Was the firing of Brian Kelly at LSU a bad move? How it impacts Florida. Plus, PGA major champ Stewart Cink and one more spin around the track with NASCAR legend Larry Mac.
Welcome to the full video episodes of the “No Off Days with Scott Smith” podcast! FOX 13 News Tampa Bay’s Sports Director Scott Smith is joined by news anchor and part time funny man Chris Cato, plus producer Brian King, to talk about the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa Bay Rays, and Tampa Bay Rowdies. The guys interview sports legends and major players from FOX Sports, plus discuss the state of play in everything from golf to goalies. #nodpod #nooffdays #sports
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In sports, if you want to be the best, there are no off days. Welcome into the No Off Days podcast. He is Chris Ko. PK is in the booth. I am Scott Smith. And um you look like you you stayed up really late last night watching some World Series baseball. Is that true? Wearing the bags. You can see the bags. Yeah. I couldn’t take my eyes off. You stayed up till I already have sleeping problems. We know that. I’m usually up till 2:30 anyway. But I couldn’t take my eyes off that drama in Los Angeles. Oh my gosh. I tried and I was just I couldn’t keep my eyes open and so I just said, “You know what? I’m I’m going to I don’t have any I don’t have a dog in the hunt. I’ll just find out in the morning who won.” And uh you know, Freddy Freeman getting it done. But I I kind of had a feeling it was probably going to be the Dodgers at some point. It could have gone on for 30 innings and it looked like the Blue Jays weren’t going to score. And that I didn’t have a dog in the hunt either. I don’t know why I was it was just so dramatic and it was so uh that’s one thing that the World Series gives you I think that you don’t get in any other other of the major sports championships is these critical moments where it takes the right pitching change or the right pinch hitter these machinations are going on and everything’s just kind of you know on a knife’s edge. BK let’s bring in what do we have on today’s big program? We got another double guest show. How about this guy? Yeah. Are we over booking these things, man? or are they just everybody just knocking down the doors to get on our podcast? I think that’s it. The more people realize what we’re doing here, the more they’re all clamoring for a spot on the Nodpot. They want to be interviewed by Scott over Zoom. They love it. Keep it going. First up, we’re going to have Steuart Sink major winner. They got a tournament coming here, the Sketchers World Championship Tournament coming here in 1 of December. It’s almost like a writer Cup style event. So, talk to him a little bit about that. That’s another major winner we have here on the podcast. Yeah. Do you remember that 2009 Open win when he was he was taking on uh what Watson? He was like almost 60 years old. Was that the one? Yeah. And so, uh yeah, that was at Turnberry. Yep. Okay. Okay. Looking forward to that one. That’s awesome. And then we’re going to It’s the championship weekend for NASCAR. So, we’ll bring back America’s crew chief Larry Mcrenolds. My friend Larry Mack. We’re going to spin it around the track one last time here in 2025. People love that. Cannot get enough of Larry Mac. He’s nudging into nodpod fod. Yeah, he’s he’s getting there. I mean, he’s certainly a friend of the show. He’s he’s been a friend of the show for quite some time. We we’ve leaned on Larry, but we’ve never gone this deep into the NASCAR season with him, right? Um so we said, you know what, we kind of always get that appetizer during the Fox slate of games, but we want the full course. We we want everything that Larry has to offer, and we’re getting it uh this year. So, uh, looking forward to have him on the, uh, Nod Pod yet again this week as they close things out in Phoenix. And then at the end of the show, end of the show, guys, it’s end of October, so you know what that means. Candy. Candy. Falling. Pumpkin spice leaves falling. Also, the National Toy Hall of Fame finalist back. Oh, wow. Has it been a year already? It has been. They’re about to announce the finalist. So, give you the finalist and you tell me what you think of these guys. We got some oddball. There’s one. There’s always a couple odd balls. Oh, there’s one here. We got three. I hope this is the year for What was our We were trying to champion who through the finish line. No, no, he’s in Oh, was it horse stick horse? Horses of katan. Yeah. No, it was something we both enjoyed. Was it Masters of the Universe? I don’t remember. But anyway, there’s some strange ones this year. Yeah. Okay. Very good. Broken glass. Dirt keo dirt. All right. Thank you, BK. If you’re listening and you want to watch, go to fox3news.com/nodpot. If you’re watching and you want to listen or subscribe, you can take out your phone, zap the QR code, and head to our show page. Feel free to leave comments on our YouTube channel or a fivestar rating with iTunes if you feel so inclined. Please subscribe fox13news.com/nodpod. All right, as we always do, we we we love to talk college football here, and it’s hard to kind of get past the big story in college football, and that is uh the all the the coaching openings that are now uh out there. And these are major big- time programs that are looking for a new head coach. And this last week it was Brian Kelly ousted at in Baton Rouge. And I think this probably Chris check me on this probably rises to the top job in college football. And you got some big ones too cuz Florida, Penn State of course staying in the SEC. Arkansas is a nice job as well. Uh but but I think LSU has got to be number one. Most attractive. I do. I think it was it was surprised me a little bit because of how much fanfare was made and it feels like it was just like last year. I know he’s been there now a few seasons. Uh but Brian Kelly to be ousted there. Uh I’m just surprised. I I think that the the the arc of his coaching career usually trends always upward. It seems like everywhere he goes towards, you know, he starts winning and then he wins a lot towards like the end and u he builds a program. He he he’s a builder. Yeah. And I get like there’s people that bag on how he comes across and he does he’s very much a a politician. Like that’s that’s the way Yeah. There’s a cringe factor. Yeah, there is. And we saw plenty of that when he first came on board with with LSU and and the fake, you know, me and my family. I do declare. Uh yeah, and then like the whole photo thing with him doing the dancing with the recruit. Yeah, he’s got cringe moments, but the results speak for themselves. Yeah. You know, and um I thought he had a good run, you know, everywhere he’s been, but you know, at Notre Dame, he left and and he took the the the bigger job, the more the higher pay, the you know, the better opportunity probably for a national championship