Tech Talk Sports

00:01
Daniel
Hey everyone. Welcome to Tech Talk Sports, an official podcast of Technician NC State Studio newspaper. We are back from winter break and ready to provide you with some fairly mediocre sports commentary, this time in a new studio. Shout out to Jamie and WKNC for helping us out with this. Tech Talk is presented to you by Technician. Check us out on the web@certicianonline.com Instagram @ncsutechnician @tech sports on X. And as always, you can pick up a copy of the print on the stands every Thursday. Hector, don't play the music because the intro music, I'm thinking we're, we're going to scrap that.

00:40
Jakob
Why?

00:40
Daniel
The intro music was bad. I re. Listened to it a few times earlier. I, I think we can just go on.

00:47
Josiah
We're so proud of it on day one.

00:49
Daniel
We can just go on with the show.

00:50
Jakob
My mom liked the intro.

00:52
Daniel
Really?

00:53
Josiah
Yeah.

00:55
Jakob
Okay. Not like that.

00:56
Daniel
All right. Men's basketball. Okay, yeah, you're right. Men's basketball at Georgia Tech at noon on Saturday. Trey Holloman will be back, I guess, but does that really matter? We're just gonna blow the brakes off of him anyway. Sorry, that's. That shouldn't be the lead. But tell me you guys thoughts on this game. I mean it feels like the last few games it's just been high scoring. You know, NC State has played well, but what are we really getting out of these games here?

01:26
Jakob
I mean it's been proven this season offense isn't necessarily the problem. It's very much our defense. That Kansas game, I know it was over winter break, absolutely atrocious. I don't understand. Like I get Will Wade, big analytics guy. He needs to be a small analytics guy because they're. I understand like, sure. Leaving their worst three point shooter open.

01:48
Connor
Whatever.

01:50
Jakob
Regardless, if you're giving a guy open looks at three multiple times, chances are he's gonna make a good percent of them. Like there's. And that's exactly what Council junior did that night. So I mean, let's hope some random guy on Georgia Tech doesn't decide to blow us up on Saturday. But you know.

02:08
Daniel
Yeah, I don't really, I don't know how to feel because it just feels like our shooting and kind of these kind these lower tier Games, you know, Q3, Q2, it's been great. Against Virginia, against Kansas, against these big matchups. Our shooting has not been good.

02:26
Josiah
Well, I mean one of our writers just this week put out an article about Darion Williams and how you Know, the small games he really shows up, and the big games, he doesn't really, but he says it's not a problem. I would love to see more improvement in that area. You know, obviously his idea came from somewhere, and one of the points he made was that the team kind of follows suit. Like, the team kind of plays up to the standard in the small games and they play down in the bigger games. And it's really not like the other team is that good, at least in my opinion. It's really not like the other team is that good. It's more. We're just not making our shots.

03:04
Connor
I would also disagree with you when it comes to the shooting. I mean, like I said, they're a top seven team. But at the same time, when you're talking about, like, only shooting well against, like, the small teams, the small matchups, yes, you look at. What was the game where Paul McNeil went off. It was against Texas Southern, whose one win was college of Biblical Studies. That. Well, we'll write that off as an outlier. But against Florida State, I mean, they beat them. It's the largest road win in ACC history, not. Or in program history. Sorry. 19 of their 38 made shots were three pointers. And I mean, sure, Florida State's not going to be like a team that's making a ton of noise in March, but at the same time, they just took Duke to the wire.

03:46
Connor
They lost by four, I think something like that. But at the same time, Paul McNeil's shooting well. Trey Holloman has been a great shooter. We have four guys shooting over 40%, so.

03:56
Daniel
Yeah, that's true. But look at Virginia. 20 points in the first half, that was just a pitiful performance against a reg team at home. You just. You can't have that. I mean, and even it was during break and the stands were packed. It was a. It was a good crowd. Maybe the upper half of the. Of the stadium wasn't so great, but the lower bowl was completely full. The student section was completely full a week before classes started back. And it was just, you know, 20 points in the first half. You can't have that. I'm sorry, you can't have that.

04:29
Connor
True, but at the same time, you also can't take that one game and then lump it in for the rest of the season. I mean, they shot well against Ole Miss. It's an SEC school. It's contending right now. They're not great by any means. Obviously they're not Kansas, not Virginia, but 41% from 3:13 made three pointers. You can't argue with that.

04:47
Daniel
That's fair. Also, another issue I've pointed out is the rebounding margin and just rebounds in general. 136th in rebounding margin. Just a. A margin of plus three. Also only one guy or, sorry, the high. Can you guess the number of rebounds that the highest rebounder on the team has total per game? Per game.

05:10
Connor
It's going to be like. It's like Musa, he'll have like. I'll go 6.8.

05:19
Daniel
It's Van Lubin with 6.7.

05:21
Connor
I was right there.

05:22
Daniel
So that's just. Don't. All right, whatever. Or no. 6, 7.

05:28
Connor
Will you be some adults here, please?

05:30
Josiah
My bad.

05:30
Connor
Thank you.

05:31
Daniel
It just, it feels like, you know, Will Wade has questioned how much the team wants it. He's talked a lot about that in some of the press conferences. I mean, there was that exchange with Joe Jolio over the break, but I just, I kind of. I. I don't see it. As far as, you know, nobody has a nose for the ball. So it's just. And when you're not shooting lights out, when you're not shooting over 40%, what are you doing? It just. It doesn't feel like a recipe for success, in my opinion.

06:03
Jakob
I just feel like this is like a huge byproduct of the fact that all these guys like the only returning player from last year, Paul McNeil. Like everyone else, though, scholarship player. It is very. Sorry, Jordan Snell. Sorry, Jordan Snell. But it very much feels like a jigsaw puzzle where all the pieces just have not seemed to fit yet. Like it's. It Bunch of transfers coming in who have never necessarily played with each other except for a lot of the McNeese guys. But I don't know, it's. It feels like a team that's trying to learn but never got the opportunity to correctly.

06:40
Josiah
It's process oriented. And that's what Will Wade was talking about in the off season. He talked about like, just the continual growth. He never said that he was. I mean, you. In the Kansas game that you were just talking about, like, yes, they let him take those shots. They also didn't change anything. Like, they also. They also didn't start guarding him the whole game, like, including the second half when he was already at 25 points. So it's just, it's the process and it's frustrating this year, but I think it'll get better in the future.

