The PNW Podcast
A daily podcast covering the stories that matter most across the Pacific Northwest, with a primary focus on Oregon and Washington. Each episode delivers a concise roundup of the day's biggest headlines, local news, sports, current events, and the conversations shaping the region—keeping listeners informed, engaged, and connected to what's happening close to home.
The PNW Podcast
Dolly Parton Is Gone, Shaedon Sharpe Is Hurt & Oregon State Has a QB
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The PNW Podcast covers a big mix of stories this week. We celebrate the incredible life and career of Dolly Parton following her passing at 80, look back at the music, movies, and memories that made her an icon, and discuss her lasting impact.
On the sports side, the Portland Trail Blazers take a major hit with the news that Shaedon Sharpe will miss approximately six months with a torn meniscus. Plus, the Oregon State Beavers make an interesting quarterback decision, naming a starter from a small school and giving him a chance to make a big impact.
It's music, sports, and Pacific Northwest conversation all in one episode of the PNW Podcast.
There's pictures of her in like a Playboy outfit with the ears. And I'm a little pieceme as an impression that she did Playboy, but didn't do the full Monty. Like she didn't go all the way naked. But there is definitely, she's definitely been pictured in Playboy before because she's got the ears and she's got the outfit.
SPEAKER_01It says here she graced the cover of the October 1978 issue of Playboy magazine. Notables, no nudity. She posed on her own strict terms and did not appear nude. She wore a custom black corset-style bunny outfit with matching bunny ears. And she did the shoot as a fun, off-the-wall marketing strategy to help transition her career from strictly country into the mainstream pop market. And I'd say uh, you know, mission accomplished there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and how much power do you have when you can say, I'll do it, but I'm not getting naked? And Hugh Hefner and all those powers that were at that time in the 70s pushing down even on a big-starred female, how many of them got pressured into just getting naked? And so it's pretty impressive that she chose not to. They're like, Do you want to go to the pool? Of course, I want to go to the pool. Got a little bit of work to do, though. They are in the saltwater, which means no tangles later on, Marcus. Good news for them. And of course, uh, they're out there enjoying a little, maybe a burger. They do like the hot dog, comes a little piece of saltwater taffy. If this is your kind of jam, you should check it out, staffordhills.com. Tell them true sent you for half off your initiation. And if you don't want to just lay by the pool, which I don't know why you wouldn't, uh, they have the workout facilities, they've got lap swim, they've got the premier tennis all here ranked the number one health and wellness facility in the Portland area. So a little bit of everything. If you're the one who likes to sweat it out and they like to marinate by a pool, you can both do that. And there's a kids' club in case you just want to ditch everyone and do your thing. Uh right now I got Marcus in here and we are hanging. There's still a little bit of summer left, but a lot of news going around, and it really starts, buddy, uh, with a little bit of sad news. Somebody who I've always felt uh not close to, because she doesn't know me and I don't know her, but most people have a soft spot in their heart for Dolly Parton. And sadly, uh that news came down um just yesterday that she has passed away, and she um there's a lot of shock going around. It comes as a sudden, unexpected situation as the head of her security team, Marcus, is actually the people who brought it up, and there's still a lot of questions around what happened. But if you look back dating back into 2025, she had a Vegas residency that she pushed back for the second time. Uh, she's turned down multiple public appearances. She was supposed to go to Dollywood, her theme park, and do an appearance. That was a negative. I think um sadly, she was in failing health longer than we probably knew. But uh Dolly Parton, who is known for her smile, her singing, her acting, and everything else she brought to the table, uh, passes away at the age of 80. What are your initial thoughts, bud?
