December 4, 2025 • 10 mins
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We welcome in our Mariano Rivera, our closer, our postgame
specialist here at wfn Z. He's got panthers in Hornet's
post game. He's also the voice of Charlotte FC. The
affable Will Polachik back with us for a Thursday conversation.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
WILLI pe what's going on?
Speaker 3 (00:15):
True professional KB just call me mister postgame Mmm.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I like that, although I did just occur to me.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
You're a Mets guy, so you probably don't love the
Mariano Rivera comparison, right, or do you?
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Eh?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Okay, I've been compared. I've been compared to worse. That's fair.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Who is the Mets? I'm probably stupid for asking. This
greatest closer in Mets history is who.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Ooh, probably John Franco, Maybe Tug McGraw, either of those?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Okay, all right, because I I panic for a second,
like who am I not thinking of? But yeah, I
guess that's about.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Right, Okay, either of those two? All right?
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Sweet, Well, it's good to have you back, Big News.
I think you were the one that broke it a
couple of days ago. You certainly broke it to me.
I have worn out the word penultimate on the show
this week, but uh, penultimate pre World Cup friendly coming
to Bank of America Stadium this may.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
What should folks know about it?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
It is the second to last game, I'll keep you
from having to say that word again, the second to
last game that the United States will play before the
World Cup starts. They're going to play two games in
March in Atlanta against Belgium and Portugal. Their final game
is going to be the week after the one in
Charlotte in Chicago, basically a kind of last little bit
(01:20):
tune up there for them. The opponent in this game
is still yet to be determined because they're waiting on
the World Cup draw, which is many believe anyone knows,
takes place tomorrow. I should say so from that perspective.
Once the draw comes out, then they'll start going through
the teams and the machinations and try to at least
prevent it being somebody that they can play, absent of course,
(01:41):
to potential final, which you really can't guard against that.
But the fact of the matter remains is that they
will try to at least find somebody that brings obviously
a draw, but also gives the US the kind of
game that helps them prepare for what is going to
be a pretty competitive World Cup. And obviously one of
the real things why they picked Charlotte is because as
many of the United States group stage games are set
(02:03):
to take place either out west or away from the
East Coast, so this might be the only chance, or
at least it's the most likely chance that somebody gets
to potentially see the United States in the East Coast.
And the great thing about this too is kb this
is the first game that the US will play after
Mauricio Putchatino names's final roster. You don't have to name
(02:23):
the roster necessarily until the tournament starts, but he has
made the at least choice to say, look, the last
two games that we play, I'm taking in my actual
roster to try and simulate as closely as I possibly
can what a World Cup game will look like for us.
So from that perspective, the people you will see in
(02:44):
Charlotte on May the thirty first will be the team
that you see play in the group stage and hopefully beyond.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Okay, so just before we move on real quick. The
season's over, of course, but what's the latest in the
Charlotte FC universe.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
What's going on?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
As of late, we wait until the January transfer window
to open. Obviously, there's a lot of people kind of
wondering what moves and shakes will happen. Obviously, the biggest
need right now from Charlotte's perspective is who replaces a
Dilson Milanda. That's the big, big question. Obviously, the news
of Pep Bil's contract becoming a dosignated player contract obviously
(03:20):
affords Charlotte f C a lot more of that kind
of spending from the tam level. But there's obviously a
big question in terms of whether or not they keep
all three of the guys who are designated players for
them in that designation, and a big question I think
surrounds Lee el Abata whether or not he stays with
Charlotte v C. If they move on from him, then
then obviously puts Charlotte of seed a position where they
can end up acquiring another big time player. And also,
(03:43):
you know, one of the things Orren Connets said is
that he wants to get two starter level players in
to this team. Whether that means obviously the center back
position is the one of them, and I guess the
other one kind of depends on what they want to get.