07:13
Jakob
Will Wade also needs to learn. Sorry, Will. If you're I love you, man, but use your timeouts please correctly. That Kansas game was absolutely painful. Please use your timeouts correctly. Thank you.

07:25
Connor
Okay, Kansas game. I've said this to you a thousand times. I agree with him. Not taking the time out at the end of regulation when Kansas missed the free throw and that Quadri Copeland got a good look, shot and fall obviously now over time when they had the chance at the final shot, absolutely should have taken a timeout. I disagreed with that.

07:45
Daniel
And then with like less than a second left, we got some dumb luck from Darren Williams. I mean, I mean, with a second.

07:51
Connor
Left, what else are you really supposed to do?

07:52
Daniel
Yeah, but that's, that was a byproduct of not calling. You don't even get a dribble.

07:56
Connor
Let's just catch and shoot. Unless you have Damian Lillard on your team, chances are low.

08:01
Daniel
Fair. All right. Alan Breed, is he a guy that you need in your starting five at the end of the season? Easy final form, starting five. You guys think anybody.

08:14
Josiah
I think the fact that we're hesitating like this probably means no.

08:17
Connor
I think he's. I think Alan Breed's a great player. He's a good spark plug off the bench. One of those like a. I don't want to take offense to this. Like a TJ McConnell, right? TJ McConnell was very important to the Pacers. He was very important to the Pacers last year in their championship run. He'll give you good defense, he'll get you a shot when you need it, good assist or two. But at the end of the day, it's not someone you're rely on to score the ball 24, 7.

08:39
Josiah
I also think it depends on the place we're at. I think, you know, Matt Abel, if we're not a great team, like if we're not going to make the tournament, we're not a great team. We need to feature Matt Abel more. And so if we're a better team and Alan Brady is giving us consistency and we're right on that line, maybe that changes the conversation. But.

09:04
Jakob
There'S a reason that Matt Able was brought in as one of the top, like highest ranked recruits in program history. And I just, I appreciate Will Wade's effort to let him play more, but I understand he's still a freshman trying to learn, but the kids got some natural raw talent that I feel like just isn't being used in the right way at all. So I just, I'd like to see him used more.

09:26
Daniel
He also hasn't been that great though. I mean, I think, honest.

09:29
Connor
I think the thing is, and I believe that Wade has said this in his press conferences too, is that he's a little too hard on Abel. Obviously he's a freshman, right. He's never played collegiate ball before, so he's gonna make some of those rookie mistakes. He's gonna take a step back three instead of pump faking and driving to the lane, which is also something that Wade has complained about multiple times. Then he gets subbed out. Then, you know, Alan Breed gets a lot more minutes or Quadri Copeland or whatever. I think you just need to let it, ride it out. Obviously, like it's stuff he's gonna learn with experience at the end of the day.

09:59
Daniel
I agree. All right, now let's talk about some of the promotions they've been doing at Kansas. That stripe out was unbelievable. I had kind of low confidence in the fans and being able to pull it off, but it was really well executed. And I think honestly, forget the red out and the white out, we should do that again for the UNC and the Duke game because it was just electric. The vibes because of that were elevated by a lot. I feel like, in my opinion, I.

10:26
Jakob
Understand maybe the doing it for the Duke game, but the unc, like, I feel like the red out is just so, it's so iconic when it comes, when UNC comes into, well now Lenovo. But it's especially with their, I will say their Carolina blue is very nice color, but it just, it looks so unbelievably good when that stadium is completely packed with red.

10:49
Daniel
I don't know, just the stripe out was pretty cool. It was just like, wow, we really came together for a common cause to support the Wolf Pack and it was really well executed and I enjoyed that. So I hope we do it again at least before my senior year is up. But we're not going to. Obviously that's. Those things are set in advance, but it would be cool.

11:08
Connor
That's true. But at the same time, like a red outs cool, but like, you know how I'm not comparing us to like Penn State football or whatever, but you know how iconic that Penn State whiteout game is and seeing all the white shirts and all that and whatever, it's a really cool feeling and I feel like seeing Lenovo packed out with that will be an awesome experience as well. Plus, you know, they have all those like they had all the light up towels at the stripe out too. I think that definitely added on to it. So I feel like they'll still have the. Maybe they'll still have those with these next two big games. I would hope that they do, because those are probably the two biggest games left on the schedule, especially in terms of home games, but we'll see.

11:42
Josiah
That was the thing. For me, it was the towels. I thought the towel was really cool, but it was also a good game. Like, if it hadn't been a good game, I'm not sure how fond our memory would be.

11:52
Connor
That's true.

11:53
Daniel
But, like, the intros, even I was.

11:55
Josiah
Like, dude, yes, the intros. But to me, it was the towels that. That did it. Like, either way, it was.

12:01
Jakob
You're right.

12:01
Josiah
It was cool. But.

12:02
Daniel
Okay. Yeah, fair enough. All right. Another thing I've been noticing on Twitter, people are paying a lot of attention to, like, our resume and, like, other teams that we've played. I know it's kind of important for the selection, but if you're, like, watching heavily, like, the Ole Miss Georgia game, Georgia's not that great. And the fact that Ole Miss beat them is, like, okay, like, I know Georgia's ranked, but just looking at each individual result and being like, oh, this is great for our resume. Oh, scene only. Only lost by five to UConn. Like, I. It's such an overreaction. We got to play our way into the tournament. We can't. We can't be looking around at, like, oh, we need this team to, you know, not lose or, like, oh, if they win, then this is gonna help our resume a lot.

12:49
Daniel
We lost the scene, Hall. You know what I mean by, like, 10 points. So the reaction to that, I don't understand it.

12:58
Connor
Right. But I think the argument for that is everyone was making a big deal about how they lost Seton Hall. And, yes, at the time, it was a big deal, because how long was that streak of ranked teams winning? It was, like, 94. It was. It was the longest streak ever. And of course, in classic NC State fashion, NC State had to be the one to break that. But, I mean, losing to. By what? By five to UConn, to the number three team in the nation, and they only shot 6% from three. You hit one or two more shots, you shoot 12% from three, you're golden. All of a sudden, that's a win. I think the more important thing when looking at resumes is they don't have a bad loss. You look at. You look at.

