Speaker 1: Let's see what's going to happen over the next couple
Speaker 1: of weeks. I mean, and you know, things can look
Speaker 1: a lot different. And with New Orleans coming in and
Speaker 1: I think as a team that is struggling to create turnovers,
Speaker 1: maybe you kind of want to see the saints right now.
Speaker 1: It's that time of the week. Welcome to the happy
Speaker 1: half hour podcast with your friends Augusta, Darren and Kristen.
Speaker 1: We are going to talk all panthers guys, but but look,
Speaker 1: if you know Darren, there is quite a few things
Speaker 1: that he cares I was gonna say one thing he
Speaker 1: cares about. There quite a few things that he cares about,
Speaker 1: but at the very top of the list is Appalachian State, uh,
Speaker 1: and Appalachian State football specifically. So we're going to get
Speaker 1: into all things panthers. Were going to answer all of
Speaker 1: your questions, tell you what we have been learning around
Speaker 1: the building this week. But first and foremost, yeah, just
Speaker 1: ten second Brag only college. That is that is the stipulation.
Speaker 1: I'M gonna give my all for Palachian state, ten seconds
Speaker 1: at a time. It's UH, no, it's cool and I'm
Speaker 1: and I'm super passionate about Appalachian State. I've always said
Speaker 1: I don't think when I went there we were ever
Speaker 1: anybody's first choice, and the people there or the school itself.
Speaker 1: But you get there and you kind of turn into
Speaker 1: a community and now it's a destination and now everybody
Speaker 1: wants to be a part of it and now we're
Speaker 1: on national TV and now we win football games in
Speaker 1: incredible and hard stopping ways. So yeah, it's fun. It's good.
Speaker 1: It's good to be a mountaineer every day, but especially
Speaker 1: right now. That was twenty seven seconds. Let it slide.
Speaker 1: We'll let it slide. Is The Room on the bandwagon? Oh, absolutely, welcome.
Speaker 1: I mean, and that was the cool thing about game
Speaker 1: day this weekend. All our new friends who got to
Speaker 1: see us for the first time and we're like wow,
Speaker 1: look at this amazing place up in the mountains and
Speaker 1: there are trees and mountains and awesome people and they're
Speaker 1: having fun and Luke colmbs is, you know, firing up
Speaker 1: the crowd and everything else. It was great. It was
Speaker 1: good stuff. Welcome new friends. All right. Both my brothers
Speaker 1: went to Appalachian Um. I'm a big Fan. It is
Speaker 1: absolutely beautiful there. And then, if we are just bragging
Speaker 1: about our college teams, of course, because we left Darren go.
Speaker 1: You know, I do just have to say uh, you
Speaker 1: and see did did beat Appalachian, and so it's you know,
Speaker 1: it's good to see Appalachian success this year. The rest
Speaker 1: of it, it's really happy for them. You See, is
Speaker 1: three and O um, at least until this weekend. We'll
Speaker 1: see what happens with Notre Dame Um, but just wanted
Speaker 1: to throw that out. We were happy to provide a
Speaker 1: program defining upset victory for the tar heels. The same.
Speaker 1: We were happy just to, you know, help you guys
Speaker 1: work out your kinks and and be able to to
Speaker 1: move forward and take on Texas. A and M you know,
Speaker 1: clearly warmed up now and I guess it's just sitting
Speaker 1: over here because she went to Georgia sipping her sipping
Speaker 1: her coffee. What else is there to say? Now? This
Speaker 1: past weekend was super exciting for me personally. I said
Speaker 1: it was almost like my personal super bowl because it
Speaker 1: was Georgia South Carolina, the two schools I covered before
Speaker 1: I came here. Um, and obviously you know it's it
Speaker 1: was conflicting. I was actually on the plane on the
Speaker 1: way to New York watching that game on my phone
Speaker 1: and Georgia was being Georgia and I was telling my
Speaker 1: parents it's almost like it's unfair at this point. But
Speaker 1: it's awesome. It's so cool, and it's especially cool that
Speaker 1: they chose to do this right after I graduated, year
Speaker 1: after I graduating, Daddie yere. Now we're out here just
Speaker 1: destroying everybody left and right. Um, but it's cool. It's awesome.
Speaker 1: I will say I was shooting some segments with Thomas
Speaker 1: Davis earlier this week and he tended to say the
Speaker 1: same thing about Georgia South Carolina. You know, he said, Gosh,
Speaker 1: it's just it's almost like it's unfair to them. You know,
Speaker 1: which is always what is it? The opposite of of
Speaker 1: love isn't hate. It's in difference right or the worst?