at LSU. And now he’s gone out of a job. So surprised by that. But what does that tell you? Does it tell you that they have a guy that they’re maybe worried about Florida stealing? And could that name be uh rhyme with uh Schmain Miffin? I don’t know. Is that what we we think? I think you don’t fire a Brian Kelly without having someone in mind that you want to go after. Now, is it Lane Keifin? Possibly. But, you know, Scott Woodward, the AD that hired Kelly away from Notre Dame. And to your point, when when they made that move in two 2021, everyone thought, “Wow, this is a home run hire, a hundred million dollars to leave Notre Dame where he had had some success.” They went to a college football champion back when it was BCS championship game in 2012 and then two college football playoff appearances. lost all three, but still the thought was since at Notre Dame he had limitations with admissions requirements and academics. You take him to LSU, plant him there in that fertile recruiting ground, throw all this money at him, and let’s watch this rocket take off and it just didn’t happen. Now, he won some games, but it nothing ever clicked at the same time. Offense was great for a couple years, had Jaden Daniels, a Heisman Trophy winner. Defense was awful. get the defense fixed this year and the offense can’t do anything when you have Garrett Nusmire, a quarterback that was one of the preseason Heisman favorites and it just wasn’t working. Let’s let’s peel back the curtain. What’s behind door number one for LSU? Could it be the same as what’s behind the the curtain for Florida? Cuz you know, if Florida, it seems like it’s they’re going all in for Lane Keifin. At least that’s what the rumors seem to suggest. Now, there are other names. If you you know, pull up the uh you probably have it. Do you have the uh I always have the odds. The odds are plugged in. What are the Are they different? Are they different guys for LSU and Florida? I Let me get Florida’s odds. I can tell you uh LSU’s odds right now is John Summerall, the head coach at Tulain. Um which is a little surprising, but he is a Louisiana guy. And also I think there’s the thought behind him is that you could certainly pay him a lot less than the what was Kelly getting 10 11 million a year. And you could spend more of your money there toward roster building and staff retention and that kind of thing. Uh Joe Brady is second on this list. Joe Brady was part of at Oeron’s staff that won a national championship there with that electric Joe Buro. He has never been a head coach though. Have has he? Uh no. Okay. He’s not. I don’t think so. He’s not. He’s currently I think in with Buffalo in the NFL. Then then Kein’s third on this list with um and Franklin right behind him and then Eli Drinkitz. This is LSU’s list. I mean, I would I would be surprised if LSU doesn’t take a swing at somebody that we all deem as unreachable because uh I would I don’t know why you’d you’d pass on a guy that’s been a proven head coach year after year. He has competed for national championships and Brian Kelly to then go for a guy that like has never been a head coach. I just think that’s such a risk, you know? I do see what you mean about why would you take a risk on that when you could get a proven commodity over here. I did see the Florida next head coaching odds are not quite the same as LSU’s. You don’t have a um John Sallall at the top. You do have Kein followed by Jeff Braum now at Louisville, then James Franklin, then Eli Drink. Be a while. But back to this though, Scott Woodward, the AD at LSU who hired Kelly, is also the same AD when he was at Texas A&M who hired Jimbo. So now this guy Scott Woodward has your highest ever buyout of Jimbo 73 million and your second highest ever with Kelly and he’s going to get to take another swing at this and he has a proven track record of going big and throwing big money. So I don’t think it’s going to be a John Summerall. I think it’s probably going it might be a name that blows us away. I think Nick S. I I would call Sabin first and let him tell me no. I mean your hope would be that you could squeeze five years out of the old guy and maybe a national championship or two. I’d call Urban Meyer and then I think Marcus Freeman just like we talked about last week with um Florida search. I I think you’ve got to try to get and Dan Lanning too. There’s no harm in that for sure. I would definitely do that if I was LSU. Um you know coming back to Kein here, I just think he is such a uh an interesting figure because kind of uh playing opposite Brian Kelly who it seems like where he goes he plants for a while he builds. uh with Lane Keifin. I almost wonder now the results at Miss speak for themselves and what he did prior at FAU was great as well, but that that’s FAU. So, but he seems to be a guy that is almost better or more hyped and like not as good in reality maybe, you know, and I the reality of is the is the aura of Lane better than the reality of Lane? Because you look at I mean he is the classic like riches to rags to riches to rags to riches story like you know it’s like he everywhere he goes his his coaching history is so interesting. I was just kind of reminding myself of it. You know he’s he’s the offensive whiz at USC. First of all he’s obviously Silver Spoon because his his dad it’s a riches to riches to riches story is but there are some rags in there. I mean as as raggedy as they could be right. I mean, but then you get the opportunity at age 31 to to be the head coach of the Raiders. That obviously disintegrates and, you know, Al Davis kind of runs you through the ringer, has some bad things to say about you, but he he pops up at Tennessee. He’s he’s one and done at Tennessee, takes the USC job. So, his his his reputation certainly takes a hit as a as a guy that just, you know, maybe he’s just not all that he’s cracked up to be. Too young, too immature at some of those stops. uh takes the USC job, but it kind of coincides after um Pete Carol leaves and so you have the sanctions and so that hurts. Um but he’s ultimately fired there. Bama takes a flyer on him, revamps his career under Sabin. Um not maybe the best personality mix, but he makes it work and and I think that probably saves his coaching career. I think it did. Um and but then he ends up splitting and I probably not on the best of terms. He cost Alabama national championship during that 2017 or Yeah. season. Yeah. So then he he gets the opportunity at FAU and and and Old Miss, he’s made it work. And I I wonder if like maybe the climate of college football is is hitting him in stride because he’s kind of been this portal guy, been able to make it work there. Um and he plays the social media game. Like players seem to love playing for him. So I just wonder if like maybe he’s hitting his stride at 50, you know, like maybe that’s what we’re finding out. Not that he’s he’s made a lot of money in his coaching career. think