Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Couple items on a Tuesday

1- Congrats to Garinger High School for snapping a football losing streak that dates back to October 11, 2002. True, they were credited with wins when schools were deemed ineligible (after the fact), still, I would guess every player and coach since that Oct. 11 win over Myers Park would have preferred their emotions last night over the, "hey, you guys didn't go winless last season--here's 4 forfeits." The Wildcats beat West Mecklenburg 31-12, after trailing 12-0 at the half.

2-The Charlotte Bobcats wrap up their Wilmington trip and head off to Orlando to begin the pre-season this week. The Bobcats seemed to have a productive camp at UNC-Wilmington, and now it's time to see if Larry Brown's vision for this team will take shape over the course of the season. I certainly hope so, as it would make the post-NFL season a bit more fun if the Bobcats are actually competitive, and contending for a playoff spot.

3-Carolina Panthers taking Tuesday off, and get back to practice on Wednesday. Cats enjoying the view atop the NFC South a bit more, thanks to Minnesota's Monday Night Football win over New Orleans. The Vikings should send a fruit basket to Martin Grammatica. The former all-world kicker for Tampa Bay, is now nothing more than an after thought. He hit 2 FG's, one from 35 (one he should always make), and then pounded on through from beyond 50 yards (52 I believe), but then snapped one left from 45 yards that would have given the Saints the win (or at least the lead) in the final 2 minutes. Grammatica hasn't been the same since the Panthers basically punked him while with the Bucs. Think back to the 2003 season, when the Panthers won a tight game, thanks to a blocked extra point. Seems after that, he was never the consistent kicker he was when he first started in the NFL.

4-NASCAR comes back to Lowe's Motor Speedway this week for the Bank of America 500 on Saturday night. I love race weeks. Sure, it's a grind, but the end result is very satisfying (in terms of what we put out on TV). We have a great crew lined up, and we'll have all the race activity for you on Sports Night, live from the track on Thursday after qualifying, and then live at the track immediately following the race on Saturday night. We'll be out of the loop on the Nationwide Series race on Friday, due to high school football coverage and the Discount Tire Friday Night Final.

5-It is with a mixture of sadness and joy that I bid farewell to my personal interest in baseball for the season. My guys, the Chicago White Sox, were shown the door on Monday by the Tampa Bay Rays in game 4 of the ALDS. It was fitting that the Chicago crowd was dressed, primarily, in black. They were ready for the season funeral that took place in front of them. I give full marks to the Rays for winning (through gritted teeth), and look forward to the potential changes the Sox make this off-season. Their bats failed them at the worst possible time. It's one thing to lead the majors in home runs during the regular season. When the lumber goes quiet in the playoffs, you find yourself watching, rather than playing. *Sigh*

Couple Sports Night notes for this week: Wednesday, I'll visit with driver Jeff Gordon, to talk about his foundation and go-kart racing, plus Jim Connors will visit with Carolina Hurricanes winger Scott Walker in studio. Lots of great stuff happening at 10pm, so don't be late!

Mike Solarte

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow....a mixture of sadness and joy.