Speaker 1: The worst thing about what is this saying? Whatever, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm getting at. It's it's not when you're hated,
Speaker 1: it's when the the other team, does not care about you,
Speaker 1: and I feel like that's where Georgia South Carolina is gone.
Speaker 1: It's pretty rough. Yeah, I will say South Carolina cares
Speaker 1: a lot, but I'm not sure if that's reciprocated. That's
Speaker 1: just from my associations with the FANDOM, my observations, but
Speaker 1: I love Carolina, love my time there. So you were
Speaker 1: being you were being you're you're really on both sides
Speaker 1: right now as a good reporter, and I appreciate that.
Speaker 1: All Right, so that was fun, but of course we
Speaker 1: have we got to talk panthers. Not so fun? Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: less fun. I think it's a great way to put that. UH, Darren,
Speaker 1: why don't you sum up this this Oh and to
Speaker 1: start for us, you tell people, you know, the reality
Speaker 1: situation and then also what there is to look forward
Speaker 1: to in the next fifteen games. Well, I mean that's
Speaker 1: the thing. This is a bad Oh and two start.
Speaker 1: This is not what anybody expected, but it's still oh
Speaker 1: and two and not oh and fifteen or something like that.
Speaker 1: I'm checking my watch. It's still September Um. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of football to be played and I don't know
Speaker 1: how any of it's going to work out. I don't
Speaker 1: know that it's going to work out. I don't know that.
Speaker 1: You know. Yeah, it's it's football, it's sports. We we
Speaker 1: don't get a script for this thing in advance. I
Speaker 1: don't think this is what Ain'body expect. It obviously they're
Speaker 1: disappointed and I think because there were a different level
Speaker 1: of expectations going into this year. Uh. That's what makes
Speaker 1: this one kind of hard to process for a lot
Speaker 1: of the people downstairs and a lot of people who
Speaker 1: are around this team on a daily basis because, empirically speaking,
Speaker 1: this football team is a is a better collection of
Speaker 1: football players and coaches than what they've had around here
Speaker 1: the last two years. I think it would be hard,
Speaker 1: no matter how you feel about a football team or
Speaker 1: a particular person or anything like that, it's hard to
Speaker 1: argue that you brought in actual offensive linemen. Uh, don't, don't,
Speaker 1: don't hold me to this, but that starting five offensive
Speaker 1: lines played every snap of the first two games and
Speaker 1: they've played reasonably well. I mean, that's not the abject
Speaker 1: problem it was last year. Only an improvement over last year,
Speaker 1: absolutely an improvement over last year, and nothing against those guys.
Speaker 1: There just weren't enough people, uh, to do the thing
Speaker 1: last year and they went out and got the people
Speaker 1: to do the thing they the other thing that I
Speaker 1: think is frustrating to me about watching these guys this
Speaker 1: year is you come out of the first week. Well,
Speaker 1: it is the biggest problem Oh my God, Cleveland ran
Speaker 1: it down their throats. I mean two seventeen yards as
Speaker 1: a team. Nick Chubb Went Wild and you think going
Speaker 1: into New York, Oh God, say, Kwan Barkley had even
Speaker 1: more yards the first week than Nick Chubb. What's gonna
Speaker 1: Happen up here? and run defense went a problem. They
Speaker 1: played pretty well against the run. They've got. They've got
Speaker 1: some new guys in Markwa McCall, I think is going
Speaker 1: to end up being a pretty key piece, along with
Speaker 1: Henry Anderson, of kind of stabilizing things just because he's
Speaker 1: a wide body. He's a different UH frame from some
Speaker 1: of the guys they've got. And you know, they did
Speaker 1: some different things to shore up the RUNDFE defense and
Speaker 1: it wasn't the same kind of problem it was the
Speaker 1: week before. But it's almost like when you put your
Speaker 1: finger in the hole in the damn something else POPs up.
Speaker 1: It's like you know you're chasing problems right now and
Speaker 1: all of a sudden they can't convert a third down
Speaker 1: on offense, they're not creating any turnovers on defense. So
Speaker 1: it's just one thing after another and you know they've
Speaker 1: got some opportunities. You would think, UH, coming up to
Speaker 1: fix some of those issues, but until they do it,
Speaker 1: it's not done. And and that's kind of the quandary
Speaker 1: about where they're at right now. And you're right, there
Speaker 1: is a different kind of as a fan of of
Speaker 1: any team right, I think that anyone would say, and
Speaker 1: certainly in my own experience with the teams that I've
Speaker 1: Roote for, you and see or whatnot, there is a
Speaker 1: different kind of frustration when you are so close right
Speaker 1: as opposed to when you are not in the game.
