Speaker 1: Hey guys. This week on the group Chat, we are
Speaker 1: recapping the last four days, not only for the Carolina Panthers,
Speaker 1: but for Charlotte. Starting with that bold claim I made
Speaker 1: about that game against the Seahawks that turned out to
Speaker 1: not be that crazy, Caroline, and correct me if I'm wrong.
Speaker 1: Said that this was a game that the Panthers hadn't
Speaker 1: really no business being competitive in, and yet you felt
Speaker 1: they were going to, uh make it, make a game
Speaker 1: of it? Right? Is that accurate? I may have hinted
Speaker 1: even towards the fact that this is one that they
Speaker 1: had no business winning or being in, and they gave
Speaker 1: themselves a chance in the fourth quarter. We then get
Speaker 1: into the big news about football, not football, but football.
Speaker 1: I don't understand European soccer. I didn't understand this idea
Speaker 1: that you're in this league and then you stopped playing
Speaker 1: for your team to go play in a different league,
Speaker 1: and then come back and play your league four days later,
Speaker 1: and then some of your players have to leave to
Speaker 1: go play for a different team, and then they're back,
Speaker 1: and I just felt stupid. We have that in so
Speaker 1: much more on this week's the group Chat. You've been
Speaker 1: added to the group Chat with your friends Caroline can,
Speaker 1: Max Sensen, and Will Brian. It's been a busy few
Speaker 1: weeks for the virtual group chat that we are in
Speaker 1: right now, but also for our real group chat that
Speaker 1: we have that sometimes we put producer Matt in and
Speaker 1: sometimes we don't, so he has no idea what we're
Speaker 1: going to talk about. Because this one we kept Matt out.
Speaker 1: I'm just kidding. I'm done picking on producer Matt. That's
Speaker 1: my New Year's resolution. So you still have a couple
Speaker 1: more weeks. I still have a couple of more weeks,
Speaker 1: but I think, like all good habits and habits, they
Speaker 1: take time to actually become a thing. So just know
Speaker 1: that for the next few weeks, I'm gonna start setting
Speaker 1: the habit of not picking on producer Matt. Matt was
Speaker 1: in the group chat. He just lost his phone, so
Speaker 1: we and I almost believed you a second. I was like, you,
Speaker 1: why have I not heard this time? I met his
Speaker 1: lovely fiance and that just made him right with me,
Speaker 1: and I was like, she's fantastic. I can't make fun
Speaker 1: of you anymore. Well, you met her at Target for
Speaker 1: five seconds. I'm glad you were able to determine she's fantastic,
Speaker 1: but she made a heck of an impression. Yeah, you
Speaker 1: can't say, well, this is on the internet, Matt. She
Speaker 1: keeps you straight, she organizes your place. Apparently, she helps
Speaker 1: you find things that you lose, which God bless her,
Speaker 1: unless unless I can get Harold to do it first,
Speaker 1: and then yeah, unless Harold can go back. I'm trying
Speaker 1: to be nice, Matt, and you're really not helping. So
Speaker 1: over these next few weeks, that's going to be my
Speaker 1: New Year's resolution. I'm sure we will do a podcast
Speaker 1: of full year's resolution, so hang tight, but there's a
Speaker 1: little preview of what mine is. But for our group
Speaker 1: chat this week, we're just going to recap what happened
Speaker 1: in our actual group chat because there are a lot
Speaker 1: of things that happened over the last four days. We
Speaker 1: can go four days for just Charlotte in general. That
Speaker 1: is really interesting and exciting and um not exciting the
Speaker 1: football side of things, although although the football it's exciting
Speaker 1: the football, we're still we're getting there. Am I going
Speaker 1: to say it? Are you guys going to say it
Speaker 1: about the football? I think Max should say it? Well,
Speaker 1: are we gonna give you credit? Is that what you're saying, Okay,
Speaker 1: that's where she wants us to go. Oh wait, the
Speaker 1: football or the football football football football. Yeah, I'll give
Speaker 1: her credit because I was the one that was Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was your face that was kind of saying something
Speaker 1: very different than what Caroline was saying. Last week's episode,
Speaker 1: Caroline and correct me if I'm wrong, said that this
Speaker 1: was a game that the Panthers hadn't really no business
Speaker 1: being competitive in, and yet you felt they were going to,
Speaker 1: uh make it, make a game of it? Right? Is
Speaker 1: that accurate? I may have hinted even towards the fact
Speaker 1: that this is one that they had no business winning
Speaker 1: or being in, and they gave themselves a chance in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter. And I gotta say, early on, I
Speaker 1: thought you were going to be very wrong. Um, Seattle
Speaker 1: came out and scored three touchdowns on three possessions, and
Speaker 1: it was like, oh boy, it looked really easy. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they Seattle made it look very easy. But to Peri
Speaker 1: Fuel and that Panthers teams credit, they stuck with it
Speaker 1: in a situation where you could easily have seen them
Speaker 1: kind of just sort of packing it in. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it was a six point game late with
Speaker 1: a chance to get a stop on third and eleven,
Speaker 1: you get the ball back with a chance to win. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: it couldn't get that stop. Seattle salted it away. But yeah, look,
Speaker 1: I said this is somebody earlier. If the Panthers were
Speaker 1: a nine win team and they lost by six to
Speaker 1: a ten win Seattle team, you would say, yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean it's really good Seahawks team. You lose one session
Speaker 1: games to them. Yeah. So with with this Panthers team
Speaker 1: and where they're at right now, to play that way
Speaker 1: against Seattle, I thought it was one of the better
Speaker 1: games collectively that the Panthers have played in a while.
