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.
Jim, wasn't the London streaker the same guy from the Panthers/Patriots Super Bowl?
from SI.com 2/1/04...
New England linebacker Matt Chatham leveled the man, identified as Mark Francis Roberts, as he ran from security personnel. The 39-year-old Roberts, who had the name of a gambling Web site scribbled across his chest, was hogtied and carried off the field by police.
Posted by: Carl | October 30, 2007 at 11:50 AM