SPEAKER_01Well, sad stuff, man. I can't help but think about another uh icon that passed away not very long ago that everybody was kind of holding their breath and hoping that it wouldn't ever happen, but it's inevitable, and that is Betty White. And I feel like Dolly Parton even surpasses Betty White in some aspects, uh, like the philanthropy. Um, there's so much that Dolly Parton did for the world that we will never even know about because she's involved in so much philanthropy and uh just an icon of the country music scene. Um, you know, another part of this that I haven't heard uh talked about very much, Drew, is if you're a 90s kid like you and I are, not only was Dolly Parton popular and her music was out there, but Dolly Parton was kind of one of those uh I won't say centerfold. She wasn't out doing Playboy or anything like that, but she was gorgeous, man. And she was gorgeous all the way up until she was 80. And as a young kid, I remember the first time I saw Dolly Parton was a lot like the first time I saw Shania Twain. Wow. I didn't know they had stars like this in country music. And you kind of, you know, as a young kid, you fall in love with that voice and the look and everything. Uh just America's going to be uh reeling over this one for quite a while. And uh may she rest in peace. I think you're right, man. The health problems were definitely there, they weren't something that was highly publicized. Uh, but I saw early, I think it was mid-last week, actually, they came out with an update about her health randomly, and I hadn't seen anything for a long time. And I will tell you that that gave me pause immediately because if they're just a random health update uh for an 80-year-old, you don't ever really expect great news. And um, looks like maybe this was just getting a little bit out in front of something that maybe some people around her saw coming, unfortunately.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it looks like family members were rushing to the hospital there in the final day of all this, kind of in secret. Now, 80, I'll be honest, to me, 80 has become the new 70. I've got a 70-year-old dad who I just got off the phone with about 15 minutes ago, and he was still cutting shrubs and pulling weeds and doing all this other stuff at my 96-year-old grandpa's property. So there is where there's a will, there's a way. And God, she had access to all the things. I would have hoped that she would have been able to survive longer, but sometimes you're just dealt the hand, you're dealt with, and there's nothing you can do about it. Um, but when you look at her, I was looking through the scroll of her pictures, and maybe you could do a quick research on this. Um, there's pictures of her in like a Playboy outfit with the ears, and I'm a little piecemy as an impression that she did Playboy, but didn't do the full Monty. Like she didn't go all the way naked. Um, but there is definitely she's definitely been pictured in Playboy before because she's got the ears and she's got the outfit.
SPEAKER_01Uh, it says here she graced the cover of the October 1978 issue of Playboy magazine. Notables, no nudity. She posed on her own strict terms and did not appear nude. She wore a custom black corset-style bunny outfit with matching bunny ears. And she did the shoot as a fun off-the-wall marketing strategy to help transition her career from strictly country into the mainstream pop market, and I'd say uh, you know, mission accomplished there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and how much power do you have when you can say, I'll do it, but I'm not getting naked? And Hugh Hefner and all those powers that were at that time in the 70s pushing down even on a big-starred female, how many of them got pressured into just getting naked? And so it's pretty impressive that she chose not to. Um, Dollywood will live on. She does not have children, Marcus. So it's going to be interesting what the will looks like because she does, and she lost her husband of 58 years just recently. That in itself is commendable. Anytime somebody who can live in the Hollywood spotlight and not waver is truly impressive to me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and it says something about the person that we're talking about. You know, with celebrities and icons like this, you only ever get uh so much. And a lot of that that you get about them is curated and very carefully curated. Um, whenever you hear about a celebrity marriage going into that 30, 40, 50 year uh uh stretch, I just think, good on you. That's a that's a good partner. You found the right person because uh I think with these celebrities, Drew, as uh we've seen it, the temptation is there and people kind of throw themselves at you. I'm sure up until 79, Dolly Parton could have handpicked any man that she wanted as young as 25. And there's a lot of dudes that probably would have jumped for it. So good on both of them. Uh we should all be so fortunate to get to stay with our partner for that long.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and that shows growth within the system. You somebody you marry 50 years ago is not the same person that they are down the road. So for her to be able to do that, where her star shines so bright, she always referred back to her love for him. And, you know, part of it, I hate to say it, I always fear that when you've been to with someone for so long that you partially die of a broken heart and of loneliness. And you can keep her busy and tour around all you want, but it's still hotel rooms and shallow interactions. It's not the same as having your partner there with you. So I wonder if there's a little bit of the notebook going on there as well.
