WEBVTT - Happy Half Hour Episode 138: German Engineering 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:03.440 This week on a Happy half Hour. 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.280 I love many of the things you do. Your cars amazing, 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:13.080 your Schnitzel terrific. It's a really short step from Schnitzel 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:18.040 to Bojangles beer. Yes, your work with non potato and 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:21.840 cabbage vegetables. No but coffee, definitely. 0:00:21.360 --> 0:00:28.800 No totsop cow. It's time for the Happy Half Hour, 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:34.800 presented by Southern Star, an official bourbon of the Carolina Panthers. 0:00:36.240 --> 0:00:39.800 Here are your hosts, Darren Gant and Cassidy Hill. 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:46.360 Hello friends, and welcome to the Happy Half Hour. We're 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:53.640 coming to you live from Charlotte somewhere some day, yeah sometime. 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:56.800 I'm still kind of sorting all that out. We have 0:00:57.000 --> 0:00:59.120 seen some things, you and I. 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:02.480 Cassidy melt some things, heard some things. 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:04.880 It's been a lot in the last little bit, jamming 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:08.360 an eighty one hour dashed back and forth to Munich 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:10.760 for a little football game, gave us a lot to 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:12.640 talk about, and we're gonna get to it all in 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:15.600 this episode of the Happy Half Hour, which as always 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:17.720 is brought to you by our friends at Southern Star, 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:21.280 an official bourbon partner of the Carolina Panthers. Celebrate the 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:23.200 spirit of the Carolinas and we have. 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:25.600 You did that off script, and we have plenty. 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:28.840 To celebrate since we're back home in our own place 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:31.160 where we know the things. 0:01:30.920 --> 0:01:34.920 Back home offul win, back to back wins going into 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:36.959 the bye week. That's about as good of a feeling 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:38.800 as you can ask for this time of year. 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:41.840 It really is, And I mean it's a nice break. 0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:44.080 It's a good time for everybody. 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:44.800 Listen. 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:46.800 I don't think and I'm in the middle of writing 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:49.320 a mail bag which will be on the website later 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:49.920 on today. 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:54.200 I don't think it's appropriate to think, oh God, they've 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:57.440 figured it out or anything like that. But there are little. 0:01:57.120 --> 0:02:01.040 Things you're seeing that suggest an identity the Carolina Panthers. 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:04.680 Right now, Chuba Hubbard gets an extension and continues to 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:09.640 run like he was broke. They step up and play 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:12.040 good defense at the time they need it with some 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:15.120 of those guys. I mean, you think about Dan Morgan's 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:18.680 first off season. He signs Derek Brown, who unfortunately is injured, 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:20.480 but he goes out and he signs a bunch of 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:23.279 these old heads on defense because they needed to stabilize 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:25.399 that thing. And then all of a sudden, you see 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:28.520 Josie Jewell make him plays, Ayshawn Robinson, make him plays. 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:32.160 You see DJ Wantam getting in there for the first time, 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:35.919 so you can certainly see the path for the Carolina 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:37.200 Panthers at this moment. 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:37.560 You know. 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:41.160 The Vegas game, they played well. They also got some 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:42.680 help by Gardner Minshew. 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:45.520 Do you need to call for mat? Can you cut 0:02:45.560 --> 0:02:45.799 this out? 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:47.639 I'm sorry, I'll. 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:50.640 Just keep talking. Do you are we okay? Did you 0:02:50.680 --> 0:02:52.440 bring something back from Germany? 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:54.520 Didn't you do the math the other day? That like 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:57.280 of the eighty one hours like nineteen he. 0:02:57.240 --> 0:02:59.440 Spent eighty one hours going back and forth with Munich 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:01.280 nineteen them more on airplanes. 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:03.680 Somebody I got the airplane crud. 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:05.360 Yeah, somebody took a picture of me. 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:09.000 Somebody who works with me took a picture of me 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:12.560 sleeping like a dead man on the plane, wearing the eyemask, 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:13.680 bundled up in the comfort. 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:15.760 I passed by you at one point and didn't realize 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:17.079 it was you until the last second. 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:19.560 Yeah I was. I was just trying to cover myself up. 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:22.720 But anyways, what I was gonna say was Vegas, they 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:25.720 made the plays they needed to make to win, got 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:28.000 a lot of help by the offense, jumping out ahead 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:32.359 so much. And then the Saints sort of the same thing, 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:35.480 you know, made the plays when they needed to make them. 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:39.360 The Giants game again got some help by Daniel Jones, absolutely, 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:42.960 and the run defense still has some holes that need 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:45.360 to be addressed. A lot of that probably could be 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:47.280 addressed next year by Derek Brown just being back on 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:50.920 the field and healthy again. But you started to see 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:54.400 what this defense is supposed to look like and what 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:57.600 they had in mind with you know, with DJ Wantam 0:03:57.680 --> 0:03:59.520 on one side and Clowney on the other. 