he’s matured. He’s not the same coach he was 10, 15 years ago, certainly. And has talked a lot about, you know, he’s stopped drinking. He’s made life changes, too. He may not be as mature. Hot yoga. He does hot yoga. Um, so I do think he’s a different guy than he was 10 years ago, but it’s when you look at him and Brian Kelly, though, you do have to ask yourself what what’s the difference if if LSU is going after Kein, what’s the difference? I mean, Kein, Kelly’s got a better overall winning percentage than Kein. Kelly’s done more in the postseason than Kein because Kelly has been to a national championship game and then two playoff appearances. Keifin hasn’t done that yet. Um, so I don’t know. I mean, it’s just I I all these coaches are fascinating stories because there’s very few that are just like, you know, Nick Sabin where it’s like, oh, everywhere he goes, he wins and he’s just the, you know, but even for Sabin, like there was, you know, there was a stop at Miami that was a slight taint, I guess. I don’t know. I mean, he still did all right, but like I think like for all these guys, they go someplace and it’s like you cleanse your memory just a little bit of what they did and why they got fired and then you come back to the reality of like, yeah, oh no, wait, they’re actually really good coaches. Like that’s going to happen with James Franklin. Like he’s gonna sit out a coaching cycle. He’s going to go somewhere. He will be back at the top competing with some team before too long. It might happen very soon. Same thing with Brian Kelly. And I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened with Napier as well. Um but all these guys, it’s like you get just one coaching cycle removed and they go from, oh man, they’re awful. They can’t win the big one to they’re back they’re back on top leading a new program. And and I I have no doubt that Do you think Kein I mean I’m sorry Kean Franklin and Kelly take one of these openings that’s currently open? Like could you see a situation where Kelly ends up at Penn State? Yes, I could see that. Yeah, I could see Brian Kelly at Penn State for sure. Plugged in in that part of the country. Yeah. Yeah, that would that would be a fit actually. And I think Penn State would be lucky and happy to get him. I think they would be happy to get him. Absolutely. You know, as for James Franklin, I I could see him popping up at maybe at like an Arkansas or, you know, taking a Virginia Tech job or, you know, one of the the not premier gigs, but a really good opportunity. Uh, I don’t see them really at an Oklahoma State, but um, yeah, I I think that these guys are probably I they don’t need it. They don’t need to work. I mean, they don’t need to ever work, but they could certainly afford to sit out of co a coaching cycle. I could see, you know, some of them even maybe like I could see a James Franklin doing maybe like some ESPN stuff doing like a, you know, do I don’t know. You never know. These guys pop up. They want to, you know, like Dan Mullen, the track that he took, you know, and and by the way, he’s popped up recently on as an LSU potential candidate. And didn’t you say Jimbo, too? He’s another Yeah, Jimbo has told his agent to start to start fishing. They can’t stay away. 76 million isn’t enough. That guy on the beach and he’s back ready to roll. I’m sure he’ll get an opportunity to. By the way, you mentioned uh the Alabama Clemson game. Yes. The national championship is coming back to Tampa, my friend. It is. I’m still have PTSD from the last time I was here. It was a pick play in the end zone. Deshawn Watson 2029 is coming back. And nobody hosts a championship better than Tampa Bay. And uh happy to have Let’s project who’s going to be in that one. 2029. 2029. Um gosh. Uh, let’s see. That by that year, we’re going to have a 32 team playoff anyways. Exactly. So, it could be I mean, it could be anybody’s. I I think Kirby’s retired by then. Yeah, I think he’s out. So, Georgia’s not in. Okay. Um, let’s say it’s a it’s a renaissance for the Big 12. We got Iowa State winning the national championship. No, you think I think it’s coach Sig in Indiana. He’s about to go on this heater. They’re going to win this year and just he’s will be playing for national championship number five by then. I did see somebody’s a 12man playoff or a 12 team playoff bracket and they had Indiana as the number one seed. So obviously you know what happens if that’s the case. They could do it if they win the Big 10. That would be wild. I can’t wait. There’s going to be some uh BK was taking me through some scenarios in which you had in the ACC you had four teams making it in. No, I’m telling you because they don’t play each other. That’s the problem. I mean, I I don’t think that they’re going to make I don’t think that’s going to be the case, but I could you could play out a scenario in which Brian, come back in here real quick. Outline what you had. It was Virginia winning the ACC. You have Georgia Tech suffering their only loss in the ACC championship game. Is that right? Miami wins out. Miami gets in with one loss, but they didn’t make it into the championship game. And then who’s the fourth team that I’m going to pit? Louisville. Louisville. Louisville wins. And they beat Miami. So, their one loss is to Miami, but of course, you know, who’s getting the short end of the stick? Notre Dame. Notre Dame and the and the SEC probably a little bit. I just don’t see them putting four ACC teams in even if they’re deserving. Even if they’re deserving, you going to leave out Miami and put Notre Dame in after Miami beat Notre Dame? That’s I mean, that’s Are you going to leave out It’s a good point. Louisville. What a what a conundrum. Miami that you’re not going to have you will not find a quicker way to a 16 team playoff than getting four ACC teams in this year. And that would mean that would mean I mean there’s a good chance that ACC would under that scenario would have more teams than what the SEC has or even the Big 10. I can’t imagine that. What world is that? That’s bizarro world. That’s what it is. Crazy. But I love it. I mean, look, that’s why we need 2014 playoff. Just I’m telling you, it’s going to be college basketball. Let’s widen it out. It’s It’s good as it is. Yeah, it’s going to be January madness. It’s going to be a wonderful thing. Get ready for it. All right. Uh thanks, BK. Appreciate that. Uh coming up on the other side, we’re going to check in with the 2009 winner of the Open Championship. One, Steuart Sink. He’s killing it, by the way, right now on the Champions Tour. And he’s coming to our neck of the woods here at the the first week of December. So, we’ll have a chance to catch up with him coming up coming up. [Music] Welcome back to the No Off Days podcast, Chris. Uh December 4th through the 7th over at Feathertown Country Club in Clearwater, we have the Sketchers World Champions Cup. Uh it is think Ryder Cup on the Champions