SPEAKER_01I'm sure there probably is, Drew. And again, um, it's tragic when you hear about it happening to somebody, but God, we should all be so lucky. Um if if a broken heart is what takes me because my wife left this uh physical realm, uh, more power to that broken heart. I'm I'm going to join her. And um, you know, uh just just sad stuff, but I think we're all very blessed to have gotten to spend 80 years with Dolly Parton uh in the world because what an icon, what a great person, what a philanthropist. Uh the world is a little bit darker today for sure, Drew.
SPEAKER_00And she chose to stay with us. You know, everyone else who was famous from her era faded away. They put a blanket over their knees. They she could have easily been on 100 acres in Montana and boom, you never see Dolly Parton again. Uh, but she did continue to live on with that legacy. And the last thing I'll say about her that really earned extra respect for me is when the pandemic started, and we all have a different idea of what a vaccine in that scenario is now. But at the time, we were all just scampering around trying to find a way to get back to normal. And the amount of money that that woman dumped into the system at the beginning to basically launch Moderna into what it was and to be able to battle with with Pfizer at the top of that and basically be a two-pony race to the finish line. Now, uh, like I said, we all look back in hindsight and we're not sure exactly what to think of any of it. Um, but at the time, I remember thinking that's commendable for her to get into the fight because I I mean, now granted, some people would just be like, Oh, here comes Drew in the propaganda machine again. But my just my personal thought is that she was just trying to help people and that she she had the means to do so. Now, did it pay out aggressively on the back end? Yeah, you can do good things and have it be an investment at the same time. Now, I don't know how that ages. I don't know if we're all gonna end up with like a third ear or a kid that barks when they go buy a microphone or a microwave, maybe a microphone as well. Uh, but do you get it? I think it was the thought that counts.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. It was out of the kindness of one of the kindest hearts out there. And you get fortunate once in a while that somebody with a heart as big as Dolly Parton also has a wallet that big. Uh, most of the people with hearts that big don't have the means to give like that. And listen, like you said, hindsight's always 2020. You can have thoughts about it in 2026 that weren't the same as what you might have had in 2020 when it popped off. Uh, but I think it's the thought that counts, like you said. And uh, you know, propaganda be damned, Drew. The the comment section is gonna flame us. We've learned that lesson. And uh I I still think we're both gonna sit up here and talk about it and say the things that come to our minds. So I don't think it's propaganda at all because you're not talking about the the vaccine and the flu and all the rest of it. You're talking about the people that tried to make a difference. And Dolly was at the top of that list. That's right.
SPEAKER_00And somebody will say, you were paid by the granddaughter of Dolly Parton to say the following things. It's amazing how people think, but it is what it is. Real quick, I wanted to shift gears and get back to the Pacific Northwest, because even though Dolly's important to all of us, uh a Northwest headline today, and this one out of Corvallis, Oregon, as the Beevs have named their starting quarterback. Jamarcus Shepard, the head coach, his very first QB is going to come from an unlikely place. Marcus, what do we got?