13:37
Connor
I mean, there was losses everywhere last year, bad losses everywhere. Texas contending. The sec. Seton hall is now a ranked team. They're contending very well. I Don't think they're gonna be ranked anymore now that they were just 25 and they lost. But. And the other three losses are to ranked teams. And I mean, a one point loss to the Virginia loss was bad. One point loss to Kansas, and then it was what. How much was it to Auburn? I don't know off top of my head.

14:02
Jakob
But at the end of the day.

14:02
Daniel
Like, it was sizable.

14:03
Connor
No bad losses.

14:05
Daniel
All right, but do they have a signature win?

14:08
Josiah
That's the thing that. That's what Brandon talked about. Brandon. I mean, he talked about it in the context of. Of Darren Williams, but the team, they just don't have. They can't win those games. Or I shouldn't say can't. They have not won those games. And that's frustrating.

14:22
Jakob
I believe they do not have a Quad 1 win yet this year.

14:25
Daniel
But I thought Boise State was. Did it move out of Quad One, Quad two now?

14:31
Jakob
Well, because I believe they are undefeated in Quad Two, three and four.

14:36
Josiah
Yeah. I don't know.

14:37
Daniel
All right, speaking of Seton hall, we can move on to women's basketball because a little segue. Women's basketball after beating Seton Hall. Or did they win? Or did they lose? I don't quite remember.

14:51
Jakob
But they beat se.

14:52
Daniel
They beat Seton hall. After that game, Westmore announced that Lorena Awu no longer a part of that program. The quote. We're just going through a time right now where she's kind of suspended for the moment. We'll see where that goes. Kind of an interesting quote about suspension. Kind of suspended for the moment. But since that point, I don't know if it galvanized the team. I'm not saying she was the problem. But since then they've been six and seven. And that one lost.

15:22
Connor
They've won six of their seven. They're not six and seven.

15:25
Daniel
Six of seven. Yeah, sorry. And the one game they lost, Zam Jones wasn't playing. That's kind of the lifeblood of the team. You go to a lot of those games, Connor, so you can speak to that. But they're playing against Wake right now and they have a good lead. So we could talk about after the conclusion of the game.

15:46
Connor
But I mean, I want to talk about it right now. Real quick while I'm looking at it. NC State was down at halftime. It was 43 to 49. And they outscored Wake Forest 32 to 13 in the third quarter. Zam Jones has a game leading, 20 points. You're talking about Zam Jones. I compare to the Energizer Bunny. I think she is the perfect player that this team needed. Zoe Brooks, amazing basketball player. She's too quiet, right? She's. And she's been working on that as well now that she's had to step up as more of a leader. But Zam Jones, I mean she'll hit a three, she'll start mean mugging everybody. She'll start talking trash. I mean she is the player that NC State needed and she has been the one to step up as a sophomore and become the leader.

16:32
Connor
Not the leader, but a leader that this NC State team needed.

16:36
Jakob
I don't know. This team is weird. This team is really weird. I appreciate the fact that they will hit an SMU. Would they beat them by like 40? Almost. But that loss to Clemson was really confusing. I feel like, I'm not saying Clemson is definitely an up and coming team in terms of ACC women's basketball, but it definitely felt like a team that was beatable in a sense. Yes. Like it was a road game as well. It's just this team, I feel like similar to men's basketball, it hasn't found its identity yet. It needs to like Camille Pierre, she's been a great addition to the team, but I don't think she's been as great as she can be. So we'll see where that goes in terms of the rest of the season. But only five home games left. Some big ones too.

17:27
Jakob
We have this Sunday number nine, Louisville's coming in and we're giving out a thousand white T shirts which. That'll be fun.

17:36
Daniel
Not just white T shirts, white overall T shirts. If you look at your student email, dude, they've got some great promotions coming up for the. These women's basketball games. Honestly like I don't remember last year them having such great promotions. Like we got 200 free chick fil A sandwiches for FSU. Obviously play for K. They do that every year versus UNC. I guess last year they did against Duke. But they always give away those free shirts. They're always, they're always massive. They're not wear. I wish they would give away some like wearable shirts because they always give away like xxxl.

18:10
Connor
They have to fit everybody.

18:11
Daniel
I know they have to fit everybody. But it's like I, you can't wear that. Like I, I'd like for them to maybe get to pick, I don't know, something like that cuz just, I'd like to be able to wear it.

18:23
Jakob
I think you're being too Picky, Daniel.

18:25
Josiah
See, you would have known all that information if you just checked your email. How many unread emails do you have?

18:31
Daniel
I'm.

18:31
Josiah
I'm curious. How many unread go down this rabbit hole? I mean, listen, listen. How many unread emails do you have?

18:37
Jakob
In my student email, 2940. In my personal email, 5293.

18:42
Connor
Y'. All.

18:43
Daniel
Y' all don't know I have 7000 unready?

18:46
Josiah
Are you kidding me?

18:48
Daniel
Anyways, I don't know why that's a problem. All right, they're also giving away 2,000 replica towels against Wake Forest Circus. They're giving away balloons. You know, whatever. But just how many you got? How many is 39,000? Oh, my God.

19:02
Connor
It's because when I, like when I was in, like, high school and stuff, I would use my, like.

19:07
Daniel
Okay, that's your personal account.

19:08
Connor
That's what I'm saying. That's what I was just saying.

19:11
Daniel
This is my student account.

19:12
Connor
He was complaining about 2,000 unread emails for Jacob, so I was.

19:16
Josiah
Do you want to know how many I have?

19:17
Connor
No.

19:18
Daniel
Four.

19:18
Josiah
Zero.

19:19
Connor
Of course none.

19:20
Josiah
Just cleared it out.

19:22
Jakob
I'm sorry. But I get photo, gear reservation emails that come through time and time again. I am not opening all those.

19:28
Josiah
Okay, well, I'm registered for all the newsletters at the university, so I have to go through all of those and the Chronicle and the Daily Tar Heel.

19:37
Jakob
Congratulations a lot.

19:38
Josiah
It's a lot of emails.

19:39
Jakob
Anyways, back to what were talking, women's basketball.

19:44
Connor
I think. I think the biggest issue with this team is their three point shooting. They are shooting 30% from three. They have a single player that is shooting over 40% from three. And it's Kaishi Lunan who has. Who's only shot 31 three pointers in general. Zoe Brooks is 6 of 36 from beyond the arc. She's a great slasher. She can score inside. She can get you a tough bucket. Tough and one three balls not fallen. The only person that the three balls really is falling for is Sam Jones. And that's because she puts up a lot. Put up a lot of shots. Some of them will eventually fall.

