Latest / Mac & Bone Podcast / Mac & Bone Hour 4: Jones Angell & Courtney Cronin

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Mac & Bone Hour 4: Jones Angell & Courtney Cronin · Mac & Bone Podcast

0:06
Speaker 1: Thank you.
0:14
Speaker 2: Oh, man.
0:14
Speaker 3: Tar Heel football is back in action.
0:17
Speaker 4: The lovable Granny Pat just gave a shout out to
0:19
Speaker 4: the fact that Ben Johnson is a Tar Heel grad.
0:23
Speaker 4: We will not be rooting for him on Sunday, but
0:26
Speaker 4: we will be rooting for, well, not all of us,
0:28
Speaker 4: but I will be. Finney will be rooting for the
0:30
Speaker 4: Heels on Saturday against East Tennessee State.
0:33
Speaker 3: Sorry, Bo. What happened? As Will Healy said.
0:37
Speaker 4: Brings his East Tennessee State squad in to Chapel Hill.
0:41
Speaker 4: And we got to talk about it with a man
0:43
Speaker 4: who will call the game. He is a regular 9
0:45
Speaker 4: o'clock Thursday man with us. He is Jones Angel, the
0:48
Speaker 4: voice of the Tar Heels. Hey, Jones, what's going on, man?
0:51
Speaker 4: How you doing this week?
0:53
Speaker 2: Doing great. Great to be back with you guys. And boy,
0:56
Speaker 2: I did a lot of stuff in there. Ben Johnson,
0:58
Speaker 2: isn't it amazing? Ben Johnson's elevation through the coaching ranks.
1:01
Speaker 2: And I know that, that, yeah, he's on the wrong
1:03
Speaker 2: sideline here for this first week, but man, what a
1:06
Speaker 2: impressive young guy he is. Yeah.
1:08
Speaker 3: He was a walk.
1:10
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, he was a walk on at Carolina and,
1:12
Speaker 2: you know, didn't play as you would expect as a
1:15
Speaker 2: walk on quarterback, but just somebody who's obviously been around
1:18
Speaker 2: the game, his whole life, really smart around the game. And,
1:21
Speaker 2: Great to see him having success. I felt bad for
1:23
Speaker 2: Drake last night. Tough night for him. I think there
1:25
Speaker 2: are a couple of those throws that he would have
1:27
Speaker 2: loved to have had back, obviously, but expect him to
1:30
Speaker 2: bounce back and have a terrific year. Looking forward to
1:34
Speaker 2: being in Keenan this weekend, guys. It's good to be
1:36
Speaker 2: back in Chapel Hill. It's the 100th year in Keenan Stadium.
1:40
Speaker 2: It's the 135th year for Carolina football, but 100th year
1:43
Speaker 2: in Kenan Stadium, so there'll be all kinds of kind
1:45
Speaker 2: of fun things around that as they.
1:46
Speaker 3: Move through the season.
1:47
Speaker 2: And looking forward to hopefully playing some good football on
1:51
Speaker 2: Saturday as well. Nice.
1:52
Speaker 5: Good football is what the Heels did against TCU, especially defensively. Jones,
1:56
Speaker 5: from what you saw a couple weeks ago in Ireland,
1:59
Speaker 5: what do you think is most sustainable from that effort
2:02
Speaker 5: going forward?
2:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's that front– well, I– The most sustainable thing
2:08
Speaker 2: is the effort. I think that's what Carolina really liked
2:11
Speaker 2: the most was just the consistent effort throughout the game.
2:17
Speaker 2: Sometimes you're going to be in the wrong place, even
2:20
Speaker 2: though you practice all the time. Sometimes the other team
2:22
Speaker 2: is going to just have something schemed up.
2:24
Speaker 3: That's really good.
2:26
Speaker 2: That happens. It's football. But what I think Carolina really
2:29
Speaker 2: liked was just the consistent effort that was shown out
2:32
Speaker 2: on the field, because sometimes you can make up for
2:35
Speaker 2: being in the wrong spot by just busting your tail.
2:37
Speaker 2: And sometimes you can still, you know, keep a play
2:40
Speaker 2: from going. It goes four yards instead of 40 yards.
2:43
Speaker 2: Because even though it was schemed well, you went really
2:46
Speaker 2: hard and you were able to make something happen. And
2:49
Speaker 2: so I think Carolina was really pleased with that run
2:53
Speaker 2: on both sides of the ball. But I think defensively
2:55
Speaker 2: in particular, as far as the actual quality of play,
2:58
Speaker 2: I think they felt really good about how that front
3:02
Speaker 2: seven executed. They were able to get in the backfield.
3:05
Speaker 2: Some got better against the run as that game went on.
3:09
Speaker 2: which was good. And I say all that, but also
3:12
Speaker 2: TCU really wasn't able to go down the field. The
3:15
Speaker 2: secondary did a nice job. So I think Carolina felt
3:17
Speaker 2: pretty good, really, about that whole side of the ball.
3:20
Speaker 2: And look, Tar Heels should be favored against East Tennessee State.
3:23
Speaker 2: We understand that. But the Buccaneers will stress the Tar
3:27
Speaker 2: Heels defense. They've got some good players on that side
3:29
Speaker 2: of the ball. They can move the football. Mason Mims
3:32
Speaker 2: is their quarterback. He's a transfer from Louisville. He's a
3:35
Speaker 2: good player. And so they've got some talent, especially on
3:39
Speaker 2: the offensive side. Again, Carolina's got all the advantages that
3:42
Speaker 2: you expect. But I do think Carolina's defense will be
3:46
Speaker 2: pushed some this week because East Tennessee State's got a
3:48
Speaker 2: quality offense.
3:49
Speaker 4: We're talking with Jones Angel, voice of the Heels. He
3:51
Speaker 4: does this with us at 9 o'clock every Thursday on
3:55
Speaker 4: the Mac and Bone Show. Heels get back to it
3:58
Speaker 4: after the bye week, after the week zero win. Jones,
4:02
Speaker 4: I'm definitely not going to turn this into our version.
4:05
Speaker 4: of the Bill Belichick press conference, right? There's no need
4:09
Speaker 4: for me to ask you questions. I know you work
4:12
Speaker 4: for the athletic department. Bill can't answer the question. I
4:17
Speaker 4: know you're not going to answer any specific questions. I
4:19
Speaker 4: would just ask this one. The thing I hate about
4:21
Speaker 4: the timing of this off the field stuff now is
4:24
Speaker 4: is that they had such good mojo, Jones, that you
4:27
Speaker 4: talked about after the TCU win. Do you get the feeling, like,
4:31
Speaker 4: do you worry at all, being a Tar Heel guy,
4:33
Speaker 4: that this off-the-field stuff affects them on the field moving forward?
4:38
Speaker 4: Or do you think that's just something like, you know,
4:41
Speaker 4: dudes like me on the radio talk about it?
4:43
Speaker 3: It ain't happening.
4:45
Speaker 2: Sure. You know, I do think, Mac, it's interesting that Yeah,
4:48
Speaker 2: I think Carolina's kind of been, and some of it
4:51
Speaker 2: because of Carolina, has been under the microscope here for
4:56
Speaker 2: over a year on the football side. And some of
4:58
Speaker 2: that just comes with Bill Belichick. You're under the microscope.
5:02
Speaker 2: So I think the Tar Heels are kind of used
5:04
Speaker 2: to it. And quite honestly, I think it does not
5:08
Speaker 2: affect the players. Now, that's easier to say when you're
5:12
Speaker 2: winning games, right? If you lose three in a row
5:15
Speaker 2: or something... I think anything away from the field starts
5:19
Speaker 2: to get louder if you're not being successful. But I
5:23
Speaker 2: think if Carolina continues to play good football, continues to
5:26
Speaker 2: have success, continues to grow, then I think that the
5:30
Speaker 2: players are almost immune to that stuff because they're just
5:34
Speaker 2: college players. They're going to class. They're trying to get
5:37
Speaker 2: better on the field. They're trying to figure out what's
5:39
Speaker 2: going on with their girlfriend, just all the stuff that
5:41
Speaker 2: college guys are doing. And so I don't think that
5:45
Speaker 2: it is a major factor, any of the noise that
5:48
Speaker 2: is occurring in away from the field of play for
5:53
Speaker 2: the Tar Heels. And so that is the charge of
5:58
Speaker 2: the coaches to make sure that that continues, to make
6:01
Speaker 2: sure that the focus is what's happening on the field
6:03
Speaker 2: with those guys, because if it does, I think they
6:05
Speaker 2: have an opportunity to really continue to have a strong
6:08
Speaker 2: season and continue to improve, which if you're winning games,
6:12
Speaker 2: number one rule in athletics, guys, winning is better than losing.
