Speaker 1: This week on the Happy half Hour. I think Cuba's
Speaker 1: first run first play from scrimmage went like thirty yards,
Speaker 1: which is more than they got the entire Pittsburgh game. Yes,
Speaker 1: so it's one of those things you sit there and
Speaker 1: you're like, so today is going to be different, and
Speaker 1: you kind of knew that already. The tone would be
Speaker 1: like it was just different. They wanted to come out
Speaker 1: and be like, Okay, that's not who we actually aren't
Speaker 1: and make a statement, and they did it against a
Speaker 1: team that was hot. Texta, It's time for the Happy
Speaker 1: half Hour with your friends Kristen Balboni, Augusta Stone, and
Speaker 1: Darren Gann. That's right, it's that time of the week.
Speaker 1: It's the Happy half Hour podcast with your friends Augusta,
Speaker 1: Darren and Kristian. And fittingly, the Happy half Hour Podcast
Speaker 1: is brought to you by Prowling Vineyards Napa Valley, which
Speaker 1: is the official wine brand and wine club of the
Speaker 1: Carolina Panthers. These premium selections celebrate the great people of
Speaker 1: the Carolinas and the Panthers hunger to achieve excellence on
Speaker 1: and off the field, experience the benefits and lifestyle, while
Speaker 1: giving back to the community. As a portion of the
Speaker 1: proceeds support the Carolina Panthers charities. Learn more at Prowling
Speaker 1: Vineyards dot com. Darren Augusta. In the time since we
Speaker 1: last spoke on this podcast, the Panthers broke to franchise records,
Speaker 1: played the coldest home game in Panthers history, became legitimate
Speaker 1: playoff contenders, We celebrated a major holiday, the team had
Speaker 1: a significant injury to their secondary and brought back former
Speaker 1: All Pro Josh Norman. It's a shame that we don't
Speaker 1: have anything to talk about, guys. It's always so boring, like,
Speaker 1: oh my goodness. Yeah, and this week gets into like
Speaker 1: the top eight of the two thousand two Carolina Panthers weeks. Right,
Speaker 1: it's uh, yeah, there's a lot maybe not even the
Speaker 1: busiest week that we've had. Is a great point, Aran,
Speaker 1: There's a lot of stuff going on, but this is
Speaker 1: this is wild and again you buys your ticket, you
Speaker 1: comes to seize the show, and you never know what
Speaker 1: you're gonna get. And this year has con ain't multitude.
Speaker 1: It's just been one thing after another. And and like
Speaker 1: said you, you just spanned all the emotions of the
Speaker 1: week because it goes from hey, everything's great. Playoffs, dude,
Speaker 1: Jacy Horn, but Judge Norman and we're back. So it's uh, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's an interesting time to be sure, and you know,
Speaker 1: it's just kind of hard to process this stuff every week.
Speaker 1: But what you keep seeing consistently is a team that
Speaker 1: you know, everybody I think six weeks ago when we
Speaker 1: started invoking playoffs and hey, believe it or not, even
Speaker 1: though they're three and eight, they've still kind of got
Speaker 1: a shot at this thing. Um, everybody's sort of pointed
Speaker 1: and left, and now it's real and now people are
Speaker 1: starting to see that, oh, this team does things well,
Speaker 1: maybe they do have a shot. So it's been fun
Speaker 1: to watch it has I want to go back and
Speaker 1: we got to relive these these records that were broken
Speaker 1: on Saturday. We got to talk about the cold this
Speaker 1: of the game. But you know, just for all the
Speaker 1: fans that approach fandom the way I approach fandom, which
Speaker 1: is pessimism and worry right before my team plays a
Speaker 1: big game during Speaking of j C. Horn, can you
Speaker 1: give us the latest on on where that injury is.
Speaker 1: Broke his wrist in the game, right Brokeer's wrist during
Speaker 1: the game, had surgery on Tuesday afternoon here in town. Uh.