Speaker 1: And they stuck to the run when they were down
Speaker 1: thirteen and then down and I thought that that showed
Speaker 1: a commitment to we know what we're good at and
Speaker 1: the defense. You are gonna have to get a couple
Speaker 1: stops because we're not gonna go and just go throw
Speaker 1: the ball every week. They're not gonna be successful doing that.
Speaker 1: They knew that, like the bread and butter of this
Speaker 1: team is to be able to establish the run and
Speaker 1: then throw off of the run. And they did that
Speaker 1: for the most part. And we're able to control the
Speaker 1: ball a little bit in the second half score In
Speaker 1: the second half, the bread and butter of this team
Speaker 1: is Christian McCaffrey, So like, run or throw him the
Speaker 1: ball anyway possible, even if he has to throw the ball.
Speaker 1: It was over one but still um and yeah, he
Speaker 1: goes over two thousand scrimmage yards and has another hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy five yards from scrimmage and that's just like
Speaker 1: a normal Sunday for him. But you're right, I mean,
Speaker 1: just allowing him to be a big part of the
Speaker 1: game and on defense if they're not getting stops, like
Speaker 1: you're crossing your fingers. Takeaway had a nice sort of
Speaker 1: takeaway b and I finally got one and had two
Speaker 1: others that looked to be takeaways until they weren't. And
Speaker 1: those scenes like huge plays in the game to me, Um,
Speaker 1: Joel mccoybeing offside take away strip sack, Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: that's that's it right there. And then and then sound
Speaker 1: the runner being down on the five being it was
Speaker 1: Bruce Irvan, did you did you touched the bottom of
Speaker 1: the cleats? Another one of those it was it was
Speaker 1: It was heartbreaking because of those moments, but I thought
Speaker 1: Trey Boston put it best after the game he's not surprised,
Speaker 1: and that's a little bit how it felt on the
Speaker 1: sidelines when things would happen. Frustrating, absolutely. I thought Gerald
Speaker 1: McCoy very much put his emotion on his sleeve, was
Speaker 1: trying to be an emotional outward leader. I think he's
Speaker 1: always been a leader for that defense, but this was
Speaker 1: one of the games where he was not shy about
Speaker 1: walking around really frustrated, getting the guys together, yelling and
Speaker 1: allowing guys to yell back at him. I thought he
Speaker 1: kept the energy for the defense where it needed to be.
Speaker 1: Him and Luke were very much, you know, frantic almost
Speaker 1: walking around on the sidelines, trying to keep guys engaged.
Speaker 1: But it wasn't surprising when things happened. Yeah, that's kind
Speaker 1: of that's the kind of stuff that happens to a
Speaker 1: team that's lost six games in a row. Well, and
Speaker 1: that's just like though, that's just what keeps happening. Perry
Speaker 1: Fuel said before the game, all all week leading up
Speaker 1: to the game, it was about confidence, and he was
Speaker 1: very candid about the Seahawks team is very confident. We're
Speaker 1: just not a very confident football team right here at
Speaker 1: the Panthers. So I asked him going into the tunnel
Speaker 1: heading they just finished warm ups and I said, coach,
Speaker 1: last minute thoughts, what's the you talked about confidence. How
Speaker 1: do you feel your team is right now? He said,
Speaker 1: I feel like they're confident in what we're trying to do.