Tour. Team US, team Europe. Oh yeah, we got three teams. We got team USA, team USA, we got Europe, and we got team international. So all the other countries well represented as well. The teams are eightman uh teams and one of those that will be leading the way for team USA had a chance to catch up with this week. He’s an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour in the 2009 Open champion, Steuart Sink. I know right now you are uh just killing it on the Champions Tour. A couple of wins this year, 14 top 10 finishes, you’re third in the Charles Schwab Cup standings right now. So, I know that you’re not doing as many tour events these days, but I got to think that your game is feeling pretty good right now. Yeah, it’s it’s been a good year. Um, start to finish for the most part. Who wouldn’t like to have a few more wins? You know, I’ve been in the hunt quite a lot and I let a couple go, but that’s just kind of the nature of sports business. You know, it happens. But, it’s been fun. um committing to the PJ tour champions for the whole season I think made a big difference to uh my you know where my heart was out there as far as competition and I had nothing on the other side like in the regular tour that I was looking forward to going back to. So u I consider myself a champions tour player and and that’s that’s what I’ll be from here on out. Good stuff. All right, so the first week of December uh we’ve got the Sketchers uh World Champions Cup at Feather Sound here in Clear Water. Uh, so think writers cup for champions tour guys. As someone that’s been a part of Ryder Cup teams, President’s Cup teams in the past, I got to think that you you like this format. What What do you think about having some of the old guys that you’ve played with for years now being able to do this at the Champions Tour level? Well, I think anyone like myself who’s been a part of any of those teams would say it’s the highlight of their career because it’s just so unusual. I mean, most of us have played a lot of events. I’ve played something like 700 events and maybe more. I don’t even know. But it’s uh the ones where you play with a partner and you represent your flag. Those are the ones that stand out because they’re just they’re they’re not one of the 700. They’re just a a tiny little sliver and they stand out for you. So getting a chance to renew this type of format where you’re playing with fellow Americans, you’re playing against players from both the European countries and the rest of the world countries. So, it’s kind of a Ryder Cup and President’s Cup all mixed up into one blender. It’s I I heard the last time it was awesome. And all the players were like, “Yes, you definitely have to play.” So, uh, I want this experience and I want us to to win this thing again. It’s going to be a lot of fun. So you got eightman teams and as you kind of laid out you you you got a US team, you got an international squad, you got a team of Euros, but let’s start with with your teammates, guys like Stricker and Fury, guys that you’ve played alongside, relationships that go back, you know, decades. Who who’s like the biggest hoot to play with that you are looking forward to teaming up with in this event? The biggest hoot? Oh gosh. Um on our team, let’s see. Well, Jerry Kelly’s a hoot and um playing with him is always fun. Uh then we have some new guys. Jason Jason Karen, uh a guy from up in the Northeast. This will be new experience for him. Um he’s a great guy to play with. I don’t know if I’d call him a hoot necessarily. He might call me a hoot. I don’t know. But it’s just uh it’s a good mix of players. Um obviously quality players who have made this squad. So um a lot of my tightest friendships are from these team events over the years. you know, Stricker, uh, Furick, certainly those two guys, you know, we go back in playing and in various captain roles. You know, I’ve never been a captain of anything, but I’ve been assistant captain a few times and played a lot of those. So, um, those those relationships are are really forged in this environment. And so, I’m looking forward to forging some new ones with those other guys. And, uh, we’ll see who’s a hoot when it, um, when the event unfolds in December. Better to be a hoot than a toot, I suppose. So, um, on the other side, okay, so international guys, Euro guys, you know, trash talking is is a part of this, right? So, is there somebody that has a reputation that kind of precedes them that you think is going to really kind of start to ratchet things up? I would probably say Darren Clark would have to be the one who might be responsible for stirring that pot up. Um, we’ve definitely gone against each other in the Ryder Cup. I would I would say more than once probably in matches. Certainly, you know, the European versus the American thing is just the long-standing traditional almost hatred. Um, I love Darren Clark, by the way, but I hate that he’s a European guy. So, um, but the interesting thing about this format will be that it’s a it’s kind of like a three-way match. Um, for people that are familiar with golf, it’s not just headtohead, it’s headto head to head. And so, there’s points available on each hole. And, um, your goal is going to be to get the most points out of those holes that you can get, but it’s a three-way match. So way different than the standard match play that you see at the Ryder Cup and President’s Cup. But one thing that’ll be common to those things is will be this the trash talking. And that’s where I put Darren Clark probably at the head of that train. What makes for good trash talk? Is it I mean is it like in your face? Is it just a a passing comment as you’re passing on the green? Like how how does it typically play out for those of us that can’t hear it? Well, the biggest thing is first of all, everybody on all these teams respects the heck out of each other. Sure, we’ve we’ve we’ve won and lost against each other plenty of times. So, that all equals out. The key is to keep that respect intact and recognize the idiosyncrasy of a situation. Maybe it’s like a certain putt that matters for the team or, you know, a shot that maybe, you know, you didn’t pull off one time when you were in contention with that player and and delivering it in a classy way. And that’s why I named Darren Cart because he seems to always have like his finger on the pulse of the match at any time and he knows when there’s a key moment to deliver a line like that. Yeah. Probably has a pretty good memory, too, I’m guessing. Um, all right. You mentioned a minute ago um the fact that you’d never been captain of anything, but did I read this right that that you would be certainly you would entertain or kind of lobby I guess to be captain of the Ryder Cup? Absolutely. I mean, it’s it’s not something you go out and uh campaign for necessarily. And me talking about it in the media is kind of my way of campaigning for it just to make