Speaker 1: Steve Wilkes said yesterday they will reevaluate in ten to
Speaker 1: twelve days, okay, And even with sportswriter math, I know
Speaker 1: that that takes us to a time before the Saints game.
Speaker 1: So no j C this week. But if you beat
Speaker 1: Tom Brady in the box this week and go into
Speaker 1: Week eighteen with a shot to go to the playoffs,
Speaker 1: never know, and how does how does that work? Again?
Speaker 1: Like I said, if i'm if I'm the fan, not
Speaker 1: only my pessimistic I'm also wondering about how that works
Speaker 1: with a broken wrist. Even me right as a sideline reporter,
Speaker 1: I could tell that his wrist was broken when it happened.
Speaker 1: I'm pretty good on evaluating the high ankle sprains. But
Speaker 1: with the broken wrist, how does that work if he's
Speaker 1: going to potentially be able to play for the Saints game. Well,
Speaker 1: and I think you have to preface everything with every
Speaker 1: injury is different. But we did have one of these
Speaker 1: in two thousand and fifteen, and some guy named Thomas
Speaker 1: Davis him who broke an arm during the NFC Championship game.
Speaker 1: Cast it up played Super Bowl. He didn't even come
Speaker 1: out of the game. Now when he now, when he
Speaker 1: took that cast off after the Super Bowl, his arm
Speaker 1: looked like the football they just played with. It was gross.
Speaker 1: But in augustus starting to fade over here. I don't
Speaker 1: I don't think medical talk is where she thrives. But um,
Speaker 1: it's possible. And again, I don't know the specifics of
Speaker 1: suh j C's injury, and they're not going to talk
Speaker 1: about him. Frankly, they shouldn't. It's his business. Um, But
Speaker 1: if there is an ability to club it up and
Speaker 1: go play, I think some people we'll try to. But
Speaker 1: it depends on the severity of the surgery. You know,
Speaker 1: what they had to put in there, how far up
Speaker 1: the arm they had to go to do things, that
Speaker 1: kind of thing, I mean, and all that sort of stuff.
Speaker 1: That Jac's personal medical business that if he wants to
Speaker 1: share with us sometime, he's welcome to. But it at
Speaker 1: least exists as a possibility in a theoretical sense. I mean,
Speaker 1: we don't know. Again, again, any anything can happen to
Speaker 1: a guy. And you know, even Brian Burns said, Burns
Speaker 1: is as close to him as anybody in that locker room.
Speaker 1: And Burns is like if he's too serious. I don't
Speaker 1: want him to come absolutely, So I think the guy's
Speaker 1: health obviously his first and foremost. But if it's a possibility,
Speaker 1: you know, I think, you know, even in a game
Speaker 1: planning situation going against the Saints, even if you think
Speaker 1: he's got a shot to play, that's one more thing
Speaker 1: Dennis Allen's got to think about. So I think that's
Speaker 1: probably a factor next week too. But it's like, at
Speaker 1: least there's a chance, that's right, And I appreciate the
Speaker 1: context of of course, we are, as you said, Darren,
Speaker 1: not saying that, oh yeah, he If he doesn't, then
Speaker 1: that means that he's not doing something. I just was
Speaker 1: wondering the context around what does it look like to
Speaker 1: potentially be available with a broken risk, And I think
Speaker 1: that that really gives everyone listening context and best case scenario. Right.
Speaker 1: Of course, although we we absolutely hope that he takes
Speaker 1: care of himself and his health, J C. Horne is
Speaker 1: going to be a part of caritall for far beyond
Speaker 1: next week's game against the Saints, and he's important to
Speaker 1: that future. So you don't want to do anything that's
Speaker 1: going to jack him up by trying to play one
Speaker 1: Hero game now. Absolutely, and uh, you know, talking to
Speaker 1: Steve Wilkes yesterday, UM, he said, look, I have confidence
Speaker 1: in the guys who were there. He mentioned Keith Taylor
Speaker 1: is going to have to step up t J. Carey.