Speaker 1: But it's about that keeping the constant that sustained confidence
Speaker 1: is what he said is the big deal. Because you
Speaker 1: mentioned it's it's a you know, a call here, and
Speaker 1: offsides here, a pick here, all of these things that
Speaker 1: are self inflicting wounds. It seems that this team continues
Speaker 1: to fall into But can you sustain that confidence where
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter you're giving yourself a shot. I
Speaker 1: thought they did that. I thought that was nice to see.
Speaker 1: It's still hurts and there's no moral victories, so we
Speaker 1: can you know, who raw about? Good job, you made
Speaker 1: it a game in the fourth that that's embarrassing that
Speaker 1: that's what you know? We can who raw around. I
Speaker 1: think the team obviously they said that after the game.
Speaker 1: Yeah you don't count moral victories, um, but they kept
Speaker 1: fighting in it. And if you're going to look for
Speaker 1: the silver lining, which we love, that's the silver lining
Speaker 1: that we're looking. I think there's someone to be said
Speaker 1: for that too. I mean, um, especially again against a
Speaker 1: team that is really good in Seattle, that number one
Speaker 1: team in the NFC. I think people wanted to see
Speaker 1: this Panther's team be competitive. You know, people don't necessarily
Speaker 1: expect to win, but like, show, show me something. And
Speaker 1: I think that's what this team did. And for a
Speaker 1: segment of the fan base that wants the best draft
Speaker 1: pick possible, then there was kind of a like best
Speaker 1: case scenario for you, and that you saw a Panther's
Speaker 1: team fight to the bitter end against a good Seahawks
Speaker 1: team and they didn't come out on the winning end,
Speaker 1: which again to each their own from a fan perspective,
Speaker 1: So you have that too. And the Falcons, if you're
Speaker 1: really keeping stock of the draft situation, they got a
Speaker 1: big win in San Francisco, so now they've which is
Speaker 1: just jumped this have jumped ahead of Atlanta now in
Speaker 1: the draft order. So that's unfortunately, that's the reality of
Speaker 1: where this season is. You're looking at the draft order
Speaker 1: at this point. You wouldn't want to be in this situation.
Speaker 1: You want to be looking at playoffs scenarios, but that's
Speaker 1: where this team is. If I worked for the Falcons.
Speaker 1: I would have said the same thing going into that game,
Speaker 1: a game they have no business winning, and they end
Speaker 1: up beating him. Unbelievable. I didn't believe the score when
Speaker 1: I saw it. Did you guys go back and have
Speaker 1: to look at the score again. Well, so, right as
Speaker 1: I was leaving the press box, the game was like ending.
Speaker 1: So was on the TV, and there was like a
Speaker 1: bunch of like some Seattle media guys were there, watched
Speaker 1: every and of course it's big for them too with
Speaker 1: the division um, so everyone was just kind of tuned
Speaker 1: in and and so we were watching those final few moments.
Speaker 1: The catch that wasn't by Hooper was ridiculous. It was like,
Speaker 1: I don't know if you guys saw this is before
Speaker 1: the Julio catch. He made this incredible like juggling catch
Speaker 1: and the ball was like balancing on his foot between
Speaker 1: that and the ground, and they went to review it
Speaker 1: and that gets They ultimately reviewed and said it was
Speaker 1: an incomplete pass, but it kind of looked at first
Speaker 1: glance like he kept it on his like shoe lace.
Speaker 1: And then you have the Julio play where you know, right,
Speaker 1: you know, Inches gets crushed and is able to get across.
Speaker 1: So I mean I felt this that Falcons team was
Speaker 1: way more talented than the record indicates for a while.
Speaker 1: And now they're beating some teams and obviously the Saints
Speaker 1: they gave trouble and in both meetings and got one
Speaker 1: on them. So yeah, I mean entirely, entirely shots. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't know, Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, I give those
Speaker 1: guys a chance. And San Francisco they felt the full
Speaker 1: force of it in that one. It is crazy football. Well,
Speaker 1: let's now talk about football, different kind of sport here, football,
Speaker 1: because this I don't care if you're a soccer fan
Speaker 1: or not. You've heard about this just because you're a
Speaker 1: Panther fan, because the same man that owns the Carolina
Speaker 1: Panthers is bringing a new sport to Charlotte and I'm
Speaker 1: excited about it. Although I don't think anyone is more
Speaker 1: excited at this table than Max, be honest, I am.
