him doing a.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Massive Yeah, yeah, okay, all right, seven oh four five,
seven ninety six ten hit us up on the FanDuel
text line, greatest body transformations ever. And you know what
are great ones too? All the former offensive linemen that
now look like like underwear models. Gross Jordan Gross, former
former Brown's left tackle Joe Thomas another one. I mean
quit football, lost like eighty five pounds in the next
(08:56):
six months. I mean, these are awesome. I love to
see former offensive lineman gets skinny. It's one of my
favorite things ever. All right, let's go to smoke with
the best audio in sports.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
What did you say? You what? What did you say?
Wait a minute, send me right? What I mean by that.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Is all right?
Speaker 4 (09:15):
What you got? All right? For transparency sake, and I
wanted to be fair to the listeners. I did find
the audio where Zach Robinson dared dared to go after
to find folks of Charlotte, North Carolina after he put
up that performance on Sunday. Here's the full quote of
what Zach Robinson had to say when he called out
the Queen City.
Speaker 5 (09:38):
Wow, obviously, you know, incredibly humbling, you know, day out there.
I don't think any of us have ever really been
a part of something like that. But again, it was
just it was just a really off day, you know,
I thought the energy you know, at practice all last
week was great. I thought the energy in pregame warm
ups was good. I mean, guys were pumped up. That
(09:58):
is a sleepy place, as you guys know to play,
but didn't feel any way pregame and just when the
ball was snapped obviously the first snap of the game,
you know, we're thrown off, Kyle, and it was just
kind of like from there, it just you know, it.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Just didn't go our way.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
So yeah, they better play that in the locker room
the next time they face Atlanta. Now it's going to
be in Atlanta. But I mean he just said it
so matter of factly, like you know, that's a really
sleepy place to play.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
He said it like he was at chuckle Thackery.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
I No, he said it like he was a like
he's coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Buffalo Bills.
As if you're not a coach in Atlanta, come on, man,
Like I was in the building for a major college
football game in Week one. Place gets kind of loud,
but we also know what the inside of that buildings
looked like down the stretch the last several years. Get
out of here with that garbage, Like I'm sorry, I
(10:46):
got no beef with Falcons fan.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Well, I guess I kind of do. But like that,
that place is not formidable. Nobody's scared of going into Atlanta.
The only place that you're scared to go to Atlanta
area when it comes to football at Sanford Stadium, that's
the only place where it's like, yeah, it's loud.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Well, we all know that's a very sleepy placed. Listen,
we all know what it's been like around here for years.
People have checked. I get it, but like, bro, you're
an Atlanta coach, stop it with that stuff.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
What else you got? And last time I checked, Carolina
does not playing chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. There you go, all right,
Moving things on to actually close to chestnut Hill, New
England and Foxborough as Drake May will be taking on
to Carolina Panthers, a team who he grew up rooting for.
He was asked about going up against is the team
he rooted for as a kid for the first time
in the regular season, Yeah, I think it's a.
Speaker 6 (11:29):
Different playing up here. You're going back to Charlote bet
would have been different. But you know, going against the
team that I grew up watching, you know, grew up
heering for and a lot of great memories in that
stadium back in Making America. So yeah, it's a little different,
but at the same time, it's still you know, this
is another week a week in the NFL, and you
know the same players that I grew up, you know,
playing for beside the longest snapper Sue there.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
So a shout out JJ got him a little uh,
a little plug right there. Yeah, this doesn't mean anything
to Drake, and I don't mean that as in it
won't be a little bit cool for him for the
first time to stand opposite the team that he rooted.
But you'll get over that stuff really quickly. It's only
gonna matter what it happens here. Yes, and given the
way that the AFC and NFC schedule things out, it's
(12:11):
gonna be on. It's gonna be a while, right probably
what four years, yea, four years before that happens.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
It depends because now you have an extra AFC game,
that's right. Still, it's once every four years, yea, every
eight years that you play here.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
And hopefully the first time that somebody in process blue,
black and White puts him on the ground, he'll be
completely over any enabument of playing against the team that
he grew up for and here's hoping that he hates
the colors of the Panthers by the time that game
is over on Sunday in New England.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
And speaking of those beautiful black and blue colors, the
defensive ends are kind of beat up right now as
multiple guys including Pat Jones and DJ Won him along
with Turk Wharton, are injured and it's looking like the
rookies are gonna have to have a bigger go. But
earlier today e j Evera was asked about one of
those rookies, Nick Scoorton, and how he has grown throughout
(12:58):
a short time period.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
It's always advantage when you have those guys that have
the ability to rush inside and outside, and you know
with Pat Jones has that ability, Nick Gorton, you know
Turk obviously as a bigger body, and so when you
have guys that have that versatility, there's definitely makes our
lives easier because we can deploy them in different ways,
we can get different alignments and different lineups out there
(13:22):
on the field, and so it's certainly helpful. But at
the end of the day, you know, we always go
into the game plan. Hey, these are the guys that
we think are best rushers. These are how we think
they match up against a certain ovansive alignment, and we
just always try to move them around to see who
could get the best matchups.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
On I was I didn't know that was in the
game plan. Of course they didn't tell me ahead of time.
