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The Tech Talk Sports crew discusses upcoming football game versus Miami, UNCG scrum, should refs have burners?, women's basketball season so far, men's soccer loss, Yik Yak segment and Pop Culture Minute with Olivia.
Creators and Guests
What is Tech Talk Sports?
Technician writers talk NC State sports and campus topics in a way you wouldn't see in the print.
Daniel: Hey, everyone, welcome to Tech Talk Sports, an official podcast of Technician, NC State’s student newspaper. This is our first show, so how about we introduce ourselves? We are editorial staff from Technician, but here we're going to have some more free-flowing takes, maybe some things you wouldn't find in the print . Mostly Sports, but we will sprinkle in some campus topics and such.
Tech Talk is presented to you by Technician. Check us out on the web at Technicianonline.com, Instagram @NCSUTechician, @techsports on X. And as always, you can pick up a copy of the print on the stands every Thursday.
Today, we'll talk some football. Is C.J. Bailey trying out for Miami on Saturday? Is Will Wade a performative male? Is it okay for a ref to have a burner? Is women's basketball okay okay? And what happened to men's soccer versus Syracuse? And we'll finish off with a nice little segment. We're still workshopping the name — Yik Yak segment. And we'll have a little fun here with the intro. I made this a couple weeks ago, nobody else has heard it, live reaction. Tell me what you guys think. Fire, no. You like it?
Jakob: The intro sounded like the intro to Black Beatles.
Hector: It sounded like the intro of “What you know about rolling.”
Josiah: This feels like a ‘90s detective show.
Daniel: Okay. There we go. True Crime, True crime is big.
Josiah: Yeah, true crime, right.
Jakob: Yeah, like L.A. Law or something.
Daniel: This is the best part. There we go. All right, that's enough of that.
Josiah: You made that?
Daniel: I made it.
Josiah: Hey, okay, Daniel. I was ready to make fun of it.
Daniel: Yeah, you should make fun of that. That was terrible.
Jakob: That’s not very nice Josiah
Josiah: Yeah, my bad.
Daniel: All right, so, starting off, we got NC State at No. 15 Miami on Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ESPN. My first note on this is that I have YouTube TV, so I'm really in a bad situation here. I'm probably going to have to listen to the game.
Jakob: You know.. And with that, I don't, there's no way to illegally stream this anymore because the stream streaming stream even exist anymore?
Josiah: Jakob, we're live.
Jakob: Whoa, whoa. It’s for the student, Josiah.
Josiah: Yeah, that's true.
Daniel: What about, you guys remember Stream 2? Does stream 2 still exist? It was basically this platform where you can watch TV on campus. But when you're off campus — I live off campus now, I'm a senior. I don't live on campus. So now that I don't have access to stream 2, I don't really know what I'm going to do. But, you know, listening to the game, it's not, it's not quite the same appeal. Ya know?
Jakob: Maybe I'll be able to like steal my upstairs neighbor's cable, so it might work out in the way for me.
Daniel: The thing about YouTube TV is that I know so many students who use like their siblings’ YouTube TV . So I know so many people that have YouTube TV and we can't watch a game. It's, it's a bummer. And honestly, I've kind of checked out of a lot of college sports at this point. Like I didn't watch any of the college basketball games besides that the NC State game because I was there because I wouldn't have been able to watch it otherwise. I could have listened to it, like I said, but just not the same charm. Anyway, what do you think the keys to the game are here, Jakob?
Jakob: I mean, the big thing going into Hard Rock is going to be difficult for any team, especially with how high caliber offense that Miami team is. The biggest question mark is going to be, specifically for the hurricanes is like, what Carson Beck are we going to see? Are we going to see five interception Carson Beck like we did a couple weeks ago or are we going to see five touchdown Carson Beck? So it's going to be a big test for the NC State defense to see if he can keep if they can keep him in check. But , you know, we'll see what Dave Doran's got cooking up over there.
Daniel: Yeah, I think also you got to think about the hangover game. NC State just got their first-ranked win over a top-10 team since, what, 2021 Clemson. So hangover game is in play, especially the last three.
Also after a bye.I forgot to mention that. NC State’s 0-3 after a bye since 2024. To be fair, they've played some stiff competition in Pitt, Clemson, Georgia Tech last year. It was a one-point loss, but still, you know, what's going to happen after the bye? You never know.
Jakob: Nonetheless, it's going to be tough competition regardless, so they need to come out firing on that first drive specifically if they're going to have any chance of winning this game.
Daniel: Also, think about it. CJ Bailey, Miami tryout. If he does too well, then he's probably gone. If he doesn't play well, he's still probably gone. But you never know. But, all right, I had this quote from Bailey.I think he said this at the media availability earlier.
He said, I don't have anything against Miami or anything to prove to them. I've been playing good, and if that's not enough to prove to them , you know what I mean? Just win overall would put a good stamp on the game. It's not going to do anything to me or them personally.
He's gone.Like that's that's.
Jakob: He's 1,000% gone.
Daniel: I mean There's no way.
Jakob: I know we heard rumors last year, especially before Casey transferred, like that Miami was definitely interested before he ultimately landed at A&M, but there's, you, that quote just, it's so , there's no way he's staying after this year. Like, you can't, especially after that.
Daniel: What do you got for us, Josiah? Insider.
Josiah: So in my eyes, this is a tryout for CJ Bailey to go to Miami because Carson Beck is graduating. I feel like it's very different because the pass rush for Miami is just so relentless. And so CJ is going to be on his heels a lot. So it's kind of hard to truly gauge who CJ's going to be because our O-line is so bad and because their D-line is so good. I mean, in four losses this season, CJ's been sacked 11 times. In five wins, he's been sacked three times. So I feel like with CJ on his, I think they have the best pass rush in the conference, bar none. And so I feel like the film from that game's not going to be great . And so I think just making sure CJ doesn't go to the beach is the best way to keep CJ in a Wolfpack uniform.
Daniel: Okay, let's talk Hollywood Smothers. Coming off of the injury, Duke Scott went off last game. What he have, like 180 yards, something like that.
Josiah: 200 total.
Daniel: Yeah, over 200 total. Is it going to be like a Chuba Hubbard Rico Dowdle situation over here with him?