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, I'm a soccer or football fan. Like
Speaker 1: I'm curious to see what you guys think about all this,
Speaker 1: because yeah, like I European soccer is kind of become
Speaker 1: like a big I become a bit of a I
Speaker 1: don't know, super fan. Here's how I describe it, you
Speaker 1: know how like there's the fan base in China for
Speaker 1: the NBA and they like love watching like Lebron and
Speaker 1: you know Russell Westbrook and Steph Curry. Like that's me
Speaker 1: as an American watching European soccer, Like I love watching
Speaker 1: like the big clubs, the big players. Um. And yeah,
Speaker 1: MLS is sort of, you know, kind of taking on
Speaker 1: this upward trajectory where it's got a lot of growth
Speaker 1: and it's really looking to push and become like a
Speaker 1: real big contender among American pro sports. So yes, I'm interested.
Speaker 1: I'm very curiously what kind of talent they'll bring in.
Speaker 1: I'm curious for people like you, And this is really
Speaker 1: who they want to market too, is like how can
Speaker 1: we get people who maybe aren't the biggest soccer fans,
Speaker 1: maybe don't care about the World Cup that much or
Speaker 1: follow the Champions League or have really any interest in
Speaker 1: the game. How can we get them to the stadium
Speaker 1: and have them care about this new team that's come
Speaker 1: to town. So what do you guys think? I I
Speaker 1: think part of it will be all met this. I
Speaker 1: think growing up, I I watched college soccer for my
Speaker 1: friends at college. I watched the World Cup for the
Speaker 1: US because that's what you do. But I don't I
Speaker 1: didn't understand. I don't understand European soccer. I didn't understand
Speaker 1: this idea that you're in this league and then you
Speaker 1: stop playing for your team to go play in a
Speaker 1: different league, and then come back and play your league
Speaker 1: four days later, and then some of your players have
Speaker 1: to leave to go play for a different team, and
Speaker 1: then they're back. And I just felt stupid because I'm like, no,
Speaker 1: the Panthers play the Falcons. We're not going to go
Speaker 1: off and play Europe you know, on Tuesday, or we're
Speaker 1: not gonna get a two week break during our by
Speaker 1: to like go play the Ryan Fire of the European
Speaker 1: It just it felt weird, So I didn't so I
Speaker 1: felt stupid. So I think there's a matter of like, Okay,
Speaker 1: let's let's try to understand what this is and what
Speaker 1: we're pulling for and where these players are coming from
Speaker 1: and who they are, and you know what happens for
Speaker 1: two weeks in April or or June and and then
Speaker 1: established this kind of I mean, the NFL, let's be real,
Speaker 1: there's a culture's a fan culture that's a little bit stagnant,
Speaker 1: or maybe that's not the right word. It just it's
Speaker 1: a little bit you can't stand up because people will
Speaker 1: yell at you. You know, you're not gonna do cheers
Speaker 1: the entire game. You're not gonna have huge flags in
Speaker 1: the stands. It's a completely different culture in in soccer.
Speaker 1: I think that's exciting to see, hey, come in and
Speaker 1: build this yourselves. I think that's what's cool. Well, I'm
Speaker 1: interested in the the atmosphere and the experience of game
Speaker 1: day because of what I've seen from AFAR in Atlanta.
Speaker 1: It's been really cool, even when we were there playing
Speaker 1: the Falcons, to walk around that stadium and see just
Speaker 1: how built out and impressive and amazing their locker room was,
Speaker 1: and and where they walked out, and it made me
Speaker 1: kind of perk off and be like, oh, well this,
Speaker 1: I mean, this really is as equally you know, cool
Speaker 1: as the NF felt. Maybe if that, if that's even
Speaker 1: the world, I'm interested what I would say, like, so, so,
Speaker 1: I love, as I just explained, I love watching the
Speaker 1: best players play. But I think the other great thing
Speaker 1: about soccer is the pageantry of the game. Itself and
Speaker 1: you don't have to know who's playing to get caught
Speaker 1: up in that. Like if you watch big soccer matches
Speaker 1: with big time atmospheres, this the singing in the crowd,
Speaker 1: the banners, there's just a certain energy to it, and
Speaker 1: that's something that carries on throughout the course of the game.
Speaker 1: You know, like there's no stoppages and play. It's just
Speaker 1: kind of this constant kind of buzz. And Atlanta, as
Speaker 1: you said, has really captured that um And if you
Speaker 1: just see any images or video from their like big games,
Speaker 1: it's like blown away by it. It really looks different
Speaker 1: than anything that you really ever see in American sports.