So when we looked out there on Sunday from the
press box and we saw Nick Gorton lined up in
the interior of the defensive line, and then we saw
it again, and then we saw it again, it was like,
oh okay, Like we heard some things about them possibly
doing this, but you know, with the drop in weight
(13:58):
right from down to whatever was two eighty down to
two fifty two I think was what we found out
in training camp, somewhere into two fifty, somewhere in the
two fifty range. Like, obviously it's doable, but I didn't
know if they'd use it or do it very often.
But it appears that they're very comfortable with that.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
Now.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
If both DJ Wantum and Pat Jones can't play on Sunday,
I wonder how much of that we see, right If
you have, you know, yeah, because then you're gonna have
to ask a lot more of uh right, Nick Schurts,
and so you can't get as creative. It means you're
probably gonna be playing a little bit more DJ Johnson
if you're using him inside yea, right, yeah, which you
(14:32):
might do anyway, you know, you're going maybe a little
bit deeper into the original defensive tackle rotation that you brought,
like a Jayden Crummedy might get some more looks out
there on Sunday potentially, But I just wonder again, after
seeing how effective it was deploying skorts in and the
interior on Sunday, do they go back to more of
that this week? But if Wantum can't play, are they
(14:54):
forced to play scorts and more on the edge.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
Well, and that's also been a factor that's helped somebody interior,
you guys when they move a little bit more outside,
because I don't know if you've seen throughout the first
three weeks, I think when it comes to interior, DL
win pass rush win right, Ashan Robbinson's like top seven,
top eight. I saw that. I know he was top ten. Yeah,
so he's definitely it's helped him too. He's been getting
after the passer a little bit, but it's just one
(15:18):
of those situations. How does that mess things up? And
how does that also impact Princely Uman Meellen, because I
feel like we're now going to have to see him
in more three down sets this Sunday.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Yeah, and is he ready for that? We don't know
about that. I mean, sometimes you just got to throw
guys out there and find out. But yeah, I'll be
very curious to see how they deploy those guys Sunday,
given they're down another body potentially. We don't know that
DJ want him is out yet, but he didn't practice
again today and it doesn't look good.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
What else you got? All right? And we end on
the offensive side of the ball, Bryce Young. One of
the complaints that has had Bryce over his career is
the fact that he doesn't really slide when he runs
and gets outside the pocket, which was a problem when
he fumbled it a couple of weeks ago, and yesterday
during his pre conference, David Newton asked him about it,
but he asked him about it in the most David
(16:04):
Newton way possible. Dodgers the lading party that very shady,
very shady. You still look a little sluggish on that
and you've been appreciated. That was a nice word I used.
Speaker 5 (16:24):
Sluggish, Yeah, trying to do whatever it takes to me.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Slipping side. Ever, it takes me doing whatever it teats.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
What do you think Bryce really wanted to say? I mean,
I think what he really wants to say is what
the hell do you want me to do with that?
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Yeah, yeah, boy, I'll tell you what. David Newton versus
Bryce Young has become an interesting dynamic Newton versus everyone. Well,
yeah that too. But again, I kind of I feel
the same way that I have. I appreciate Bryce trying
to get the landing gear down a little bit better
on Sunday, it was still clunky.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
That's got to get better there.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
In my mind, there's never been an excuse for an
NFL quarterback who played at the Division IE level, played
baseball or not, who hasn't learned to slide, Like how
was that not a part of the curriculum at some
level of football that you aren't drilling it well enough
or often enough that these quarterbacks can comfortably slide. I mean, listen,
you've got a whole bunch of retired, washed up has
(17:28):
been forty something dudes out there playing flag football, Men's league, softball.
They can all slide. How can the franchise quarterback not
know how to slide?
Speaker 4 (17:37):
Yet? I don't understand it. I really don't. Well, we
had these problems with Cam Newton and luckily he eventually
got to work. Yeah, he figured it out. He's figured
it out, and you know, just it makes me think
of that was one of the conversations with RG three.
That was one of his major downfalls, is he just
never learned how to slide. How does it?