Speaker 1: They are both types of frustration and, uh, they both
Speaker 1: come with their own things. But you have to admit
Speaker 1: that the panthers have they have made these improvements in
Speaker 1: certain areas and they are right there Um and and
Speaker 1: losing by very small margins. It feels like one play
Speaker 1: away and full of fifty plus yard field goals at
Speaker 1: the ends of games tend to make differences and you
Speaker 1: see and and you see some of those not go
Speaker 1: in for some other teams in the NFL when when
Speaker 1: their team is is, you know, right on it, right
Speaker 1: or you have the opportunity to make that field goal
Speaker 1: right here on the other side of things. So that
Speaker 1: is a different type of frustration and I'm sure that
Speaker 1: Darren in your in your mail bag, you have seen that, right.
Speaker 1: So it's like it's like things are good and going
Speaker 1: in the right direction and they're still fifteen games left,
Speaker 1: but it is it is heartbreaking, I think you'd say,
Speaker 1: for a fan to to watch your team be very
Speaker 1: close and then ultimately just yeah, things the things that
Speaker 1: were true on Labor Day when they picked a fifty
Speaker 1: three man roster and kind of established what this team
Speaker 1: was going to look like. We're the coaching staff is
Speaker 1: deeper and more experience. You bring in Steve Wilakes, James
Speaker 1: Camp and Ben mcadoo and all these guys, and yes,
Speaker 1: that's more experienced. The roster is better. Those things remain,
Speaker 1: but until they find a way to turn that into
Speaker 1: winds on the field. Somebody wants to hear about that. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: I guess said I would like to know. We did
Speaker 1: this last week and I really enjoyed it. What is
Speaker 1: one thing you have learned this week about the panthers?
Speaker 1: About the panthers? Okay, I'm going to kind of switch
Speaker 1: it up here a little bit. I'm going to actually
Speaker 1: talk about a story that I wrote, because there's a lot,
Speaker 1: you know, going on in the football side of things
Speaker 1: and I was able to Um sit down last week
Speaker 1: with our kicker, Eddie Panero, who, amid all of the
Speaker 1: chaos and everything going on, he's gotten off to a
Speaker 1: good start, coming in for Zingenzaal is there at the
Speaker 1: last minute. He's perfect four four in his field goals,
Speaker 1: Um and perfect on his extra points. So there's a
Speaker 1: bright spot there for for Eddie. But Um, I had
Speaker 1: a chance to talk with him about his his whole
Speaker 1: journey to football in general, and there's so many different
Speaker 1: interesting aspects of his story just in general that I
Speaker 1: cannot wait to share in the article that I just
Speaker 1: wrote yesterday and the days before. But Um, one of
Speaker 1: the key things was that, um, football was never, or
Speaker 1: I guess not exactly, his first dream in terms of sports, Um,
Speaker 1: and that was something we wrote about when he first
Speaker 1: got here. You know, he's a soccer guy, but his
Speaker 1: transition into football and soccer was actually something very emotional
Speaker 1: and very, you know, big for him and he wanted
Speaker 1: to make something of himself in football to support his family.
Speaker 1: There's all sorts of just great connections between him and
Speaker 1: his father, who was a professional soccer player in the nineties. Um,
Speaker 1: I also spoke with his father for the story. So
Speaker 1: they're just he's he's a family guy. There's just so
Speaker 1: many reasons that he plays football that are outside of Oh,
Speaker 1: it's a cool thing to go kick for the NFL
Speaker 1: and I am so excited for everyone to read that.
Speaker 1: But just having a chance to talk with him for
Speaker 1: thirty minutes last Friday and then talk with his father
Speaker 1: get to know him, Um, you know, kind of showing
Speaker 1: the panthers like, okay, I know this guy came in
Speaker 1: in August out of nowhere and in a pretty you know, die,
Speaker 1: your situation was inns. I was getting hurt in the
Speaker 1: last preseason game. But Um, he's a real good addition
Speaker 1: to in terms of morale and excitement and uh, I'm
Speaker 1: really excited to share that story. So I didn't getting
Speaker 1: to know Eddie, and that's one of the things that's
Speaker 1: great about this job. We were talking about it um
Speaker 1: either last week or the week before, with opening the
Speaker 1: locker rooms and getting to know the guys. Um just
Speaker 1: being able to share their stories. They're wise that they're here,
Speaker 1: that so many of them it's past, you know, an
Speaker 1: NFL dreamer wanting to play in stadium. A lot of
Speaker 1: it is very deep rooted and emotional. So I'm very
Speaker 1: excited to share that and it is and it is
Speaker 1: a cool story. It'll be up later this afternoon on
Speaker 1: Panthers Dot Com and, having had a chance to read
Speaker 1: through it, uh and start working on the layout portion
Speaker 1: of it that we have to do, it's Um there's
Speaker 1: some details in there. It's like, when you see what
Speaker 1: this family is going through and you see what this
Speaker 1: journey means to them, it's worth checking out. And it's
Speaker 1: cool because I think a lot of times, and I've
Speaker 1: kind of joked that when kickers get hurt and you're
Speaker 1: looking for replacement kickers that I've made the joke that
Speaker 1: it's like a clown car. They go from city to
Speaker 1: city and try out. You know, they were in Kansas
Speaker 1: City the other week. Before that they all came to Charlotte.
