WEBVTT - Happy Half Hour Episode 64: The King Street Cougar

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<v Speaker 1>It's time for the Happy Half Hour with your friends

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<v Speaker 1>Kristen Balboni, Will Brian and Darren Gann. Welcome to Happy

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<v Speaker 1>Half Hour. It is Will in Darren here for the

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<v Speaker 1>second week of the off season. Darren, you had quite

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<v Speaker 1>a weekend doing what nothing? Yeah? How about that? It

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<v Speaker 1>was I I am pro blizzard. I really am. A

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<v Speaker 1>too many years into Boy Scouts has made me a

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<v Speaker 1>true nerd about preparation. So I made three or four

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<v Speaker 1>trips to the Harris Teeter like last Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,

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<v Speaker 1>and by the time Saturday rolled around before the first

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<v Speaker 1>flake fell, I was like, I'm ready. I am totally

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<v Speaker 1>prepared for this blizzard. Bring it. You know, probably spent

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<v Speaker 1>two hundred bucks on grocery. His wife's looking at me, like,

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<v Speaker 1>what are you doing? What are we gonna do with

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<v Speaker 1>all this food? We're gonna eat it, That's what we're

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<v Speaker 1>gonna do. We're gonna cook it, we're gonna eat it,

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<v Speaker 1>We're gonna take naps, and we're just not gonna do

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<v Speaker 1>anything else. And it was glorious. What was what was

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<v Speaker 1>your Sunday morning meal with the snow coming down? With

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<v Speaker 1>the snow coming down, well, it was kind of a

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<v Speaker 1>brunch situation by that time. But I did make French

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<v Speaker 1>toast with some leftover egg nog and uh it's some

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<v Speaker 1>deconstructed stuck ease pecon logs that were provided to me

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<v Speaker 1>by a friend of the show, Will Brian. Um. So yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it was good. It was good times. We big big

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<v Speaker 1>carb weekend, Big Carb weekend, A lot of French toast,

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of jump I, a lot of starch, a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of mashed potatoes, roast chicken. It was just, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it's a good time. I am pro blizzard. We should

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<v Speaker 1>have more of them. When we may have another one,

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<v Speaker 1>we'll see. It might be a little too warm because

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<v Speaker 1>it's coming from the other other coast to the east coast.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, that's all right, A little a small blizzard

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<v Speaker 1>is the right amount out. If we ever got twelve

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<v Speaker 1>inches of snow in this town again, it would just

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<v Speaker 1>be chaos for a week and a half and nobody

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<v Speaker 1>really needs that. But like a three day blizzard, that's

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<v Speaker 1>the appropriate amount of blizzard in Charlotte, North Carolina. And

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<v Speaker 1>there were football games on for us to watch. What

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<v Speaker 1>do you think about some of those that forty Niners

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<v Speaker 1>Cowboys finish. Um, that was quite a finish. I'm here

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<v Speaker 1>for the chaos and thank god for the Cowboys for

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<v Speaker 1>providing on a routine basis they are. It's good to

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<v Speaker 1>be dependable, and it's good for people to know what

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<v Speaker 1>to expect from you. And we know that the Cowboys

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<v Speaker 1>can fail in ridiculous and unusual ways in the postseason.

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<v Speaker 1>That's what they do. Um. You know you like the

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<v Speaker 1>theory of the play called the Execution was just a

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<v Speaker 1>hot mess, as we've come to expect with Alice. But um,

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<v Speaker 1>for the most part, a lot of those games were

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<v Speaker 1>a little underwhelming and it did you believe me thinking,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, we needed an extra team of this? Did

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<v Speaker 1>we really need the Steelers and the Eagles in the

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<v Speaker 1>playoffs based on what we saw out of them over

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<v Speaker 1>the weekend? Um, But it's it is novel seeing some

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<v Speaker 1>of the stuff, like, you know, just Josh Allen going

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<v Speaker 1>crazy and doing turned back the Clock. I made a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of friends in Buffalo during that game by saying

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<v Speaker 1>all this Josh Allen stuff would be cool and new

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<v Speaker 1>and unique, except I saw it all in Charlotte ten

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<v Speaker 1>years ago when Cam Newton did it the first time,

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<v Speaker 1>and so people in Buffalo were really fond of hearing

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<v Speaker 1>that they made a lot of new friends. They have,

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<v Speaker 1>they have an interesting vocabulary. They still like the Panthers

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<v Speaker 1>though they you know, we gave them some things that

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<v Speaker 1>we gave them all their cool stuff like Brandon Bean

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<v Speaker 1>and Sean McDermott so and so many players. But yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>they're they're a lot of fun. Um. Seeing the Bills,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, the idea of Bill's Chiefs, it's like, holy smokes,

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<v Speaker 1>that's not a championship game, that's not a super Bowl.