Speaker 1: But there is now another name that is in the
Speaker 1: mix potentially currently practice squatter, thirty five year old cornerback
Speaker 1: by the name of Josh Norman Augusta. You know, I
Speaker 1: I know Josh. I covered him at while I was
Speaker 1: at Fox Sports. I've covered you know, the fan of
Speaker 1: the team before I got this job. Darren of course
Speaker 1: goes way back with him. What's been your initial impression, UM,
Speaker 1: as our as our new b of of Josh Norman exactly. No,
Speaker 1: it was super exciting. So I loved just his his
Speaker 1: interview yesterday because I felt like, no matter what the
Speaker 1: question was, he had something very interesting to say. UM,
Speaker 1: very pleasant kind of guy, and it's it's really funny
Speaker 1: because like the experience he's had here. I mean, he
Speaker 1: was cracking jokes with the reporters like David Newton, a
Speaker 1: ESP and all of them, just going and laughing with
Speaker 1: him and and talking with him, and it was it
Speaker 1: was cool. It was really I mean, he walks in
Speaker 1: and he has this air about him. He was hugging
Speaker 1: guys on the practice field like it's it was really
Speaker 1: like a homecoming of sorts. And the most interesting thing
Speaker 1: I thought what he said yesterday was like one of
Speaker 1: the first things that he was asked when he was
Speaker 1: talking about things that had changed and he remembered all
Speaker 1: these small details. He talking about how he had a
Speaker 1: memory in every room in this place, and how the
Speaker 1: doors to the locker room, you know, weren't in the
Speaker 1: back like they are now, and they didn't connect to
Speaker 1: the weight room, and he's like everything so different, and
Speaker 1: it's I just I love. I didn't know that the
Speaker 1: doors didn't always open, he said, I don't know. He
Speaker 1: was talking about like doors and configurations, but they have
Speaker 1: remodeled some things in the locker room in certain places
Speaker 1: that used to be other places. It was just awesome,
Speaker 1: Like I loved, Like, you know, he's one of those
Speaker 1: guys you could tell like takes in things and has
Speaker 1: like a very big observational sort of mind. And so
Speaker 1: I was just fascinated by because it hasn't been that long,
Speaker 1: but you know, he's talking about all these little details
Speaker 1: and all the memories he has, and how he was
Speaker 1: a barista in Atlanta before he came back here, and
Speaker 1: just all these little things. I just like when I
Speaker 1: wrote the article, just compilations of quotes. The whole time,
Speaker 1: I was like, I don't even know where to stop.
Speaker 1: Everything is golden. So I almost transcribed the whole twelve
Speaker 1: minute thing because I was like, I don't know where
Speaker 1: to edit. It was brilliant. He's uh, he's a real one.
Speaker 1: Josh is you know what Josh is? John is fun
Speaker 1: and it's okay for football to be fun, and I
Speaker 1: and I think it kind of fits with you know,
Speaker 1: we're gonna spend a lot of time we already have,
Speaker 1: uh talking about a guy who's probably going to get
Speaker 1: activated for Sunday, but not I mean, there's no game.
Speaker 1: We assume that's the reason you bring him in is
Speaker 1: in the hope of being activated off the practice squad
Speaker 1: for the game. But we'll see I and as the
Speaker 1: wet blanket of reason, I feel like every now and
Speaker 1: then I have to point out he's thirty five years old,
Speaker 1: hadn't played in the year, and went fast to begin with,
Speaker 1: so he's probably not a guy you want sprinting downfield
Speaker 1: forty yards at a time after Mike Kevin's I don't
Speaker 1: know that that's a good matchup necessarily, but can he
Speaker 1: still around with Julio Johnny, you know? And there are
Speaker 1: things where I think Josh adds value to this team,
Speaker 1: whether he plays five ten snaps or not. I mean
Speaker 1: I asked him on Monday when he came in and signed,
Speaker 1: and he was still big eyed when he walked down
Speaker 1: that hall towards Samir Suleman's office to sign his contract.