0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:00.800 You know, one of. 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:02.400 Them was able to get the pressure and the other 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:05.400 one the sack or vice versa. And I think one 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:06.640 of them is actually the only one who got the 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:09.040 sack between the two of those, but still you saw 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:12.680 them both. You saw Clowny play a little freer by 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:16.359 having DJ Wanham on the other side. And then you 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:18.719 saw Josie Jewels start to just kind of become that 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:22.560 outlaw taking things from people that he was previously in Denver. 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:27.120 You there, you go, do we have to pay for 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:28.000 the copyright of that? 0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:29.159 I hope not. 0:04:29.960 --> 0:04:33.920 And then with a Shawn Robinson in the middle, and 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:36.480 again you know, Shy Tuttle all the credit to him 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:38.680 for stepping up, and Derek browns apsis and kind of 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:41.200 taking that over as well. But you're starting to see 0:04:41.240 --> 0:04:45.039 what this defense is supposed to look like. And I 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:47.839 think you could probably foresee the rest of this season 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:51.320 them taking those steps and putting it together. And if 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:54.160 a lot of these people return next year, I think 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:56.160 you can really see what Dan Morgan had in mind. 0:04:56.480 --> 0:04:59.839 Yeah, I think you And that's the thing you're seeing. 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:04.000 You're seeing the things coming into play. I mean, you 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:07.479 see what the plan was supposed to look like. Now again, 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:10.120 you saw it for the first time in week ten, right, 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:13.039 and that's not ideal, and you're already missing a couple 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:14.320 of really key pieces. 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:17.360 But at the same time, you're getting there. 0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:19.920 You're getting there, and I think that's okay. I think 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:23.440 progress is okay. That's Dave Canal just keeps talking about that, 0:05:23.480 --> 0:05:26.560 building off progress, building off you know, little things you're 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:29.640 doing well, and that's how you build something that's valuable 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:30.279 and lasting. 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:33.080 So it was a good it was a great week. 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:36.039 And credit to j want them yep Man for stepping 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:38.160 out there in his first game. Usually in your first 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:40.200 game back, you got to shake the rust off. He 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:43.719 came out like a missile ready to go. I think 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:46.800 he had six tackles, a sack, two tackles for lost, 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:49.159 two quarterback curries. I don't even know how many pressures 0:05:49.160 --> 0:05:49.520 he had. 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:50.760 He was all over the place. 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:52.839 The amazing thing to me was that he played fifty 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:56.040 snaps period, because the dude who hadn't played football in 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:58.600 almost eleven months to come in. Usually you want to 0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:02.240 pitch count those guys and keep them in some kind 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:06.320 of with some kind of restraint, but there was not 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:08.880 really a lot of that, and and he just he 0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:11.279 was out there balling, and that that makes a huge 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:12.720 difference for those guys. 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:15.239 The thing in Avero talks about this all the time. 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:19.240 To play the defense the way they want to play it, 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:21.960 you've got to have a guy outside, and it gets 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:24.760 even better if you've got two guys, right, And now 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:28.000 they finally got the two guys they were counting on 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:30.520 on the field together. And I don't think it's an 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:33.599 accident that that's when you saw that step up in 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:37.080 the entire defensive level, because you know, no disrespect to 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:40.680 Charles Harris, DJ Johnson, any of the other dudes who've 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:43.200 been out there on the other side, but it's just different. 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:45.680 You know, DJ Wantam was the guy they went out 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:49.720 and got in March, you know, weeks weeks before Clowney 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:52.400 was even an opportunity, So to get him on the 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:53.520 field was a huge step. 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:56.240 Yeah, it was fun to watch, and like we said, 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:58.080 there's still things to fix, but they're always a little 0:06:58.120 --> 0:06:59.920 bit more fun to fix after a win than a lost. 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:01.440 Yeah, and we'll get to that. 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:04.080 I mean, we'll have time when we get back next week, 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:07.560 we'll talk more. Next week will be more footballie. I 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:11.600 think it's worth visiting for a moment here on the podcast, 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:15.120 just with the fact that we were just in Germany. 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:16.600 That was wild. 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:19.880 I mean, the the atmosphere. We were joking about it. 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:23.320 It's a completely different vibe. For one thing for us, 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:26.280 because I know we are the most important part of 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:29.280 this production. It's an open air press box in Germany. 