Speaker 1: It's time for a Happy half Hour with your friends
Speaker 1: Kristin Balboni, Miles Simmons, and Will Brian. That's right, it's
Speaker 1: that time of the week. Welcome to the Happy Half
Speaker 1: Hour podcast. Kristen here with Miles and Will and guys,
Speaker 1: we have a lot of exciting news to talk about
Speaker 1: this week. We know a lot more about training camp
Speaker 1: and and a little bit more about what the season
Speaker 1: should look like. We're going to talk about the reveal
Speaker 1: of Charlotte Football Club. We we finally know now what
Speaker 1: the Charlotte MLS team is going to be named. We
Speaker 1: we've got the crest, we've got the colors, we've got
Speaker 1: the name. So so excited to talk about that with
Speaker 1: both of you. Um. But but first and foremost, everyone
Speaker 1: doing well. Okay, don't sounds so excited, Miles. You know, no,
Speaker 1: it was good, you know. I well, I spent the
Speaker 1: last I spent last week up in Cleveland and got
Speaker 1: to see my mom for a little bit and was
Speaker 1: still working up there. But yeah, so it was nice
Speaker 1: to be around another human for a little bit. And
Speaker 1: I'm not so I guess I'm back to my my normal.
Speaker 1: You know. I got you, I got you. Yeah, good
Speaker 1: for the soul. Getting to to see parents, no doubt
Speaker 1: about it, getting to see family, especially in these times.
Speaker 1: So let's jump right into it. Um. We have learned
Speaker 1: a lot in the past few days about what training
Speaker 1: camp is going to look like, what it might look like.
Speaker 1: Testing has started, um, especially with the rookies. So Miles,
Speaker 1: why don't you fill us in on the latest and
Speaker 1: what we know now about what the NFL and NFL
Speaker 1: p A have agreed to and and where we still
Speaker 1: um have room for negotiations. Yeah, so I guess let's
Speaker 1: just start with what we know about where the Panthers are.
Speaker 1: So good thing earlier that happened. This that happened earlier
Speaker 1: this week, all the rest of the Panthers rookie draft
Speaker 1: picks signed their contracts. So all those guys from the
Speaker 1: second to seventh round, you know, the true gross Mattos
Speaker 1: of the world, Jeremy Chin, etcetera, etcetera. Those guys signed
Speaker 1: their contracts. So that's good. I think that you know,
Speaker 1: we already saw Derrick Brown had signed his contract. That
Speaker 1: was all the way back in May. So that's one
Speaker 1: thing that that's good for the Panthers. Okay, now, what happens,
Speaker 1: they have they technically reported yet, I mean yes, kind
Speaker 1: of um. But at the same time, at this point,
Speaker 1: what we know is that with the latest agreement between
Speaker 1: the NFL and the and the nfl PA, so players
Speaker 1: need to take to COVID nineteen tests separated by at
Speaker 1: least seventy two hours, and you have to test negative
Speaker 1: for each of those things before you can enter the facility.
Speaker 1: So the first day at this point, since players have
Speaker 1: already these rookies have already started to get tested, first
Speaker 1: day that they would possibly be able to get into
Speaker 1: the building would be Saturday in order to take their physical.
Speaker 1: So that's where we are with the Panthers right now.
Speaker 1: And I think if you look at where the veterans
Speaker 1: come into play, as they start to get integrated into
Speaker 1: more things over the course of the next week, then
Speaker 1: it's going to be the same. You have to get
Speaker 1: one test. Basically, what happens is they're going to drive,
Speaker 1: they drive up to the stadium, they get swabbed, um,
Speaker 1: and then they drive away, and then you have to
Speaker 1: get another test basically in the exact same way seventy
Speaker 1: two hours later. So right now it's basically trying to
Speaker 1: get into the process of everybody even being possibly able
Speaker 1: to get into the stadium. Coaches are going through that
Speaker 1: same process as well, So that's where the Panthers are now.
Speaker 1: As we sort of expand that to a league wide view,
Speaker 1: it's at this point we're not expected to see any
Speaker 1: preseason games. That's something that the NFL has apparently offered
Speaker 1: the NFL p A, and that's something that the p
Speaker 1: A has been pushing for for a long time because,
Speaker 1: as they put it, there's no health and safety reason
Speaker 1: that you need to have preseason games, and everything right
Speaker 1: now should be focused on health and safety. So that's
Speaker 1: also something that it appears that we are going to see.
