Tom Talks

Good Morning New Jersey

   If you're coming to East Rutherford for the game, leave now. Flights from Charlotte to Newark were routinely delayed Saturday. Mine was pushed back almost four hours. What's tougher: getting to New Jersey or getting to the end zone once you arrive?

   It will be interesting to see how many Panther fans made the trip. I have to be at Giants Stadium early to appear on WCNC. I'll look for you.

   Moving around is difficult. At least that's what the guy that delivers newspapers to the hotel said this morning. He was 90 minutes late.

   Walked outside at 7:40 a.m., and the snow was just beginning to fall. The air was crisp, the flakes  pure and beautiful. Winter wonderland, baby. I just stood there, taking it all in.

   This lasted for almost 15 seconds. It was cold, man. Plus, I grew up in Minnesota and I've seen it all before.  To me, winter wonderland is Charlotte on Saturday morning. A guy in a convertible saw me putting down the top on my convertible, slowed down and yelled, "Great idea!"

   And it was. To drive with the top down in mid to late December is a beautiful thing. Try that here. 

   

What are the Odds II

   Last week the Panthers were a 9-1 bet to win the Super Bowl. According to Bodog, the odds have dropped to 11-2. Only the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers have smaller odds. Each is 7-2.

   Tennessee and Dallas are 8-1 and Indianapolis is 9-1. Nobody else is close.

   The opponent the Panthers are most likely to play in the Super Bowl, should they make it, is, of course, Pittsburgh. The odds of a Carolina-Pittsburgh contest are 11-2. The odds against Carolina-Tennessee are 13-2.

   The most likely Super Bowl combination is the New York Giants and Pittsburgh at 5-1.

   The  potential playoff teams least likely to advance to the Super Bowl are Atlanta-San Diego and Chicago-San Diego. The odds against either match-up are 250-1.

   The Panthers are a 9-4 underdog to win the NFC championship. Only the Giants are in front of them  at 7-4.

   Carolina running back DeAngelo Williams is a 20-1 underdog to win NFL regular season MVP.

   

DeAngelo and Vinny and Al Bundy

   DeAngelo Williams attributes his success this season to Vinny Testaverde, the veteran quarterback who played seven games for the Panthers last season. Williams won’t divulge what Testaverde said to  him, but says he will pass the inspiration to rookie teammate Jonathan Stewart when he retires.

   It's an interesting combination, Testaverde, the staid veteran, and Williams, the outgoing now 25-year-old. But it worked. Testaverde was famous for his conditioning and work ethic, and Williams worked harder this off-season than he ever has.

   That was evident at camp. He was lean and strong and, although the whistle might blow, Williams kept running.

   Asked what he thinks Vinny is doing now, Williams laughs.

   Vinny is on the sofa, Williams says, like Al Bundy in “Married with Children,” with a root beer in his hand.

   You know about Married with Children, which went off the air in 1997 (when Williams was 14)?

   "That was my show, man," he says.

   

It's Snow lie: Delhomme, snow are strangers

   Jake Delhomme is 33-years-old. He's been throwing passes all his life. He's thrown them in his family's yard in Breaux Bridge, La., at Teurlings Catholic High in Lafayette, La., at Louisiana-Lafayette, in New Orleans, Amsterdam and Frankfurt, in Charlotte, Minneapolis, Seattle, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York. And he has never thrown a pass in the snow. Not one.

   "I've never played in a snow game," he says after practice Wednesday.

   He might. Snow is a possiblity Sunday night at Giants Stadium.

   The closest Jake has come to snow is Green Bay. Late in Carolina's victory at Green Bay Nov. 30, gunk came down from the sky. But it wasn't snow. It was like floating garbage, a mix of unwanted stuff. Delhomme threw a spiral through it to Steve Smith and the Panthers won.

   But still. How could you play the game as long as you  have and never play a single game in real snow? Everybody has.

   "I come from southwest Louisiana," Delhomme says. "We didn't get a lot of snow."

Sweet Caroline Is Not So Fine.

   I wrote about Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" Monday. Heard it at the Panther-Denver game. Wished I hadn't. If you're going to play a sappy song at a game between two apparent playoff teams,  why not something by John Denver, Abba, the Archies, the Bee Gees, Cher, Kelly Clarkson or Huey Lewis?

   Doug, a lifelong Pittsburgh fan, emailed today to say he heard "Sweet Caroline" at a Pittsburgh-West Virginia football game. He wants it stopped. I'm with you, Doug. But we're too late. Davidson plays the song at basketball games. And somebody told me the Boston Red Sox played the song before Davidson or Pittsburgh did.

   But the guy that told me thinks everything starts in Boston.

   He's right, at least about this. The Red Sox were impressed by the crowd's reaction when they occasionally played the song in 2002 and made it an anthem in 2003.

   Caroline must be stopped. But not today. I can't dislodge the song from my head.

   Hands.

   Touching hands.

   Reaching out.

   Touching me.

   Touching you.

   Thanks, Doug.

RIP AFL

   The Arena Football League voted Sunday night not to play the 2009 season, and there's no guarantee it will return in 2010. That's unfortunate.

   Everybody wants to start a football league. Vince McMahon tried the XFL. Last season some heavy hitters tried to start a league that would feature former college stars playing for a franchise on or near their home turf. It folded before a game was played. Another new league has been proposed. I'm for anything that creates jobs, but I assure you those jobs will be temporary.

   When was the last time a new league made an impact in any sport? I don't want to sound sexist, but the only reason the WBA is in business is because the NBA props it up. 

   We have the right number of sports and don't have room for any more. The major ones bleed into each other and briefly overlap. The minor ones remind us of old times and remain valid by charging old-time ticket prices.

