Tom Talks

Lyndon Rowells, Kobe, Dwight, guitar gods and the Popemobile

   Was trying to make a list of the great NFL exhibition games I have witnessed. Yeah. Operators standing by. But looking forward to Carolina-Houston at Bank of America Stadium anyway.

     If you've been to training camp, and aren't star struck, you've seen players who are competing for a roster spot. Maybe they put on a move or grabbed a pass or deflected one, rushed a quarterback or protected one.

     There are several players I've enjoyed watching, among them receivers Jared Green, Lamont Bryant and Seyi Ajirotutu -- whose name I am on the cusp of being able to spell without looking it up -- running backs Tauren Poole and Lyndon Rowells, defensive end Thomas Keiser, cornerback Josh Thomas and kicker Justin Medlock. 

       Speaking of Dwight Howard, the Los Angeles Lakers are doing a great job of acquiring talent without giving up commesurate talent. Kobe, Howard, the great Steve Nash, and Antawn Jamison, all wearing the same uniform. Like to say that I don't like teams collecting talent. But I can't wait to see this team.

      Orlando got rid of a talented nuisance, ditched salaries and picked up three first-round choices. Howard is worth more, but no way was Orlando going to get it.

     Speaking of Spartanburg, I've enjoyed my time here. Saw a band last night; old school, guitar gods. Walk through the front door and you walk through the band -- two members on one side and three on the other. No harm, no foul, and they kept on playing, and playing well.

      I'll be back in Spartanburg next week. But when the Panthers finish praciticing today, it's time to go home. 

     Slower traffic use the right lane, please. Otherwise the freeway system fails and you'll feel guilty and even if you've led an otherwise good and caring life you'll get stuck behind a Popemobile on your way to Heaven and require an eternity to get there.

 

 

This blog offers no gratuitous references to Cam Newton

    At night, after practice, over, perhaps, a beer, we talk about movies, our favorite movies of all time. Something to do after standing in the sun watching football practice. And I'm not complaining. I like standing in the sun watching football practice, at least for the first couple hours.

     Ran into Bill Polian, the first president of the Carolina Panthers, who left in 1997 after three seasons and went on to build an empire in Indianapolis. He's in Spartanburg for the first time since he left the Panthers.

      We started talking about movies and I asked him his two favorite movies of all time. Immediately he said, "On the Waterfront" and "The Godfather." Young Marlon Brando, old Marlon Brando.

      He asked me my favorite two and I said "Shane" and "Cool Hand Luke."

      Another guy made fun of Shane and I told him he couldn't and he stopped. My older son once apologized to me. What for? "I talked during Shane," he said.

       Interesting conversation. Polian and writers local and national talked movies and books and almost everything but football. Polian, who does a show with the legendary Alex Marvez on Sirius XM NFL Radio, goes from camp to camp. Came to Spartanburg from Jacksonville. The rest of us gather in Spartanburg every day.

    There's more to life than the NFL. There's Pulp Fiction and Training Day, two other top movie nominees.

     If you're a guy, I think you're obligated to be able to, when asked, name your top five movies of all time.

       1. Shane or Cool Hand Luke.

        2. Cool Hand Luke or Shane.

        3. The Godfather.

         4. The Godfather II

         5. Not The Godfather III.

         5. Casablanca.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breaking news: Panther coach Ron Rivera not always nice

    Interesting to see Carolina coach Ron Rivera go off today. At every practice, there are grunts, collisions, whistles, chatter. When Rivera talked, there was one voice. His.

     "I will not have this on our field!" Rivera yelled.

      Intensity of Wednesday's practice picked up considerably.

      The idea is not to waste time. After Monday's practice was rained out, and moved into the gym, limiting what the team could do, players were especially enthusiastic Tuesday.

      Not so Wednesday, apparently.

       I remember Rivera losing his temper only once publicly, and that was early in his first camp last year.

      When somebody is always yelling, they're easy to tune out. When somebody is customarily calm, shock value kicks in, and the impact is much greater.