Speaker 1: I don't believe it is finalized as we're recording this though,
Speaker 1: at about you know, twelve thirty Eastern time here on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: July twenty two, So, but I expect that we'll see
Speaker 1: that finalized um certainly very soon. And also as I'm
Speaker 1: creating these reports, it looks like they're probably going to
Speaker 1: be only eighty players in training camp, which is kind
Speaker 1: of interesting, especially because look in the off season, if
Speaker 1: ninety players on your roster, that's pretty standard. The Panthers
Speaker 1: have eighty eight right now. So flatly, it just means
Speaker 1: that eight guys are going to lose their jobs without
Speaker 1: ever being able to be on the field for this
Speaker 1: coaching staff. And honestly, that's just kind of stinks, um
Speaker 1: because you never really got to show what you can
Speaker 1: do now later on. There are also these rumors that
Speaker 1: there could be up to sixteen guys on a practice
Speaker 1: squad um, so that could give you basically a little
Speaker 1: roster flexibility to up to about seventy one players between
Speaker 1: fifty three they're on the standard roster, the with this
Speaker 1: new cb A, you basically have two guys, uh that
Speaker 1: are more flex players and usually on the offensive line
Speaker 1: as I understand it, so that gives you kind off
Speaker 1: and then with the sixteen that would take you up
Speaker 1: to seventy one. So I know that's a lot of
Speaker 1: information and I feel like I was talking for a
Speaker 1: really long time. That's sort of where we are in
Speaker 1: terms of what this picture can look like heading into
Speaker 1: the season, and there still is a lot yet to
Speaker 1: be determined. I think he summed it up great. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of information to go through in a lot
Speaker 1: of points that are being negotiated, and I thought you
Speaker 1: did a great job summing it up, and you were
Speaker 1: talking for a while, but I would have gone on
Speaker 1: for ten minutes longer, truly trying to get all those
Speaker 1: points across. So a plus job on that. And then
Speaker 1: of course one of the big things that I did
Speaker 1: want to mention that is still being negotiated as the
Speaker 1: ramp up process. Um, once testing is over, the n
Speaker 1: f l p A wants a longer time in terms
Speaker 1: of strength and conditioning. Um, Myles, you mentioned that the
Speaker 1: no preseason games, but there is a there is right now, um,
Speaker 1: a separation in terms of what they want that schedule
Speaker 1: to look like once we actually get into a real
Speaker 1: training camp. Um, well, what do you make of all this?
Speaker 1: Because you know there are still so many unanswered questions.
Speaker 1: But it does feel like I remember when we recorded
Speaker 1: this last week, there was so much we didn't know.
Speaker 1: It does feel like now the ball is starting to
Speaker 1: get rolling. We really have some some real answers, more
Speaker 1: answers on things than not. You know, I think it's
Speaker 1: it's definitely a fingers crossed scenario. Things feel better this week,
Speaker 1: you know, hopefully we continue to feel even better next week.
Speaker 1: You know, I think as guys start to get tested.
Speaker 1: You're going to start to see all the reports of
Speaker 1: you know, X number of of NFL players, you know,
Speaker 1: test positive. UM. You know that that was the same
Speaker 1: thing that happened when UM NBA players reported down to
Speaker 1: UH to the bubble in Orlando. UM. You know, hopefully
Speaker 1: that that number isn't too big and hopefully everyone's relatively
Speaker 1: safe within it. But those things are going to start happening.
Speaker 1: We're gonna start that. I mean, we all understand this intellectually,
Speaker 1: but I think the term training camp it just is
Speaker 1: so out the window. You know, everyone's so used to
Speaker 1: all right, this week means we're all going down to
Speaker 1: spartanburg By. You know, there's the opening night practice. Everyone's
Speaker 1: got you know, the shelves on and they're going through
Speaker 1: this and you know then you know, pads come on
Speaker 1: three days later and you're on the hill and you're
Speaker 1: watching practice and you know, all we know, we know
Speaker 1: that that's all gone, but until it starts happening and
Speaker 1: they're like, wow, this is really not training camp anymore.
Speaker 1: You know, this is what April was used to be,
Speaker 1: you know, which is conditioning, it's lifting, it's it's all
Speaker 1: of those things in different groups. To try to be
Speaker 1: somewhat socially distant. You know what we're able to talk about.