sure everyone’s aware. I just don’t want there to be a misunderstanding by this selection committee of mystery, whoever it is, that they think, oh, I don’t think Sink wants to be involved in this. Well, that’s not true. So, um, the only way I know to get it out there is to get it out there myself. And so, yeah, of course, I’d love to be a captain sometime. And, uh, you know, I would have loved to have been one already, but it hasn’t happened. So, um, I’ve got a lot of experience and, um, I I just, uh, I’m tired of seeing the US losing the RED Cup. you know, it just seems like there’s a rut going and that uh we we got to do something about. Um so 2009 open win at Turnberry. Um I I know that this is probably the most asked about question when it comes to your career as you look back. Um but how how long does it feel is it one of those memories that feels like it was yesterday or does does it feel like it was forever ago? How how does it feel in your kind of memory bank? It it feels like it was yesterday. I I can’t believe that it’s been over 16 years since that happened. It feels like yesterday and um you know there’s obviously it’s a important day in my career. So uh to think back to the things that happened you know it was uh pretty intense and those intense moments get sort of blazed into your mind and your memories a little bit more distinctly. So it feels like yesterday and um you know probably not a day goes by where I don’t at least have a passing thought about something from that day. So, I mean, you finished top 25 a couple years ago at the Open, and I know that like the the oldest major champ is Mickelson at 50. Um, but you know, Tom Watson was 59 that year and that you went up against him. So, do you kind of feel like you never know, you know, if things are if everything’s kind of rolling rolling right on a certain week that maybe I can top Mickelson’s record? Yeah. I mean, I think one thing that came from 09 when Watson almost won, uh, much to the world’s, you know, dismay that he didn’t win. Um, what came out of that is that certainly that that golf gives you that kind of a long runway that and especially at the Open Championship, if conditions are right, it’s not necessarily a power game. I mean, power always helps, but it’s not required when the conditions are right at the Open Championship because it’s more about controlling your trajectory and and roll and keeping it in play and creativity. So, um I certainly think that in in my case, I’m playing golf. I’m probably playing the best golf career. Um, you know, it’s a little bit hard statistically to sort of quantify that because the Champions Tour doesn’t do the same kind of statistics as the BJ tour, but I feel like I’ve I’ve got more overall to offer in the game than I ever had at any point in my career. And I certainly would love the opportunity to to maybe, you know, rely on Tom’s example and maybe compete when I was in my 50s. I I don’t think people maybe not everybody, at least I I wasn’t as familiar. You kind of think of the clear jug almost as like the Stanley Cup, like the winner kind of gets it for a period of time, but but you actually get a replica and then you get a a replica of the replica later. How does you do you spend time with it as if it’s like the Stanley Cup? You take it places people share drinks out of it. Like how does that how does that work? Yeah, you just described it. It does work like that. You you get you get this this the actual one and you keep that until the next open championship. So you keep it for a year. During that year, they also send you a a replica of it for permanency, which so that means you kind of have two for a little while. It’s kind of nice to have two. The original one goes back the following year. But yeah, during that time, I don’t know what everybody does with it, but I’ve heard some stories. I I certainly shared it. I let the clubs that I belong to here in Atlanta where I live, have it for their member guests, and so I’m still getting pictures and stories from people who like drunk out of it and all that, you know. And we use it for uh a few beverages oursel and we might have used it for like say barbecue sauce a couple times here and there. But yeah, it’s it is like the Stanley Cup. I mean, it’s uh it’s something that you want to share with people because it’s quite an experience. Uh last question, totally not golf related, but you’re a Georgia Tech guy, so I feel like I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least ask if you’re following what’s going on on the football front this year. Absolutely. It’s been fun. Uh we’ve been waiting a while, you know, for for this. who’ve been uh Georgia Tech nation. I guess it’s not really a big nation like some, but it’s uh there’s a few out there have been waiting for a while and going through some, you know, despair on the on the grid iron, but it’s been fun this year watching uh the team continue to win and, you know, they’re in the conversation for the the college football playoff. I mean, it’s it’s amazing and I hope they can continue playing well, but um we’re just tickled with uh Coach Key. He’s just done so well and um his attitude seems to be like infecting the whole team and yeah, so I’m happy for him and and for the players mostly. You take out those dogs in the last week of the regular season and uh and you’re in, baby. Um all right, so it’s the Sketchers World Champions Cup supporting Shriners Children’s at Feathertown and Clearwater December 4th through the 7th. And it’s nationally televised on ABC and ESPN, but if you want to check it out in person, tickets are available at world championscup.com. He is 2009 open champ Steuart Sink joining us here on the North Days podcast. Stuart, appreciate your time. Okay, anytime. Always fun talking a little golf and surprising a little bit of football with Steuart Sink that Georgia Tech yellow jacket. Plus, uh we got some NASCAR coming up. We are throwing everything at you and the Steuart Sink. Uh we have Larry Mack coming up talking NASCAR as they hit the final week. It’s the final race in the playoffs. Spin it around the track coming up next. Chris, the NASCAR season started all the way back in February in Daytona. Yes, the Daytona 500. What an event it was. It feels like uh it feels like a full year ago. And it it almost is. The NASCAR season is very long. And this weekend, it wraps up in Phoenix. It’s the championship race. Let’s spin it around the track with America’s crew chief, Larry M. So, it all comes down to the final four, Larry. Three of those guys. have are looking for their first cup championship. Chase Brisco, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson of course won it a few years back. What do you first and foremost make of this four driver field? I’ve got to say when I look at these four drivers, Scott, uh this is probably the strongest championship four we have had in a long time, maybe even ever. I I