SPEAKER_01We have Mercer College Transfer, Braden Atkinson beating out Malik Murphy and Brady Jones for the Oregon State starting quarterback job. Uh, a little bit of stats here from ESPN. He completed 20 of 33 passes for 210 yards in a loss at Auburn last year. Uh that game, of course, you're gonna recognize, you're thinking, where is Mercer? What where do I recognize that name from? Well, Mercer is one of the perennial schools that the SEC puts on their schedule to absolutely clean their clock. That's where you've seen them. They've played Alabama, they'll play Auburn, they probably played Georgia. Um, but Atkinson lined up now to help Coach Shepherd uh with the Beavers, who open against uh number 23 Houston on September 5th before heading to number 12 Texas Tech on September 12th. Drew, it's not going to be a real easy start to the season uh for the Oregon State Beavers, but I will tell you this, I as a Duck fan, I've really enjoyed Jamarcus Shepherd's tenure so far because he's out there pounding the pavement, and I really feel like that's what Oregon State needs. Uh, you know, the new stadium remodel is great up there. You and I got to see it firsthand a couple years ago. You were kind enough to hand me a free ticket to the Oregon-Oregon State game uh up in Corvallis two years back, and I just hope that good things are on the horizon for Oregon State. I hope they get this boat uh turned in the right direction. And uh, as of right now, based on what I've heard in the media, I think Jamarcus Shepard might be the perfect guy to do that. Let's hope that Braden Atkinson can help him in that journey.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's one of those deals. When you come from a small school or a junior college, sometimes you get a dog. And that's what you need is you need someone who's just got fight in them and are highly annoyed that they weren't recruited highly and that they kind of come into their own on the back end. So I think this guy's got a lot of potential here. And quite frankly, if you beat two ranked teams to start the season, he's gonna be talked about on Sports Center. Like that will that will turn a program around if you can go back to back there. Now, I'm asking for a lot for a team that had a tough run last season, but new coach, new quarterback, new vibe, new energy, and new hope does mean a lot. I am a little upset, um, quite frankly, that the Ducks will not play the Beavs. That's a tradition that is close to my heart. I did have a conversation with the athletic director at Oregon before it was set in stone, but he was working tirelessly around the clock to get the Beavs back on the schedule and knew at the time that there would be a couple of year hiatus there. But it is a priority at Oregon to get that rivalry going. And it's important to me. I know you enjoy the rivalry as well, Marcus. Now we don't like losing to the Beaves, uh, but I would like them to have the opportunity to beat us every single year if they can if they can do so.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. I I this is bad. I'm gonna admit something right now that a lot of my family will hear. I skipped something that was pretty important last year for the Oregon, Oregon State game, this, and I'll call it the Civil War. Uh, it has nothing to do with race. This is brother against brother. That's why we call it the Civil War. I come from a split household. My sister's a beaver, I'm a duck. Um we it's war. Yeah, we hate each other one week a year. And sadly, do not remember what it was that I skipped to go to that game, Drew. So that's a little peek behind the curtain of how important it is to me. Uh, and I really hope to see it in the future. Of course, it's on the schedule again here coming up in a year or maybe two years, we'll see the beavers again. So good luck to them. And uh, you mentioned getting a dog sometimes from a transfer. I got one last bit of football news here that stretches us outside the Pacific Northwest for you. Another starting quarterback has been named uh to another small school. We're talking about ball state here. And would I ever waste your time with the ball state starting quarterback, Drew, if there wasn't an aspect of this was completely mind-blowing? Not normally. No. Yeah. The starter for ball state has been named Keldrick Luster, is his name. He's a transfer from Texas State and SMU. What's exciting about him? Well, much like you and I, Drew, he's a bit vertically challenged. He is five foot ten, which seems short for a college quarterback, but he packs 250 pounds on his frame of five foot ten. I mean, and and you expect, Drew, when you hear a 250-pound quarterback, you expect two things. Jamarcus Russell, who was like six foot five and carried all those 250 pounds pretty well, or a guy like Jared Lorenzen, that you might remember as the hefty lefty, uh, was pushing close to 300 pounds when he ended up playing pro in the arena football league. Um, but this guy is not that. Keldrick Luster is quite literally built like a brick shithouse. And uh can't wait to watch some ball state in the fall, man, because uh if I'm the coach, we're running five wide quarterback draw every single play until you show me that you can stop it.
SPEAKER_00So this guy isn't he has no lunchbox on him, then this is all pure muscle?
SPEAKER_01The uh the picture, one picture that I saw of him throwing, Drew, he's spread out and kind of chest to the camera. And the arms look like the arms of a professional wrestler. That's the best way I can put it to you. If this guy can't throw the ball 75 yards flat footed, I'd be very surprised.
SPEAKER_00Which is a little surprising at the build, you know, because no other quarterback comes in built like they're gonna do an arm wrestling competition. It just doesn't normally go that way. And they they lack the mobility, right? The ability to swing the arm all the way through because they can't wipe their own butt. So I don't know what it looks like long term. And and if it is gonna be a draw every time, then that's gonna be easy to sniff out. But I hope he's just I hope it just doesn't matter. Yeah you know the teams where you know they're going right up the middle and you pack the box and they drag you for 10 yards every time. I can watch that. I like to watch slow motion violence as long as we get somewhere. If that pile of dust moves, I can watch it. If it goes two to three yards per time, ball state's not gonna get my ticket. But I'm I'm excited to see.