6:15
Speaker 2: And so if you win games, a lot of that
6:18
Speaker 2: other stuff really disappears.
6:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely.
6:20
Speaker 5: Jones, we often say just the term, the offenses are
6:23
Speaker 5: always better when Bobby Petrino's involved. But from what you see,
6:29
Speaker 5: why is that? What does Bobby Petrino do with these
6:32
Speaker 5: offenses that seems to elevate them all as soon as
6:35
Speaker 5: he arrives?
6:37
Speaker 2: He's just really smart at it. He's just a really
6:39
Speaker 2: intelligent football mind, I think is number one. And what
6:42
Speaker 2: I've been really impressed with Coach Petrino is that he
6:46
Speaker 2: isn't It isn't saying this is how I run my
6:50
Speaker 2: offense and you guys are going to do what I do.
6:53
Speaker 2: It's more he kind of looked, he said, okay, what
6:57
Speaker 2: does this team have? What are the strengths of this group?
7:01
Speaker 2: What are the areas that we can be successful with
7:04
Speaker 2: the personnel that we have at the point of their development?
7:07
Speaker 2: right now. And then he tailors what they do to that.
7:11
Speaker 2: And I know that's, I think he's, Oh, that's obvious.
7:14
Speaker 2: Of course you would do that, but that's not the
7:15
Speaker 2: case all the time. And so for a coach to,
7:18
Speaker 2: to really understand his personnel to have as many years,
7:22
Speaker 2: of course, of experience as coach Petrino has, he's seen
7:25
Speaker 2: all the defenses. He's seen all the different looks, you know,
7:28
Speaker 2: he's seen all the down and distances, you know, that
7:30
Speaker 2: kind of stuff comes with experience and, But the fact
7:32
Speaker 2: that he is so intelligent in period, but in football
7:37
Speaker 2: discussion as well, and he is so malleable and flexible
7:41
Speaker 2: to be able to change with his personnel. I think
7:44
Speaker 2: is a big part of it. And we talked about
7:46
Speaker 2: this last week, guys, like Carolina, the offensive numbers didn't
7:50
Speaker 2: blow you away against TCU, but it was pretty obvious
7:54
Speaker 2: watching that this was a better offense than they were
7:56
Speaker 2: a year ago. They've got to get better and they've
7:58
Speaker 2: got to run the ball better and they need some
8:00
Speaker 2: more wide receivers to step up and all this stuff.
8:03
Speaker 2: But you could just see that it was better. And
8:05
Speaker 2: so I would expect that to continue to grow and grow.
8:08
Speaker 2: As this year goes on, they've got some young, exciting
8:11
Speaker 2: guys that I'll be interested to see if they can
8:13
Speaker 2: get some more guys in the game. This week, they
8:16
Speaker 2: just didn't play a lot of skill guys, quite honestly,
8:18
Speaker 2: against TCU. I think only four wide receivers took a snap.
8:22
Speaker 2: And so I'll be interested to see if you see
8:24
Speaker 2: some younger guys, if Carolina can build a lead. that
8:28
Speaker 2: you can start seeing maybe some of those guys who
8:30
Speaker 2: can make an impact with Coach Petrino as this year
8:32
Speaker 2: moves along.
8:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, C.J.
8:33
Speaker 4: Sadler's one that I just want to see more of, man.
8:36
Speaker 4: He's that type of guy you can see grow as
8:39
Speaker 4: the season goes on. Last thing I'll ask you is,
8:42
Speaker 4: how do you feel right now about Billy Edwards? Again,
8:48
Speaker 4: what you just said about the offense, right? They're not
8:50
Speaker 4: these unbelievable guys. out of this world numbers but it
8:54
Speaker 4: you could tell it looked better and like billy edwards
8:57
Speaker 4: just felt like a like a better fit not the
8:59
Speaker 4: g like geo seems like a good fit for what's
9:01
Speaker 4: going on away but billy seems to fit what petrino's
9:04
Speaker 4: doing and i bet petrino makes him a better player
9:07
Speaker 4: like what did you think of of him and i
9:10
Speaker 4: know you've seen him in practice too what do you think.
9:12
Speaker 2: Sure i think what has stood out to me the
9:14
Speaker 2: most and talking to billy edwards junior some and obviously
9:17
Speaker 2: watching him play It's just to his maturity level. And,
9:22
Speaker 2: you know, he's 23 years old, which is older for
9:25
Speaker 2: a college guy, although I guess in today's world it's
9:27
Speaker 2: not necessarily that much older than some of these guys. But,
9:29
Speaker 2: you know, he's seen a lot of football in college terms.
9:33
Speaker 2: You know, he was a full-time starter at Maryland one year.
9:36
Speaker 2: He came in for backup duties a lot for Maryland
9:40
Speaker 2: during his career until that last season where he was
9:42
Speaker 2: the full-time guy. Vinny was going to be the starter
9:45
Speaker 2: at Wisconsin, as we know, played the first game, got hurt,
9:48
Speaker 2: couldn't play anymore. But so he's seen a lot of football.
9:51
Speaker 2: And so both on and off the field, he's just
9:55
Speaker 2: a really mature guy. Yeah, his dad was a football fan.
10:00
Speaker 3: Coach.
10:00
Speaker 2: He was around football growing up. His brother played football,
10:04
Speaker 2: was a walk-on at Alabama. I mean, he's just been
10:07
Speaker 2: around the game. And you can tell. That's what stands
10:10
Speaker 2: out to me. You can tell that he's just comfortable
10:13
Speaker 2: within the game. And so kind of talking, like I said,
10:16
Speaker 2: about Bobby Petrino, Doesn't mean it's always going to happen, right?
10:19
Speaker 2: But there's not going to be a blitz that Billy
10:21
Speaker 2: Edwards hadn't seen before or down a distance that makes
10:24
Speaker 2: him nervous. He's seen all of this. That, again, doesn't
10:28
Speaker 2: ensure success, but I do think it provides Carolina something
10:33
Speaker 2: it needs on the field, and that is a calming
10:36
Speaker 2: presence because you do have some young guys or some
10:39
Speaker 2: new players that are going to play roles as this
10:41
Speaker 2: year moves on. And so to have a veteran guy
10:44
Speaker 2: who can be a steady player there, I think is important. Now,
10:48
Speaker 2: as we talked about last week, Carolina's got some other
10:51
Speaker 2: good quarterbacks and it wouldn't blow my mind to see
10:53
Speaker 2: those guys at some point through this year, not because
10:56
Speaker 2: Billy Edwards done something wrong. but because these other guys
11:00
Speaker 2: are talented. And so that will be a position to
11:03
Speaker 2: continue to keep an eye on just because I do
11:06
Speaker 2: think there may be specific times where something else is
11:10
Speaker 2: needed and we'll just see how it plays out. Billy
11:13
Speaker 2: Edwards has done a really, really nice job so far
11:15
Speaker 2: at that spot.
11:16
Speaker 3: All right, man. We'll see how it goes on Saturday.
11:18
Speaker 4: Noon kick in Keenan, the home opener against East Tennessee
11:21
Speaker 4: State for the Heels. Tar Heel Radio Network coverage, which
11:24
Speaker 4: includes our sister station, WBT, begins with the pregame at 11.
11:29
Speaker 3: Thank you, Jones. We appreciate you, man.
11:32
Speaker 2: Always enjoy it, guys. Talk to you next week.
11:33
Speaker 3: All right, there you go. Be good.
11:35
Speaker 4: That is Jones Angel, voice of the Heels. And I'm
11:38
Speaker 4: looking at the schedule for the games this week, and
11:41
Speaker 4: the only reason I'm looking at them, Boat, is because
11:42
Speaker 4: you printed them out for us. You are already prepared
11:45
Speaker 4: for tomorrow's Couch Potato Guide segment.
11:47
Speaker 3: I'm in mid-season form.
11:49
Speaker 2: You're rolling.
11:49
Speaker 5: I'm printing out guides and losing money on bets. I
11:53
Speaker 5: am raring to go, my man. That's your routine, baby.
11:55
Speaker 5: I haven't lost a bet since last night, all right?
11:57
Speaker 2: I'm good right now.
11:58
Speaker 3: Okay, you're good. I didn't bet last night.
12:00
Speaker 4: I like this noon window bone. I'm not acting like it's,
12:04
Speaker 4: you know, four rank matchups or anything, but like for
12:06
Speaker 4: us locally, you get to see the heels.
12:08
Speaker 3: You get to see wake and Purdue. I'm intrigued to
12:11
Speaker 3: see wake in this game. I'm true.