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:32.520 That's kind of the European standard. This closed in glass 0:07:32.600 --> 0:07:35.320 press seeding area is not something they do in big 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:36.560 European soccer stadium. 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:37.920 Deal with it. 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:40.720 Yeah, And so we were dressed for the elements and 0:07:40.760 --> 0:07:43.120 we were out there in them. But being in that, 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:46.280 being in that vibe was just a really neat thing 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:50.040 because the German fans are super into it. Hey, it's 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:53.400 not just a curiosity. There are a lot of people 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:56.640 who really dig on football and are super into it. 0:07:56.720 --> 0:08:00.360 So they're all into the rhythms of the game at 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:00.880 the right time. 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:01.960 Sprice talked about that. 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:04.400 He so like they were being loud, you know, when 0:08:04.440 --> 0:08:06.560 the other team had the ball on third down, so 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:09.280 in their job, it was like a home field advantage 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:11.720 for us, even though we were you know however many 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:13.200 miles away from that only. 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:14.240 Tried to do the wave once. 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:15.480 Yeah, and it's good. 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:19.400 And maybe my favorite thing about the German fans is 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:22.280 they love to sing. Oh my god, even when the 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:25.520 music goes off, they continued to sing. And I just 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:27.240 find this charming and adorable. 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:31.440 It was so cool when they played Country Roads, something 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:34.160 that the German fans apparently have latched onto from the 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:37.640 NFL being there. It was very much like that soccer 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:40.439 atmosphere where they just keep going and it's sort of 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.160 a sing along. When they played Country Roads and the 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:45.880 music cut out because the Giants went back over offense, 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:50.000 went back on offense, and the Giants were running a 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:53.199 play and the crowd kept singing. That may have been 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:55.680 one of the top five coolest sports moments I've ever 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:59.040 experienced life. It gave me chills in the moment. It 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:01.120 gives me chills thinking about it. It gives me chills when 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:03.360 I go back and watch the video. You know, I 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:05.360 wanted to be in the moment, but I'm so glad 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:08.240 I ended up taking a video of that because it's 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:10.400 something to go back and listen to it and realize 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:12.640 just how special it was to be there in that moment. 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:15.840 Yeah, it really was a super cool thing for me. 0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:18.800 And I was sitting there even before the game when 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:21.439 they pull out the big flags start doing two national 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:24.199 anthems and stuff, and I just kind of caught myself. 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:26.800 I'm old and jaded and cynical and all that, and 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:29.240 I've been doing this for a million years, but I 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:31.760 was sitting there thinking, man, the first thing you ever 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:34.840 covered in exchange for money was in East Burke McDowell 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:38.920 girls high school basketball. And now you're sitting in Munich, Germany, 0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:43.559 where Harry Kane plays his professional football and you're watching 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:46.720 this unfolding. So it was really a neat moment. But 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:50.600 I was utterly charmed by the entire experience. 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:52.360 I mean, you know what, the most charming moment of 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:54.800 the game was I'm surprised you haven't brought this up 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:56.240 yet because you loved it. 0:09:56.200 --> 0:09:57.000 When it happened. 0:09:57.160 --> 0:09:57.480 What's that? 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:00.800 So they gave all the fans like placards to hold 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:02.959 up so that they could make the German and American 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:06.880 flags in the NFL symbols. They then took those those 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:11.920 pieces of what I assuming are glossy cardboard, yep or 0:10:11.960 --> 0:10:15.120 something of the sort, like strong card stock, and turn 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:16.640 them into paper airplanes. 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:17.480 And they were. 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:19.839 Throwing them on the field and throwing them around. I 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:21.559 think at one point it hit Johnny Hecker. 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:24.640 Maybe it was Tommy Tremble at Tommy Tremble, Yeah, Tommy 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:26.400 was standing over there next to I in Thomas and 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:28.120 the guys the rest of the tight ends, and one 0:10:28.120 --> 0:10:30.800 of them pegged him in the head. So it was great. 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:34.680 I'm all for German engineering, but it's cool. I those 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:36.760 guys had it figured out. And every time the paper 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:39.440 airplane would get near the field, you'd hear the crowd 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:41.080 start to lean into it. 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:43.360 They'd be like, come on, one landed. 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:44.839 In the end zone, and every bay start they say 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.920 come on in German, Yeah, said you know. The one 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:50.280 thing I figured out is that there's certain things that 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:52.480 transcend the barriers of language. 