   The Arena Football League did excellent work, attracting owners such as Jerry Jones (Cowboys) and Arthur Blank (Falcons), John Elway and Jon Bon Jovi. The AFL also gave us the Minnesota Fighting Pike, a name that will live on even if the team did not. Kurt Warner played in the AFL.

   Charlotte had two teams and Raleigh one.

   The Rage came to Charlotte in 1992 and drew big crowds at Charlotte Coliseum and great reviews. This was three years before the Panthers and the league was like nothing we had seen. Somebody was always bouncing off a rail or a net. It was like a cross between football and pinball. Something was always going on.

   Newness fades, however, and the Rage left in 1996.

   Four years later the Carolina Cobras came to Raleigh. The Cobras played there from 2000-2003 and then hit I-85 and came to Charlotte. They two seasons in the Queen City.

   What I liked about the league is that it didn't pretend to be more than it was. It wasn't the NFL, wasn't going to compete with the NFL and did not complain about the attention the NFL attracted.

   I never left a game bored, and my short-attention span kids got a kick of out of the short-attention span football. But how many of us have room for a new sport? How much spare time and disposable income do we have even in good financial times?

   I hope the league, which had 16 teams last season, comes back. But if it doesn't, it should be the model for every new league. It lasted from 1987-2008.

   What potential leagues should take away is this: The AFL did everything right yet ultimately it went out of business.

   

   

Tiger's Caddie

   It will be interesting to see the response to the shot that Tiger Woods' caddie took at Phil Mickleson. Among other things, Tiger's caddie said, "I wouldn't call Mickleson a great player because I hate the (expletive)."

   Tiger's caddy also said, "It's no secret that we don't get along."

   Tiger is a marvelous player and an interesting guy and he has mesmerized the golf world and the golfing press. Is his caddie, whose name is Steve Williams but who is better known as The Guy That Carries Tiger's Clubs, also mesmerizing?

   I'm a golfing outsider, but I was introduced to Mickleson's caddie, Jim MacKay, at the Masters and ran into him at the Wachovia Championship. Nicknamed Bones, he was without pretension. He didn't seem to think that carrying Phil's clubs and helping him negotiate a golf course made him a big deal.

   I've also seen Tiger's caddie on the golf course. He is pretentious. When some people hang around stars they figure that they must also be stars.

   What Tiger's caddie said was foolish, and Tiger says the issue has been dealt with.

    I wonder what Tiger's caddie did before he was Tiger's caddie. I wonder what he'll do when the gig ends.

 

Home is Where the Victories are

    The Panthers have never developed a home field advantage. Visiting teams have never said, "The toughest place in the league to play is Charlotte so please, for the love of all that is good, don't make us play there."

   The Panthers finish 8-0. They are the only team in the NFC that has to play its final two games on the road and one of only two, Miami is the other, in the league.

   Let's look back on the perfect home season.

   They home opener was against Chicago Sept. 14. They trailed 17-3 in the third quarter and did not look at all like the team that had beaten San Diego on the road in its opener.  Rookie Jonathan Stewart rushed for 77 yards, 76 in the second half, and scored the winning touchdown with 3:52 remaining to lead Charlotte to a 20-17 victory.

   On Sept. 28 the Panthers lead Atlanta 14-9 at the half. Jake Delhomme complete 20 of 29 passes and the Panthers dominated the second half and won 24-9.

   On Oct. 5 the Panthers beat Kansas City 34-0. They had two sacks and two interceptions and they also had a 100-yard rusher. DeAngelo Williams rushed for 123 yards and scored three touchdowns.

   On Oct. 19 the Panthers beat New Orleans 30-7. Julius Peppers forced a fumble, had a sack and deflected a pass. Steve Smith caught six passes for 122 yards and a touchdown.

   On Oct. 26 the Panthers beat Arizona 27-23. They were down, as they were to Chicago, 17-3 in the third quarter. Delhomme hit seven of eight passes in the second half, Smith caught five passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns and Charles Johnson had two sacks.

   On Nov. 16 the Panthers beat Detroit 31-22. The Panthers were unable to shake off the lowly Lions until the fourth quarter. They set a team record with 264 rushing yards. Stewart had 130 and Williams had 120.

   On Dec. 8, on Monday Night Football, the Panthers hammered Tampa Bay 38-23. They broke the record they set against Detroit by rushing for 299 yards. The offensive line was dominant and Smith had nine catches.

   They played their final regular-season home game Sunday and beat Denver 30-10. Denver, last in the AFC in turnover margin, lost the ball twice, the Panthers once. Carolina made all the big plays. As talented as Denver's offense is, it seemed as if the Broncos spent their Sunday running uphill. Smith caught nine passes for 165 yards and a touchdown, and Williams rushed for 88, picking up 56 on one stunning touchdown run.

 

   

8-0

   For the second time in franchise history, the Panthers finished the season undefeated at home. Last season they went 2-6. Fans came downtown expecting good things, and the Panthers consistently gave it to them, twice rallying from deficits of 14 points.

   They trailed Denver 7-0 and 10-7 Sunday but scored the last 23 points to win easily.

   Great work.

 

Holding

   Julius Peppers was tearing after Denver quarterback Jay Cutler when he was blatantly held. When there was no call, Panther coach John Fox ran onto the field to complain, pointing to the scoreboard, which was showing the replay.

   After the Panthers stopped the Broncos, Fox talked angrily to two officials and then ran to Peppers on the bench and made a downward chopping motion. Next time you're held, do this, I think is what Fox was saying.

   Be interesting to see how Peppers reacts if he's held again.