Do they want to get a box to box midfielder
or do they want to up grade white right wing
In terms of where Caro when Vargas sits. That's not
(04:03):
necessarily a denigration on where Carown Vargas sits. But I
think at the same point in time, they need some
more dynamism and they need more consistent goal scoring. That's
one thing that they did not have a lot of
in the postseason. When you go against these bigger teams
that are trying to run and go and buy for
MLS Cup, you're always looking to upgrade. And so I
think there's a lot of people kind of very curious
in terms of how they go about doing their business.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
And we'll be watching as the calendar turns in January.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Will Polochic with us for a weekly conversation. Let's turn
to the hardwood. Last night, the Knicks beat the Hornets again,
second time in a week. Not quite as ugly a
this time, but not that far off either. Twenty seven
to twelve after one not an ideal start. Then the
Hornets come roaring back. They score thirty five in the
second quarter to make it a game, but then in
(04:48):
the second half another I think twenty point run, a
thirteen minute, eighteen point run where they really put the
game away and it proved to be decisive. You know,
LaMelo was really good last night. There's still without brand
and then I mean, what do we say about him
after a loss like that.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
It's the weird thing. KB. I don't want to say
the game was lost after the first quarter because they
had it cut all the way down to three by
the time they got that twenty six to nine run
at the end of the second quarter. Before that was
thwarted by Jalen Brunson's buzzer beating three. So from that perspective,
you know, they showed a lot of energy to try
to come back and get themselves back to square, but
(05:25):
it was just so big of a hole that by
the time New York got their sea legs again in
the third quarter, it was just too much for them
to overcome. I thought Miles Bridges was not his best
last night, hasn't been for the last two contests. As
part of the reason why you saw t John Salon
in the lineup more down the stretch than you saw him,
and that's after T John had a very horrific start
to the contest. LaMelo probably played one of his two
(05:46):
best games of the year, the other one being the
thirty eight point performance against Washington, but unfortunately he had
nobody had run with him. And I love the analogy
that Sam Farber used on the Network post game. He said, look,
you know, we want LaMelo and his best to be
a conductor. But when the conductor is down, you know,
his first two chairs, you don't necessarily have the right
orchestra set up to play. So from that perspective, you know,
(06:07):
we wait.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
We wait.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Obviously, the news on Brandon after what it seems like
a setback with the left shoulder, and obviously the injuries
to Colin Sexton and Ryan Kalkbrenner are not welcome sites.
The one welcome site too for them though, is the
fact that it does look like Josh Green is back
on the floor, so that reinforcements could potentially come there.
But it does seem like anytime you get good injury news,
it's always followed by bad KB.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Yeah, it does feel that way. I mean, you mentioned
Miles a minute ago. There's been some trade rumors and
rumblings the last couple of days. People have asked about that.
Nothing that I can you know, corroborate with hard reporting
at this point, but you know, you have players that
are eligible to be traded here in about I think
eleven days, well blank, the trade deadline is going to
be here. They're already. I mean, how many games under
(06:50):
five hundred are they now?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Tan? I believe right six and sixteen?
Speaker 1 (06:52):
So I mean sixteen, Yeah, I don't know what's the
what's the threshold at this moment in the season where
you throw the talent in once again start looking ahead
of the future again.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
I think the one thing KB is they want to
see what this looks like, and unfortunately they just haven't
gotten that opportunity. And I think there does come a
point where you have to kind of say, you know what,
this is not going to get to where it is
the One thing that I will say that they like
about Bridges is that he is durable and he is
he's available. That's one thing you can't really say for
anybody else on this roster save Conkinipple. He at least
(07:23):
has proven that he can play a durable NBA season.
Is it always pretty with him?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
No?
Speaker 3 (07:29):
And I think again, when this team is whole, he
is probably the fourth or fifth option offensively, particularly when
you think about, you know, the lineups that we were
seeing earlier in the season with you know, LaMelo, Brandon, Miles,
and even you can even go so far as I
say Conk Nipple had even passed him up in the
rotation as well with the way that he'd played offensively.
(07:51):
So if Miles Bridges is your fourth option, that's a
pretty darn good fourth option to have. It's when he
becomes your first or second option, and that's when you
don't have LaMelo brand then or more. That's when the
Hornets have looked at him and said, maybe he's not
as consistent as you'd like him to be. But I
don't want to guess necessarily get rid of a dude
who you can literally put in pen in the starting lineup.
(08:12):
I understand that there's obviously a desire to still be
an asset collection MOE for Jeff Peterson, but at the
same point in time, Miles has been at least one
of the more consistent guys you can count on the floor.
It's obviously, you know, in terms of whether or not
they feel like they get to a point where it's
just never going to be what they want it to.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Be all right.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Before I let you go, we got to talk a
little Panthers and we get to hear your take on
all things Panthers and the immediate aftermath of these games
on the postgame show. But we got the buy week here.
There's talk this week of Bryce Young's fifth year option.
I would love for you to weigh in on that.
