Tom Talks

Seattle's victory too much; bring the real refs back now.

    The Seattle-Green Bay game moved as if it was played underwater. Players might be fast, but the pace was slow. Here comes a flag, and another flag, and another flag, and here's one more.

     The game's final play was as an abomination. Seattle's non-touchdown gave it a 13-12 lead as time expired and a victory it did not earn.

      Officials blew the call; they missed a blatant offensive pass interference on Seattle receiver Golden Tate and an interception by Green Bay's M.D. Jennings. Jennings caught Russell Wilson's desperation pass; Tate got his hands on it only after they landed. But Jennings still had the ball.

      The blown call changed the outcome and the standings, and millions of fans who invest their emotion and their cash are questioning the integrity of the NFL.

      The regular officials are locked out; the NFL won't let them work without a contract. The replacement officials were rushed in.They're new to the NFL. They had no training camp. They learn on the fly, every week, in front of thousands of fans and often condescending coaches and players.

    The more mistakes they make, the more mistakes we expect them to make. Coaches scream at them, players don't respect them and announcers who never criticize the league are incessant in their criticism.

     The refs were put in position to fail, just as replacement players would be, and they are.

     The league needs to settle with the regular officials. And if that means acknowledging that the refs won and the league lost, so be it.

      Until the real refs return, everybody loses. Even the better team -- as Monday night attests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday Night Football a fiasco; replacement refs must go

   Seattle's victory against Green Bay Monday night had to be the end of the replacement refs. So many calls, so many terrible calls, the worst of which was the game's final play. A Seattle Hail Mary; obvious pass interference against the Seahawks; obvious interception Green Bay.

    Yet the play is ruled a touchdown, and Seattle wins.

     The system doesn't work. Fans invest so much emotion and money in the NFL, and they get an inferior product.

      The result was a victory for the locked out refs, a loss for the Packers and a loss for fans.

 

Oh, no, Carolina Panther coach Ron Rivera is folding his arms

    Many readers have sent me email criticizing Panther coach Ron Rivera for folding his arms during Carolina's loss to the Giants.

     They want him to scream, stomp, shake his fist, slap a back, grab a player and, more than anything, show the world how much he cares.

       How Rivera coaches and leads is important. Whether he jumps and shouts on the sideline is not.

       There are lots of ways to lead. I've worked for yellers; I've worked for people who merely talk. Anybody can yell. If you've raised a toddler, you know this.

        Volume doesn't inspire employees, not in an office or on a field. Saying the right thing does.

        If Rivera were screaming and leaping, and the Panthers were getting stomped, I suspect you'd criticize him for being out of control.

        A coach needs to be who he is. He doesn't need to pretend.

        Whether Rivera makes it as a head coach, or fails to, will have nothing to do with his demeanor on the sideline.

         The Panthers have many real issues to address. No reason to make one up.

 

 

Wanton destruction: New York 36, Carolina 7.

    It was like watching a dad play ball in the driveway with his kid, and the dad is 6-7 and a former NBA player, and the kid is a 3 1/2 years old and only recently learned to walk.

     The result was inexplicable. The New York Giants scored the first four times they had the ball. They led 20-0 at halftime and the Panthers fumbled the kickoff that opened the second half. Specifically Joe Adams, the rookie return man, fumbled it. He also would fumble a fourth-quarter punt. Adams lost both.

      Carolina was, considering the import of the game and the opportunity, as bad as it has been. Cam Newton played his worst game as a Panther and the Panthers played one of their worst games.

      The Giants won 36-7.

        "Slow start. Slow middle. Slow finish," said defensive end Greg Hardy. "We just weren't ourselves."

         True, the Giants are defending champions. But they lost to Dallas at home and they had to rally to beat Tampa Bay at home. They're pretty good on the road, though.

        The 1-2 Panthers play Atlanta in Atlanta in 10 days.

         "That's the thing that stinks," said tackle Jordan Gross. "You have all weekend to sit and think about what went wrong. But as coach (Ron) Rivera said it's not time to hit the panic button. We can't let this happen. We can't be so up and down, two weeks down, one week up so far."

          Did anybody see this coming -- not the result but the manner in which it was achieved?

          Did anybody see the Giants, in a short week, winning by 29 on the road?

           Panther receiver Brandon LaFell didn't.

            "It was really shocking," he said.

 

Panther fans descend on Tampa; bullhorn optional

     Greetings from Tampa.

     Woke up at 6:30 a.m. to rain. Then it stopped. Then it poured. Then it poured harder. Now it's merely rain. And lightning. Too bad. Saturday the weather was sunny and perfect like Florida is supposed to be when I'm here.

      Got in elevator at Tampa hotel Saturday and four guys wearing Panther colors got in at the same time. Two guys already on the elevator said: "No Panther fans allowed."

