Tom Talks

UNC will play N.C. State only once some seasons? LIve with it.

    Would you stop complaining about the new ACC schedule?

     I've never designed a schedule for a conference that will someday have as many members as the United Nations. But if there were a way to ensure that North Carolina and N.C. State played twice a season in basketball, wouldn't the ACC do it?

     Expansion has critics because change has critics. But in today's market a conference either grows or atrophies. Pittsburgh and Syracuse were ready to bolt, and if the ACC had not recruited them, somebody else would have.

     Not every ACC expansion move has worked. Boston College made and makes no sense. BC can't deliver the Boston market. Hey, Boston Market. The Red Sox, Celtics, Patriots and Bruins are Boston's teams.

      It would be nice if the ACC would remain a North Carolina-centric conference that revolved around UNC, Duke, N.C. State and Wake Forest. It would be nice if big malls hadn't put neighborhood ma and pa stores out of business, and if NASCAR were still racing in North Wilkesboro, and if Junior Johnson would take me on one of his moonshine runs.

     But things change, and those who adjust succeed and those who don't play in Conference USA.

     I kind of like the idea of Pittsburgh and Syracuse in the ACC.

     No matter how big the conference gets, two qualities won't change: the ACC will be terrible in football, and North Carolina and Duke will be the greatest rivalry in the state and, during basketball season, in the sport.

Game good, Welker made a huge mistake, but he was better than Madonna

    If Mario Manningham's catch was the biggest play of the Super Bowl, Wes Welker's drop on the drive that preceeded it was second. Would have been a tough enough catch, but he should have made it. As talented as Welker is, he drops more passes than an elite receiver ought to.

     Remember when the Super Bowl invariably was determined by a lopsided score? This one was taut, again, and entertaining, again.

     I've read some positive reviews about Madonna's halftime performance. I thought she performed like she was Madonna's mom. Steps were slow, songs tepid.

     It's tough to be good at halftime. I'd watch from the press box as hundreds or thousands of the entertainers whose assignment was to be a fan ran in front of or on the side of or behind or on the stage.

    Lots of hype, little memorable music. The Who were miserable. Bruce Springsteen was average. U2 was OK. The Black Eyed Peas sounded like a Black Eyed Peas tribute band.

    The last halftime show that worked was Prince.

 

 

 

 

 

Angelo Dundee was a legend who helped develop legends

    Sorry to see that Angelo Dundee, the 90-year-old legendary trainer of Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, passed. He knew what to say to a fighter, and when, and how.

    Boxing is a ferocious sport and there are no teammates to provide support. Courage is required. And Dundee, who worked the corner and stood outside the ropes, had the ability to instill it.

    I met him twice. The last time was at Fight Night for Kids in Charlotte. Humpy Wheeler knew Dundee and introduced me. Hundreds of people were packed around us at the edge of the bar, but Dundee gave me 15 minutes. He talked about his fighters and his sport and his career. He was humble and funny. I felt honored.

    I figured he had other people to talk to, so I thanked him for his time.

    "No, thank you," Dundee said as he handed me his card. "People in your business don't care about boxing anymore."

     Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran will appear at Fight Night in Charlotte on Thursday.

     I have a telephone interview with Leonard this afternoon.

 

 

 

 

 

The Bobcats are served

    I turned on the Charlotte-Portland game the other night and even though I have a big TV, and my eyes are OK, I moved closer when I saw the score because I didn't believe the Bobcats could be down by 40. Then I watched.

     The game was not as close as the score.

     But what did you expect? I've written this several times, but it's still true: the Bobcats are the 2010 Carolina Panthers. The Panthers were unwatchable most of the season. They couldn't score. They were the worst team in the league.

    After a good start, the Bobcats have become unwatchable. They can't score. They are the worst team in the league.

    Some of you want to blame head coach Paul Silas. That's like blaming the waiter because the food is bad. The fellows in the kitchen gave Silas little to work with.

