Happy Half Hour Episode 58: Defining The Future

What is Mick stand for? Uh? It's short for Mickey, which I was called when I was born little Mickey Mixing in Chapel Hill growing up as a little kid, and UM had a news director at a radio station one time shorten it to Mickey, said you sound too much like a damn kid, but being named Mickey and I shouldn't hired you anyway. So from now on we're just gonna call you Mick. What's your mental name? My legal name is Forrest with one r oriyan o, r I O n mixing. The third gives him a certain

mythological quality, doesn't it? It does? Forrest is quite a name. Has anyone ever called you forest? Oh? That the classic when You're in trouble Forestry? The third kind of like Philip Walker, Yes, yeah, just a little bit something like that. But the man's middle name is a Ryan Forgot. He's the legendary Hunter of the Stars. I mean I missed the lead anyway. Kristen is on special assignment, so Mick is joining us today for a very special episode of

The Happy Half Hour. We were back from the bye. We have some some a lot of personal things going on. I think going into the bye last week, we didn't really announce this because it was a pretty big secret and I didn't want all of our listeners to know. But I've had some things that happened in my life in the last week. What we're working with Young Will has got news. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm engaged. How about that, Mick? Unbelievable? How did you do it? And were you nervous? Oh?

My god, I completely blacked out in a good way. But we did it in the uh like the Green the park near the MIT Museum in Uptown. After several other venues or areas we're not gonna work because of a holiday sip constrol, which meant that hundreds of people were going to be in the previous place. I was gonna try to do it um over and fourth ward, So we ended up going over there and her, I

had like taking pictures set up. It was gonna be on like the second walkway, and her friends were gonna be behind the some of the side columns to jump out and take pictures. By the time we walked in, I had was so nervous walking through uptown that I just got down on one knee in the first walkway. No one had any idea I was doing it. There were no pictures of the moment she was It was so warm that night, it was like seventy five degrees on Friday. So she was carrying like her big heavy

coat in her left hand. So I grabbed her right hand to like pull towards me, and then just kind of, I guess, shoved the ring in her general direction. And you know, her story was that I put it on the wrong hand. I don't know whether I put it anywhere, but I don't remember really much of the moment outside of her. She didn't say yes. She said are you serious? And then I said yes, pretty much. Pretty What did you say? What were your exact words? Will you marry me?

Will you like marry me? And stuff? Will you like marry me soon? Yeah? So? And then did she know did she have a sense because women are legendary for she knew in general, but she had no idea that Friday. I had played a little bit of the long game with her parents. They had convinced her they were going to be in Georgia, and then they were there. My parents were there, and I think she really I had been telling her all week, we're not going to travel

for the bye week. I've got a surprise. We're gonna go out, you know, go out to dinner. And she just thought we were going out to dinner. And then the way we were walking, she was completely confused where we were going. She ended up thinking we were going to like Red Ginger or something. But so, now that you've done this, congratulations, By the way, Darren been married. I've been married. I got a mulligan in Lassie two thousand eleven and took it right down the middle, which

is great. And you did the same thing I did. I did the same thing. So will The only thing you really control is what you did, where you did it, and that you did it. Now you'll be it's like you you're a You've hitched a ride aboard at comet that will streak across the sky. Planning the wedding. Yeah, I know, I'm already you will have no I'm already holding on for dear life. Just enjoy the ride. But it was cool and and after the fact. Adding to and surprise was the fact that Will and his friends

had planned this party. A bunch of friends were able to gather and meet the parents. I got to meet the Brian's and his parents are lovely people. I gotta kick out of talking to them, meeting to them and telling them about what a good boy he is. Playing cover bands. Over the years, I've seen all kind of weddings and toasts and the whole thing, and we could do a whole show just on that. But the other day had breakfast with Casey, Lauren Beemer's daughter who used

to work here. Casey's very gracious, very elegant young woman, lives in Charlotte now with her husband Kanan. So our band the band. I was in Plate at Casey Beemer's wedding, the rehearsal dinner in Georgia at this rich Carlton hotel, this big time lake. This wedding has it all. I mean, there's a cello player, there's this grand entrance down by the water and Casey had thought of everything except that right during the vows, these two old boys in a

bass boat come by on the water. So security is everywhere, wedding directors everywhere, but the one thing that they couldn't control was the lake. So these tool boys come by and they slow the bass boat down and one of them yells out, don't do it. I was married to her first run Oh man, all right, I'm I'm marking that down to not have it by a body of water that that we cannot have full control over. There. There's very little you can control, as Mick mix. As

Mick mentioned, both of us are on number two. And I remember the first time I was actually in this press box at Bank of America Stadium one time, calling Florest or calling somebody about a cake or something. On the first one, and Ken Burger, the legendary columnists from Charleston, walked by, and and Ken was a man who had been blessed with a number of wives in his career.

