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Drum
Roll, Please... I can finally see the light. The Nuclear Summer is over. No, I'm not talking about the temperatures finally settling under 100 degrees....it's officially football season. This week, the games count. The college football season gets underway with a clash in the SEC between LSU and Mississippi State on Thursday night. That game is followed by a full slate of games this weekend. I can't wait to get on the road this Saturday on the Sun Drop Southern Fried Football™ Tour when we visit emotional Blacksburg for the Virginia Tech - East Carolina game....and for good measure, our trip to the world-famous Esso Club on Labor Day will be a blast, as the Tour stops in for the Florida State - Clemson game. The anticipation of real college football is enough to offset my disgust for these NFL preseason games. I'm sorry, but I have a hard time getting excited about watching the battle for the Panthers' 6th string wide receiver spot, or the player that makes it through the last cut to become a member of the kick-off coverage. Spare me. The fact that NFL owners absolutely gouge their loyal season ticket holders by charging regular season prices for these games is one of the biggest rip-offs in sports. It's almost as bad as charging nearly 7 bucks for a beer, right Mr. Richardson? More about that later. Speaking of the Panthers, how about that effort against the Patriots on CBS? Despite the gripe about preseason games, there is no question that the third August tilt is normally the one game that gives you a handle on where your favorite NFL stands in the big picture. Under
that premise, the Panthers are in deep s$%^*t. Their effort a week
earlier in Philly was easily disposed of by the local With the Patriots and Tom Brady coming to town, football fans were eagerly anticipating the Panthers' first home appearance of the preseason and local babes were hoping that Brady would add another notch to his belt during his short stay. As it turns out, we can only confirm that Panther fans were disappointed in the football weekend. Tom Brady left with a smile on his face, and we're assuming it is because of the relative ease with which he carved up the Panthers' secondary. I'm surprised that he didn't light up a cigarette when he got to the sideline. He looked that satisfied with his effort. Simply put, the Panthers were dominated. I've got to be honest with you: I expected the local NFL team to play well, after mailing it in the week before. John Fox and his crew just didn't have it. The game left me with more questions about the Panthers than at any time during the month of August. The performance was so weak that the Charlotte Observer's headline the next day was about Dan Morgan surviving 15 minutes of action. Come on, guys; that is a sidebar story. Put down the pom-poms and get into the real world. The story was that the New England Patriots looked like what a Super Bowl contender is supposed to....the Panthers looked like they were a step slower defensively than a year ago, and the new offensive blocking scheme that has been overblown in the media from day one was abysmal again. When the Panthers can't run, it forces Jake to throw....and the team has put itself in an awful position by cutting Keyshawn Johnson without having anyone step up as the #2 wide receiver. If this continues into the regular season, I hope all-world wide receiver Steve Smith has developed a new character trait during the off-season...and that's called "patience". The Panthers were so bad against the Pats, that I can't use the "it's only a preseason game" excuse. Other than the opening drive in the opening game against the New York Giants, the Panthers have looked awful in August....and that's very unusual for a John Fox-coached team. Prior to the last two blowout losses in the span of a week, the Panthers had won 16 of their last 18 preseason games. Up next is Pittsburgh on Thursday night. Surely, the Panthers can do something right before it really matters? I'll guarantee you the game will be more interesting, compared to the last time the "Steely McBeams" rolled into Charlotte. Last December, the Steelers beat the Panthers 37-3. Regardless of the outcome, we can all agree that it's great to welcome the football season back into our lives. Football isn't the only thing going on in the world of sports. I watched some of the Sharpie 500 in Bristol. Normally, any race at Thunder Valley is wild and highly entertaining....especially the night race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Combine that with a new paving job at the world's fastest half-mile track, and you should have the perfect combination for a great night of racing. As it turns out, Kasey Kahne and Carl Edwards tag-teamed and led nearly every lap of the race...what happened to the good, old fashioned races at Bristol? The race and track usually produce smashes, crashes, flying sheet metal and pissed-off drivers. This year, it was almost the exact opposite...drivers loved the track, nobody was upset afterwards and even Tony Stewart claimed it was the best race he's ever been a part of at Bristol, giving it an A+. I want the old Bristol. The Fed Ex Cup was equally as boring. Since Tiger Woods decided to skip the first round of the PGA Tour Playoffs, it seems as if the rest of the country decided to do the same thing. But there was one spark from the event: Rory Sabbatini decided to open his mouth again and call out Tiger, indirectly. The moronic golfer stated that there were plenty of out-of-shape golfers that play on Tour six or seven straight weeks. Obviously, he was pointing out that Tiger's absence due to his major championship win from a few weeks ago was a weak excuse for no-showing at the Fed Ex Cup. Listen, I think Tiger should have been present, too...but he earned the right to say "no". As for Sabbatini, you would think he would have learned his lesson by now. Every time he has thrown a verbal shot at Tiger, the world's number one player has beaten him like a rented mule. I guess Rory was feeling good, knowing that Tiger wasn't in town to kick his rear end this week.....now, next week - that's a different story. The U.S. Open gets started this week in New York. The top seeds are Roger Federer and Justine Henin....but the top story will be if Federer can become the first man since Bill Tilden to win the American Slam four years in a row. Tilden accomplished the feat back in the 1920's by winning six straight U.S.Open titles. The biggest issue other than Federer's quest for history will be the latest fashion trends from Maria Sharapova. Finally, in closing...I would like to encourage most media outlets, national and local, to spend as much time covering Michael Vick as I did in this blog entry.....Believe me, we would all be better off not spending any more time on Vick and his love for man's best friend. |
Packman
on Sports Commentary
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