12-31-24 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: HOUR FOUR
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Flower is awake. Hi, Flower. She's not sure what to do. She looks so tired. And yet I'm still talking and the lights are still on. And so she's come out of her crate and she's staring at me. Is this how it's going to be? Really? Is this who adopted me? She has no idea. I just know she wants me to pet her and she's half asleep anyway. Okay.

One hour left in 2024. Man, how many changes in my both personal and professional life in 2024. And I know there will be more in 2025. It's good to hear from so many of you. My perspective about radio has changed so much since I started even at this network. I forget over the course of my career, but having gone through 2020 and then on into 21 in the pandemic and

Going through stretches where there were no sports or where you quickly understood that sports, not that I've ever told you my job is important, but that sports, man, we could live without them if we had to. We don't want to. Sports enhance our lives, our entertainment, I believe. They have the unique and uncanny ability to bring people together and to heal communities and heal fan bases. And we've seen that over and over. But we don't actually need sports. We could live without them.

Well, those of us who work in the business, we'd have to find different jobs, different sources of income. But they do play a unique role. And yet when we had to go without them, it was okay. We found other ways to pass the time and people to talk to and ways to keep ourselves entertained and occupied. Gosh, I know I'd have a lot more time if I wasn't constantly watching sports, football. We can't miss you if you never go away.

So in 2020, it became more about connecting with people on the radio show. And I believe we've done a good job of that. I know our show isn't for everyone and I don't care.

The life would be boring if we all agreed and all had the same likes and dislikes. So I'm okay if you don't like the show and don't like me. Not a big thing. There are lots of options. When I talk to my students at Syracuse, me teaching class number three or year number three coming up in the spring of 25. And actually the very first class is on my birthday. So happy birthday to me. So as I tell the kids when we first start this year,

This class, the goal of this class is about helping you to figure out ways to stand out in a very crowded market where there are 8,922,716 podcasts. I may be overstating it just a tad. There are so many options to figure out how to stand out in a very crowded market.

to listen to, to watch, to follow sports if that's what you choose to do. There's something for everyone. In fact, there's probably a dozen somethings for everyone. The market is inundated. It's flooded. How do you get your voice and your product to stand out? That's the whole premise of my class that I teach at Syracuse. And it's tough to teach all of that, to share everything I know.

which I don't share everything I know in the span of four weeks. I would like to expand the class, hope to do that when I'm not working overnight sometime in the future. So for now, that's really the premise of the class.

And I think that that's a challenge. But the way that I do it is more of a personal approach and connecting with people because many of us have pets. We all eat, right? Many of us love food. We travel. We have other interests outside of sports. We have families. We have friends.

We have struggles, right? We have life challenges that often bring us together and knowing that someone else has gone through the same thing or something similar will help us to keep going. It offers us hope. We all need hope. Every single one of us who are human beings on this planet need hope to get us through what are some of the tougher times because let's be honest, life sucks.

every now and then it really does and when you're stuck sometimes in a stretch where it seems to suck all year trying to think of the I think 2012 was a year that really stunk for me I couldn't wait to be done with it I

I couldn't remember one good thing that had happened as we approached the end of 2012. It was a really hard year. Now, it was also the year that I got hired as a host looking ahead to the launch of what was CBS Sports Radio. So it wasn't all bad. But sometimes you have those years that you just want to flush. You want to put in the rearview mirror and move forward with a fresh start and

Even if nothing literally changes moving into a new year, in our case, 2025, it's just that perspective and that ability to hit the reset and have what we believe is a blank canvas for 2025. And yes, we can celebrate the highs. We can acknowledge the lows and then we get to move forward and try all over again.

And so I appreciate that about New Year's. And so we've got this one last hour here in which we will be together in 24, but we will convene on New Year's night. So I'm not going away just taking off New Year's Eve, but on New Year's night following college football playoff games, the quarterfinals, we back with you for one more show from the after hours, super secret pillow fort home base in Houston, New

855-212-4227. Again, thank you for all your support and encouragement over what is now 12 years at the current network and gosh, 25 plus in the business, which means I'm old. I'm okay with that. I am old. I wouldn't go back and do it all over again. Not if somebody paid me, man, I lived through a lot of crap in my career already and I'm fine with where I am.

at ALawRadio, at Amy After Hours. We've got our poll up for NFL MVP. We're always glad to connect with you and hear from you. And right now what we're asking you is coolest place you traveled in 24 or maybe the coolest experience for you. There's been some really neat responses on both of our social media sites, so we'll get to those coming up. Jack is with us for another hour, working the show for the first time. Are you okay with that? Yeah.