And Burger walked by, and my old boss at the paper, Gary McCann, was standing there, and they were shooting the breeze, and they heard me nervously making all these arrangements on the phone, and I remember Ken Burger's looking at McCann and saying, how many is that for the boy? And McCann said just one, and Burger just kind of looked at me and grinned, patting me on the head and said rookie. Right right before I came to the Panthers. In OH five, we played a wedding in Chapel Hill

and I was the I married the couple. So Autrey and Sean Pookash asked me to do their vows. Christ and Balboni has done this. Yere you a wedding. Yes, Triple w Rose Ministries dot Com ordination package B went with the thirty thirty package. So you get a name tag, an official clergy parking pass and everything. Is there a stole involved with this? No? But um, So we play the wedding. So I'm marry Audrey and Sean. Then we

play the wedding. And during a break in the wedding and I'm the drummer in the band, this this guy comes up to me and he goes, are you the drummer? And I said yeah. He goes, weren't you the preacher? And I said yeah, and he goes, aren't you that guy that's going to the Panthers, and I said yeah, and he went, oh Jesus Christ and just shook his head and it was all just too much for him. He had sensory underload. I think, well, how are we going top that? Don't I don't know that the Atlanta

Falcon I don't know. Well, so you guys are both on the on the radio a good bit. You get all the questions from from the local folks around here, what what are some of the themes that you're you're circling before Sunday's game. I just think there's so much uncertainty right now about what's going on the football team. I mean there when you make a move with Joe Brady, as they did on Sunday, you start down a new direction with Jeff Nixon, Colin plays. You're trying to figure

out what these next five games mean. And I think it's reasonable say oh um, because you're trying to figure out what Cam Newton's got left in the tank. I mean, we've seen three games of Cam, one great one, one great cameo, one pretty good game against Washington and in one stinker against Miami, and so what comes next? We've covered every end of the spectrum where in it is this one gonna fall. So don't know, and we'll see. I mean, Cam and and and Matt Ryan have their

own history. They played each other I think sixteen times. Um, it's it's going to be fascinating to me. I mean, the rest of this season is very much a great unknown. I don't know what kind of play caller Jeff Nixon is going to be. I don't know what Cam's got left in the tank. I don't know how they're gonna put pieces together in front of Cam to protect him. Brady Christiansen is gonna get to play this week and and we'll see what that means for his long term

development and those kind of things. But there's so many things that it's just impossible to predict with this team that are going to have impact, both in the immediate and in twenty two and beyond. I think if Cam could go fifteen of twenty two for a hundred and forty nine and not throw any picks, I think that would do it. This is but my point is, this is gonna be this game could be broadcasting black and white.

This is gonna be run it, stop the run, So all the but you know, there is Darren's point, the contrast between Cam Newton when he first got here and then Miami. I still can't get over. So I'll just speak for myself. I am in a full body goose bump when this athlete comes out of the tunnel and spreads his imaginary blazer across to reveal the red s on his cinnamon chest. I cannot believe I'm bearing witness to one of the great comeback stories in the history

of athletics. Then against Miami, I wanted to go down on the sidelines and and punch him and say, Cam, seriously, I gotta try to make this five point eight quarterback ratings sound good on the radio. Do you realize how difficult this is? So it's just but yeah, I think he's gonna play well Sunday. This is the perfect kind of game where Cam Newton comes comes roaring back and and plays well and runs the ball effectively, and and I just I think it's gonna be great theater. I

can't wait. Yeah, And and I was inspired watching Cam Newton's old team the other night. On Monday Night, football pass at a grand total of three times in a game, and one of those Max Jones wasn't supposed to throw it off and I and I think that's probably an extreme outlier, um, but I do think there's something to