Josiah: No. No, absolutely not. No Chuba Hubbard.I mean, he was good. He was like a middle of the pack. Hollywood Smothers has been the best running back in the ACC all year long. Duke Scott will get more carries. I feel like he had 60 carries in the past 10 games or something like that. And obviously a much larger workload. He'll get 10. He'll get 12. Hollywood will get 20. I mean, I don't think it's going to be Rico Dowdle, Chuba Hubbard, by any means.
Daniel: All right. Do we know the line for this game?? Let's try to find the line. What do you think the line is?
Jakob: I would say, like going into Hard Rock against a ranked Miami team like that, it's got to at least be, I would say at least two scores. So -10.5 would be my initial guess.
Daniel: I don't know. Coming off of the win, I feel like people are a little higher on NC State than you might expect . I don't know. I'm thinking thinking -7.5, maybe.
Connor: I'm pretty sure the line opened up pretty high. I think it was -15.5. -15, if I'm not mistaken.
Daniel: Dude, -15.5?
Jakob: I'm seeing -15.5 right now. So it's going to be a test for the pack, but let's see if they're up to it.
Connor: Once again, it all comes down to Carson Beck and whether we get five touchdowns or five interceptions.
Daniel: Also, I want to push back something you said earlier. You said Hard Rock is a tough place to play. I feel like that place is like 50% empty and 90% of the time.
Jakob: I feel like just with the notion of Miami's kind of stepping into a new role of kind of being at the top of the ACC. So it's becoming a hard place to play .
Daniel: Okay. I don't know. I think any team playing in an NFL stadium, it's kind of a disadvantage because there's a lot less familiarity with fans and and like Pitt playing at Heinz Field or what is it, Acrisiure now? I don't know, I'm a Steelers fan. I should have the top of my head. I just, I don't think it's that much, I don't think it's an advantage. I honestly think it's a disadvantage, but I don't know.
Connor: I will say, I've seen something about how the way Hard Rock was built. You know how it's an open stadium that has like, kind of a roof. The way it is is the home team, it's built, so the home team is always in the shade, no matter what. And the away team is always in the sun. I mean, we're playing in November. So it shouldn't be that much of a factor. Thank God we're not playing earlier in the season. But, you know, it's Florida. Never know.
Should we get a weather check out here? Someone look up the weather. Because I don't know. It's November.
Connor: As a Florida native, you can definitely get 80 degrees in mid-November.
Daniel: Fair enough.
Jakob: It's looking like Saturday just from what Google Weather says, high as 78 on Saturday, low as 65. So but with that Florida humidity, like there.
Connor: The humidity is the worst part.
Jakob: There's no telling like.
Connor: Especially in Miami where you're right next to the water, it unmatched.
Daniel: Yeah..Maybe you got to think about it in the sun. All right. Now, let's move on to men's basketball versus UNCG last night. A complete rout of the Spartans, 110 to 64, something like that. But it started out not necessarily the greatest way, Probably five, 10 minutes in. There was a scrum. Another situation where you got technical being doled out. I don't think it's a good look for the Pack. I think Will Wade is kind of going a little too aggro on the the hype up and like the trash talk. I don't think it's going to bode well when, you know, they start playing better comp, but let's hear what you got to say, Connor.
Connor: I will say, you have to look at when he got those technical fouls. It's not like NC State's playing in a close game in that first game against NCCU, there was six minutes left. NC State was up 55, and here he is screaming at the ref. He was arguing about a call. I believe moving Musa Sagnia got his fifth foul. He fouled out of the game. He didn't agree with the call. It had been kind of egregious calling all game. But especially with the way last night went, there was, you could tell there was beef from the beginning. Tre Holloman was talking pregame to some UNCG guys. It didn't look like anything crazy, just like some friendly banter. But you could tell as soon as, soon as Tipoff started, there was some beef. Darrion Williams would get a couple of early buckets. He would talk a little trash. Quadir Copeland would do the same. With Copeland, that's to be expected. That's kind of the personality he has. But then right around, I say it was a 16 minute mark, Paul McNeill shot that corner three. He got fouled right in front of the Trojan bench. They went to pick him up. Tre Holloman gets in the middle of it. There's some pushing, there's some shoving. Quadir puts himself in the middle of it. Quadir Copeland and Tre Holloman were ready to fight that entire Trojans bench. So that obviously isn't a great look. I do believe there should have been some technicals on UNCG as well. I don't know how NC State came out and was the only one with technical fouls. I think Wade is trying to set a standard of you're going to play the full 40 minutes, whether you're down 20 or up 50. I think he wants you to play full game, play 100%, play till the final buzzer. So I don't think it's anything crazy as of yet, but NC State is averaging over a technical foul a game, which, a little eye-opening. We obviously aren't used to that after the Kevin Keats era. The last time I remember him getting a technical would have been in, I want to say it was that Wake Forest game.
Daniel: Yep.
Connor: Was that the DJ Horne middle fingers game?. And Keatts got ejected that game. Well, Wade, I'm pretty sure there was also a team technical in that exhibition, if I'm not mistaken, against South Carolina.
Daniel: I mean, I don't remember that.
Jakob: I mean, I wouldn't be that upset about us averaging what a technical a game if we're scoring at the rate we are. We saw a tweet today, most efficient offense in the nation through the first couple weeks of the season. So, I mean, Will Wade, his guys are doing what he's wanting them to do. So, and they're performing those big names that we got in the transfer portal this year, they're doing what they're expect what we're expecting them to do. So I can't be mad about that.
Connor: I saw that tweet and I saw a lot of the comments underneath it about, oh, they're playing like barely mid-mor schools, which, yes, to be fair, but I think it's also, we can tie it back to NFL. I'm a Colts fan. So the Colts obviously have been on a run this year.
Daniel: Frauds.
Connor: And everyone's like, oh, they're only on, they're only on a run because they haven't played great teams. Well, like the Colts and NC State, they're not just beating bad teams. They are boat racing them by, in, you know, 30, 40 points. So it's not like it, it was a close game a little bit in the first half. First half had a lot of fouls. I want to say it was, there were 26 fouls called in the first half of the UNCG game, and there were 44 free throws.
Jakob: And you were there. It took, what, about an hour and 15 minutes to get through that first half?
Connor: Tipoff was at 8 p.m. I looked at the clock when the first half ended, and it was about 9:15.
Hector: I want to say something from a photographer and videographer standpoint. That was the most painful thing to try to get clips of that first half. I was literally like, am I doing something wrong? Or it's like nothing actually happening?