How you doing there, Jack? I'm hanging in there. I think I'm holding the fort down pretty well over here. Not blowing anything up? No, everything's still intact. Nothing's on fire. Nothing blew up. That's good. We can always blame someone else. If someone comes in early morning, you just blame someone else. Very true. I'll vouch for you. Very true.

So thank you for Jack working our show. We have a lot of different people that are in and out during the holidays. Ryan's been with us. I think Pete is actually back on New Year's night. So Pete and I haven't worked together since I think the 19th of December. So it's been a couple weeks. I know he's been celebrating not just his anniversary, but his wife's birthday. Of course, the holidays, too.

It's neat, I think, to have special occasions. So our anniversary was December 17th, but then we also have a family member who we saw on Christmas Eve. It was his birthday as well as our Christmas celebration. That's kind of fun. You get extra fanfare around those special occasions. While we talk about holidays...

especially if you're big into football, you know that it's a constant companion over the holidays, whether it's college that you dig and the endless parade of bowl games. Did you know there was a bowl named after Snoop Dogg? Probably because he's paying for it. The Arizona Bowl, Snoop Dogg, Arizona Bowl. Uh-huh.

He's everywhere. So whether it's college football and the bowl games, whether it's the playoff or whether it's the NFL with now just one week left in the regular season, there's a lot still on the line, plenty of implications, a playoff spot to claim seeds and matchups that we still don't know. So that's coming up. But on Monday night, maybe you wondered if the lions would go all out against the San Francisco 49ers in a rematch of sorts. I,

it's obviously not a legit rematch, but a rematch of sorts from last year's NFC championship. And this was a shootout. What we got initially is the offense is galloping up and down the field. Golf's going to go empty out of the gun.

Jared looking over that defense, leans in. There's the snap, liners rush forward. Goff, quick throw, got it completed. And it's a lateral back this time down the right sideline. It is Jamison Williams who's going to walk into the end zone for the touchdown. The Lions crowd the line. Samuel in motion. It's a short pitch to him at the 10, picking his way five, ducking outside the numbers and into the pylon. Touchdown. Debo Samuel Sr. in space.

Gets the 49ers the lead right back. It's 7.40 to go in the third. It's 27-21 San Francisco, and the table tennis continues.

I like that. A bit of a pendulum swinging back and forth, but it would have to be a lot faster than your typical pendulum. We're talking about double time. Double time at pendulum because they scored on their first five possessions combined, touchdowns, all of them. And we saw some potential. What the Niners can be. Now, this is even without Christian McCaffrey, but an active George Kittle. He's a good guy.

Sometimes he's just showing off with the way he tips the ball up in the air to himself and then toe drag swag on the sidelines and ditching and dodging defenders for a few extra yards, dragging guys with him. A healthy George Kittle makes the NFL that much better. We also have gotten to see over the past couple months the potential of the Niners first round pick.

Ricky Pearsall, man, what a 24 he went through getting shot late in the, I guess it was the preseason, getting set for the start of the NFL season. But it was delayed for him as he recovered from a gunshot wound to the chest. And now he's out racking up 40 yards on a catch from Brock Purdy and Brock himself.

Through three quarters, a perfect passer rating. It was awesome to see the Niners offense, even without Christian McCaffrey and Brandon Ayuk, what they're capable of. And I do believe they'll be back and I don't know better than ever, but be back and ready to challenge for the NFC West again, challenge for another spot, another trip to the Super Bowl since they haven't won yet.

going back to the 80s, right? 80s, 90s, 90s, 80s. Sometimes you got to go with your first answer. And then when I say it, it doesn't sound right. And I think, what?

Sometimes, too, we'll get the dates confused from other teams that have had long droughts. Like the Dodgers, for instance. Their drought had gone back to 1988 for a World Series in a full regular season. So yeah, the 49ers fans, as much as they've been in different Super Bowls, they've lost multiple times.

We know even going back to 2013, they ended up losing to the Ravens in what was the first Super Bowl, us covering it for the network. We were just on the air about a month or so. They've had opportunities against the Kansas City Chiefs, and they've had 10-point leads in each of those and have been unable to close it out. So they've got...