20:22
Daniel
She does have a decent percentage, though.

20:24
Connor
Yes, that's true.

20:25
Daniel
But I agree it's kind of tough.

20:28
Connor
But only. Only two players have shot 60 or more. Kaden Samuels is 16 of 62 from three and Zam Jones is 31 of 89.

20:39
Daniel
Go to that percentage. I'm pretty sure Maddie Cox has a decent percentage, too.

20:43
Connor
Maddie Cox has. She's doing 37.5% from three. She's only taken 24 three pointers.

20:50
Josiah
Okay.

20:51
Daniel
But it's still great.

20:52
Connor
And obviously, she. She plays the four, sometimes the five. You're not expecting to see a whole lot of three pointers from your big. Unless it's still a trigger. Of course, she's also been pretty good when we needed her to be in certain games, which also have other games where she goes, like, over five from three.

21:06
Daniel
So, yeah, just some streakiness. But it's crazy that we only have five more home games. Like, the season is kind of flown by. The season has flown by. Any comment on that? I mean, I know me and Connor are seniors, so it's like, dude, we got.

21:22
Jakob
Honestly, you guys could be the ones that they celebrate at senior night because they're not celebrating anyone on the team. True.

21:30
Connor
Let's bring it on the court. I will say it is kind of bittersweet because, like, obviously, yes, Graduating. Whatever. I love Reynolds Coliseum. It's by far my favorite building on campus. They pack it out every single time. You know, watching Isaiah and Sanaya for two years was fantastic. And I love this team, too. Like I said, I love Zam Jones, love Zoe Brooks. Something about. Something about last year, especially the way they packed out that building for every single game. It's the loud. It's the loudest building I've been in by far.

22:00
Daniel
All right, should we talk football transfer portal?

22:02
Connor
Oh, dear Lord.

22:04
Daniel
Because buckle up. I mean, I don't really have any hot takes about this. I'm glad that CJ's staying, obviously.

22:10
Jakob
Yeah. Miami watched that. Miami was hand in person with that game, and they were like, what? We don't want this.

22:16
Daniel
No, it was just their pass rush was so good. They're in the national championship. They have a national championship pass rush because, like, their offense, like, they have a few skill players, but Beck isn't that great. You know, they have a national championship pass rush, and they ate away at C.J. Bailey. That doesn't mean that he's not good enough to where they would have wanted him.

22:35
Connor
I think a lot of people, along with myself, were very surprised that CJ was staying because Trill Anderson, I believe, hit the portal. Hollywood hit the portal. No, Rodgers hit the portal. And obviously Justin Jolie can't come back. That's most of, if not all, the playmakers on offense. So in my head, I was like, okay, CJ just lost all of his guys. Why not go get a better deal at maybe an SEC school? Obviously, SEC is favored when it comes to football or, you know, Miami. Miami is one of the top end ACC schools when it comes to football. But I'm very happy he's staying.

23:10
Josiah
He absolutely could have gotten a better deal.

23:12
Connor
100%.

23:13
Josiah
Like, he absolutely could have. But do you know why there are, like, you don't have any hot takes about the transfer portal?

23:20
Daniel
Why?

23:21
Josiah
It's because Dave Dorn is back.

23:24
Daniel
We.

23:24
Josiah
We listen. I don't know why we waited for 30 minutes to talk about this, but that was like the, like since our last podcast. Like, that's the biggest NC State sports conversation that we have to have. Like, this is like, to me, I. I feel like that's. That's bigger than C.J. Coming back. I feel like that's bigger than. I feel like it's a bigger story than him getting fired.

23:47
Connor
I think it was just. It was insane because it was what, like the day after their last game, it was like, all right, Dave Doran's back for a 14th season. And obviously there was a lot of discussion over the course of the year with, you know, a lot of the fire. Dave Doran fans were on full blast, especially after that Virginia Tech game and everything that happened with that. But I mean, hey, eight and five, let's go.

24:11
Jakob
I'm thinking so excited for seven and six senior year that I'm gonna see.

24:16
Josiah
Listen, all of the. When you look at like the. The transfer portal Tracker on like 247 or whatever the website is, all of the grades of all of the guys are like the same range. It's like 0.87, 0.86, 0.85. Those are the ratings they give to the guys. They don't know what to rate because they don't have enough film that guys from Buffalo like Victor Snow. That might be why CJ came back. He knew Victor Snow was coming. Tennessee State. That was sarcasm. You guys were supposed to laugh at that. Victor Snow. Okay, Nobody pays attention. The transfer portal.

24:53
Jakob
I guess all I have to say is January, the transfer portal is ruined college football and nil is the worst thing that could have ever happened to the ncaa.

25:05
Daniel
All right, enough about Dave Doran. Because honestly, like, it is what it is. Who. Who were we gonna get?

25:13
Jakob
Jonathan Paler, Jon Gruden.

25:16
Connor
John Paler is going to be back off of India. I remember he was fantastic in high school.

25:20
Daniel
I'm not talking about players. I'm talking about coach.

25:24
Josiah
Of Doran.

25:24
Daniel
He's talking place of Doran.

25:25
Connor
Well, it doesn't matter. We still have Dorn for next year.

25:27
Daniel
So I know what's the point. I remember last year Josiah was talking about, we're going to get Lane Kiffin. We're going to get Lane Kiffin as.

25:35
Josiah
I thought they'd be terrible. I thought they'd be a bad team. I thought Austin Simmons was terrible, which he wasn't. Amazing. And then he got hurt. I thought that was going to be the story of the season.

25:46
Connor
But they pumped off to defend Josiah here for a second. You did put in an article that we could get Kurt Signetti.

25:51
Daniel
Yeah. If we got.

25:52
Connor
And he signed it.

25:53
Daniel
He signed Saudi Arabian government to give me. Give us tons of money.

25:57
Connor
You also signed like an eight year extension the day after that article is published. We are good journalists, by the way. I promise this is all just in good fun.

26:05
Daniel
Please don't take this.

26:06
Josiah
I will say, Daniel, we posted that article. You turned in the article about Saudi with like three days before it got pubbed. I don't know why it took so long to get pubbed, but 20 minutes after the article got pub, Pablo Tor came on and said Carolina was using Saudi meant money.

26:27
Daniel
No. Well, they weren't using it. Michael Lombardi went allegedly to Saudi Arabia to fundraise, I guess.

