Tom Talks

Everybody suddenly loves Cam

    I don't know what the Carolina Panthers will do with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, and any writer, broadcaster or personality that claims he does is pretending.

     But Cam Newton's rise up the draft boards is not make-believe. The rare top-rated quarterback who was willing to pass and run at the NFL combine, he demonstrated confidence. He risked exposing his flaws. A player, especially a quarterback, gets points for that.

     Things could change markedly by late April. But If I had to place a bet today, I'd bet that Newton will be the first pick in the draft. I'm not saying that the Panthers will take him. But I think somebody will.

 

 

 

 

Dookie Dell

    Dell Curry will attend the Duke-Virginia Tech game tonight at Cassell Coliseum, the same gym in which he became a college star.

    Curry is the first Virgina Tech basketball player to have his jersey retired. The jersey, No. 30, hangs in the coliseum. The Hokies retired it in 1986 before his final home game.

    Dell's wife, Sonya, played volleyball for the Hokies, also in Cassell. They're true to their school.

    They'll also true to their children.  Seth Curry, son of Dell and Sonya, plays for Duke. He starts at guard. 

    "He loves it there," Dell says Friday night after the Charlotte Bobcats beat Sacramento.

    Dell is a television analyst for the Bobcats. He stands at courtside after the postgame show.

    What are you going to wear?

     "You're the third person to ask me that," Dell says smiling.

     He makes me wait.

    "I'm going to wear a white shirt with a blue Duke across the pocket," Dell says.

     Tough call, wearing Duke's colors instead of Virginia Tech's?

     "Not really," he says.

     Be nice, Virginia Tech fans. If your kid played against your school, whose side would you take?

     In unrelelated news, how hard did the Hokies recruit Seth or his older brother Stephen?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     

So, Michael, about your playoff prediction

   Charlotte general manager Rod Higgins met with the media late Friday morning.

   Owner Michael Jordan did not. The best known owner in sports did not talk to the media after he fired Larry Brown, after he hired Paul Silas or after he gave Silas an extension. On Thursday, Jordan traded Gerald Wallace. He didn't talk to us Friday, either. I had requested an interview earlier this week. I didn't get it.

    Give Jordan this: He was consistent as a player and he's consistent as an owner.

    "Flexibility is the word we put before us," Higgins says Friday at Time Warner Cable Arena.

     Trading Wallace for two first-round draft picks and two expiring contracts creates options in reconfiguring the roster through free-agent signings and trades. Since the Bobcats owed Wallace $10.5 million next season and $10.5 million the following season, the trade also creates financial flexibility.

     But the trade works only if Jordan is willing to spend money.

     Is he, I ask.

     "Of course Michael is willing to spend the money," says Higgins.

     It could be today, says Higgins. It could be in a few years. It could be a "marquee free agent" in 2011, or '12, or '13.

     "Mr. Jordan is willing to spend the money," Higgins said a second time.

    Later, Higgins will add: "Michael is in this business to compete at a high level. He's also going to be wise with his spending."

     The deal makes sense only if the Bobcats are wise with their draft picks and wise with their trades and willing to invest wisely.

     Because of the trade, there's more of a buzz about the Bobcats than there has been all season. We all like new. We all like to take sides. We're all talking.

      But buzz doesn't last. There was buzz when the Bobcats selected Adam Morrison with the third pick in the 2006 draft. I believe it has expired.

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bobcats donate Gerald Wallace to Portland

    The Charlotte Bobcats were one of the Eastern Conference's better bad teams. They might have made the playoffs, might not have.

     Without Gerald Wallace they're Toronto, they're Washington, they're Cleveland, they're terrible.

     Before the NBA trading deadline Thursday the Bobcats traded their most valuable commodity, Gerald Wallace, to Portland for Joel Pryzbilla, Dante Cunningham, two first-round picks and maybe a gift card.

     The only reason to get excited about the acquisitions is that Pryzbilla's contract expires after the season. So the Bobcats theoretically would some money to spend. But will they?

    You'll recall  they had an opportunity to trade Erick Dampier and his $13 million voidable contract before this season. Dampier was coveted precisely because the contract was voidable; that is, somebody could have traded for him and dumped him without penalty.

     But rather than trade Dampier and add a contract, the Bobcats reduced their payroll by letting Dampier go.

    To sum up, the Bobcats lost a heady, hustling, hard-working player who is the only all-star they've ever had.

   What did they gain?

    They don't have to pay him anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

It was never going to be DeAngelo

    Center Ryan Kalil was the obvious favorite to have the franchise tag applied. 

   When Jon Beason showed up in 2007, there was nothing about him that suggested he was a rookie. Carolina took Kalil in the second round of the same draft. Although he wasn't as dynamic as Beason -- is a center allowed to be dynamic? -- he, too, was fully formed when he reported for his first mini-camp.

    Charles Johnson also was a candidate for the franchise tag.

