Jim Szoke's Sports Blog

Naked Burritos & Free Tacos

This is what happens when you play NFL games in London.  Streaking was big here in the states in the '70's, but apparently remains popular across the pond.  Such was the case in the Giants/Dolphins game this past Sunday.  OK, extra points for wearing the referee hat, but otherwise is it not getting tired?  Do they still have pet rocks and mood rings?

This is why I recommended Vinny Testaverde be the number-two quarterback for the Panthers.  Now he's hurt and still nine games to go.  I would have used him like that classic sportscar that you only roll out on the weekends after keeping it carefully covered and tuned during the week.  Now, the car is dinged and the Carr, as in David, will probably have to carry the load.  We may have to see what undrafted rookie Matt Moore can do as Panthers quarterbacks are dropping by the week.

Don't forget to nab your free crunchy, seasoned beef taco on Tuesday, October 30 from 2-5 pm at your local Taco Bell.  All because of the unbelievable feat of a stolen base occuring during the World Series.  I'm not trying to go out of my way to promote Taco Bell.  I just want to make them pay 79-cents at a time.  Don't even order anything else, just get your free taco and run gleefully from the store. 

Jordon's Furniture in the Boston area will shell out some $20-million worth of free furniture to about 30,000 customers who took advantage of their spring training promotion.  The deal was, if you purchased certain furniture items in the spring, they would be free if the Red Sox won the World Series.  Insurance the company took out will pay most of the tab.

In memory of our pal, Steve Cunningham.  Steve passed away last week at the age of 57.  He had just finished playing a round of golf with his wife on vacation in California, when his heart stopped loading the clubs back into the car.  Steve was the president of the Spartanburg Touchdown Club, which invites me down each season to speak on the Panthers.  Many of us who cover the team got to know Steve when he owned a sports bar in Spartanburg called the Hillcrest Sports Bar.  It was a place to hangout after covering training camp during the day.  We liked it so much, that our fantasy football league is named in it's honor.  Steve was a US Navy Vietnam veteran and leaves behind a wife and three grown children.  You know those guys who email funny jokes and interesting articles?  That was Steve, I could always count on a couple a week.

    

Max Memories

Sad to hear that Green Bay Packers legend, Max McGee died this past weekend at the age of 75.  He fell off the roof of his house on Saturday while trying to blow the leaves off.   I met Max several times when he was a radio color commentator for the Packers.  He is known for scoring the first Super Bowl touchdown as the Packers beat Kansas City in 1967.  That season, he only had four catches and not expecting to play much in the Super Bowl, he partied very hard the night before the game.  But when the starter, Boyd Dowler got hurt in the early going, McGee was summoned desite the hangover.  First, he had to borrow a helmet because he had left his in the lockerroom.  A few minutes later, he scored a 37-yard touchdown on a one-handed grab.  He went on to catch seven passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns.   

The Panthers had the weekend off with the bye week.  On Friday, somebody asked me which games I liked for Sunday.  I couldn't even tell them who was playing, not a single match-up.  I take that as a good sign that maybe I really do have a life.  I did watch some of the games, but Tom Brady tends to take the drama out of the Patriots games.

Because you asked, I would start David Carr over Vinny Testaverde at quarterback for this week's game versus Indianapolis.  Carr was brought here for this reason, so the Panthers need to give him another crack at showing that he can be the starter with Jake Delhomme out.  Also, the offensive line did a remarkable job of protecting Testaverde in the win at Arizona.  It's not realistic to expect them to keep him that spotless for ten more games.  But I would not hesitate to bring Vinny in out of the bullpen, or spot start him as the Cardinals were doing with Kurt Warner when Matt Leinart was healthy.      

Well, my beloved Cleveland Indians were only out-scored 30-5 over the final three games of the American League Championship Series.  Boston was unbelievably in control, despite trailing three games to one in the series, before rolling through the final three games.  In the deciding game-7, the Indians were on the verge of tying the game at 3-3, when third base coach, Joel Skinner held Kenny Lofton at third base instead of scoring the tying run.  After that, it was all a miserable blur.

Poor Joe Torre.  The Yankees hurt his pride by only offering $5 million dollars to manage next season, instead of his previous $7 million per season.  He still would have been the highest paid manager in baseball, and under the same pressure that always exists with this particular job.  And how many Steinbrenners are running the Yankees?  George, Hank, Hal, Ringo...    

Rising Out of the Ashes in Phoenix

It was literally one for the ages when a nearly 44-year-old Vinny Testaverde came out of semi-retirement to lead the Panthers to a 25-10 win at Arizona.  Testaverde went from watching football with his kids at home one Sunday, to starting quarterback the following weekend.  Carolina is Testaverde's 6th team, and says the offense here is similar to what he had with the New York Jets, so he was able to quickly learn most of what he had to do.  Big kudos to the offensive line for keeping him standing for the afternoon.  Vinny was only sacked one time, and took only one big hit after releasing a pass.  His performance not only has helped the Panthers get to (4-2), but created a lot of excitement with the fans and his teammates.

While Coach John Fox will of course wait to decide on whether Testaverde or David Carr will start at quarterback in their next game versus Indianapolis, a good case can be made for both.  Testaverde obviously played well despite a short work week.  Carr was brought in to be the starter in case of injury to Jake Delhomme, and if his back is healthy would seem to warrant the chance to do his job.  On Monday's Panther Talk show, wide receiver Drew Carter endorsed Testaverde based on performance and health. 