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:53.440 We're all one people. 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:56.959 I walked whatever day of the week it was when 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:59.839 we got there. I just needed a little refreshment. So 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:02.080 I wandered down the street from our hotel found a 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:05.200 little neighborhood pub and I walked in and looked. The 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:09.160 guy looked at me, and I said, pilsner. Sure, And 0:11:09.240 --> 0:11:12.280 so he said words that I assume indicated the amount 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:14.840 of money he wanted his exchange for the pilsner. So 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:16.920 I just held up my credit card and handed it 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:20.840 to him and he went, no card, minimum twenty. 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:21.559 Get another pills there. 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:25.640 I said, two pilsners, and he just kind of looked 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:26.720 at me and he went three. 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:28.840 And I said, okay, fine, three. 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:31.160 So I stood there in this little bar as the 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:34.240 only English speaker in the place, and it was amazing 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:35.960 because it was a very small. 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:38.640 Space ab outside of this podcast studio. 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:41.280 They had a little train going around the top of 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:45.520 the bar that delivered shots of schnops to people, and 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:49.680 the jukebox was just full of eighties classic rock. I 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:52.800 mean it was it was Rick Springfield, it was Toto, 0:11:52.960 --> 0:11:55.640 it was Journey, it was def Leppard and I was like, 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:58.600 this is amazing. This must be what Reagan felt like 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:00.240 in eighty nine. 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:03.680 I have breached the cultural gap. Here we are one 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:04.920 people finally. 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:08.440 Uh oh, this was a good This was a good thing. 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:12.720 But I put a picture the coasters. I put a 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:14.640 picture of it on Twitter the other day and it's 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:16.880 written in German and it's got a man just kind 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:18.920 of collapsed with his head down on the bar, and 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:20.760 I said, I don't really know what this says, but 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:23.719 I feel this right now because it was It was 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:25.360 a good time, but it was a it was a 0:12:25.440 --> 0:12:26.040 long time. 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:29.800 It was something else just wanted to point out too, 0:12:29.800 --> 0:12:32.400 because it was a lot of fun. It is The 0:12:32.440 --> 0:12:35.000 Panther's put on a lot of different events around Old 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:37.440 Town Munich and got to go hang out at some 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:40.160 of those on Friday and Saturdayay. 0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:42.080 You saw Steve Smith almost create an international. 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:45.000 I did see Germany is going to put out a 0:12:45.080 --> 0:12:48.240 travel warning next time Steve Smith crosses into the country lines. 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:50.880 But that was a lot of fun. I think I 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:52.600 texted you at one point because I was in the 0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:57.280 van with Steve Smith, Julius Peppers, Luke Keigley and John 0:12:57.320 --> 0:13:00.120 Beeson and we were driving down to Old Towns, a 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:02.599 twenty minute ride, and just in that twenty minutes to 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:04.760 kind of hear some of the stories they were telling, 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:07.440 and you know, just it was a bunch of old 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:10.400 friends back together again in a car. The first time 0:13:10.440 --> 0:13:12.200 I got to meet Pep. So that was that was 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:14.800 really cool. And I got to hang out with him 0:13:14.840 --> 0:13:17.120 a little bit. He's you have said this in everything 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:19.760 you have written. He is very quiet, but once he 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:21.720 does kind of open up a little bit, he's he's 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:22.840 such an interesting guy. 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:23.800 Yeah. 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:25.079 So it was a lot of fun just to hang 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:27.000 out with those legends for two days and kind of 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:31.800 hear their stories and and really understand why they are 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:34.360 so special to the Panthers fan base. Yeah, and get 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:35.600 that experience firsthand. 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:37.800 And I think our new friends in Germany are picking 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:40.000 up on that too. I mean they're kind of you know, 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:42.760 we got a product to sell. They you know, people 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:45.640 were digging on Luke Keekley tapping the keg. 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:47.600 Was lots of beers flooding. 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:50.960 There were there were beers. There were At one. 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:54.120 Point I walked into the Panthers Pub, like the Panthers 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:55.880 had an official pub set up, and that's where they 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:58.319 were handing out the beers every day, and I walked 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:00.880 in with them and they kind of like created a 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:02.680 path for him because we had to go through to 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:05.160 the back. Felt a little like walking in with the 0:14:05.160 --> 0:14:08.160 Beatles to their concert. Sure, and people were going crazy. 0:14:08.360 --> 0:14:10.959 And I walked past one guy and I heard him 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:13.400 say to his wife, Oh my god, that was Steve Smith, 0:14:13.720 --> 0:14:17.160 like just like shocked, like, oh my god, look at 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:20.160 these people walking through here. So that was really really 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:21.640 cool just to kind of be a part of that 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:23.280 and experience that too. 