Speaker 3 (17:54):
But that's what I'm saying, How does it not for
all the passing academies, the quarterback camps, everything else, you know,
all the specialized quarterback coaching, the emphasis on the position.
You know, it's the most important position on the field.
You gotta protect them. We got rules protecting them. How
do all these guys not have the slide down pat
by the time they get to the NFL? I don't
get it. That's what did you say? The best audio
(18:14):
in the world of sports? When we return we got
Willie p will Polachiic voice of Charlotte FC. Some of
the air was let out of the balloon last weekend
they finally lost again. Not the worst thing in the
world because they'd won the previous nine matches prior to that.
But we'll talk to Willie p next Sports Radio ninety
two to seven WFNZ.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
He's tossing the gates with a hat of the rageous seats.
I can't behave you can try to get down. Oh
will you failed this scene. The world can't be say
the streets is cool with the world just off for
the week. So they after the week in a lamb
of the lamps. I amn't I beat Damn fro show,
My run the Show, Sports Radio ninety two to.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Seven wfn Z KB and smoke with you hanging out
having a good time.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
On a Thursday. Uncle d G.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
Darren Gant is coming up in thirty three minutes. We
haven't had him back in a while, and he is
the unofficial historian of the Carolina Panthers. I guess since
he works there now, it's kind of official too. But
nobody's laid eyes on, written about, talked about the Carolina
Panthers for as long as Darren Gant has, except maybe
Scott Fowler that I can think of. I don't know
that many people. M Steve Reid's been around a long time,
(19:17):
but I mean, Darren Gant's pretty much seen it all.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
So he's back at five o'clock. From Jack Trudeau to
Bryce Young. Yes, I even got a Jack Trudeau who
played like one half against the Rams and first game
in Clemson in the nineteen ninety five that he was awful.
I watched that game.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
A Yeah, Darren's at every practice, he sees every injury report.
He knows everything going on. We'll try to get a
true look at how healthy or not healthy this team
really is right now on its way to New England Sunday.
Which speaking of, before we bring in Willie pe you've
seen the injury report.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
Who's on it. Yes, did not participate. Exhale did not
participate with a hamstring, Pat Jones hamstring, did not participate,
j T. Sanders ankle, DJ Wantum hips. So both the
airdressers are still into DNP category and limited. It's a
little interesting. Cuba appeared with a calf injury. He was limited.
No tedor Or did participate on unlimited capacity. I'm expecting
(20:05):
both to participate in the game on Sunday. And in
good news, Turk has gone from did not participate to
limited with Ami. If I were to guess I would
think Turk's still not playing this weekend. They're getting him
ready for next week against Miami. But it's still good
to see Turk finally get off the DNP chart.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
So what was the status that would give me XL
one more time? I was trying to do something, did
not participate?
Speaker 4 (20:28):
Did not? Do you think he plays Sunday? I'm I'm
leaning towards no right now.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
I think I am too leaning toward no right now, which,
by the way, we have to bring in and bring
back some or bring in I should say some Joe
person audio from earlier in the day here on WFNZ
that sounds like it, you know, backs up my theory
on a moment from week one in Jacksonville that had
us all wondering who was upset with who. We'll talk
about that in just a minute, but again seven oh
(20:55):
four five, seven ninety six to ten hit us up
on the FanDuel text line. Smoke and I were talking
about the great body transformations all time among athletes and
celebrities a little while ago, and you might think, KB,
that's that's weird. Why would you be talking about that, Well,
because Zion Williamson has apparently dropped. I don't know how
many pals like twenty five thirty pounds, the leanest version
of Zion Williamson that we have ever seen. The guy's
(21:16):
got cheekbones, real cheekbones.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Now.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
And we got to talking about athletes and celebrities who
had made insane body transformations. The name Edward Norton came up,
and then I got a text from Willie P who says,
I've got a great Edward Norton story for you when
I come on the air. So I don't know this story,
Let's wear this one. Let's bring on Willie P. Will
Polachiic voice of Charlotte FC WFNZ host reporter, He's back
for a Thursday conversation.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
What is this Edward Norton story you have? First things? First, KB,
you had me feeling like I had some scar tissue
with your talk about Indiana over the weekend because I,
like many, was thwarting Illinois's preseason hype. And let's just
say I came the closest I ever had to sleeping
(22:00):
on the couch because of how ticked off my wife
was at me for allegedly invalidating Indiana's victory. So that
was not good. But the Edward Norton story is when
I was working in Atlanta, he was doing the movie
I think it was called Motherless Brooklyn. It was a
movie that he had taken like very very personally. It
was an adapted screenplay, so he was like, it was
(22:23):
one of those like meta, big serious artist type movies.