While in Phoenix, I had the opportunity to play golf with a group that included a 75-year-old named Lewis.  Playing from the back tees, he out drove the rest of the group and carries a 4-handicap after being a scratch golfer in his younger days, you know, like when he was 70.  Lewis can still hit it 320 yards off the tee on occassion with his $500 driver.   

Charlie Weis changes quarterbacks at Notre Dame like Larry King changes wives.  And to think, when he was offensive coordinator with New England, all he had to do was roll the ball over to Tom Brady and let him go.  Meanwhile, Steve Spurrier is massaging the most out of South Carolina's offense as possible. With all the right moves the "ole ball coach" has done an amazing coaching job to get the Gamecocks to 6th in this week's AP rankings.   

Arguing over whether Bruton Smith will move his entire Lowes Motor Speedway operation to elsewhere in the region over a dragway strip is like moving Concord Mills Mall to accomodate the soft pretzel shop in the food court.  It's such a small part of what the race complex would be about that it barely registers.  I think Smith enjoys the attention and sees an opportunity to get as much out of Concord as possible after their initial opposition to the dragway strip.  At the end of the day, relocating his tracks within the same general region will not net him any more than what he already has.  So, he won't.

   

New Orleans, Old Orleans

Just got back from New Orleans where depending on where you go things look great, or bleak.  In the French Quarter, where there was very little flooding from Hurricane Katrina, the tourism seems vibrant.  We intended to eat at the ACME Oyster Company, but the line was down the sidewalk.  Still, had a great meal at the Bourbon Street Seafood House right next door for the second straight year.  It's always good to have a back-up plan.

Saints play-by-play man, Jim Henderson told me that if you go to the Lower 9th Ward and East New Orleans, that it's as if the hurricane hit yesterday.  It will be a long recovery in those areas, if it ever comes back at all in those sections.

All the Panthers did right on Sunday was win.  By all accounts, the Saints dominated the game.  But they had an 18-play drive result in a field goal and a 24-play drive result in a blocked field goal by Julius Peppers.  Unlike fantasy football, real football is calculated on a scoreboard with points, not who has the prettier stats.  Still, that won't win every week, so the Panthers need to improve and build off this win for the long haul to be positive.

Sorry Appalachian State fans, Stanford's 40-point underdog victory over Southern Cal has been dubbed the biggest upset in college football history.  Maybe that's a compliment to the fact that the Mountaineers have a very good team again, despite losing to Wofford.  Syracuse's win over Louisville was another one this season, and we are barely into October.  Can Cal actually be the second best team in the country?  I don't see that one lasting.

I'm still hoping that my Cleveland Indians can conquer the evil empire of the New York Yankees.  In game-1, they fed off the indignation of Cleveland icon LeBron James wearing a Yankees hat in his hometown team's ball park.  Game-2 was the great gnat attack with the migrating midges flustering the Yanks.  But for game-3 in the Bronx there was no such magic, as manager Joe Torre kept his job with a win.  As Panthers coach John Fox likes to say, he's day-to-day.  Aren't we all.   

      

True Grits

The Panthers good cop/bad cop routine continued Sunday with their 20-7 loss to Tampa Bay.  It only felt like 40-0.  Part of that was due to the Panthers getting no deeper than the Bucs' 47-yard line until their final scoring drive with 23 seconds remaining to avoid the shutout.  Keep in mind that the main team captains on offense and defense were out with Jake Delhomme and Dan Morgan sidelined.  That doesn't cover all of it, but the back-up play at those two positions was dismal.

It will be interesting to see if the Panthers pull together or pull apart after this one.  Kris Jenkins gave a five minute long monlogue on the team's lack of energy and heart.  Steve Smith was seen on the sideline telephone barking his displeasure to the offensive coaching staff.  The Panthers have followed last year's 8-8 record with a 2-2 start.  There's plenty of time to go , and if these two players would like to elevate their status into being team leaders, now is the time.       

Jenkins said he would be as upset as the fans were "if I had to sit in the stands for four hours and look at that garbage."  Wow, I haven't seen a team get called out like that since Hope Solo called out her US Women's World Cup coach and teammate Briana Scurry  following last week's loss to Brazil.  Football is no longer just a girls' sport.

The Panthers do play better on the road for whatever reason, now 0-2 at home and 2-0 on the road.  The Carolina fans did their part Sunday by booing the Panthers frequently, sort of creating that "on the road" flavor. 

What a collapse by the New York Mets to blow a seven game with 17 games left in the regular season.  Still, gotta be happy for the Phillies who are finally back in the post-season for the first time since 1993.  And my beloved Cleveland Indians return for the first time in six years.  The bad news is they lost every game against the Yankees this season, which is their opponent in the playoffs.   

Competitive eating has become a major sport, with the top "athletes" earning $50,000 a year or so.  It's much more than just hot dogs now though, as Chicago chef Pat Bertoletti won the Louisiana Downs Grits Eating Championship.  He out-ate the likes of hot dog champ, Joey Chestnut and Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas for the $10,000 prize by downing 21 pounds of grits in 10 minutes.   Not to be confused with Valerie Bertinelli, Bertoletti on his stategy says, "I just try to get familiar with the food by studying it and seeing what's the quickest way to eat it."  Now, let's go back upstairs, Jim...