Daniel: Hey, you got a nice video of that fight, though.
Hector: I did. I'm glad I got the real thing. And then some of our other photographer Fletcher, he he got really close to Wade and one of the refs and he's like yelling in his face. And then once he stepped off of the court, one of the like officials came into Fletcher and they were like, don't you ever do that again? Because he was like on the court and stuff like that, but you got a good shot of that.
Daniel: That's hilarious. All right. So let's talk about the ref show last night. Head ref, Eric Lewis , you know, he was under investigation by the NBA for having a burner in, what, 2023?
Connor: Yeah. Early 2023, I believe.
Daniel: Let a man have a burner. I don't understand why he gets fired from the NBA for having a burner. I really don't understand that. Like, especially because it wasn't really that much of a fan burner. It was more like defending himself. Like people were saying, oh, this guy sucks. And he was going in there anonymously and being like, no, he's, you know, he actually made a good call there. Like he was making comments like that. I feel like you should be able to do that.
Jakob: I mean, arguably, that's worse because like, that's really awkward, especially if you forget to log out of that burner account. But I don't know. If you have to defend, if you're getting so much pushback to the point where you need to have a burner to defend your own calls, then it's not a great look for you. Like, there's got to be something.
Connor: I will say it wasn't just because he had a burner account. That's like the main reason everybody was saying. But the biggest thing was it was a Lakers Celtics game 2023. Anyone who watches the NBA should remember this game. It was close down to the wire, Jason Tatum versus LeBron James. And there were a few calls that very heavily went the Celtics way. Like Jason Tatum would go up for a layup. I believe DiAngelo Russell was guarding him. And he goes up for a layup. DiAngelo Russell doesn't touch him. Tatum misses it. They call a foul Celts get two, free throws . Even through all of that, Lakers still had one more shot at a, either a game tying or a game-winning shot. And of course, you give the ball to LeBron James, and LeBron goes up for a layup, and you can see in the video, Jason Tatum completely smacks down his arm and there was no foul called. And that's where the video of LeBron like freaking out on the court starts happening. And then for all the sports enjoyers, you're going to know exactly what this picture is. The Patrick Beverly picture where he grabbed a photographer's camera and he came out and he's holding it. He ended up getting a technical for it. Lakers lost the game. But that was that was the Eric Lewis game. That was where he really kind of became prevalent. People started finding out about his burner. He retired from the NBA. And I remember we were at a game last year. I want to say, who's NC State UNC or NC State, Texas or something? And I remember looking and going, I recognize that ref. And I went to the ref sheet and I looked at the name and I did not know he was even allowed to coach college basketball after, I think he retired from the NBA, but I think that was.
Daniel: Yeah, a forced retirement, for sure. I mean, the thing is, like, I don't know. I don't know how to feel about all that because . He's not clearly biased. Maybe he's a little bit of a Celtics fan. I feel like everyone hangs on to their fandoms when they become refs. So, I don't know. I just, it makes me uncomfortable that he was he was mistreated and then people get mad at him for having a burner. I don't understand.
Josiah: Is this conversation purely refs? I know we're talking about Eric , but is this purely refs? Like if Dave Dave Dorn had a burner?
Daniel: Oh, I would love that.
Josiah: That's what I'm saying. I feel like it's very different, like a coach versus a ref because like, obviously the coach is going to be biased to his own team. And so he might as well continue to be biased on his burner. I feel like a riff is a whole different conversation.
Daniel: Okay. That's fair. I don't know. I don't have much to say to that. Let him live.
Connor: And I will say, it wasn't even just the burner last night. I saw the way he acted, I've never seen another ref act in a basketball game before. There's a point in time where NC State was on the side I was covering on and it looked like someone got fouled. They didn't call the foul. The ball went out of bounds. And Lenovo Center erupted. They all thought it went off a UNCG player and Eric Lewis was sitting there going like this way to the crowd.
Daniel: He was crying to the crowd. That's crazy.
Connor: And he he interacted with students who were yelling at him. He was talking to people. I've seen refs talk to people on the sidelines, not at the frequency he did. It was the interactions he had. It was just very off. He's a very interesting character.
Daniel: If you're doing that under the veil of anonymity on a burner, that's fine. But if you're doing actually doing that to the crowd, that's kind of messed up.
Connor: Because at the end of the day, they're supposed to be impartial. Like that's That's the whole point of referees. And it , I don't know. He just seemed, he was acting like a student, to be honest. That's way I could see a student acting.
Daniel: Okay, fair enough.
Jakob: But like he said, it it's Eric Lewis, so who knows?
Daniel: All right, let's move on. Early season superlatives for this NC State team. First off, I just want to say, Darrion Williams, whenever you look at him, he's kind of got this facial expression that's he looks like he looks like you would go well on some form of currency, like the way, his face is. Like, maybe like a nice Renaissance portrait of him would work well.
Josiah: $3 bill?
Daniel: Yeah, $3 bill. There we go. We need that. I saw a tweet from Raleigh's Red, Random, but why does Williams always look like you finds something mildly amusing? I think that's accurate. Okay, Paul McNeil.
Jakob: Absolute dog. That man is. You think that Kevin Keats would have learned last year to play the guy that broke the North Carolina record for most points in a high school basketball game . And you think he would have played him more than, what, once or twice that entire season? And he didn't for whatever reason. And last night, he said a career high of what, was it, 27 points, I believe. Him and Darrion Williams together combined for 59 of NC State's over 100 points. I mean, John Rothstein , what Daniel, well, Daniel doesn't believe that he is the GA of college basketball.
Daniel: I don’t like him
Connor: John Rothstein hate?
Jakob: Yeah, very much unnecessary John Rothin hate, but he tweeted out like a couple days ago about when he came to look at NC State practice, he goes, Paul McNeil is drilling shots here in NC State practice, an effortless sniper from long distance, remember the name. And he couldn't be more right. Like, Paul McNeill, like we had a, one of our writers, he, he wrote why, like Paul McNeill is going to be like NC State's Hidden Gem this year. He's absolutely 100% correct.
Daniel: Hidden Gem? Everyone is saying he's going to be the best. I don't know about Hidden Gem, but yeah, sure, he's going to be probably the second best player.