Speaker 1: These things are different. You know, we're not doing necessarily
Speaker 1: training camp observations or practice reports. Uh, you know, all
Speaker 1: that's going to be different, so at least for the
Speaker 1: first little bit um for the first couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: So it's just it's going to be a shock to
Speaker 1: the system, but at the same time, hopefully things continue
Speaker 1: in a positive direction. The league comes together, the players
Speaker 1: come together. They there's so many things to figure out.
Speaker 1: You know, obviously they figured out some where they seem
Speaker 1: to have right now, but there's there's still a laundry
Speaker 1: list of details they have to start ironing out before
Speaker 1: we get to September, and will certainly be you know,
Speaker 1: keeping an eye on on all of that. I'm sure
Speaker 1: more news will be coming out within the next few
Speaker 1: days as they continue these talks and continue to come
Speaker 1: to an agreement on certain things. But you know, of course,
Speaker 1: the health and safety of the players and their families
Speaker 1: is the most important thing, and so it's it's nice
Speaker 1: to see that we are getting to a place where
Speaker 1: the NFL and NFL p A can agree on training
Speaker 1: measures that the players feel are are safe for them
Speaker 1: to go back in and start this process. Um so, yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: um So one thing, like, I want to add one
Speaker 1: thing off what Will was saying. So basically, as our
Speaker 1: understanding is right now, with that ramp up period, that
Speaker 1: would be somewhere in the realm of like ten issue
Speaker 1: to thicken issue days of practice, and the players want
Speaker 1: it to be a little bit longer. They want to
Speaker 1: twenty one days of the ramping up periods. So I
Speaker 1: think it will probably compromise and will fall somewhere in there.
Speaker 1: But at this point, it seems like the first time
Speaker 1: that players will actually really be practicing would be mid August,
Speaker 1: so you're talking like August fifteen or seventeen. So that
Speaker 1: is a significant ramping up period, and they want that
Speaker 1: because of the experience of going through the two thousand
Speaker 1: and eleven lockout when players got back on the field
Speaker 1: after no offseason program, you know, no offseason practices and
Speaker 1: things like that, and there were a lot of a
Speaker 1: c L injuries, there were a lot of achilles injuries.
Speaker 1: And I was talking to Russell King a little bit
Speaker 1: about this because he's one of the few guys. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's going into his eleventh year. He was in the
Speaker 1: league when that happened, and he said that that's one
Speaker 1: of the lessons they learned that health and safety has
Speaker 1: to be paramount, and they need a ramping up period
Speaker 1: like this in order to really make sure that they're
Speaker 1: all going to be healthy. So that's that's another important
Speaker 1: part of where they stand. But I think if they're
Speaker 1: doing the good thing about being in the building and
Speaker 1: being able to strain the conditioning is that they can
Speaker 1: start to do walkthroughs. So that means that finally they're
Speaker 1: going to be able to take what they learned in
Speaker 1: that virtual off season program and put it on the
Speaker 1: field in some limited capacity, and I think that's going
Speaker 1: to be paramount for communication between all of the units
Speaker 1: and really just being able to translate what you learned
Speaker 1: in a book onto the grass. That's going to be
Speaker 1: something that's really significant, and the Panthers really are going
Speaker 1: to need to do that, especially because they have a
Speaker 1: new coaching staff. That's a that's a great point and
Speaker 1: a and a great projection of kind of where will be,
Speaker 1: Like you said, when we get to that mid August,
Speaker 1: because as Will said, it's all called training camp, but
Speaker 1: it feels nothing like a regular training camp. So the
Speaker 1: great point, great point, miles um in terms of what
Speaker 1: we can expect over the next few weeks, hopefully if
Speaker 1: everything pants out. UM, I want to talk about a
Speaker 1: new statu that you two are Is it fair to
Speaker 1: say excited about interested in that's come out from NFL
Speaker 1: next Gen Stats. Um. It's called expected yards per Carry
Speaker 1: and it is designed well, your panther stack guy, so
Speaker 1: so make sure I've got this right. It is designed
Speaker 1: to isolate a little bit more about a running backs performance,
Speaker 1: and not only their performance and how much better they
Speaker 1: are doing than they are expected to do. And it
Speaker 1: takes into accounts positions on the field, um, what the
Speaker 1: line looks like. It's trying to take in a bunch
Speaker 1: of factors to say, Okay, this is what a running
Speaker 1: back should do based on the formation, based on what's
Speaker 1: going on, um, and this is how much better they
Speaker 1: did than they were expected to do. How how did
Speaker 1: I do on that? Okay, passable. I'm going to make it.
