12/29/06

The sports weekend coming up should be outstanding.

As the NFL concludes its regular season, there are 20 teams that are either in the playoffs, or have an opportunity for a postseason game. There are 74 scenarios in which a team can get into the playoffs or improve their position in the postseason. If you are a Panthers fan, I'm sure you have the right combination memorized for the weekend.

We know how strange this season has been in the NFL, but the ACC is just as bizarre. Wake Forest wins the football title and is heading to the Orange Bowl....by the way, the Orange Bowl announced that Muhammad Ali, a Louisville native, and Arnold Palmer, a Deacon alum, will be honorary captains for the game....that's pretty cool.

But ACC basketball has an interesting storyline this side of Tobacco Road....and it is Clemson. Forget the fact that the Tigers played in a bowl game today, the basketball team is 13-0, ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time this decade and defeated Georgia by 15 points last night.

Finally, pitcher Barry Zito signs a 7-year, $126 million deal with the San Francisco Giants...not bad for a guy that goes to work every 5 days.....that's an Eric Thomas deal!

And you can sleep on that one.

1/1/07

Happy New Year!

Since we're kicking off 2007 in style, how about some sports predictions and observations for the upcoming year...

Appalachian State will become the first team to three-peat in the Division-1AA football playoffs.

Tom O'Brien and Butch Davis will get both the Wolfpack and the Tar Heels to a bowl game...of course with 32 bowl games, that might not be saying much.

Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks will be a preseason Top 20 team, but still not quite good enough to win the SEC East.

The Tar Heels are loaded in hoops and Roy's boys will cut down the nets....at the ACC Tournament, but not at the Final Four in Atlanta.

Tiger Woods will create a new fashion statement by winning a green jacket at Augusta in April and follow that up with a neon-blue blazer in May at Quail Hollow.

The Panthers won't be picked by any national publications to make it to the Super Bowl...and this time, they will be right.

Bernie Bickerstaff will be out as head coach of the Bobcats.

Finally, Tony Stewart will be back in the Chase, and he will also be back as the 2007 Nextel Cup Champion.

Happy New Year, and you can sleep on that one.