Tom Talks

Excerpt from Tuesday's chat with Tom

Excerpts from my chat with readers at charlotteobserver.com Tuesday from noon to 1.

Truefan: When do you see the Panthers making their cuts and who do you seeing being cut?

Tom Sorensen: Ken Lucas is one of my favorite players. Intriguing guy, smart, humble for a cornerback, and just cool to be around. But he’s going to make, what, $9.5 million next season? I suspect he’s gone, but hope I’m wrong. Can’t see any reason to bring Hackett back, not with Ryne Robinson, Jarett and Jason Carter in the wings. It will happen soon.

E$: Do you think the Bobcats are done trading? Should they try to get involved in the Amare (Stoudemire) sweepstakes? I still feel they are one all-star short.

TS: You’re right; they are one star short. Man, Amare here? I would love to see that. Would demonstrate how serious they are.

Goheels: Do you think the Heels can win tomorrow night at Cameron?

TS: The Tar Heels are a better team. The Blue Devils looked fragile Saturday against Miami. But, as their history attests, they aren’t. It will be good and taut, with great plays and numerous cheap shots. North Carolina by 5.

Truefan: Prediction for the Daytona 500?

TS: I’d like to say Dale Earnhardt Jr., but I’m going with Jeff Gordon. I think he has one more great year in him. I think this is it.

David: So, you see no scenario whatsoever that would keep Julius Peppers with the Panthers?

TS: None.

Shannon: Any updates on the Big Cat and his recovery?

TS: No, nothing new. And I think, and hope, no news is good news.

Fred: How disappointing will it be if Davidson loses its conference tourney and doesn’t make the big dance? They only have 1 top 100 win to date, not an at large resume.

TS: I think that if they continue to play the way they have (prior to Saturday) they get an at-large bid even if they don’t win the tournament. They’re good for basketball, they play an aggressive schedule and they have earned the opportunity. So many variables, though. But I like their chances.

Steve: What are your thoughts on Charles Godfrey. Was he just a fill-in until we find someone better or do you see him becoming an actual legit safety?

TS: The Panthers were thrilled to get Godfrey in the third round and I can see why. He was good right away. Will he become a legit safety? He already is. He’ll be a star.

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Want to read more? Replay Tuesday's chat by clicking here. Watch for notice of more chats with Observer reporters and columnists in the Observer and on charlotteobserver.com.

Would you be tempted?

   You think you're better at what you do than the co-worker at the next desk, or on the next shift, or working the next table. Suddenly, however, that employee is posting numbers that dwarf yours. And management recognizes her good work with praise, a promotion and more money.

   You suspect the co-worker is taking a drug that enhances his worth. You have access to the same drug. Do you take it?

   You at least would be tempted to. Sitting back and ripping athletes for using steroids is easy. But if you're competitive, and you're losing to somebody you believe lacks your work ethic or talent, you're going to be tempted to fight back.

   That's what Major League Baseball players did. Of course they knew that taking drugs was wrong. They also knew that the league didn't care, or at least failed to enact policies that indicated it did. They also knew that their coddling and powerful union would protect them no matter what they did.

   Alex Rodriguez, the three-time MVP, was one of 104 players that tested positive in 2003. In that culture at that time, drug use was accepted. I don't mean that everybody was doing it. I mean that at least 104 players did.

   Most major league sports create salary caps to protect owners from themselves. They also have learned to create a drug policy to protect athletes from themselves. For years, baseball failed to.

   If you worked for a company with a lax drug policy, and thought you could gain prestige and cash and keep up with the cheaters by using a drug, would you be tempted?

   Are you sure?

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Join Tom Sorensen's live chat today from noon to 1 p.m. at www.charlotteobserver.com/sportstalk. You can also replay the chat anytime after 1 p.m. at the same link.

My Checkers win, I retire undefeated

 

You have to know when to walk away. Sports are littered with people who stayed past their time. Rare is the athlete who, like heavyweight champion Gene Tunney, retired undefeated.

   So with a heavy heart I'm saying goodbye to coaching. Like Tunney, I walk away without a loss. My Charlotte Checkers beat the Florida Everblades 4-3 Sunday in my line coaching debut and finale. 

   The four best things about my one-game coaching gig:

   (1) I've said this before, but the Checkers were great to work with. From the administration to my fellow coaches to the players, they were courteous, unpretentious and fun to be around. Although the ECHL is not the NHL, the speed with which the game moves and the intensity and the skill with which the players play were really impressive.

   (2) The next time I'm in an arena or gym, and somebody says, "Hey, coach," I'll instinctively turn my head. The trick to coaching, incidentally, is to convince players to embrace your philosophy. I wish I had a philosophy.

   (3) I was allowed to cheer. Since I became a sportswriter in 1981, I have conditioned myself not to cheer at games. Internally, I always want one of the teams to win; I pull for the best story. But nobody sees that. I'll instinctively react to a great play, but I never cheer for the home team or the visitor. By the time I allowed myself to cheer Sunday, the second period had almost ended.

   (4) When I was introduced as a special assistant coach before the Charlotte-Florida game, I was booed. There was not a single cheer. I felt like a wrestler, a bad guy, walking to the ring. And this was a Pink in the Rink game. The afternoon was dedicated to raising money for, and the profile of, organizations fighting women's cancer, among them the American Cancer Society, Carolina Breast Friends and the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Also in the crowd were Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts and YMCA Indian Guides and Princesses. And they, along with the Checkers' regulars, booed me.

   It was great.

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Chat live with Tom Sorensen noon-1 p.m. Tuesday at www.charlotteobserver.com.

Checkers name me coach, sort of

Welcome to the Friday edition of Sorensen in the Morning.

  Jason Shaya, director of media relations and broadcasting for the Charlotte Checkers, had a great idea. He said I could serve as an assistant coach for the Checkers for one period.

   Derek Wilkinson, the coach, general manager and vice president, but not equipment manager or trainer, had a better idea. He said I could serve as an assistant for an entire game. At 4 p.m. Sunday, I will. And this isn't just any game. We're playing the Florida Everblades, the best team in the ECHL.

   All the hockey guys I see on TV, the coaches and commentators, use mass quantities of hair gel. I have that covered. Yet, that might not be enough.

   So I went to the Checkers' skate Thursday -- skate is inside hockey lingo for practice -- to talk to Wilkinson and players Kenny Smith, Jeff Miles and Ethan Graham. I asked them inside stuff, like what I could yell when they skated by that wouldn't make me sound stupid and how hard I could work the officials without getting a technical.

   I'm not going to pretend I know the sport. I grew up around hockey in Minneapolis but the only organized games I played were on boots, and that was just an excuse to go flying down the ice and blindside each other and get slammed into the boards or off the rink and into the snow. The Catholic school guys played basketball and the public school guys played hockey. I went to a Catholic school.

   But I have always liked being around the Checkers. I've gone on a road trip with them and spent time in their penalty box. What I like is the lack of pretension. The players stood on the ice after practice Thursday and it was like talking to a buddy. Nobody was pretentious. Nobody thought that playing professional hockey separated him from the rest of the human race. Nobody said, "No comment" or, "You'll have to ask my agent."

   There's a joy to their game. Nobody is getting rich. But they've always played. The Checkers offer them an opportunity to continue to. So they do.

   This doesn't mean I'll go easy on them Sunday.

   "Keep your feet moving, Kenny Smith!"

   My job will be to put them in position to be the best that they can be and get a column out of it.

   If any of you have any sage advice to offer before I begin my coaching stint, I'd be glad to hear it (aside from study the playbook; Smith already suggested that).

   And thank you Checkers. You didn't have to do this. I appreciate the opportunity.

  

Call me coach

   Jason Shaya, director of media relations and broadcasting for the Charlotte Checkers, had a great idea. He said I could serve as an assistant coach for the Checkers for one period.

   Derek Wilkinson, the coach, general manager and vice president, but not equipment manager or trainer, had a better idea. He said I could serve as an assistant for an entire game. At 4 p.m. Sunday, I will. And this isn't just any game. We're playing the Florida Everblades, the best team in the ECHL.

   All the hockey guys, the coaches and commentators, I see on TV use mass quantities of hair gel. I have that covered. Yet, that might not be enough.

   So I went to the Checkers' skate Thursday -- skate is inside hockey lingo for practice -- to talk to Wilkinson and players Kenny Smith, Jeff Miles and Ethan Graham. I asked them inside stuff, like what I could yell when they skated by that wouldn't make me sound stupid and how hard I could work the officials without getting a technical. 

   I'm not going to pretend I know the sport. I grew up around hockey in Minneapolis but the only organized games I played were on boots, and that was just an excuse to go flying down the ice and blindside each other and get slammed into the boards or off the rink and into the snow. The Catholic school guys played basketball and the public school guys played hockey. I went to a Catholic school.

   But I have always liked being around the Checkers. I've gone on a road trip with them and spent time in their penalty box. What I like is the lack of pretenstion. The players stood on the ice after practice Thursday and it was like talking to a buddy. Nobody was pretentious. Nobody thought that playing professional hockey separated him from the rest of the human race. Nobody said, "No comment" or, "You'll have to ask my agent."

   There's a joy to their game. Nobody is getting rich. But they've always played. The Checkers offer them an opportunity to continue to. So they do.

   This doesn't mean I'll go easy on them Sunday. 

   "Keep your feet moving, Kenny Smith!"

   My job will be to put them in position to be the best that they can be and get a column out of it.

   If any of you have any sage advice to offer before I begin my coaching stint, I'd be glad to hear it (aside from study the playbook; Smith already suggested that).

   And thank you Checkers. You didn't have to do this. I appreciate the opportunity. 

  

Sorensen in the morning, Feb. 5

    Clemson's 75 or so point victory against Duke Wednesday night was as breathtaking as it was unbelieveable. We've seen the Blue Devils on the cusp of being blown out. Wake Forest was pounding them last week in Winston-Salem. But Duke fought its way back in and almost won. That's what Duke does.

   Duke does not do what it did Wednesday at Clemson. The Tigers took over and never let up. Clemson's Trevor Booker was by far the best player on the court. The Tigers made Duke look timid.

   The names at the top of the ACC men's basketball standings are familiar: Duke and North Carolina are 6-2. But the conference is wide open. Clemson is a half-game back. And Wake Forest, despite humbling losses to Georgia Tech and Miami, is young enough to figure it out by March.

   Losing Marcus Ginyard for the season makes the Tar Heels a lesser team. Ginyard talked,played and handled himself like an adult. There is a gravity to him. His teammates felt it and I assure you opponents did. He's an athlete who was willing to give up his offense to give his team what it needed. It needed his defense, his timing and his leadership.

   The ACC is a mad, beautiful scramble and what applies today will not apply in Atlanta March 12 when the ACC tournament begins. I don't know how it will shake out. But I'm going to enjoy watching.

  

It's national signing day!

   National signing day is so thrilling. If I were going to rank thrilling days, national signing day would come right after: Christmas and Thanksgiving; the birthdays of my children and New Year's Eve; Easter and the opening day of baseball, football and basketball; the first snow of the winter; snows two through five of winter; snows six through nine; Friday night, Saturday and Sunday; a good movie, a good book, a good drink or a good boxing match; tournaments; non-tournaments; everything else.

   I don't understand the appeal. It starts with high school seniors, and which school the seniors will attend.  And then it spreads. And soon adults are getting worked up about where that special ninth-grader is thinking about someday going to college.

   Years ago there was a phenomenal high school basketball player out of the Daytona Beach, Fla., area named Vince Carter, and somebody would call the Daytona Beach News-Journal several times a week to ask if they knew where Carter planned to go to college. And the caller would leave my name. In other words, he pretended to be me calling on behalf of the Observer.

   Finally a writer that knew me answered the phone and knew that I would never under any circumstances, including the threat of bodily harm, call a newspaper to ask where a high school athlete planned to attend college.

   Can you imagine being that desperate? 

   Everybody is entitled to a hobby. But I swear that we'd all be happier if that hobby occasionally involved going outside and breathing fresh air.    

Excerpt from Tuesday's chat with Tom

Here's an excerpt from my live chat, from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday at www.charlotteobserver.com/sportstalk. You can replay the full chat at that link. We'll do it again next Tuesday at noon. Bring your lunch and your questions.

Sean O: Tom, thanks for the forum. What do you think of trading Julius Peppers for Matt Cassel? Is that unrealistic? If so, why? Seems like it would benefit both parties if Pep does indeed want to leave for a 3-4 scheme. Thanks again.

Tom Sorensen: I don’t think Peppers will play for the Panthers again. But i suspect they’ll trade him for draft choices, one of which will be a No. 1. Would you make the Cassel deal?

Towelboy: How hot is John Fox’s seat this year?

TS: I think he’s safe, going in. If the Panthers go into the tank, things change. but he’s certainly not on the hot seat now, and shouldn’t be.

Tennismama: What are the chances that Stephen Curry will go pro after this year? And how far do you think the Wildcats will get in the NCAAs?

TS: I think he goes pro after the season. Love to see the cats make the Sweet 16. … The deeper they go, the more interesting college basketball becomes. We need underdogs, even world famous ones.

Zach: Do you think Charles Johnson is good enough to start at one of the DE spots (for the Panthers) next year?

TS: Do you want to go into the season with Charles at one end and (Tyler) Brayton at the other? Johnson had moments, but you don’t build a line around him.

Art: Tom, is football at UNC Charlotte a sensible move in this economy? You can argue that it’s never truly the "perfect" time, but things are definitely tough right now.

TS: The timing is terrible. But it has always been terrible. I love the work they’ve done. They’ve shut up and put up, a real grassroots movement. Sensible? Probably not. But if we only did what was sensible I would not be doing an online chat. Stan Olson would.

The Dork Lord: Adam Morrison, any chance he’ll get his groove back?

TS: Don't know if he can get back what he never had. I thought, coming out of Gonzaga, he’d be an instant offense guy off the bench. I was wrong. He is neither the shooter nor the scorer the Bobcats anticipated.

Chris: Tom, how much longer does Bobby Lutz have?

TS: That’s a good question. Bobby signed an extension after last season, if i remember right. He’s respected around the sport. He has one of the toughest jobs in the sport. How many Carolina kids grow up saying, “Someday I want to play in the A-10?” The league is legendary in Philly. we aren't in Philly. Where is his recruiting base? When he was in C-USA, he could go to players Louisville didn’t recruit and say, “Come to Charlotte and show them what they missed.” He can’t do that anymore.

Towelboy: How long do you see Bob Johnson as the primary owner of the Bobcats?

TS: Although he denies it, I think he was trying to sell the team last season. Then the economy tanked. As far as I can tell, Bob doesn’t talk to anybody in the media, which is his prerogative. He blew off Sports Illustrated when they were in town. He’s losing money. But maybe he’s having fun. I would love to run that team. Alas, they never call.

John: Ken Lucas seemed to be a real liability down the stretch this season. Do you think he keeps a starting job next season?

TS: I think Luke is probably gone since he’ll make close to $10 million. He struggled late. But he was very good early and the work he did in camp was exemplary. Really a classy guy.

Mike: Will the Bobcats still be in Charlotte in 3 years?

TS: Yes

Chat

   I hate that word, chat. Having a chat is like having a catch or ordering a splash of coffee. We all have words we use and words we don't and chat is not one of mine. Another word that is not one of mine is presence.

   But as part of our online presence, I will be having a chat with readers Tuesday from noon to 1 p.m. Chat is the term we use.

   If you have anything you want to talk about, go online and let's talk. We can talk the NFL, ACC basketball, Julius Peppers, Jerry Richardson, the Charlotte Checkers, boxing, "The Wrestler," the latest odds against the Panthers winning the next Super Bowl, Stan Olson or anything else about which you're curious.

   I am interested in your opinions, which is the reason I spend 10 to 15 hours a week answering email and the reason I talk to schools and service clubs. I always get more out of those speaking engagements than I put in, which is not difficult if you've heard me speak.

   Again, I'll be online Tuesday from noon to 1 p.m. Hope to hear from you.

On Michael Phelps and Bruce Springsteen

I don't care if Michael Phelps was photographed with a bong at a party, apparently, at South Carolina. South Carolina is a bad influence. Weren't those Gamecocks on the bus in Borat? First Borat, now Mike. Be careful when you head south on I-77.

   Young people make mistakes. Swimmers, basketball players, football players, former Presidents and journalists all make them. You do things in your early twenties you wouldn't do 20 years later, such as allow yourself to be photographed at a party with a bong. It's not a big deal.

  

Bruce Springsteen's performance Sunday night was not a big deal, either. I like the guy, but he tried too hard to be Bruce. I realize that Bruce purists thought he sold out, and maybe he did. Next, he'll be charging people to buy his CDs and see his concerts.

   Instead of singing and playing and moving and doing the stuff he does with such power and such ease, Springsteen tried to show everybody who he was. It felt like a mini-audition. He's better than that. You know this if you've seen him play live.