    I never thought DeAngelo Williams was. Williams has twice rushed for more than 1,000 yards. But he touched the ball more as a senior at Memphis than some backs do their college careers, and he finished the last two seasons for Carolina on injured reserved. He also plays a position at which Carolina is deep. Jonathan Stewart's talent is undeniable and Mike Goodson no longer is a back-up, as his work last season attests.

    The Panthers have 28 free-agents and I don't know how many they'll attempt to sign. But once a collective bargaining agreement is reached, the emphasis will be on retaining players rather than hiring free-agents. They'll keep what they have rather than recruit outsiders. The one lock is linebacker Thomas Davis. Despite his recent injuries, Carolina won't let him go.

     The free-agent exception is quarterback. The Panthers aren't going into 2011 with only second-year quarterbacks Jimmy Clausen and Tony Pike. Although they believe in Clausen, they don't want him to start, and they'll bring in a veteran.

    Love to be able to tell you who the veteran will be. I don't know yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knicks win big in Anthony trade

    Raymond Felton and John Fox, together again.

     Feel bad for Felton, the former Charlotte Bobcat whom the New York Knicks sent to the Denver Nuggets in the trade for Carmelo Anthony. Felton doesn't strike me as a guy who willingly flits from team to team. His preference, in fact, was to remain a Bobcat.

     But the Knicks made an excellent move, trading Felton, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and a 2014 first-round pick for Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Shelden Williams, Anthony Carter and Renaldo Balkman.

     In trades, the team that acquires the most players almost never wins. The team that acquires the single best talent wins.

     Anybody who follows the Bobcats knows this. The Bobcats had a chance to move up and acquire Chris Paul or Deron Williams in the 2005 NBA draft. But to do it they would have had to trade both their first-round picks. They chose quantity over quality.

    They had Williams ranked in front of Paul on their draft board, incidentally. Watch the Knicks attempt to make a run at both of them.

      I like Felton, especially in the Knicks run-run offense. But Billups is a better point guard.

     Anthony isn't as good as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant. He can be petulant, shooting too much or too little, and defense rarely interests him.

     But he is a talent. Anthony and New York's Amare Stoudamire will make a compelling frontcourt.

     The NBA  is better when the Knicks are interesting. Fans get caught up in the union of stars, as television ratings attest. Miami's collection of LeBron, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh has sent ratings soaring all season.

   Sunday's all-star game drew its highest rating in eight years, since Michael Jordan last played.

     Denver had to trade Anthony, who had no interest in staying after his contract expired.

     But the Nuggets didn't add a single star. New York did. 

 

 

 

 

No duct tape required

    The star of the 2010 Daytona 500 was a pothole on the track. Officials tried everything to fill the hole, including glue, duct tape and prayer. But the hole dominated the race. The pothole wasn't the only reason NASCAR experienced low television ratings and attendance last season. But it contributed. The 500 is the sport's biggest race and the race was a joke. Momentum never arrived. 

    The star of the 2011 Daytona 500 was Trevor Bayne, whom you had not heard of until late Sunday. Bayne, 20, somehow won the race. So there was no usual NASCAR suspect, no business as usual. Even peripheral fans can get excited about a newcomer. We like our underdogs.

   A sport can't thrive unless it engages peripheral fans. You think the NFL's outrageous success is due to football junkies? Millions of people that have never caught a pass or thrown one are mesmerized by the league's adventures. They don't live for it. But they don't live without it.

     Tony Kornheiser of ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" gave NASCAR a huge boost with peripheral fans last week when he implied that qualifying might have been "a setup."

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. won 500 qualifying. Should his car have passed inspection?  

     Dale Earnhardt died 10 years ago at the 500, and what a warm and wonderful story it would be if his son won the pole and perhaps the race.

     NASCAR angrily denounced Kornheiser as did the usual array of apologists who jump up and defend the sport  every time anybody criticizes it, whether it's a newspaper columnist or a 7-year-old on a school playground.

    Darrell Waltrip of FOX Sports even questioned Kornheiser's intelligence. I've talked to both men and if they were to take an IQ test I assure you one of them would be lapped.

     But Kornheiser's criticism was great for NASCAR, and NASCAR knows this. NASCAR's outlaw, moonshine running, anything-to-go-faster roots have great appeal.

    You don't need to like NASCAR to like controversy. Everybody can relate to cheatin'.

      Kornheiser generated almost as much attention as Bayne did.

     I have no idea whether NASCAR will capitalize. But it's off to a fine start.

 

 

 

 

 

If you can escape to spring training, go this week

    If you want more sunshine, more warmth and extended adult recess, you should head to Florida this week for spring training. The games won't begin until the last week of February. But games often bring crowds.

    I like this week, when pitchers and catchers report and position players tend to show up, too. You watch the fellows throw and catch and hit and run, appreciate the languid pace and remember why you fell in love with the game.

      I like road trips, so I drive to Daytona Beach every year for the Daytona 500 (I can't go this year because of a scheduling conflict). I'd stick around the day after the race and spend time with the winning team. Then I'd head to spring training.