       They were kidding. They had made the trip from Charlotte, too.

      Later I was sitting in the hotel courtyard and a guy at a nearby table, who was part of a group, picked up a bullhorn and summoned a guy wearing a Panther T-shirt. Who turns down a bullhorn? Think it only works on guys, though.

      Guy with the bullhorn was from Charlotte.

      The hotel, which is on the Riverwalk, is my favorite in Tampa. Great rate this weekend, as discerning Panther fans have discovered. I've only seen two Buccaneer shirts since I checked in.

      Ronde Barber, 37, will start at free safety today for Tampa Bay. The Bucs drafted him with the 66th pick in the 1997 draft. Bucs took four players before Barber -- running back Warrick Dunn (12th), receiver Reidel Anthony (16th), tackle Jerry Wunsch (37th) and guard Frank Middleton (63rd).

      Remember who the Panthers took?

      With the 27th pick they drafted wide receiver Rae Carruth. With the 56th pick they drafted safety Mike Minter.

      Only one player other than Barber is active. Tight end Tony Gonzalez, whom Kansas City took with the 13th pick, is still catching passes.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dancing Cam Newton and more tales from IMG

   The equipment managers pick out the music that plays as Panthers warm up before practice. On Wednesday, their first day at IMG Academy in Bradenton, the players boo the selection, a song that starts out slowly, don't know what it was.  Music comes from a box on the sidelines.

   On Thursday, the music improves. "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Nirvana, 1991, big hit, Seattle sound, grunge, plays. Yet players are not moved. They simply ignore it and exercise -- except the quarterback. Cam Newton begins to dance, moving side to side, in tune.

     Maybe if the music is good enough for him, it's good enough for everybody. Nobody boos.

      Newton was two when the song was released.

       IMG Academy in Bradenton, Carolina's headquarters Wednesday-Friday, is big enough to accomodate a city. It's 450 acres. It offers football, baseball, basketball, tennis, lacrosse, golf, soccer and athletic and personnel development. It also offers lots of guards. Point guards, quarterback-protectors and security.

      Wrote about Steve Smith for Thursday. Will write about Dwan Edwards,31, for Friday. Plan to, anyway. Like his story.

      Buffalo releases Edwards, a 6-3, 300-pound defensive tackle, August 31. The Panthers sign him two days later. He misses rookie camp, veteran camp, OTAs and training camp. And he starts.

       I don't know him. You don't, either. It's time.

 

 

 

Carolina Panther Steve Smith talks about his legacy

    The humidity on the field at IMG Academy was so thick you could see it. After practice, most of the Panther players did their interviews in the shade beneath a tent.

     But Steve Smith was in the sunshine when I approached him, and that's where we stayed. He had just finished a conversation with former Panther quarterback Chris Weinke, who was drafted in 2001, the same season Smith was. Smith was drafted in the third round, Weinke in the fourth.

      Weinke is the football program director for IMG Academy.

      "Twelve years," Weinke said.

      The season will be Smith's 12th.

      Smith was in an expansive mood despite the heat. He talked excitedly about his work with Samaritan's Feet. On Saturday in Tampa and he his wife, Angie, and their three children will wash the feet of impoverished children and provide them with new socks and shoes. Under Armour is part of the effort.

     Smith will try to get involved in the cause in each of the cities this season in which the Panthers play, as well as in Charlotte. Time constraints will not enable him to actively participate in each, although he will lend his name.

      Smith talked about how he wants to appreciate the time he has left in football. He wants to enjoy his teammates. He wants to enjoy the little things about being part of a team and part of the game.

       Smith, 33, also talked about the imprint he wants to leave. He says for a long time he played selfishly -- for victories, for statistics and for him.

      But now, through his work with organizations such as Samaritan's Feet, he wants to leave a deeper imprint, even if it's the shoes of others that will make it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opening night football pick

   As always, I'll make my week one picks in Sunday's paper. But need to get in tonight's pick to make it official.

     New York Giants 27, Dallas Cowboys 23.

     There are two week one lines that reach out and grab me and say, "Chose me."

     This isn't one of them.

      Giants are favored by 3 1/2.

 

 

 

 

Panthers cut 2011 3rd-round pick Terrell McClain

   I'd heard rumblings and grumbling last week from the Panthers about Terrell McClain, the defensive tackle they selected in the third round of the 2011 draft out of South Florida.

     He played in 12 games last season. Like fellow defensive tackle Sione Fua, whom Carolina also drafted in the third round of the same draft, McClain failed to distinguish himself as a rookie.

       But to give him the hook so quickly, McClain must done something to anger the Panthers. It had to be more than incompetence; this obviously was a player they scouted and liked.

       I'll make some calls.