Speaker 1: The other day, he's kind of moon. I'd like, I said,
Speaker 1: you didn't think you'd ever be back down this all, Digiti,
Speaker 1: So I really didn't. Um, and thinking about thinking about
Speaker 1: that stuff. Then I asked him, I said, in fifteen,
Speaker 1: you're last year here. They bring in a guy named
Speaker 1: Peanut Tilman to play his last year in the league.
Speaker 1: And Peanut was a good player during the regular season,
Speaker 1: but peanuts value to that team was in what he
Speaker 1: shared with guys like Josh, and so Josh still, I mean,
Speaker 1: he's a cornerback. He still believes he can play like
Speaker 1: I'm still a playmaker. Um got his chest out a
Speaker 1: little bit, but he understands that that's part of the
Speaker 1: reason he's here too. I mean this, this Panthers defense
Speaker 1: is still very very young and still has a lot
Speaker 1: of guys who are still learning how to play football,
Speaker 1: and so four cats like you know j C, if
Speaker 1: he's well. Although j C is such a different animal
Speaker 1: because he grew up in the game and you know,
Speaker 1: he's got a different mentality than most. But guys like
Speaker 1: Keith Taylor, guys like Jeremy Chen having a Josh around
Speaker 1: them is gonna be good for their development. In the
Speaker 1: same way having s to find Gilmore around here last
Speaker 1: year was helpful. But I think, you know, whatever whatever
Speaker 1: it is the kids say these days, I think Josh
Speaker 1: has a dog inside of him or or something that
Speaker 1: is what he brings to the room. Yeah, and Steve
Speaker 1: Foaks told me, he said, look, if if we feel
Speaker 1: like he can go, he said, he wants to make
Speaker 1: sure he's in game shape. He said, bab optimistically, fifteen
Speaker 1: to twenty plays. Deren you were probably more measured at
Speaker 1: five to ten. So it's not as you said, it's
Speaker 1: there's gonna be no no saviors is coming to to
Speaker 1: save the secondary. It's going to have to be by committee.
Speaker 1: It's going to have to be these these younger guys,
Speaker 1: these key Taylor's, t J Carey stepping up. Uh. Josh
Speaker 1: Norman helping if and where he can for this game.
Speaker 1: But as you said, he brings a lot of value
Speaker 1: to this team from a leadership perspective, from having been there,
Speaker 1: and that's what he told me. Look, it's just a mindset.
Speaker 1: It's a mindset that Steve Wilkes has instilled in in
Speaker 1: me for years, and I want to bring that to
Speaker 1: these guys and make sure that they are ready to
Speaker 1: go for this big game. You want to know what
Speaker 1: else Josh springs. Honestly, during a week when all the
Speaker 1: talk would have ordinarily been about, Oh my god, you
Speaker 1: guys are playing to get Tom Brady, Oh my god,
Speaker 1: you guys have the playoffs on the line. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: this is so much pressure. You've never done this before.
Speaker 1: We've now spent three days talking about Josh Norman off.
Speaker 1: It really does. I think it's a collateral benefit to
Speaker 1: this too, because it keeps this from being a oh
Speaker 1: my god, changes up the news cycle a little about
Speaker 1: does That's a really good point. So, gus So you
Speaker 1: mentioned this, and I talked to him in in uh
Speaker 1: in my interview as well, I got him right off
Speaker 1: the field yesterday and I said what were you doing?
Speaker 1: Because he was talking about the importance of the number six,
Speaker 1: which is his new number. And I said, what were
Speaker 1: you doing six days ago? And he said, I was
Speaker 1: a barista at a coffee shop. And he told me
Speaker 1: about all these different drinks he was making, so um.
