Jim Szoke's Sports Blog

Summertime Blues

I think today is the slowest sports day of the year.  Today's lead stories are the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets "might" miss the season with a foot injury.  Panthers training camp is over a month away, the Bobcats draft has come and gone, the Atlanta Braves are floundering, and the next golf major is weeks away.  It got so slow that the Charlotte Observer had a front page sports story the other day about the ACC competing on the same level with the SEC in football...the summer heat plays with the mind.   

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is in Daytona for their traditional Firecracker, er, Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola.  It was a great story though that 19-year-old Joey Logano won his first Cup race last weekend at New Hampshire, becoming the youngest winner in breaking Kyle Busch's record.  And keeping with the summertime theme, how about that trophy?  A giant lobster for the New England native.  At least he didn't smash it the way Kyle Busch did with the Gibson Les Paul custom painted guitar at Nashville.  That could have horrified young viewers as the claw meat splattered if he had given it the Pete Townshend treatment.

It took Julius Peppers four months to decide that he would accept the Panthers offer of over a million dollars per Sunday to play football.  Fans are not usually that good about seperating the personal from the business side of the game, so it will be interesting to see what kind of reaction Pep gets coming through the tunnel.  Only signing a long-term contract will smooth over that aspect.  I'm also excited to see what new defensive coordinator Ron Meeks has in store to take advantage of not only Peppers, but also the speed of linebackers Thomas Davis and Jon Beason.  

I took my 15-year-old son to the beach last weekend for our annual golf trip.  We played a course in Calabash called Farmstead which has a par-6 finishing hole, 767 yards.  I picked this course because of that hole which actually covers parts of North and South Carolina on the state line.  Unfortunately, the looming thunderstorms that had held off all afternoon began to unleash as we literally sprinted to play the par-3 17th.  Wanting to at least get a glimpse of 18, we teed off in the pouring rain.  After hitting a long second shot a couple of thunderbolts too close for comfort (remember the old guy from Caddy Shack that Bill Murray caddied for?) sent us racing the golf cart to the parking lot.  After getting soaked loading the clubs in the car and returning the cart, we started to head back to the condo.  But the rain started to slow and the thunder became more distant, so we turned around and drove back to the course, parking in the corner nearest the final hole.  Grabbing a couple of clubs we dropped a ball about where we had picked up and came in with a bogey-7, making the longest hole last about 30 minutes total.

The Bobcats first round selection of former Duke star Gerald Henderson looks like a safe pick with a lot of upside.  The Bobcats are not acting like they will be much of a player in free agency, so any improvement this season will be incremental.  As much as I liked Stephen Curry as a college player, I hope he does not become a one-dimensional jump shooter in the NBA.  He'll have a much tougher time driving the lane and defending in the NBA, not to mention he's not surrounded by much talent in Golden State.  Hey, did you hear Yao Ming might not play this season....

Bobcats & Big Cat

It was an interesting contrast to see how the community responded to recent news about the two majority owners of Charlotte's professional sports franchises, Bob Johnson and Jerry Richardson.  The announcement that Bobcats owner Bob Johnson was looking to sell off his interest in the NBA team was met with positive response because of the overall negative impact the team has had.  The Bobcats haven't come close to sniffing the playoffs in the weak Eastern Conference and the franchise has incorrectly read the market interest from ticket and concession pricing, the failed C-SET premium pay channel to view the then expansion team's games, and of course the force-fed arena on taxpayers who did not ask for one.  Overall, the consensus seems to be don't let the door hit you on the way out to an owner who seldom appears in town anyway.

Meanwhile, Panthers owner Jerry Richardson attends a team practice and it's one of the warmest, local stories of the year.  Yes, the primary reason for that is the remarkable recovery of Mr. Richardson from heart transplant surgery.  But it is also the measure of a man who is well-liked universally, and exudes a deep passion for providing a winning product for their fans.  The opposite of aloof, Mr. Richardson makes it a point to shake hands with the locals and not only ask their opinions, but listen to their answers.  That local ownership persona connects to Panthers fans throughout the Carolinas.  Wins and losses can not always be controlled (witness the Arizona playoff loss), but you can win over fans by showing a commitment to doing the best you can with a plan that includes putting a quality product out.

Moving off of ownership, and down to the field/court now.  The Panthers now need to show the fans that the previously mentioned playoff thumping was an ill-timed letdown.  It was a team that went (12-4) with a division title, but expectations rise when you show that kind of success.  If Julius Peppers does not show up for the start of training camp, it officially becomes a distraction.  The offensive line must rebuild depth after losing their bench rotation.  QB Jake Delhomme needs a solid start to dissolve the bitter taste of January.  The opening portion of the schedule will be playoff caliber with Philadelphia, at Atlanta, and at Dallas just for starters.  The only team with a losing record on the entire slate is (7-9) Buffalo which added Terrell Owens this off-season.

As for the Bobcats, they do seem to be headed in the right direction under Coach Larry Brown.  He's in the middle of re-tooling the roster and trying to bring some defense and consistent scoring to the team.  His parting statement in regard to Emeka Okafor was dead-on.  While Okafor is talented and works hard, he needs to become a better basketball player, not just a well-conditioned athlete.  To get to the next level, the Bobcats must add more quality players who also care about winning and losing.  They already have a number of truly NBA caliber players, but now must blend in an influx of heart.  They won't pick until 12th in the first round so the answer is not likely to come from the college ranks.

Of the two franchises, the Panthers obviously appear to be closer to being able win a championship.  However, that expectation level also brings it's own baggage.  Panthers fans will not be satisfied with merely a return trip to the playoffs that comes up empty.  The Bobcats can win over followers by simply finishing in the top eight of their own conference and qualifying for the post-season.  Charlotte gets compared to Atlanta from time-to-time.  Being compared to Atlanta's luke warm professional sports scene is not something to aspire to, so let's hope we can surpass them in at least that department.