Speaker 1: But when these guys come in they're expected to do
Speaker 1: a pretty important thing right off the bat. So yes,
Speaker 1: was everybody disappointed that Zane Gonzalez got heard, of course,
Speaker 1: but it's now like, okay, Eddie, it's on you, and
Speaker 1: so far Eddie's delivered in the Games, Um, and we'll
Speaker 1: see how it goes. But it's so cool seeing the
Speaker 1: human stories that kind of make up the team. And
Speaker 1: there's fifty three of them, plus a practice squad and
Speaker 1: plus all the people around this team, and that's what
Speaker 1: we try to do. I mean I want to tell
Speaker 1: people the stories of these people that we get to
Speaker 1: see in these people that we've got access to that
Speaker 1: other people do not have. I cannot wait to read that.
Speaker 1: It sounds great. Darren. What's one thing you've learned this week?
Speaker 1: I have learned that a lot of these guys it's
Speaker 1: kind of interesting to me. You know, as much as
Speaker 1: they put into this thing, they are their own worst critics.
Speaker 1: If you read the Internet or listen to the radio
Speaker 1: or all this kind of stuff, if you think it
Speaker 1: must be a dis aster. But I was talking to
Speaker 1: Frankie Luvu the other day about Frankie played one of
Speaker 1: the Best Games of defensive football he's played in his
Speaker 1: entire life last week, but the only thing that keeps
Speaker 1: repeating in his mind is dropping what could have been
Speaker 1: an interception and probably a pick six at a certain point.
Speaker 1: So it's it's interesting that, when the environment is not
Speaker 1: necessarily conducive, that you know it's not just people yelling
Speaker 1: at them I mean Eddie's like are not Eddie, but
Speaker 1: Frankie is like I know there were a couple of
Speaker 1: little things I could have done better, and it's and
Speaker 1: it's like you also have to be mindful of the fact,
Speaker 1: and I talked to J C Horn about this as well. Um,
Speaker 1: there can be specific things you'd like to fix, but
Speaker 1: the whole is at least moving in a positive direction
Speaker 1: for them individually. I mean J C has committed some
Speaker 1: penalties and been on the other end of some criticism
Speaker 1: about particular things, but J C Horn still pretty good
Speaker 1: at football, and Frankie Luvu's Um kicking himself over dropping
Speaker 1: a pick six. But when you look at the whole
Speaker 1: of what Frankie Lu hit on the field last week,
Speaker 1: I mean I'm sitting here next to Augustin and I
Speaker 1: was like, this guy's out there running around like his
Speaker 1: hair's on fire. He's making every play, he's all over
Speaker 1: the place. So and and that's the challenge when you're
Speaker 1: in the situation they're in right now, where you're kind
Speaker 1: of they are sort of trying to latch onto the
Speaker 1: things they've got to fix and fix them. But you've
Speaker 1: also got to be mindful of Frankie's playing pretty well
Speaker 1: right now. He absolutely as we you know, on the
Speaker 1: radio broadcast during that game, we called his name so
Speaker 1: many times, especially in that first half. It's it's incredible
Speaker 1: to to see what he's doing and the rate at
Speaker 1: which he continues to just progress, and not even progress,
Speaker 1: he's he's always been a great player, but to be
Speaker 1: able to show what he can do in a variety
Speaker 1: of different ways coming in here last year, is primarily
Speaker 1: a special team's contributor, you know, at first and until
Speaker 1: there were some injury so it's just been it's he's
Speaker 1: a guy that you want to on your team. I
Speaker 1: mean there's there's quite a few of those guys on
Speaker 1: on this team, but man, it is so fun to
Speaker 1: watch him, Darren, even when you said, even when he
Speaker 1: might be beating himself up over a few plays, it's
Speaker 1: it's it's very enjoyable to watch him. The thing that
Speaker 1: I've learned this week, I specifically learned it on Sunday
Speaker 1: and Darren, you mentioned it already, but this defense can
Speaker 1: stop the run, and I think that goes to what
Speaker 1: what you were saying earlier, Darren, um about there's still
Speaker 1: being a lot of football left to play, because that
Speaker 1: was the one of the main storylines in week one. Right,
Speaker 1: you give up two d seventeen yards on the ground