26:34
Josiah
Yes. Fundraise, you know, Is that the word?

26:38
Daniel
I mean, like, you're raising funds. I don't know. I, I just, maybe Dave is the best we can do. Like, I, I don't know. I, I, I hesitate to be like, I want Doran out. You know, is this, we're never going to get 10 wins. Are we going to get 10 wins without Dave Doran? You never know. But I kind of enjoy beating unc. I kind of enjoy, you know, having some, a few signature wins maybe.

27:08
Jakob
Do you enjoy lukewarm beer?

27:11
Daniel
Somewhat.

27:13
Jakob
Then you are very much a Dave Doran supporter.

27:16
Daniel
You're right. I wrote that column Decent Dave and it was not for me personally. Honestly, I kind of like mediocrity a little bit. Not.

27:25
Connor
I would like to point out this is a Steelers fan.

27:29
Daniel
Yeah.

27:29
Connor
And he knows, you know why he knows about mediocrity.

27:32
Daniel
You know why this is? Because I'm sad that Tomlin got fired and. Oh, no more, no more.

27:38
Connor
500 or better.

27:39
Daniel
I can't tell you how many reels, like, sad reels with like, sad music I've watched with Mike Tomlin, like all these quotes and stuff and I'll miss the Tomlin isms.

27:48
Connor
Hey, we do not care.

27:50
Jakob
I will say Peyton Wilson absolutely balled out in that Playoff game against Texans, even though they lost. Trucked that guy like crazy.

27:59
Connor
It's a scary man.

28:00
Jakob
Yeah. So shout out Peyton Wilson.

28:04
Daniel
Yeah.

28:04
Jakob
Come back, please.

28:06
Josiah
Anyways, does he have any more eligibility waiting? He'd pull the guy.

28:11
Connor
What's his name, J. Isn't it, like, James Naji or something like that? Isn't his name.

28:14
Josiah
Yes. Yeah.

28:15
Connor
Yeah. If he can play another year, why can't Peyton?

28:17
Josiah
I said, well, because he never suited up. He never, like, he never played in a game.

28:22
Connor
Okay, we'll erase the footage, say it was A.I.

28:24
Jakob
Wait and Pilson. Welcome to NC State.

28:27
Connor
Let's get, like. Let's get, like, a Chad Powers thing going on here. Like, why not?

28:31
Daniel
I think he's making more money with the Steelers, but.

28:34
Josiah
But I disagree. I actually think that donors would come out the wazoo for. To pay Peyton Wilson 5 million.

28:42
Daniel
He is gonna get a second contract in, like, a year. So.

28:47
Josiah
No, it's five year. It's four.

28:49
Daniel
And then how long has it been?

28:51
Josiah
I think this is your second.

28:52
Jakob
This was 23.

28:54
Josiah
Yeah.

28:54
Connor
And he also got drafted in, what, the third round?

28:57
Jakob
So, like, the last pick of the.

28:59
Connor
Fantastic contract by NFL standards.

29:02
Daniel
Okay.

29:02
Jakob
Anyways, Olympic sports time.

29:04
Josiah
W. Peyton Wilson.

29:06
Jakob
Donovan Phillip. What a guy. Won the Mac Herman Award last week for top college player, college soccer player in the nation. And it was recently announced that he is foregoing his final year of eligibility and he's gonna go get that bag in pro soccer.

29:22
Daniel
Honestly, Philip, one of the most genuine guys like I've interviewed. He's a sweetheart, and I'm really wishing the best for him. Obviously, he's really talented, led the NCAA goals, but he's just a genuine guy. And I can't say any. I can't speak more highly of him, honestly.

29:42
Jakob
As Nicole, our other managing editor, put it, he is our Caribbean king.

29:46
Josiah
Yeah, I second that. He is. I wouldn't use the word sweetheart, but okay.

29:52
Connor
It was a word choice, for sure.

29:54
Josiah
That's quite the word choice. Him and Logan Herb are great humans.

29:58
Daniel
Yeah, Great humans.

30:00
Josiah
They're more than just good players.

30:01
Connor
Sleeping on Tag Healy.

30:02
Josiah
Tag Healy.

30:03
Connor
He was. He's probably one of my favorite people I've gotten.

30:06
Josiah
He's. He's a great guy, too, but he's more rambunctious.

30:08
Connor
He's very authentic. I also just like the fact that we've got this 5, 7 guy running around on soccer. And, like, everyone's like, oh, he's small. He's not gonna be a threat. Then he goes and scores, what, four goals straight to Cap off the tournament, including the game tire to send it to ot.

30:22
Jakob
Yeah, speaking of the. That tournament was. That tournament was real sad.

30:26
Connor
Yeah. We haven't done an episode since then. That sucked.

30:29
Daniel
Yeah, I don't even want to talk about that.

30:31
Connor
That sucked. That was. It was a long night especially.

30:34
Daniel
Every seat was full. The crowd was so loud after that second goal to tie it and then right into overtime.

30:41
Josiah
It would have been our first men's championship in any sport since 83.

30:46
Daniel
Correct. Wild.

30:50
Connor
But I will say I'm not much of a soccer guy. And by not much, I mean not at all. I don't watch soccer. I don't keep up with soccer. But going to that game and covering it and like being immersed in the soccer culture, it was awesome. Like even in like this open air, like or not arena, but field and all that, it was loud. Everybody was going crazy. Even though it was like 30 degrees, it was freezing, but everybody packed out. It was beautiful.

31:18
Daniel
Yeah, I was sick. All right. Another Olympic sport, swimming takes on UNC on Friday at 4pm at UNC's Natatorium. I was at my water aerobics class over in the NC State swimming complex or whatever it's called, and I saw them have like on their big board, this AI image of a wolf tearing up a ram in the pool and like doing very nasty things to it.

31:48
Connor
Whoa, hang on. Let's not. Whoa.

31:50
Daniel
Not in a. In a competitive manner. I'll say.

31:55
Josiah
I bet it was competitive.

31:57
Connor
Okay, let's not go there, guys. Come on.

32:00
Daniel
I. I don't know. I don't know if I support our athletics people using AI images. I don't know. It kind of sat with me wrong. But whatever. I guess that's the journalist in me. I don't know.

32:11
Jakob
I know a couple matches back they did that in pool student section. This would be absolutely electric if they got like some visitor section going for an in pool thing. I know UNC wouldn't get. Wouldn't do anything with that. But going to green light, that would be absolutely fantastic.

