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Buzz
Kill This is shaping up to be quite a sports week. We have a little bit of everything going on, and that's a good thing. I'll address them later in the blog, but the first item of business is the crazy coaching carousel which has been invading the Carolinas. I just returned from a weekend trip to New York City with my daughter, GG, who was celebrating her 13th birthday.....I didn't read a single paper or internet site, and I watched less than 5 minutes of television. As soon as I arrived home, I tried to get caught up on the sports news of the day...and that included Buzz Peterson leaving App State and taking the UNC-Wilmington job. So now we can add Boone to the list of schools that have begun a coaching search this off-season. I know the ASU fans are ticked off with Peterson's decision to move to the NC coast....at least the hundreds of emails that greeted my address alerted me to the mood. If I were ASU, I'd hire Bobby Lutz immediately. I'm assuming that he would be interested. But Buzz' decision to bolt from Boone to Wilmington begs the question....NC mountains or NC coast? Put me down as a lover of the NC mountains. The Charlotte Bobcats ventured into the NBA post-season for the first time, and they came away with a disappointing loss in game one to Orlando. Game two is on Wednesday night, before the team hosts their first home playoff game on Saturday afternoon. I hate matinee playoff basketball games.....it's the equivalent of a noon kick-off for a big college football game. But despite the start time, the city of Charlotte and the Bobcat fans will be juiced. But, back to hoops....despite holding Dwight Howard to five points, the Magic's deadly perimeter game was too much for Larry Brown's squad. There will have to be some adjustments before game two tips off on Wednesday. After the opening round game one tilts in the NBA, the higher seeded teams are 7-1. The only loss was by Phoenix to Portland. This trend needs to change ASAP, if you're the Bobcats. Unlike the NHL playoffs which have been loaded with upsets and surprises, it's been chalk in the NBA. One thing that plays in Charlotte's favor is Larry Brown....you've got to figure the legendary coach will come up with something creative after the opening game defeat....of course, it would help if Jameer Nelson and the rest of the jump-shooting masters of Orlando had an off night or two. It's a huge week in the NFL, too. On Tuesday night, the league has a primetime schedule release show. It makes sense...plus, you know you'll watch just to see what kind of schedule your favorite team will have to tackle in 2010. The NFL also prepares for it's first ever primetime Draft coverage on Thursday, as well. Unfortunately, the Carolina Panthers don't select until the 2nd round, assuming that they have set their alarm clock as a reminder to join the rest of the league in acquiring future talent. The team has made virtually zero moves in the off-season. Unless you count the newly acquired talents of Wallace Wright, Marcus Hudson, Aaron Francisco and some kicker they found at a Smoothie King. It's been painful to watch the Panthers, since Jerry Richardson decided to trim tens of millions of dollars of payroll fat and replenish the roster with journeyman players. It's also been difficult to watch how many quality WR's get traded to or picked up in free agency by other teams without the Panthers showing any apparent interest. Brandon Marshall and Ted Ginn, Jr. are the latest "WR talents" to join new teams......hopefully, there is a dazzling WR in the 2nd round just waiting to join Steve Smith in Carolina. If I were Roger Goodell, I'd suspend Ben Roethlisberger for the first month of the 2010 regular season. I'd also make sure the Panthers played in Pittsburgh in September. It was pretty apparent that the Rooney press conference last week was setting the stage for an expensive suspension of the All-Pro quarterback. There's no way that Big Ben can walk free of his stupidity this time. The vast majority of Steeler fans that I come across have had enough of his bonehead mentality. He's a terrific talent, but if you continually put yourself in these positions, eventually you've got to pay the price. It's time for Ben to pay for his actions. It was a great week for Kym Hougham and the Quail Hollow Championship. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson commit, and the tickets go flying off the shelves. As of this blog entry, only Thursday's opening round tickets are available. I'll have more about it next week....and I'm looking forward to the tourney. |
Packman
on Sports Commentary
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