12:13
Speaker 4: You know, prove to see, uh, I'm interested to see geo,
12:17
Speaker 4: you know, there's a step up in opponent again. I'm
12:19
Speaker 4: not acting like Purdue is going to win a natty,
12:21
Speaker 4: but it's a step up in opponent. You also have
12:23
Speaker 4: bone the app ECU game, which is my favorite game.
12:27
Speaker 4: uh from a local standpoint of that window that is
12:29
Speaker 4: a grudge match i love that.
12:31
Speaker 5: A tougher game for virginia tecton last week not easy
12:34
Speaker 5: that one has been a problem for them is it's
12:37
Speaker 5: still gonna be a problem to james franklin yeah that
12:38
Speaker 5: one too is a little intriguing like they won't win
12:40
Speaker 5: that 73 nothing you know what i mean um and
12:43
Speaker 5: then the big one nationally one of two big games
12:47
Speaker 5: nationally is at noon oklahoma and michigan Does Michigan have
12:52
Speaker 5: a bounce back from the way they played last week?
12:54
Speaker 5: It feels like the whole country is rooting against them
12:56
Speaker 5: because everybody thinks they shouldn't have got the win last week.
12:59
Speaker 3: So that's a pretty good, like, that's a good solid
13:02
Speaker 3: little week, too.
13:03
Speaker 5: And Matt, don't have Penn State lose to Temple, Zach
13:06
Speaker 5: Gelb's Temple Owls, because he's on the show tomorrow.
13:10
Speaker 3: I know he's going to come at you. Just don't lose.
13:13
Speaker 3: I feel safe.
13:13
Speaker 4: Matt Rule's not walking through that door. He is the
13:16
Speaker 4: temple coach that got us. And Zach Gelb will never
13:18
Speaker 4: stop talking about it, man. So anyway, yeah, I'm looking
13:21
Speaker 4: forward to Saturday. Saturday is going to be fun. I
13:24
Speaker 4: also here's something that has nothing to do, Bo, with
13:27
Speaker 4: the college football that we're talking about. But I keep
13:30
Speaker 4: getting texts about this Diana Rossini thing.
13:32
Speaker 3: I don't know if you saw the New York Post report.
13:35
Speaker 4: Um, isn't the post one of the publications that published
13:38
Speaker 4: her photos?
13:39
Speaker 5: Yes, it was the car wreck photos, right? Where she
13:42
Speaker 5: was saving lives. And then we found out she was
13:43
Speaker 5: just hanging out, I guess.
13:44
Speaker 3: Okay.
13:45
Speaker 4: So that's, so they were, did they publish some of
13:48
Speaker 4: the initial stuff too?
13:49
Speaker 2: Yeah.
13:49
Speaker 4: Okay.
13:50
Speaker 3: So they've been all over that story.
13:51
Speaker 2: Everything.
13:52
Speaker 4: So they had a story yesterday saying that Diana Rossini
13:56
Speaker 4: is kind of there will be a media return for her.
14:00
Speaker 4: Others have reported that this week, too. And I think
14:03
Speaker 4: we we talk about on the show. I don't think reporting,
14:06
Speaker 4: but I have said all along, oh, yeah, she's getting
14:09
Speaker 4: a podcast because she has such a personality. She is
14:13
Speaker 4: like such an entertainer.
14:14
Speaker 5: The report last week was that it might be barstool.
14:18
Speaker 3: That's what I said all along, and you told me, no,
14:20
Speaker 3: she won't end up there.
14:21
Speaker 5: Well, she was mad at the Pardon My Take guys
14:23
Speaker 5: for they had to joke about what happened.
14:26
Speaker 3: She ain't going to be mad when Portnoy offers that contract.
14:29
Speaker 3: Here's the thing, though.
14:30
Speaker 5: When you go to a place like Barstool— And obviously,
14:34
Speaker 5: she's very open about talking. That's not a place you
14:37
Speaker 5: can just go and start. You have to address and talk. Well,
14:40
Speaker 5: and that's the New York become almost like a character
14:43
Speaker 5: to talk about those things.
14:44
Speaker 4: Right. And that goes in line with the New York
14:45
Speaker 4: Post report, because the New York Post report said she
14:48
Speaker 4: will address and tell her side of the story when
14:52
Speaker 4: she gets her next gig. So she is not, basically,
14:55
Speaker 4: whoever hires me, they're going to get that.
14:57
Speaker 2: Okay.
14:57
Speaker 5: They're going to get her story. Because you can't go
14:59
Speaker 5: to Barstool and hide. You have to go and address
15:01
Speaker 5: it all.
15:01
Speaker 3: I told you all along, she fits Barstool. You did.
15:03
Speaker 4: She is a type of woman that will say anything.
15:09
Speaker 4: and do some things, too, allegedly. So, like, I've thought,
15:13
Speaker 4: and again, maybe it's not. Maybe she goes somewhere else. But, like,
15:15
Speaker 4: that would make a lot of sense to me. But
15:19
Speaker 4: that could get juicy. That could definitely get juicy when
15:21
Speaker 4: that happens.
15:22
Speaker 5: When we come back, we're going to talk about the
15:25
Speaker 5: Bears-Panthers on Sunday. ESPN Bears reporter and personality Courtney Cronin
15:31
Speaker 5: joins the show.
15:32
Speaker 3: We'll talk to her next. Sports Radio 92.7 WFNZ.
15:58
Speaker 4: Oh, this is time to remind everybody, man. It's been
16:00
Speaker 4: a lively show. We got a lot of people asking
16:02
Speaker 4: about the podcast. Fitties, go get those babies up there
16:05
Speaker 4: in a timely fashion. Check out the hours that you miss, right?
16:09
Speaker 4: It's modern radio in 2026. It's not just, oh, I
16:13
Speaker 4: miss Mac and Bone this morning. I can't listen to
16:14
Speaker 4: Mac and Bone. Every hour is its own podcast. So
16:17
Speaker 4: go listen to all the fiery Panthers talk, the Panthers-Bears stuff,
16:21
Speaker 4: the David Tepper audio.
16:23
Speaker 3: He spoke.
16:24
Speaker 4: you know, in a press conference setting about the Panthers
16:26
Speaker 4: yesterday for the first time in a few years.
16:29
Speaker 3: So that was pretty notable.
16:30
Speaker 4: So check out everything at WFNZ.com or wherever you get
16:34
Speaker 4: your podcasts. Spotify, Apple, wherever you get your podcasts. Sometimes
16:37
Speaker 4: I go back and listen to myself. I actually annoyed
16:39
Speaker 4: myself yesterday. I was listening to it. I got bothered
16:42
Speaker 4: by myself yesterday. So you understand why the listeners.
16:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's why I just got annoyed and it was me.
16:45
Speaker 3: So there you go. You can sympathize with the listeners.
16:48
Speaker 2: 100%.
16:48
Speaker 3: Okay. All right. Our next guest is not going to
16:51
Speaker 3: annoy anybody. She is... Awesome.
16:54
Speaker 4: What does she not do for ESPN, Bone? Whether it's
16:57
Speaker 4: hosting now in the studio a bunch, whether it is
17:01
Speaker 4: the Bears reporting she's done over the years being based
17:04
Speaker 4: there in Chicago, whether it's the general NFL reporting, and heck,
17:08
Speaker 4: you will hear her often on ESPN Radio right here
17:13
Speaker 4: on WFNZ in Charlotte. She is Courtney Cronin, and she
17:17
Speaker 4: is here to talk about Panthers-Bears with us.
17:19
Speaker 3: Courtney, how you doing? What's going on?
17:23
Speaker 1: I'm great guys. I'm excited for Sunday. Hopefully the, I
17:26
Speaker 1: looked at the weather forecast. Looks like the rain's going
17:29
Speaker 1: to be at bay a little bit, but going to
17:30
Speaker 1: be a hot one and I'll be on the sideline
17:32
Speaker 1: for that game. So definitely trying to get mentally prepared
17:35
Speaker 1: for that as I'm sure these players are too, but
17:37
Speaker 1: they both practice in pretty hot climate. So probably nothing
17:40
Speaker 1: new for them.
17:41
Speaker 3: No, that's true. That's true. And you, that's right. I
17:43
Speaker 3: left out of all your jobs.
17:45
Speaker 4: I mentioned to the ESPN that I left out the
17:47
Speaker 4: fact that you do sidelines for the ESPN NFL games,
17:50
Speaker 4: and that includes the Panthers and the Bears this weekend.
17:55
Speaker 4: You covered the Bears a lot, so obviously we're going
17:58
Speaker 4: to ask you a lot of questions about them, in
18:00
Speaker 4: addition to what you think about the Panthers. Let me start, though,
18:03
Speaker 4: with our home team. They made the playoffs last year, Courtney,
18:08
Speaker 4: and that was a huge step for us. It had
18:09
Speaker 4: been nine years. So we see the progress in this team,
18:13
Speaker 4: but it definitely feels like the national media is kind
18:16
Speaker 4: of looking at it and saying, well, you only won
18:18
Speaker 4: eight games.