be learned from that. If you're in a situation where there is some question about pass protection, receivers getting open, whatever, just run run the ball, strip it down, make it simple. And I think you know it's naturally occurring because Cam still knew on the job. You're you're learning a new offense anyway. Then they change play callers, so everything's new anyway. So I think the key really in terms of the football is strip it down, keep it simple, do the

things you know you can do. And I think back to the first Atlanta game, which was also without Christian McCaffrey, and you're run at forty seven times, and part of that was Sam Donald run around. And we know that Cam Newton's got some background as a runner, so he can contribute to that too. But forty seven carries amongst this committee that includes Amir Abdullah and Chuba Hubbard but not Christian McCaffrey. And I think something like that makes

an awful lot of sense for where they are. Is there a way to distill the running game into something that makes it even easier for you know, once again a different looking often. I mean, who really knows exactly what this offensive line is gonna look like? I mean, is there a way to say hey, rather than you know, all these zone reads were you know, you have to pick up this, but maybe this depending on whether and hands it off or holds it, you know, I it's

your way just to go downhill. I I don't know. I don't know that they're necessarily built that way. I mean, there's not a Mike Davis sized back around here. I mean, and if you know, we'll see the end of the week if they bring up Reggie Bonafie or Spencer Brown. Spencer Brown's really interesting runner, uh that we saw a good bit of in the preseason and training camp, and you know he's got some potential and hanging around on the practice squad. But Cuba and a mirror aren't that

kind of guy. They aren't necessarily I mean, Cuba was a high volume runner at Oklahoma State and has put up some big numbers in the past when he's been the guy, but he's never been the Saint Stephen Davis we're talking about. I Mean, this is not a big, two thirty pound back who's going to move people around. And and again, as you mentioned, the three guys in the middle of that line in Atlanta that paved the

way for pretty solid run day are all gone. I mean, Michael Jordan's probably not gonna play this week, Matt partis on I R. Johnny Miller is hurt and not expected to play. So I think you're gonna get some combination of obviously pad alfline at center, Brady Christ's wi being one of the spots, and then we'll see what happens on the other side. The other answer to might be two things. One is a running quarterback, So if you can reach in the game, just Cam Newton, defenses still

have had a problem. Even with the rise to prominence of a running quarterback, Atlanta doesn't have one of the Panthers do. The other thing is the college play that has really Minnesota just victimize the Panthers with it. And that's a bubble screen, So a quick sideways throw. It's a pass, but it's basically a run and it takes a lot of the old line issues out of play.

You've got if you've got a wide receiver that can block a corner and then a back or a receiver who catches a bubble screen that can make a player miss it can be a big play. So I think we'll see a little bit of both. And Atlanta is great at the wide zone, you know, Matt Rules talked about it, just how good Patterson and Davis are it and toting it. So with the Panthers being a little undersized at d N, I'm sure Phil Snow has got some things cooked up to try to try to attack that. Well,

we'll see some hopefully more of stuffin Gilmore. You know, Dante Jackson is now out from that cornerbacks crew, I mean, and I'm interested to see a lot more of Henderson as well. I'd like to see both of those guys. Yesterday, I practice Sullivan tight end for the Panthers doing I thought he did a great job at being Kyle Pitts and given the be a good picture of the eight. And it's not easy, no, it's not. It's a hard

problem to solve. And and there was this mythology that gilt because Gilmore had the late pick on him late it was almost like, you know, Gilmore was tasked with locking down Kyle Pitts. Well, he only played twenty some odd snaps that day, I believe it was, so it's not like he was out there all day. And they are going to mix it up, and they are going to use a lot of people, and their plan in general is to throw a lot of defensive backs at

every problem. And it's a different group now. Obviously there's no J. C. Horne, there's no Dante Jackson the rest of the year, so you're scrapping it together. But it's gonna be a lot of Jeremy Chen and it's gonna be a good bit of C. J. Henderson, a guy who's got some size, and it's going to you know, he's gonna play a part in this thing down the

road too, So we'll see how it comes together. But having us to find Gilmore, however, many snaps a game, you've got him and and he probably not, you know, Matt said yesterday, he's not gonna be uh seventies snap a game guy anymore at thirty two years old. And but the forty fifty he's gonna be on the field are gonna really matter because they're gonna need it. I like special teams in Atlanta is interesting to me. Will