Speaker 1: He said his specialty was he could do a great
Speaker 1: double espresso. He could do an oat milk latte. There
Speaker 1: was something involving sweet potatoes, which I didn't quite understand.
Speaker 1: But there's a new type of I don't know if
Speaker 1: it's a milk or some sort of a substance, but
Speaker 1: sweet potatoes, which I thought was very interesting. But he
Speaker 1: knows his stuff, there's no doubt about it. So in
Speaker 1: that spirit, I have to know what what are your
Speaker 1: coffee orders when you get something. I know you had
Speaker 1: the lemonade and coffee for a little bit Augusta. But Darren,
Speaker 1: let me just guess with Darren black coffee? Yeah, Josh,
Speaker 1: can you make truck stop black? If you've got a
Speaker 1: pot that's been sitting around all I wanted to be
Speaker 1: burned a little bit. You know. I'm a black coffee
Speaker 1: person too, though, that's about it, Augusta, what's your order?
Speaker 1: So right now, it's very normal. I actually have one
Speaker 1: with me. It's three sugars and oat milk, just original coffee.
Speaker 1: I do prefer coffee to espresso, though I find espresso
Speaker 1: is a little aggressive, so like, I don't get express
Speaker 1: great drinks. I get coffee and then I mix it.
Speaker 1: But I'm I'm pretty normal right now. I have like
Speaker 1: when I'm making at home, I have like this vanilla
Speaker 1: soy milk that I use. But yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1: I will say I love that alternative milks are big
Speaker 1: and coffee. Now people are talking about eat milk and
Speaker 1: stuff as a vegan plug it um. But yeah, no,
Speaker 1: I love that. So yeah, no, it was really cool.
Speaker 1: I was watching your interview with him, and I loved
Speaker 1: like here and I'm talking about all the lot days
Speaker 1: and stuff. That's something I would love to learn to
Speaker 1: do someday. Three sugars. He can teach you three sugars.
Speaker 1: Three sugars, big buddy, the alef energy. Absolutely, But I
Speaker 1: will drink like that or the espresso right And I'm
Speaker 1: with august on that the espresso makes me feel a
Speaker 1: little shaky and feel weird. That my decisions first thing
Speaker 1: in the morning. You know, there's a come down off
Speaker 1: of it, so I'd go with the three sugars. Usually
Speaker 1: other things to regret. So we've gone all this time
Speaker 1: and have not even talked about the way in which
Speaker 1: the Panthers dominated the Lions on Christmas Eve, the coldest
Speaker 1: home game in franchise history. And you know, as Steve
Speaker 1: Wilkes told me yesterday when I was talking to him
Speaker 1: by the game, he said, you know we are looking
Speaker 1: forward now, right, um, And of course we are, but
Speaker 1: I do think it is, Um. It is indicative of
Speaker 1: the way in which, of course they would like to
Speaker 1: play against Tampa and against the Saints, and if they
Speaker 1: go further than that. I mean, it's a great formula
Speaker 1: for dominating pretty much anyone if you can rush for
Speaker 1: over three and what how many yards were three? Um?
Speaker 1: And then and then the week before you saw the
Speaker 1: Steelers game, which Steve Wolks will say, we got embarrassed, right,
Speaker 1: So there's your that's your spectrum, right. Um. The thing
Speaker 1: that I took away from this game standing there on
Speaker 1: the sidelines two things. Number One, talking to Steve Wilkes
Speaker 1: in the studio last Wednesday, we do our TV interview
Speaker 1: talk every week, and I said, what do you do
Speaker 1: to come back from the Steelers game? And he said,
Speaker 1: we've got to set a new line. A scrimmage on
Speaker 1: both sides of the ball is going to start up front.
Speaker 1: Would do all the things that he has preached to
Speaker 1: this team. And when you rush for like twenty four
Speaker 1: yards in the Steelers game, you go okay, all right.