Connor: I think something else that comes from it is he's a North Carolina native. Like, we don't get a lot of guys from North Carolina on our team as superstars, right? DJ Horn, obviously a little bit different, but he also, he started at Ball State, went to Arizona State, then came here. Paul McNeill was 100% committed to NC State all the way through. He knew that was where he wanted to go, even under Keatts. And then obviously he gets this, what most will call a coaching upgrade. I'll let that whoever people want to.
Daniel: Sure yeah, I agree.
Connor: I think it is, but, you know, everyone's intell in their own opinion. He gets a huge coaching upgrade, and Will Wade is letting him play. And he's shooting with a confidence that I have not seen in a red and white uniform. He gets that ball. You know what it's going up in the hoop, especially from the three-point line.
Daniel: All right, let's move on to women's, because we're lucky running low on time here.
Jakob: Big game for the women this weekends.
Daniel: Yeah, big game. 1 p.m. Reynolds, No. 17 TCU.
Jakob: You know, I have to applaud Wes Moore. Connor, you wrote about this in a column, but the man is stacking up some heavy non-conference games early. We had Tennessee and Greensboro. We had USC and Charlotte earlier this week. And now we, obviously, yes, we had Maine the other night, but another ranked matchup coming in with TCU. Connor, what are your initial thoughts kind of on this game?
Connor: We'll say first off, the craziest part about that scheduling is even the exhibition game, which is supposed to be like, chill, relax, doesn't count . It was against then-No. 10, Maryland in Greensboro. It wasn't even like a home game. So he gave them basically three neutral games first. Can't even play in front of the red and white, given it was in Greensboro and Charlotte.
So NC State travels. But he, he has a lot of confidence in this team for scheduling that high. He wants to get them on ESPN . He wants them to get that recognition that he believes they deserve. And I kind of agree with it in the sense that a loss to a ranked team is better than a loss to, you know, some mid-maor or whatever.
Daniel: Well, yeah.
Connor: But at the same time, this is a young squad. This is the first team that this is the first team United history doesn't have a senior. It's a team that just brought in Khamil Pierre from Vanderbilt and she's trying to be the focal point where she had to be at Vanderbilt. She doesn't have to do that here, but she's forcing up shots. Zam Jones went from the bench to being a full-time starter. You know, they lost Saniya Rivers, Aziaha James and Maddison Hayes. That was their basically their entire offense. And now you've got people like Zoe Brooks. Zoe Brooks is amazing, amazing basketball player. I don't think she's adopted that leader role yet. She's a lot more quiet, a lot more reserved. And then you look at players like Sam Jones, Sam Jones is like fire. So she she's heated on, like every expression, she'll be flexing after her bucket, mean mugging everyone . It's insane. So now we have No. 17. They are playing in Reynolds. They have a very, very, very, very, very good record in Reynolds. I don't know what the exact number is, but when they're backed by the Reynold White, Reynolds is one of the loudest places I've ever been in. It's my favorite building on campus. TCU is led by Olivia Miles , who, formerly of Notre Dame. They’ve played Notre Dame a lot, back-to-back ACC championships. They played last year on college game day. Game went to overtime off of a buzzer beater. I think they know how to contain her. I don't think you can fully contain her because at the end of the day, your superstar is going to get bucked no matter what . But it's going to be all about focusing on her. They also do have three, three or four players TCU does over over 6-foot-6. And that's kind of been what NT State's focused on a lot this year is they give the ball to Trygger, who is 6'6" herself, and let her work in the post because she'll have someone who's maybe 6'2, 6'3" on her. They're going to lose that size advantage at the end of this game.
Daniel: All right. Well, at the end of the first quarter, 9-5 against Maine. Also, they shot three for 20. What What went on at at Maine for them to struggle so much? Is it just like they played down to their competition? They just played three great teams and now you got Maine or.
Connor: Maine for the first time, they saw a zone defense. Maine was running a 3-2 zone. Say had three guards at the top, two post players in the back. And the best way to beat a zone defense is to shoot three-pointers. You they can't double team you out there. It's hard for them to commit, extend. And they just couldn't hit their shots. There was a lid on the bucket. They just shots were just brick after brick after brick . They would force up stuff. Khamil Pierre would miss a layup, get an offensive rebound, try to force it up again, misses it again. They're just forcing too many contested shots. I don't think they're playing proper complimentary basketball.
Daniel: Okay.
Jakob: And arguably worse than whatever that debacle went on in the first quarter main is you were there in person for this on Sunday was that unfortunate loss to USC there at the end. The absolute choke job, if you will. So can you just kind of take us through those last couple minutes? Like what you saw being there?
Connor: So I remember looking at ESPN after the game and I went, you know, they've got that chart down at the bottom of the screen. I love looking at that chart. And it showed at one point empty State with about a minute 30 left, up five. They had a 98.2% chance to win .
Daniel: Yeah, they lost. Choke job.
Connor: The last four minutes, not scoring, that's not great. You can't see that ever. It wasn't even just not scoring. In the last four minutes, they turned the ball over five times. It was just like USC's defense locked in and they did every pass was forced. They were getting rips out of Zoe Brooks' hands. They would try to hand the ball off to Zoe Brooks. Someone would get a hand in, easy bucket the other way. Then with about 10 seconds left, you know, we're still, oh, even before that, Zam Jones got sent to the line. It looks like anti State's going to win. She has she's a decent free throw shooter. She hits two free throws. We're up three . It's probably going to go to OT or NT-State win. She misses both of them. And so obviously you can't blame a game on that one play. Missed Free throws happen. Then USC gets the ball. And I don't know how, but they left their USC's back best player, Star freshman Jazzy Davidson, wide open on a cut, and she just got the easiest layup in the world. It's going to be the easiest bucket of her career. Like, it's wide open. And then the final play, I don't know, why, to be honest, I trust Wes Moore a lot in the way he coaches and the way he runs his team, but he had Zoe Brooks passing the ball in with four seconds left.
Daniel: Yeah, I heard that on the broadcast because I was listening once again, I wasn't watching on ESPN because I have a YouTube TV. I was listening and Ernie Myers was kind of shocked that Zoe Brooks was inbounding the ball. I was too.
Connor: But Zoe Brooks is for sure the best player on that team. You could make an army for Khamil Pierre. She's had three straight double doubles, but her shooting numbers are a little consistent. Zoe Brooks is your best offensive threat. She can score from all three levels. She can drive . She can kill you from the mid range. She can even hit any contested three if needed. I don't know why she's passing the ball.