It was absolutely awful, plummeted at the box. He was
doing a promo tour for it, and I know it
was awful because I got to see it, but it
plummeted at the box ifice. But he was doing a
tour for it, and I was working in Atlanta in
radio on the afternoon show with Mike Bell, and he
comes through the studio and he's got an entourage of
(22:45):
like five people. And on the copy points you get
these all the time when these actors come in. On
the copypoints, it says, in very big, bold read letters,
please do not call him ed Norton. His name is
Edward Norton. And I'm like, okay, fine, whatever he likes
to be called, it wore Norton whatever. So we're in
the interview live on the air. The pr person grabs
(23:06):
my earphones while we're on in front of a live
Mike and whispers in my ear please call him Edward
not Ed and my co host Mike Bell because he
doesn't remember anything that happened five minutes ago, called him
Ed Norton in the middle of the interview, and I'm
sitting there and I'm just like, for crying out loud, Mike, why,
(23:26):
how did how did Ednie? Boy? Respond? He was fine, Okay,
It's like he's like ed Norton, I mean Edward Norton,
Like it was like one of those things. I'm just
sitting I'm just like I had my head in my hands.
I'm thinking, like, man, guys, that's awesome. That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
I ran into Mike Bell at Army Navy last year.
He said, I think he sent his regards to you
via me. By the way, that's a funny guy. I'm
not the least bit surprised by that.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
Man is one of my favorite people in radio. Yes,
he's hilarious.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
He is.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
He's a good dude. He's a really good dude.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
Hey, before you and I talked about FC we just
rattled off the injury report for the Panthers there a
minute ago. What do you make of the fact that
Xavior League get did not participate again today. It's a
hamstring injury, and I'm very careful, as I'm sure you are,
to not question athlete injuries because if a guy says
he's injured, he's injured. But you know, this has led
to a lot of speculation in the last couple of days,
(24:13):
and especially now that you know what's going on here,
there are rumors online that they could be shopping him,
which I'm not sure I agree with.
Speaker 4 (24:19):
But what do you make of this? Well, I very
much was like everybody that kind of raised an eyebrow
when we saw the injury first pop up. And again,
you know, hamstring injuries happen, and you know it can
be very innocuous, and the one thing we know about
hamstring injuries is that they linger. And I think a
lot of people when they saw xavierly get not play
(24:41):
because of the hamstring injury that popped up middle of
the week last week, we thought, maybe this gives them
the birth to not play him and call it like
a mental health day for him or whatever. But now,
at least for me, that makes me stand the reason
that it actually is a legitimate injury. I don't think
shopping him makes a whole lot of sense. They spent
assets to go up and get him. They're still very
very high on him, and it does seem like, at
(25:03):
least in my view from the people who I talk
to in the building on and off the record, that
they are still very very high on himuntil much to
the point where they almost feel like they have to
justify taking him after the kind of downturn it's taken
over the course of the middle part of last year
and then looping into the early part of this year.
I still think they believe in him, but I do
(25:23):
find it rather curious, Kyle, just because of the fact that, again,
this is a player who had a very unceremonious start
to his sophomore NFL campaign. Okay, how do you feel
about New England on Sunday? By the way, I I mean,
the thing about it is, I want to have respect
for what New England puts on the field. But the
problem I think of it also is if the Panthers
(25:45):
were at full strengthen this game, I would see them
as a team that probably could win this football game
out right very easily. The injuries to the defensive line
maybe have me pushing the pushing the pause button on
those things. Particularly if they lose both DJ on him
and Pat Jones, that means obviously a lot more time
for a DJ Johnson, more time obviously for Nick Gorton.
The Scurton part, I don't think is a bad thing.
(26:07):
I think s Gorton acquitted himself admirably and I really
love what they were doing with that NASCAR package that
had wantam A, Sean, Nick and Princely in pastors situations.
I think they can be a very big weapon when
the Panthers get themselves back fully healthy. But at the
same point in time, if they are able to get
pressure on Drake May, this could be a game that
very much tilts in the panthers favor. I think it's
(26:28):
like fourteen sacks this season that Drake May has suffered
this year. Their actual wide receivers don't scare me. Obviously.
The tight end hunter Henry is big. Austin Hooper has
had success in places that have not been necessarily New England,
and they know they play a lot of twelve personnel
with what they run with, so from that perspective, that's
something that they do well. The Panthers have not showed
(26:50):
an adeptness to doing well. I think it all just
also comes down to what Bryce can do against this defense,
because while last week a lot of the Fantasy bros
and Bryce Hayes will tell you well Panthers only had
two hundred and twenty one yards a total offense. I
think he managed the game well. But I think this
is a game that I feel like, if the Panthers
is going to win, you have to see a good
performance out of Bryce and the offense as a whole.