We've had some talk about Derek Brown and Pro Bowl
voting and his overall recognition. Your Missouri fellow Missouri lum
and friend Kay Adams said that dB is her defensive
(08:51):
player of the Year in football. What are your thoughts
on both those things?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Well, the dB Defensive player of the Year thing, I mean,
I like that he's getting that pub. I think if
you look at how much this defense has changed year
over year, he is a central focal point as to why. Again,
I think before this week you would also point to j. C.
Horn being very durable to make that happen. Obviously did
not play last week because of the concussion, but I
(09:16):
think he definitely will get some pub for it. I
don't know if you'll ultimately win it. I think the
Panthers will have to do a lot more things on
the field, like win the division in order to at
least make that a reality. I do think Bryce Young's
earned himself the fifth year option because I think it's
at least the easiest way to kick the decision of
whether or not he is your guy a little bit
(09:36):
down the road. And I think too, with enough of
these good performances down the stretch, he's at least answered that, hey,
there is a little bit of that magic from the
second half of last year still there. I don't know
if it's necessarily there to the point where you're committing
to him long term, but that's at least the least
expensive option vis a vis the cap to at least
ensure that you have somebody who can play starting quarterback
(09:59):
for you for the next two seasons. I don't know
if we're necessarily talking about a long term extension yet
though for Bryce, and I think that again will determine
how year four goes, and obviously how the rest of
this year goes. I think Mike Ky said it best
when he said on Twitter, with thirteen weeks in KB
and we still don't know what this team is. And
I think that's kind of the way that we all
kind of thought this year might go and that there'll
(10:20):
be some games you win they don't think that you
didn't think they were going to win, and there'll be
some games that they lose that you probably didn't think
they were going to lose. I don't think we thought
that the ones that they won, though, we're gonna be
against teams that are basically at the top of the
NFC playoff pixers, So I think from that perspective, you
have to be very, very pleased that you're in the
hunt going into the final four games of the season,
with divisional games that obviously control their destiny, and it's
(10:42):
a great time to have meaningful football in December.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
KB, that's all I'll say.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
I hear that, all right, buddy, listen. I appreciate you,
Thank you for the time. As always, we'll do it
again next week.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Appreciate you. Ben
We welcome in our Mariano Rivera, our closer, our postgame
specialist here at wfn Z. He's got panthers in Hornet's
post game. He's also the voice of Charlotte FC. The
affable Will Polachik back with us for a Thursday conversation.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
WILLI pe what's going on?
Speaker 3 (00:15):
True professional KB just call me mister postgame Mmm.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
I like that, although I did just occur to me.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
You're a Mets guy, so you probably don't love the
Mariano Rivera comparison, right, or do you?
Speaker 3 (00:24):
Eh?
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Okay, I've been compared. I've been compared to worse. That's fair.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Who is the Mets? I'm probably stupid for asking. This
greatest closer in Mets history is who.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Ooh, probably John Franco, Maybe Tug McGraw, either of those?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Okay, all right, because I I panic for a second,
like who am I not thinking of? But yeah, I
guess that's about.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Right, Okay, either of those two? All right?
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Sweet, Well, it's good to have you back, Big News.
I think you were the one that broke it a
couple of days ago. You certainly broke it to me.
I have worn out the word penultimate on the show
this week, but uh, penultimate pre World Cup friendly coming
to Bank of America Stadium this may.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
What should folks know about it?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
It is the second to last game, I'll keep you
from having to say that word again, the second to
last game that the United States will play before the
World Cup starts. They're going to play two games in
March in Atlanta against Belgium and Portugal. Their final game
is going to be the week after the one in
Charlotte in Chicago, basically a kind of last little bit
(01:20):
tune up there for them. The opponent in this game
is still yet to be determined because they're waiting on
the World Cup draw, which is many believe anyone knows,
takes place tomorrow. I should say so from that perspective.
Once the draw comes out, then they'll start going through
the teams and the machinations and try to at least
prevent it being somebody that they can play, absent of course,
(01:41):
to potential final, which you really can't guard against that.
But the fact of the matter remains is that they
will try to at least find somebody that brings obviously
a draw, but also gives the US the kind of
game that helps them prepare for what is going to
be a pretty competitive World Cup. And obviously one of
the real things why they picked Charlotte is because as
many of the United States group stage games are set
(02:03):
to take place either out west or away from the
East Coast, so this might be the only chance, or
at least it's the most likely chance that somebody gets
to potentially see the United States in the East Coast.
And the great thing about this too is kb this
is the first game that the US will play after
Mauricio Putchatino names's final roster. You don't have to name
(02:23):
the roster necessarily until the tournament starts, but he has
made the at least choice to say, look, the last
two games that we play, I'm taking in my actual
roster to try and simulate as closely as I possibly
can what a World Cup game will look like for us.
So from that perspective, the people you will see in
(02:44):
Charlotte on May the thirty first will be the team
that you see play in the group stage and hopefully beyond.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Okay, so just before we move on real quick. The
season's over, of course, but what's the latest in the
Charlotte FC universe.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
What's going on?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
As of late, we wait until the January transfer window
to open. Obviously, there's a lot of people kind of
wondering what moves and shakes will happen. Obviously, the biggest
need right now from Charlotte's perspective is who replaces a
Dilson Milanda. That's the big, big question. Obviously, the news
of Pep Bil's contract becoming a dosignated player contract obviously
(03:20):
affords Charlotte f C a lot more of that kind
of spending from the tam level. But there's obviously a
big question in terms of whether or not they keep
all three of the guys who are designated players for
them in that designation, and a big question I think
surrounds Lee el Abata whether or not he stays with
Charlotte v C. If they move on from him, then
then obviously puts Charlotte of seed a position where they
can end up acquiring another big time player. And also,
(03:43):
you know, one of the things Orren Connets said is
that he wants to get two starter level players in
to this team. Whether that means obviously the center back
position is the one of them, and I guess the
other one kind of depends on what they want to get.
Do they want to get a box to box midfielder
or do they want to up grade white right wing
In terms of where Caro when Vargas sits. That's not
(04:03):
necessarily a denigration on where Carown Vargas sits. But I
think at the same point in time, they need some
more dynamism and they need more consistent goal scoring. That's
one thing that they did not have a lot of
in the postseason. When you go against these bigger teams
that are trying to run and go and buy for
MLS Cup, you're always looking to upgrade. And so I
think there's a lot of people kind of very curious
in terms of how they go about doing their business.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
And we'll be watching as the calendar turns in January.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
Will Polochic with us for a weekly conversation. Let's turn
to the hardwood. Last night, the Knicks beat the Hornets again,
second time in a week. Not quite as ugly a
this time, but not that far off either. Twenty seven
to twelve after one not an ideal start. Then the
Hornets come roaring back. They score thirty five in the
second quarter to make it a game, but then in
(04:48):
the second half another I think twenty point run, a
thirteen minute, eighteen point run where they really put the
game away and it proved to be decisive. You know,
LaMelo was really good last night. There's still without brand
and then I mean, what do we say about him
after a loss like that.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
It's the weird thing. KB. I don't want to say
the game was lost after the first quarter because they
had it cut all the way down to three by
the time they got that twenty six to nine run
at the end of the second quarter. Before that was
thwarted by Jalen Brunson's buzzer beating three. So from that perspective,
you know, they showed a lot of energy to try
to come back and get themselves back to square, but
(05:25):
it was just so big of a hole that by
the time New York got their sea legs again in
the third quarter, it was just too much for them
to overcome. I thought Miles Bridges was not his best
last night, hasn't been for the last two contests. As
part of the reason why you saw t John Salon
in the lineup more down the stretch than you saw him,
and that's after T John had a very horrific start
to the contest. LaMelo probably played one of his two
(05:46):
best games of the year, the other one being the
thirty eight point performance against Washington, but unfortunately he had
nobody had run with him. And I love the analogy
that Sam Farber used on the Network post game. He said, look,
you know, we want LaMelo and his best to be
a conductor. But when the conductor is down, you know,
his first two chairs, you don't necessarily have the right
orchestra set up to play. So from that perspective, you know,
(06:07):
we wait.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
We wait.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Obviously, the news on Brandon after what it seems like
a setback with the left shoulder, and obviously the injuries
to Colin Sexton and Ryan Kalkbrenner are not welcome sites.
The one welcome site too for them though, is the
fact that it does look like Josh Green is back
on the floor, so that reinforcements could potentially come there.
But it does seem like anytime you get good injury news,
it's always followed by bad KB.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Yeah, it does feel that way. I mean, you mentioned
Miles a minute ago. There's been some trade rumors and
rumblings the last couple of days. People have asked about that.
Nothing that I can you know, corroborate with hard reporting
at this point, but you know, you have players that
are eligible to be traded here in about I think
eleven days, well blank, the trade deadline is going to
be here. They're already. I mean, how many games under
(06:50):
five hundred are they now?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Tan? I believe right six and sixteen?
Speaker 1 (06:52):
So I mean sixteen, Yeah, I don't know what's the
what's the threshold at this moment in the season where
you throw the talent in once again start looking ahead
of the future again.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
I think the one thing KB is they want to
see what this looks like, and unfortunately they just haven't
gotten that opportunity. And I think there does come a
point where you have to kind of say, you know what,
this is not going to get to where it is
the One thing that I will say that they like
about Bridges is that he is durable and he is
he's available. That's one thing you can't really say for
anybody else on this roster save Conkinipple. He at least
(07:23):
has proven that he can play a durable NBA season.
Is it always pretty with him?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
No?
Speaker 3 (07:29):
And I think again, when this team is whole, he
is probably the fourth or fifth option offensively, particularly when
you think about, you know, the lineups that we were
seeing earlier in the season with you know, LaMelo, Brandon, Miles,
and even you can even go so far as I
say Conk Nipple had even passed him up in the
rotation as well with the way that he'd played offensively.
(07:51):
So if Miles Bridges is your fourth option, that's a
pretty darn good fourth option to have. It's when he
becomes your first or second option, and that's when you
don't have LaMelo brand then or more. That's when the
Hornets have looked at him and said, maybe he's not
as consistent as you'd like him to be. But I
don't want to guess necessarily get rid of a dude
who you can literally put in pen in the starting lineup.
(08:12):
I understand that there's obviously a desire to still be
an asset collection MOE for Jeff Peterson, but at the
same point in time, Miles has been at least one
of the more consistent guys you can count on the floor.
It's obviously, you know, in terms of whether or not
they feel like they get to a point where it's
just never going to be what they want it to.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Be all right.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Before I let you go, we got to talk a
little Panthers and we get to hear your take on
all things Panthers and the immediate aftermath of these games
on the postgame show. But we got the buy week here.
There's talk this week of Bryce Young's fifth year option.
I would love for you to weigh in on that.
We've had some talk about Derek Brown and Pro Bowl
voting and his overall recognition. Your Missouri fellow Missouri lum
and friend Kay Adams said that dB is her defensive
(08:51):
player of the Year in football. What are your thoughts
on both those things?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Well, the dB Defensive player of the Year thing, I mean,
I like that he's getting that pub. I think if
you look at how much this defense has changed year
over year, he is a central focal point as to why. Again,
I think before this week you would also point to j. C.
Horn being very durable to make that happen. Obviously did
not play last week because of the concussion, but I
(09:16):
think he definitely will get some pub for it. I
don't know if you'll ultimately win it. I think the
Panthers will have to do a lot more things on
the field, like win the division in order to at
least make that a reality. I do think Bryce Young's
earned himself the fifth year option because I think it's
at least the easiest way to kick the decision of
whether or not he is your guy a little bit
(09:36):
down the road. And I think too, with enough of
these good performances down the stretch, he's at least answered that, hey,
there is a little bit of that magic from the
second half of last year still there. I don't know
if it's necessarily there to the point where you're committing
to him long term, but that's at least the least
expensive option vis a vis the cap to at least
ensure that you have somebody who can play starting quarterback
(09:59):
for you for the next two seasons. I don't know
if we're necessarily talking about a long term extension yet
though for Bryce, and I think that again will determine
how year four goes, and obviously how the rest of
this year goes. I think Mike Ky said it best
when he said on Twitter, with thirteen weeks in KB
and we still don't know what this team is. And
I think that's kind of the way that we all
kind of thought this year might go and that there'll
(10:20):
be some games you win they don't think that you
didn't think they were going to win, and there'll be
some games that they lose that you probably didn't think
they were going to lose. I don't think we thought
that the ones that they won, though, we're gonna be
against teams that are basically at the top of the
NFC playoff pixers, So I think from that perspective, you
have to be very, very pleased that you're in the
hunt going into the final four games of the season,
with divisional games that obviously control their destiny, and it's
(10:42):
a great time to have meaningful football in December.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
KB, that's all I'll say.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
I hear that, all right, buddy, listen. I appreciate you,
Thank you for the time. As always, we'll do it
again next week.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Appreciate you. Ben
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Are You A Charlotte?
In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.