      Florida in February often feels like a gift and the 500 is my favorite race. The problem is that Daytona Beach is overwhelmed. Everywhere you go somebody is there except, perhaps, the book store.

      Especially tired of crowds one year, I went to Kansas City's camp. The Royals trained in Florida then. I figured the crowd would be small. Here's how small it was. When practice began, there were three spectators, and that included me. The greatest Royal of them all, George Brett, was just standing there, watching. I approached and we began to talk. Just two guys talking about baseball.

     I ran into Keith Hernandez of the New York Mets in a bar near Port St. Lucie. He bought me a beer.

    That's the beauty of spring training. It's loose and free.

     It's not as pristine as it once was. Before the Atlanta Braves practiced in Lake Buena Vista one morning, a guy held a meeting behind the bleachers. He had a game plan for his eight or so employees. You go here, he said, and you go here and you guys go over there.

     The guy with the plan opened a box full of new baseballs and handed them out. The plan was to stand next to the field along first and third base, and behind home plate. These were the vantage points at which they were most likely to encounter players. They would then ask the players to sign the baseballs.

    Big fans? Nah. They planned to sell the autographed balls on eBay.

    But there's sleaze everywhere. It's not about them. It's about putting your legs on the empty bleacher in front of you, because unless you're watching the New York Yankees in Tampa the bleacher in front of you always is empty, and listening and watching and thinking.

    Beyond the outfield fence business is being conducted.

    Inside the ballpark, it's just baseball.

 

 

 

 

 

Get a grip? Walter Payton always had one

    I spent time with Carolina Panther coach Ron Rivera Thursday morning. I'll have a column about Rivera in the Observer Friday.

     What grabbed my attention when I walked into his office at Bank of America Stadium, and what would have grabbed yours, was a picture inside the door.

     It features Rivera and Walter Payton in Chicago Bears' jerseys. Payton wore 34, Rivera 59.

    Rivera was in his second season as a Chicago linebacker when the picture was taken. Payton had long been a star.

     Rivera remembers the first time they met. Rivera the rookie walked into the team's offices and there was the running back.

     Rivera, 6-3, was surprised by how short Payton was. Payton, 5-10, looked Rivera in the eye and said: "I'm Walter Payton. Wecome to the Bears."

    Payton offered his hand. Rivera, a second-round draft choice, accepted it.

    Payton squeezed. He might not be tall, but he was powerful, as tacklers will attest.

    Rivera, who towers over Payton in the picture, squeezed back.

    No veteran running back is going to squeeze harder than a linebacker, even a rookie linebacker.

     "He wants to see your knees buckle," says Rivera. "I knew that."

    Payton squeezed and Rivera squeezed. The knee didn't buckle. 

    Payton squeezed and Rivera squeezed. The knee didn't buckle.

    They stood there squeezing and testing. 

   Payton continued to squeeze. The knee still didn't -- Rivera's knee buckled.

   Rivera was now officially a Bear. Like Payton, he would never play for another NFL team.

    They became friends and remained friends until Payton's death in 1999 (at the age of 45) from a rare liver disease.

     Rivera loved Payton.

     "Walter knew my parents' names," he says. "When they came to town he'd say, 'Hi, Dolores,' and give my mom a hug, and say 'Hi, Eugenio' and shake my dad's hand and offer to buy him a beer."

     If Payton shook the father's hand as hard as he shook the son's, Eugenio earned more than one.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally an ACC game that matters

    I'm not objective. When I write off a game, I always cheer internally. I cheer for a story line, something to write, something thrilling, whether it's a player accomplishing the spectacular or landing a needless elbow that ensures his team won't win.

    But at this juncture I don't care who wins tonight's Duke-North Carolina game. And I didn't list Duke first because I like the Blue Devils more. Alphabetical order. Plus, they're a 9 1/2 point favorite. Also they're at home.

     Some readers assume that because North Carolina-Duke (I listed North Carolina first because Duke went first last time) is a huge part of their lives it is a huge part of mine. One guy emailed after Duke's loss to St. John's and smugly asked what I thought of my beloved Blue Devils now.

     I didn't.

     I didn't know the Blue Devils lost. I didn't know they played. I didn't know they were beloved. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. If it's not the NFL, I'm rarely tethered to the TV or computer on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

     I'm not writing off the game tonight. But I will watch. Despite the point spread, I think it will be competitive. Last season the rivalry was less basketball than wanton destruction. 

      This season you have an established team, Duke, playing a young North Carolina team that suddenly has figured it out.

      I don't know who I want to win.

      When I'm in doubt I often think of fans. Are the fans of one team more obnoxious than fans of the other? I think of specific people who cheer for the Tar Heels or Blue Devils. Do I want them to be happy?

     But when I do that, I tend to cheer against both teams.

     I'll think what I'll do is cheer the fact that there's a great college basketball match-up on TV, and for the first time in a long time it involves not the Big Ten or the Big East but the ACC.