(27:10):
So I look for that to be maybe something that
also swings the pendulum more so in the Panthers favor.
Playing away from home is never easy, but I think
this is one that I think is definitely gettable from
Carolina's perspective.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
All Right, Will Polaca hanging out with us here for
a Thursday conversation. We all know last week that the
nine match win streak ended and New York City FC
top Charlotte FC two to nothing. You never want to lose.
It's never a good thing that you lose. It was
always probably going to come to an end at some point.
How do you characterize this one? Is this one of
those losses where you're just like, hey, you know, the
(27:43):
odds are it was going to happen. It needed to happen. Like,
how do you feel about it coming out of a
two zero loss.
Speaker 4 (27:49):
It's a Murphy's law type game. To me, Kyle, Everything
that could have gone wrong went wrong. It was a
twelve o'clock game, which is never easy, and I know
that both teams have to adjust to it, but it
did feel very much like a slip time kicked. There
were less than ten thousand people in the stands and
Yankee Stadium, with all respect to you know, the hallowed
halls that are there, or at least the even the
building that was across the street, probably a little bit
(28:10):
more how than the one that's there currently. It's not
a soccer field. It's not a soccer pitch. It's actually
just at the MLS and FIFA qualifications for the dimensions
of what a soccer pitch could be, there's like minimum
and maximum, and it's like right at the minimum. It is,
for example, seventeen yards narrower than the Charlotte dev C
(28:30):
home pitch, and I think it's somewhere in the neighborhood.
Are twenty two feet shorter length wise than Charlotte of
f C's pitch and one of Charlotte of C's ways
that they do. A lot of their build up is
with long direct passing. There I think fourth or fifth
in the league in accurate long balls played, and that
really limited a lot of that type of play. From
charlottop C's perspective, the field of the middle of the
(28:51):
field was very, very clogged up. They surrendered a penalty
early that I thought was dubious at best, he soft
at the very kindest, and it changed the way that
New York tactically played the game. And I even asked
this a Dean Smith earlier today. I said, would it
be fair to say that we never really even saw
your game plan because of that penalty in the early
ten minutes of the games? He said, yes, that's very fair.
So I think we don't even know how Charlott's he
(29:12):
was going to attack that game, because there was a
call made by the referee early in the game that
changed the complexion of it. The second penalty definitely was
a legitimate penalty and took Charlotte to see out of
the opportunity to really win that game out right. But
at the same point in time, there was always going
to be a game at some point down the stretch
here where you know they you know, the fifty balls
don't go your way. You know, the ball luck doesn't
(29:34):
go your way, and things that you were getting to
have happened during the streak don't happen. I think it's
a great place for a mental reset. And you got
two very winnable games right off the bat here going
into the stretch run, and then a game on the
final day of the season against a team that's at
the top of the table, which will provide a very
nice tune up for the playoffs. It sets up very
nicely for Charlotte and hopefully they get these two here,
(29:56):
maybe the one in the final day of the season
and finished top four. Hope the advantage in the opening round.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
So last thing then as we come down the stretch,
three matches left to go here, Now what in terms
of tightening up, tweaking things, you know, with the playoffs
in mind, they've clinched a playoff spot. Of course, we
talk about this in other sports as the playoffs near. Obviously,
staying healthy is a big part of it. But in
terms of tweaks changes anything that you would think or
expect that Dean Smith would do, as we near the postseason.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
What are you watching for. I'm wondering if in these
two games we see maybe some laboratory work done behind
Dean Smith. You know, I wouldn't be shocked if maybe
there's a change at winger in one of these two
games to give Leel Abata, you know, one last chance
maybe win that right wing spot out right from Carown Vargas.
Carowen's kind of had the run of it here very
(30:44):
much lately, but I think Leelle might have a claim
to it at some point here in these maybe next
two or three games. I also think too, you know,
trying to shure up the midfield. They've not had pet
bl from the start. In the last couple of contests,
he picked up a bit of tendonitis in the knee.
Don't know whether or not he's going to go this weekend.