Speaker 1: to Cleveland. The only team that rushed for more yards
Speaker 1: than Cleveland in week one were the giants. Two eight
Speaker 1: se kuon Barkley had a hundred sixty four yards on
Speaker 1: the ground. And then, especially in the first half and
Speaker 1: for a few except for a few plays there for
Speaker 1: the end of the game, which, of course, we're very
Speaker 1: important plays, this defense did a great job really neutralizing
Speaker 1: sa Kuon Barkley for the majority of the game and
Speaker 1: so as a as a someone that watches all of
Speaker 1: these games and if I were a fan, I would
Speaker 1: feel very heartened about that. Now there still are you know,
Speaker 1: there's still the turnover issue. No turnovers through the first
Speaker 1: two games, but it's just, you know, like you said, Darren,
Speaker 1: we can't predict what's going to happen in the next
Speaker 1: fifteen games. But of course, every week, right, it's these
Speaker 1: little granular things until you get a broader sense of
Speaker 1: who this team is, which I would say is what
Speaker 1: probably week four, week five. Um, what do you say, Darren?
Speaker 1: It's Um, it's not a pattern until a certain you
Speaker 1: wrote it recently. Yeah, and and I talked about it
Speaker 1: mail bags. The first week everybody wanted to say, Oh
Speaker 1: my God, this is exactly what it's going to be
Speaker 1: all season. And one instance isn't a trend. I mean
Speaker 1: it takes two, three. Let's see what's going to happen
Speaker 1: over the next couple of weeks. I mean, and you know,
Speaker 1: things can look a lot different. And with New Orleans
Speaker 1: coming in, I think as a team Um that is
Speaker 1: struggling to create turnovers right now, you know, maybe you
Speaker 1: kind of want to see the saints right now because, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's there're s things and and it's interesting and I
Speaker 1: think as I visited with our friend Will Brian, Panthers
Speaker 1: Stats Guy, that came into a little clear focus. Of
Speaker 1: the time. It wicks every times. That of the week,
Speaker 1: as promised live from his undisclosed location inside Bank of
Speaker 1: America Stadium. That's why I'm whispering. He's Panthers Tagg Will Brian,
Speaker 1: and here's this week's stat of the week. Alright, stat
Speaker 1: of the week. Jamis Winston. This will be his eleventh
Speaker 1: career game against the Carolina Panthers. Most of those came
Speaker 1: when he was a Tampa Bay buccaneer. Overall, he's four
Speaker 1: and six against Carolina with a sixty point four completion percentage.
Speaker 1: He has nine touchdowns in sixteen interceptions. Many of those
Speaker 1: came in that game in London that we all remember.
Speaker 1: He's been sacked thirty six times with a seventy two
Speaker 1: point six passer ratings. So a chance for this panthers
Speaker 1: defense to get after Jamis on Sunday our very own
Speaker 1: panthers ask Guy Will Brian with a great stat about
Speaker 1: Jamis there and Darren. To your point, I think it's right.
Speaker 1: You know it's uh, we'll see what happens. It could
Speaker 1: be the pump could be primed for those takeaways to
Speaker 1: get wrong. If you need to see Takeaways Jamis. Winston
Speaker 1: has been generous past, so maybe this works out all right.
Speaker 1: I want to have some fun with something. Darren does
Speaker 1: a great mail bag. I'm a religious reader. I had
Speaker 1: to I'll have to write in, you know, the longtime reader.
Speaker 1: First Time. Um called ask the old guy. So I
Speaker 1: thought what would be fun Augusta is for us to
Speaker 1: be able to draw on Darren's extensive knowledge, but with
Speaker 1: the panthers and without because you know I go to
Speaker 1: Darren for advice. Sometimes it's a team related sometimes it's,
Speaker 1: you know, it's about like having a child and things
Speaker 1: like that. So I thought Augusta and I could do
Speaker 1: our very own ask the old guy. Um, I think
Speaker 1: our questions might be a little bit better than a
Speaker 1: little bit nicer than what you get in the mail
Speaker 1: bag sometimes this week. So Um, so we're gonna do
Speaker 1: Augus and I are each going to do one panthers
Speaker 1: related question and then one non panthers question. Does that
Speaker 1: sound good? Fair enough. Alright, my first question is panthers related.