32:28
Daniel
I don't know. I mean, swimming is pretty electric, especially both teams are. Or I know NC State, both the men's and women's teams are top 10 and UNC is top 15 for both their men's and women's teams. So going to be electric there. Swimming is underrated as far as atmosphere, especially if you're bought in and you know, some of the swimmers, who's good, who's not, you know, it's pretty remarkable. In other news, Nick Matthews, a legend of the NC State golf team who placed 15th or maybe it was 14th. He was top 15 in the 2024 NCAA tournament. He's coming back to NC State as an assistant coach. So kind of fun stuff. Also, the Ice Pack are playing the U. S. Naval Academy at Fort Bragg at their like ice complex on the 17th. I think that's Saturday. Pretty crazy.

33:24
Daniel
I wonder what sort of credential stuff goes on in there. But I don't know how we getting into that. That complex onto the base with just some hockey equipment. I don't know. Are they gonna be fan? I. I don't know. Our fans can be able to travel there. I'm not quite sure. I haven't looked into that. But it's a little interesting to have it on the base. But it's kind of cool.

33:48
Jakob
I know they did like earlier this year, they did a game at the Charlotte's Night, the Charlotte Knights park in downtown Charlotte against I think it was Alabama this year. It's a great atmosphere. We had a photographer go there and take some photos and it looked absolutely incredible. So I don't know. It seems like something that would be kind of a similar vibe. But hey, you never know. It could be turned out to be a hit.

34:09
Connor
Yeah.

34:10
Jakob
All right.

34:11
Daniel
Should we do Yik Yak minute or. I think we're gonna rebrand that segment to other news. Just. I. I don't know. I. It's tough to name these things. Does anyone have any sort of suggestions for names?

34:26
Jakob
We can workshop this later.

34:28
Connor
I don't know. I should have asked this pre show.

34:31
Daniel
Yeah, you're right. My bad. I'm getting put on the spot here. Hang on. In other news. Where is canes? Where is raising canes? I thought were supposed to have it in the fall.

34:40
Jakob
January 27th, baby.

34:43
Daniel
All right.

34:46
Josiah
They did say that last semester. January 27th. They said that early.

34:50
Jakob
Okay. It's gonna be so busy. But Kane's is so good. It's better than Zaxby's. Like, you can at me, come find me. I will punch you in the face. Not actually. We don't condone violence on this show.

35:01
Connor
Hurt you. You'll be fine.

35:02
Josiah
But it is never loves you more.

35:04
Jakob
Jacob, Their sauce immaculate. Their coleslaw. It's what? Nothing to write home about. But we get rid of the coleslaw. Double toast, obviously. Absolutely delectable. 10 out of 10. Highly recommend.

35:19
Josiah
Delectable. That's our vocab word for the day. We need to do it. We need to do a vocab section, too. Segment delectable.

35:27
Daniel
Come up with your best word.

35:31
Jakob
So that's fun. In other Canes news, the Carolina Hurricanes. Lord, oh, Lord, they need some help. I know we said we wouldn't try and talk about Canes on here, but having to endure writing two articles about them where they blew three to zero leads multiple times, that was fun. Over winter break. And they just. They need some help really bad.

35:54
Daniel
I mean, it's just Freddie Anderson.

35:57
Connor
Let it be known he's also a lightning fan, so he took pleasure in one of those articles. The other one, not so much, but I know. I'm just sick and tired of watching the canes go up 2 0, go up 3 0, and being like, oh, nice. That'll be a good little midweek win. All of a sudden, you open the phone, it's like a 5, 4 loss. It's like, how do you even manage?

36:17
Jakob
Brandon Bussey is no longer the bus. He is the limousine.

36:22
Connor
Okay, well, the Linsanity run had to end at some point. That was. It was insane what he was doing.

36:27
Daniel
I mean, he's still playing. All right.

36:29
Connor
He's still playing really good. I mean, in comparison to Freddie Anderson, he's a hall of famer. So at the end of the day. But hang on.

36:35
Josiah
But what was the analogy for why is he now a limousine?

36:38
Jakob
Because limousines are shorter than buses, so he's letting in more goals.

36:43
Connor
Okay, but a lot of other things are shorter than.

36:45
Josiah
Yeah, there's like. There's so many other things you could have chosen other than disregard that. Whatever nicest car you could think of.

36:52
Daniel
You could just say, like, a Toyota Corolla, because that's probably a smaller car. You could. You could fit a puck past.

36:59
Jakob
Nah, definitely, like a Hyundai Elantra.

37:01
Daniel
Okay. Yeah. On the launcher. I drive a Corolla. I don't. I don't know. I have no animosity towards the Corolla. All right. More about chicken in the atrium. Why do we have a. A specific, like, thing for no pickle chicken sandwiches? Who actually doesn't get the pickles in their chicken sandwich?

37:19
Josiah
Actually, there are a lot of people. There's a significant amount.

37:23
Daniel
Why?

37:24
Josiah
There are so many people that just, like, it ruins the texture of the sandwich, and it ruins the, like, that's all they can taste. It's like me with coffee. Like, I'm not a coffee guy. Like, you could have, like, a shot of espresso. I'm. I'm gonna, like. I can't do it.

37:39
Jakob
As someone who is an avid pickle hater I very much appreciate the no pickle chicken sandwiches at the atrium. Pickles are disgusting. They have no place in society. No place anywhere. It ever. I don't know who thought to put cucumber in a jar and douse it with vinegar and thought that was a good idea. It's not.

37:59
Connor
Jacob is feeling aggressive and violent. Today's episode.

38:03
Josiah
They ruin.

38:04
Jakob
They ruin chicken sandwiches through and through. They're sour unnecessarily. I don't know why a chicken sandwich needs to be sour. It doesn't anyways.

38:14
Josiah
Okay. I thought we said no politics on the show.

38:18
Jakob
This isn't political. This is a fact.

38:20
Josiah
This is purely. No, listen. I'm advocate. I'm literally advocating for you. Pickle might be like a top 10 food.

38:26
Connor
Like.

38:27
Josiah
Like food period. I love pickles. Like I can just eat pickles from the jar.

38:32
Connor
We've lost the plot.

38:33
Josiah
Oh my gosh.

38:34
Daniel
We've lost the plot.

38:35
Josiah
I was advocating for you and then you came at me personally like me. Josiah.