Dean Smith called at fifty to fifty at best. They're
also trying to wait on the injury to Harry Toffelow
(31:07):
to get injured. So getting healthy is probably one of
the biggest chiefs concerns and getting back to what they
did well during the streak. And I asked Dean Smith,
what's the biggest thing that you guys have done in
these nine games that you weren't doing in the May
and June swoon. And it's being dominant in both boxes,
being able to be the aggressor on offense, and being
able to, you know, make sure that chances are not
(31:27):
allowed in your defensive third is the big, big thing
that keeps teams winning in this league, keeps teams winning
in soccer overall. If they can get back to that,
they'll be a very tough out come the postseason.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
Willie, We appreciate you, buddy, have a great weekend and
I'll talk to you very soon.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
Pleasures mind as always, k B. Thank you.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
Will Polotchick hanging out with us here on a Thursday,
seven oh four five seven ninety six ten. Hit us
up on the fan duel text line. We'll get you
that injury report coming up here. On the other side.
Darren Gantz coming up in twenty one minutes. He's all
over everything, every day, all the time, and he's got
great historical perspectives. So we'll talk to DG at five o'clock.
Bubba Wallace, you'll hear from him at five twenty five.
(32:05):
Ahead of this weekend's race at Kansas he's got the
one win on the year at the Brickyard up in
Indianapolis earlier this year, but about a dozen top tens,
handful of top fives, and he's raced well at Kansas.
So Bubba Wallace coming up in five twenty five. Right now,
we go to smoke on the headlines.
Speaker 4 (32:24):
All right, Kyle. We talked about the Panthers injuryport earlier
and just in case you missed that and are now
tuning in, did not participate in practice. Xavier League get
Pat Jones, J T Sanders, and dj one um All
did not participate. Limited participants Chewba Hubbard and tedor R McMillan,
both with a calf and in good news, Turk Wharton
with a hamstring was limited, but I would guess that's
(32:47):
likely going to be for next week's game, is what
they're ramping him up for. On the other side, the
big injury to look at for the Patriots is star
cornerback Christian Gonzales. He's made good progress, according to Jordan Schultz,
in his hamstring recovery, and it is likely to make
his season debut on Sunday.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
All right, there you go, We'll come back. We'll tell
you who balled out a lot more to get to
Sports Radio ninety two seven w f n Z.
Speaker 4 (33:16):
The City, Get on your.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Feet, Hello, good protection turs for the year Zone.
Speaker 4 (33:29):
Can you go to the buck? He's gotta go coming
on the sign sign the can't back to rush running
into the area. It'll pass towards.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Oprates from poon cutting out.
Speaker 4 (33:52):
It's time for who balled Out?
Speaker 3 (33:53):
Powered by High Performance real Estate Advisors and the biggest
dad gumballer of them all, Thomas L.
Speaker 4 (33:58):
Rodd.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
Go to high Performance real Estate dot Com and they'll
see you at the closing table.
Speaker 4 (34:01):
Smoke would you bring for the people? I've got to
first off Kyle Rowley for hitting both home run homer's
number fifty nine and sixty on the year. Not bad
for a catcher h sixty home runs when the previous
record was forty five. And I got to go with
our very own Josh Fitty Marlowe because this man had
the gaw and actually did it and pulled it off.
The gall the gall, unmitigated golf, the unmitigated gall to
(34:23):
do what to take three days off, one for the
day before his birthday, two for the day of his birthday,
and three the day after his birthday.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
He has been getting ragged on in the halls of
wfn Z for this this week, I would love for
the Charlotte Cognizante to weigh in on this. Is it
lame for a man to take his own birthday off,
much less the days before and after his birthday. I
couldn't tell you the last time that I used PTO
for my birthday in the middle of the week. I
(34:53):
don't know that I've ever used PTO for my birthday.
I think back when I was probably in my certainly
late teen's early twenties. You know, I might have ducked
out of a part time job. But I don't think
I've ever used a single day of PTO because it
was my birthday on a Wednesday, my own graduation part
already at high school to go do PA announcing and listen.
(35:14):
Josh is still a young man all things considered, but
it's his twenty ninth birthday. Like I taking three days
off for your birthday, I've never taken.
Speaker 4 (35:24):
One, not one. Maybe that makes me think in fifth
grade I should have called it in sick on the
day of my birthday when I had diarrhea.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
Okay, yeah, but how do people feel it? Look, the
text line's already telling me how they feel about that.
Oh God, Like then somebody just said, the best day
at work is your birthday. Everybody wishes you happy birthday.