Speaker 1: I want to know who, over the course of your
Speaker 1: not anyone on this team, who was your favorite player,
Speaker 1: just to talk to you, just to catch up with it.
Speaker 1: There are a lot. Jake diloans pretty near the top
Speaker 1: of the list. Jake and I get a chance to visit,
Speaker 1: you know, as he's doing radio for the Panthers Radio Network,
Speaker 1: and I enjoy talking to Jake. But I have always
Speaker 1: got a kick out of Steve Smith, I really have.
Speaker 1: I mean watching him from his rookie year coming in
Speaker 1: and being angry rookie and being mentored by people like
Speaker 1: Sam Mills and John Casey and turning into this guy
Speaker 1: we know now. I mean it's just such a journey
Speaker 1: that Steve has been on individually. But he's funny and
Speaker 1: he's curious and that's one of my favorite lalities in people.
Speaker 1: I mean Steve's always trying to find stuff out. Um,
Speaker 1: when he worked, did some work at a local radio station,
Speaker 1: he wouldn't let them just make him a ceremonial talker.
Speaker 1: He learned how to work the phones. So I mean
Speaker 1: when I I learned something when I talked to Steve
Speaker 1: Every time, and I think that's one of the coolest
Speaker 1: things about him. I would agree with you on on
Speaker 1: both of those. I get a chance to work with
Speaker 1: see Smith. He's our analyst for the PRESEASON Games. Um
Speaker 1: and I do sideline, and you're right that that story
Speaker 1: that you were just telling actually his, I guess, boss.
Speaker 1: The person that was doing the that was on the
Speaker 1: radio show was Taylor's Arzer, who does play by play.
Speaker 1: He's our the third member of our preseason crew, and
Speaker 1: they called him intern Smitty and intern smitty answering the phones.
Speaker 1: He refused to go right to the top, but and
Speaker 1: he's still that person. Um and I just I have
Speaker 1: the best time working with him for those three or
Speaker 1: four weeks during the preseason Um, and we have a
Speaker 1: text chain going. You know, it's just it's just great
Speaker 1: as so I completely agree with you, Darren. I'm glad
Speaker 1: to hear that those two guys at the top of
Speaker 1: your list because I love getting to work with Jake two.
Speaker 1: We do a lot of stuff together, guys. So what's
Speaker 1: Your Panthers Related Question? Okay, so the reason I'm asking
Speaker 1: this is because we just got back from a trip
Speaker 1: to New York. It was my first time going to
Speaker 1: New York, so I was a little, you know, when
Speaker 1: I saw the statue of Liberty and all of the buildings,
Speaker 1: I felt a little star struck for the city. I
Speaker 1: guess in a way I was just so excited. So
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you, Um, when you were early
Speaker 1: on in the what was the first road trip where
Speaker 1: you were like, oh my goodness, I cannot believe that
Speaker 1: I'm here. There was. I was fortunate enough early in
Speaker 1: my career to be able to work to Gaston Gazette
Speaker 1: before I got to the Rock Hill Herald and I
Speaker 1: was basically covering high school games on Friday nights and
Speaker 1: then getting home planes and going to help cover panthers
Speaker 1: games on the weekend and in a certain thing happened
Speaker 1: here with Carolina Panthers and they caught hot and ended
Speaker 1: up in Green Bay for the NFC championship game. And
Speaker 1: when you're four years old, very young, you don't realize
Speaker 1: you go from covering an Ashbrook Hunter Hust game on
Speaker 1: a Friday night to walking into lambeau field and it's
Speaker 1: like you walk in for the first time and you
Speaker 1: see that place and and it's weird because I've kind
Speaker 1: of joked in the past green bay it's mythical, but
Speaker 1: Green Bay itself is a very small town and I've
Speaker 1: always joked it's kind of like a cold guest on you,
Speaker 1: but because it is a very small community. But you
Speaker 1: roll up to that stadium and it's like you're entering
Speaker 1: a portal into football mythology. I mean it's just it's
Speaker 1: a different kind of place. And that was one of
Speaker 1: the days where I had kind of that same look
Speaker 1: you had on your face the other day. Pulling past
Speaker 1: the Statue of Liberty. It's like, Whoa, look at that,
Speaker 1: this is the thing I'm seeing with my own two
Speaker 1: eyes and that's pretty neatsy. I still have not been
Speaker 1: there Um this is my third season doing a radio
Speaker 1: sideline for the panthers and the first year that I
Speaker 1: was here they played in Green Bay but no one
Speaker 1: was trying thing except for absolutely essential the personnel team members.