Speaker 1: And so that's why I don't necessarily want to say
Speaker 1: they're imitating what you see in Europe, but they kind
Speaker 1: of are. I think that's what MLS is trying to do,
Speaker 1: is everyone looks at what you see in England and
Speaker 1: it'll lee and Spain, and it's like, how can we
Speaker 1: kind of do our own twist on that here? And
Speaker 1: I think that's what's really exciting is the opportunity to
Speaker 1: have that here in Charlotte. Is something like that kind
Speaker 1: of atmosphere where you just kind of look around or
Speaker 1: in awe of kind of your surroundings. And I think
Speaker 1: that's what makes soccer the quote unquote beautiful game. In
Speaker 1: addition to what you see on the field, is also
Speaker 1: the way that the fans really kind of interact with
Speaker 1: the game from start to finish. Well, I got into
Speaker 1: minor league hockey a couple of years ago, thank you.
Speaker 1: I cannot tell you a single player that played on
Speaker 1: the team. They were a farm team of the black Hawks,
Speaker 1: but I didn't really care about that either. What's what's
Speaker 1: the name of the team, Indie Fuel, Indianapolis, they were
Speaker 1: the Indie Fuel. I went to a game just they
Speaker 1: did some promotion working with the Colts, and so we
Speaker 1: ended up getting tickets, and so a girlfriend and I went.
Speaker 1: We had a blast. I ended up buying You could
Speaker 1: buy season tickets for fifteen dollars, so I did. And
Speaker 1: and you know, you can go and and just what
Speaker 1: you're saying of the buzz and the the no stoppage
Speaker 1: in the game, and there's music playing and they're doing
Speaker 1: a promotion in this section. There was so much to
Speaker 1: take in and it did feel like an NBA game.
Speaker 1: I feel like when you go to an NBA game,
Speaker 1: unless you're very invested in what is happening on the
Speaker 1: on the court, you don't really have to pay attention
Speaker 1: to the court because of all the other things that
Speaker 1: are going on. I'm not sure if that's exactly how
Speaker 1: soccer is, but I think the way that soccer is growing,
Speaker 1: the World Cup, the women's national team, all of this
Speaker 1: buzz just around the sport makes it super exciting for Charlotte.
Speaker 1: And David Tepper made a great point. There's no summer
Speaker 1: sport here in town. There is the baseball team, and
Speaker 1: that's every other night. It seems there's something there, but
Speaker 1: as far as a a major league pro sport, there's
Speaker 1: there's not one here. You have the n b A,
Speaker 1: you have you know football, and now let's add a
Speaker 1: pro soccer team. I think that's really exciting because it's
Speaker 1: hard to to get super invested in the baseball games
Speaker 1: because those guys turn over so much. So you can
Speaker 1: build some fandom around the player, around the team that
Speaker 1: they're going to be here for a long time because
Speaker 1: a lot of those affiliates too. For minor league baseball,
Speaker 1: they will change affiliates every now and then their farm team.
Speaker 1: You know that all of a sudden they'll become the
Speaker 1: Braves or you know, whatever you want it to be.
Speaker 1: So I'm excited. I think it's it's gonna be really
Speaker 1: cool for Charlotte to see how it can grow the
Speaker 1: city and grow the fantom And the fact that the
Speaker 1: soccer games that I've already been played here at Bank
Speaker 1: of America Stadium, I've been really impressive. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: it's I think it's very well positioned to just immediately
Speaker 1: have a team come in there and start playing games.
Speaker 1: I think this is an area and well maybe you
Speaker 1: can speak to this more than I can have the
Speaker 1: country that produces really good soccer talent the college programs
Speaker 1: in this area. Um, I think there's a general interest
Speaker 1: in the game. Some people will say soccer is boring.
Speaker 1: I hear that a lot. You know, not enough goals scored.