SPEAKER_01We might be on the cusp of a new trend in football, Drew, because I also just saw that there is a 300-pound All-State quarterback in the state of Hawaii, and his given birth name is Fat Boy. And I wish I was joking with you right now. Real name. Real name. It was on the news. Is Fat Boy is his real name? He was given an interview after a recent win. He was a 10-pound baby, Drew, and he is now a 300-pound Allstate quarterback. Look, I'm here for it. I'm just like you. Quarterbacks traditionally taller, a little bit more slender, they've gotten more athletic over the years. I say we flip the script. Let's get some offensive tackle-sized quarterbacks out here and see how many of you edge rushers think you can bully these guys anymore.
SPEAKER_00I'm here for it. Seriously. And just the fact that we're talking about college football on it's just it's, I believe, coming up on Thursday. Yep, it's here. Well, so a a week from tomorrow, it's gonna be it's gonna be, or is it this Thursday? It might be this Thursday. It might be tomorrow. I think it's I think it's tomorrow, Drew. Oh my God, what a time to be alive. Oh my gosh, that's great. All right, we're gonna take a quick break. We're gonna come back though, uh, and I will bring you back to Earth because some blazer news you're not gonna want to hear, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the Motor Center. This episode brought to you by Motorsport Hillsboro, your one-stop shop for everything when it comes to dirt bikes, street bikes, side-by-sides, e-assist, mountain bikes, and so much more. Save thousands right now on a gas-gas e-bike. These things are epic. These electric mountain bikes are pedal assists, but they'll take you longer, farther, and higher than you've ever gone. I mean, some of the things that you see people do on these, they'll take you down a trail that you would have been gassed, gas-gassed long ago. And of course, the easiest and best financing for you right there at Motosport Hillsborough, where they make sure to get the job done for you and to do in a way that you leave feeling good so you can hit the trails and let that wind burn through your hair and maybe catch a little dirt in your teeth while you're at it. Motorsporthillsboro.com. Also brought to you by Axiom, Plumbing, Sewer, and Septic, everything water and waste, they'll take care of you. And of course, my buddy Bruce is born and raised in the Portland area. Not private equity, he takes care of. People too. Tell them Drew sent you for 10% off your first purchase and also $500 off a water heater if you need one of those. And as we head into the fall months, it's going to be needed for you to get on board and maybe stay warm in the shower unless you're ready for a cold plunge every single time you get in there. So hit them up today, axiompdx.com. And of course, the Stafford Hills Club. These are my people, voted the number one health and wellness facility in the Portland area, and you've got to come down and see them. They got everything you need from workout facilities to the saltwater pool and classes, classes, classes, classes with the best instructors. And just the community here is next level. I talk about it all the time, but I truly love it. And they care about the people who walk in this door. If you want to be a part of it, Staffordhills.com. Tell them Drew sent you for half off your initiation. All right, it's Heartbreak Hotel, Marcus. Cannot believe this. It's just, it's embarrassing that this happens to us all the time. So excited for the Portland Trail Blazers season. They're required to play in Portland this year, so we still get to be Blazer fans, guaranteed. And I was so excited for Ja Morant coming to town. A lot of people are like, eh, I want to see it. Damian Lillard coming home. I think we're all excited about that. And a roster that's better than any roster we ever had with Lillard in the past. And one of those people who really shines for me is Shaden Sharp. The guy who was never eligible in college, so we never got to see him play. He fell a number of spots. The Blazers grabbed him. He's been a slow development, but he is a human highlight reel. He jumps so high that his nipples are over the basket. I'm not even joking. It is insanity. It is dangerous every time he's in the sky because how could you land on your feet when you're that high up? Well, it looks like it has pulled a portland on us, Marcus reports out today that Shaden Sharp has torn his meniscus in his knee and will undergo surgery immediately that will keep him locked out for the next six months. Now you do the math on that. Season hasn't started. That's our only bright spot here. It's going to keep him out of the lineup until after the all-star break. So there is a chance for him to come back, but to build that camaraderie, to have that high flying wing and someone you could pop it out for a three when you've got those other guys driving in dish and is going to be a knock for the Blazers and will open up minutes for other guys. But uh, as a Blazer fan who this is not your first rodeo with a knee, what are you thinking?