don’t mean to take anything away from past championship four. I don’t mean to take anything away from a drivers that didn’t advance like Chase Elliot, like Christopher Bell, but these four drivers combined, they’ve won 15 races this year. Denny Hamlin won the most races, six races. He’s part of it. The regular season champion, William Byron, he’s part of it. And you just think about these organizations, Hendrickk Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing, they’ve got a combined 19 Cup Series championships. And then you look at wins, it’s a staggering number. These two organizations combined 547 cup wins. I don’t think there’s anybody, maybe people’s challenged what drivers win the championship for in previous years. I don’t see how you could remotely challenge these these four that’s going to be going at it on Sunday. Yeah. One of the big storylines, of course, is Denny Hamlin and he’s won it all except for a championship and I’ve kind of heard it said that um that he’s got to win because he’s kind of run out of ways to lose at this point. Does that kind of thought process you think get into his head just a little bit? You know, the one thing and we’ve been watching Denny for so many years and and how close he’s come and you look at the number of races that he’s won. Been at Joe Gibbs Racing now over 20 years. But I was talking to Dave Alpurn, the president of Joe Gibbs Racing just a couple of days ago and he agreed with my assessment. There’s just something different about Denny right now. He is laser focused. He’s working very hard. Dave Alpurn told me earlier in the week he left the shop one night about about dark time and he said Denny’s car was still in the parking lot there at Joe Gibbs Racing. He was still back there in the simulator with his crew chief Chris Gale. If Denny does not win this thing on Sunday, I can almost promise you it will not be from lack of effort on his part. He is just he is focused in. Yeah, he’s got a lot of distractions right now in many ways, but this guy is laser focused and doing everything he can to dot every eye and cross every tea. Uh, all four of these guys have won at PIR. Um, what how is it going to test them uniquely this Sunday in the final race of the season? Well, yeah, they’ve all won there. Uh, two of them has a win in the Gen 7 car. You know, Chase Brisco has won there. William Byron has won there. Larson and Denny Hamlin’s wins did not come in the Gen 7 era. We raced there in the spring, but it’s been almost eight months ago. It was race number four. Here’s race number 36. Joe Gibbs racing seemed to be pretty strong there. Christopher Bell won the race. Denny Hamlin finished second. I will say Kyle Larson was a very close third. But I’ve also went back, Scott, and I’ve looked at some similar racetracks. I looked at Louden, New Hampshire, and even though team Pinsky, Ryan Blay won it, William Byer finished third, the Hendrick cars seem to be just a little better at Louden. And then and it’s the same tire combination we’re running this weekend that we just ran at Lowden. But then I look back at the St. Louis track, which is another similar racetrack. Denny Hamlin won that race. That’s what I say. I’ve looked at numbers this week to my eyeballs are crossed. And I could sit down and do a 10-minute interview with you on each driver and sell you on here’s the reason this driver will be the Cup Series champion. But I think that’s what’s going to make it so much fun on Sunday. It’s a fairly short race, 312 laps. We may not see a lot of pit stops. So, a lot could come down to execution on pit road. We’ve seen a lot of mistakes on pit road and strategy. Just all these things could add up. Maybe not done who who has the fastest race car, but who does the job on all the other things that goes along with it. Well, and you kind of touch on Denny Hamlet had uh like engine failure last week. He’s had a couple of mechanical problems uh in a couple of races here in the playoffs. Is that a concern at all or how quickly does that just get addressed? Well, I I talked to some folks at Joe Gibbs Racing after Martinsville and yeah, we had three Toyota engine failures or engine related issues at Martinsville with Denny Hamlin, with Chase Brisco, and then with Riley Herps. But even as early as Monday after Martinsville, they seem to have a comfort level of what went on with those engines and they seem like they have no concerns. I think you’ve always got concerns when you’re dealing with mechanical parts and pieces like we do. Unlike stick and ball sports, it’s like somebody told me when you’re when you’re having a rash of fumbles in a with a football team, you can practice and make that better, but it’s hard to get your arms around all the mechanical components with a race car, but there seem to be a comfort level that they’ve got their arms around what went on with those three engines at Martinsville with the Toyotas. All right. So, uh, do you have a hunch? Are you can you predict a winner? Can you give us a name to lock down on? I think because of experience, because of performance at these type of racetracks this year and kind of what I mentioned earlier, just the focus and the commitment and dotting eyes and cross the tees. They’ve won six races this year. I know we’ve said it year in and year out, but I swear I believe this is the year for Denny Hamlin. I will not be a bit surprised. I won’t be surprised to see any of these guys hoisting that trophy on Sunday, but I think this might be, as they used to say in that commercial, I think it’s Denny time. It would certainly be a a great final chapter of this season. And what a career it’s been for Denny already. But um so now, I mean, it’s been nine months since we kicked this thing off almost uh in Daytona. Do you light at the end of the tunnel for you? You got a vacation schedule. What do you What do you do now? Well, we just had two new grandkids come into the fold. So, we now are at four. Three of them are under the age of two. So, we’re going to spend the holidays with a lot of grandkids running around. I’m still going to do my SiriusXM NASCAR radio show on channel 90 every day with Danielle Troda run from 11 to 2 Eastern time. I’ll take a little time around the holidays, but uh if you follow me on social media, LarryMack228, I promise you Monday after Phoenix, we will start the Larry Mack countdown to the 2026 Daytona 500. Good stuff. Well, we appreciate you doing the the long full season with us this year. Uh we appreciate your insights as always, Larry. Thank you. Well, I’ve enjoyed hanging out with you and if I give the fans just a little something maybe to watch for the upcoming race weekend or hang their hat on, then that’s that’s part of the things I enjoy doing. Oh, you certainly do. All right. Thanks you, Larry. Enjoy it Sunday. See you. You take care. All right. Coming up on the No Off Days podcast, uh, we go from race cars to racing cars, maybe. I