38:41
Daniel
They should just be special order.

38:43
Jakob
Correct.

38:44
Daniel
They should just be special. Or we shouldn't have a whole line. It gets so clogged in there. Especially with the nuggets. They got a. They got. They need quicker nugget production. There's just. There's such a lot.

38:53
Connor
You go take it up with Atrium.

38:55
Daniel
You. Maybe I will.

38:56
Josiah
But then the new line would form for the no pickle. Cuz they'd have to special order each and every person. Then that new line would form.

39:03
Jakob
I would put large.

39:04
Josiah
I think it's more than you think it is. I could be wrong.

39:06
Connor
A lot of people that don't get.

39:07
Josiah
I see a lot of people doing this.

39:09
Jakob
I would put large amounts of money on the fact that on this campus we have more people that don't get pickles on their chicken sandwiches than people that get.

39:16
Connor
Let's throw up a survey.

39:18
Josiah
I actually don't think that's a crazy take.

39:20
Daniel
No, that's such a bad.

39:22
Josiah
I'm actually with him.

39:23
Daniel
Let's throw up a survey.

39:24
Connor
Can we throw up a survey and come back to it next episode and see what happens?

39:28
Daniel
I'd like to this fill out the.

39:29
Connor
Survey which will be up somewhere. We'll let you know.

39:33
Daniel
Tech sports or maybe the. The Twitter. I don't know. Tech sports.

39:36
Connor
Instagram. There you go.

39:37
Daniel
We'll see.

39:38
Josiah
All right, that's going to be quite. When you're scrolling, you're going to see med soccer, you're going to see pickles.

39:44
Daniel
It'll be on the story. Are you kidding? It's not going to be on the post.

39:46
Josiah
Okay, okay. Yeah, yeah, that's my bad.

39:49
Daniel
That's my bad. Oh my gosh. Got his own Instagram. All right. Also the TVs work now on there, which is kind of interesting, but whatever. Cuz I. I feel like. I don't know if anybody else noticed that, but those TVs never worked.

40:03
Jakob
I always just had ads scrolling through.

40:05
Daniel
Them, but now they actually show the menu.

40:07
Connor
So there you go.

40:08
Daniel
Kind of fun. Do people actually get class rings? I keep getting these emails and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to.

40:15
Josiah
All of them are the ones whose parents are like, hey, get your class ring. I'll pay for it. Or you can pay for it. That's just cool.

40:22
Connor
If I get a class ring, it will not be out of my wallet, I'll tell you that.

40:26
Daniel
A graduation present.

40:27
Connor
I have much better things to spend my money on. Like anything else.

40:32
Josiah
Rent, food.

40:35
Daniel
Looks like I'm not getting one.

40:36
Josiah
Chick Fil a with no pickles.

40:38
Connor
There you go, right there. Chicken sandwich atrium with no pickles.

40:42
Daniel
Yous don't get pickles.

40:43
Connor
Not a bad option. I didn't say that.

40:44
Jakob
Hang on.

40:45
Connor
People swing on me. Hang on.

40:47
Josiah
No, there's only one no pickle in this. In this right now.

40:50
Daniel
Then I don't understand what you're arguing about.

40:52
Josiah
I'm advocating. I. I can be on the other side of an argument and still advocate for that side. Like, I'm interested. I'm a Jacob. Like I almost said I'm a Jacob lover, but that wouldn't be the right verbiage. But I'm a Jacob advocator. But I'm not on his side. Like, Like I think he should. I think he's disgusting and he should get off the couch.

41:12
Jakob
But if I had a dream in life, it would be to take a baseball bat at a local food lion to the pickle aisle and just absolutely go town.

41:20
Josiah
There's so died. Dude, I put pickles. Oh my gosh. Anyway.

41:25
Daniel
Controversial.

41:27
Josiah
Okay, I think we can I spend one more moment on this?

41:32
Connor
Here we go.

41:32
Josiah
Okay, so when you, like when. When we have like meetings, we'll do icebreakers beforehand. One of my favorite icebreakers is what's your weirdest food combination? Do you want to do my food combination?

41:45
Jakob
If it's pickles and peanut butter, I'm kicking.

41:47
Josiah
It's not pickles and peanut butter. It's pickles and salsa.

41:51
Connor
So what?

41:52
Jakob
No.

41:52
Daniel
Try it.

41:53
Jakob
No.

41:54
Josiah
Oh my. Like pickles, chips and salsa. Like I know that's weird. And I'm fully. I'm fully.

41:59
Daniel
You just said pickles and salsa.

42:01
Josiah
Yeah, pickles, chips and salsa.

42:03
Daniel
Okay.

42:03
Josiah
Like the three of them together.

42:05
Daniel
What's. What kind of dipping combination are we chopping up the pickles and putting them on the chips?

42:09
Josiah
No, you're dipping with the pickles and you're dipping with the chips and you're just switching.

42:12
Daniel
Alternating.

42:13
Josiah
Yeah, you're alternating. Yeah, you can. Do you.

42:15
Connor
Yeah.

42:15
Josiah
If you're feeling more pickly that day, you can have more pickles than chips.

42:18
Daniel
Okay. I guess maybe. Dude, that's worth trying. I guess maybe.

42:23
Josiah
Like, I know that one. I know is weird, but, like, I'm just. I'm. I'm sharing that. To share, you're crazy.

42:30
Daniel
Jacob, what's your way to. What's your weirdest food combination?

42:35
Jakob
Oh, I'm being put on the spot right now.

42:40
Daniel
Are you pretty vanilla?

42:42
Jakob
I feel like I'm pretty vanilla.

42:45
Josiah
You gotta have something that's like off the wall.

42:48
Jakob
I feel like I have very white taste buds.

42:53
Josiah
Fair.

42:53
Jakob
Come back to me. Let me. We'll think about this.

42:56
Connor
Look over here. I'm thinking. Hang on.

42:58
Jakob
What's yours, Daniel?

43:00
Daniel
I like to stick pretzels like this, pretzel rods into grapes and then eat them. I don't know. Because it adds a little bit of crunch to the grape.

43:10
Josiah
That's a great.

43:11
Daniel
Grapes don't have that much crunch, but when you put the pretzel in there, it also adds a little savory to it. It's pretty good. Like, I recommend. I used to do this as like when I got home from school and my mom didn't have like top tier snacks, you know, we had pretzels, though, and we had some grapes. Throw them in there. It's a nice snack.