Speaker 1: I'm only going to make it way more, way more complicated.
Speaker 1: So this is just gonna I'm gonna go fifteen seconds,
Speaker 1: So I don't like go down my rabbit hole essentially.
Speaker 1: Essentially the problem with this is that it's hard when
Speaker 1: all you're seeing is a number. So there's two numbers
Speaker 1: really involved. Why is again at the expected rushing average?
Speaker 1: So you take a team over the course of the season,
Speaker 1: and let's say the Panthers were expected to average four
Speaker 1: point four yards per carry. That number is based off
Speaker 1: of all these factors that go in you know, the
Speaker 1: um how good the offensive line was, how many times
Speaker 1: the defense put more men in the box versus less,
Speaker 1: how many times you know, what different formations, or how
Speaker 1: many running backs were in the backfield? Are extra blockers, uh,
Speaker 1: those sorts of things. But it's just a number, you know,
Speaker 1: there's it's kind of hard to to really know where
Speaker 1: that number comes from because that's the number you have, UM,
Speaker 1: and then the other part of it is then applying
Speaker 1: to the running back. So based on that number, you
Speaker 1: take how many yards did Christian McCaffrey actually get and
Speaker 1: the yards above expectation is you know the difference between
Speaker 1: those so UM, I think that the stat was that
Speaker 1: he was fourth in the NFL and yards above expectations,
Speaker 1: which means that you know, he got a lot of
Speaker 1: yards and he was really not expect to do based
Speaker 1: on uh, you know, all the different factors both on
Speaker 1: offense and what defenses are trying to do. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think it's good that it takes. It takes teams
Speaker 1: that are trying to establish the run um, you know,
Speaker 1: put more blockers in their defenses that maybe are are
Speaker 1: going against a really good passing offense and so they're
Speaker 1: not putting as many people in the box. So a
Speaker 1: runner that gets a lot of runs on third and seventeen,
Speaker 1: if he gets fifteen yards there, like, what does that
Speaker 1: really mean? You know, is that like a is that
Speaker 1: a good stat Is that not a good stat I
Speaker 1: think it tries to take more of that into account um,
Speaker 1: and you know more the more data points we have
Speaker 1: to to argue over, you know, the better for people
Speaker 1: like us rights. Absolutely, yeah, I like that. I like
Speaker 1: this that basically because I think it helps you understand
Speaker 1: why a running back is good or not good, and
Speaker 1: it puts into context like things that you think you
Speaker 1: might see on the field that you you that don't
Speaker 1: necessarily are that are not necessarily quantifiable, Like I think
Speaker 1: sometimes you know, runs after contact that can be a
Speaker 1: little bit misleading. But if you're talking about expecting yards
Speaker 1: per carry, And I'll just use this example because I
Speaker 1: covered the team last year. The Raiders had a guy
Speaker 1: in Josh Jacobs who some people thought should have been
Speaker 1: Rookie of the Year over Kyler Murray offense perpe the
Speaker 1: Year over Kyler Murray, which I mean, I can go
Speaker 1: back and forth on that. I see the arguments for both.
Speaker 1: But when you look at Josh Jacobs, his expected yards
Speaker 1: per carry was so much lower um than what his
Speaker 1: actual yards per carry were, right so there, and however
Speaker 1: they manage they measure it. So if you look at
Speaker 1: that article, and I think we posted it, both of
Speaker 1: us have posted it on toy will Um. If you
Speaker 1: look at that article, you can see exactly why he
Speaker 1: was that much more effective. And so we were watching
Speaker 1: him last year and it always seemed like Josh Jacobs
Speaker 1: was breaking a tackle and making things look better than
Speaker 1: they really should have looked, or falling to get that
Speaker 1: extra yard and you know, lowering a shoulder doing things
Speaker 1: like that. That's where that value comes in. And it
Speaker 1: also comes in through somebody like Christian McCaw free, which
Speaker 1: is part of why I'm so excited to get to
Speaker 1: see him played this year. Yeah. Absolutely. Um, it's a
Speaker 1: it's a great list. I would highly recommend everyone reading
Speaker 1: about it. Um, it's as you said, Josh, so, Christian
Speaker 1: mcaffrey's fourth. Um, the only guys ahead of him are
Speaker 1: Josh Jacobs, as you mentioned too, was third, Miles Nick
Speaker 1: Chubb came in second, and then Derrick Henry was first. UM.
