Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Looking ahead to Thursday

1-Horrifying debut for the Bobcats under Larry Brown. Dusted by 30+ at Orlando. I will stand by my mantra of "exhibition anything is meaningless," but come on, guys. Either Orlando will win the East, or the Bobcats have regressed. I'll go right in the middle of all that. Orlando is better, and Charlotte isn't that bad. 7 more fake one's before it kicks off against Cleveland. Let's hope it gets better, and not worse.

2-Speedweek will kick off at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Thursday, however, it appears Mother Nature isn't cooperating. If the forecast holds (and this is one of the rare times I actually root against the Weather on the One's Gang), qualifying is looking more like a set the field on points day, rather than a speed day. We'll see, but Sports Night will be live at the track Thursday night for all the days happenings. Rain or shine.

3-Panthers may be minus some offensive linemen this week against Tampa Bay. Injuries kept OT's Jeff Otah and Jordan Gross, along with C Ryan Kalil on the sidelines during Wednesday's practice. It's a situation we'll watch thru the week, and if nothing improves, it will likely be the same 5 that finished the game against Kansas City starting against Tampa Bay. From left tackle to right: Frank Omiyale, Travelle Wharton, Geoff Hangartner, Keydrick Vincent and Jeremy Bridges. On Monday, Head Coach John Fox praised that unit, but cautioned there were things they needed to improve on. Going into Tampa, that group has to be as perfect as they can. The Bucs are light years better than Kansas City.

Also looks like Dwayne Jarrett will get a jersey this week. D.J. Hackett has a knee injury, and it could be something that keeps him sidelined for a couple weeks (although the Panthers won't declare his status until later in the week). Jarrett has worked hard in practice , earning the "Scout Team Player of the Week," award from the team last week. Now, he'll (likely) get the chance to be in the gameplan, something which hasn't happened since week 2, the final week of the Steve Smith suspension.

And (to steal a phrase from my pal Jason Spells), BIG UPS to the Panthers for signing WR Kenneth Moore. The former Butler H.S. Bulldog, turned Wake Forest Demon Deacon gets that rare chance to play bigtime football in his native city. Moore is a nice young man, and a solid player (he was the MVP of the 2007 Meineke Car Care Bowl at Bank of America Stadium last December). Here's to what I hope is a long, and successful stay with the Panthers for Kenny.

That's about all for now. I'll see you from the track, and I certainly hope to be dry!

Mike Solarte

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

whaaa

Mike Solarte said...

Dynamite comment. Awesome.