18:19
Speaker 3: You backed in, you need help to get in. Do you,
18:21
Speaker 3: how do you feel?
18:22
Speaker 4: Do you feel like the Panthers can keep taping, taking
18:24
Speaker 4: step forwards or are you not so sure?
18:27
Speaker 3: What do you think?
18:28
Speaker 1: No, I think they can. I think it's a winnable division.
18:30
Speaker 1: I mean, you had three teams with eight and nine
18:33
Speaker 1: records at the end of week 18 last year and
18:36
Speaker 1: the Panthers are the team that get themselves into the
18:39
Speaker 1: playoffs and, you know, push, push the Los Angeles Rams
18:42
Speaker 1: to the brink. in that playoff game, in the wildcard round.
18:46
Speaker 1: So I think they have all the makings of a
18:48
Speaker 1: team that's on the rise and not a team that's
18:51
Speaker 1: going to take a step back. Yes, there's offensive line injuries,
18:54
Speaker 1: but every team deals with something like that going into
18:57
Speaker 1: the first week of the season. And it's a long season,
19:00
Speaker 1: which is what we've seen. You see how a team looks.
19:03
Speaker 1: Week one is going to look a lot different than
19:05
Speaker 1: week 18. I think you can say the same thing
19:06
Speaker 1: about the Panthers last year. You could say the same
19:08
Speaker 1: thing about the Bears last year from where these two
19:11
Speaker 1: teams started. So... I think it's a team that has
19:15
Speaker 1: a big question to answer at quarterback this year is Bryce,
19:17
Speaker 1: the franchise guy, because if he is, they're going to
19:20
Speaker 1: be paying him a lot of money. And it is
19:21
Speaker 1: a good spot to be in when you have a
19:23
Speaker 1: quarterback to pay again, like relating the two teams that
19:26
Speaker 1: are playing this week, just because of where these two
19:28
Speaker 1: quarterbacks were taken between Bryce and Caleb Williams. Like these
19:31
Speaker 1: are good problems for teams to have when you're trying
19:34
Speaker 1: to sort out, do we have to go back to
19:36
Speaker 1: the drawing board at quarterback or can we lock somebody
19:38
Speaker 1: in effectively in your mind for the next five to
19:40
Speaker 1: 10 years? And I, and I do think that they
19:42
Speaker 1: have that. And then obviously a Teterola McMillan is a
19:45
Speaker 1: star in the making, really excited to see what that
19:48
Speaker 1: backfield looks like this year. Certainly too. You know, there's
19:53
Speaker 1: a lot to like with this team, the Brooks Hubbard splits,
19:56
Speaker 1: all of that. So I think they're a team that
19:59
Speaker 1: could very well win the NFC South. Again, you're going
20:01
Speaker 1: to have to fend off a very pesky team. team
20:05
Speaker 1: down there in Tampa Bay who seems to win it
20:07
Speaker 1: just about every year. Baker got the new contract, so
20:10
Speaker 1: he's motivated. But I think the Panthers will be right
20:12
Speaker 1: there in the mix.
20:13
Speaker 5: Courtney, a player that both franchises know well that is
20:16
Speaker 5: no longer a part of this game is DJ Moore,
20:19
Speaker 5: former Panther, now former Bear. How does he no longer
20:23
Speaker 5: being on the Bears affect the offense? And are Burden
20:26
Speaker 5: and Odunze ready to take that mantle as the one
20:30
Speaker 5: and two guys in the wide receiver room for the Bears?
20:33
Speaker 1: It's been pretty seamless, a transition from DJ Moore, where
20:37
Speaker 1: all those targets are going to go, to the next
20:39
Speaker 1: in line. Because it's Colston Loveland who led this team
20:42
Speaker 1: in receiving last year, the rookie tight end. His ascent
20:47
Speaker 1: has been incredible to watch. And watching him every day
20:49
Speaker 1: in training camp practice, there's not a day that goes
20:52
Speaker 1: by where you're like, wow. without a wow play. Like he's,
20:55
Speaker 1: he's terrific. And I think a lot of what DJ's
20:59
Speaker 1: workload was last year goes to Colston Loveland. It goes
21:02
Speaker 1: to Roma dunes. It goes to Luther burden, but beyond
21:05
Speaker 1: that wide receivers, three, four, and five, whether it's Kalief
21:08
Speaker 1: Raymond or, Davian Thomas, who the NFL world really hasn't
21:12
Speaker 1: seen unless you were watching preseason games and you only
21:15
Speaker 1: saw the one where he was really active in the
21:17
Speaker 1: finale against Tennessee. Like that's a tool that Ben Johnson
21:20
Speaker 1: gets to unlock at his disposal this year, knowing he
21:23
Speaker 1: has so much talent ahead of where somebody like Thomas
21:26
Speaker 1: is on the, on the depth chart.
21:28
Speaker 2: So.
21:29
Speaker 1: DJ Moore leaving opens up what the bears can do.
21:32
Speaker 1: And it's not that there was a log jam last year,
21:34
Speaker 1: but there was this expectation that a veteran receiver who
21:38
Speaker 1: had been with Caleb Williams through two different coaching staff
21:41
Speaker 1: would be the piece that you can't do without, but
21:44
Speaker 1: they realized pretty quickly where DJ is in his career
21:48
Speaker 1: is and being able to clear some things out for
21:53
Speaker 1: other guys to get opportunities, they had to do that
21:55
Speaker 1: in the receiver room because you had three number ones
21:58
Speaker 1: between Moore, Adunze, and what Burden became last year. It
22:03
Speaker 1: wasn't going to be sustainable that way. This is an
22:05
Speaker 1: offense that might have a different wide receiver one or
22:08
Speaker 1: a top pass catcher every single week, and that's the
22:10
Speaker 1: way that Ben Johnson wants it. I look at this
22:14
Speaker 1: transition from March, the day he was traded, to where
22:16
Speaker 1: we are now on September 10th, And the word seamless
22:19
Speaker 1: is probably the only thing I can use to accurately
22:22
Speaker 1: describe how they've gone from that era of the offense
22:25
Speaker 1: into year two of this Ben Johnson offense.
22:27
Speaker 2: Yeah.
22:28
Speaker 4: We're talking with Courtney Crone. She covers the Bears, covers
22:30
Speaker 4: the NFL and for ESPN. And we'll be covering. The
22:34
Speaker 4: Panthers-Bears game in Charlotte on ESPN Radio on the sidelines
22:38
Speaker 4: on Sunday.
22:39
Speaker 3: Courtney, Ben Johnson's fascinating to me.
22:42
Speaker 4: He's a bit scary this week being a Panther fan
22:44
Speaker 4: because I just think he's brilliant offensively. I'm not going
22:47
Speaker 4: to lie. I wanted him here. He basically said, David Tepper,
22:51
Speaker 4: I'm good. I'll do another year in Detroit. And then
22:53
Speaker 4: he ends up getting the Chicago job. What is he
22:57
Speaker 4: like to cover? And, like, I mean, do you feel
23:02
Speaker 4: that he's just going to prove to be– the special
23:05
Speaker 4: head coach that he looked like he was in year one.
23:08
Speaker 1: I don't know if I've covered a more intense head coach.
23:10
Speaker 1: I've covered coaches who can be rough around the edges,
23:14
Speaker 1: who give off this vibe of intensity, but for Ben
23:17
Speaker 1: Johnson to live it day to day in every moment
23:21
Speaker 1: that you see him in Hallis hall to the practice
23:24
Speaker 1: field to then games, it's, It's quite a sight to
23:29
Speaker 1: witness because a lot of coaches, I think, talk about
23:32
Speaker 1: being that way. Ben Johnson, from what I've gathered about
23:36
Speaker 1: him over the last two years, lives that. And he
23:39
Speaker 1: truly wants to live that. And that's who he is.
23:42
Speaker 1: It's who he's been. I think there's kind of this internal.
23:46
Speaker 1: Like I want to call like a chip on his
23:48
Speaker 1: shoulder because I do think it's more than that. But
23:51
Speaker 1: think about his career path. He goes to Miami. He
23:54
Speaker 1: really wasn't a part of any traditional coaching tree. He
23:57
Speaker 1: gets to coach all over the offense and then he
23:59
Speaker 1: gets fired with the rest of the staff after surviving
24:01
Speaker 1: multiple head coaches, mind you. But to start over where
24:04
Speaker 1: he did as an offensive quality control coach in 2019
24:09
Speaker 1: to where a lot of his peers at that time
24:11
Speaker 1: were getting jobs as coordinators and were you know, with
24:14
Speaker 1: connections in the league, whether they were former players, whether
24:17
Speaker 1: they were part of different trees, like Ben never had that.