Speaker 1: I like it. It's like you said, Well, we're always
Speaker 1: trying to get more data points. We're always trying to
Speaker 1: isolate kind of the thing that we see, you know,
Speaker 1: we're trying to quantify the thing that we see. Um,
Speaker 1: when we're watching the game, like Wow, how did he
Speaker 1: do that? Wow he really fought for that. Wow, that
Speaker 1: was awesome kind of that, And this this stat kind
Speaker 1: of gives data points to that feeling of of what
Speaker 1: you see when you watch someone like cmc um. Also,
Speaker 1: did you guys read in that article. I just wanted
Speaker 1: to point this out where they we're talking about, of course,
Speaker 1: how explosive he is. He registered fifty runs over fifteen
Speaker 1: plus miles per hour, which is just insane. So I
Speaker 1: just wanted to point that out. Yeah, that mean is fast. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he does not get caught in the open fields. No, kidding.
Speaker 1: That reminds me of that that social distancing video that
Speaker 1: the Panthers put out a few a few months ago
Speaker 1: with CMC. I love that one. That's one of my
Speaker 1: all time favorites. All Right, we are gonna put football
Speaker 1: on the back burner for just a minute because we
Speaker 1: got to talk about the MLS brand launched. Charlotte awarded
Speaker 1: the franchise, and this is a big moment because it's us.
Speaker 1: This is going to tie this ship it together. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be new Charlotte. We're gonna have one big party.
Speaker 1: Every game you edit a party. Our name is Charlotte
Speaker 1: Football Club, but we are bigger than one city. We
Speaker 1: were born expansion team. We don't believe in starting small.
Speaker 1: We only know how to go big. So Miles and
Speaker 1: I found out about it with everyone else earlier today
Speaker 1: at eleven. But Will, this is something that you and
Speaker 1: a lot of our co workers have been working on.
Speaker 1: Have put a lot of heart and soul into a
Speaker 1: lot of sweat and tears, I would imagine, And now
Speaker 1: we finally know that the MLS team you're in Charlotte
Speaker 1: will be the Charlotte Football Club. We've got the blue
Speaker 1: and black colors we've got the crest with the crown
Speaker 1: on it. I love that it says minted on the
Speaker 1: sides of the crest. I really I love everything about it.
Speaker 1: I can't wait to get my merch Um so well,
Speaker 1: I just want to say congratulations to you and all
Speaker 1: of our other co workers that have worked so hard
Speaker 1: on this. Thank you, thank you. Yeah. It was um,
Speaker 1: you know, it was definitely one of those things where
Speaker 1: you know, just like everything, you know, Covid kind of
Speaker 1: threw this off a little bit. Um. I think the
Speaker 1: initial idea was that this was going to go a
Speaker 1: little bit earlier in the spring, but um, because of
Speaker 1: all the things that change with COVID, and then obviously
Speaker 1: last Friday, UM MLS announcing that they were pushing back,
Speaker 1: uh the seasons. Um Or initially it was one that
Speaker 1: they were going to play first and now it's just
Speaker 1: so that MLS because you know, they're just now playing
Speaker 1: twenty team, you know, so they're they're already a little
Speaker 1: behind schedule, and you know what what COVID has done
Speaker 1: to kind of all these things. But it's it was
Speaker 1: it was really great to to kind of see this
Speaker 1: going today. It's hard, it's it's really nice to hear
Speaker 1: from you guys, because you know, when you're kind of
Speaker 1: in the middle of the forest and you know, sometimes
Speaker 1: some trees burned down right on top of you, which
Speaker 1: happened at eight today. Um. You know, it's just it's
Speaker 1: hard to really kind of to to see to see
Speaker 1: how everyone else can see it. Um. So that that's been.
Speaker 1: That's been nice to kind of hear and feel bad. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: And like I said, I found out with everyone else, Miles,
Speaker 1: I have a question for you. Did you try to slip?