Speaker 1: They came out and did exactly what he said they
Speaker 1: needed to do. They executed on the game plan. And
Speaker 1: the second thing I saw, um was the amount of
Speaker 1: confidence that that gave them early to come out and
Speaker 1: and run for like seventy yards in your first two plays,
Speaker 1: right courtesy of Chewba Hubbard. Um. It was just incredibly impressive,
Speaker 1: and you saw the confidence build throughout the game on
Speaker 1: both sides of the ball because they were able to
Speaker 1: come out and establish that identity, not just establish it,
Speaker 1: but establish it early augusta right. I mean, it was
Speaker 1: just it was neat to see because they you couldn't
Speaker 1: tell them anything. By like the second quarter, they believed
Speaker 1: in what they're doing exactly and they're so into the details.
Speaker 1: I have a story dropping later today where I was
Speaker 1: talking with the running backs because I practice, I've noticed
Speaker 1: and you've probably seen it too, where after every single
Speaker 1: rep that the offense takes, it's always Jeff Nicks in
Speaker 1: the three running backs and they're always going under their
Speaker 1: watching the tape. And they do this every single practice,
Speaker 1: every single rep. So it'll be like they'll go under
Speaker 1: the tent five or six different times during team periods
Speaker 1: and it's great and they've gotten into the nitty gritty
Speaker 1: details and you can see that it's like working out
Speaker 1: right because it's it's like when you have something that's
Speaker 1: working well, it's like we'll find those little bitty fine
Speaker 1: tune things. And I will say one thing about confidence.
Speaker 1: The thing about that game was I think Tuba's first
Speaker 1: run the first play from scrimmage went like thirty yards,
Speaker 1: which is more than they got in the entire Pittsburgh game.
Speaker 1: So it's one of those things you sit there and
Speaker 1: you're like, hmm, so today it's going to be different,
Speaker 1: and you kind of knew that already. The tone would
Speaker 1: be like just it was just different, but um yeah,
Speaker 1: just getting into the nitty gritty details, like kind of
Speaker 1: polishing up things that they already have that are working well.
Speaker 1: I think it's not surprising, But what it is is
Speaker 1: it's like, Okay, they have a formula, they know how
Speaker 1: to get to the formula. And then I think also
Speaker 1: with the offensive line, the theme that I had just
Speaker 1: talking with those guys. They were so embarrassed after the
Speaker 1: Steelers game. They wanted to come out and be like, Okay,
Speaker 1: that's not who we actually are and make a statement.
Speaker 1: And they did it. They did it against a team
Speaker 1: that was hot, trending, hot, winners of six of their
Speaker 1: last seven coming into that one, and that offense had
Speaker 1: been on a roll. They hadn't turned it over. The
Speaker 1: that offense was the reason the lines were in that conversation.
Speaker 1: And you know, Ben Johnson, their thirty five year old
Speaker 1: offensive coordinators, one of those hot young offensive minds that
Speaker 1: everybody wants to talk to in the off season. And
Speaker 1: you know, Steve Wilkes may eventually be competing for a
Speaker 1: job with that guy. And he's got a pretty good
Speaker 1: you know, bullet point to put on his power point
Speaker 1: display for that game. Oh yeah, Ben Johnson, I remember him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we yards on his team and kept them, you know,
Speaker 1: from doing the thing that they had been doing. But hey,
Speaker 1: I think too that operates. That confidence piece of it
Speaker 1: operates at a lot of levels. I mean, the the
Speaker 1: offensive line we wrote about that Augusta wrote about it
Speaker 1: after the game is just a Okay, this is who
Speaker 1: we are again, this is what we want to do again.