Sometimes you get cake Like I have never in my
life used a day of PTO for my birthday, not ever, ever, Ever,
I got two as well. Dodgers right now blasting the
(35:52):
Arizona Diamondbacks eight to nothing, but also notably in this game,
in the fourth inning, four total home run in the
fourth inning, truly unbelievable. Freeman hit one, Otani hit one,
who else hit one of the fourth and okay, and
I'm missing somebody out, but four home runs in the
fourth inning. Also Sean Alexander, who the former NFL MVP
(36:15):
running back, announced earlier today that he and his wife
are expecting their fourteenth child. Fourteenth child, I mean, people
give make jokes about me having back to back to
back three kids in three years. Honest question, do you
know all of your kids' names? Like, and I'm talking
of course you can figure it. I mean you can
(36:36):
figure it out. I'm not saying that you can't ever
distinguish between them, but like, how often does Sean Alexander
get his own kids' names wrong with fourteen. That woman
his wife, who I'm sure is just a saint and
an angel. Someone did the math earlier today. She's been
pregnant for ten and a half years of her life. Now,
I lived with a woman who was pregnant for basically
(36:56):
three and a half straight years and fellas I'm gonna
be careful here, but it's not exactly the easiest thing
in the world living with a woman that was pregnant
for three and a half years, much less ten and
a half years of her life with pregnancy hormones and
back aches and nausea and heartburn and just general attitude.
(37:18):
Ten and a half years of living with a pregnant woman,
can you imagine?
Speaker 4 (37:23):
You can't imagine, I can't.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
I mean, just the idea of living with a pregnant
woman for ten and a half actively pregnant is insane.
Never mind how hard that was on her. She's a hero,
be she's a literal superhero for being pregnant for ten
and a half years of her life.
Speaker 4 (37:37):
That's unbelievable. I was going to say, eight years from now,
I got an idea of what the house is going
to be like good not town boy, good night, Elizabeth,
good night, Daddy, good night, son, good night.
Speaker 3 (37:47):
Does he have a list that he carries around like
a call sheet of a football coach, to keep everybody's
names in life?
Speaker 4 (37:52):
It's the day of Walton's bro.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
I mean I saw something yesterday that you know, I've
got three kids right now, and I've told my wife, Hey,
look at all these studies that people with four kids
are the happiest couples. Like, look, there's science that backs
it up. People with four children scientifically are the happiest couples.
We may just go ahead and get to four, right,
Roman Harper's got four, you know, j. J. Jansen's got four. Like,
(38:16):
we need a fourth kid to be the happiest possible
versions of ourselves.
Speaker 4 (38:20):
And like I said, if you ever do get a
fourth child, you know what you need to name it?
What's that done? Because the third child's brook? Yeah, Brook
and done. That's not bad. That's not bad. We'll think
about that, but probably not where you drank your first beer.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
I found Jesus, that's right, seven four five, seven ninety
six ten.
Speaker 4 (38:42):
Hit us up on the fan.
Speaker 3 (38:42):
Duel text line Caleb Williams nail text says respectfully, there's
no way you can love them all the same if
you have fourteen.
Speaker 4 (38:49):
Yes you can. Yes, that doesn't mean you won't have
a favorite or three.
Speaker 3 (38:53):
But again, fourteen kids, like God, bless you man, Like
you're leaving a legacy.
Speaker 4 (38:56):
There's no doubt about that.
Speaker 3 (38:58):
And you gotta be really wealthy to have fourteen kids,
unless you're counting on all of them getting athletic scholarships.
Because I mean this, the tuition bill makes me want
to vomit when I think about that. Oh God, fourteen
kids trying to pay their way through college. Falts and
prayers to Philip Rivers, he fault, he had it all covered.
But ten that did He just saw Syle Alexander saying fourteen.
He probably dag dum that I thought I had it.
(39:19):
That's crazy, all right? Seven oh four five seven ninety
six ten hit us up on the fan duel text line,
do you have the Joe person audio that we were
talking about from earlier today? Joe Person, I don't know
how this came up, and I want to play it
because I kind of want to find out. I wasn't
listening live.
Speaker 4 (39:33):
Shame on me.
Speaker 3 (39:34):
But Joe Person joined Wes and Walker earlier today they
were talking Panthers, and I guess somehow the week one
against the Jacksonville Jaguars came up and there was that
I believe it was into the first half.
Speaker 4 (39:47):
Was it third quarter? I thought it was into the
first half. It was actually late early in the fourth quarter.
Was it really? Because that was the fourth and one
that he threw out the back of the end zone,
I thought that was you're faking late first half. That's
when he couldn't get two feet inbounds. It didn't drag
his feet right. I could have sworn it was early
in the game.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
But either way, it came up to play against Jacksonville
fourth and one, they got stuffed on the run twice
and Bryce Young is floating to his left and ends
up throwing the ball out of the back of the
end zone for a turnover on downs, and as he
came off the field, he slammed his helmet, and there
was speculation after the game or when it happened, but
(40:23):
also after the game that Bryce might have been upset
with Dave Canalis potentially for the play call. That's not
really how I saw it in the moment. And then
the more I watched it a second time, a third time,
a fourth time. It seemed to me that Bryce might
have been frustrated with Xavier league Get. That's apparently what
Joe Person saw too.
