Jim Szoke's Sports Blog

Taking or Leaving Tiger

After attending The Masters in Augusta and the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club, and watching The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, I would say that Tiger Woods needs the PGA Tour much more than the other way around.  Tiger missed the cut here in Charlotte, and followed that by finishing tied for 39th last weekend.  He tied for 40th at The Masters.  Yet, golf survived and in fact, it thrived.

The likable Bubba Watson, fresh off adopting a baby son and playing his unique version of "grip & rip it" type golf has reached cult hero status after winning at Augusta.  Orange-clad Ricky Fowler won here in Charlotte and appeals to some of the Mountain Dew generation.  And while his flat-brimmed PUMA hat may set you off, he adds another personality to the tour to either love or hate (btw, my friend Brendan at Edwin Watts Golf says they sold out of those PUMA hats the day after Wells Fargo).  His fellow 23-year-old Rory McIlroy lost in the playoff here and has already established himself among the elite beginning with his win at Quail Hollow two years ago.  Matt Kuchar won The Players and adds more Georgia flavor for those rooting for yet another developing star.

Charlotte's Webb Simpson is not only popular here, but nearly won the Fed Ex Cup Points last season.  Throw in some longtime favorites like Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, the occassional Fred Couples & Ernie Els sightings and golf still has plenty for galleries to follow. 

No question, Tiger adds drama and intrigue when he is in the hunt.  And don't forget he has a win under his belt this season with the Arnold Palmer Invitational.  But more often than not, the real drama is whether or not he will survive Friday's cut.  Tiger will win again, and probably even another major or two in my opinion.  The point though is that pro golf will be just fine either way.

As you can see, I got to catch up for a few minutes with former Panthers coach John Fox at the pro-am at Quail Hollow.  As you can also see, he gets plenty of free gear from the Denver Broncos.  It will be interesting to see how the Broncos do with Peyton Manning leading the offense and Fox not having to massage what he can out of the departed Tim Tebow.

I have lived in North Carolina for 25 years, but had not had a chance to play golf in Pinehurst until last week.  The Panthers held a tournament at Pinehurst Number-2 and it was every bit as challenging as you might expect.  I am still dumping sand out of my golf shoes.  The US Open will be there in 2014 with the men's and women's championships in back-to-back weeks.

One more golf note...the Dell Curry Celebrity Invitational is coming up June 18 at River Run. I will be playing and emcee for the awards ceremony again.  The event benefits the Ada Jenkins Center in Davidson, assisting the community in health, education and human services.  More info here...AdaJenkins.org.

 

Mad Men

Time for the annual filling out of the NCAA Tournament brackets.  When I was younger, I would stew over my selections for hours, pouring over the numbers.  I think I spent five minutes on it this year, as I do most years now.  Clicking and dragging works much quicker than writing on a newspaper cutout bracket.

I am also a victim of what I've seen most recently, which was Florida State beating Duke and North Carolina in the ACC Tourament.  I'm convinced, enough to put them into my final four and all the way into the national championship game where they lose to Kentucky.  It pains to me put John Calipari and Kentucky in as my champion, but outside of losing to Vanderbilt in the SEC title game, there wasn't much to pick apart with the Wildcats.  Missouri and North Carolina also make my final four, with the Tar Heels again losing to the Seminoles.  Again, I didn't spend all day on this.

Congrats to Davidson for reaching the tournament.  We've had Coach Bob McKillop on the morning show twice in the last week so look at us jumping on the bandwagon.  McKillop grew up playing hoops against Louisville coach Rick Pitino in NYC, so should make for an interesting coaching matchup.  Would love to see Davidson pull of an upset or two, but there is not Stephen Curry to take the Wildcats on a long run like four years ago.  Still, they did beat Kansas in December this season.

Among my early round upsets, 13-seed Ohio University beating 4-seed Michigan and I like Shaka Smarts' 12-seed VCU to win over 5-seed Wichita State.  Duke is in my sweet-16, but they lack the strong inside game to make a deep run in my opinion.  NC State wins their opening game, but can't push them past Georgetown in the 2nd round.  There is not a much better time in sport than the opening four days of the NCAA Tournament.

 

Super Rematch

For whatever reason, the Giants seem to have figured out the Patriots better than anyone else.  I put less stock in the fact they beat them in the Super Bowl four years ago, than that they beat them again this season (24-20).  It was a huge upset when the Giants surprised the Patriots (17-14) in Super Bowl XLII, preventing New England from having an undefeated season.  This time, the Pats are a 3-point favorite but it is New York that is a popular pick to win again.  I think the Giants will win too.

This has the potential to be a high-scoring game with neither pass defense very effective this season.  Add a pair of QB's that combined for over 9,000 yards passing during the season and it should make for an interesting game.  Although Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski will either be out or badly hobbled by a high-ankle sprain, New England still has plenty of weapons to move the football.  New York has perhaps the NFL's best receiving duo in Hakeem Nicks (former Independence HS star) and Victor Cruz.  I also like the Giants ability to run the ball with Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs, and to get a pass rush to knock Tom Brady out of rhythm at times as deciding factors.


Maybe by as soon as next year we will be talking about the Panthers as at least a playoff contender.  With Rob Chudzinski returning as offensive coordinator after touring the NFL for head coaching jobs, the Panthers offense should again be top notch.  The Panthers defense needs a health and talent transfusion which is sure to happen this off-season.  Some key offseason dates to keep in mind, NFL free agency begins March 13, player combines are March 30-31, and the NFL Draft is April 26-28.

For the first time in their 18 years, the Panthers will have a slightly adjusted logo in 2012.  Not a dramatic difference as you can see above, but defintely looks more updated and kind of a comic book type feel to it.  NIKE has taken over from Reebok as apparel designer, so you can expect some minor tweaks to the Panthers uniforms along with some other teams around the league.  Gotta keep pushing out new product for the marketing machine.

Tebow Time

The Panthers Cam Newton is a much better quarterback than Denver's Tim Tebow.  Just ask WR Steve Smith. But it has been amazing to watch the Tebowmania that surrounds the Broncos second-year QB.  It is a phenomenon that exceeds the boundaries of a football field and perhaps even this world.  For a guy who has done essentially nothing wrong, who in fact would seem to be an outstanding role model, Tebow stirs emotions and conversations like no other player this season in the NFL.

The Broncos started their season with Kyle Orton at QB and were floundering at (1-4) as Coach John Fox's first season in Denver looked headed for disaster.  Whether it was desperation, or just to get the Tebow followers off his back, Fox turned the controls over the former Florida star.  Tebow responded by playing horribly for the first 55 minutes of the game before Denver rallied to win in overtime against Miami. 

With a combination that included good defense, an outstanding kicker, and Tebow's late game leadership, Denver would go on a 6-game winning streak before losing to New England this past weekend.  Along the way, Tebow made more ugly passes than quality ones, but something about him has inspired Denver to an (8-6) record and the brink of the playoffs with two games to go in the regular season.  If you ask Tebow, the thanks goes to a higher power.  Jesus Christ.

"Tebowing" has become all the rage.  It used to be called praying or giving thanks until the mainstream media felt compelled to call it something other than what it is.  His story has become part of the newscast as much as the sportscast.  And once you've hit Saturday Night Live, it doesn't get any bigger than that.  And with apologies to Pat Robertson, I believe he is wrong.  SNL wasn't attacking the Bible, they "attack" all things controversial or newsworthy from political candidates to Justin Bieber.

As Broncos executive and former QB great John Elway said, Tebow is here to stay.  Christianity is too, so maybe Tebow's message will reach his intended audience especially this Christmas season.  Either way, for believers and non-believers, and every religion practiced around the country, Tebow has become a polarizing figure more for his openess on his beliefs than for his ability to throw a football.  And watch out, because he's starting to get the NFL passing game down too. 

 

 

NFL Thoughts at the Midway Point

The Panthers will hit the midway point of their season when they host the Minnesota Vikings this weekend.  Their 2011 season can mostly be summed up in one word...Cam.  The rookie from Auburn became the face of the franchise with his first pass in Arizona and has not slowed down since then.  He is on pace to throw for well over 4,000 yards, rush for about 600 yards and account for about 35 TD's.  But it is of course the way he does it, with a skill set of size, agility, speed, savvy, arm strength, pocket presence and so much more that makes him a headliner.  He is the kind of player that the nation will want to see on Monday Night Football, Sunday Night Football and in London.  With that, Steve Smith is having an all-world type season and once Ron Rivera and Sean McDermott get their hands on some more frontline defenders this team has the potential to be special by as soon as next season

The Green Bay Packers went on the road as the number-6 seed in the NFC playoffs last year, rattling off one victory after another on their way to winning the Super Bowl.  And now, they are really good.  The only undefeated team in the NFL has been challenged a few times including by Carolina, but are so deep on offense that it is scary.  Anytime they lose will be an upset, and odds are they will eventually, but they remain the most complete team and the team to beat in the NFL.

Along with Green Bay, the most upper crust of the league is New England and New Orleans.  Those three teams are in the A+ class as long as they stay healthy.  After bursting out of the game, Buffalo and Detroit are looking beatable again.  Especially bad news for the Lions is the injury to RB Jahvid Best which makes them a one-dimensional running team.  Getting on track after slow starts are the Jets, Steelers and Falcons.  San Francisco is intriguing at (5-1), but you have to wonder if they can sustain that in the playoffs as they play in the ridiculously easy NFC West where the other three teams have combined for 3 wins.

Storylines to follow in second half of the season will include Tim Tebow as a starting QB in Denver.  Yes, he led the Broncos to an overtime victory in his first NFL start, but it was against winless Miami and they were trailing 15-0 until the final three minutes.  Carson Palmer will get a bye week and hopefully for him a healthy Darren McFadden as he tries to resurrect his career in Oakland.  And then there is Dallas rookie RB DeMarco Murray bursting on the scene with a team record 253 yards rushing in his first NFL start.

The other bit of intrigue will be the Andrew Luck Lottery, where some "lucky" team will win the right by losing the most to take the Stanford QB with the first pick of the 2012 NFL Draft.  Miami, Indianapolis and St. Louis are currently winless.  The Rams don't need him, so they would be looking to deal.  Minnesota, Jacksonville and Arizona are very much alive with only one win a piece, but they better dial it down if they want the next great pro quarterback.

What Have They Done to College Football?

 
As if it wasn't enough that we can't remember what conferences traditional college programs are playing in these days, now you can't even figure out which teams are playing when you turn on the TV.  Thanks Oregon!  With the Ducks dozen or so NIKE football uniform ensembles, now it seems that nearly every college team is on the marketing bandwagon.  The most absurd is the Maryland uni pictured above, which is some sort of patchwork quilt of their state flag.  And worse than the way it looks it what it has done, create buzz for Maryland football.  Not that that is in itself bad, but that the social and mainstream chatter the uniform created is bound to lead to even more copy-cats universities trying to top that in their offseason marketing meetings.

 
Like Maryland's deal with Under Armor, Georgia says their opening day uniforms were a one game deal with NIKE.  Still, with the tradition of "between the hedges" and Uga the mascot, is it worth smudging the iconic Georgia look?  The fact the Bulldogs lost the game (to another uniform scrambler Boise State) and have been in a downward descent for the past few seasons does not help either.  

Forget wardrobes for a minute though.  The continuation of the Super Conferences process is more disturbing as it blows up geographical rivalries as the NCAA will eventually be comprised of four giant leagues.  Texas A&M is set to join the SEC which will open the door for further dismantling of the Big-12 and more entries into the SEC.  With that means even more football seasons where conference teams don't have enough games to schedule each other.  Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri and others will be put into play based on their television market size and fan base.  I still have to remind myself that Boston College and Miami play in the ACC.

Yet despite all of these unwanted changes, the one major thing that needs to be changed on the field contines to not change.  There is still no post-season playoff system to determine the national champion.  From the sound of it, that will continue to be the case for years to come as the polls dictate the rankings instead of determing the outcome with a post-season tournament of some sort. 

Add in the slew of major NCAA investigations and sanctions involving the likes of Southern Cal, Ohio State, North Carolina and others and college football is an utter mess.  Still a great game, but as ugly as a Terrapins uniform to decipher right now.

 

The Core of the Matter

 

The Panthers said that resigning their core players to long-term contracts would be their focus, and they have put their money where their mouth is coming out of the lockout.  DeAngelo Williams, Charles Johnson, James Anderson and Thomas Davis all have shiny new five to six year deals.  That commitment along with the addition of rookie quarterback Cam Newton were apparently enough to make star wide receiver Steve Smith want to stick around and be a part of what will hopefully be a Carolina revival.

The Panthers were a league-worst (2-14) last season, but the talent level says otherwise.  The dumpster fire that was their QB position and overall passing attack ruined whatever chance they had to be competitive.  Add the significant injuries to DeAngelo Williams, Jeff Otah, and Thomas Davis to name a few and it was a recipe for disaster.  A lame-duck coaching staff with a foot out the door was not interested in building somebody else's team of the future (Brian St. Pierre plays, while Armanti Edwards sits?).

Now with a coaching staff led by Ron Rivera on the same page as management, there is a synergy to the operation as a whole.  The Panthers who lived through last season figure to be fired up to erase what happened and get back to competing in the ultra-tough NFC South.  This will not be a one-year fix, and Cam Newton can't be an NFL franchise savior overnight, but for the first time in a long while there is excitement again about Panthers football.  The Panthers won July.  Soon we will see if they can win September and October.

 

Endless Summer

With the ongoing NFL lockout, it remains unclear as to when football season will begin.  When the biggest story of the spring is which players showed up for voluntary workouts at a high school, you know it's getting a little tedious.  Normally, July signals the beginning of training camp and the end of vacation season in the NFL.  That could still happen on time of course, and hopefully it will so that we have a full season.  Plus I've used up my vacation days, traveled the world, and need a paycheck.  Here's a vacation slideshow of how we spent some of our down time since the Panthers closed out their (2-14) season in Atlanta...

 

Sandra and I visited our friends Stefan and Jennifer in February in Munich, Germany.  Sports we covered while there included touring the '72 Olympic site, skiing in the German Alps and drinking at beer gardens.  Everyday brought a different kind of sausage or bratwurst.  Sometimes when I asked what was in it, I was told not to ask but I'm pretty sure I heard the words calf brains at breakfast.  Their son Joshua took me on a tour of a German radio station he works at, and their daughter Hannah taught me how to speak german (avalanche=lawine, exit ramp=ausfahrt) be careful with that second one.

 

We ate and drank too much, and found our skiing skill level was better suited to the Appalachian Mountains than the Alps.  Here is Sandra getting smothered by Jennifer and Stefan in Garmisch, site of the Alpine World Ski Championships. 

 

From Germany, we took the train to Italy to visit Venice and Verona.  We ate and walked our way through northern Italy where gelato should be a banned substance.  Venice was incredible and Verona was an awesome mix of history including what they call the Verona Arena, which was built in 30 AD and is still used today as an ampitheater.  Here we are avoiding the lions in the third largest colosseum in Italy. 

 
In April, I took my son Andy for a college visit to NC State and four days of touring Washington DC.  He is interested in the ROTC program at State, so we wandered throughout Reynolds Coliseum which houses those programs.  It was good to see the old building being used for a basketball tournament, as I hadn't been in there since calling a Davidson game against the Wolfpack in the early 90's.  In DC, the highlights were of course the monuments, along with the Capitol Rotunda, the changing of the guard at Arlington Cemetary and sitting inside the Supreme Court.  Here we are at Nationals Park, taking in a game against the Brewers. 

 

June was a family cruise to the Bahamas, where our only sports-related activities were snorkeling and the all-you-can-eat buffet on the boat.  I did enjoy seeing LeBron and the Miami Heat lose Game-6 and the championship to Dallas in the cigar lounge on board. Ah, but that reminds me of the NBA lockout...which reminds me of the NFL lockout and reminds me it's time to get back to work.  Hopefully sooner rather than later.

 

 

In Search of Football

The next best thing to football, is off-season football.  Unfortunately, with the NFL lockout the fun and drama of player trades and free agency are on hold.  There is no rookie/veteran OTA's to get a glimpse of Panthers first-round pick Cameron Newton throwing a football.  No knowing where Eagles QB Kevin Kolb or Saints RB Reggie Bush may land...or possibly Panthers WR Steve Smith for that matter.  What next, fantasy football league drafts being put on hold?  It's close to a national crisis.

 
I emceed the Charlotte Touchdown Club last week with guest speaker former Colts and Bucs head coach Tony Dungy, now with NBC.  Dungy believes a deal will be worked out at "the 11th-and-a-half hour" for the NFL season to start on time.  I've also heard the absolute drop-dead date for a deal is a plan that would allow the regular season to begin two weeks late, prior to the first round of bye-weeks in week-3.  The bye week and the week between the championship game and Super Bowl would be absorbed to finish the season on time.

I also played golf and emceed a Panthers event in Asheville last week.  Coach Ron Rivera and GM Marty Hurney were on hand for a Q&A session after dinner.  When Rivera was asked who his starting quarterback would be, he had a great answer..."Number-2."  That would be either last year's number-2 Jimmy Clausen or Auburn's number-2 Cam Newton.  

 
Football and other sports celebrities will be on hand for Dell and Stephen Curry's "Curry Celebrity Classic" at River Run on June 20th.  The golf tournament benefits the Ada Jenkins Center, which helps under priviledged kids in the Davidson area.  If you would like to join us, there is more information at curryclassic.com

 

Lights, Cam, Action

 
It was a risk, but a worthwhile risk that the Panthers selected Cam Newton with the first pick in the NFL Draft.  It was certainly no more of a reach than the Titans taking Jake Locker at number-8, the Jaguars with Blaine Gabbert at number-10, or the Vikings with Christian Ponder at number-12.  The Panthers didn't have what appears to be an NFL starting quarterback, let alone a top-tier starting quarterback on their roster with second-year players Jimmy Clausen and Tony Pike, or free agent Matt Moore.

As we sit here today, it's practically a coin toss as to whether Newton becomes a great pro QB.  He has all the physical tools at 6'5" and 250 lbs.  He's agile and has the arm strength to make every type of throw.  The questions will be accuracy, ability to run a sophisticated offense and leadership.  I'm less concerned that he stole a laptop at Florida State than I am that Auburn used flip cards to signal plays from the sidelines.  Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel lied about his players selling memorabilia for tattoos, so who knows how much Cam Newton knew about his father soliciting money for his son's playing services?

This I know, the Panthers desperately need to get the QB position right, and Newton provides legitimate hope.  Not as sure-fire as Stanford's Andrew Luck would have, but more so than any other prospect available.  Newton won a national championship, a Heisman Trophy and by all accounts had one of the greatest single seasons in college football history.  I'd say that deserves a look for a Panthers team that had nine passing touchdowns in 16 games last season.

As for the other major issues on the roster, another wide receiver, a pair of defensive tackles and a cornerback were needed and among those selected.  But like Newton, only time will tell how big of a factor they will be.  Arriving in the midst of a lockout with a first year head coach pushes the learning curve way back for all of the rookies.  A tough spot to be in for sure, but with potential at the quarterback position, hope springs eternal this spring.