Speaker 1: So we called the Games from our stadium on the road.
Speaker 1: It looks cool, though, so holding out hope. Cannot wait
Speaker 1: to go there. Well, but the thing was this was
Speaker 1: a it was actually I can't remember what month they
Speaker 1: played in, but it was like unseasonably warm in Green
Speaker 1: Bay during that game and I'm like man, because you know,
Speaker 1: at least you go. Well, if I'm not going to
Speaker 1: be there, UM, you know, I'm sure it would just
Speaker 1: be like the weather would just be terrible and it's
Speaker 1: gonna be negative six. So it's like good, you know,
Speaker 1: it's good not to be there. And it was like
Speaker 1: this is the warmest night in Green Bay and in
Speaker 1: the month of November or whatever it was, and forever,
Speaker 1: it's like fifty degrees, like everyone's had a great time.
Speaker 1: You're like, Oh, come on, like and the weather conditions
Speaker 1: are perfect for a sideline reporter. So I cannot wait
Speaker 1: to get to go there. But what a great question. Augusta.
Speaker 1: All Right, my non panthers related question. Um, it's probably
Speaker 1: a little sappy. Um. So I guess I don't know
Speaker 1: if you know this, but when I had my baby,
Speaker 1: Darren dropped off this beautiful book, okay, I might get
Speaker 1: dropped off this beautiful book of Winnie the Poo Stories
Speaker 1: and Um wrote a really beautiful note in it too
Speaker 1: and just talked about essentially you know how fast time goes. So, Dren,
Speaker 1: my question to you is, how did you balance being
Speaker 1: a parent during football season? Sorry, I'm just it was
Speaker 1: just such a beautiful I'm thinking about the note now, right,
Speaker 1: and it was so touching. Wow, UM, poorly question mark.
Speaker 1: I don't know, and you never know as a parent
Speaker 1: whether you're doing it right or not. You try to
Speaker 1: and honestly, it's part of the reason I loved reading
Speaker 1: stories to kids at night, because that time was only them.
Speaker 1: And so, whether you're reading Winnie the Pood or your
Speaker 1: son or or good night moon to your daughter, I
Speaker 1: read that book a million times to baby girl over
Speaker 1: the years and I can hear it in my head
Speaker 1: each day. So you you just hang onto those little
Speaker 1: moments because that's what you've got and this job is demanding.
Speaker 1: It takes a lot of time. There are a lot
Speaker 1: of moments when I wasn't around and I've got voicemails
Speaker 1: from my daughter wishing me a happy birthday, you know,
Speaker 1: in the early two thousand's, when she was three or
Speaker 1: four years old and I was on the road somewhere,
Speaker 1: and it's like this stinks, being out here on the
Speaker 1: road the whole time, but you just try to be
Speaker 1: as there as you can when you're there, because that's
Speaker 1: really all you can offer. You always strike me as
Speaker 1: somebody that is taking in the present right and trying
Speaker 1: to make the most of that, and I've really tried
Speaker 1: to do that before work, after work, all those times
Speaker 1: and you know what, I'm getting into a little bit
Speaker 1: of a rhythm with it and Um. Anyway, I just
Speaker 1: wanted to say how much I appreciated all of your
Speaker 1: uh words of wisdom and in the beautiful note and
Speaker 1: those stories. And, like I said, I asked Darn for advice,
Speaker 1: so you know, it's good to get it. Sorry to
Speaker 1: put that on you on microphone, but I came in
Speaker 1: thinking about that today, so I uh, okay, I'll stop.
Speaker 1: I will stop bringing into the mic Augusta, what's Your
Speaker 1: Not Panther's related question? First of all. That was the
Speaker 1: sweetest thing in the world, just watching that whole oh
Speaker 1: my goodness, I'm I'm not a very different, you know,
Speaker 1: phase of my life, but I kind of want to
Speaker 1: ask a similar question. Just you were just talking about,
Speaker 1: you know, being a young reporter four. I just turned
Speaker 1: twenty four from twenty three. So when you said that,
Speaker 1: I was like, oh my gosh, like me, Um, but
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask Um, just not even necessarily work related, advice,
Speaker 1: life advice for someone who, I just moved to my
Speaker 1: third new city in three years. I'm still adjusting to life,
Speaker 1: trying to figure out how to be a real life adult.