Speaker 1 (40:41):
Yeah, I don't know how much believe Bryce Young has
in them. We saw that play in Jacksonville where when
the game was still in the balance and Bryce was
trying to throw the ball to a very open Xavier
Lagett in the flat and Xavier never turned around, and
he was the first read should have known to turn
his head around, didn't, And and you know, we all
(41:04):
were wondering, like, oh, why was Bryce so kicked off
when he got to the sideline and throw his helmet.
He wasn't mad at Canalis or the play call. He
I think he was very frustrated Xavier Leget. And so
that's not good, you know, if you if you got
a quarterback, that's that's losing faith in yet. And again, listen,
Bryce Young is a team guy, like he is not
(41:25):
going to be like turn my back on Xavier leg
At every every Sunday. But that you know, you're starting
to see some warning signs.
Speaker 3 (41:36):
All right, So that now we know, I think I
kind of know how that came up then, but Joe
just went right to it like he doesn't think Bryce
has faith in Xavier League yet, and he saw it
similarly to how I did in Week one that it
looked to me like Bryce was maybe upset with it
with Excel for not breaking off the route. And I
think at the time we talked about the Cleveland game
and you know, Bryce directing traffic with Cocher in the
(41:57):
back of the end zone, maybe tried to do the
same with Excel, who didn't really respond the way that
he should have, and Bryce got upset.
Speaker 4 (42:03):
I don't know, smoke.
Speaker 3 (42:04):
There's been a lot of stuff online the last twenty
four to thirty six hours about this, and I try
not to get caught up in internet rumors because a
lot of it's just we all know fake, But there's
been a lot of you know, hey, we thought he
was going to play last week and then suddenly the
hamstring wasn't good enough. And now here we are a
week later and the hamstring still looking like it might
keep him out against the Patriots. Like is there anything
(42:25):
to this? Is he truly just injured and not able
to play? Are they holding him out? Could they even
potentially be shopping him ahead of the deadline. Like, I
don't think so, but I am starting to at least
entertain the idea.
Speaker 4 (42:37):
I'm in the same exact boat as you. I was
kind of throwing it out there, basically throwing it away,
not exactly poo pooing it, But I said, you know,
it doesn't really make sense to do this when you
still have Jalen Cocher out. But the fact that it
looks like it's going to happen for a second straight week,
either heard that hamstring is very is a very nagging
injury right now, which is very possible because hamies are
not easy to overcome, especially when you have to run
(43:00):
for a living, run routes on all that stuff, make
hard cuts and everything. But you're starting to look like,
all right, I'm giving this aside. I like, I'm keeping
my eye on this. Yes, if this is still a
thing by the time we get to next week where
he's not even if he's not a did not participate
and he's not even limited, it's all right, I'm really
looking at this next week if this is still a problem,
(43:21):
because turk Wrton's coming back look like next week as
of right now, unless he faces a setback and stuff
like that. If we start seeing Pat Jones and DJ
Wantam come back from their injuries before Xavier Leaet, it'd
be one of those like, Okay, they might actually be
doing this on purpose.
Speaker 3 (43:37):
And again, I don't want to be the guy like
if I said this to Canalis and Dan Morgan and
they just kind of wave me off and said, no,
he's just hurt.
Speaker 4 (43:43):
I'm like, Okay, that's fine, I get it.
Speaker 3 (43:45):
But the fact that we're now going into potentially a
second straight week with a hamstring injury that seemed to
kind of pop up out of no where, I don't know,
like you said, I think you just said it best.
I'm keeping an eye on this, but it's not looking
or tracking like he's going to play Sunday against New England.
And the worst part about that is is that almost
no one thinks that's the worst thing in the world
(44:07):
at this moment. Like it's kind of crazy that no
one seems to be at all distraught about the fact
that the perceived number two option on this team, you know,
last year's first rounder, just isn't playing again this week.
No one really seems all that distraught by it.
Speaker 4 (44:20):
And We've gone from not even knowing who Bryce and
Tremaine was before training camp to be everyone being like, yep,
oh fine, we got Bryon train now. Yeah, and then
everyone goes from not wanting to see David Moore de yeah,
David More. You know what I'd like to see it
put David Moore out there. Yeah. The tunes changed a
little bit. All right, we'll come back.
Speaker 3 (44:37):
We'll talk about this with Darren Gant Panthers dot Com,
Uncle dg Neck Sports Radio ninety two to seven wfn
Z
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