Such a rich and storied history in their playoffs. I have no doubt a five-time Super Bowl winner going back to 1994. I just quick looked it up. That was their last one before that. A couple, several in the eight, actually four in the 80s. And so they, they're a tradition that is established and fan bases that go way back and are used to teams competing and

But it's been frustrating. They haven't been able to capitalize. Now they've got stability at quarterback, finally, under Kyle Shanahan. And they've got some stars on the defensive side of the ball, like a Nick Bosa. But not able to...

Keep all those pieces healthy this year on offense and just unable to win in the NFC West, which is weird for them. A bunch of games in which they couldn't close out against divisional opponents. So they're resetting and they're looking forward to 2025. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence. I know Brock Purdy is in line for a big extension. He got injured late in this game.

And it was a moment where he just kind of felt like he was unable to grip the football and he couldn't get back out there. But he played almost all the way through the game. And the turning point in this one, as has so often happened with the Niners, it's just a stretch where, yeah, they didn't play all the way through. He ends up throwing a couple of interceptions, one on a high ball that was intercepted by Kirby Joseph. Then there's a missed field goal. Then there's another interception. And in each interception,

In each of those mistakes, miscues by the Niners, what happens? Well, the door is wide freaking open for the Lions, and a really good team is going to make you pay for the mistakes like the Lions did on Monday night. Out of the huddle and to the line.

Goff is going to work out of the gun. Gibbs will set up to his left. Play clock down to one. Goff wants the snap. Hands it to Gibbs. Outside right. He's got the first down and more. 25-20. 15-10. Five. Touchdown Detroit Lions. Jameer Gibbs on third down and two. Breaks it for 30. And the Lions have a two-score lead on the board. It is 40-28.

That's the call with Dan Miller on Lions Radio. Also had a call from Westwood One mixed in there as well. This was a shootout, 40-34. Each team scored in all four quarters. And what we got...

essentially late in the game, a pair of interceptions and a missed field goal, which shifted the momentum in favor of the Lions, and they capitalized. Our Defensive Player of the Week, sponsored by the Navy Federal Credit Union, who proudly serves the Armed Forces DOD, veterans, and their families. Their members are the mission. Learn more at NavyFederal.org. We're going to give it to Kirby Joseph, fresh off a two-interception game for the Detroit Lions. And think about the

number of injuries they've had on the defensive side of the ball specifically. So he has a couple of tackles. He's got a couple of passes defended with his two interceptions in there. He's now

nine interceptions on the season. And you know, that puts him first place in the NFL. How about that? So again, all the injuries that the Lions have suffered specifically to their D line. We know Aiden Hutchinson is the big name, but they've lost so many guys on the defensive side of the ball. And here they have other guys stepping up like Kirby Joseph, the great safety who leads the league in interceptions this season, two more on Monday night. And to help the,

turn the momentum and give the upper hand to the Lions. Pretty sweet. So Dan Campbell asked after the game why he put his starters out there when this is a game that they didn't have a whole lot to gain.

more to lose than to gain, right? So for Dan Campbell, he sends his starters out there. They're still playing late in the game. Jameer Gibbs rips off a 30-yard TD. Jared Goff, he's still out there on the field, the offensive line. Why not give these guys a break when you can't really improve your standing in Week 17? I just don't believe it's fair to put in a guy who's not prepared to play, especially a young player. And then you can only sit six guys.

So who are those six? All right, who are the six? And then the other guys that don't, was it fair to them that we're not using everything we've got? We flew out here. We prepared this way. We came out to win. And that's ultimately what it came to. And, yeah, you do. You cross your fingers. Nobody gets hurt. I mean, it's tough. And we were fortunate. We got out. And now it's on to the next one.

Nothing like the stakes for the NFC championship that go back now nearly a year. Not quite. Remember that was the game in which we saw aggressive Dan Campbell go forward on multiple fourth downs and some were successful. Some were not. Well, it's,

A year later, nearly a year later, another season later, and not only is he smarter and wiser, but he's got the confidence of his players even more. And they're a better team than they were a year ago. 8-0 on the road this season. What does that tell you? Well, a lot of times it tells you that this team is battle-tested, that they have...

the mental toughness and the mental focus and discipline to be able to succeed on the road. Right. So even when you're in hostile environments, though, gosh, if you were listening to this game, you may have heard a ton of Lions fans who were there in the Bay areas. These Lions fans don't want to miss this historic season that could, could, could,

I can't guarantee it, but could result in their first ever trip to the Super Bowl. And yeah, going 8-0 on the road prepares you for what's to come and gives you confidence. And Jared Goff knows it well.