don’t know what’s in the the toy hall of fame. Matchbox cars. Matchbox cars. We had the Yeah, absolutely. Hot Wheels. They have to be in already. Uh BK joins us with the Toy Hall of Fame inductees for 2025. Next on the Night, [Music] it is time for our fun block here on the No Off Days podcast. And you know what? What brings about fun more than toys? You think playing games? You think fun, you think toys. That’s exactly I mean Brian invents a game every week. I don’t know that any of them are in the toy hall of fame yet. Yeah. But you just hold on to your horses, which is probably another game. Let’s bring in Brian King. BK, of the games that you’ve invented, which do you think could be potentially one day in the toy hall of fame? The randomizer. Yeah. The kids will absolutely love just interactive playing with that thing. They do just like KO does every every afternoon. He comes back here and spins it a few times. It is a dangerous toy though. That would have to come with a lot of warnings. It has can spontaneously combust. Yeah. You don’t want you have to keep it outside like a generator. Don’t be sitting on any wires around. Don’t feed it after midnight. Don’t get it wet. Yeah. Yeah. Feed me Seymour. I’ve done these opens, right? These playing with AI trying to come up and I think I’ve run my course because I wanted to do I don’t know. This these this week’s was was really bad. This has become my favorite part of the show though. Is it? You don’t have anything? No, I got one. I got one. Our audio audience loves I know that’s my thing too. But it this one was I was trying to incorporate some of the toys and I remember the big wheel was an inductee. I don’t know what year it was but I thought to do something with the big w and threw all that stuff into AI and here’s what we came up with. [Laughter] I I can’t believe we did that. I like it. So good. I like our white socks with our loafers. Wait, am I am I on the bottom? Yeah, you’re you’re pedaling. I can’t believe the same. We do kind of look the same. It It aggravates me how I can’t get you guys in there. I put you in every time. I don’t know what what it is. I uh it just it gets further and further from what we look like. But I like him. I do. I am I am aging backwards and I appreciate that. No, that’s fun. And I love the exploding big wheel, too. I had another one that just missed out on this one where it was Ko riding the stick horse in the backyard of Scott’s house. Scott playing with a slinky and a black panther jumps the fence and chases both of you. Oh, where is that? That’s back in sports. But when it did, uh, Ko’s horse turned into like a stuffed horse, stuffed animal. Then then Scott morphed into two people. So yeah, he’s been known to do that. He divides himself sometimes, clones himself, and we’ve we got the the third best out of those options based on your description. I don’t know. Those seem amazing, but uh no, I I do love the one you gave us. Well, we’ll see. Well, we we can come back after. I liked our white socks with our loafers. I like how y’all went 50 ft up in the air and just landed straight on your It was very gentle though, how we came down on our buttocks. Okay, I think we got to get to the toys hall of fame. All right, Hall of Fame. Real quick, we take a look at the toy hall of fame. Okay, we’ve never seen We’ve done this thing. There it is right there. Rochester, New York. Yeah, that’s exactly what I thought it would look like. Look at that. Yeah. Hey, what is it supposed to look? It Okay, children’s type museum interactive. That’s what you know. Is that the original the original Oh, look. A map. A map made the Hall of Fame. It probably is. Oh, slingshot. So, yeah. Oh, creepy dolls. Creepy dolls for sure. So, if we ever get up to Rochester, New York, we got to pay a visit there. Oh, we will. That’s got to be the biggest building in Rochester. I kind of thought it would look like a big toy box. That would be nice, would it? Like a big slinky. Oh, that look at her. Oh, the It’s like a little vacuum popper. Yeah. Twist. Twister. Okay, so this year’s finalist, right? Memory rules. It’s 12 12 toys getting 12 finalists nominated, right? Yeah. The fans pick a fans VO uh toy. So, I’m I’m not sure which one of these was the fan toy to be honest with you. That but the voting ends I think in a couple weeks. It comes out in the 1st of November. Okay. Okay. But of the 12 finalists, how many get in? Sorry. Uh, three. Three gets in the right now. You want to hear our three? Yeah, sure. Why not? Okay. All right. You ready for the Here we go. Let’s roll it, Chris. This year’s finalist is Battleship. Battleship. Then the game katan. That’s always there. Connect. Connect for Furby. Never had that. Scooter. Okay. Slime. Snow. Snow may define us. It’s fake snow. Precipitation. No, like in snowballs. Snowballs. It’s the fake snowballs to the right. Not I don’t think it’s real snow. Well, I mean, they can’t have snow there because it’s it would melt. Real snow is not a game. Wait, the description on their website says, “Yes, this is real snow. It’s packed into balls. It becomes a mostly harmless projectile that provides endless fun. It also supports slower constructive play.” They’re talking about real snow getting in. This is This is like the year they put sand. Remember a few years ago? Who was on this nominating committee? I have no idea. There’s There’s got to be one person who just who’s in there and just comes up with some oddball toy and they just let it in. I’ll just let him out. Again, I don’t know the people at the toy hall of fame. You need to have Chris and I be a part of the finalist committee. I don’t know how many years we have to lobby for this. Yeah. I would say anything that God created, we can’t count as a toy. Uh, you know, sand was on there a few years ago. A stick. Yeah. I mean, I don’t know. I I I don’t know if I want to draw that hard line, but but snow just seems like it’s not a toy. It’s just a substance that anything that you play. Okay. I think we’re both against snow. Let’s move on. Anyways, you see the rest. Stargraph, lightsaber, tickle me, Elmo, and Trivial Pursuit. Okay, that’s an adult board game, not a Yeah, not a toy. We need to narrow this down to three. Our three. Yeah, you pick your three. Okay. You want to draft? I mean, we could have the same one, too. Guys, I I think I got to Battleship’s in. Battleship is in. I don’t Is this a one first first time nominee? First time. I think he is. I think Battleship is uh I got to have Wait, let me go now. So, you don’t take all the good ones. I’m going to go I This is going to sound weird, but it was a You have to admit it was a game changer when it came along. It everyone had to have it. I didn’t have it. I was kind of deprived, but uh Tickle Me Elmo like that. It was a game changer. What? Yeah. Remember what a what a Why are you acting like this was your era? Tickle me, Elmo. Oh, that was a joke. You were an