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June I owe an apology to the month of June. Normally, June ranks right up there with July as the worst sports month of the year. I still have a feeling that July will bore us to tears, but I'm going to miss dear old June. Just think about it, June gave us incredible story lines: • Roger
Federer wins his 14th grand slam event and first French Open. Not a bad month of topics, for what is considered a "slow time" of the year. I'm going to miss June....but July can still kiss my ass. The only good thing about July is it finally allows me to take some time off, and it can't get here soon enough. I've got to hand it to the guys of the USA soccer team. I gave up on them after another lethargic effort earlier in the Federations Cup against Italy and Brazil. Let's face it, our guys were brutal, and the results indicated that we just were not competitive against the world's elite. Something happened down in South Africa to change all that....and it beats me what it was, but it sure was effective. Somehow, the Americans found a way to make it to the semis, where they upset the world's #1, Spain. The shocker put them in position to play for the title against Brazil. They almost pulled it off. Team USA could not hold onto a 2-nil halftime lead, and watched as the Brazilians rallied for a hard-earned 3-2 championship win. Forget the moral victory speech....Team USA was bummed out about losing to the mighty Brazilians. It was quite an effort, but they fell short to a more talented team. In the process, they did more than pick up runner-up hardware. They served notice that they might be ready to compete against the big boys when it matters. We'll find out next year, when the World Cup gets underway. Joey Logano won his first Cup race, and in the process became the youngest driver to win on the circuit. Congrats, Joey....not bad for a 19 year old kid. The win will be the first of many for the guy nicknamed "Slice Bread". The expectations of young Joey have been immense. Not the kind of expectations put on a driver like Dale, Jr., but everyone has been curious to see how the kid was going to do on the big-boy circuit. While he hasn't been a consistent success to date, he can now say he has a win to his credit on the Cup circuit. And that's more than a number of talented drivers can say this season. Ask Carl Edwards or Kevin Harvick....or Dale Earnhardt, Jr. I was a bit surprised last week, at how little play the news of Julius Peppers' signing was on our radio show. Granted, it was a crazy week of topics and stories, but normally when the Panthers make news, it's a big deal in the Charlotte market. Notice I stated, "Charlotte market". I have found out that the Panthers don't carry as much clout outside of Mecklenburg County as you would believe. Back to Peppers....it became apparent that Julius and his representatives found out very quickly that his asking price was a bit out of whack during the off-season. Nobody has any interest in paying him a million dollars a game. I can't say that I blame them. So, Julius now returns to the scene of the crime. The one place where he has "maxed out" and refused to play, following a disastrous playoff appearance against Arizona. The Panthers and their front office stayed very consistent with their approach, demands and attitude in the entire process....and it paid off. Peppers is now signed, sealed and delivered. He now has to deliver another big year....or else. It should be very interesting to watch what #90 says or does (if anything) when the guys report to camp in early August. This will be one of the big early story lines of Carolina's camp, and one that should garner more attention from the locals and national media. Who is a bigger scumbag... John Edwards of North Carolina......or Mark Sanford of South Carolina? I'll still lean towards Edwards, but it's a close call. I want to wish everyone a safe and happy July 4th holiday. We will not have a live radio show on Friday, July 3rd, but we'll be back all month long with shows from the studio. There will be TV commentaries all month, too. Happy 4th! |
Packman
on Sports Commentary
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