24:20
Speaker 1: So the opportunities that he's gotten in, like, it might
24:24
Speaker 1: look like a fast ascent to some, but he's really
24:28
Speaker 1: gathered a lot of Intel, every place he's been and
24:30
Speaker 1: being in Detroit, building that offense, becoming the hottest head
24:33
Speaker 1: coaching candidate, arguably in the league in 2025, um, to
24:38
Speaker 1: then taking over a place that had just been a
24:40
Speaker 1: revolving door of instability at the head coaching position, at
24:44
Speaker 1: the quarterback position, trying to figure out what the identity
24:47
Speaker 1: of this team is. They moved into the modern era
24:49
Speaker 1: of the NFL where it's not just about the run
24:51
Speaker 1: game and defense. There's nobody better to take over a
24:56
Speaker 1: place that has expectations of trying to get back to
25:00
Speaker 1: being a relevant franchise. And he's gotten them there. He
25:03
Speaker 1: got them there in year one. So for him to
25:05
Speaker 1: set the bar where he did 11 wins, a playoff
25:08
Speaker 1: win the first time in 15 seasons, I think that's
25:11
Speaker 1: only ratcheted up Ben's intensity even more going into this year.
25:14
Speaker 1: Like if you mentioned 2025 to him now, he's going
25:17
Speaker 1: to get ticked off. Like that is like, and it's
25:20
Speaker 1: not disingenuous. It's truly stop asking me about it because
25:23
Speaker 1: I've been over it since two days after the Rams
25:25
Speaker 1: game ended. And it took months. people inside that building.
25:28
Speaker 1: It took the fan base, it took the players a
25:30
Speaker 1: lot longer to move on. But the way he sees it,
25:34
Speaker 1: he doesn't want to become what some of these other
25:36
Speaker 1: teams that feel like a flash in the pan were.
25:40
Speaker 1: Then they go fade back into their irrelevancy. And that's
25:42
Speaker 1: a tough task when you have the hardest strength to
25:44
Speaker 1: schedule in the NFL and you have a defense right
25:47
Speaker 1: now that is struggling with injury. And we truly don't
25:50
Speaker 1: know what the identity of that group is going to
25:52
Speaker 1: be because they thought they were going to be Their
25:54
Speaker 1: strength is going to be in the secondary. I don't
25:56
Speaker 1: know if that's the case anymore with two significant injuries
25:59
Speaker 1: that is reshaped how that thing looks. But if there's
26:02
Speaker 1: anybody who invites that smoke and wants all of the
26:06
Speaker 1: attention on the offense to show, hey, I can put
26:08
Speaker 1: up 50 points and we can win these games and
26:10
Speaker 1: we can win shootouts if we have to, that's Ben Johnson.
26:13
Speaker 5: Courtney, what's the vibe and expectation from the Bear fan
26:18
Speaker 5: entering this season? Is it that they can go to
26:21
Speaker 5: another level even from last year? Is it trepidation about
26:24
Speaker 5: the defense? Take us into the mind for what you
26:26
Speaker 5: know of the Bear fan right now and what they're
26:28
Speaker 5: thinking entering this year.
26:31
Speaker 1: Most fans that I've spoken with engaged like their pulse
26:34
Speaker 1: on what this year is knows how quickly this thing
26:38
Speaker 1: can turn. Because remember, 2018 is not that long ago
26:41
Speaker 1: when they had the magic of Matt Nagy early on.
26:45
Speaker 1: And then 2019 comes around coming off the year where
26:48
Speaker 1: they go to the playoffs and it's a double doink,
26:50
Speaker 1: but they're still feeling really good because they had a
26:52
Speaker 1: great defense and still had a lot of questions about
26:55
Speaker 1: Mitch Trubisky. But like 2019 was such a letdown for
26:58
Speaker 1: this fan base. So it's, that's not lost on this,
27:01
Speaker 1: on this group of supporters of the bears, but it
27:05
Speaker 1: feels different because number one, you have a competent head
27:07
Speaker 1: coach and a competent quarterback. That pairing has never been
27:10
Speaker 1: in question since Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams teamed up.
27:13
Speaker 1: It was between Mitch Trubisky and Matt Nagy. And you
27:16
Speaker 1: saw that friction in training camp in 2019 manifests itself
27:21
Speaker 1: throughout that season to where you knew he was on
27:23
Speaker 1: borrowed time early on in his career and that this
27:26
Speaker 1: thing wasn't going to last. That's not the case here,
27:28
Speaker 1: but again, The difference with that year to this year
27:32
Speaker 1: to then coming off last year, the NFC North is loaded.
27:35
Speaker 1: Detroit is back. The Green Bay Packers are considered, you know,
27:38
Speaker 1: a favorite to win the division by some. I think
27:40
Speaker 1: Detroit personally does that. And then you don't really know
27:42
Speaker 1: what you're getting with Minnesota. The fact that the Bears
27:45
Speaker 1: win the division last year. And most sports books have
27:48
Speaker 1: them as the third best team, third place finishers in
27:52
Speaker 1: the NFC North. That's not lost on these fans who
27:55
Speaker 1: understand like a wildcard finish still gets you into the playoffs.
27:58
Speaker 1: You're still a wild, a playoff team. If you have
28:01
Speaker 1: 10 wins, if you are a second place in your division.
28:03
Speaker 1: So I think it's actually pretty measured among most fans
28:08
Speaker 1: that don't anticipate all of a sudden going to become
28:12
Speaker 1: the Superbowl favorites when you have a pretty stacked NFC
28:16
Speaker 1: ahead of them, whether it's the Seahawks eking out that
28:20
Speaker 1: win last night, the Rams, and we'll see them tonight
28:22
Speaker 1: and what they are. The NFC West is loaded. There's,
28:26
Speaker 1: there's some pretty fair expectations. Nothing that I think is
28:28
Speaker 1: over the top with these Bears fans.
28:30
Speaker 3: All right. That's interesting. I didn't know.
28:32
Speaker 4: I didn't know if the mini Ditka's were, were, were
28:34
Speaker 4: Superbowl shuffling again, but that sounds like they're keeping it measured.
28:38
Speaker 5: All right.
28:38
Speaker 3: Here's the whole interview. Courtney is built towards this moment
28:41
Speaker 3: right here.
28:41
Speaker 2: All right.
28:42
Speaker 4: I need to ask you this question. You live in Chicago.
28:45
Speaker 4: I have heard a lot about the Chicago style hot dog.
28:48
Speaker 4: I have never had one. It seems like it has
28:50
Speaker 4: a whole lot of stuff on there, like mustard, relish, onions.
28:55
Speaker 4: Tell me if I'm leaving something out. Tomato wedges, a
28:58
Speaker 4: dill pickle, peppers, celery, salt, and there might be more.
29:01
Speaker 3: I don't even know.
29:02
Speaker 4: Is that combination, does it work? Like, do you, what
29:06
Speaker 4: do you think of the Chicago dog?
29:08
Speaker 1: I'll be very honest. As someone who grew up here,
29:11
Speaker 1: I don't crave the Chicago dog. I am kind of
29:15
Speaker 1: sacrilegious with like, I put ketchup on my hot dog.
29:18
Speaker 1: You put ketchup on brats. I don't think it needs
29:20
Speaker 1: to be the be all end all. You don't need
29:22
Speaker 1: to crucify somebody by the way that they decide to
29:25
Speaker 1: eat their food. But I have had a Chicago dog.
29:28
Speaker 1: I had one three years ago at Byron's on the
29:31
Speaker 1: north side here. Just because I wanted to try it.
29:33
Speaker 1: I can't say I don't like something I've never had,
29:35
Speaker 1: even though I thought at the time that all the
29:37
Speaker 1: combination of those things on it were... probably a little much.
29:41
Speaker 3: It's good.
29:42
Speaker 1: It's not my favorite way to eat a hot dog,
29:44
Speaker 1: but to each their own. And it is a thing here.
29:47
Speaker 1: And it's kind of the fun of getting new players
29:51
Speaker 1: into town when you can ask them, about deep dish pizza.
29:56
Speaker 1: One of the first questions I asked Caleb Williams and
29:58
Speaker 1: Roma dunes, a, how do you take your pizza? Is
30:00
Speaker 1: it tavern style is the right answer in my mind,
30:03
Speaker 1: but both of them seem to like deep dish. The
30:05
Speaker 1: hot dog question always comes up too. It's a, it's
30:07
Speaker 1: our way of endearing out of towners who the franchise
30:11
Speaker 1: hopes will be a big part of this team for
30:13
Speaker 1: a long time to our culture here in Chicago. Cause
30:15
Speaker 1: food is a big part of it. Just like Carolina
30:18
Speaker 1: barbecue would be for you guys.