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<v Speaker 1>That's game. I think everybody's fired up to see, just

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<v Speaker 1>to see which one of those quarterbacks might actually blink.

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<v Speaker 1>And the answer might be neither one of them. So

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<v Speaker 1>let's just see. I'm I'm here for it. Um. A

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<v Speaker 1>lot of old people in the winter want to see

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<v Speaker 1>chaos and defense and blah blah blah. If the divisional.

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<v Speaker 1>If the a f C divisional game ends in a

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<v Speaker 1>fifty two forty nine results, I'm totally fine with that.

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<v Speaker 1>So the both of us are very online, as the

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<v Speaker 1>kids say, unfortunately, but having been very online over the weekend,

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<v Speaker 1>do you think that there's just a bit too much overreaction?

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<v Speaker 1>For sure? I guess you know, some of these teams

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<v Speaker 1>that get in maybe aren't traditional playoff teams. But to

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<v Speaker 1>say that all of these playoff teams now should get

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<v Speaker 1>rid of their quarterback, fire their coach, fired this guy.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, it doesn't that seem like a bit much? Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, we have gone a little crazy with it,

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<v Speaker 1>and I mean, but that's the way it's become online

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<v Speaker 1>and and I think that was one of the benefits.

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<v Speaker 1>We were still online, but not as much over the weekend,

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<v Speaker 1>and being able to step away from it sometimes offers

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<v Speaker 1>a little perspective. But it's not. Every game in the

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<v Speaker 1>NFL has to be a referendum on forever. And I'm

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<v Speaker 1>like you, you can't. You know, why on Earth would

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<v Speaker 1>they be talking about And listen, I know there's a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of layers to what's going on in Dallas. They're

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<v Speaker 1>afraid they might lose coordinators and dan Quinn kellmore whatever,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's Dallas and it's Jerry Jones and nobody really

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<v Speaker 1>knows what to expect. But when a team has this

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<v Speaker 1>season Dallas had this year, while on Earth, would you

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<v Speaker 1>be talking about firing a head coach? It's just amazing

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<v Speaker 1>and ridiculous to me, um, And you would think that

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<v Speaker 1>if Mike McCarthy got fired, he'd have another job immediately,

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<v Speaker 1>kind of like Forest in Miami. He's probably gonna get

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<v Speaker 1>hired this cycle. It's just a matter of where. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>But with so many jobs open, I think people have

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<v Speaker 1>lost sight of the fact, Yeah, these are playoff teams.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, there are eight jobs open right now around

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<v Speaker 1>the NFL. So getting in the job market is not

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<v Speaker 1>a place you want to be anyway, I mean. And

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<v Speaker 1>that's a justification for a lot of teams to stand pad, honestly,

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<v Speaker 1>and not just the ones um that fell out of

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<v Speaker 1>the playoffs. So it's hard, and it's hard when people

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<v Speaker 1>talk about building things or being consistent or doing something

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<v Speaker 1>for the long haul, because everybody wants their answers right now.

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<v Speaker 1>And the idea that you would fire coach in Dallas

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<v Speaker 1>over what happened is ridiculous and embarrassing as it was,

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<v Speaker 1>it's pretty shortsighted to me. And I do think also,

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<v Speaker 1>and I don't know that I'm not making a judgment

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<v Speaker 1>on good or bad, and it's probably bad, but that

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<v Speaker 1>this is kind of the way things are now in

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<v Speaker 1>this league. That is it really is. It's about entertainment

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<v Speaker 1>and it's about the news cycle and the next news cycle,

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<v Speaker 1>and you know, all of the ways that you're engaging

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<v Speaker 1>with people, and people are obsessed six or five days

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<v Speaker 1>a year and being boring and kind of never changed.