Get ahead of the game. Listen to CNBC on the Odyssey app.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Love to connect with you as we wrap up week 17 of the NFL season.

So you've got the Lions that still have this Week 18 game that's coming up. It's the doozy, right? It's the very last game of the NFL regular season. Kind of crazy to think about that we'll be marking number 272. That's the number of games when you combine them all together. 272. The very last game is Sunday night. And yes, it's

It plays out like a movie script. The Vikings and Lions with the NFC North and the one seed that's hanging in the balance. So it's kind of cool to think about that a week. Well, not even a week from now, but we'll all be hanging on with bated breath.

And I do know that it's frustrating for those teams that aren't playing for a postseason spot, but it doesn't mean that there's nothing on the line. Kyle Shanahan has his guys out there recognizing that they're playing for jobs. They're playing for potentially new contracts.

Maybe he makes changes to his coaching staff, but you're hired to do a job through 17 games. And I appreciate that they're still going in with the mentality that they're trying to win. It's been a tough season for the Niners to be sure. But as I say, I have no doubt that they're back. And as for the Lions, they've got some bigger fish to fry come 2025. 855-212-4227 at ALawRadio. So glad to have you with us.

Maybe you heard or maybe you noticed on social that both LeBron James and Tiger Woods celebrated birthdays on Monday, December 30th. Both now in their 40s as LeBron hits the big 4-0. Tiger is actually 49. So next year he'll turn 50. And it's really cool to think about the new perspective that we have with these two iconic athletes who've left, gosh, an indelible fingerprint on this last generation of sports.

where did you travel that was super cool that you won't forget in 2024 maybe a neat experience from the last 12 months can find us on either of our social media sites thanks so much for listening in 24 it's after hours with amy lawrence i do appreciate the opportunity to speak on it but you know i've answered this question the same forever how many months now so um i think the

The focus, I need to make sure I'm doing exactly what I'm asking everybody else to do. So we need to finish the race. It's been a challenging year based on our contract situation for the coaches. I mean, it's stating the obvious, but we'll have time to talk about that next week.

Yeah, no doubt. And maybe Mike McCarthy isn't talking about his future or his status with the Dallas Cowboys, but everybody else is, including guys in his own locker room. But that's a positive for him. Micah Parsons, Dak Prescott, and injured Dak Prescott have stumped for him. They have said they believe he should have another contract. They believe that he should remain the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. And honestly, I won't be surprised if he does remain.

It's hard to explain what happened with the Cowboys this year, though. Does Jerry Jones take responsibility for the fact that they really did not address the run game at all? Does he accept responsibility as the general manager of a team that didn't have an offense that was multidimensional? I mean, Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb both got paid. We know that. Micah's likely to get paid in this offseason, but...

But they didn't address the run game, and that was a glaring issue. The offensive line, still a work in progress after a bunch of years of being really good. It's partly on him, too. Or does he blame Mike McCarthy? I mean, they've obviously lost coordinators. I mean, Kellen Moore's been gone for a couple seasons now. He's been calling plays. But last year, MVP-like numbers for Dak. CeeDee Lamb continued to be productive, even this season, once they had to move to Cooper Rush.

But he was playing hurt all year. They lost Micah. They lost other guys on that defense that really hurt them. They almost had a revolving door on defense. Ask the Lions how that feels. So does the blame get put at the feet of Mike McCarthy, who only has technically one more game left on his current contract? He's...

I guess, depending upon your perspective, either a lame duck or a dead man walking one or the other. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Glad to have you with us. I wouldn't be surprised if he got another contract. I really wouldn't. I actually don't think it's that far-fetched as much as Cowboys Nation. Some of you in Cowboys Nation would rage against that decision by Jerry Jones, but

We know that Bill Belichick is no longer available, right? So it's not like Jerry can go out and hire his friend. But what else is Mike going to do? He has to say, hey, I'm focused on what we've got, which is one more game. They cannot have a winning record this season. They won't make the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

But does this season erase the good? And honestly, it goes back to that playoff game, the wildcard game in which they were demolished at home by the Packers. I think part of the stink this season really comes down to how poorly they played at their own stadium. The fact that they were blown out by teams like the Saints at their own place.

He has a winning record with the Cowboys, but they did not advance past the divisional round in any of their playoff appearances under Mike McCarthy. They've got Mike Zimmer on defense as their coordinator, Brian Schottenheimer offensively, John Fossil, special teams. They've got different coaches in addition to McCarthy that are on expiring contracts or contracts that are about to run out. Where do they go from here? That's one of the major questions that we ask.

We'll see answered in the offseason. I don't know how quickly. But I hope for everyone's sake that the news drops relatively quickly so we don't have to talk about it for months. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. 855-212-4227. Lots of you out of your regular routines this holiday week or this holiday season. That includes us. But not a lot of these NFL teams, right? Mike Tomlin, he is in...

regular season form. Actually, I would say he's already in playoff form looking ahead to Saturday and the AFC North that will have center stage. Now, remember the Bengals are still alive for a playoff spot. Thanks in large part to what the offense has done. Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, T Higgins. Oh gosh. As a side note, did you see the exchange between Jamar Chase and the reporters? Oh,

On Monday, they're asking him, maybe it was Sunday. It was Sunday or Monday, maybe post-game Sunday, asking him about Tee Higgins and his future. And if Tee was aware that this could have been his last game at home with the Bengals. And finally, after a few questions, Jamar responds with, if, if, if. It's a big if, isn't it? Anyway, he's a little bit sarcastic, a little bit snarky, but I can imagine they're tired of answering those questions.

Okay, back to the point at hand. The offense has played terrific. Joe Burrow has put up MVP-like numbers. Depending upon how you define value, the fact that this team was in such a hole and the defense has been...

pretty awful or horror awful as Shaq would say maybe the offense deserves even that much more credit and Joe is that much more valuable though I don't believe he'll win MVP but I've seen some of the the cases made for him Troy Aikman on Monday Night Football actually made the case for Joe Burrow as the MVP so the Bengals they're still alive they've managed to get back to 500 but here are the Steelers who desperately want to two things

win the AFC North, but how about just reverse the trend that they're on, the skid that they're on right now with three consecutive losses?

Certainly they're a motivated group trying to play their way into this tournament, but certainly we're a motivated group, to be quite honest with you. We got to get the stench of the last few performances off of us. There's no better way to do that than a home divisional win versus a formidable group going into the tournament. And so that's our mentality as we stand here today. We had some real good meetings.

to get things get kick started this morning. And we will continue excited about doing it in Akershaw at prime time on Saturday night.

Can't wait. Might actually be home and out of the car by then. But if not, we've got the radio to keep us company in the final leg of our journey back to the New York City area. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence. I love the stench. That's the word that Mike Tomlin uses. And also the tournament. Terrific. That's a term that you'll hear every now and then about the NFL, though not typical NFL.

The Ravens might actually win the AFC North before that game kicks off because the Ravens will be hosting the Browns. So if they end up with a victory over Cleveland, maybe Cleveland can play the role of spoiler against Baltimore, a different type of rivalry there.

Some history there, for those of you who know. But if the Ravens don't win the AFC North, the Steelers could capture it in the later game. But there's so much to play for with the Bengals, too. And there's matchups that will matter as well, because if the Steelers win...

They could end up maybe facing the Texans as the five seed. But if they end up as the six seed, oh, look, they might play in a rematch with Baltimore. So, you know, matchups matter when they get to the playoffs as well. It's not just about who's the healthiest and who's got a home field advantage.

the matchups they can often dictate and the rivalries that are so spicy in the NFL, in the AFC North, some of these different divisions. We know there will be two teams from that division that end up in the playoffs, potentially three from the AFC West. Could you imagine if the Chiefs played the Chargers or the Broncos in the postseason?

We know that in the NFC North, we've got three teams in two. So chances are if they end up winning, well, the Lions or Vikings will have the first weekend off. But if they end up all surviving to the divisional round, of course, you're going to end up with them, a couple of them playing each other. So it's, it's,

salty in the regular season man talk about spicy with all kinds of extra curricular activity and extra emotions folded into a game in the playoffs so really excited even with just about a half hour left and my final show of 2024 already full of anticipation for 2025

So I've been asking you cool experiences, best place you traveled in 24. I'd like to share some of those responses in this final few minutes at ALawRadio and then also on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence.

If you would like to yell and scream at the voice of reason, fine with me. Ready, aim, fire. This girl's tougher than she looks. I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose, fire away. Amy's taking your calls at 855-212-4CBS.

I am blown away by the responses we're getting to our New Year's Eve question. So our final few minutes here before we hit the top of the hour. It's my final few minutes on the show in 2024. I will be with you on New Year's night. So it's not like we're saying goodbye for a long period of time.

That's not the case. But so many of you are weighing in with a cool travel experience or some other experience from 2024 that you want to share. And I love it. So I'm going to run through as many of these as I possibly can. I've also been retweeting them from our show account at Amy After Hours. And then you can find the thread on Facebook, which is really neat. Also,

For those of you who know our show and are familiar with NFL Network, Cynthia Freeland, who is...

the data science queen for NFL Network and also has her own pod and a huge Lions fan. She's from the Detroit area. So she's also a massive dog lover. And in between our most recent interviews in which she joined the show, she went from one dog to two dogs. And she came on the show last time and told us how she couldn't leave Detroit covering the draft in the spring. She couldn't leave without taking a dog walk.

back to LA with her. And now we're taking a dog home from our holidays here in Texas. So I just saw her. She was replying to the picture of Flower with a big congratulations. So dog lovers unite, which is amazing. Thanks for all of your kind words about Flower Power, who is absolutely snoring behind me right now. And you may actually hear her.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on our Facebook page. Again, just a few of these. Donna weighs in. A trip of 40 years. We renewed our vows and received the blessings of our priest and fellow parishioners. Our 40th wedding anniversary. Oh, man. Congratulations to that. Well, to Donna and her husband on that occasion. I hope to hit 40 at some point. Obviously, way down the road, 39 more years.

Kevin says that he went to Valletta, Malta, a truly stunning city. Stan, my favorite place I traveled to was Alaska, riding my motorcycle. I rode 50,700 miles through 43 states this year. Wowzers. He's also recovering from shoulder surgery, and so we're glad to keep you company. Stan, please get well soon.

Let's see. Tommy, we had a nice week in Cape Cod where we spent our honeymoon 39 years ago. Hashtag marriage rocks. That's awesome. Again, I got a lot to live up to the standard. Brad on Twix. A Margaritaville cruise. Finished it off in Siesta Key. Caught a spring training Braves game at beach for a few days. And he sends us some pictures too. That's awesome.

Phil experiencing Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Quite a cultural shock for someone from a podunk post office town in Pennsylvania. He says, I've been to Atlanta, Dallas, Boston, even New York City. Nothing compares to New Orleans, especially Bourbon Street after 7 p.m. Oh, that's true. And it smells like alcohol as well. New Orleans, where the Super Bowl is this year.

Dave on Twix. We rented a beach house with a pool in Myrtle Beach. Still listen to the podcast on my morning walks. Oh, that's a faithful listener. Thank you. Let's see. Randy says New York City for an outstanding Christmas gathering. Love it. Jeremy, my wife surprised me with a trip to the Bahamas for my 50th birthday in August. Friends of ours surprised me by joining us down there.

Awesome. I love that you guys are celebrating milestones. Very cool. DJ says Santa Monica in California, a fun place to visit. Another tweet that doesn't have a name, but the coolest experience of the year went to Park MGM Vegas for the Bears first draft pick. And then he kind of goes back to a couple of top sports moments. I think the Olympics with Steph Curry and his shooting under pressure for the gold medal. That was amazing. So thanks for that walk down memory lane.

What else do we have? Lots of posts on Twix at ALawRadio and then also on our Facebook page. Let me flip over there too because many of you are sending us photos to accompany your cool moments and your cool travels. Let's see. Russ traveled to France for the 24 hours at Le Mans. During the trip, we spent a day at Normandy, Omaha Beach. You can't not be emotionally overwhelmed. We'll never forget that day. Wow.

I can imagine. That's one place I haven't visited yet, but certainly on the bucket list. And then Donald, my wife and I took the whole family, including her mom, on a cruise to Alaska, the Inside Passage. I've done some of that, some of the Inside Passage. What a phenomenal trip that was. Probably my favorite vacation I've ever taken in the United States, where...

the coolest shades of gray, bald eagles everywhere. We did Ketchikan. I went whitewater rafting in Juneau, Alaska on a glacier river. It was so cold that by the time we got done, I couldn't even use my fingers to undo the clasps on the boots.

Oh, and I was wearing overalls that they provided. They smelled like fish. Oh my gosh. But it was a really neat experience to go whitewater rafting in Juneau. So that's cool. Thanks, Donald. Kevin went to the Final Four, judging by the photo with the Final Four logo on his shirt. Mark says he and his wife bought a house. Amazing. Nick, we did a lot of traveling in 24. My favorite to Tennessee. We had a blast and shares a photo from Tennessee.

All right. Let's see. Oh, Patty, girls weekend in the Keys and family reunion on Lake Winnipesaukee. Oh, hey, New Hampshire. Live free or die, baby. She says best of both worlds. Happy New Year. And then Bonnie, West Palm Beach taking second place in the nation in the CTAA Paratransit Rodeo and also going to Discovery Cove in Florida to swim with the Dolphins.

That's neat. Skip says, I saw the Red Sox at Camden Yards and got a ball at Wrigley Field this year. Oh, those are two iconic places to play. And then, oh, here, this is awesome. We'll end with these two. Barry, 54 years old, took my first plane ride.

Wow. Barry, I'd love to know how you enjoyed or did not enjoy your first plane ride. Went to Vegas to walk the most beautiful bride ever, my stepdaughter down the aisle. Oh, thank you for sharing the photo. And then Scott sends us a photo of his family, his dad's 90th birthday.

Amazing. A lot of you became parents, grandparents, went to spend time with family, had some neat outdoor adventures. Thank you for sharing those with us. And of course, you know, we'll continue the post and the thread will continue on into New Year's Eve. But happy New Year's Eve to you as we've got just a couple of minutes hearing the that story.

about flying in a plane for the first time. Did you guys see what happened to the Gonzaga men's basketball team? Hold on. I want to make sure I get the story right. I don't want to get any of the details wrong. But they were on a charter flight and they were ordered to stop. So they're about to... They're moving. The plane is moving. They're getting ready to take off from Los Angeles. And...

They're crossing a major runway or about to cross a major one runway. This is a private jet, again, a charter jet. And they nearly ran into the path of a Delta flight. If you can imagine. So this is Friday afternoon, July,

And there's video footage of it. And air traffic control is yelling. So they've got the audio as well. Air traffic control is yelling, stop, stop, stop. And this private jet that's carrying the Gonzaga men's basketball team is about to...

Let's see. It's about to cross into the path of this major Delta plane. And when you see the still photos, the Delta jet is so much larger than the charter jet. It would have been. I mean, you want to talk about astronomical tragedy and who knows how it happened. I know there's an investigation underway, but this charter flight from Key Lime Air is

Was trying to cross over this runway. And the footage of the near collision. Shows both planes.

After one came to an abrupt halt, they kind of go on their way. Delta flight does manage to take off. The FAA reported that the jet never crossed the runway edge line, but was headed that direction. So Gonzaga had, let's see, had just arrived from Spokane. So they were arriving, not taking off. And they were there to play a game against UCLA. Okay.

But can you imagine? I am so thankful that that's not a story that we're covering right now as we wrap up 2024. But the footage at both the video and the still photos are stark and scary just to think about the possibilities. So thankfully, no one was hurt and they managed to avoid a major catastrophe. Oh, my gosh. It's been quite a year.

Thinking 2024 and not just our radio show. We've talked about some of the iterations of it going from producer Jay to a couple months of different rotating producers, some auditioning for the job, some just keeping the seat warm until we eventually got to producer Pete. We're wrapping up. And for me, last show here of 2024, wrapping up 12 years on the network.

No way. When we launched in 2013, if you had asked me how long I would be with the network, 12 years would have been the furthest thing from my mind, even a decade because the business turns over so rapidly. And think about being the only original host. I'm the only original host left on the network. It's changed names. We've changed bosses. We've changed, uh,

owners and employers. And yet After Hours is still here. And I'm definitely proud of that fact. I know many of you have listened over the course of the 12 years, but even if you're new to the show, thank you for all your support and encouragement in 24. Here's to blessings and breakthroughs in 2025. And I'll talk to you on New Year's night. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence.