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The
Carolina Blues It's a tough time to love Carolina, these days. Both the Heels and Panthers are in the process of losing a handle on the season, before we get to October. I really thought UNC and the Panthers would find ways to get back on track by winning their home openers, but I was wrong. Butch Davis got a gift from the ACC office by getting two weeks to prepare his team for Georgia Tech's tricky scheme, but it didn't matter. The Jackets ran wild on his back-ups and now the season is on the verge of disappearing. The Panthers continued their awful offensive play by stinking it up in the new Meadowlands Stadium, but surely a change in venue and the equally inept Tampa Bay Bucs would be the perfect remedy. That was not the case, as the Bucs made life miserable for Matt Moore and the rest of the offense. Both teams are 0-2, and both teams are in desperate need of help. Until UNC gets their players back from suspension, it might be tough. Until the Panthers find some wide receivers, it might be impossible. I wouldn't want to be John Fox or Butch Davis, these days....they've got serious problems, and I'm not sure there are any immediate answers. I hope the folks in Durham enjoyed the looks of the nation's top-ranked team. I was amazed at how many Duke fans called my radio show last week, talking about their chances. Maybe they were listening to their coach, David Cutcliffe? Last week, Coach Cut claimed the game was "all about Duke". He even stated that if the Blue Devils played really, really well, then they would have a chance to win. He was apparently smoking something....there's "coach-speak", and then there's stupidity. Duke lost, 62-13, in a game that wasn't that close. I mean, even Wake Forest only lost 68-24 to Stanford, this week.....and the hits keep coming to the ACC. You gotta hand it to Phil Fulmer, the former coach at Tennessee. He ripped into current Southern Cal coach Lane Kiffin, calling him arrogant and wondering how a guy like that could land two jobs as prestigious as UT and USC? I'll answer that question, coach.....he's got a great agent. It certainly isn't because of his long list of successful wins. It's a shame that Vol fans have to put up with the mess, but they are the group that supported him to no end when he tried to stir the pot and disrupt the elite programs of the SEC. Derek Dooley has his hands full, in the short-term. After being embarrassed by Oregon and suffering another loss to Florida, it might be a while until we see Rocky Top in the hunt for the SEC East. And speaking of the SEC East, based on what I've seen so far this year, South Carolina looks like the team to beat......but I will remind everyone: it's only September. As we were returning from our Southern Fried Football™ Tour trip to Boone, my emails were exploding. I was bombarded by listeners who were watching the Auburn-Clemson match-up on ESPN. Apparently, Brent Musburger described the ACC-SEC showdown as "Southern Fried Football".......Love ya Brent, but I own the trademark for that term on all broadcasts. And yes, the legal department at the Worldwide Leader will be receiving a cease and desist letter from Southern Fried Football™, Inc. I'll even mention it to my buddy, Kirk Herbstreit, when he comes on the show on Tuesday. Hopefully, he'll pass it along to his partner, Mr. Musburger. Better yet, we'll try to get Brent on the show this week and have some fun with him. Hey, ESPN...next time ask.....and I'll get back to you. I'm not a big fan of "professional handicappers"...and if you've listened to my show the last 14 years, you probably already knew that. This year, we've got one of these guys on my show.....don't ask me why? I can't wait to talk with him at 5:45 on Friday and ask him how he mastered an 0-4 weekend......so far, he's picked 3 of 12 games correctly. My dog Chester has correctly picked 5 winners of the same 12 games. Perhaps I should tell our resident handicapper that for a fee of $40 a week, he can get my dog's insight into all the games....and just like our "resident handicapper", my dog is banned at all major Vegas casinos, too. If the Atlanta Braves are going to catch the Phillies in the NL East, it all starts this week. The Bravos just swept the NY Mets on the road, and head into Philadelphia for a critical three-game series. The pitching match-ups favor Philly, but now is not the time to complain....you gotta go play. The good news for Atlanta is that they are in solid shape for the wild card. It also helps that the trio of teams in the NL West keep beating up on each other. There's not a better race in baseball than the Giants, Padres and Rockies....and it's anybody's guess, which one of them makes it to the playoffs. |
Packman
on Sports Commentary
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