43:29
Connor
Here, I've. I've got one. What about dipping fries, your french fries into a Wendy's chocolate Frosty?

43:36
Josiah
Okay, that's not great.

43:37
Connor
Listen, it's.

43:39
Jakob
Oh, yeah. I was just good. Yeah, yeah.

43:41
Connor
It's not. I guess. I don't know. I'm a big chips on sandwich guy too.

43:44
Daniel
This guy's like.

43:45
Connor
That's also not crazy.

43:46
Daniel
This guy's like, I'm not vanilla. I'm eating chocolate.

43:50
Connor
When did I say I wasn't? When did I say that?

43:53
Josiah
I thought you were. We all thought you were answering the question.

43:57
Connor
No, I was just.

43:58
Josiah
Yeah, yeah. I'm tracking.

44:00
Jakob
I. I have absolutely nothing. I am the. I am the most boring food person ever. Some of my food. Hot takes all. Seafood is disgusting. It's a long with pickles. Those are. Those are terrible.

44:16
Daniel
So you're just a Dino Nuggies guy?

44:18
Jakob
Dude, I will. I will go town on some Dino Nuggies and Mac and cheese. Don't test me. Right there.

44:23
Daniel
All right.

44:24
Josiah
But I knew a guy that was in the suite next to mine last year who every time he went to Fountain, he would fill up, like, the to go cups with milk, and he'd do ramen with his milk.

44:34
Connor
All right, we gotta.

44:35
Josiah
We gotta go is a good answer.

44:39
Daniel
Does anyone have any other news? I have a few things, but not necessarily newsworthy. Any other news?

44:45
Jakob
The new building looks great. It's almost done, I think.

44:49
Daniel
Nope. No.

44:49
Connor
Here's some news. Not a fan. And I know I said on the first episode were talking about. The what? One of the only two times we did the Yik Yak segment, and my Yik Yak post was about construction. This little surprise construction that they've put on Hillsborough street near Zaxby's. It's from, like, Zaxby's down to one of the roundabouts. Worst thing in the world. It backs up Hillsborough street so much. Classes are not fun to get to, but, I mean, at the end of the day, this is just the NC State experience, right? Let's close. Let's close half of moral for the entire year.

45:24
Jakob
It's back open, so.

45:25
Connor
It is.

45:26
Jakob
Yeah.

45:26
Connor
I haven't been over there, but my point is, why not just do the construction? Like, why wait until you've got 40,000 students on campus?

45:36
Jakob
Can you build an entire academic building in a month?

45:39
Connor
I'm not talking about the building. When was I talking about the building?

45:43
Josiah
They're saving all of the construction workers for our new conference room, which we're fundraising for, by the way.

45:49
Daniel
Yeah.

45:49
Josiah
Shameless.

45:50
Connor
Plug.

45:50
Josiah
Donate. Donate to the. The conference room. Donation. Yeah. That's what they're saving all the construction workers for the summer for. They're doing the big stuff or they're doing the small stuff. Now to do the big stuff, like the conference room small makes me 15.

46:05
Connor
Minutes late to my class because they didn't tell me there was gonna be construction before.

46:08
Jakob
Yeah. Anyways, folks, thank you for joining us for this.

46:11
Daniel
No, no, no. One more thing. Should we talk about Jerry Laughlin?

46:14
Connor
Oh, my God.

46:15
Daniel
Should we talk? All right, I have this guy in, you know, a few.

46:19
Jakob
Jerry Laughlin, if you're watching, I apologize for what he's about to say.

46:22
Daniel
Don't listen. But he's a health and exercise study professor, and he Requires individuals taking the class to wear NC State brand attire at the class. Which is kind of why, like, it doesn't. I don't understand why it's required. And it just makes no sense. You have to wear like a shirt. Here, let me just read. Let me read the syllabus. Red, black, gray, traditional crew neck T shirt containing the NC State brand with no logos or letters. In the case of cold weather, long sleeve exercise sweatshirts and long sleeve exercise jackets are allowed as long as garment colors and lettering meet the same requirements as exercise bottoms. The colors of red and black must be NC State red and black.

47:12
Jakob
You can't fault a guy for wanting to have some school spirit.

47:15
Daniel
The thing is, he didn't even go to NC State. Like, why does he have such strong, fervent guidelines?

47:23
Jakob
If we're being fair, I would say 90% of UNC fans didn't go to UNC, so.

47:28
Josiah
Okay, well, you should fail, Daniel. Suzanne.

47:31
Daniel
I don't know. I'm just. I don't. I don't have enough merch to wear. Like, I have. I haven't. I have plenty of merch. I don't have merch that I want to run in. I don't have merch that I want to play pickleball in. Like, what if I sl. I. I play pretty hard. What if I take a dive and I screw up my shirt? Like.

47:47
Connor
Well, I just. I want you to know, because I've had him for two classes. If you ask him, he's going to tell you to rent a shirt from Carmichael. Jim.

47:56
Daniel
What?

47:56
Connor
For the semester rent. It's like, it's like, you know how you like or not rent, like, check out, like, you know how you would, like, check out a basketball?

48:03
Daniel
Why. Why on earth would they check out shirts?

48:06
Connor
I, I wish I was kidding, but it is. It's a gray shirt with red NC State gymnasium lettering. He actually wears that style shirt for every class.

48:17
Jakob
Daniel.

48:18
Connor
12 inch inseam shores.

48:20
Jakob
Daniel, I very much think this is just you being a hater.

48:22
Connor
I do, I do think it is.

48:24
Jakob
I do think it's not that deep.

48:25
Josiah
You don't think I'm actually with Daniel. This is actually ridiculous, but I think it's in place of like a textbook. Okay, I will say you pay. You don't pay for the $80 textbook. You pay for the $80 merch.

48:37
Connor
I will say I do think it's a little crazy to do a dress code in a college class with a bunch of adults, but big up the school spirit.

48:46
Daniel
It's not even a swim class. If you're taking a swim class, you got to wear a swimsuit. You're playing pickle ball, but you got to wear an NC State merch.

48:54
Connor
Show your school spirit.

48:56
Daniel
Daniel, I. I'm wearing shirts that show NC State anyway. It's just. Why is that? Why am I required to do this? Whatever. Anyway, this is dragging on too long. Thank you for watching, everybody. We'll be back next week. Every Friday, tech talk. Have a good rest of your week.

49:13
Connor
See ya.