Speaker 1: And where that branches off. Falso is they didn't touch
Speaker 1: Sam Donald all day. The Lions didn't lay a finger
Speaker 1: on Sam Donald. And here's another thing that you can
Speaker 1: read about on Panthers dot com. Um Sam Donald pretty good,
Speaker 1: not not just, but actually pretty good. And I and
Speaker 1: I feel bad. And I told Sam yesterday in the
Speaker 1: locker room when we were finished talking, I said, I
Speaker 1: feel almost bad saying it this way because it sounds
Speaker 1: like a slight It sounds like we're damning him with
Speaker 1: faint praise. But Sam has actually been better than just
Speaker 1: take care of it and don't screw it up. And
Speaker 1: he's made plays downfield and you've seen that over the
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks. There have been some of those
Speaker 1: shots to DJ. I mean that touchdown he threw to
Speaker 1: DJ against Detroit was one of those balls that was
Speaker 1: placed in a spot. And if you remember back to
Speaker 1: New England joint practices, the three of us were standing
Speaker 1: in a corner of an end zone and Sam Donald,
Speaker 1: back when Baker Mayfield was in the midst of winning
Speaker 1: a quarterback competition, Sam Donald threw a ball to Derreck
Speaker 1: right in the corner of an end zone, and we're
Speaker 1: all like, my god, Sam just threw that all into
Speaker 1: a space about the thing of beauty. I mean, Christian
Speaker 1: McCaffrey ran across the field to bear hug Derrek. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's and of course there were no cameras because Bill
Speaker 1: Belichick and the Patriots, but it was one of those
Speaker 1: things where you go, oh, my goodness, I still remember
Speaker 1: exactly where we were standing. Yes, And and so Sam
Speaker 1: has played better as a result. I mean, and that's
Speaker 1: where this thing's all coming together a little bit, because
Speaker 1: you know, nothing's been settled at the quarterback position, change
Speaker 1: coaches in the middle of the year, all the other stuff.
Speaker 1: But right now, the way this offense is dialed up,
Speaker 1: it is working, and there's something to be said for that.
Speaker 1: I mean, the running game feeds off that offensive line.
Speaker 1: Sam feeds off having time to throw, because Sam with
Speaker 1: time can stand and look around and find the things
Speaker 1: he's supposed to do and not do the things he's
Speaker 1: not supposed to do, and it's all working together at
Speaker 1: a pretty interesting level right now. And you know, we've
Speaker 1: got one more game to see if are one game
Speaker 1: this week to see if it's all gonna matter absolutely
Speaker 1: and and at least you think the confidence portion of
Speaker 1: this is taken care of because Augusta, as you said,
Speaker 1: that what they did on really in all three phases.
Speaker 1: Right let me look at any baneral seventeen made field
Speaker 1: goals after that game in Atlanta. The defense is is
Speaker 1: playing well and doing what they're supposed to be doing.
Speaker 1: For the most part. The offense, like you said, this
Speaker 1: is the identity they want to have. But to come
Speaker 1: out on Christmas Eve in a game that did not
Speaker 1: reach above twenty six degrees and to set a franchise
Speaker 1: record for most yards of offense in a single game
Speaker 1: in Panthers history, and then also the rushing record which
Speaker 1: we just talked about, is impressive any way you slice it.
Speaker 1: It is unexpected. It is surprising because you just don't
Speaker 1: expect anyone to to break records on any given day,
Speaker 1: and certainly not in a game where those are your conditions.
Speaker 1: And by the way, I'd be remiss if I didn't
Speaker 1: point out where Augusta and I were sitting in that game.
Speaker 1: It was a little breezier than normal, probably got down
Speaker 1: to like sixty four to feel my toes two hours
Speaker 1: after the game. Tell me how many layers Kristen BALBONI was.
Speaker 1: Let's see, I had four or five shirt slash jackets
Speaker 1: on two pairs of pants. It's just two, and then
Speaker 1: two socks, boots, the footwarmers in the boots, um, you
Speaker 1: know that attached to the bottom of your feet, and
Speaker 1: then the handwarms. I lost a glove. I don't know
Speaker 1: where it is. I'm still out on the field somewhere,
Speaker 1: and so that one you know about halftime, could not
Speaker 1: find it anywhere, so I had to go without the
Speaker 1: gloves there. So yeah, you know, at a certain point,
Speaker 1: like I said, you just couldn't feel the toes um,
Speaker 1: and then you just kind of you just kind of
Speaker 1: accepted at that point, do you I know, when I
Speaker 1: am out in the cold too long, at a certain point,
Speaker 1: your fingers stopped working. Does your voice still work the
Speaker 1: same after four hours? The only thing that's working at
Speaker 1: twenty six degrees, that's it. So luckily that's my That's
Speaker 1: the thing I need to work. But yes, um no,
Speaker 1: if I were a writer out there, that would be
Speaker 1: tough because the fingers weren't working. Great. Um, I will say, though,
Speaker 1: thank you, I appreciate. I've lived in Connecticut, I've lived
Speaker 1: in Chicago, so I was ready for this one. I
Speaker 1: pulled out all the old winter gear. But as a
Speaker 1: personal point of pride, you know, being in the media,
Speaker 1: I don't ever cross into the football box right where
Speaker 1: the benches are and all of that, but that is
Speaker 1: where the heaters are. There are no heaters on the
Speaker 1: other side of of where the benches are, like back
Speaker 1: behind the benches or over on on the side. Um
Speaker 1: for the end zones, of course, no heaters there. The
Speaker 1: heaters are for the players. But I told myself for
Speaker 1: this game, I said, look, if it's it's bad enough,
Speaker 1: you just go stand in front of a heater for
Speaker 1: a second and pop right back out. I did not
Speaker 1: use the heaters personal point of pride there, So I
Speaker 1: just wanted to say that, Yeah, I don't know. I
Speaker 1: don't know about that, but you know, sixty four and
Speaker 1: breezy up in the press box does sound tough for you.
Speaker 1: Congratulations on getting through it. Uh. Absolutely, Before we go,
Speaker 1: I just I have to read this. Um, I love
Speaker 1: reading all both of everything that you write. But Darren's
Speaker 1: asked the old guy. One of the responses in in
Speaker 1: Darren's column this week, just it just made me grin
Speaker 1: from ear to ear and I need to know more.
Speaker 1: So someone asked what you got for Christmas? And I
Speaker 1: just have to read this paragraph. The first answer is
Speaker 1: way more than I deserve from a handcrafted Today. I
Speaker 1: give my all for Appalachian States sign for the front
Speaker 1: porch to a sweet new ted Lasso T shirt, a
Speaker 1: tasteful monkey tie I'll wear to my next formal occasion,
Speaker 1: A selection of the finest meats and cheeses and coffees,
Speaker 1: and a furry Chewbacca can hugger that's about to see
Speaker 1: some action because it's so cold. I am extremely blessed.
Speaker 1: I just I love that so much. And before we go,
Speaker 1: I cannot leave this podcast studio without asking you about
Speaker 1: the monkey tie. Tell me more. It's this is actually
Speaker 1: a really tasteful monkey to It's a black you've said,
Speaker 1: it's a black tie with a very subtle monkey pattern,
Speaker 1: a repeated monkey pattern. It's like it's almost like a
Speaker 1: polka dot tie. From a distance, but when you get
Speaker 1: it's like, oh, that's a monkey. And now that you
Speaker 1: say that, I have to say the way in which
Speaker 1: you wrote it, I did not. I thought the tasteful
Speaker 1: might have just been, you know, um, a little bit
Speaker 1: of a fabrication. But it does sound really nice. Said, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I got to find a picture of this some time later,
Speaker 1: or take one to night when I get home. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this is something I'll be breaking out for formal wear.
Speaker 1: This is a good one. This is a dark suit
Speaker 1: kind of kind of deal. I can't wait to see it,
Speaker 1: Darren Might, I'll wear it on the plane this week.
Speaker 1: I think you show the good luck monkey tie. We
Speaker 1: love it. Well. Thank you everyone so much for listening
Speaker 1: to the Happy Half Hour podcast. We'll see you next week.