and and Darren. They have young Wiku who's a great, accurate, powerful and they needed a punter, so they went out and got Thomas Morstead twelve years as the same. This guy is one of the deadly accurate directional punters that's ever played in the NFL. So Chase Blackburn on teams whoever's back there. Returning upon Erickson, he is good at tracking the ball, but he's gonna have to hang loose. And then I thought Wednesday at practice, Gonzalez Edwards punt

of the ball great. It was kind of windy, but Zay Gonzalez just had a great set during his I don't think he missed. I mean just hitting the ball tremendously well. So what a story that is this year? It's it's yeah, it was something that was interesting to see how you kind of felt like that was such a bit of concern and training camp in September and all of a sudden, you have a guy that's a Pro Bowl candidate at kicker. You know that that you end up finding, Um, what is one of your favorite

memories from this series? There's been so many great games between the Panthers and Falcons, and I'm kind of tracking back already a little bit here, But what are some of your favorite memories from from this rivalry? Oh man, I mean, the thing that stands out to me about the Panthers and the Falcons is just how dang weird

it always is. I mean, really, from the very first game when the expansion Carolina Panthers have a chance to win their very first game and they take the Falcons to overtime on the road and Appalachian States, Derek Graham gets called for a false start that sets him back, you know, and ends up being a costly penalty down stretch and they lose. But this game, this series has been full of nine six games and weirdness, and you know,

people getting behind Hruki Knackamara over the top and that. Man, it's just a please, It's just all these calamities that could happen always seemed to come together when the Falcons and Panthers. I mean, I I admittedly Mick is lyrical about cam Newton and what he means, but when I think of Panthers Falcons games, I think of chaos, and I think of you know, strange things that you don't see in other games coming to bear. I'm the lyrical Gangster by the way, flashing you back to some music

from back in the day. What was the year was that the Panthers needed to win down there? Yeah, that was big to go seven eight and one and win the division. I mean thirty four to three or something like that, just played them right off their feet. I think the there's a sense right now after that Miami game and then going to the buy of just kind of this like kind of throwing up the hands of the fan base after all of the excitement from you know, going into Washington. But you look at the wild Card

race right now. I mean, you come out there, you run the ball, you gotta win over Atlanta, and then Buffalo has had problems and then all of a sudden, it's like what I mean, it's all right there in front of you. Yeah, it is. And and it's hard for people to wrap their minds around. And that's why I say, I mean, there's so much about defining what this season is going to be and what the future

is going to be in these next five weeks. I mean, you know, we talked about the Hope misery index last time we talked, and I said, you're you're at one point, you're talking about where in the top ten are they going to be drafting versus do they still have playoff chances? And it's kind of leaning one direction after Miami, but it does still exist and I and I think for so many of those guys that locker room. I mean, these are auditions for next year from Matt Ruling the

Panthers and for other teams in general. And you know, it's important for all these guys, but there's still so much to be determined, and it can go in either direction. This makes no sense to the hard analytical mind. I mean, here we are talking about that. All the goals are still right there and I've done it too, But yet Matt Rule described the Miami game as bad football. So

we're you know, it's just doesn't add up. Which has got to get the football right, I mean, fix some basic things, then we can probably talk with a little

more zeal about goals that are still in focus. One of my favorite memories from Atlanta was Trey Boston one year has a pick six and Trey Boston gets into the end zone and as he's approaching the ends, he does a forward dive somersault like Kathy Rigby or Olga Corbett or somebody pops up then shoots off imaginary six guns, then does the Michael Jackson moon walk across the back rail of the end zone. So we have him on our post game show, and Eugene asked a question, and

Jim's Okay asked a question. Finally it comes my turn to ask a question. I said, Tray, I said, you went through these menu options. You did almost every celebration in the history of team sports. When you knew you were going to score, did you give any thought to acting like you'd been there before? And he paused, He said, no, man, I didn't want to act like I've been there before, Mick, I wanted to act like I've never been there before. And I said, what you did. That's the joy of

that touchdown. Though, I still Tray as a treasure. He's an absolute treasure. The this this I feel like. I remember there's a lot of dives into end zones in Falcons games Cam Newton, among them the seventy two yard run at home I think in fourteen or fifteen where he dove in the end zone, and then the the win in twenty seventeen where he did the Superman as he's getting pulled down by his back foot and did a Titanic dive with one hand. Yeah. I forgot about that.

Yeah that was good. That's the kind of stuff he can still do. Mick, you said it before. Your first year with the Panthers was two thousand five. I think in the chronology or the history of this team, like everyone kind of focuses on, oh, three and fifteen is

you know, the NFC championship years. But I always get fascinated by the really good teams that you know, football happens and things happen, and down the road all the running backs get hurt and all of a sudden you go to Seattle and you know you kind of don't have your your full squadron. What was that two thousand five team like, because I I feel like it was a pretty really good team. I'll never forget the Giants game.

The Panthers begin the playoffs by going to New York to play the Giants, and the g Men were rolling and it's a bitter cold, clear day, but a really really cold day, and that stadium was, I mean off the chain. They were ready to explode. And I thought, man, if the Giants even go up three to nothing. The noise in here is just gonna just wash the Panthers right on out of the playoffs. But the Panthers would have nothing of it. We're just we're the better team.

Took him apart, piece by piece, Giants fans had nothing to cheer about. Zero. Then Carolina goes to Chicago another cold day, and now the Chicago crowd is even That was the first time ever in the my broadcast career that I've been offered cigarettes, beer, and venison all in the same game. In Chicago it Soldier Field. You broadcast from an open air booth and you're right there in the stands. So the Schwartzky, the super fans, you know, Ron and Bob Schwarsky, are right there in front of you.

They can hear what you're saying. They can converse with you, which they do. And their secondary, they had this music planning. Their secondary is rocking and rolling and thumping. But I'm thinking to myself, you guys, do realize that you're not You don't have an answer for Jake the Loon to Steve Smith and the Panthers win that game and then go to Seattle and just did not have just had kind of spent so much and do you remember that, I do? I mean, and they were on an absolute

role and that was peaque Steve Smith. That's the year Steve won the triple Crown in the league and receptions yards and receiving touchdowns, and it was it was not an untalented team. There were a lot of dudes on that team who are really good. It was probably on paper a better football team than the Oh Three team that went to the Super Bowl. But you know, they ran out of they ran out of running backs and Stephen Davis got heard early on the Shawn Foster then

got hurt. And then you go out to Seattle and lofa to Tupu knocks Nick Goings out of the game, gives them a concussion early, and they're down to Jamal Robertson, a little kick returner slash alleged running back from Ohio Northern University. I remember that they're the Polar Bears for some reason. Um, but it was down to hand it to Jamal Robertson in Seattle was like, yeah, go ahead,

have a party, do all that you want. And it was over, I mean, And it was such a sudden fall for a team that burned so brightly because Steve that year was just a force of nature. I mean, there was no stopping him. The Chicago playoff game was one of the most incredible postseason performances by receiver I've ever seen in my life. I mean, he just no one could cover him, and he knew it, and they knew it, and they still couldn't do anything about it.

Walk into the Seattle game, the NFC Championship game from the hotel, I remember thinking, this is a difference between football here and football in the American South. In in in our world, people where panther colors, of course, but you have in every section, you'll have the couple that decides to just put on their finery and wear a maroon dress. Or where the the orange sweater that guy got for Christmas or what have you. At Seattle, I felt like these fans were extras in a Scorsesey film.

And they had all every single one of them had on Seattle Seahawk colors. That was impressive. It probably is the highest jersey per capita I have seen in the league. I mean, and and because some of them are that crazy green you know too. I mean they tend to stand out in a crowd anyway. But it is a it is a committed fan base, and it's a different setting to I mean, because there is you know, there's

more of a walk up Crown. I mean a lot of places you've got a big central parking lot or something like Kansas City with like Buffalo's like that, but it's just it's popped down in the middle of the city and people were walking in from every direction and you can just feel it building the closer you get there were I don't want to put the car before the horse, But how does that compare to to a Buffalo? You know, that kind of outside, that cold, that intense loyalty.

You know we're gonna see that next week. That's a different world. Man. You've gotta be wired differently to enjoy that, being that cold and committing that kind of vandalism to office furniture. Um, yeah, it's it's a different mindset that I don't necessarily possess, and I don't know that the

good people of Charlotte necessarily have it either. Going to Buffalo a couple of years ago, play It's been a while, but going up there, I remember thinking, Okay, this is in Orchard Park, New York, and I looked all over and I did not see anything that looked anything like an orchard or or a park. I saw a lot of it looks like a maximum security prison up there. There's just chain link fence and the fans. I remember the fans throwing eggs at our buses. When I mean,

it's like a it's a residential street. You're coming in on a street with two lane street and then turning into a parking lot and you're there, yeah, and it and it's not close to much of anything. It's kind of out in the country. It's almost like if if the Panthers had built a stadium in Locust or something. I mean, it's it's out there, a little bit away from everything, but it's uh yeah, it's definitely a different vibe. But it takes something. I mean, I remember I remember

being up there and being exceedingly cold. And there was an old ryder used to cover the team, Denny Sides, who worked Murder Herald Journal, and he was a Western New York guy, and he was like, it's really not that called out here today. You get that scratching your throat And he was standing out there in a sweater, and I'm like, no, this is the coldest place I've

ever been in my life. Any this is not okay. Well, and the Panthers have have usually been there in August, in preseason, in September, like getting a December game in Buffalo has been pretty rare. So I've already started looking at the long range forecast and now it ain't great. You can see that it's well, it's not. I don't know. I don't even want to talk about it. I mean, it sounds like it's going to be cold, if not legendarily cold. You're inside there though, right, you're not outside

like Chicago, or you outside like outside. I do not know. We have a sort of a tradition that we opened the wind. If the windows open, we open them, and that's just kind of how you do it. You want to get the natural sound. You don't want to sound like you're in a in a phone booth broadcast in the game. So we uh, yeah, we'll see. I will not be electing to open the windows wherever I'm sitting. That game at Minnesota where they were building their dome

and we play at the University of Minnesota. My first words on the air, I think that day it's not safe to be up here. It was that completely outside. No, no, you know, I mean obviously there's windows, but you know there's some heat or whatever around you, right, We opened our windows and it was just it was just insanely cold. I mean your coffee, just trying to take a bite out of your coffee after two or three minutes and it so I was so glad to get on that

plane and go home. The South is great. By the way, pine trees are underrated, sweet tea is underrated. This is the spot that you want to be. I'm not leaving it for a bit, so I'll let you guys go enjoy all these road trips. Where are you and Ana're gonna make your home? We've we've gotten a lot of questions about that, and including, uh, you know, what's happening for the next six months and then you know all the years after that. I I would like to stay

around here. Her family from Raleigh, my family from Charleston. We do not have a date yet, and we don't have a location yet. We don't worry. You'll get filled in on all that at the appropriate time. I know you'll find that that generally the wife wins the battle. If there is a battle over whose family you eat Thanksgiving with, whose family you spend Christmas, you'll be lucky if you you'll have to wear a name tag to go see your own family in a few years. My

my mom is very is you know. It's a strong presence in in that in that debate, but I I am usually pretty open her. Her family's great, so I enjoy spending time with them. Congratulations again, Bro, thank you happy for you see nothing but happy here on the Happy half Hour. Yeah, I hope, I hope everyone didn't completely hate my cameo for for Christen today. Mick, thank you for joining us. That's it. Yeah, itever, look at

the clock. We've we've done our stuff. Maybe we can see if we can get an update from christ and Belboni on the special assignment before next week's episode. It's a boy baby coming and names that we have proposed our Mick Mickey Forest, Oriyan, Jake, Jake. I like that, the Zoake Forest to Ryan Balboni. I don't think they're going with any of our suggestion, you know, I do like Jake Jacob be Fun, Jake Balbi, Jake Jordan Balboni has a chance, Jake, Jake Jordan Balboni. Yeah, all right, well,

thank you for joining us, Mick. Maybe we'll maybe we'll see you again next week or some of the weeks after that. You'll you'll have to queue me up on doing this whole hosting thing better. You know, you're you're usually the one carrying the carrying the train. You did great. I was profoundly uncomfortable by not being able to control the happy half hour, but I'm honored to be a small times you've gotta be a past. Thanks guys,