Speaker 1: What are some of your key advice to people who
Speaker 1: either are as young as me, or I mean whatever
Speaker 1: phase of life you're in, and you feel like you're
Speaker 1: floating and letting life come to you instead of taking
Speaker 1: it by the horns? Yeah, and that's hard and and
Speaker 1: part of the reason I'm amazed and impressed by what
Speaker 1: you've been able to do in a short amount of
Speaker 1: time is I was always able to do it close
Speaker 1: to where I'm from. I grew up in suburban Hickory,
Speaker 1: I went to Appalachian State University, I worked in Morganton
Speaker 1: and Lenore and Gastonian and rock hill and being living
Speaker 1: in Charlotte for last, Gosh what, thirty years, so I've
Speaker 1: always had a pretty close connection. So being able to
Speaker 1: put it all on the line. moved to a new
Speaker 1: place where you don't know anybody, that takes guts and
Speaker 1: it's and it's hard to jump out there and do it,
Speaker 1: because I haven't necessarily done it. I mean I live
Speaker 1: sixty miles from my parents and in my extended family
Speaker 1: I'm the one that moved away to the city. I'm
Speaker 1: I'm boy Walton. So it's uh, you're asking me for
Speaker 1: things I can't necessarily speak to, but it's it is.
Speaker 1: I think when you're a reporter your job is just
Speaker 1: to walk into every situation eyes wide open and a
Speaker 1: year's wide open, and take it all in, because that's
Speaker 1: the only way to really Um. I try not to
Speaker 1: get hung up on individual sound bites or this person
Speaker 1: said this thing and now it's a headline and it
Speaker 1: takes off and goes viral. I I tend to prefer
Speaker 1: things that stand up over time. And when you stand
Speaker 1: and watch a year's worth of football practice, you learn
Speaker 1: exactly what that football team is all about. When you
Speaker 1: watch an entire training camp, you get to know the
Speaker 1: people at a different level. So it's just always being
Speaker 1: on and always observing and always remembering what you see,
Speaker 1: and that's the only way to be a reporter. As
Speaker 1: far as I know, and I know that you didn't
Speaker 1: ask me that question, but as someone who has moved
Speaker 1: around the country and and did it very young, Connecticut,
Speaker 1: L A, Um, Chicago and now back, you know, being
Speaker 1: from North Carolina back here, I would say something that
Speaker 1: really grounded me was, um, trying to find a thing
Speaker 1: outside of work that you enjoyed doing, even if it's small,
Speaker 1: like I know you like to go get your coffee, right,
Speaker 1: or going on a walk and trying to do it
Speaker 1: as much as possible so that you have something that's
Speaker 1: tied to the city that you're living in. Right, Um,
Speaker 1: that's for you, and that's not work related, because, especially
Speaker 1: in sports, I you know, I worked on Mike and
Speaker 1: Mike and Bristol. That was my first job out of
Speaker 1: college and I loved it, but you know, it started
Speaker 1: at three am, right, and so I had to find
Speaker 1: something that just my whole day wasn't just work, right,
Speaker 1: and it's because it's a fun place and it's cool,
Speaker 1: and so you just want to connect to where you
Speaker 1: are in a way that is um not always related
Speaker 1: to your job, and I know that's hard because we
Speaker 1: don't always have the time to do it. But I
Speaker 1: always found that like walking around my city right whether
Speaker 1: it was Chicago or Santa Monica or Um in the
Speaker 1: little small town I lived in Connecticut, or like finding,
Speaker 1: whether it was a gym or a little breakfast place
Speaker 1: that I liked, and that was like my thing that
Speaker 1: I did, and I would put my music on. I
Speaker 1: know you, you always listen to your music too, and
Speaker 1: I would go do my thing. It was almost a ritual.
Speaker 1: So that always helped me feel very grounded and connected
Speaker 1: to the new city. And it's not something that, you know,
Speaker 1: with our schedules, they don't match up sometimes with meeting
Speaker 1: New People and it's not something you have to do
Speaker 1: with somebody else. It's something you can do on your own.
Speaker 1: So that always made me feel better. God, Charlotte's so
Speaker 1: much better for having youtube in it. Thank you. Okays,
Speaker 1: this was really funny to bring back. Asked the old guy,
Speaker 1: like what a spiritual experience for last yes, I certainly did.
Speaker 1: Uh Well, I thank you everyone for listening. Darren a Gusta,
Speaker 1: thank you, guys so much. Producer Matt, thank you. We'll
Speaker 1: see you next week on a happy half hour podcast.
Speaker 1: Mhow