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<v Speaker 1>And I don't know that it's boring, but you kind

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<v Speaker 1>of get what I'm getting at that there's just this

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<v Speaker 1>sense that this league is getting to a point where

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<v Speaker 1>it is more of it is equivalent to our entertainment

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<v Speaker 1>life cycle, which is very short and it and you

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<v Speaker 1>just keep moving and you keep changing because that's what

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<v Speaker 1>it requires. Right, what's the next story? What you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the idea of somebody being consistently good. I mean the Patriots.

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<v Speaker 1>The Patriots aren't a particularly compelling team in terms of

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<v Speaker 1>the content that comes out of there because their personality

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<v Speaker 1>as a franchise, it's kind of dull. My god, who's

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<v Speaker 1>been better at football than them over the last twenty

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<v Speaker 1>five years? Nobody? Um, and do we want that? Would

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<v Speaker 1>you rather be exciting? I just finished, you know, last night.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm a cord cutter, so I don't have a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of access to local professional basketball. Watch the ESPN broadcast

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<v Speaker 1>to the Hornets last night, and my god, they're not

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<v Speaker 1>gonna win an NBA championship and really pretty shabby on defense,

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<v Speaker 1>but they're fun to watch. You're entertaining. Now again, they're

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<v Speaker 1>not winning a title all, not playing the defense the

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<v Speaker 1>way they do, but it's still fun. And and so

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<v Speaker 1>I think a lot of it comes down to what

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<v Speaker 1>you want. Do you want to be constantly entertained and

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<v Speaker 1>stimulated or do you want constant boring, drudgery consistent success.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, I don't think it's buying right, and I

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<v Speaker 1>don't think it's gotta be one or the other. But

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<v Speaker 1>it's like we swing wildly between these two things. Either

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<v Speaker 1>you're Bill Belichick and you have to beat all the

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<v Speaker 1>fun out of the world in order to succeed, or hey,

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<v Speaker 1>sports ball, let's have fun, right, And it has to

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<v Speaker 1>be somewhere in between and making sweeping sort of things

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<v Speaker 1>that it's got to be one or the other. That's

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<v Speaker 1>just not realistic because you're gonna it's gonna swing back

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<v Speaker 1>and forth because these are still people operating this machine.

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<v Speaker 1>So you know, human frailty is going to be part

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<v Speaker 1>of the equation always. So, Darren, you wrote an incredible

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<v Speaker 1>piece this week with some voices that Panther fans love

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<v Speaker 1>to hear from Tell us about Sam Mills and all

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<v Speaker 1>of the people that had things to say about him. Obviously,

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<v Speaker 1>for those of you that haven't been looking at our

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<v Speaker 1>stuff going to Panthers dot com, he was. He is

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<v Speaker 1>a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>There is round of voting that happened this week. UM

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<v Speaker 1>and and Darren wrote an incredible piece about I appreciate

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<v Speaker 1>that and and it was cool. It was one of

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<v Speaker 1>those stories that, UM, the actual writing didn't take as

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<v Speaker 1>long as you might think when you see all that

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<v Speaker 1>stuff together, because it's such a lived experience. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>when you've absorbed twenty five years of what Sam Mills

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<v Speaker 1>means to people, it's kind of easy to get people

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<v Speaker 1>talking about it. And Steve Smith was amazing. And if

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<v Speaker 1>you haven't read that story on Panthers dot Com, I

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<v Speaker 1>had encouraged you to do so for no other reason

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<v Speaker 1>than to see what Steve Smith said about what Sam

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<v Speaker 1>meant to him when he was a rookie coming in

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<v Speaker 1>being latched onto and the stuff Sam taught him about

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<v Speaker 1>not just football, but about being a dad. And I

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<v Speaker 1>think it was a side of Steve that a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of people don't necessarily expect to always see, but it

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<v Speaker 1>was it was neat. And we'll find out Sam is

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<v Speaker 1>a finalist for the Hall of Fame. The announcement will

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<v Speaker 1>be made February tenth at the NFL Honor Show, prior

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<v Speaker 1>to the Super Bowl. UM, and we don't know. We