SPEAKER_01Uh more of the same, man. You said it. They they pulled a Portland Trailblazers on us with this one. And I feel really bad for Shaden Sharp because this time of year with an injury like that, you think, yeah, I can still get some of the season in, but post all-star break, the season could be lost by the time he gets to he gets to find the floor. And uh historically, Drew, I think kind of where you were going with that, it's been more of the same, and it goes way back. I mean, you might think me uh that I'm just talking about like a Brandon Roy or a Greg Odin. But let me take you back further. We can link Bill Walton to the injury bug in Portland. We can link the very first star in franchise history and co-rookie of the year, Jeff Petrie, to this. Um, all the way back in 1971, his career was cut short by chronic knee problems. Um, same with Brandon Roy. You know, it's it just I deal with this with my favorite professional football team as well, the San Francisco 49ers, as of late. Uh, it seems like the last five years or or more, we can't get out of traction and actually get a full team on the court. So uh it's it's par for the course for me, Drew, as far as my sports fandom is concerned. Um, I just knock on wood all the time that this doesn't happen to my college teams, uh, you know, my hockey team, my baseball team, which I don't even really have anymore. The injury bug is a bitch in sports, and it seems to bite the trailblazers often.
SPEAKER_00And you you look at some of the big ones, and Brandon Roy career cut short so much, in fact, that Brandon Roy would have been a first ballot Hall of Famer if he was allowed to continue on the trajectory that he was on. Nobody could stop Brandon Roy. Everyone in the league said it out loud that they were afraid of him, but it's just the body wouldn't hold up. He tried to play through it. It just wasn't fair for him. Back it all the way up. Sam Bowie. When we took Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan, he didn't suck. He got hurt, which made him slower and less effective than the guy that we thought that we were getting. Now, still should have taken Jordan, but that's a different argument. Bowie was hurt. Look at Greg Odin. We celebrated like we won a championship. I remember calling my brother nearly in tears. Like, finally, our luck is turned around. I cannot believe we just landed the number one overall pick in the NBA draft. We pick Odin over Durant. Well, everyone thinks, well, you should have took Durant. We should have. But Odin was a beast. And Odin got his knees hurt before he played a game in the NBA. After, I mean, it was preseason. We found out he needed microfracture knee surgery. I don't know what it is, but there's a curse on our knees here. I feel like every time we do a physical, it should only be knees. Like, I don't care if you have kidneys. Like, do you have knees? And how good are they? Because this is just, it's become ridiculous at this point. And I know I sound like I'm crying about it, but it's it isn't fair.
SPEAKER_01It it really isn't. And maybe it's something in the water up here in the Pacific Northwest, Drew, because I've got a reconstructed knee. I had microfracture in in the bottom of my femur. I know that your brother has gone through that. He actually had the microfracture surgery. I elected not to. So my knee still hurts when it rains. God damn it. And it only rains once in a while up here in the great Pacific Northwest. So yay for me. But uh it's it's knees all over the place. My sister, my dad, um, everybody I know that's done anything athletic at all has some sort of knee problem. Um, and you wonder how these pro athletes hold up for as long as they do, but man, when they make it to Portland, the the soft tissue seems to fall apart.
SPEAKER_00And they're never the same. You know, my wife had microfractures, well, she didn't have microfracture, she had torn meniscus, uh, ACL, MCL, all three, had two knee surgeries. She'll never be the same. Never. My brother, who had the surgery that you're talking about, he was like an intramural beast. The reason he hurt his knee was playing intramural soccer. He never, ever, ever played again. And that was like in his early 30s, where you gotta think that it's just one of those deals where you're never the same. And for a guy like Shaden Sharp, who jumps directly out of the gym, I mean, they have the same rules for his head as you do a football in in an NFL game. You know, if it hits the wire at the top, we play it again. He's that insane of an athlete. And it just my heart breaks for him. And and Marcus, one other little tidbit uh for you to chew on. Directly after this news came out, it became evident that all of his social medias had been turned off. So I don't know. I'm doubting that's the team, and I think that's more about a man who has worked so hard to get to where he is and just how bummed out he is.
