Saturday, August 30, 2008

Football dominates Saturday

Friday got away from me, with Sports Night at 10,m and the Discount Tire Friday Night Final at 11, so I'm making it up to you with a Saturday entry. I can tell you are thrilled.

Carolina Panthers DB Ricardo Colclough was arrested early Saturday morning for driving while impaired. Not the smartest thing to do on the day that the team makes its final roster cuts. Colclough is thought to have won a job, but the Panther organization sorta frowns on guys breaking the law. They had enough of that in years past, and it kinda makes them unhappy when their players run afoul.

On Friday, the Panthers landed QB Josh McCown in a trade with the Miami Dolphins. McCown is a former starter, but became an afterthought once the fish acquired Chad Pennington in the Brett Favre domino tumble. The move means 2 things. 1-Matt Moore is the #3 QB (mainly because his pre-season was not so good, but he also hurt his leg on Thursday night in Pittsburgh. An injury that is a deep bruise, and nothing more according to the team). 2-Bret7t Basanez' time with the Panthers is over, unless they stick him on the practice squad. I like Basanez alot, as a QB and a person. He's a good young QB, with lots of talent. He just needs time in the league to learn and develop, but time isn't a luxury the Panthers staff and front office have. I hope Basanez ends up on the practice squad in Carolina as a worst case scenario. Best case, he goes to another team and lands on their roster.

College football may have gotten underway on Thursday, but it REALLY begins today. Call me a purist (read "old), but college games belong on Saturday. They just do. Afternoon kickoffs, night kickoffs, just not on Thursday, or Friday, or even Tuesday's which we'll see later in the season I am sure.

Appalachian State tees it up in Baton Rouge against L.S.U. (and if you check out Jeff Crum's blog, you would have known this since, I don't know, January...kidding Jeff). Kickoff moved up to help get the game in, and then get the fans out as Hurricane Gustav is bearing down on Louisiana. Not wishing bad things for Texas, but I hope that storm drifts that direction. As of this writing, it has New Orleans in the cross-hairs. I couldn't bare to watch that city get pummeled again. Pick-LSU wins, but the Mountaineers make it more than respectable.

Duke and North Carolina open their seasons tonight, and I would expect the Tar Heels to pick up a win over McNeese State, and Duke facing James Madison should mean a win for David Cutcliffe in his debut. I know nothing is a given when it comes to Duke football, but Cutcliffe has really brought an energy and a fire to that program. I would love to see his efforts (and the efforts of the players) rewarded. Picks-UNC & Duke

ECU and Virginia Tech kick it around at Bank of America Stadium at noon. Tough conditions to play that game. Sunny, hot, ugh. I see Tech picking up the win, as they have just a little more talent than the Pirates, but I don't expect a blow out. Fans in the stands should get their money's worth. Pick -VT

That's about all I have for now. Enjoy your holiday weekend--I plan on making a game effort at doing just that!

Mike Solarte

1 comment:

Jeff Crum said...

Check your brake lines.... :-)