    Dinner might not be served, but the Bobcats are. There's a price to getting a high draft pick. The Bobcats and their fans are paying it.

     Some of you loudly threaten to abandon the team. The loud fans are never the customers a team has to worry about. Loud fans announce during a labor impasse that they'll never be back. They always come back.

     It's the apathetic fans a team has to worry about.

     This shortened NBA season is going to be long. But you knew that.

 

Great day for 49er football and Maiden quarterback Matt Johnson

    I spent time this morning with Matt Johnson, Charlotte newest quarterback.  The 49ers have had quarterbacks before; they ran offenses and fast breaks.

     Johnson, a senior at Maiden, wears a helmet. He played on the varsity four seasons and started at quarterback the last three. He's smart, he's courteous and 6-3, can run and pass and really wants to be a 49er.

     He visited campus with his parents, Chris and Angelika, in August. Chris And Angelika attended Appalachian State (she transferred to Winthrop as a sophomore) and they thought of Charlotte as a commuter school.

    Walking around campus, they changed their mind. Matt wanted to sign that day. His parents asked him to wait.

     ESPN.com ranks him as the 65th best prospect in North Carolina. But at the least he's tied for No. 1 in this category -- nobody wants to be a 49er more.

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cam Newton made a bad game worse

    I give Cam Newton credit. He got me to watch the Pro Bowl. As much as I like the NFL, I never watch the Pro Bowl. Baseball and basketball have interesting all-star games. Football's is rarely worth watching.

    But I was curious about Cam, so I watched most of the second half. He had moments -- two, I think. He looked like a rookie.

     Newton threw 27 passes, completed nine, and had two touchdowns and three interceptions. He isn't polished enough to get out there and improvise. To improvise, a player has to have the fundamentals down, and on Sunday night, he did not.

      In Newton's defense, he threw a 55-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith.

       And he did have to play the second half, when players care less about being polite and some try to win. He faced more pressure than the NFC's first-half quarterbacks, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees, did.

     Newton probably performed worse than any player on the field.

     But the scenery was lovely, and nobody credible will remember.

Business as usual in Chapel Hill

   North Carolina is a great basketball team when it cares, and on Thursday night it cared. N.C. State came in with a pretty record amassed against mediocre teams and for the first time in a long time the game felt like a rivalry.

     But when the Tar Heels commit, they play tough and entertaining basketball. Their interior defense is exceptional, they get good shots and they have an array of players capable of making them. The lopsided score -- North Carolina by 19 -- had less to do with N.C. State's struggles than with North Carolina's bursts of brilliance.

    I'm pulling for N.C. State. Basketball is better when somebody -- N.C. State, Wake Forest, Stephen Curry -- rises to challenge superpowers North Carolina and Duke.

     N.C. State isn't there, isn't close. But at least the Wolfpack is entitled to believe. And how long has it been since that happened?

   

 

 

 

49ers were abysmal. Terrible, too.

   Temple beat Charlotte 79-57 in Charlotte Wednesday. Terrible performance by the 49ers. Set the cause back. Gave fans no reason to come back, not that many had come to Halton Arena. Charlotte's finest moments -- it had two -- were back-to-back game-ending threes by walk-ons Colby Lewis and Lamar Bradbury.

    Game was not nearly as close as the score implies. Charlotte didn't score its first basket until more than 10 minutes had passed in the first half. 49ers had 1 on the scoreboard for so long it looked like a tattoo.

Charlotte basketball blues

    Charlotte 49ers getting crushed by Temple. Charlotte Bobcats getting crushed by Washington Wizards. And sources tell me Johnson & Wales was crushed, like a cream puff, by Francis Marion. And I'm missing Modern Family. Feels like gist for a blues song. What would Robert Johnson, the real one not the guy that used to own the Bobcats, say?

Here they come

Charlotte scores, and likes scoring, so it scores again. And again. 3 minutes 50 seconds left in first half. Temple 31, Charlotte 9.