Tom Talks

Smith takes hit on the way to the game, Panthers take bigger hit during it

   Steve Smith, who scored Carolina's first touchdown in the seven-point loss to Miami Thursday, took his first hit before the game began.

   He was on his way from the team hotel to the stadium when his car was whacked on the driver's side by another driver, a guy who said he, too, was on his way to the game.

   Smith says he could barely open the door.

   The other driver asked him if he was going to call the cops.

   "Uh, YES," Smith told him.

   Smith said that because they were in a nice neighborhood the police came right away. In his Los Angeles neighborhood, more time was required.

   Smith said the fan handled the collision respectfully, and that he did, too.

   "But I feel bad for his insurance," Smith says.

   They parted on good terms, says Smith.

   But he says he told the other driver, "If I drop a pass, it's your fault."

Long half for Peppers

   I haven't watched the Julius Peppers take on Jake Long on every play. But I've watched most of their encounters. And Long, a second-year tackle out of Michigan who was the No. 1 pick in the draft, is handling him.

   Long occasionally gets help; when Peppers spun off Long and moved outside, tight end Kory Sperry chipped him. But on most occasions, it's Long versus Peppers. On one play, Peppers rushed from the outside. Long knocked him down, fell on him and stayed on top of him until the play was about to end.

   With 3:57 remaining, it's been a Long first half for Peppers.

Nice try

   Third and one from their 41 and the Panthers go deep along the left side to Steve Smith. The play doesn't work, but teams with any confidence have to go deep when opponents don't expect them to.

   Smith gets single converage against rookie cornerback Sean Smith, who like Smith played at Utah. Steve Smith beats Sean and Delhomme's pass looks right there. Smith reaches out and can't quite catch up. The ball goes off his fingertips.

No more draw play

    The Panthers opened the game by driving to the Miami 7. It was third down, and Jake Delhomme dropped back to pass.

    I was trying to guess the play. Steve Smith was engaged in a nice little war with rookie cornerback Vontae Davis. Muhsin Muhammad had just dropped a pass. So now what? Would Delhomme go to Smith? Back to Muhammad? Officially begin Year One of the Dwayne Jarrett era?

   I figured Delhomme would hand off to DeAngelo Williams.

   I was wrong. The automatic draw play on third down apparently has been sacked. Delhomme also was. He dropped back to pass, the Dolphins converged and Joey Porter took him down. 

It's official: Miami fans don't have jobs

At 3:30 p.m. there are more Miami jerseys than Carolina jerseys on the streets and in the parking lots outside Bank of America Stadium. If there's a message, it's that fans of the Dolphins do not have jobs.

   It's this way on Sundays, too. If the visiting team has any kind of following in Charlotte, there are always more fans wearing their jerseys than the jerseys of the Panthers. By kickoff, the Carolina fans usually catch up.

   Great afternoon to be out. The sun finally is shining. People are trying to escape downtown early and get to the stadium early. So far, there's no problem getting in, especially if you're wearing a Miami jersey.

Good game, lots of points, Panthers win

   I admit that the Atlanta result last week surprised me. I didn't expect the Panthers to recover from their painful loss to New Orleans as gracefully as they did.   

   Miami is tough. But the Dolphins rely on inexperienced cornerbacks and an inexperienced quarterback. At home, beneath the lights, I give Carolina a slight edge.

   I see lots of points. I also see the Panthers finishing with more than Miami. Carolina beats the Dolphins by three tonight.

Smith questionable to return

   Steve Smith walked off the field with 1:02 remaining in the first half. He hurt his ribs on a four-yard touchdown reception, and the Panthers say his return is "questionable."

Gross wheeled off field, won't return

   Always hate to see a player leave the field in an air-cast and on a cart. Carolina tackle Jordan Gross was hurt when Fort Mill's Vance Walker, who weighs 307 pounds, fell across his right leg.

  As Gross was loaded onto the cart, several Falcons, among them defensive end John Abraham, offered a fist bump. One by one the Panthers walked over to offer their support, the last of them Jon Beason.

   Gross acknowledged the cheers of fans as the cart reached the five yard line. The injury was to his ankle; that particular cast often implies a break.

I can't stand recruiting

   In a few minutes Harrison Barnes will announce the college he will attend. A 6-6 wing from Iowa, he is considered the top basketball player in his class.

   Meanwhile, a nervous nation waits.

    Ok, that's not true. Bored people await.

   Recruiting is woefully overblown. There's something wrong with getting worked up about where that special little sophomore plans to play basketball or football. I don't trust adults who get hung up on it. They track high school juniors and sophomores and freshmen.

   He's going to Western Carolina. No he's going to UCLA. No he's going to Harvard.

   Excitement!

   Where's the 27th-ranked small forward from South Dakota leaning? How about the 12th ranked Texas tight end? The seventh-grader from Savannah, what about him? The anticipation is unbearable.

   It's like Christmas!

   There's a large segment of the population, at least 60%, that I would encourage to turn off the computer, TV and radio and go outside and walk or run, talk to other humans and breathe fresh air. Recruiting nerds are right up there, or down there, with people who write on message boards.

   Let high school athletes be high school athletes. They'll be introduced to the pressures of big-time athletics soon enough.

    Years ago, Vince Carter, the former North Carolina star who now plays for the Orlando Magic, was a high school phenomenon in Daytona Beach, Fla. Somebody called the Daytona Beach News-Journal, identified himself as me and asked if there was anything new about Carter, any indication of the school to which he was leaning. This went on several times a week for weeks.

   A writer there eventually called me.  He knew me enough to know that I would go to Daytona International Speedway, Lowe's Motor Speedway, I-77, I-485 and I-85 sit in traffic before I would waste my time calling about something that was Carter's business and not mine.

   Never found out who the guy was, but the newspaper stopped taking his calls. I deduced, however, that he lived in his mom's basement.

  I don't get it. if you love high school sports, go to high school games. But this isn't about high school sports. It's about gossip. I think he's going to North Carolina. No, he's going to Duke. No, he's going to Oklahoma. It almost makes me wish players could go straight from high school to the NBA.

   I would never tell the people hung up on recruiting to get a life because I hate cliches even more than I hate recruiting.

   But as soon as the decision of Harrison Barnes becomes official, I would tell them to go outside and play.

  

 

49ers by five

   I usually make my NFL picks in Sunday's newspaper. But there's a game tonight and I need witnesses. I'll go with San Francisco, a 3-point favorite, by five.