Tom Talks

Wake in a BCS bowl? You gotta believe ...

  Is there any reason Wake Forest can't win its last four games and finish the regular season with one loss?

   All right, there's reality and history and probably gravity. But if you've seen the Deacons you have to believe. Their final four? They play at home against Boston College, at Florida State, at home -- their house, the snakepit known as Groves Stadium -- against Virginia Tech and at Maryland.

    They can do this. They were pounding Clemson, the best team they have played, until a brilliant defensive play by the Tigers woke them up and undid the Deacons. That is still their only loss.

   The Deacons are the last hope for North Carolina teams that play in the ACC. I wrote after their victory Saturday against North Carolina that they are N.C.'s team. Of course, an Appalachian State grad wrote to say the Mountaineers are. Sorry, you can't be N.C.'s team if you lose to N.C. State. Appalachian State did.

   Wake Forest fans have become pretty cocky. I asked a friend who loves his Deacs how he though the Deacons would handle those last four games.

   "I just hope we win one of them," he says.

   BCS baby. Eleven and one. Believe.

A Rose offer I can pass on (again)

Pete Rose was in Conover on Tuesday, a guest of the Hickory Sportsman’s Club. The club made Rose available to the media Tuesday afternoon. I thought about driving up, but I saw Rose this summer, and the image still is so perfect I didn’t want to clutter it.

I was in Las Vegas in June with my kids. You have your family vacations, we have ours. We were walking to Caesar’s Palace, and on the way passed through a huge mall that includes every top-of-the-line store you can envision, plus several huge mechanical top-of-the-line, but lower-level deities.

My older son wanted to spend some money, mine as it would turn out, since he had lost his playing blackjack. As we walked into the store we saw a counter in front. Sitting at the counter was a guy who looked a lot like Pete Rose, who became legendary for hitting a lot of singles and making a lot of terrible bets.

Next to Rose were two assistants and a man who acted like a carnival barker. Step right up ladies and gentlemen, walk into the sporting goods store, spend some money, lots of money, and you can pick up a voucher that will get you an autograph from Mr. Pete Rose!

Nobody did. Middle of the day, mall packed, and nobody was in line. Everybody had better things to do.

This is how I want to remember Pete: a guy selling his name to people who didn’t want to buy it.

Panthers fans represent in Baltimore

Don't know if i have ever seen more Carolina Panther fans at a road game than I did in Baltimore. Many were on the same non-stop flight from Charlotte to BWI that I was, a bargain for $90.

If you are a fan of the Panthers or of the NFL, and have a few bucks to escape, you ought to take in a road game. Panthers jerseys and caps were common all weekend in the restaurants and bars around the Inner Harbor.

I know the area is touristy, but it's also beautiful and alive, and if you stray a few blocks, you can find a place that caters to the locals, and stay longer than you intend, much longer if a friend I'll call Stan shows up.

The Panthers presence at M&T Bank Stadium Sunday was evident. Although it wasn't exactly Clemson at Wake Forest, you could look into most sections and see, and often hear, folks cheering for Jake Delhomme, Steve Smith and Julius Peppers.

The loudest cheer I heard from Panther fans all weekend came at the ESPN Zone Sunday night. As highlights from Sunday's games were shown on the big screen -- that screen is bigger than Carolina's defensive tackles -- the 72-yard touchdown pass from Delhomme to Smith flashed up.

When Smith grabbed the ball, a group of Panther fans we'll call middle-aged began to urge him to the end zone. They were screaming. And this was in Baltimore at the Inner Harbor. What could Baltimore fans say? They are civilized up there.

Smith obviously listened to the Charlotte fans and darn if he didn't score again.