 

 

Cam Newton is gratuitiously mentioned in this blog

    Some restaurants offer a catch of the day. So does Spartanburg. The best catch at practice Tuesday was made by Gary Barnidge. Barnidge cut across the right side of the end zone, approaching the sideline. On him, and I mean right on him, was cornerback Nate Ness. Barnidge caught the ball over Ness, just plucked it out of the air, and kept his feet inbounds. There was no margin for mistakes, and Barnidge, the fifth-season tight end out of Louisville, didn't make any.

    I wish my name were Nate Ness. Gets to the point.

    I kind of like rookie running back Tauren Poole out of Tennessee. He put a double move on linebacker Luke Kuechly Tuesday and dusted him. Hey, Luke. Be sure and write. Linebacker Thomas Davis talked with Kuechly after the play as they walked down the field. Kuechly, of course, has been consistently good. That's why Poole's work stood out.  

    Almost everywhere you go at Carolina's training camp you'll see the Olympics. But it's like background noise. It's on in the press box, at the student center where the players do interviews, at  the hotel bar where sportswriters tend to eat after working late after yet another grueling day of professional football.

    I think the Olympics are a great opportunity. But there are sports I can't watch -- gymnastics, men's beach volleyball and diving. Liked swimming, but I'm through with the pool. Give me track, boxing,  men's basketball and surprises -- fencing, race-walking and, surprise me.

    Asked Panther coach Ron Rivera what percentage of his players were happy Monday night's practice was rained out and moved into the gym. He said probably 60 to 65%. I was surprised. I figured the number would be higher.

     "I'll tell you one player who was not happy," Rivera said. "No. 1."

    If there's a Panther we have yet to write about, that you'd like to read about, email me at tsorensen@charlotteobserver.com.    

 

 

 

 

Usain Bolt lines up wide opposite Steve Smith, Cam Newton drops back.

    Usain Bolt undoubtedly makes a living wage winning Olympic gold medals in glamour events and on the endorsements that accompany them. 

     But wouldn't it be interesting to see him go deep? You imagine what the guy would look like in a helmet and pads? With his speed and personality he'd have to be a wide receiver.    

     Cam Newton tends not to underthrow receivers, but Bolt, 25, might be the exception. At 6-5, he'd make an interesting target. I have no idea if he can catch. He might not know. Even if he can't, he'd be a tremendous decoy.

     At Panther training camp there's not much time to watch the Olympics. So it was great to return to Charlotte this weekend and catch the end of swimming and the beginning of track and field.

      The one boxer I want to watch, a welterweight out of Texas named Errol Spence Jr., was eliminated 13-11 by an Indian boxer named Krishan Vikas. Spence had won his first fight; now, like all eight of his U.S. teammates, he was out.

       The U.S. protested the decision, complaining that Vikas engaged in more holding than a lineman trying to stick to an NFL roster. The decision was overturned.

        Spence has talent. But U.S. boxing is in the tank. In 2008 the team won only a bronze.

       I went to the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and the team's superheavyweight was Charlotte's Calvin Brock. Brock's coach, his father Calvance, was not allowed to work with him. In fact, he watched Calvin's opening fight sitting next to me in the press section far from ringside. Nobody knew Calvin the way the his father did. But Calvance had no access or input.

         I expected brilliant national coaches. But at that time, at least, politics and perseverance -- who paid the most dues working with amateurs -- determined who led the team. 

         Everybody was expected to fight the same way. Be aggressive, attack, stay busy, stay busy, stay busy.

         I got so sick of hearing "Stay busy" that I asked a coach why he kept repeating it.

        "What am I supposed to say?"" the coach said.

        Brock was eliminated in his first fight against a veteran Italian.

       I had a blast in Sydney covering sports I knew and sports I had never seen.

       Fencing was gallant; it was as if fencers from Italy and France were fighting for their country, gold and a princess.

       Race walking was comical. Mall moms might give them a run, but they're not allowed to run.

        Team handball was unfathomable.

       Swimming was as big as the NFL is here.

      Every day I'd see kangaroos outside the complex in which I stayed. I'd see them in the morning on the way to the bus or train. They made my greyhound seem energetic. I told one of the locals that kangeroos were a fraud, that on TV they jump around,but in real life they're sloths.

          They come out at night, he said.

          Do they box? If so, I know a country that could use them.