Speaker 1: Did you try to ask anybody like, hey, can you
Speaker 1: give me a hint? Because I'll admit it, I did
Speaker 1: no one time, you guys, will you and everybody else
Speaker 1: who knew it locked it down? Um? And I tried
Speaker 1: to just like once or twice. I was like, so,
Speaker 1: what's the what's the deal, what's the latest? I didn't
Speaker 1: ask well, but I asked a couple of my other coworkers,
Speaker 1: and there was no there was no chance that I
Speaker 1: was going to even get a hint. Miles. Did you
Speaker 1: do that too or were you just excited to find
Speaker 1: out with everybody else? I did not. I was excited
Speaker 1: to find out with everybody else, Like you know, It's
Speaker 1: It's one of those weird things where if we were
Speaker 1: in the office, I probably would have had one of
Speaker 1: those side conversations. But since we're not. I I'm I'm
Speaker 1: an awkward enough human being anyway, Like trying to do
Speaker 1: that over virtual interaction just I don't think it would
Speaker 1: have gone well for me. You were in the office
Speaker 1: of Miles, I would have just had to like take
Speaker 1: every call like back in the bathroom, just because you
Speaker 1: could have just heard from across the room. It's like, oh, well,
Speaker 1: can you imagine to talk about soccer again? I just
Speaker 1: I mean, I didn't, you know, I just had someone
Speaker 1: would mention if I were working with someone else, they woulday,
Speaker 1: oh yeah, you know. The brand launched, I was like,
Speaker 1: how's that going? Like any hints? You know, come on,
Speaker 1: you sure you don't want to tell me? Really? I
Speaker 1: mean it was like for Knox I and I'm very impressed. Um,
Speaker 1: but it was great to see, you know, I was
Speaker 1: definitely the kid that went snooping for my Christmas presents,
Speaker 1: so um, but it was great to see the feel
Speaker 1: with with everyone else. Um, I gotta admit I am
Speaker 1: not I've never you know, had a huge Um, what's
Speaker 1: the word. I've never been a huge soccer fan before,
Speaker 1: but I am so excited to to jump into this,
Speaker 1: to now have an MLS team to follow MLS. Um,
Speaker 1: will do you have any tips for me? Um, I'd
Speaker 1: say yes, start with start with. I don't know if
Speaker 1: I should be saying this, but I've started with the
Speaker 1: Premier League as of last year, Like I, I I didn't
Speaker 1: really follow soccer either, and it's been fun, um because
Speaker 1: I kind of, like so many Americans, adopted a Premier
Speaker 1: League team and so I've been following them throughout the summer.
Speaker 1: And that's what's your Premier League team? The Wolves or
Speaker 1: just Wolves. I don't think it's the where do they play?
Speaker 1: All right? This is I shouldn't be I should not
Speaker 1: be saying this on a public radio or podcast, Public radio,
Speaker 1: public NPR, in PR. This is in all things considered,
Speaker 1: Wolves are from Wolverhampton. That's why it's so cool. Literally,
Speaker 1: you know everyone every other Premier you know, I have
Speaker 1: these names that are based on like the city or
Speaker 1: the town that they're in. And there's is just a
Speaker 1: mascot that's a nickname of Wolverhampton. I like that. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't know where but you know, we should find
Speaker 1: it out if it's your team. Uh yeah, Miles and
Speaker 1: I are going to need to take a crash course. Um,
Speaker 1: but we'll be ready. We'll be ready for that that
Speaker 1: first game. But I'm I mean, I'm so excited. Are
Speaker 1: we doing things like do we call it a pitch?
Speaker 1: Is that? Do we call it that in MLS as well?
Speaker 1: I think so? Well, are you're I'm making you the
Speaker 1: definitive expert. I think we're I think MLS has really
Speaker 1: kind of adopted the universal soccer um you know language,
Speaker 1: you know, all the all of the terms I think
Speaker 1: like the up up the standings or like the table
Speaker 1: and then like your upcoming games or fick strews instead
Speaker 1: of like schedule its fixtures instead of we got the kids. Alright, alright, Miles,
Speaker 1: we got some work to do before. But congratulations to
Speaker 1: to everyone involved with the Charlotte Football Club. It's so exciting,
Speaker 1: so excited for all the fans, um and and that
Speaker 1: we have our own football club here in Charlotte. Um,
Speaker 1: all right, well you mentioned mascots. You just said the
Speaker 1: Wolves in Wolverhampton that you know, very straightforward way uh
Speaker 1: to name your mascot. But you came up with this
Speaker 1: week's weird question of the week, and it is in
Speaker 1: honor of Charlotte Football Club releasing all of their branding
Speaker 1: and you know, Washington's football team getting a new name. Um,
Speaker 1: do you want to ask the question to us? Because
Speaker 1: I love this question? Yeah, so what is I guess
Speaker 1: we'll keep it mostly like American pro college sports, Like
Speaker 1: what do you guys think is the most overused mascot name?