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<v Speaker 1>don't know right now, up down, good, bad, what the

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<v Speaker 1>news is gonna be, but we're hopeful. I mean, this

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<v Speaker 1>was Sam's last year of eligibility. And and again it

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<v Speaker 1>was so easy, whether it was Luke Keikley or Thomas

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<v Speaker 1>Davis or Dan Morgan or Steve Smith, to get guys

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<v Speaker 1>going about Sam because it's a topic that everybody into

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<v Speaker 1>Carolina's understands the history of I was talking to some

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<v Speaker 1>folks down in Raleigh yesterday because Sam is being inducted

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<v Speaker 1>to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame that's coming

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<v Speaker 1>up in April, and we know he's in that one,

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<v Speaker 1>UM and that's gonna be a great thing. And I

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<v Speaker 1>was talking to some of the folks down there about him,

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<v Speaker 1>and he said to me, the guy was talking to

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<v Speaker 1>you said, everybody understands his story. This one touches everybody.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, no matter if the team's good, the team's bad,

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<v Speaker 1>whatever it's like Sam is this permanent part of the Carolinas.

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<v Speaker 1>And you know, because they were talking about it from

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<v Speaker 1>the standpoint of Sam Mills from New Jersey. But he's

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<v Speaker 1>going to North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. But who's

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<v Speaker 1>created more mythology in North Carolina sports than Sam Mills.

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<v Speaker 1>It's really really short list, because keep Pounding is just

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<v Speaker 1>one of those messages that resonates, and that was one

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<v Speaker 1>of that was one of the other neat parts of

0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:22.280
<v Speaker 1>that story is you put something like that online and

0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:27.079
<v Speaker 1>you get a dozen versions of I still wear the

0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:29.920
<v Speaker 1>keep Pounding bracelet every day. We started wearing it when

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<v Speaker 1>my mom was in the hospital with breast cancer. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>those kind of things. And when you hear what that

0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:40.360
<v Speaker 1>means to the people who you know, have just been

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<v Speaker 1>surrounded by it over the years, I mean, it's it's

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<v Speaker 1>part of our culture, uh here with this football team

0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:49.840
<v Speaker 1>in the Carolinas and beyond. And you know, we'll see

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<v Speaker 1>we've got our fingers crossed for Pro Football Hall of Fame.

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<v Speaker 1>But any any time I get a chance to talk

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<v Speaker 1>about Sam, to write about Sam, to talk to people

0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:01.720
<v Speaker 1>about Sam, that's a good day. You have some familiarity

0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:04.880
<v Speaker 1>with just what the Hall of Fame is are there

0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:08.000
<v Speaker 1>people that are currently in it? Because obviously it's difficult

0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:11.040
<v Speaker 1>to to split hairs. I mean, there's just such incredible

0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:13.160
<v Speaker 1>people that have been part of this game, and not

0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:15.480
<v Speaker 1>everyone can get in every year. But are there people

0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:18.360
<v Speaker 1>that are in the Hall of Fame now that are

0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:21.000
<v Speaker 1>more than just stats? You know, that that had that

0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:23.000
<v Speaker 1>kind of like, you know, like who what would be

0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:25.920
<v Speaker 1>an example? I mean, Joe Nameth is a guy who

0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:30.199
<v Speaker 1>statistically is not a Hall of Fame quarterback, and his statistics, frankly,

0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:32.439
<v Speaker 1>are kind of comical related to a lot of guys

0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:35.920
<v Speaker 1>were talking about in terms of the all time great quarterbacks.

0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:39.760
<v Speaker 1>But he's Joe Willie Nameth for god sakes. I mean

0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:44.600
<v Speaker 1>the guarantee the Jet Super Bowl, I mean, that's the

0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:48.120
<v Speaker 1>game is bigger than that. I'm close friends with Kent

0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:50.920
<v Speaker 1>Summers out in Arizona, who presents for the guys who

0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:53.160
<v Speaker 1>came through there. And when he was talking about Kurt

0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:55.720
<v Speaker 1>Warner a couple of years ago, you know, Kent and

0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:58.720
<v Speaker 1>I were talking about Kurt and I said, Kurt Warner

0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:01.840
<v Speaker 1>or somebody said, Warners one of the greatest stories in

0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:03.880
<v Speaker 1>the history of football. And it's like Kurt Warner is

0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:06.000
<v Speaker 1>one of the greatest stories in the history of stories.

0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:12.040
<v Speaker 1>I mean, he's just a former grocery bagger turned MVP quarterback.

0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:14.160
<v Speaker 1>That doesn't happen in real life. They should make a

0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:18.319
<v Speaker 1>movie about that. Oh wait they did, um So, I mean,

0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:21.480
<v Speaker 1>I I do think as a Hall of Fame, it's

0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:25.960
<v Speaker 1>important to include not just the guys who have the

0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:29.520
<v Speaker 1>most sacks, the most rushing yards, the most touchdown passes,

0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:34.200
<v Speaker 1>but also great players who transcend just being great at football.

0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:37.280
<v Speaker 1>And and that's that's the gist of what I talked

0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:39.520
<v Speaker 1>about when it was when we were discussing Sam. I

0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:43.559
<v Speaker 1>hope it resonated with people, uh in that room and

0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:47.079
<v Speaker 1>we'll see on February ten. Yeah, and it it felt

0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:49.480
<v Speaker 1>at this time, you know, where you're kind of stepping

0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:51.520
<v Speaker 1>away from the season, you know, kind of taking a

0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:54.439
<v Speaker 1>breath like it felt really good too. This week kind

0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:57.319
<v Speaker 1>of hear the stories of keep Pounding and into kind

0:13:57.360 --> 0:14:00.360
<v Speaker 1>of reintroduce that to us and too people you know,

0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:02.280
<v Speaker 1>kind of on the internet. It was a kind of

0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:04.240
<v Speaker 1>a jolt in the arm, I think, yeah, And I'm

0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:07.120
<v Speaker 1>glad it was able to do that because again, online

0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:10.880
<v Speaker 1>culture can be awfully negative all of the time, and

0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:15.199
<v Speaker 1>when it's always negative all the time, that wears you out.

0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:17.559
<v Speaker 1>And so yeah, being able to do stuff like this,

0:14:18.040 --> 0:14:21.280
<v Speaker 1>being able to do different kind of stories, refocusing on

0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:26.280
<v Speaker 1>something everybody's behind. Yeah, that's good speaking of stories of

0:14:26.280 --> 0:14:29.840
<v Speaker 1>of things that are fun and not always negative. Uh, Darren,

0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:34.000
<v Speaker 1>I think we're gonna close today's podcast with moments of mascots.

0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:38.040
<v Speaker 1>Mascot moments, and we were talking before the podcast. It's

0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:39.760
<v Speaker 1>just some things just happened to, like come up on

0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:43.560
<v Speaker 1>my feed that we're very surprising to you. So I'm

0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:45.280
<v Speaker 1>gonna start with you and then we'll get into me.

0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:48.760
<v Speaker 1>Do you have any good mascot stories? We know we

0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:51.480
<v Speaker 1>wrote a neat story on Panthers dot com about it.

0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:54.480
<v Speaker 1>What a year and a half ago November twenty of

0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:58.120
<v Speaker 1>Christian McCaffrey joking a mascot out of issues during a

0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:01.120
<v Speaker 1>kid versus mascot football game at halftime in one of

0:15:01.160 --> 0:15:03.880
<v Speaker 1>his dad's games. And and I remember talking to Christian,

0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:06.640
<v Speaker 1>and I remember talking to Toro the Bull, And even

0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:09.560
<v Speaker 1>though mascots aren't supposed to talk, after he and I

0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:11.480
<v Speaker 1>talked for twenty minutes, I was like, wait, are you

0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:15.120
<v Speaker 1>supposed to be doing this. Um, but that was a

0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:19.640
<v Speaker 1>fun story and it was you know, it's always kind

0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:24.080
<v Speaker 1>of interesting seeing professional athletes relate to something from their

0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:26.720
<v Speaker 1>childhood or something like that. But talking to Christian about

0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:29.600
<v Speaker 1>that was a need one. UM. I don't have a

0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:33.440
<v Speaker 1>lot of other experience with mascots. UM. My wife's daughter

0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:35.480
<v Speaker 1>once worked in a smoothie shop that had a monkey

0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:38.600
<v Speaker 1>mascot suit, and I did walk around with the head

0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:42.760
<v Speaker 1>on one day in the shop and that was pretty cool. Um.

0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:45.800
<v Speaker 1>But that's kind of the extent my My mascot stories

0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:50.080
<v Speaker 1>aren't very good. So the impetus was this was that

0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:53.200
<v Speaker 1>I got a Facebook memory from ten years ago today, UM,

0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:56.960
<v Speaker 1>that I shared around the studio this morning of myself

0:15:57.360 --> 0:16:01.160
<v Speaker 1>as Clyde the Cougar, the mascot for College of Charleston

0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:06.960
<v Speaker 1>on Anderson Cooper three sixty for their election coverage. Okay,

0:16:07.040 --> 0:16:09.640
<v Speaker 1>let's hit Paulse right there. Let's just hit Paulse for

0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:12.720
<v Speaker 1>a second and run through the elements of this story.

0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:16.960
<v Speaker 1>College of Charleston has a mascot. His name is Clyde.

0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:22.520
<v Speaker 1>He is a cougar. Anderson Cooper is in Charleston, will

0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:26.160
<v Speaker 1>is in the cougar suit. Okay, I'm called up pro seed.

0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:32.320
<v Speaker 1>So this was for CNNs uh Republican primary election coverage.

0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:36.480
<v Speaker 1>They were in Charleston. I was working for the College

0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:39.120
<v Speaker 1>of Charleston. Students are still in winter break. So our

0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:41.640
<v Speaker 1>marketing people got a call that they wanted the Cougar

0:16:42.280 --> 0:16:45.920
<v Speaker 1>mascot on The Anderson Cooper Show. And there's nobody in

0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:48.440
<v Speaker 1>the office. There's nobody there to do it. It's so

0:16:48.840 --> 0:16:53.560
<v Speaker 1>it was like, well, you're in the Cougar deal. That

0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:55.560
<v Speaker 1>was you know, other this is other duties as a

0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:57.720
<v Speaker 1>signed But at the same time, I'm kind of like,

0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:00.560
<v Speaker 1>this would be kind of cool, you know, growing up

0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:02.880
<v Speaker 1>around sports, you know, as a kid, you're always like,

0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:05.040
<v Speaker 1>how cool would it be to be the mascot? You know,

0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:08.200
<v Speaker 1>I don't know, So I I put it on. I

0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:11.960
<v Speaker 1>went there. Uh was sitting in the green room with

0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:16.439
<v Speaker 1>the head on next to Ari Fleischer, which was I

0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:21.240
<v Speaker 1>think fun for him. This is like an ESPN commercial.

0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:24.040
<v Speaker 1>Is just sitting there, just sitting there in the room

0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:28.640
<v Speaker 1>talking to Ari Fleischer, and um, who was the guy

0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:32.040
<v Speaker 1>that was Clinton's uh, the guy with the tall guy,

0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:34.960
<v Speaker 1>the ball guy that worked for Clinton back mcgon uh No,

0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:41.240
<v Speaker 1>not him, the other one kind of narrow eyes anyway. Yeah, yeah,

0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:43.479
<v Speaker 1>but you've got the head on. Got the head on

0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:47.160
<v Speaker 1>sitting in the green room just and they're they're asking

0:17:47.200 --> 0:17:49.480
<v Speaker 1>me questions thinking I'm a student, and I'm just going

0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:53.280
<v Speaker 1>with it. So then it's like the end of their show, um,

0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:56.080
<v Speaker 1>and they just say just go out there and kind

0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:58.320
<v Speaker 1>of pump up the crowd. Anderson Cooper is gonna cue

0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:00.520
<v Speaker 1>you in. And it was some weird story about like

0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:04.560
<v Speaker 1>there was a high school that were the Cougars, but

0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:08.040
<v Speaker 1>then a group of Facebook moms got offended because they

0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:10.080
<v Speaker 1>thought they were making fun of them for being fifty

0:18:10.119 --> 0:18:12.240
<v Speaker 1>plus and single or something, so they had to change

0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:15.840
<v Speaker 1>their mascot name. And and Cooper is like making fun

0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:17.840
<v Speaker 1>of how stupid that was. And by the way, they're

0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:19.919
<v Speaker 1>here at College of Charleston and there the Cougars and

0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:23.040
<v Speaker 1>here's the Cougar. And so I walk out and kind

0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:25.280
<v Speaker 1>of like do my thing or whatever cougar I don't know,

0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:29.399
<v Speaker 1>whatever that is. Yeah, and then they're rolling and going

0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:31.760
<v Speaker 1>to the end of the show and I just lean

0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:36.320
<v Speaker 1>over grab Anderson and start rubbing his hair, knowing how

0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:41.080
<v Speaker 1>like perfectly quaffed his hair always is. And it's live TV,

0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:43.320
<v Speaker 1>so all he can do is just kind of smile

0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:45.800
<v Speaker 1>and try to pull away from me. As soon as

0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:48.719
<v Speaker 1>they go off air. He's got this look of just

0:18:48.960 --> 0:18:51.680
<v Speaker 1>utter anger that this happened on you know, like who

0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:54.040
<v Speaker 1>messages with my hair? And I just walked off? You'd

0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:56.520
<v Speaker 1>ever do? Who I was? Just head on? I just

0:18:56.560 --> 0:18:59.000
<v Speaker 1>walked off the set, walked walked down the street. That's

0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:02.840
<v Speaker 1>so fantastic stake. I never knew this story before I

0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:05.679
<v Speaker 1>walked into this studio today, and it's already in my

0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:08.520
<v Speaker 1>top ten all time Wheel stories and that's a pretty

0:19:08.560 --> 0:19:12.600
<v Speaker 1>good list. Um, that's amazing. The idea of andre A,

0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:15.679
<v Speaker 1>the idea of Anderson Cooper being salty about having his

0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:19.440
<v Speaker 1>hair messed up, that's a great layer to this story.

0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:22.400
<v Speaker 1>But you having the presence of mind and the presence

0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:26.320
<v Speaker 1>of cougar head to leave the head on while you

0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:29.880
<v Speaker 1>made your escape. And so then I'm walking down King

0:19:29.960 --> 0:19:34.440
<v Speaker 1>Street with the yeah, and so people are like high

0:19:34.480 --> 0:19:39.000
<v Speaker 1>fiving me, and you know, it's just it's a completely different,

0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:43.720
<v Speaker 1>like metaphysical existence to be in the world but not

0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:46.640
<v Speaker 1>really in the world, because nobody knows who you are,

0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:48.719
<v Speaker 1>and you can just do whatever you want and you

0:19:48.720 --> 0:19:52.000
<v Speaker 1>can take on a different life form as a cougar.

0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:56.040
<v Speaker 1>It's just it's it was incredible. I hope everybody has

0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:58.520
<v Speaker 1>an opportunity sometime in their life to put on a

0:19:58.560 --> 0:20:01.720
<v Speaker 1>mask at head and do what we'll did, because listen,

0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:04.199
<v Speaker 1>I'm looking at these pictures now. You didn't just have

0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:06.679
<v Speaker 1>the head on, you had the arms too. It was

0:20:06.680 --> 0:20:10.120
<v Speaker 1>the whole thing. This is a swollen cougar. Man, he's

0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:14.800
<v Speaker 1>pretty pumped up. He's got muscles. Yeah, man, we'll as

0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:16.760
<v Speaker 1>Clyde to Cougar. We gotta put that out on the

0:20:16.800 --> 0:20:20.160
<v Speaker 1>Twitter later on today when we post this podcast. Yeah,

0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:24.040
<v Speaker 1>we'll do that. Absolutely. This is phenomenal. This has made

0:20:24.080 --> 0:20:26.439
<v Speaker 1>my day so much better. This this, this is the

0:20:26.520 --> 0:20:29.800
<v Speaker 1>definition of a happy half hour. Yeah it is. It

0:20:29.880 --> 0:20:32.639
<v Speaker 1>surely is. So everyone, come back next week. We'll have

0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:35.320
<v Speaker 1>have some more Panthers news for you, and maybe we'll

0:20:35.440 --> 0:20:38.240
<v Speaker 1>have stories stories by