30:20
Speaker 5: As a ketchup only on a hot dog person, I
30:23
Speaker 5: don't know if me and the Chicago dog would get
30:24
Speaker 5: along too well. No, but you and Courtney, and I'll
30:28
Speaker 5: put ketchup with the mustard on a hot dog. We
30:30
Speaker 5: get shamed, Courtney, all the time by listeners, by people
30:33
Speaker 5: around here about the ketchup on a hot dog. You
30:36
Speaker 5: can't even find the hot dog itself.
30:38
Speaker 3: There's so much stuff on top of it. I don't
30:39
Speaker 3: get it. I don't get it, man.
30:40
Speaker 2: All right.
30:41
Speaker 4: Courtney, we appreciate you. We talk two of our favorite things,
30:44
Speaker 4: football and food. We appreciate you. Everybody listen to her
30:47
Speaker 4: on ESPN Radio's coverage of Panthers Bears on Sunday.
30:51
Speaker 3: Thank you, Courtney. We appreciate it.
30:53
Speaker 1: Thank you both. Take care.
30:55
Speaker 3: All right. There you go.
30:56
Speaker 2: Be good.
30:56
Speaker 4: That is Courtney Cronin, ESPN, joining us here on the
30:59
Speaker 4: Mac and Bone Show. So she grew up there. And
31:03
Speaker 4: she lives there now. That's where she's based, right? She
31:05
Speaker 4: covers the Bears, but the entire NFL. She doesn't really
31:09
Speaker 4: like the Chicago dog. And she said that deep dish
31:12
Speaker 4: is not her favorite style of pizza. So that's interesting
31:15
Speaker 4: because I would have thought every person that was grown
31:18
Speaker 4: up there.
31:19
Speaker 3: Like they swore by those two things. But that's not
31:22
Speaker 3: the case.
31:22
Speaker 5: I mean, I guess just because you're there doesn't mean
31:24
Speaker 5: that deep dish is appetizing to you. I guess we
31:26
Speaker 5: assume that. But I guess there's no more people that were.
31:29
Speaker 5: You're so you've seen it so much that maybe you just,
31:32
Speaker 5: you know, you're sick of it.
31:33
Speaker 4: Maybe.
31:33
Speaker 3: I don't know. Can I say this? I get sick
31:35
Speaker 3: of barbecues. No, I never did.
31:37
Speaker 4: I was going to say, can I say this? And
31:39
Speaker 4: I don't know if y'all y'all might disagree. Fitty might disagree.
31:43
Speaker 4: I I really don't think there's a such thing as
31:46
Speaker 4: bad pizza. Like, there's degrees of pizza, right? But, like,
31:51
Speaker 4: I don't think there can be a bad style of pizza.
31:54
Speaker 4: I don't think there can be a bad pizza. Like,
31:57
Speaker 4: even the homemade, like, when you try to do the
31:59
Speaker 4: homemade pizza, like, you make your own.
32:01
Speaker 5: I mean, hell, the $ 1 Totino's are even good. $ 2 Totino's,
32:04
Speaker 5: whatever they are now. A frozen pizza's not bad. Now, obviously,
32:07
Speaker 5: it's not near as good as the best.
32:09
Speaker 3: Do you agree? Do you take umbrage with that, Fitty,
32:12
Speaker 3: or do you kind of agree? Oh, I believe there's
32:14
Speaker 3: bad pizza's. 100%. Of course. I'm with Mac on this one.
32:19
Speaker 6: There are certain restaurant chains I don't... I'm above eating
32:23
Speaker 6: their pizza.
32:25
Speaker 3: Now, you said one a couple weeks ago, but we
32:26
Speaker 3: saw you eating it in the side studio. I wasn't
32:29
Speaker 3: really eating it. I was cooking around it. Got you, guy, baby.
32:32
Speaker 3: I didn't eat the actual pizza.
32:35
Speaker 5: Like, I don't understand. I think there is bad Chinese food,
32:39
Speaker 5: although it's not often. It still tastes good. Although I
32:42
Speaker 5: had some yesterday that I was like, this isn't very.
32:44
Speaker 4: They can't mess up my sesame chicken, though, can they?
32:46
Speaker 4: I can't imagine anywhere messes up. If the chicken's a
32:48
Speaker 4: little too overcooked or chewy, it could be a problem, right?
32:51
Speaker 4: I have an issue where I'll get bad rice. I
32:54
Speaker 4: never get bad chicken when I go Chinese. I'll get
32:57
Speaker 4: some rice that I'm not a big fan of, but
33:00
Speaker 4: I don't think I've ever had bad sesame chicken.
33:02
Speaker 3: I don't understand how you can do bad bread, cheese,
33:06
Speaker 3: and sauce. You know what I mean? There's degrees of it.
33:10
Speaker 4: Obviously, Totino's bone is going to pale in comparison to
33:13
Speaker 4: a great slice in New York, but it's just the
33:16
Speaker 4: elements of cheese, bread, and sauce... and then throw some
33:20
Speaker 4: meat on top of it, like, that can't be bad,
33:22
Speaker 4: can it?
33:23
Speaker 5: I compare pizza to football. Bad football is still better
33:26
Speaker 5: than just about everything else.
33:27
Speaker 3: Yes, round the golf's another thing, right? Like, oh, that
33:29
Speaker 3: round the golf, it was hot.
33:31
Speaker 5: People are saying the Boom Boom Pow is the same
33:35
Speaker 5: as pizza. You know, there's no bad Boom Boom in there.
33:39
Speaker 5: Boom Boom, you know what I'm saying?
33:40
Speaker 3: Are you talking about the song by the Black Eyed Peas,
33:42
Speaker 3: Boom Boom Pow?
33:43
Speaker 5: No, I'm talking about the, you know, your... getting friendly
33:47
Speaker 5: with somebody or, you know, I don't want to.
33:48
Speaker 4: Oh, a night of love. Yeah. I never knew you
33:52
Speaker 4: got it. The boom, boom, pow. I, I, I thought
33:56
Speaker 4: you might still be talking about a Chinese food dish. Honestly,
33:59
Speaker 4: I was, I was out to lunch. People are calling
34:02
Speaker 4: it the boom, boom, pow.
34:03
Speaker 3: Obviously now. All the cool kids.
34:05
Speaker 4: 312 says, as a Chicagoan also, tavern style is what
34:09
Speaker 4: everybody loves.
34:10
Speaker 3: Deep dishes for tourists. There you go. Interesting.
34:13
Speaker 4: Someone's called us football fatties.
34:15
Speaker 3: So what is tavern? Guilty.
34:17
Speaker 4: What's tavern style? Is that kind of the regular New
34:21
Speaker 4: York style? Or is that something different? I mean, I
34:24
Speaker 4: assume it is. I have to look up.
34:26
Speaker 3: Oh, my God. There's Willie P on the text line.
34:28
Speaker 4: Does he get a notification when he, like, do people
34:33
Speaker 4: text him and say, they're giving food takes on Mac
34:37
Speaker 4: and Bone. Your services are needed. He says, let's see
34:40
Speaker 4: what he says here, Bone. I know we got to
34:42
Speaker 4: go to 50 in a second.
34:43
Speaker 3: He says.
34:44
Speaker 5: That's the cracker style, like thin crust, like that type
34:46
Speaker 5: of pizza.
34:46
Speaker 4: He says, spoken like someone who hasn't had St. Louis
34:49
Speaker 4: style pizza Mac.
34:50
Speaker 2: Like.
34:51
Speaker 3: I forget what St. Louis is, but I still— A
34:54
Speaker 3: crackery crust.
34:55
Speaker 6: That's because it's not acknowledged as a type of pizza.
34:58
Speaker 6: You have New York-style pizza. You have deep-dish-style pizza. No
35:03
Speaker 6: one thinks about pizza. I want to— let me get some St.
35:06
Speaker 6: Louis-style pizza.
35:08
Speaker 3: I love me some Detroit-style. Detroit-style is good as hell.
35:10
Speaker 3: Detroit is amazing.
35:11
Speaker 4: This texter says it's—tavern-style is crust pizza. Thin crust cut
35:16
Speaker 4: in squares. Again, I don't think there's bad pizza. I
35:18
Speaker 4: think it'd be fine. Another texter says, what about Altoona
35:21
Speaker 4: style pizza? I grew up in Pennsylvania. I have no
35:24
Speaker 4: idea what Altoona has. Altoona, not tuna pizza. I think
35:28
Speaker 4: he's talking about the city, right? In Pennsylvania.
35:32
Speaker 3: Who wants tuna pizza?