adult. Exactly. That was a joke. That’s why I didn’t have one. But you guys know what I’m talking about. You have to admit that like that was such a hot thing. Like No. Yeah. I think it’s got to go in. I think it’s got to go. I’m putting tickle memo in. Yeah. No, that’s And that’s disturbing that that’s your first because it was such an iconic. Yeah, it was such an iconic toy. It’s not It’s not iconic. It is. Ask anyone who’s who’s 10 years younger than you. A joke. It’s like tickle me almost like a joke. Elmo was not a joke. He wanted to be tickled and he was friendly and he brought joy to a lot of children and maybe some adults. I think it it set off a very It was the creepiest toy ever. Maybe Furby is second to Furby’s really creepy. Yeah, look at Furby. Um, okay. I don’t know. That’s a horrible selection. Um, I got I got Connect Four. Connect Four. Classic classic easy game. That’s in. Definitely in. No, Connect Four is like this is what dummies play when they can’t play chess. Connect four. No, you’re thinking of checkers. Connect Four is a completely different game. Connect Four. Okay. Connect Four is similar to checkers. If you make If I make I could play in Connect Four right now. If you make the first move, you’re going to win tic tac toe. No, I do. Exactly. Connect. I play Scott. I play it every day with my son. Okay. Well, maybe you should stop. Maybe cuz you’re a little too old. It’s meant for kids. It is not. If you look, the box says ages four and up. I’m up. I’m up. Yeah, you are. And by the way, tic toe. If you go first and you know what you’re doing, then it’s a draw. It’s a draw every time. Of course. Tic tac toe. So, we’re not putting in a game that ends in a draw 70% of the time when people that are smart are playing. No, I don’t think so. Okay. I get to choose. Go ahead. Pick your second. All right. I’m gonna pick Tickle Me Elmo again. No. Um Um You know what? Cornhole shouldn’t be on here. This is just a thing that came along in the last few years and grew in popularity. It’s not time yet. Cornhole, you need to wait. It’s not your time yet. Agree. Plus, it’s more of like a a drunken pregame activity and it doesn’t like Toy Hall of Fame. Really? Tell that to ESPN where these guys are competing in Cornwall. They’re sponsored. They’re making money. Okay. All right. I’m going to go um darts. No, I’m going to go Well, I would go darts. Is that on the list? No. No, I would go I’ll go scooters because why isn’t scooters in there already? Scooters have brought kids a lot of joy over the years. That was going to be my next pick because my nickname as a baby was scooter. So, I felt like that was a a shoe in. But since you have taken scooters, I’m going to go with uh I’m going to go with slime. Slime. Everybody loves slime. They try to recreate it. Uh it makes a funny noise as you pull it out of the little plastic container kind of time. But yeah, everybody loves that. Problem Problem with slime now though is that you know a few years ago everyone figured out how to make it. Everyone was doing it at home. They bought the glue. Well, just because you make it at home. I mean there’s I don’t think there’s anything proprietary. Yeah. But that’s that’s the demand is is still there for slime all these years. Even if you make it. But I think this is similar to putting snow in cuz slime is naturally occurring. No, it’s not. It does. No, it’s not. I’ve found it in the woods before. I’ve found it on trees. I saw it yesterday. We had a cow in the studio. I saw it in the cow’s nose. I’ve I’ve seen slime. Different kind of slime. Yeah. No, you need the the the fake slime. That’s all right. You’re going slime. And I I need a third one here. I don’t know if I I I’m just going to go with you. You should go uh with the Star Wars lightsaber. The lightsaber, though. To me, that’s I mean, it is a toy, but it just came from a movie. Like, it it was it was invented by George Lucas. It I want to I’m just going to double down. That’s creepy. I’m going to double down on your Furby. I’m going to double down on your battleship. Can I just ride your battleship hotels? I got to pick a different one. I’m not doing Furby if that’s what you should do Furby. I have seen a Furby. I think people look at you and think he’s a Furby guy. You know what? I did have a Furby briefly. It was way too It was way too bossy. It was way too bossy. It demanded a Furby and a tickle memo. I never got I told you I never got tickle me. I asked for it. I never got it. Um when he was But the Furby was 35 when they came out. The Furby was too demanding. It wanted you to feed it at certain times. Feed me, Chris. Yeah, it was always You’re a bad owner. I want strawberry pretzel salad. Yeah, Elmo’s getting too close to me. Okay. Oh my gosh. Um, I’m going to go Trivial Pursuit. Trivial Pursuit was fun. I loved it as a kid and you know, yes. Was I a weird kid that played Trivial Pursuit? Yes, I was. But I enjoyed it. I like the pie. I like trying to get the different colored wedges in the pie. I want Trivial Pursuit in there. He tickled his Trivial Pursuit box. Are we ever gonna pop up on camera again or just rolling with this graphic and photo? I But you know what? I do know. Sorry, Settlers of Katan. We just keep We don’t know you. I don’t even know what it is. I I’ve I’ve heard of you only because you keep getting nominated. But I think it’s time the committee needs to let them go. Yeah. Time to drop off the ballot. They need to go settle someplace else. Not in the Toy Hall of Fame. Do you have by the way did you have a top three? Uh I just won that I mean everyone you mentioned except to tickle me Elmo but u spyroraph y did y’all ever have a spiral graph? I did have a spyroraph didn’t enjoy it that much. Well it was fun for about 3 days and then it just that’s about it. Then you started messing with the pins something else but that was pretty cool. Yeah. What’s the one that has the two little knobs that you make it go sketch? That’s already that’s already that’s already in. It’s already in. Okay. Yeah. Good. Should have been in years ago. Just like tickle me Elmo. Yeah. Come on. It’s not that old. The tickle me’s not that old. When you talk about wanting was a kid, like it came out when you were 35. Look, no. Yeah, I’m not as old as you think I am. Okay. And secondly, I said that as a joke, Cookie this Christmas. Listen, hook your boy up, Scooter. Calm down. All right, Scooter. All right. Hey, very good. That was a fun show. Thanks, guys. All right. We’ll have to keep you uh a breast as to what’s going on with the toy hall of fame here in the upcoming episodes. Much thanks to our guest Steuart Sink, one Larry McReynolds. Much thanks to our Nod Pod crew over on the jib. We got Rochelle. We got Chris with a K on the ones and twos for BK in the booth and Chris right next to me. The big tickle me Elmo fan. Who knew? I’m Scott. Until next time we run. There are no off days. Too rough. God. [Music]