Daniel: Even size-wise. Don't you want someone that's like not your shortest player in bounding the ball?
Connor: That's Zam Jones. Even still, like, at the end of the day, you want your best player to have that game winning shot.
Daniel: Yeah. All right, let's move on to men's soccer because kind of, I wouldn't say a heartbreaking loss, but a very disappointing one loss to Syracuse earlier this week, 3-0. You know, they were the three seed in the ACC, ranked number five, and just, what a disappointing way to lose 3-0. Really, they had a lot of chances, but they just couldn't put one on the board. Give me your thoughts on that, Jacob.
Jakob: I mean, coming in, we saw an NC State team last season who, Mark Hubbard, first year head coach, he really elevated this program. It was like our first NCA tournament appearance in a couple years from what I recall. And he really elevated this program, and it especially continued at this season. Like at one point, we were number one in the country in the in the coach's poll. So there was a lot of like, there was a lot of high expectations coming in, specifically to conference play and now obviously ending with the ACC tournament. Syracuse has kind of been an Achilles heel for this team. They haven't been able to figure them out, especially their goaltender for whatever reason. I believe, I don't correct me if I'm incorrect, but they tied in the regular season.
Daniel: Yeah, it was one- one.
Jakob: Yeah, so.
Daniel: Halloween night.
Jakob: They've been able to get something past the guy, but it's they have not, especially this game, again, this ACC quarterfinals match, this 3-0 loss, it's super perplexing, specifically for a team who , in non-conference play, absolutely lights out, just putting up zeros against other opponents or having other opponents put zeros up against them and absolutely tearing up the score sheets. Officially Donovan Phillip. 15 goals, I think, so far or over the course of the season.
Daniel: At one point, he was leading by like four, but he cooled off in conference play, but I will say , I think the most telling play of that Syracuse game was when Logan Erb loaded up the goaltender. He loaded up on a ball, and he booted it like all the way down the field. But in the process, his shoe flew off. His kicking shoe flew off, it flew 30 yards down the field, and it fell just like haphazardly in the middle of the field. But one of his teammates had to go get it. And he was basically, he was without a shoe. It's really hard to play soccer without a shoe if you haven't tried that. So for that to happen, it was just such a wacky game. And they just couldn't convert on any of their chances . Like Donovan Phillip, he had like two or three golden opportunities to put one in the back of the net. And he just, he shanked one off the crossbar and like you missed just wide a few times. Just kind of disappointing. And then there was even a goal that got overturned. Taig Healy fired and Tomas Hut, the goaltender for Syracuse, it like hit him in the chest , and then it kind of trickled past him, but it was reviewed and they said it didn't get past the goal line. It stopped like before it fully crossed the goal line. So just a weird game. Very strange. And after the loss, I spoke to Mark Hubbard and he told me me, life can be cruel when we all deal with hardships and it's easy to point fingers. Look in the mirror and continue to do all the habits and the little things , the little daily commitments we've done all year to get us as position. So just going to go back out there as hard as that is. We dealt with this last year, too. Last year, they lost in the first round, I believe, to Virginia. You got to watch other teams play it on the road and carry. That's where they play the ACC Final Four . And that's the present thing.
He said, it's like a death or a hardship. Each day is going to get a little bit easier and we got to use that as motivation to get back at it. Another game that they had a huge crowd, this game had one of the biggest crowds they've had all year. Another game that had a huge crowd was UNC where they got shut out. So once again , not scoring in front of the big crowd.
Jakob: You know, this team perplexes me. They really do. Like, it's the big games that seem to trip them up for whatever reason, because, like I said earlier, they they creamed through a non-conference schedule that was filled with with pretty lowly opponents.
Daniel: Cupcakes.
Jakob: But it just, that UNC game, we had people on the parking deck across from the soccer field watching, and they couldn't they couldn't finish the job against UNC for whatever reason, but nonetheless, there's still number 11 in the coaches poll. The selection tournament or the selection show is on Sunday for the national tournament.
Daniel: Monday, I think.
Jakob: Or Monday, excuse me. And they'll probably, they have a good chance to likely host of the first few rounds of the tournament. So we'll see how they rebound from here, but nonetheless, you can't, you have to applaud the job that Mark Hubbard has done for this team. Specifically, we had the ACC offensive defensive and goalie of the year..
Daniel: And like four first team.EC players. So that's pretty nuts. Well, see this.
Josiah: Okay, so this is my thing. We keep saying that this was a big game , but I feel like this game fits into a broader conversation in college sports. Like, how important really is the the conference championship, especially in football, football is the biggest one because if you win the ACC or the ACC championship, you get in the college football playoff in this year, obviously, probably only one team is going to get in. But even in college soccer, like, what does that do? I mean, it maybe gives them a good seed in the national tournament, but..
Jakob: Yeah. I mean, like a lot of sports, if you automatic qualifiers or if you win your conference tournament, you're the automatic qualifier, you get an automatic bid. Yes, that was pretty much already assured for NC State like they were going to be in regardless of what occurred in this tournament, I assuming they weren't going to lose like 10 to zero in the first round. And they didn't. So I just feel like just from a confident standpoint, like they come in and they get, they get a nice win going into the tournament and going into the national tournament where it really matters and just carrying that momentum. But they've rebounded before, so we'll have to see what Mark Hubbard and the boys can do.
Josiah: True story.
Daniel: We'll find out. All right. Should we talk about the Hurricanes?
Jakob: No.
Daniel: No? Okay. All right. Should we talk about swimming? They had an in water student section and an open water race. You covered this match.
Josiah: I did.
Daniel: Jos, can you tell you tell what's going on there? That seems really weird. And honestly, I don't know how much of a fan I am of that.
Josiah: Listen, I have to say, as an Olympic sport, I feel like you need to amp up the excitement. The revenue sports or revenue sports for a reason, and when you make you provide an incentive for fans to come, it changes the whole dynamic of the game. The water polo team was actually the group of students that were in lane one, the the club water polo.
Daniel: So it wasn't even fans.
Josiah: No, no, no. It was students, but like the club water polo team would like. Reserved. They were reserved spots in lane one.
Daniel: Okay, sure.
Josiah: But no, I think it I'm blanking on his name. They had a celebrity swimmer.