Speaker 1: But it's a simple game, you know, it's not like
Speaker 1: it's a proplicated. Everybody can go to the game and understand,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe there's only be a couple of goals scored,
Speaker 1: but it's the build up to those goals that makes
Speaker 1: the ultimate celebration of them awesome. I think, uh, and look,
Speaker 1: everybody loves a winner, so if the team wins, I think,
Speaker 1: then you've got really something potentially special. And I think
Speaker 1: that's what Atlanta did was it wasn't just like here's
Speaker 1: this cool new thing you can come check out. It
Speaker 1: was like, here's this cool new thing you can check out,
Speaker 1: and well, by the way, we're gonna win a bunch
Speaker 1: of games. And that's I think what kind of got
Speaker 1: the snowball really rolling for them. And so we are
Speaker 1: everyone is in particularly the three of us, are gonna
Speaker 1: be waiting to see who the Panthers are gonna hire
Speaker 1: as their head coach. Who is the MLS team going
Speaker 1: to hire as their head coach? And that's like the
Speaker 1: first real big shoot a drop to figure out, Okay,
Speaker 1: are they're going to get somebody who can bring in
Speaker 1: top talent, They're gonna be able to attract players who
Speaker 1: want to come play here, and then can they do
Speaker 1: what Atlanta did, which is not just have a great
Speaker 1: kind of promotional product, but also on the field be
Speaker 1: really competitive. Because Atlanta won the whole thing, then the
Speaker 1: snap of finger, it's seen and surely Dave Tepper, with
Speaker 1: how much he likes to win, win, win, would like
Speaker 1: to do the same. Yeah, I mean exactly. I mean,
Speaker 1: if anyone knows anything about the makeup of David Tepper
Speaker 1: is that he's he's in this to win this. And
Speaker 1: I like what you said about kind of this area
Speaker 1: of the country because in Major League Soccer, you know
Speaker 1: there there's there's kind of you know, you have your
Speaker 1: club teams, you have your teams that are that are
Speaker 1: feeding and this is a place where, you know, right
Speaker 1: up the road, you know, in the Triangle. I mean,
Speaker 1: how many college Cups have been hosted one by all
Speaker 1: these schools around here. Clint Dempsey, you know, great American
Speaker 1: soccer player went to Furman which is right down the road,
Speaker 1: and your word, Panthers have a training camp. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of enthusiasm around here. I mean, and for us
Speaker 1: this is literally you know, we're doing this Tuesday. I mean,
Speaker 1: how many texts of you guys. I'm getting text from everybody.
Speaker 1: They're excited about what's what's as popular as you but
Speaker 1: I imagine you're getting a lot of well, I will
Speaker 1: say some people because it's tied in very closely with
Speaker 1: the Panthers. We we're talking about this on a Panther's podcast,
Speaker 1: and there's a lot question of what is that gonna
Speaker 1: look like you're both a big up America Stadium. And
Speaker 1: then you know, there's this move to rock Hill for
Speaker 1: the Panthers. What happens. That's a lot that I'm getting
Speaker 1: right now is what does this mean? It's you know,
Speaker 1: is well then all of a sudden, this what's about
Speaker 1: this new stadium that we've heard? And I think there's
Speaker 1: a lot of buzz around the Carolina Panthers right now
Speaker 1: in general because of David Tepper, and this is just
Speaker 1: another piece of that. And people are super interested in
Speaker 1: what's happening, and that's why we were, you know, blowing
Speaker 1: up about it too. But I think it is it's exciting.
Speaker 1: This is gonna be really cool just to see how
Speaker 1: it plays out. It's going to change Charlotte. It's an
Speaker 1: It's an exciting time for the city of Charlotte. So
Speaker 1: keep growing. It seems like they're throwing up apartment complexes
Speaker 1: every other day. Why not add another pro team to
Speaker 1: the next. Why not this whole part of town. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's nothing here, and it's incredible how David Tepper has
Speaker 1: come in and even put his foot on the gas
Speaker 1: pedal even more. It's gonna be really really cool to
Speaker 1: watch how uptown and the way Charlotte continues to grow.
Speaker 1: And I hope that this team is a is also
Speaker 1: you know, not to get too political, but like can
Speaker 1: help really a lot of different communities. You know that
Speaker 1: it's not just about kind of maybe you know the
Speaker 1: demographic of of young white with with money to spend,
Speaker 1: but that there's a lot of communities in Charlotte that
Speaker 1: can really get in and engage with this and hopefully
Speaker 1: you know, have have their lives bettered by it. Well,
Speaker 1: it was great even in the ticketing office here the
Speaker 1: Panthers when they were selling the tickets for the games
Speaker 1: that have already happened, they needed someone that spoke Spanish
Speaker 1: to be there. That's what you want. You want to
Speaker 1: see this diversity in the fan. You want more people coming.
Speaker 1: So I think it's a great thing. We want to
Speaker 1: hear what you guys think too, So let us know.
