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Jay
Cutler Must Suck The Carolina Panthers are slowly but surely inching their way back to mediocrity.By virtue of their win over Atlanta on Sunday and Thursday meeting with Miami, the Panthers have a chance to be .500 by the upcoming weekend. That's OK, considering the 0-3 start and embarrassing loss at home to Buffalo a few weeks ago, but I still can't buy into the "playoff/wildcard" discussion that is starting to gain momentum in the Queen City. I know everybody lost this past weekend....Eagles, Cowboys, Bears, Falcons, etc.....and everybody looks like they are hovering around .500, this side of the Vikings and Saints. But I don't trust the error-free Jake performances to continue and I don't like the look of the last four games of the regular season. Throw in season-ending injuries to Thomas Davis on defense and Jordan Gross on offense, and it looks like a ridiculous long-shot for there to be meaningful January football in Charlotte. But look at the good news....at least you're not Jay Cutler. Somebody tell LeBron James that his idea that the NBA should honor Michael Jordan by retiring the number "23" is downright hilarious. James claims that next season he'll ditch MJ's number on his Cavs jersey, for the number "6". Nice move, LeBron. Ever hear of the name Julius Erving? He was a pretty good player, too. Played for the Sixers and revolutionized the game during his career in the league. He wore the number 6. How about Bill Russell? He wore the number "6" for the Celtics back in the day.....he did the unthinkable and actually won a championship or two with those great Boston teams. Actually, he won 11 titles in his 13-year NBA career, along with 5 NBA MVP awards. Come on, LeBron....forget the cheesy tributes, and win a damn title. If not, at least get to the handshake line this time. Hey, LeBron.....Jay Cutler wears #6....so how good of an idea can that be? Thank goodness the Carolina Hurricanes finally snapped that ugly 14-game winless streak. By virtue of their OT win over Minnesota, the Canes tasted victory for the first time since October 9th. Now the team to feel sorry for resides in the NBA. Ladies and gentlemen, please meet the New Jersey Nets....the owners of an amazing 0-10 record. Even the Minnesota T-puppies have won a game....they are 1-10. Can you imagine being 0-10 in the NBA....playing in the same division as the Celtics....and knowing that you have 72 more games to play? I'd rather be Jay Cutler. Before I start this week, I'd like to thank to folks at Elon University for making our first tourstop to the Burlington campus such an enjoyable one. It's not easy making a game switch at a moment's notice on the Southern Fried Football™ Tour, but the officials at Elon were terrific. We look forward to making Elon an annual stop on the Tour, for years to come. Not only was it a great setup (how can you be disappointed, being in front of the sorority houses?), but the campus was beautiful, the facilities fantastic and the hospitality was even better. Elon University was first class all the way. Thanks, Elon for making it such a fun tourstop and we look forward to visiting in 2010. While I'm on the subject of the Southern Conference, congrats to Jerry Moore's boys for winning their fifth consecutive conference championship. The Mountaineers were impressive in their victory over Elon. The record crowd of 14,167 at Rhodes Stadium couldn't believe what was happening, as ASU raced out to an early 21-0 lead and cruised home for the win. Armanti Edwards was outstanding as usual, as he completed 21 of 24 passes and ran around Elon defenders all day long. The only downer for ASU was the tweaking of Edwards' knee, late in the first half. He played in the 2nd half, but he must stay healthy, if ASU plans on winning another FCS title. The Mountaineers are still the Kings of the SoCon - and until somebody beats them, it will remain that way. The victory over Elon gives ASU 19 straight conference wins, heading into a date with Western Carolina on Saturday. We'll be in Boone for the "Battle of the Old Mountain Jug" on Saturday. It will be our eleventh, and final Southern Fried Football™ Tourstop of the season. I can't believe how fast this year has flown by. Nice week, Lane Kiffin. The new "Mouth of the South" tempted fate, by bragging at his weekly SEC teleconference about how impressed he was that his players had stayed out of trouble with the law. Less than 24 hours later, three of Kiffin's prized freshmen recruits were being arrested for attempted armed robbery.
Listen, I did stupid things when was in college, too. Anybody that can remember back to being 18 years old can say the same thing. But armed robbery? Please....insert your favorite UT joke here. To make matters worse, the Vols took their act on the road to the Grove and proceeded to get the living daylights beaten out of them. The last time I checked, Dexter McCluster was still running over Monte Kiffin's vaunted defense. In case anyone is counting...McCluster ended up with 282 yards rushing, and Lane Kiffin ended up with a lopsided loss and three arrests. The Vols are 5-5, and their best win of the season is against South Carolina. Nice year, Lane Kiffin. But keep those one-liners coming....I still love ya, in Rocky Top. Georgia Tech is locked and loaded as one of the ACC's championship game contestants. Can Clemson close the deal against Virginia next week, and punch their ticket to Tampa? Yeah, they will. Dabo Swinney has his Tigers playing lights-out, at the right time of the year. The latest blowout victim was N.C. State, and Clemson has now won five straight and faces an awful Wahoo team that limps into Death Valley with their beleaguered coach, Al Groh. Clemson fans need to get a good look at Al, before he is shown the door in Charlottesville. The late, great, former Clemson coach/legend Frank Howard used to call Virginia "white meat". This week, Howard's descriptive term appears to be right on the money. If the ACC can get Clemson and Georgia Tech in the title game, they will get their best match-up possible for the Tampa affair. And if the game is anywhere close to their regular season match-up in ATL, maybe the ACC....for once....can deliver an entertaining championship game. Hey, Miami....Butch Davis owns you. What is it about the Canes' inability to function, when in the presence of Butch Davis? Jacory Harris vs. TJ Yates....huge advantage for Miami, right? Wrong. 4 interceptions later, the Heels are bowl-bound again....and own the Miami Hurricanes. Evidently, Harris thought when you play a game in the state of North Carolina, you are supposed to pay homage to Jake Delhomme and toss the biscuit to the wrong team all day long. Here's the bad news for Randy Shannon and the Canes....they have to face Butch every year, since they are both in the Coastal division. That is, as long as Butch stays in Chapel Hill. What was funnier this weekend? Watching Pete Carroll's mighty USC Trojans give up the speed limit at home to Stanford? ...Or... Watching Charlie Weis and Jimmy Clausen (Brady Quinn, Jr.) get their butts beat again? |
Packman
on Sports Commentary
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