Daniel: Yeah, a celebrity swim influencer. Swim influencer.
Josiah: He has thousands of tens of thousands of followers on a social media. I can't say I'd ever heard of him. But I really think it's great for the sport. To increase the popularity, to make it fun, to get students to go. I mean, I, if I wasn't covering the game, I wouldn't have been there. But it's fun. Yeah. Adds to the to the atmosphere.
Jakob: And our swimming teams, like, they're pretty nationally ranked. They tend to be near the top of those leaderboards. Yes, we're probably never going to catch the graces of Virginia in the swimming department, especially in the ACC from the women's standpoint. But nonetheless, like we've had we've had Olympians come through our swim program, Catherine Burkoff, she won the bronze in in, what is it, Paris last year. So it support our revenue sports, guys. They deserve it.
Daniel: Then we go, all right. Now wraps up our sports talk portion of this thing. Now we got our copy editor, but also pop culture expert. We're going to cut. We're going to cut?
Hector: Okay. When she's actually on.
Daniel: Okay, sorry. Been cut. .
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Daniel: All right. Here we got. Olivia Smith, our What are you? Copy editor?
Olivia: Please. Copy Desk Chief.
Daniel: But also our pop culture expert here for the Yik-Yak segment and pop culture talk.
Olivia: Hello.
Daniel: So I guess..
Hector: Talk like vertically into the.
Olivia: How do I talk vertical? Oh, like this?
Hector: You can move it.
Daniel: There we go. A little production on the fly.
Jakob: Do we want to restart that?
Daniel: No, we're not restarting. Production on the fly.
Olivia: No, that's. All right.
Daniel: I guess I'll start. Eggnog soft serve coming back to the dining halls. I'm not a fan of the Eggnog soft serve personally. Getting rid of the swirl. Like you can't I love the swirl. You need the vanilla and the chocolate. If you put the eggnog in there, it's no good.
Jakob: I know I know I was seeing stuff online at like during more October area, they had like a, what was it a pumpkin, like spice latte flavor.
Olivia: It was terrible.
Jakob: Yeah, I did not hear great things about it.
Olivia: It made me want to vomit. I'm not going to lie.
Daniel: All right, Jacob.
Jakob: Okay. So for my yik yak post this week, um I actually found this earlier today. So, as everyone knows, it's basically Christmas at this point, according to 90% of people on campus. So mine features, someone said that centennials should put a big Christmas tree in the middle of.
Olivia: You stole mine.
Jakob: Centennials should put a big Christmas tree in the middle of the oval, have a cute little ceremony lighting, and students can hang their own ornaments. OMGGM's so smart. All right, someone go tell the boss to set it up. You know, as an engineer myself, I approve this message.
Hector: I also approve as your producer engineer.
Yes. So I was walking , walking across Centennial today, just doing my engineering things. And the buildings in EB2, they have both sides have their trees up already. They put them up in the past couple days. It's rough out here, guys. Like, engineering students, we need all the help we can get. So, I mean, I'm open to extending this to main campus. They can, they can come enjoy the festivities, if you will, but.
Hector: No, I'm geeky.
Jakob: Oh, okay, never mind. But nonetheless, I feel like it's just, it's a little more, it spreads a little more holiday cheer around campus and who doesn't love that?
Daniel: There you go. I agree. All right, Connor.
Connor: So, my yay post, very near and dear to my heart. Very simple. It's just someone who said, um, I'm convinced NC State construction is a social experiment. I am a senior. I'm a senior. So is my fourth year here, and it just the construction never ends. I'll give you the brickyard, right?
Because they're building an entire new building, but I believe, what is it, Manh has been under construction for four years. What's going on with that? Then you have all this time over summer. You have no students there. Then all of a sudden they close, what is it, Moral that's right there, right off of Avon Ferry, which it's it's blocked up everything. It's so hard to go to the gym. It's hard to go to the parking deck. It's hard to go to the student union. It's all clogged up. I walked to class. I have to find a new route like every single week because there's just some sort of new construction.
Jakob: And you know what? Going back to your here, I saw someone post this props to whoever posted like the Riddick cut through when you . You're goated. Whoever you are, if you're listening, I don't know if you are, but you are you are, you are my favorite person. You have saved me so much time trying to get through back towards Hillsborough that way when we're going to dinner on print. Fantastic. 10 out of 10.
Hector: The baseball field, too. That's been like heavy construction. It was shut down for a bit, too.
Daniel: You know, Trey Turner invests all that money. I'm glad to see it's being used on facility upgrades because we've had a lot of years where we're like, oh, we're going to get an improvement on the baseball stadium and then nothing happens . So I'm glad to see that. All right. Josiah, you got something?
Josiah: I do, this isn't, this isn't yick, yak. This is, this is on trend with our topics today. This is your insider extraordinaire take of the day. I don't know.
Daniel: Okay.
Josiah: I need a name for that. Sure. So I have a source in the NC State Football locker room. Okay. That told me he was having a conversation with some of the coaches and they said, unically, they said, we're going to buddy CJ up with other people so that he doesn't go to the beach, so that he doesn't go to the bars, so that he doesn't go to the clubs, so that he doesn't go anywhere without somebody. And they all, like everybody that was standing around was like, ha ha ha, that's really funny. And none of them acted like it was a joke. And then they just walked away because they probably shouldn't have divulged that information and now it's being divulged on a podcast. I just, that's insanity. Is it not?
Daniel: What does this have to do with yikyak?
Josiah: It doesn't have to do with you.. It's, it's just like.
Jakob: It's just campus happening.
Josiah: It's just campus happenings, man.
Daniel: It's, yeah. Yeah, sometimes if I go to Miami, I probably need a buddy, too.
Josiah: Yeah.
Daniel: There you go.
Josiah: Okay, that's not.
Connor: I got you.
Daniel: Yeah, there I go. There you go.
Hector: You have a girlfriend.
Daniel: Sorry. Olivia, Olivia .
Olivia: Well, Jacob stole mine. I don't know, but I don't know. I was going to ask, do we think that we should be celebrating Christmas when Thanksgiving Yes is here.
Daniel: I'm still listening to Christmas. I'm already listening to Christmas music.
Hector: I've been listening to Last Christmas since October 25th.
Daniel: Well, I listened to Last Christmas year round, but sure.
Jakob: I mean, okay. I was the one that brought the post in, but I'm indifferent to it, I feel like. I don't know. I feel like people who who listen to Christmas stuff before Thanksgiving, they make that their personality this time of year. Like like, I don't care that you do that. Like congratulations. I mean, I personally don't, but like, good for you, I guess.
Olivia: I was going to say for you, I feel like on print night last week, you were having some tough opinions about no Christmas before Thanksgiving. And now you're.
Daniel: Yeah, he's walking it back, of course.
Olivia: I know, like, what the? got a walk back.
Daniel: Political Jacob, diplomat.
Olivia: I like you're on a podcast now, so now you can't say your true feelings?
Connor: I don't agree with Jacob a lot, but I will agree with him on this. I'm very much more of a Christmas music after Thanksgiving sort of thing. For me, it's like, it's the vibe of everything, you know? I think Christmas, I think more like really, really cold weather, you know, barren trees, you get Christmas trees and the lights and all that and whatever. Fall for me, it's, you get , you know, cool looking leaves, you get football. You get good food. Like that, that's what November is for me. And then once you hit, what is it, like the 27th this year or something for Thanksgiving? Then after that, we can go into Christmas.
Olivia: No, I vibe with that. But as someone who does live on centennial, I think a Christmas tree is needed.
Jakob: To be fair, I also do appreciate, like, I was when I was delivering the papers this morning, I do that that, guys.
Daniel: Loser.
Jakob: Okay. Seeing the seeing the wolf fridge like lights on the balconies, that's kind of nice to see in the morning. But I don't know. I feel like we should hold off a little bit. If You walk past my apartment, you might see a little heart. It doesn't really look like one, but you squint.
Connor: You just doxxed yourself?
Daniel: Something else Something else I saw in yik yak. Someone begging for raising canes to come. They can't wait. . And I personally, I can't I can't relate because I' I' read an old article and the technician that Jackson Davenport wrote, and he said, there used to be a McDonald's there.
Olivia: Yeahhhh.
Daniel: How great would it be if we had a McDonald's?
Olivia: No, I wish I was here for that McDonald's. I was like, oh.
Daniel: That's unbelievable.
Josiah: There's one on Western.
Daniel: But it's too far. You can't get there in the middle of class. I have to pick either Slice of New York, Chipipotle, or that Greek place. I don't like that hibachi place. I don't go there.
Olivia: Also, the one on Western like sucks.. Like Their food is like so bad compared to like the one. What's the one on Peach Street? Is that?
Jakob: On Peach Street, yes.
Olivia: So much better than the Western one.
Daniel: Yeah, the western one also, like, I've been in that drive-line for like more than 30 minutes, multiple times. Like, that should never happen at a fast food place. That place is a disaster.
Hector: We've also gotten too crops crime alerts about that last year.
Daniel: Also true. All right, Hector, you got something?
Hector: Oh, I had to come with someone with YikYak.
Daniel: Oh, I guess you don't have to.
Hector: Something I've seen recently. First of all, I have an Android, so I can't get. So everything that I know kind of just comes from. I was telling before when you were recording about flat soda, it's kind of good. I kind of like it.
Daniel: Terrible take.
Hector: Like, when I pop over a Coke and I'm like, oh, I'm in a rush and I can't finish it and I leave it in the fridge for like later. And then I come back. I kind of like tasting the process.
Daniel: Tasting the process?
Hector: Taking the process.
Olivia: That is wild.
Daniel: Okay.
Jakob: I'm not going to lie Hector, I kind of, I kind of agree.
Daniel: Wow this is such a bad take.
Josiah: Better? What do you mean? Better than before?
Hector: I wouldn't say better. It's just like a different.
Josiah: Wait, you' considering. You're concerned considering better. You're considering that it's even even in the same ballpark?
Hector: For me, yeah.
Josiah: That's insane.
Hector: I will say, so.
Olivia: What type of soda, though? Like, what are you drinking that you're going to drink flat? Or is it anything?
Hector: Usually just, like Coke comes in mind. Mountain Dew sometimes, but like I don't Mountain Dew,
Olivia: Mountain dew I can see. Coke?
Jakob: I can understand like orange soda, maybe, because I feel like that's just like really sweet orange juice at that that point, kind of. It doesn't have the tang, but I feel like it's like Sunny-D adjacent.
Hector: A lot of times with food, I have very low standards, so I don't have the best t. Because I get looked I get looked at like I'm the devil when I say I like grape soda.
Daniel: Okay, well, I don't know if we should be listening to this t then if you have bad food taste. .
Connor: Grape soda’s not crazy.
Josiah: Do you notice that he had the best topic of anybody and we all prepped something in advance? That's this is about. That's what a podcast is about.
Jakob: But back to the Raising Canes thing. I did see on YikYak. We do have an opening date. It said January 26th.
Hector: They lied to us. They said fall semester.
Jakob: They did.
Olivia: I thought they said during this semester.
Daniel: I don't think I'm going to go there.
Jakob: January 26th, though. So mark your calendars. It's going to be like the crumble when it opened first opened. It's going to be lying out the door for probably a good month and a half half.
Olivia: But then technician tries waiting in line at Can's?
Jakob: It might happen.
Connor: If I get paid for that, sure.
Olivia: Oh, can we for that?
Hector: I was at the crumble Cookie line when it opened up and it was actually moving really quick because it was like they knew what was going to happen. So they had the free cookies already like pre-laid out. So it was like, I was in line from like, so where the crumble cookie is to a little bit past the target, I think. And so..
Jakob: That's still prettiest significant..
Hector: I was only in line for like less than 20 minutes, like 15 minutes, I think. It was going pretty quick.
Daniel: I don't know. I'm anti- both of those institutions, so it's whatever.
Connor: I'll give we' go back the hot takes for a second. Crumble is the most overrated thing.. In the world.age. It is diabetes in a cookie. And it's not even a cookie. It's like a cake.
Hector: That is true.
Connor: And it No, I'm not spending $8 on that. No, thank you. Or however much it is. It's overpriced, whatever it is.
Olivia: It's not really cooked either. I feel like when you open it up, it just is .
Hector: There's no cook.
Hector: It's just cooked. It's just E. It's just. It's just like, eh.