Speaker 1: You can do it over Twitter, you can do it
Speaker 1: in the reviews, but only if you leave a five
Speaker 1: star will we even read it. But we're interested. It's
Speaker 1: it's it's happening, ready or not, So we would love
Speaker 1: to hear what you have to say about it. But
Speaker 1: another topic that came up. Now back to football. It's
Speaker 1: a special week here for the group chap really for
Speaker 1: one member. But you guys can come. Actually will you
Speaker 1: can't come, but Max you can come. It's my homecoming,
Speaker 1: my revenge game. I'm just kidding. Will you can come
Speaker 1: if you want? I can come if I want, can come.
Speaker 1: You can actually take my place on the You can
Speaker 1: take my place on the team plane because I'm going early.
Speaker 1: You can take that. And you can come back with
Speaker 1: him because I'm going to stay a little bit too.
Speaker 1: So my revenge game, y'all. What's the like emotional calibration
Speaker 1: right now? Are you like? Is this hard for you? So?
Speaker 1: Tension starting to build? Going to be back in the
Speaker 1: building where you had so many good memories. So are
Speaker 1: our favorite grouping mayor of Flavor Town tweeted tweeted me
Speaker 1: this on Monday at in Caroline Can returning to Lucas
Speaker 1: Oil with a six and seven team and a rumored
Speaker 1: starting rookie quarterback. And it's a W W E star
Speaker 1: standing in the middle saying boo me now right in
Speaker 1: the middle of walking around. I thought that was so
Speaker 1: funny because when I got this job and I saw
Speaker 1: you know the Colts and the Panthers were playing. I
Speaker 1: did wonder what would that game look like, because at
Speaker 1: the beginning of the year, everyone, let's just paint the
Speaker 1: picture of what I was thinking this game could potentially have.
Speaker 1: On the line. The quarterbacks of the respective teams are
Speaker 1: Cam Newton and Andrew Luck. You have really good defenses
Speaker 1: that are rumored to you know, the big question here
Speaker 1: was safeties. But the defensive line was really bulking up
Speaker 1: and everything was looking good there. The defense for the
Speaker 1: Colts had been building up. I was thinking, oh boy,
Speaker 1: that could be a heck of a game. We could
Speaker 1: be playing for playoff potential. It could be flexed a
Speaker 1: prime time Well no, that's not it, but I'm still
Speaker 1: super invested in it. I think it's gonna be really
Speaker 1: really fun to just go back. I mean, think about
Speaker 1: when you go to your college for homecoming. That's what
Speaker 1: Indianopoli seems to me. I'm not from Indianapolis, so it's
Speaker 1: this is not me going to see all my family
Speaker 1: and all that my families here, but it is a
Speaker 1: bit of a homecoming to see people. I should do
Speaker 1: a cool down interview you coming off the practice, and
Speaker 1: we should get kind of your thoughts on preparing to
Speaker 1: face the former team. Have you talked to anybody with
Speaker 1: the Colts like radio silence? You know, I've got some
Speaker 1: friends on the team, But have you have this circle
Speaker 1: on your account? Like? What all the cliches we can think?
Speaker 1: Are you able to walk and talk? I can walk
Speaker 1: into yeah, unlike Luke kick Ley, I can't actually walk
Speaker 1: and talk. Crazy, but it is gonna be fun. You guys,
Speaker 1: well will come. I keep saying you guys like coming
Speaker 1: and moll is not coming. But so Max is the
Speaker 1: normal foodie of our group. Have you scoped out You
Speaker 1: haven't scoped anything out. Well, Max, you've been been to
Speaker 1: India a bunch. Obviously everybody goes for the combine, but
Speaker 1: doesn't it doesn't count for the real indie. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: That's why I'm leaning on you. You have the real
Speaker 1: knowledge beyond just everybody goes to India and everybody you
Speaker 1: know goes to get a steak. To steak is the
Speaker 1: but it's like, yeah, I would love to learn about
Speaker 1: like some hidden gems. Well, I can tell you about
Speaker 1: this thing. I don't know how the food you want.
Speaker 1: I will say this about Indianapolis. India is a huge
Speaker 1: conference city, so hundreds of thousands of people they will
Speaker 1: host a week. But it is a in and out.