35:34
Speaker 4: Or is that like some sort of like voice-to-text error
35:38
Speaker 4: and there is a tuna pizza? I don't know what
35:40
Speaker 4: he's talking about. All right, Fit Dog, give us an
35:43
Speaker 4: update on anything.
35:44
Speaker 3: I'm going to be honest. Who even cares? Update whatever
35:48
Speaker 3: you want. What is that? What is it?
35:50
Speaker 2: Fitty.
35:51
Speaker 3: Fitty.
35:51
Speaker 2: Fitty.
36:01
Speaker 3: Thank you, Mac. Thank you, Bone. This update brought to
36:04
Speaker 3: you by Bet365.
36:06
Speaker 6: With Bet365, early payout means you win even if they lose.
36:11
Speaker 6: Get paid out instantly when your team goes up big,
36:14
Speaker 6: even if they blow the lead later. With Bet365, winning
36:18
Speaker 6: is everything. If you have a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
36:22
Speaker 6: You must be 21+, and you must be physically located
36:26
Speaker 6: in North Carolina. We got the ACC basketball schedule yesterday, guys.
36:32
Speaker 6: We need to make sure we mark our calendars. For
36:34
Speaker 6: February 13th and March the 6th, those are the two
36:39
Speaker 6: Carolina Duke games.
36:40
Speaker 3: That means for Mac.
36:41
Speaker 6: And Bone, you need to make your Valentine's reservations Friday,
36:47
Speaker 6: February the 12th.
36:48
Speaker 4: You're right, because we got Super Bowl on Valentine's Day
36:50
Speaker 4: and the night before Duke Carolina.
36:51
Speaker 3: Duke Carolina the night before. And then Bellows here on
36:54
Speaker 3: the Monday, isn't he? president's day is a mellow here.
36:56
Speaker 4: That afternoon yes i think so what a stretch of
37:00
Speaker 4: freaking sports dude and you're right man if you're a
37:03
Speaker 4: guy sports fan in charlotte that likes duke or unc
37:07
Speaker 4: you gotta get her to do friday night you gotta
37:10
Speaker 4: explain that you gotta do friday.
37:12
Speaker 5: Night single again that weekend by the way the altuna
37:16
Speaker 5: pizza let's never talk about that ever again what in
37:18
Speaker 5: the world is that it looks bad it's a uh
37:21
Speaker 5: sicilian style dough topped with a layer of red tomato
37:24
Speaker 5: sauce features salami on it a ring of green bell
37:28
Speaker 5: peppers underneath the cheese and it's Velveeta cheese and not
37:32
Speaker 5: mozzarella or provolone.
37:33
Speaker 3: That's a lot of Velveeta on there. It looks like. Yeah,
37:35
Speaker 3: that seems kind of weird.
37:36
Speaker 5: It looks like something a lunch lady would make when
37:38
Speaker 5: she got bored.
37:39
Speaker 3: I'm not down with that Velveeta situation.
37:41
Speaker 5: No, I'm not going out to it anytime soon. All right,
37:43
Speaker 5: there is Finney with the update. We come back. It's
37:45
Speaker 5: the wrap up. We get you set for the day
37:47
Speaker 5: and night in sports, including the NFL tonight. And we
37:50
Speaker 5: have to say goodbye to a local friend and a
37:53
Speaker 5: TV sports legend. Also, that both passed away yesterday. Sports
37:57
Speaker 5: Radio 92.7 WFNZ.
38:05
Speaker 6: We'll be.
38:08
Speaker 1: Right back.
38:21
Speaker 4: Sports Radio 92.7 WFNZ. There's definitely some sad news from yesterday,
38:27
Speaker 4: and that includes the passing of Barry Melrose.
38:32
Speaker 3: What a likable dude.
38:34
Speaker 4: I'll never forget not only the hockey stuff, Bone, but
38:37
Speaker 4: like he'd be sitting there on set and he'd be
38:39
Speaker 4: like chiming in on basketball, like he just had a
38:42
Speaker 4: great personality, great coaching career as well. And, uh, Barry
38:46
Speaker 4: Melrose passed away, uh, yesterday. Uh, and it sucks, man.
38:50
Speaker 4: Seemed like, seemed like a real fun dude. Uh, actually
38:53
Speaker 4: we had him on a few times in his career.
38:55
Speaker 5: Always a nice guy lived in, uh, Upstate New York
38:58
Speaker 5: was just the nicest guy. SVP, Scott Van Pelt, was
39:03
Speaker 5: doing a nice thing about him yesterday about how, at
39:05
Speaker 5: all times, he was who he was. Whether he was
39:07
Speaker 5: on TV, in the green room, Mac, he was the
39:10
Speaker 5: coolest guy in the room at all times. With the
39:12
Speaker 5: cigar and the mullet, he was always the most badass
39:16
Speaker 5: dude in the room, and it came across that way.
39:19
Speaker 5: When I think of hockey growing up, Mac, I think
39:22
Speaker 5: of three people. I know Doc Emmerich ended up having
39:24
Speaker 5: a great career, but I think of Gary Thorne, Bill
39:28
Speaker 5: Clement and Barry Melrose.
39:29
Speaker 3: In the studio. That's what I think of when I
39:31
Speaker 3: think of 1990s hockey. Those are the three people that
39:35
Speaker 3: come to my mind. Definitely.
39:36
Speaker 4: No doubt about it, man. No doubt about it. So
39:38
Speaker 4: he was a legend. Great all-time mullet, by the way.
39:42
Speaker 3: Thank you. Thank you. Oh, you're talking about Barry Melrose.
39:44
Speaker 4: You're talking about me right now. I got flow right now, man.
39:47
Speaker 4: You're Mackie Macros. I got so much flow right now.
39:51
Speaker 4: But anyway, let's see here. We got to talk locally
39:54
Speaker 4: about a sports figure we lost, Tom Whitestone. was the longtime,
39:59
Speaker 4: in the past, was the longtime sports information director for
40:02
Speaker 4: Charlotte Athletics. I know you worked with him a lot, Bo,
40:05
Speaker 4: like setting up interviews. And he had a second battle
40:10
Speaker 4: with cancer, beat it, and it came back in a
40:12
Speaker 4: second battle of cancer, and he passed away.
40:14
Speaker 5: Yesterday was only 62, man. That is so sad. Yeah,
40:17
Speaker 5: he had it in 2015, quietly. No one really knew
40:20
Speaker 5: outside of Charlotte. Got it again, and as we see often,
40:24
Speaker 5: sometimes the second fight can be what gets people. My
40:28
Speaker 5: friend Cass, who was in the athletic department for over
40:32
Speaker 5: a decade, got married in 2021, and I sat next
40:35
Speaker 5: to Tom at the wedding, and he had nothing but
40:38
Speaker 5: nice things to say about the station and our.
40:40
Speaker 3: Show, so.
40:41
Speaker 5: That was really my last conversation. Then he retired not
40:45
Speaker 5: long after that. But just a gentleman, one of those
40:48
Speaker 5: unsung heroes behind the scenes that just makes everything go,
40:51
Speaker 5: whether it be for what we need or what the
40:55
Speaker 5: school needs.
40:56
Speaker 3: You know, we have.
40:57
Speaker 5: Bruce with the Panthers is that way. Cristaldi and Brian
41:00
Speaker 5: Childs with the Hornets. There's always people behind the scenes
41:04
Speaker 5: that allow us here to do what we do by
41:07
Speaker 5: their help.
41:08
Speaker 3: Along the way. Definitely. And they become friends as well.
41:11
Speaker 4: No doubt about it. So I know a lot of
41:12
Speaker 4: people over there in Charlotte are sad as heck. about
41:15
Speaker 4: that um so rest in peace to tom whitestone and
41:17
Speaker 4: barry melrose both uh what's coming up in the world
41:21
Speaker 4: of sports tonight bone uh obviously it's nfl night two
41:25
Speaker 4: this is a netflix deal you gotta watch you gotta
41:28
Speaker 4: have netflix to watch this one tonight 35 star not
41:31
Speaker 4: 8 20 it's 15 minutes past so if you have
41:33
Speaker 4: a friday morning show this is another 15 minutes added
41:36
Speaker 4: to the docket here And you know why they had
41:38
Speaker 4: to make it 15 minutes later? Because starting a game
41:40
Speaker 4: at 10.20 Australian time would just be crazy. But if
41:43
Speaker 4: you start a game at 10.35 a.m. Friday in Australia,
41:47
Speaker 4: which is what it'll be at the kickoff, that makes
41:49
Speaker 4: more sense, Bo.
41:51
Speaker 5: And Netflix has a million people on the broadcast, Mac,
41:53
Speaker 5: including Luke Kuechly and Michael Irvin.
41:56
Speaker 4: Two very similar personalities. I'm sure they're going to talk
41:58
Speaker 4: a lot. Miami fam, you tonight. College football, ACC Network,
42:02
Speaker 4: I think for that, right?
42:04
Speaker 3: I believe so. You'll see Mets probably for about two quarters.
42:07
Speaker 3: They'll be out of there. If that.
42:09
Speaker 4: The ACC Network. They may score 40 and a quarter.
42:12
Speaker 4: I don't even know. Anyway, Braves afternoon game. They're trying
42:15
Speaker 4: to finally get one against the Rays this week. They
42:18
Speaker 4: play at noon. Picante, our picks guy, on Friday has
42:21
Speaker 4: weighed in. Miami wins by 67 tonight. That's a Picante
42:25
Speaker 4: special for you, Bone.
42:26
Speaker 3: Right there. He's 22 for his last 25.
42:28
Speaker 5: Who am I to argue with? My question would be,
42:31
Speaker 5: and I asked him, If you're betting that game, whether
42:33
Speaker 5: it be on that or Mets' touchdowns, my fear would be,
42:37
Speaker 5: in those games that, hey, a guy gets through three
42:40
Speaker 5: quarters and they don't play him late because they're up
42:42
Speaker 5: by a million.
42:43
Speaker 3: So that's my concern with some of those games like.
42:45
Speaker 2: That, right?
42:45
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's true.
42:46
Speaker 2: That is true.
42:46
Speaker 5: Although he points out Mets could throw four touchdowns in
42:49
Speaker 5: the first ten minutes of the game.
42:50
Speaker 3: Oh, definitely. Definitely.
42:52
Speaker 4: Let's read some more of these texts here on the
42:55
Speaker 4: WFNZ text line.
42:56
Speaker 2: 7045709610.
42:57
Speaker 4: We love it. Well, I don't know if we love
43:01
Speaker 4: all the texts, but we love the fact that— That's natural.
43:03
Speaker 4: We love the fact that you guys care enough.
43:05
Speaker 3: You know what I mean? Max stomped himself short.
43:07
Speaker 2: I know.
43:07
Speaker 4: I remembered a minute texted today and bebop. So I
43:10
Speaker 4: just had, no, we love the fact you care enough
43:12
Speaker 4: to weigh in. It might, you know, some of your
43:14
Speaker 4: texts may upset us and frustrate us, but that's what
43:16
Speaker 4: sports talk's all about.
43:18
Speaker 2: All right.
43:18
Speaker 3: Let's read some of these.
43:19
Speaker 4: Texter says, speaking of food, you have to try the
43:22
Speaker 4: giant quesadilla at the Panthers Stadium.
43:25
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm intrigued. I'm intrigued by that one. The Big Dia.
43:28
Speaker 2: Is it the.
43:29
Speaker 3: You say Big Dia or Big Dilla? I guess you
43:31
Speaker 3: gotta say Dia, right?
43:32
Speaker 5: In the case of Dia, it's gotta be Big Dia.
43:34
Speaker 5: You can't say Quesadilla unless you're from Napoleon Dynamite.
43:37
Speaker 3: I'm intrigued. By the way, put a rap sheet. High
43:39
Speaker 3: ankle sprain for A.J. Brown. Okay, so I could be.
43:45
Speaker 3: Although high ankle sprain, that could be a couple few weeks.
43:48
Speaker 3: That could be a while. Potentially.
43:49
Speaker 5: And Drake May, he has not, his last MAAC five
43:53
Speaker 5: games last year, seven touchdowns, 11 INTs. He has not
43:57
Speaker 5: played well, even in the postseason the last three years.
43:59
Speaker 4: You said it. His numbers against the top opponents have
44:01
Speaker 4: been a question. That's the next step for him. Fitty,
44:04
Speaker 4: I think Bone just said it'll be a while for A.J. Brown, potentially.
44:07
Speaker 3: Be a while.
44:08
Speaker 4: Do you know, Fit, that Stained, the group that sings
44:11
Speaker 4: It's Been A While, one of your favorites to chime
44:15
Speaker 4: in with, they are performing in Charlotte tonight.
44:18
Speaker 3: I feel like you should.
44:19
Speaker 4: Can we get Aaron Lewis to let you on stage
44:21
Speaker 4: to sing It's Been A While with them?
44:23
Speaker 3: I got to be a moment. Maybe not. Maybe not.
44:27
Speaker 5: Do you have any of the other lyrics besides It's
44:29
Speaker 5: Been A While?
44:30
Speaker 3: No.
44:32
Speaker 4: Let's read some more text. Granny doesn't like nice boys.
44:35
Speaker 4: She likes bad men.
44:37
Speaker 3: Confirmed. Confirmed. Let's see. She loved Fonzie back in the day.
44:42
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
44:43
Speaker 4: I bet, yeah.
44:44
Speaker 2: Hey, Granny.
44:46
Speaker 3: Oh, man.
44:47
Speaker 4: Texter says, next WFNZ contest winner gets a stroll in
44:50
Speaker 4: Freedom Park with Granny Pat. Granny Pat did admit to
44:54
Speaker 4: making out when she was younger with her now husband, Marvin,
44:57
Speaker 4: in Freedom Park.
44:58
Speaker 3: Someone said Granny's the Diana Rossini of FNZ. Oh, no, no. Oh, God.
45:05
Speaker 4: Speaking of that, a texter said Seattle should have played
45:08
Speaker 4: the song Dirty Diana last night when Mike Vrabel was
45:11
Speaker 4: on the sidelines.
45:11
Speaker 3: What song is that? Do I know that song? Dirty Diana.
45:17
Speaker 3: That's all I know. All right. Wasn't it Michael Jackson?
45:20
Speaker 2: Was it?
45:20
Speaker 3: Was it a Michael Jackson song? Dirty Diana? I don't know. Yeah.
45:25
Speaker 4: I believe Michael Jackson if I'm not out to lunch
45:27
Speaker 4: on that. I know you have Billie Jean. Bones' Michael
45:30
Speaker 4: Jackson knowledge goes one deep. Maybe Thriller. Maybe too deep.
45:34
Speaker 4: Let's read some more text here. A Free Willy song also.
45:38
Speaker 4: AI coach called you an idiot today, Bones. App State
45:41
Speaker 4: is back, baby. Bones an idiot.
45:43
Speaker 5: He thought that I set the point spreads. I said
45:47
Speaker 5: Vegas has ECU by seven, and he made it seem
45:49
Speaker 5: like I made the point spread. I had to tell him,
45:52
Speaker 5: I just told you what it is. I like App
45:54
Speaker 5: State more than ECU. I've got App State gear at home.
45:56
Speaker 4: I thought you were Pirate Bone this year, though. I
45:58
Speaker 4: thought you were bullish on their win totals. No, it
46:00
Speaker 4: doesn't mean I'm rooting for App. It doesn't mean I'm
46:02
Speaker 4: rooting for AC.
46:02
Speaker 3: Settle down there. We'll talk about that game tomorrow, man.
46:05
Speaker 4: I'm looking forward to getting the App State and ECU
46:07
Speaker 4: fans going tomorrow, get Panther fans going tomorrow. One more text.
46:11
Speaker 4: The texter says, Mac, did I hear you promote Daisy
46:14
Speaker 4: French Onion Dip on Wings? I love Daisy French Onion Dip,
46:17
Speaker 4: but putting it on Wings is blasphemy. I want the
46:21
Speaker 4: record to show I am reading the script. Some people
46:24
Speaker 4: do it. My Daisy– I also read about veggies– And
46:28
Speaker 4: as my wife says, does anybody take you seriously when
46:31
Speaker 4: you talk about putting daisy dip.
46:32
Speaker 3: On your veggies?
46:33
Speaker 4: My wife does that. I am a kettle cook chip
46:38
Speaker 4: dipped into daisy French onion dip, man.
46:40
Speaker 3: Like, I swear by that. But I've got it with
46:42
Speaker 3: you on the wings. Do you eat daisies dip while
46:45
Speaker 3: wearing your daisy dukes?
46:48
Speaker 4: I believe we've got to wrap this up. On that note,
46:51
Speaker 4: does Dirty Diana do that, though, Bone? That's the question.
46:54
Speaker 4: All right, we've got to get the heck out of here, y'all.
46:57
Speaker 4: Hope you enjoyed it. The football talk is on, baby.
47:00
Speaker 4: It's go time. It's all day, every day on WFNZ.
47:03
Speaker 4: Colin Hocker coming up next. And tomorrow, Football Friday. Are
47:07
Speaker 4: we panthering up? You'll hear it tomorrow on the Mac
47:10
Speaker 4: and Bone Show. Enjoy your Thursday, y'all.