Daniel: All right. Let's move on to Grammy announcements. That's part of the reason why we have Olivia here. We've got pop culture in it. So let's let's just go over that stuff. I had a few notes. Album of the Year, If Swag by Justin Bieber wins, I'm going to be pissed. Same with Song of the Year. If Anxiety wins, I'm going to be pissed.
Olivia: Are you really?
Hector: I would.
Olivia: For Dochji?
Hector: Yes.
Connor: Anxiety completely ruined the original song. Somebody that I used to know was a banger back when we were growing up. And now, I remember scrolling on TikTok for all when it came out. And I thought I'd hear it. And then she starts saying about anxiety and I was like, why would you do that to me?
Olivia: Like you want to know something really bad is that I listen to anxiety. I've listened to it before, but last week I was listening to it again, just realized that it was a demo of someone we used to know.
Connor: It's the same intro.
Daniel: Oh, my God. You didn’t realize that?
Olivia: No, I didn't realize it. And I was in, I was on my couch. I was like, wow, wait, that sounds so much like, oh my gosh, wait. Those are the guys in the music video. Ah, yeah, it was really awkward.
Connor: This is our pop culture person.
Olivia: Yeah, I know sorry.
Connor: Are we sure?
Hector: It's pop culture, not not past culture.
Olivia: True.
Jakob: Okay, so Olivia, what are your predictions for the big four? Album of the year, record and song, and then new artist?
Olivia: I'm not going to lie. When I looked at all of the people that got nominated, I was like, low-key like, eh.
Daniel: Yes, exactly. That's the same feeling I had.
Olivia: Because like, okay, it's just so lackluster. Like, they're also so mainstream that, like, I don't really care anymore, to be quite honest.
Daniel: Same with, like, somber, best new artists.
Olivia: Yeah.
Daniel: Such an industry point. Why do we need this?
Olivia: Half of the Also, half of the artists on Best New Artists have been around for like years. So the idea that they're also new is weird to me. I kind of want Kendrick to win album of the year.
Hector: Agreed.
Olivia: That's I feel like main take. Best new artist, I like Cat's Eye. I, I would like cats I win. Though I think Olivia Dean might actually win. I don't know if you guys knew who.
Daniel: Cat' Eye featured in Tech Crossword, by the way. So there you go.
Olivia: Sorry, that was an E. Screech. I don't know if that works on a podcast.
Hector: I love cat's eye for multiple reasons.
Olivia: What are your multiple reasons?
Hector: They're so bad.
Jakob: Anyways.
Olivia: Anyways. Song of the year. I don't know. I would say anxiety. I think anxiety is going to work.
Daniel: It's also disappointing.
Olivia: I don't like. Because, I mean, Golden is also on song Song of the Year, but from K-pop Demon Hunters, that's not going to win. I want it to.
Hector: I do too. Y'all should watch that if you. Have you guys watched it?
Daniel: No.
Hector: You should, you should because the exact same thing happens when someone's like,, I'm not watching this dumb cartoon thing for kids. And then by the end of it, you're sobbing.
Olivia: No, it's so good. I wish it was three hours long, genuinely.
Hector: Okay, well, I don't know about that.
Olivia: They have a three hour long cut.
Jakob: Aren't they coming out with a movie or something?
Hector: It is a movie.
Olivia: Yeah, second one, yeah. Oh, yeah. And then what was your third one? You already did New Artist, right?
Jakob: Record, I think.
Hector: Record of the year.
Olivia: Record of the Year. Oh, I kind of want Billy to win for a while. Wildflower?
Daniel: Yeah, I like Wildflower.
Olivia: I love. I was sad that she didn't get anything last year.
Daniel: Hit Me Hard and Soft. Banger album.
Olivia: I went to the concert. So good. Top five concerts.
Daniel: I really don't understand why they separate record and song.
Olivia: I do.
Daniel: Why?
Jakob: Yes. Can you explain to the people at home?
Olivia: Okay, so Song of the Year is for the song writers. So the people who are writing the songs and then submitting it to the artist versus record of the year is the actual artist who's singing it. So a lot of the times the artist and the writer of the song is the same. But like for Golden or I want to say, like APT, like differently… That one also could win, but I feel like it's like a little too like past.
Daniel: Yeah.
Hector: I'm always a fan of Bruno, if he wins. Yeah. Do you have anything about Bad Bunny in your notes and his album?
Olivia: I don’t, I think that he should win. I think he should win. I think he actually could win because isn't he he's on doing the Super Bowl? So I think he has a lot of pull.
Hector: Also, that album is like very very rooted in like a lot of cultural and like it's very symbolic. The whole David Almos Votos album is like extremely symbolic of his culture and colonization and American stuff.
Connor: And I will say, I know you said you think Kendrick should win Alma of the Year, but the rap album of the Year is also really. So the Contenders are GNX by Kendrick Lamar. There's Chromocopia by Tyler the Creator, which was amazing . Let God sort him out by clips, Glorious by Glorilla, and God does like Ugly by Jid. I've listened to four of those. I've not listened to Glorilla. Glo is not in my rotation. But God does like Ugly by Jid. I think should get it over Kendrick Lamar, which is crazy because Kendrick Lamar is like in my top two.J. Cole's number one.Okay.
Olivia: Finger on.
Connor: I'm looking at the camera. Oh, oh, the camera. Look at the people.
Olivia: Sorry, I didn't even know they were the there.
Connor: Say hi to the people.
Olivia: Hi people.
Connor: But yeah, that's my little hot take as well.
Olivia: Okay, real?
Daniel: All right, that's all I got. All right, I also made some outro music. If we want to do a live react to that.
Josiah: Separate?
Daniel: Yeah, it's separate. It's not the same one.
Jakob: Yeah, Olivia, you weren't here for you for the intro music.
Daniel: Yeah, the intro music. Oh, hold on.
Jakob: We just want to say thank you guys for listening to the first Tech Talk Sports episode. We had a lot of fun doing this.
Daniel: Yeah, definitely. Little housekeeping. We are going to be in a different studio setup come spring time, but right now we're using the WKNC studio. Shout out to them. But in the spring, we'll have a different setup. We'll have some better visuals. I know back here, it's kind of bland. We're going to fix that. Don't you worry. All right.
Hector: I'll hopefully figure out audio stuff a lot better.
Daniel: Yeah. We'll set things up good. All right, here we got the outro music. And we could probably end the podcast right now. Yeah.
Jakob: I feel like I’m in an elevator.