SPEAKER_01Man, it it's that's so sad. I hate to see that. And social media, it it causes such a rip in people's personality and people's emotions because of the way that you just are open to anybody saying anything. Um, so I can't necessarily argue with the dude shutting that off at this point in time. I hope that at some point in time, uh, if it if it works for him, he he turns it back on. But that's tough to hear. And listen, man, I I can from a personal uh standpoint, I can reflect on your brother's story. I blew my knee out on my 21st birthday, wakeboarding. At the time I had been instructing wakeboarding at a school for a couple of years, uh, I was doing all sorts of invert and rotational tricks. I can count on one hand how many backflips I've tried in the 20 years since I blew my knee out. And I'll tell you right now, my knee is strong enough to handle it. You get what I call the fear. And every time I cut into that wake with a wakeboard strapped to my feet right now, I think about the day that my knee exploded, how bad it hurt, and what I had to go through the eight months after that. Yeah. And I don't want it again, man. There's nothing more freeing in the world than to be upside down on a wakebound a boat, but I can't bring myself to do it mentally anymore. And uh there really is an aspect that people don't think a lot about when it comes to pro athletes. Do they have the fear? And it it takes a lot of them out of it. Uh, it's just it's a mental game as well as a physical game.
SPEAKER_00And you'll see it. I I bet you there will be times where he's driving to the hole and they where he could go in and pack it in, and instead he'll take the three, or he'll pass it off, or he'll stop stutter step and take the jumper, or maybe do a teardrop because that feels safer. And I can't blame a man. It's just you hope that they still have that fire and that drive. And and maybe he will. I'm not here to judge him, but it's just not looking good based on history.
SPEAKER_01I just think about the scene from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas when they're in the car and the one guy looks at the other and says, I think I'm getting the fear.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I recognize that and I have got it in my bones. Yeah, fair enough. Um, and finally, I just wanted to share this with you. I don't know if you saw it. The Blazers this year will wear a strap on one of their uh armbands here or across their collarbone in honor of Rick Adelman, the longtime Blazer coach. I think it's well deserved. Uh, they will honor him during the Denver Nuggets game when we play against his son, who is the head coach of the Nuggets. And remember, Adelman took the Blazers to the finals in 1990 and 1992. He is the coach of my childhood, uh, my Dairy Queen Cups, uh, when I won the Reading Award and my dad and I sat with our backs against the concrete wall right there in uh, I believe it might have been the Memorial Coliseum at that point. But I remember I'd have to touch the the concrete again, Marcus, to be sure. Uh, but it's definitely something that's well deserved, and I'm glad that Portland's doing it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, me too. Uh, we've lost some Portland icons here in the last few years, Drew, and and even going all the way back to when we lost Jerome Kersey. Um, and and I like the fact that the Blazers take some special time and honor those people because um that's what we have, you know. That's that's what we have to. We don't have 14 championships to look up in the rafters and remember, but we got a lot of great personalities that have worked their way through this franchise, and it's only right that we do things like this to honor them.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Terry Porter came in my studio right after Kirsty passed away, and we had a chance to ask him about the legacy and the friendship, and and that's what it is. It's uh it's a family with the Blazers, and Terry, you know, he got extremely sad, and and as he should, that's his brother. And um, forever, those people are enshrined here. It's Rip City for a reason. Uh, so I'm glad that they are honoring Adleman this year, and maybe we'll use it as a fuel to bring a championship to Portland. All right, Marcus, uh, that's gonna do it for us. We'll be back again tomorrow. Remember, new episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. And if you love the Pacific Northwest or you live right here, uh follow us for all the action and share it with a friend as we build an army to celebrate this great region of the country.