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:24.680 It definitely was. 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:28.360 It was an experience to remember, to be sure, it 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:31.000 is also an experience to be endured. 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:33.400 Yeah, I'm still catching. 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:34.520 We all came back sick. 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:38.800 Yeah, we're all still a little dragging. I love our 0:14:38.880 --> 0:14:41.760 German friends. They're great at so many things. Coffees not 0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:42.280 one of them. 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:45.440 No, Oh my gosh, Darren. Everybody on our team made 0:14:45.440 --> 0:14:47.760 fun of me because I was like, get thee to 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:51.960 a Starbucks. And I found a Starbucks finally, after we 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:53.960 had been there for about thirty six hours. It was 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:56.320 like it was like somebody crawling through a desert looking 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:59.080 for water. I was just like vanilla latte. 0:15:00.480 --> 0:15:03.880 See, and I have remarkably low standards for coffee. 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:05.200 I usually I don't. 0:15:05.040 --> 0:15:07.000 Even need the coffee to taste good. I just need 0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:08.960 it to like have something to it. 0:15:09.000 --> 0:15:11.360 I usually begin the day with a starter cup of 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:13.800 whatever's left over in the pot from the previous day, 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:15.760 and I just warm it up, because it takes less 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:18.240 time to nuke that one cup of coffee than it 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:21.280 does to make an entire pot. So I come in 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:24.760 Monday when I finally woke up at like, you know, 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:26.960 we get in at three ish. You know, it was 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:29.760 like eight forty five when I woke up ish, and 0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:31.880 I just poured whatever was in the pot and drank, 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:34.800 warmed it up and drank it. And daughter walks through 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:36.360 and I said, hey, I appreciate you making a pot 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:37.160 of coffee earlier. 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:37.520 Today. 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:40.000 I didn't make a coffee while I was here, and 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:42.360 I was like, so that's the coffee I left here 0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:47.760 on Thursday. And I guess that cup of coffee was 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:51.040 better than any coffee I had in the entire country 0:15:51.040 --> 0:15:53.920 of Germany. So I love many of the things you do. 0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:57.920 Your car's amazing, Your schnitzel terrific. It's a really short 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:01.240 step from schnitzel to bojangle beer. 0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:04.960 Yes, engineering, of course, small talk. 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:10.240 No coffee, your work with non potato and cabbage vegetables, No, 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:12.160 but coffee definitely. 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:15.080 Know, you know, everybody knows what they do well and 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:17.480 knows what they don't do well. And Germany knows they 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:18.360 don't do coffee well. 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:22.200 If they don't care, yeah, I guess so. But cool experience. 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:24.080 I'm ready to go back. I want to go somewhere 0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:25.280 else cool. Where can we go? 0:16:26.080 --> 0:16:28.120 Oh my gosh, where would you like? Where else would 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:30.200 you like to see an international NFL game? 0:16:30.400 --> 0:16:30.760 I would? 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:34.240 I would get down in South America. I kind of 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:36.880 envy those guys who got to go to Brazil this year. 0:16:36.920 --> 0:16:39.400 That's a new experience, and I just want to go 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:40.320 see more stuff. 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:42.240 One of the things and I didn't even I got 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:43.000 to do something with this. 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:44.960 At some point I talked to a bunch of guys 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:48.200 leading into the trip about the theory of travel, and 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:50.680 one of the things I believe is once you've done 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:53.000 it once, you just want to do it over and 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:56.480 over and over again. Like I left the country for 0:16:56.520 --> 0:16:58.520 the first time about a year and a half ago. 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:01.240 Oh really, wife and I took an extended you know, 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:07.680 delayed honeymoon. We did Paris, Amsterdam, London and it was amazing. 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:10.000 And now I'm like, I want to go somewhere else. 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:11.320 I want to get on a train, I want to 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:13.399 go to a different country. Let's go see some more stuff. 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:16.159 There's nothing quite like the rush of walking up to 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:18.800 a counter with your passport and being like, I'm going somewhere. 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:21.760 Yeah, exactly, and I just like, you know, there's a 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:25.360 curiosity of I wonder what we're going to see here, 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:28.520 and you're going to see something you've never experienced before. 0:17:28.640 --> 0:17:30.560 That's the way it was for me in Munich. I mean, 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:35.400 Munich is a very old center city. You know, it's 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:37.719 very historic. It's got a lot of stuff that's been 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:42.080 there for centuries. And despite the fact that wars have 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:44.560 happened and knocked a lot of it down, but it's 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:48.200 just such a cool cultural experience. And I think once 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:51.000 you see a different part of the world. And again, 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:53.639 I am extremely fortunate to be able to do that. 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:56.800