Speaker 1: And what is an underused one that should be used more? Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm ready to go. This is I've been waiting
Speaker 1: my whole life for someone to ask me the question
Speaker 1: about what needs to be used more? Okay, So, um,
Speaker 1: I think proteins are are pretty good about being original,
Speaker 1: So I really kind of thought more about college teams.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think Bulldogs are obviously I think they
Speaker 1: are the most overused, overutilized mascot, but I'm not going
Speaker 1: to go there. I'm gonna go Owls because they're not
Speaker 1: the fierce Like why do so many teams want to
Speaker 1: be the Owls? And that is you know, no shade
Speaker 1: to to anyone who's listening. If you went to a
Speaker 1: school where your mascot is the owl. I'm just curious
Speaker 1: who's like, Yeah, we're gonna be intimidating, like we are
Speaker 1: going to be fierce. Let's go owls. I've also heard
Speaker 1: recently that they're not as smart as people think they are. Um,
Speaker 1: so I just don't quite I'm gonna go out and
Speaker 1: get as time. I'm going to fill out and get
Speaker 1: attacked by an owl next time I'm taking my trash out.
Speaker 1: It's happening. Um well, no, I mean it's just I
Speaker 1: get bulldogs. I get you know, what's another one, like
Speaker 1: an eagle, a golden eagle something. You know, those are
Speaker 1: very very common ones. But I just don't get the owl. Like,
Speaker 1: what's the appeal for everyone? Um? Now, now here if
Speaker 1: you really want to all of the like the underutilized
Speaker 1: or like overutilized first and then do underutilized. Okay, alright,
Speaker 1: so Miles, what's your overutilized? Okay? Uh? First of all,
Speaker 1: I don't like mascots that much. I mean Surper, Surper
Speaker 1: and I have not met. Oh he's coming. I hope
Speaker 1: he comes after you. I was just gonna say, I'm
Speaker 1: sure Surper will be all right with me. I have
Speaker 1: no problem with Surper. I have no problem with Rampage.
Speaker 1: It was the Rams mascot. You know, we got along
Speaker 1: just fine. But other than that, man, I I'm not
Speaker 1: I'm not a mascot fan. I don't like going. I
Speaker 1: love mascots, especially so you know, the one that's overutilized
Speaker 1: and underutilized. It's the same thing to me, this Gritty
Speaker 1: from the Flyers, the Philly Flyers. You've seen this thing.
Speaker 1: It looks like, do you not disrespect? No, do not
Speaker 1: disrespect Pritty? You just would you just went totally in
Speaker 1: on owls. I'm going to disrespect you over I want
Speaker 1: at this point, I mean, I understand why the thing
Speaker 1: is appealing, and you know I'm telling you that I
Speaker 1: just mascots. They're not I just don't know. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: Gritty is too used and both not us exactly. That
Speaker 1: is exactly what I think said, yes, and it doesn't
Speaker 1: make any sense. But that's just the answer I'm going with. Right,
Speaker 1: I don't get to talk on the second one. It's
Speaker 1: so I'm gonna do my overutilized and then it's all
Speaker 1: Kristen for the rest of it. Um alright, So I'm
Speaker 1: completely insulting both my own alma mater and teams that
Speaker 1: I've worked for. And I'm sorry, but I think that
Speaker 1: all of these various versions of the same animal, like
Speaker 1: the wildcat, bobcat, catamount, bearcat, cougar. I mean, dare I
Speaker 1: said panthers a little bit different, but like what, they're
Speaker 1: all like the same thing, and they're everywhere. How many wildcats, bobcats, catamounts, bearcats,
Speaker 1: cougars are they're out there that are all just like
Speaker 1: these don't exist in this part of the country where
Speaker 1: this happens to be a mascot. Like when was the
Speaker 1: last time anyone seen a wildcat and knew how it
Speaker 1: looked different from a bearcat or a bobcat. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I will say, I will say my uncle had a
Speaker 1: stuffed bobcat. It was like taxidermy that would sit at
Speaker 1: the front of this to his house for years. So
Speaker 1: I know exactly when a bobcat looks like. But I
Speaker 1: don't know what I'm I don't know what I'm revealing there.
Speaker 1: I don't know what are the by u? What is
Speaker 1: by you? Whatever? They're whatever? Right? Or he mascot is
Speaker 1: a cougar, Well that cougar can dance, man, So like
Speaker 1: that's a different mascot. I'm actually a fan of that
Speaker 1: mascot too that you know what I would I would
Speaker 1: like to change my answer. The b y U cougar
Speaker 1: is not utilized enough and gritty is utilized too much. Okay, Myles,
Speaker 1: I just watched you know that video of him dancing
Speaker 1: to that. I just want to really, I mean, it's
Speaker 1: like four years old. I just watched it the other day,
Speaker 1: and I watched it four times in a row. I
Speaker 1: mean literally three days ago, So I think once a
Speaker 1: week you just gotta watch it just makes you happy.
Speaker 1: It's so good. Um, I mean, who hasn't I like
Speaker 1: that one? Well a lot. That's a really good point.
Speaker 1: Now we're going to have to maybe we can have
Speaker 1: someone on the internet show us the difference between what
Speaker 1: is a cat amount, what's a bobcat? What's a wildcat?
Speaker 1: Cougar's our exempt though, um specifically from from the b
Speaker 1: I U one. All right, here is my here's what
Speaker 1: I think the world needs more of. In terms of mascots.
Speaker 1: Are you guys familiar with you see Santa Cruz's mascot,
Speaker 1: the banana slug. The banana slug is amazing, It's original,
Speaker 1: It's not fierce, but it's definitely gross and the colors
Speaker 1: are awesome. I could not love it more. I think
Speaker 1: we need more banana slugs out there. More, maybe other
Speaker 1: kinds of slugs. I don't know all the different types,
Speaker 1: but you know, are there other fruit slugs? Is there
Speaker 1: an apple slug? I don't know, but I think that
Speaker 1: we should all get involved. We need less wildcats, bobcats, owls, bulldogs.
Speaker 1: We need more slug varieties in the mascot came that's
Speaker 1: my opinion. Worms. How would you feel about worms? I'll
Speaker 1: take a worm, I'll take anything. Let's just get some
Speaker 1: like random little things, worms, hermit crabs, uh, scorpions. I
Speaker 1: don't know. I've ran out of steam there. Okay. Also,
Speaker 1: I know this is an audio podcast, but I'm just
Speaker 1: looking um at the banana slug and Google images and
Speaker 1: there's one logo that they have for the banana slug
Speaker 1: is jacked. He's got tons of muscles. I just anyone,
Speaker 1: just google it. If you're listening to this, just google.
Speaker 1: It's not what I was expecting to see. So all right, well,
Speaker 1: well what's your what's your one that needs to be
Speaker 1: more utilized? I think we need more mythical characters like
Speaker 1: the Wizards, like a like that type of a shant
Speaker 1: to clear a version of a chicken from Chaucer's Canterbury
Speaker 1: Tales Coastal Carolina Shop, the Clear. Yes, I thought that
Speaker 1: was that's a mythical chicken. Well yeah, mythical. Um, yeah,
Speaker 1: mythical and you know otherwise fictional. I guess mythical fictional?
Speaker 1: Are we getting into like can we go into any
Speaker 1: like a Lord of the Rings, like a Harry Potter,
Speaker 1: Like could we get the de Mentors somewhere? Yes, the
Speaker 1: Mentors would be fantastic, like gollums, you know, like a
Speaker 1: bunch of jobs. But then essentially, I mean gritty is
Speaker 1: you would consider some sort of a mythical mascot, right,
Speaker 1: I mean he's not clearly defined animal or being correct,
Speaker 1: So Miles is out on the I like mythical beings.
Speaker 1: But but Myles is going to say no to this. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm going to say that this is true. I hate
Speaker 1: fun all right, Well, I wish I wish to Charlotte
Speaker 1: Football Club for the de Mentors. That was the only
Speaker 1: thing that could have made that reveal slightly better. But um,
Speaker 1: what an exciting day. Scary though, intimidating. You know, um,
Speaker 1: what an exciting day for for everyone that's working with
Speaker 1: the Charlotte Football Club. It's you know, a great week
Speaker 1: for us that we know a little bit more about
Speaker 1: training camp and and hopefully this is going to continue
Speaker 1: safely so that we can get back to football soon.
Speaker 1: Uh and guys, thanks for doing this, um every week.
Speaker 1: Thanks for putting up with me. I guess well we
Speaker 1: should les get a little credit for putting up with
Speaker 1: Miles sometimes. UM, I'm just kidding. This is a blast
Speaker 1: that's going to do it for us this week. Everyone,
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening. We'll see you next
Speaker 1: week now,