Speaker 1: So you have your p F chains and you even
Speaker 1: have a Margarita Ville. You have your very almost tourist
Speaker 1: like places in a random downtown in the Midwest. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so you have those because of the conferences they run
Speaker 1: through so quick. There are some hidden is Indianapolis Does
Speaker 1: it have any sort of food specialty, like you know
Speaker 1: how certain cities have like a thing. Does Indianapolis have
Speaker 1: a thing? I will say I think steak is the thing,
Speaker 1: just because of St. Almos and so everyone says that,
Speaker 1: But it's actually the shrimp, cocktail sauce that's the thing. Say.
Speaker 1: People say that a like a tenderloin sandwich is Indiana's thing.
Speaker 1: I never had one, so I wasn't dying to try
Speaker 1: one either, but apparently that's the thing. Um, but I
Speaker 1: would not. I don't have any recommendations for you want
Speaker 1: it to know why and sandwich. But there's a good
Speaker 1: shrip called mass Av. If anyone out there is listening
Speaker 1: and you're going take notes, there's a mass Av. It's
Speaker 1: very similar feel as like the South End in Charlotte
Speaker 1: now Charlotte. When I got the job in Indianapolis, that
Speaker 1: was not four years ago. They said that Indianapolis was
Speaker 1: like Charlotte five to seven years ago. So you were
Speaker 1: earlier talking about the growth and how crazy it's changed.
Speaker 1: They say that Indianapolis is similar to that. Um, I
Speaker 1: can see it, but I don't think Indie will ever
Speaker 1: grow to the size and it's rapid pace as Charlotte
Speaker 1: has because of the weather. And I think to the
Speaker 1: people love to just like be from Indianapolis and just
Speaker 1: this is Indie. It's this is it. We hibernate in
Speaker 1: the winter. We come out during the months where there's
Speaker 1: no snow on the ground, and we love it. But
Speaker 1: I don't think there's this huge push to, oh, we
Speaker 1: need to make this a you know, a destination for
Speaker 1: people to come to us. They have all the pro
Speaker 1: sports though they have They have basketball, they have a
Speaker 1: minor league baseball team, they have the football team, and
Speaker 1: then Indie Car. So those are the those are the
Speaker 1: big ones. I don't think they're getting a soccer team,
Speaker 1: but they might. Who knows. I'm not there anymore, but
Speaker 1: Indy Car. IndyCar is the summer sport there, so that's
Speaker 1: they have. I never went to I know, but I did.
Speaker 1: I did go out to the track for um. They
Speaker 1: have like practice days leading up to it. It really
Speaker 1: is fascinating to see how fast those guys go in
Speaker 1: the car and girls, but it's amazing. Did you ever
Speaker 1: get to drive one? I didn't. I I knew some
Speaker 1: of the drivers, but I never I never pulled that card.
Speaker 1: I never was like, hey, so give we go dig thin.
Speaker 1: I think we should do a group chat at Charlotte
Speaker 1: Motor Speedway and let's get around the track. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: would love to. I honestly would be scared to get
Speaker 1: an Indy car, though I think I could do a
Speaker 1: NASCAR like a normal sized car. Cars are just those
Speaker 1: videos on Yeah. Yeah, So I don't think I could
Speaker 1: do that, but I am excited to go back. My
Speaker 1: parents are going to go, um, oh my god, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be some emotional parents in the stands at the
Speaker 1: crowd getting on you. It's gonna be I don't think so.
Speaker 1: I did. I have been back to a game since
Speaker 1: I left hour bye week here. I went back and
Speaker 1: the Colts were playing the Texans. So I have been back,
Speaker 1: but I had a hat on I was on the
Speaker 1: field very briefly gonna like instinctively walk to the wrong sidelines.
Speaker 1: So I have thought about this. I have no I
Speaker 1: idea how to get around the visitor's side of Lucas
Speaker 1: Oil Stadium, but I know all about you know where
Speaker 1: we would go in as the home team, But I
Speaker 1: have nothing, so I am laughing. I will be able
Speaker 1: to get you to the press box, though, Max, I
Speaker 1: guarantee anything just yet, pretty sure. I don't know if
Speaker 1: I might take us up the wrong elevator. I don't
Speaker 1: know if I know the visiting Oh I do, You're
Speaker 1: already downing yourself. The can cam will will prove the
Speaker 1: can Camp the footage. The footage will prove the can
Speaker 1: Camp is coming back. It's been a bit of a
Speaker 1: high and it was ever time to bring out a
Speaker 1: sideline Steak in Indianapolis. I think it's time. Honestly, the
Speaker 1: city of Steak got about the story. I totally forgot
Speaker 1: about that I brought that was Well, we're done. Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening.